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Picking the right food for your dog can be a challenge. There are a lot of things to consider: nutritional content, convenience, price, your dog’s tastes, age and health. Nutrition should be your foremost concern, as your dog’s health and behavior will be greatly affected by this factor. Once you make your decision, you should also keep in mind that the perfect food for your dog today may not be the perfect food tomorrow. So continue to learn and revisit your dog food decisions regularly. My goal is to give you a brief overview of your choices and some guidance to get you started in the right direction. You should also discuss your decisions with a trusted veterinarian.

Homemade or Store Bought?

First, you have to decide whether you would like to make your dog food or buy it pre-prepared. If you decide to make your dog food, you also need to choose whether you are going to feed a raw or cooked diet. Although there is serious debate over whether a raw or cooked diet is best for domestic dogs, it is plain that fresh food is more nutritious than food that has been processed, packaged, shipped and stored. If you have enough time, energy and organizational skills, making your dog’s food may be the right choice for you. Be sure to spend some time researching in order to make a correctly balanced food. Some books that can give you a good start are: Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, K9 Kitchen Your Dogs’ Diet: The Truth Behind the Hype, by Monica Segal, and Dr. Becker’s Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats: Simple Homemade Food.

Dry Food or Wet Food?

This question used to refer only to the difference between kibble and canned food. However, there is now a great variety of ways to prepare and store dog foods. Some options for pre- prepared dog foods include: hard kibble, semi-moist kibble, canned food, dehydrated diets, frozen raw diets, frozen cooked diets, and food ‘rolls’ (sausage-like shelf stable diets). Frozen, dehydrated, baked and canned foods will contain the best nutritional quality. Steer away from semi-moist and shelf stable foods, as they likely contain large amounts of sugar. Deciding between the other forms is mostly a matter of convenience, although be aware that you are also paying more for canned and frozen diets simply because there is so much more water in them.

The Nitty-Gritty: Ingredients!!

Once you have decided on the general form of dog food you would prefer, now is the time to take a look at the ingredients and choose a brand! The ingredient list can be daunting at first, but it shouldn’t be. With these few tips and guidelines, you can skim any bag or can of dog food and have a good general idea of the quality of that food within a few minutes.

● Skim the entire list of ingredients quickly. Ask yourself, “Is this a short list of real ingredients that I am familiar with?” (‘soy protein concentrate’ and ‘animal digest’ are not real foods)

● The first three ingredients will tell you a lot about the food. Since ingredients are listed in order according to weight, the first three ingredients make up the bulk of the food. I like to see a good source of real animal protein as at least the first two out of three itemslisted. (e.g. Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Salmon, etc.)

● If the first ingredient is a fresh whole meat, you should also see a protein meal (e.g.Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, etc.) in the next few ingredients. Fresh meat contains too much water to be the only source of protein in a dry food and needs to be augmented with a concentrated protein.

● The rest of the list of ingredients should include whole vegetables, fruits and grains. Don’t be alarmed by a few fragments (rice bran, pea fiber, etc.), but they shouldn’t be prevalent or too high on the list.

● Some things to avoid: wheat, corn and soy in large amounts (these can be allergens, and are poor quality sources of nutrition for dogs), generic by-products like ‘meat’ or ‘poultry’ (these ingredients are little more than poor quality slops), artificial preservatives (like disease-promoting BHT, BHA and ethoxyquin), artificial flavors, artificial colors and sugar.

Recommendations

There are a lot of great foods out there! Here is a short list of dog foods that I can personally recommend. Of course, there is no ‘one size fits all’ dog food, but this list can give you a good idea of where to start looking for a good food to fit your dog’s needs:

Wellness

California Naturals

Natural Balance

Innova

Canidae

Fromm

Merrick

Nature’s Variety

Solid Gold

Flint River Ranch

Final Notes

I like to support small local pet stores as much as possible. Not only do they usually have the best selection of quality foods, they also have a quick turnover that ensures fresh stock (check expiration dates when you purchase any foods!). They will be able to help you find the right brand and variety for your dog, and you will be able to help out a small business in your area.

Don’t feel like you have to commit to a certain brand or type of dog food for the life of your dog. Experiment with what works best and rotate proteins every once and a while, even if you don’t rotate brands. Also, you may find a nice balance by choosing a good quality pre-prepared food and adding some fresh ingredients of your own. One of the biggest misconceptions around pet food is that there is a difference between ‘dog food’ and ‘human food’. I like to say that, “Food is Food.”. If you are having steamed broccoli and broiled chicken for dinner, there is no reason why your dog cannot enjoy a portion of that meal too!

I hope you now feel empowered to choose the best food for your dog. Bon apetit!

I recently collected the results of my 2010 client survey. I am happy to report that it was very helpful and I will be able to use the results to improve my services in 2011. Here are some of the highlights:

- Results were collected from clients that used our services to help with a wide range of concerns, including: New puppy, Aggression, Housebreaking, Loose leash walking, Polite greet with other dogs and kids, Jumping, Baby Prepping, and New Rescue

- 100% of my clients who took the survey would recommend my services to a friend- Thank you for your trust!

- 100% of my clients who took the survey reported their expectations were met and they were happy with their experience!

- Here are a few comments from the survey:

Sarah is great. She definately put me on the right track.

Fantastic!

Excellent experience – accomplished my goal.

Sarah is really great, very knowledgeable, prefessional and really nice to work with.

Thank you, again, to all of you who took the survey! I used www.random.org to choose the winner of the PETCO gift card. So, without further delay…

Catherine Z. and her dog “Ink Spots” won the $10 gift card, and I hope they enjoy spending it!

Destructive chewing is a very common problem among owners of new dogs, and especially those with growing puppies. All dogs, from 6 wks old through adulthood, have a natural desire and need to chew. Some dogs were specifically bred to be more “mouthy” than others, or just tend toward that in their personality. In order to deal with what we see as a problem, we need to begin by understanding that, to a dog, everything is a potential chew toy. Puppies, especially, explore everything in their new world with their mouths. It is our responsibility to teach our dogs what we consider off limits and what we consider chewable in a clear and fair manner.

To deal with destructive chewing, you need to:

1. Prevent the dog/puppy from practicing the inappropriate chewing by using a crate or other management tool when you aren’t around, physically blocking off previously chewed areas, or using a bitter apple spray to create a taste deterrent, and keeping a close eye on the dog/puppy when they are out.

2. Interrupt the dog any time they are chewing on something inappropriate (I use a loud clap and “Hey!”) and replace it with an acceptable toy. Praise your dog any time you catch them chewing on a dog toy.

3. Teach your dog what you want them to chew on by providing desirable chew toys/kibble dispensing toys regularly.

A good chew toy should keep your dog’s mind and mouth busy for at least 10-40 minutes. Every dog has different preferences, so you will have to explore to find what your dog loves the most. Here are some of my favorite chew toys: Kong, Twist n’ Treat, Squirrel Dude, Tug a Jug, Kibble Nibble, Buster Cube, and The Leonardo. You can get most of these chew toys on amazon.com or sitstay.com if you can’t find them at a local pet boutique.In general, these interactive toys are safer than rawhides, but some dogs do quite well with Bully Sticks (ligaments instead of hide) or Nylabones (plastic bones). Stay away from treat “bones” that are made of gluten or corn that your dog can eat entirely in 5-10 minutes. These can upset your dog’s digestion and aren’t very healthy. 

The Kong is by far the easiest to find in pet stores, and very easy to stuff and use. There are many “recipes” available on the Internet on how to stuff a Kong. Just make sure to start out by making these toys very easy so your dog has a lot of success when they are learning how to unstuff any of them. You can make it harder when they get the idea. I recommend to feed at least all meals and some treats divided into several small portions in a kibble dispensing toy like these until the chewing habit on appropriate toys is well ingrained (3 weeks with no inappropriate chewing). The stuffed toys can be given during mealtimes, when you leave your dog in it’s crate, or just when you are busy and can’t keep an eye on them.

Not only will the chew toys prevent the destruction when you can’t watch them every minute, but they will also help drain their chewing energy into an appropriate outlet, lower stress levels and give them some healthy dental exercise! It is a great habit to instill early on.