So here’s a new one. Nestle has come up with a commercial aimed at getting your dog’s attention using squeaks, pings and high pitched noises. Now I know that some dogs bark when they hear a doorbell on the t.v., and yes, some dogs may come running to the television or into the room when they hear a squeaky toy. But does that mean we are going to buy the food just because the commercial makes our dog do cute things? I sincerely hope the dog owning public is smarter than that.

The food you feed your dog should be decided on the ingredient list, and I mean the actual ingredients, not the real, whole vegetables and meat they show flowing down the screen during the commercial, because that is not what’s in that dog food. Just looking at one of the ingredient lists tells us that it is not as healthful as the pretty picture suggests. Three of the first 4 ingredients are corn and wheat. The only meat-type ingredient is a by-product. Corn is totally useless to dogs. It has a high sugar content and is cheap, so it’s used as a filler. It is also the cause of many allergies in our pets. Wheat also falls into that category. Since ingredients in pet food are listed by weight, it means you are feeding a non-meat based food to an animal that is mainly a carnivore.
Then sugar comes in higher on the list than any of the vegetables. Sugar is just as bad for our pets as it is for us. Then they add all those artificial colors to make it look good, to us, not our dogs. Yellow is not a color you should see in your pet’s food unless it is a fresh piece of squash you put in there yourself.
I know I’m being a bit cliche here, but you really are what you eat, and so is your pet. With the ingredients in most pet foods today it’s no wonder there is such a need for veterinary oncologists and dermatologists. We are slowly destroying our pet’s immune systems, cutting their lives short and adding to our veterinary costs. A three year old dog should get lymphoma, yet it happens all too often.
If you want to find out more about what actually goes into most pet foods read this article. It will change the way you see your pet’s food and hopefully make you a bit skeptical about what the food company says and what’s actually in the food.

I recommend Nylabone products to my clients all the time. There are at least 10 of them lying around my house & yard at any given time. I even recommend the Plaque Attacker line but rarely do I suggest the flexible kind unless it is a very small, young puppy which doesn’t have the jaw strength to bite off anything. For some reason that line of products has always made me nervous for exactly the reason in this article.

Some people say I play devil’s advocate too much and that I’m always looking for “what if’s” in every situation. But I have to tell you, if it can happen, it probably will happen to me. Yes, I’m overcautious but it seems when I haven’t followed my instinct on things like this it always comes back to bite me.

As with anything you give your dog to chew on you should check it often for signs that pieces are coming off, or that it has become so small your pooch can swallow what is remaining. Knowing there was a small piece of something undigestible lying there a minute ago, and now it’s gone and you think your dog ate it is not a good feeling. The anxiety over whether or not it will cause a blockage and eminent hospitalization & surgery to remove it is something no one should have to go through. And we certainly don’t want our dog to have to endure such a thing. And that’s if we catch it in time. Unfortunately it isn’t caught in many dogs in time and causes irreparable damage to the stomach or intestines which can lead to death. Regardless of the toys you give your dogs if he starts chewing off pieces throw them away. And nylon isn’t the only material that can cause problems: rubber, plastic and rope are issues as well. And I knew one person who gave their dog corn cobs to chew on and that also caused a blockage and a very expensive surgery. So please be careful what you give your dogs and check your toys often, replacing as necessary.

The new book “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual” by Dr. Marty Becker, the resident veterinarian for “Good Morning America”, and Gina Spadafori, from Pet Connection, proves to be a fantastic book for dog owners. There will be a 30-city Nation-wide book tour to accompany its release. Pick it up & take a look. We’re sure you will enjoy it!

CNBC will air the pet food documentary “Pet Food:  A Dog’s Breakfast” on Thursday, February 10th at 10 PM.  Not exactly prime time, and three years after the documentary was first aired in Canada…but at least it finally is airing on U.S. television.

Mark your calendar for Thursday February 10th.  CNBC will finally air the pet food documentary Pet Food:  A Dog’s Breakfast at 10 P.M.