CORN IN DOG FOOD- GOOD OR BAD ?

[Bobby Vest]

Bev, if you get a chance to talk to John Allen would you ask him why I have tried so many dog foods through the years and between 1 and 2 years it seems like it changes and my dogs just don't do well on it any more.

[S.R.Patch]

Any time a Co is bought by another, things change. I think Purina was bought out a few years ago and they had some problems. China is buying Co.'s for their American name to get into the market. This is why Co.'s keep P/E ratio and Debt/equity ratios in balance, if you get too cash rich and debt poor, your right for a buy-out by other competitors or others looking to expand.
It is reasonable to believe quality will suffer while money tightens and the inflated growth at the top try to hold the bottom line in their profit margin. Eventually the buy-outs and mergers will calm down and things will balance themselves out again through supply and demand(true value). Right now, we cut quality(through cost) to keep profit up, while wrangling for our tax breaks...

[Bev]

Bobby, I don't get the opportunity to talk to John as much these days since I sold the magazine, but that's a good question. If anyone would know the answer to that it would be John. I would wonder if every couple of years or so if the natural changes in the dogs ages and activity levels might also dictate their needs. I know back when I kept 20+ dogs, seemed like every couple of years somebody became a senior, somebody was nursing a litter of pups, somebody graduated from puppy food, somebody matured enough to become a regular on the run-n-gun circuit...

I think most of our discussion here seems to pertain to maintaining the mature, active, adult dogs -- one's current "running pack" per se. Most of the time I kept all of the dogs, pups included, on Black Gold (or Diamond when I couldn't get Black Gold) 26-18 and they did fine. There were times, though when I would have to add or adjust -- depending on what was going on with the individual dog. For instance, I've down to my one old female who will be 14 in March, and she probably sleeps 20 hours a day. She has a hell of an appetite, but I can't keep weight on her. You know what I feed her? Anything and everything that will fit down her pipe and she's able to chew with the limited amount of teeth she has left. I throw everything at her -- canned food, her own food soaked, table scraps, rich gravied stuff, cheesy scrambled eggs. Her ability to make good use of her food is diminishing.

I think it would be unrealistic for us to think that our dogs don't go through their own changes, in their own time frames, according to their own genetic histories and predispositions. Some dogs age really fast, they're out of the running at age 8, and old-aged by age 10 -- others live to be 16 and don't even show aging signs until they're 10.

Speaking of teeth, I'm not a dog teeth brusher, and I'll bet most of us here aren't, but I have found since all my dogs got old that bad teeth -- dirty, infected teeth, was the root of most of their ills, most of the reasons they felt bad or didn't seem to do well, and it even affected their personalities. Infected teeth will get into their blood system and drag them down, eventually seriously if they aren't cleaned or removed. Crusted up infected teeth are painful -- y'all know what a toothache feels like. If your dogs are changing their energy level, ability to scent and distinguish direction of scent, leaving part of their food in the bowl, or getting irritable in general, suspect their teeth. From about age 6 and on.

Sorry about the tangent -- I went through this a couple of years ago with Clem and just went through this again with Dolly. My point with this post I guess is that we can't put the responsibility of our dog's total health and well-being soley on his kibble. There are a lot of other factors at play, and our dogs are as individual as we are. There's no cookie-cutter that makes all dogs equal -- their genetics and lifestyle will determine a lot -- just like any other living being. JMHO.

[davidc5936]

Gareat post, Bev.

[Bobby Vest]

I have one 5 yr old female, one 3 yr old male, and everything else is 18 mo. or below. All have been wormed regularly and had tapeworm treatment. I haven't been running them near as much as I was earlier in the year. My problem is I am feeding at least 2 to 2 1/2 times of the same feed and they aren't gaining any weight.

[Alabama John]

Bobby.

I fed Sportsman Pride or Hunters Choice both, and I only feed each dog 1-1/2 cups per day. (One and a half cups).
I do give two or three pieces of day old 50 cent a loaf bread to each before the feed. I throw them one at a time in the air and they catch it in the air. They are slim, with ribs barely showing. Slick and hair great.

I would check the worms again and change feed. You are feeding way too much in my humble opinion.

Lastly, do they have a warm place?

BUT< WHO AM I TO TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT DOGS< YOU KNOW MORE THAN I EVER WILL!!!

[Bobby Vest]

John all I know is it's a guessing game. I have switched wormers and wormed more than usual. I even got the tapeworm pills just in case. I stayed with the sane brand of feed but went up to the 32-20 and I still don't see any difference. I have fed some scraps and chicken broth and chicken fat, I just don't know. I have a friend that works at a restaurant and he is going to save me the old grease. I have them in thick insulated metal houses also.