It’s happened again. A huge dog food recall due to salmonella. Dog owners left wondering what should I feed my dog? It seems as though there were some “good” dog foods included in this recent dog food recall list? What dog food manufacturer can I trust?
Difficult questions considering most have some sort of vague idea the US FDA regulates the pet food industry.
What you don’t know is that it is understaffed to the point it could be considered non existent in too many cases. Compliance with minimal regulations is also voluntary, essentially self regulated. Of course these are things that are never considered until after the fact your dog had a seizure, got violently ill, or just is not the same.
How To Make Healthy Dog Food Choices
The only real answer to this is to DO YOUR RESEARCH. It’s very easy to allow media to pull you in with healthy looking images on the bag and the words “wholesome”, some even use the “organic” terminology, but remember under the dog food industry FDA standards are for the most part voluntarily in compliance with a certain “standard” for ingredients, where the ingredients came from, and most certainly the chemicals added to the end product for preservation.
How Dog Food is made leaves out the nasty practices many dog food companies use in the quality of ingredients and the effects the chemicals used have, but it does give you a good idea as to why you may be feeding your dog pure junk food laden with toxic binders if kibble is the only food your dog has ever known.
So what you should do about feeding your dog safe pet food?
Make sure to check the list of recently recalled pet food. However, just because you pull your dog off of one that is on the list doesn’t mean that the next food you choose isn’t processed in the same exact way. Kibble no matter where it comes from is processed.
The following is a list of options you can use to feed your dog healthy food. Raw food falls at the top of the list and though it is best it may not be the easiest.
When feeding a raw diet it is important to know that dogs require vitamins and minerals different than humans. Without the correct balance of things like calcium, and other specific requirements your dog may still be deficient in the required nutrients with a random raw food diet. Again, do your research and read references like Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs: The Definitive Guide to Homemade Meals to ensure your dog is getting a balanced diet.
How to Choose a Good Dog Food
- Vary your dog’s diet!
- Raw food is the number one choice.
- Is your raw food AAFCO compliant?
- Are the ingredients from the United States.
- You should have meat as the first ingredient of the list.
- Human grade whole foods as ingredients.
- Feed dehydrated raw food.
- Make your dogs treats with Pumpkin Dog Food + Treats Recipes.
- Pumpkin Noni Coconut Oil Dog Treats
Personally, I feed my dogs organic dehydrated dog food and I can tell you it makes a huge difference. I used to feed them kibble. They went from itching and dull coats to vibrant. My Weimaraner had cysts. They’ve decreased more than 75% in size. Just recently I fed her some kibble as a fill in. She puked. Hmmmm…. it was a loud and clear statement that the processed format is without a doubt bad for her.
What are you feeding your dog? Does the recent dog food recalls make you skeptical about all processed kibble?
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Jt Clough lives on the Big Island, Hawaii, and practices health, happiness and natural remedies, while working as a ReVIBE Habits Coach for people looking to live healthier and happier lives. She is a dog whisperer for our best friends and studies natural dog remedies, nutrition and communication, and is creator of Pumpkin Noni Dog Treats + Recipe Book & co author of Treading for Dogs.
