Dunnford Boxers
Nobility Personality Elegance Power
Nutrition
*Please check the web site at the bottom of the
page for current updates on food/treat recalls.
Do you have any idea what
is in that bag of dog food you
just picked up in the grocery store? Take a look
at some
of the ingredients. Here are the ingredients for
Purina Dog Chow Nutritional Excellence Formula.
1. Ground
yellow corn
2. Poultry
By-Product Meal
3. Corn
Gluten Meal
4. Soybean
Meal
5. Beef
Tallow
6. Brewer's Rice
7.
Barley Flour.
8. Salt
9. Animal
Digest
10. Brewers Dried Yeast.
Ground yellow corn is the entire corn
kernel ground. That doesn't
sound too bad, does it? Until you consider
that many dogs are
allergic to corn, in fact many dogs are allergic to
grains period.
Corn and vegetable material in general
is difficult for dogs to
digest, and generally passes through them. Ever
wondered why
your dog poops so much? Take a good look at his food. Corn
and
other fillers are probably the culprit.
Poultry By-Product Meal. Poultry by-product meal consists
of the
ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered
poultry,
such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines--
exclusive of feathers
except in such amounts as might occur
unavoidably in good processing practices.
This
is a low-quality, inconsistent ingredient, with multiple
organs used,
constantly changing proportions, and
questionable nutritional value. The origin
can be any fowl
(turkeys, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.), instead of a single
source, like chicken". Poultry by-product meal is
much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal.
Corn gluten meal is the dried residue from corn after the
removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the
separation
of the bran by the process employed in the wet
milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic
treatment of the endosperm.
gluten in small amounts
offer preventive health benefits for cats.
In addition, unlike dogs, cats do
not usually show signs of allergic
reactions to corn products. There is no real
justification for the
use of corn gluten in dog foods, it is only a
cheap protein filler.
"Crude Protein" analysis on pet food labels is only a measurement
of the amount of nitrogen in a food -- not the quality of
the protein.
Because of this, pet food companies can use the cheaper
by-products of human food production, such as soybean meal,
to boost protein
numbers.
very palatable source of fat, it is low in linoleic acid,
which is
necessary for skin and coat health. In addition, beef can be a
source
of allergies for some animals.
that is missing many of the nutrients found in ground rice and
ground brown rice."
Barley Flour."Barley flour consists principally of the soft,
finely
ground and bolted meal obtained from milling barley and consists
essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm.
Pre-processed ingredients, such as flours, have had much of
their nutritional
value leeched from them."
Salt. We all know what salt is.
Animal digest. Is a cooked-down broth made from unspecified
parts of
unspecified animals. Any kind of animal can be included:
goats, pigs, horses,
rats, etc. The animals can be obtained from
any source, so there is no control
over quality or contamination.
Brewers Dried Yeast. Brewer's dried yeast is the dried,
non-fermentive,
non-extracted yeast that results as a
by-product of the brewing of beer and
ale.
Although brewer's yeast is a good source of Vitamin B,
it is a potential
allergen for some animals.
What is a dog? Herbivore?
Omnivore? Carnivore?
Silly question?
Well, probably not as silly as you think. Dogs are technically
classified as omnivores. Surprised? Many are. Why are they
classified as omnivores?
Because a dog can survive on plant based
proteins. Survive.
Not thrive. There is a big difference between surviving and
thriving.
their intestinal tract it is designed to
digest meat and bone.
Their teeth are designed to rip and
scissor through meat and
crush bone. Their intestinal tract is short,
not allowing the extra
processing that it takes to efficiently digest
plant material.
People are true omnivores...as are bears. If you look at our
teeth, we have molars designed to crush and grind plant material
as well as
proteins. Our gut is longer, allowing us to break
down and gain the nutritional benefit of vegetables.
With their
shorter gut, and incorrect teeth, dogs do
not process vegetable
material efficiently and many times that material
passes through
them without imparting its nutrients.
There
is
precious little
meat in the dog food listed
above.
So what kind of nutrition for
a dog can it have? Why would you
choose
to feed your dog, an animal designed to eat meat,
a diet based mostly on
the most difficult materials for it to digest?
Oh, but we don't feed
Purina, we feed a premium dog
food such as Royal Canin for Boxers. Sad to say, but most
foods, even the so called premium brands like Iams, Eukanuba,
Science Diet etc. are not much
better than the Purina.
Here is a link to a good tool for comparing dog foods. Take a look at
what your brand of food has in it.
http://www.naturapet.com/
Click on the product wizard button. Check out the other areas
of this site as well. Then go to the store and check what your
brand has in it.
If you are going to
choose a commercial dog food, it is important
to choose one that has
biologically available nutrition. Choose
a food that uses only human grade ingredients.
Here is a list of a few
of the best foods on the market today.
They cost a little more, and sometimes
they are harder to find,
but isn't your dog worth it?
Royal Canin Boxer
Canidae
Innova -
Particularly Innova Evo. This food contains no grains.
If your dog is itchy, it could well be
that he is allergic to grains.
Try this food.
Wellness
Of these foods, our pick is Royal Canin.
Royal Canin Boxer 26™
Below are the top indegredients in Royal Canin for Boxers
Chicken meal, rice, brown rice, chicken fat
(naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols,
rosemary extract and
citric acid), wheat gluten meal,
oatmeal, chicken, natural chicken
flavor, pea fiber,
dried egg powder, beet pulp (sugar removed),
Our Boxers have less stool since we switched to Royal Canin.
Their coats are beautiful.
Nutrition is very important for your dog. You have
seen a
few of the ingredients that are in most of the foods that are
commercially available. Most of this is garbage. Remember
the old saying "You are what you eat"? It’s true for your dog too.
They need optimal
nutrition just as you do.
the pet
food industry is only about 75 years old. In order to
make pet foods at low
cost, they generally use the waste
products of the human food industry. There
are no rules preventing
them from using 4D meats.
4D meats refer to dead, dying,
diseased and down. There is nothing
preventing them from using a cancer ridden
animal or a sick animal
in making your dog (or cats!) food, and they do use
these things.
Would you eat these things? Would you consider having these
things in your diet something that would help prevent cancer and
some of the
other illness that plague our beloved companions?
Our pets lives are too short
as it is. We need to make every effort
to help them live longer, healthier,
disease free lives, and diet is
very import to that end.
Choose wisely.
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