What Dogs Should Not Eat

Article Title: What Dogs Should Not Eat
Author: Dave Jackson

Dogs, especially puppies, are so innocent to their surroundings
that they'll experiment anything once, even if it's harmful.
Even this morning, as I was spraying an organic insecticide made
from flowers, my miniature schnauzer took a few licks to see
what is was. Just like snakes, dogs use their tongues to test
the environment. This spray isn't that bad because it's all
natural. Still, even natural repellents are pretty hard on the
kidneys.

Dogs will try anything, even more than cats, which seem to be
the most finicky pets you could own. So when you are putting
out the dog food, chances are, even if there is something bad in
there, if it tastes good enough, they'll eat the whole bowl and
look at you to see if more is coming. And by the way, make sure
you're not overfeeding your puppy. Don't feed them scraps or
your unfinished food. That's a lot of food for an animal that
doesn't get out very much. With nowhere to burn off the food,
your pup will put on the pounds.

So if dogs can't tell you how the food tastes, or read the
label to see if there is anything in their food that might be
rough on the kidneys or digestive tract; it is up to you, their
caretaker, to carefully check what is in that big bag that sits
in the pantry. With the recent horror of the Chinese putting
anything in mix, it is time for you to do a little label
investigation to make sure you are not slowly killing your dog
with ingredients that still make it onto American shelves.

First, a little lesson in economics. Dog food manufacturers
are in business for one, primary reason - and it isn't to make
dog food! It's to make a profit. Dog food is only the vehicle
to get them profitable. This being the case, know that if they
can save money on manufacturing and beat the competition, they
will. They don't do this because they want to hurt your pet.
They do this because if they don't - the way their business
model works - they will lose money and sell less dog food.

Have you been to the dog food aisle lately? Some stores have
two or three aisles. There is huge competition on price and
ingredients. You'll find your normal dog food; names you've
grown up with, and then you'll find newer, organic or special
diet dog foods. So know that there is not a lot of concern
going on for your dog - just marketing what may catch your
fancy. But you need to be aware of what to look out for on
those labels.

Since Fido will probably eat the same food day in and day out,
it is important to look past the attractive labels and clever
marketing. Current pet food regulation allows manufacturers to
use ingredients you wouldn't feed your pet in you knew. Look
for the word "by-products" on the label. This can mean feet,
bones and intestines.

Because dog food manufacturers have to make sure the product
won't spoil, typically 12 months, they include preservatives.
Fats used in dog food would go rancid, so they use synthetic
preservatives called butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and
butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, propylene glycol
which is also used as a less-toxic version of automotive
antifreeze, and ethoxyquin. Look for these on the label. There
is not much information documenting their toxicity, safety,
interactions, or use in pet foods that may be eaten every day
for the life of your dog. Propylene glycol was banned in cat
food because it causes anemia in cats, yet it is still allowed
in dog food.

These potentially cancer-causing agents such as BHA, BHT, and
ethoxyquin are allowed at pretty low levels. Using these
chemicals in dog foods has not been thoroughly studied, and long
term build-up of these agents could be harmful. Because of the
questionable data in the original study on its safety,
ethoxyquin's manufacturer, Monsanto, was required to perform a
new, more rigorous study in 1996. Monsanto didn't find
significant toxicity associated with its own product, but in
July 1997 the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine requested
that manufacturers voluntarily reduce the maximum level for
ethoxyquin by half, to 75 parts per million.

The ball is in the air on ethoxyquin. Some pet food critics
believe that ethoxyquin is a major cause of disease, skin
problems, and infertility in dogs, others claim it is the
safest, strongest, most stable preservative we have for pet
food. And ethoxyquin is approved for human foods, preserving
spices such as cayenne and chili powder, at a level of 100 ppm —
but it would be pretty hard for even the most hard-core spice
lover to consume as much chili powder every day as a dog would
eat dry food. Ethoxyquin has not been tested with cats. Still,
it is commonly used in veterinary diets for both cats and dogs.

What is the answer? What I suggest is that you contact
suppliers who make dog food in small batches and ship them to
your door. These companies are few and far between, but they do
exist and they have higher quality ingredients with none of the
dangerous preservatives. I discuss this in detail on my
website.

About The Author: Dave Jackson lives in south Florida with his
miniature schnauzer. He has great tips on how to care and feed
your dog on his website http://www.ThreeBestDogs.com

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