Do you remember when?

I have never feed my dog anything that I wouldn't eat myself the whole time that I have had him. He is thirteen years old this year. This past winter it looked like I would have to have him put down because he got a large tumor on the back of his neck. It bothered him so much that he tried to scratch it away. He some how broke it open so that it could drain. We was told that it was cancer and that it would be best to have him put to sleep. My girlfriend said that when he got to bad off that we would bring him back and have it done. She babied him, took care of his sore and everything. About two weeks later his sore was completely healed. I am not going to tell you that he is running and palying with the other dogs but he does seem happier. I can't say that feeding your dog tablescrapes are bad for them or not but I do know that my dog has lived on them for thirteen years.

the crap they put in dogfood, quite simply. when you sometimes see blue bits in tinned meat, well that's condemned meat, which has been dyed to prevent it entering the food chain. also, there are all manner of very nasty preservatives and chemicals in biscuits and in meats. it's not always the cheap brands either. you couldn't PAY me to feed my dogs Pedigree Chum. read the ingredients lists on your dogs food. when I was little we had a lovely German Shepherd. he had terrible food allergies because of the rubbish in dog food. back then we didn't know. if we'd known we would never have fed him what we did. eventually his immune system collapsed and we lost him to leukemia. and he was a strong, healthy dog. since then we have always been very very careful about what we feed our dogs, making sure it is as natural as possible. they get Burns dry food and meat from the butchers.

I understand what you are saying. My Mennonite family (one branch of my extended family) live in the country, and the dogs eat what they eat. Those are the healthiest dogs I've ever had the chance to meet!!!

There was an article in Dog News this week about dogs being healthier in the past than they are today. The author theorized that because we go to great lengths to save the weaklings, puppies that the mother has cast aside, we are producing less healthy individuals. Kind of like the OPPOSITE of natural selection. Back in the day we didn't have the technology to save every last puppy that wouldn't have made it on its own. Breeders wouldn't keep close track of the female's temperature and usually just left the dog to her own devices and woke up in the morning to a litter of puppies. Nowadays breeders are usually at the female's side with forceps, a scale, feeding tubes, and other emergency supplies to be able to save a strugging puppy from the moement its born. Maybe the reason why we're so invested in them is because each dog is probably well worth over a thousand dollars. If one doesn't make it, thats less money in your pocket. So it was a little off topic, but I thought it was an interesting article and your discussion here just reminded me of it so I thought I'd share.

Yes I do remember when we did not have storebought dog food yet. Our dogs got home cooking or raw meat and bones from the butcher. It was already clear then to us that dogs need far more meat (proteins) than men, actually twice that amount. It was also known that dogs do not digest cabbage and beans. We did feed a healthy balanced diet. It is logic that what goes into a can or kibble is not worth much. The can itself costs, the store wants a profit, the distribution costs. So if you look at the price of the can and compare the contents to what real meat costs at a butcher it should be clear immediately: there is junk in the can. Good quality meat is expensive.