What would Fido choose?

A couple of months ago, I asked the question - "What do you feed your dog?"

I didn't ask it on a breed-specific forum or even a dog forum, but a general forum. That might seem like an odd choice, but the reason I did it is that there are different types of dog owners and I felt that asking on a general board would give me a bigger cross-section of owner types to really get an idea what most people feed.

Let's put a scale on owner types.

On one end, you have Type 1 who are extremely knowledgeable, keep up with the latest research and developments on training, health, nutrition, and are active in dog sports or competition. One the opposite end, you have Type 2 who owns a dog in the same way they own a car. They love their dog, but don't train, read up on health or nutrition issues, and don't care about doing things and going places with their dog. Between the two, you have the majority of dog owners, who are somewhere between the two extremes.

When I asked the question about feeding, I realized that most people are Type 2 owners or in-betweens who lean more toward Type 2 than they do toward Type 1. The poll results were as follows:


What do you feed your dog?

35% - commercial brands such as Beneful, Purina, Iams, Pedigree
19% - any kind, as long as it's on sale
12% - I feed raw, without vegetables
12% - I frequently change brands. Dogs need variety.
08% - I feed mostly table scraps
08% - holistic brands such as Innova Evo, Canidae, TimberWolf
04% - premium brands, like Royal Canin, Nutro Ultra, Blue Buffalo
04% - I'm not sure / don't know
00% - home-made food using human-grade ingredients
00% - I feed raw, with vegetables


I believe the people who answered "commercial", "any kind, as long as it's on sale" and "frequently change brands", which make up a total of 66% of dog owners who were polled, probably all feed the same kinds of easily available store foods.

I asked them about how they choose the dog food, and most said that they picked based on recommendations from their veterinarian, family members, and friends, as well as the price and availability of the food. I also asked them whether they had ever researched any of the foods, and most said that they would read the front of the bag ("with real chicken") but not ingredient labels, and that they hadn't looked any foods up online to compare them.

Aside from not reading about what actually is in the food, I think the biggest mistake pet owners make is asking their veterinarian to recommend a dog food. I compare that to asking your primary care physician to set up a complete balanced meal plan for your family - he won't. He may recommend to eat fruits and vegetables and show you a flier of the Food Pyramid, but if you want a real meal plan, you need to go see a specialist, a nutritionist. In the same manner, I believe that if you want nutrition advice for your dog, you should ask a veterinary nutritionist and not a veterinary primary care physician (your general vet).

Most general veterinarians don't receive a lot of instruction about nutrition at their schools, and what they receive is often sponsored by pet food companies. A lot of their materials and hand-outs are also sponsored by pet food companies. Because of this, I don't find it surprising that many vets will tell you: "Don't feed a homemade or raw diet. You don't have the knowledge to make sure it's balanced. You would do better feeding Science Diet, which provides complete, balanced nutrition. It's a lot easier, a lot cheaper, and you can buy it right here at the office." I'm sure that your vet probably believes this, but that doesn't make it right, nor does it make it your only choice or the most educated opinion.

Vets believe that we (dog owners) don't have the knowledge to provide a balanced diet for our dogs. Yet we're perfectly capable to make decisions about our own, human, nutritional needs - what to eat, when to eat, what to supplement with. I think that with all of the sources available to us - dog nutritionists, books, pamphlets and websites - the average adult is perfectly able to feed a balanced diet to his or her dog.

Vets also think that we'll be scared off if they tell us that home-cooking or raw feeding is too expensive and too time consuming and therefore we're better off feeding kibble. The way I look at this argument is this: It's much easier and cheaper for me to get a Happy Meal at McDonald's than it is to buy fresh ingredients and cook at home, but I don't do it (often) because I know that doesn't give me all the nutrition I need, and I know that the ingredients are unhealthy. I feel the same way about feeding kibble. Just because it's easier doesn't mean it's better.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of discussion about alternatives to cheap grocery store kibbles in the main stream media, even though the pet food recalls this year made many owners wonder whether there is anything left that they can safely feed. Oprah is one of those shows that has really put good information about alternatives to kibble on the air recently, featuring holistic veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein who talked about "real food". I would love to see more sound nutrition advice like Dr. Marty's in the mainstream media, but unfortunately, media like Parade Magazine choose to print articles (like this one) by veterinarians like Dr. Karen Halligan, a "featured spokesperson for pet nutrition companies".



So I have a challenge: Read, Learn and Educate.

What I mean by this is, read about dog nutrition. You could start by finding out what the dog food labels actually mean and how to identify better foods over at The Dog Food Project. Or you could learn about raw feeding from the Leerburg website or the Raw Dog Ranch. Or you could check out some books at the book store, Google the subject, even start reading the Magazine of Veterinary Medicine.

By reading, you learn about different foods and different viewpoints which will help you make a better decision about nutrition for your dog. Then use the knowledge you have gained to educate others.