Hello,

Just a question to those who know more than I. I have been trying to get myself more educated as to dog food, especially, since this recall.

I have a 4 year old chow retriever who is slim, fit, and happy on what he is. It is not the cheapest dog food because I think all that stuff is just crap pretty much. I was looking at this Maxximum Nutrition Walmart brand and was curious if it was any good.

To other dog owners out there I am a little paranoid about the recent dry dogfood recalls I was wondering if someone could point me in the directions of a good dry dog food brand that should be completely safe. Some of the local stores in my town do not even have full recall information out. So anything you have that may help me will be really appreciated.

Thankyou so much for your time I do appreciated it.

Sincerely,

Jammie a concerned dog owner.

Don't feed your dog any crappy Walmart brand. As far as I know, that hasn't been recalled but go to http://www.menufood.com to see what HAS been recalled. You should get her on to something like Innova EVO or California Natural. They are very natural brands and use human-grade ingredients (would you ever eat left over meat parts?).

Commercial pet food, whether canned or kibble is all junk food, Even the premium brands really have no more nutrition then what is in the synthetic vitamin mixture that sprayed on the contents before sealing bag. Think about it. Processed foods are cooked and processed at extremely high temperatures that KILL and dangerously alter the amino acids, enzymes, vitamins, etc. There is no true nutrition left in the final product. That is why the manufacturers spray on the synthetic vitamins for nutritional value in the food.

Top all that with the fact that almost all of the processed foods have grains in them or grain by-products such as wheat and/or corn and rice gluten.

Grains, such as oats, wheat, rice barley, etc., are composed mostly of complex carbohydrates. Dogs do not process complex carbohydrates (grains) well. Studies demonstrate that unlike humans, dogs do not 'carbo-load,' that is, store up energy from meals high in complex carbohydrates. While human athletes successfully practice this technique, it results in an accumulation of lactic acid in dogs (which causes the muscular pain experienced after unaccustomed exercise).

Grains are also full of carbohydrates which can be easily converted to sugars. Cancer cells feed on sugars, and it is believed that by decreasing the amount of carbohydrate in the diet, we may greatly reduce the risk of cancer (which is a growing problem among modern dogs and cats).

Grains and or grain based foods are the main cause of yeast infections, such as Candida Albicans. Symptoms include: chronic ear infections; incessant licking of the genitals or the paws or both; lick granulomas; habitual scratching, usually the ears, sides of the torso and underbelly; rashes, most often on the underbelly; and when the yeast begins to move into the head; loss of hearing; loss of eyesight; loss of intelligence, memory and comprehension. Yeast infections always start somewhere in the digestive system; then move to the genital area, on to the ears; then finally to the brain, taking over the entire body.

There is not enough room here to really get it into it but the best diet for your dog is home cooked or one of raw meaty bones.

As a Natural Dog Care Educator and Nutrition Consultant, I do not recommend a commercial food diet for our dogs. However, I have come across a few people for different reasons can not feed a home prepared or raw diet at this time to their dogs so I recommend one of two kibble diets to them. These are both manufactured in small private processing plants and have extremely high quality control. The ingredients are organic and/or human grade, no by-products and one has no grains at all in it and the other has only rice as a grain source. If you want to know more about these kibbles you can go to: http://www.thewholedog.org/FoodDry.html

Read the ingredients. The first thing should be chicken or turkey or lamb or beef. Stay away from any food that uses by-products. Like, chicken-by-products, meat-by-products. Avoid foods with wheat, corn or soy. To be safer, buy a food that uses human grade ingredients.
I shudder reading the labels of foods in grocery stores. I really doubt Wal-Mart is selling a premium food.

NOTHING is completely "safe" right now. They STILL don't know what's causing it. Not a big fan of the store brands, but if he's doing OK then so be it. The canned foods are being hit much harder. Avoid wheat or wheat gluten if you can, read the ingredients.

www.menufoods.com/recall for the food list