A little while ago I posted about how a trainer at the Petsmart I work at yelled at me for wanting to use a Prong Collar on my Cane Corso. NOW I get ridiculed about feeding my dogs RAW by the freakin' Vet at Banfield which resides inside Petsmart.

I don't know what it is about people around here. It was amazing all the things she said. She must have repeated every falsification about the diet you/I could think of.

"Bones are bad for dogs. They splinter and tear up intestines." To which I told her that when cooked that can happen, but not raw. She still insisted that bones are bad... Haha... uhhg.

"Your dog will get salmonella and E. coli if you don't start feeding kibble." To which I told her that dogs digestive systmes are far more acidic than ours and that they could handle it no problem.

THEN (it gets better) she has the gaul to tell me that I've been getting "Lucky" that the bones my dogs eat haven't caused intestinal problems. I proceeded to inform her that I've been feeding my dog RAW since he was about 8 weeks old and now he's 18 weeks old. I don't think "Luck" has anything to do with it.

"Would YOU eat raw eggs and meat?" she asks. "I'm not a dog." I replied.

Then she goes and says that since dogs have been domesticated for x years that they can't digest that type of food properly. I laughed my butt off inside and replied with, "They may be domesticated, but that doesn't mean that their digestive systems have changed any." To which she just kinda shut up and changed subjects.

"Your dog isn't getting calcium," she says. I replied, "He gets the calcium from the bones he eats." She then proceeded to tell me that he's not digesting the bones and that he's not getting calcium from them... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I just kinda stared at her and started to explain then stopped myself b/c I realized it was a lost cause for this woman.

So then she tries to tell me that I need to put my dog on Eukanuba <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />. I asked her, "Do you know that most dog food is mostly filler!" She didn't answer and just kinda blankly stared at me. I then went into all the ingredients that dogs can be allergic to and told her about the laws that DON'T govern where dog food companies get their meat from. Yada yada yada.

Basically it was a conversation that involved her trying to tell me that bones are bad for my Corso <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> and me telling her that he's been eating them since 8 weeks. Then her repeating herself.

The BEST part about the whole situation is that before we even started talking about what I feed my dog, she mentioned how beautiful and healthy my dog looked! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Hahahaha. Oh boy...

Uhhhgg, I'm so sick of people around here. I told her I'd bring her some literature for her to read. Which I'm gonna do. I need to edjucate this woman! Thanks for letting me rant again... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Look like I need to "edjucate" myself. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Excuse the spelling errors!

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. . ."Would YOU eat raw eggs and meat?" she asks.

If she wants to talk digestive systems, should have asked her if she ever eats her own poop. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As far as trying to educate her, lotsa luck. I think it's rare to find anyone like this with a bunch of letters after their name willing to be enlighted by a common dog owner. You'd be shooting down that wisdom they crammed in her head at vet school. I think the best support for your position was the appearance of your dog.

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......Uhhhgg, I'm so sick of people around here. I told her I'd bring her some literature for her to read. Which I'm gonna do. I need to edjucate this woman! Thanks for letting me rant again... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Here is a link to a dog food comparison chart. I would like to point out that the food she is pushing you into has, in my opinion, many undesirable ingredients. What they DO have is a great advertising budget.

The first 8 ingredients (per the site I credit below):

Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn meal, ground whole grain sorghum, ground whole grain barley, chicken fat, fish meal, Brewers rice

By-products = heaven know what, including feathers, beaks, feet, and lungs.....and worse.

Corn is widely known by the majority of canine nutritional scientist (the ones who do not work for a commercial food company) to be difficult for dogs to digest, if they can digest it at all.

Brewer's rice is a waste product of the alcohol industry.

Grains (two of them -- a big bulk of the food) are something that dogs have definitely not evolved eating.

This is just a small part of the argument. For me, the choice between fresh food and highly processed mystery ingredients is a no-brainer.

http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html

To the question "Would you eat raw eggs and meat?" -- since she obviously wants to equate dog digestion to human digestion -- how about "Would you eat the same dried packaged food every day for the rest of your life -- with nothing fresh, nothing natural, and nothing varied? Why don't we have People Kibble? Maybe 'stage of life' People Kibble."

Here's a response you might try: "I'd like to read up on this. Can you tell me what books you've included in your research about kibble over fresh? Of course, neither of would want to include material from the manufacturers of kibble as our source material."

But since she is obviously not open for new information, I'd think seriously about not engaging with her. Your energy might be better used elsewhere. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And try to remember that the only industry that has spent any time and money on educating her about nutrition is -- guess which one.

I have the same problem with my vet. Nothing can beat Science Diet in his eyes. On my last visit I dropped off the book Grow your Pups on bones. I asked him to read it. He said he would glance it over. I have not been back yet. I was just getting tired of trying to explain to him that raw is a far better way to go. He can not find fault in the way my dogs look but insist that they would look just as good if they ate from a bag. I must disagree. They used to eat out of a bag, I have seen such a change in the last year. I have just imported a bred bitch from the Czech Republic. She had been eating from a bag until the day she landed here in the US. Her teeth have turned bright white in just 10 days and her coat feels better than ever. Once she sheds I am sure she will have that blue black shine of my other dogs on raw have. Anyway My vet said do not take a chance on switching this bitch to raw until she has weaned her pups. Thats Crazy. These pups will be raised on raw as long as they are under my care. And I hope that each one finds a new home that will take the little extra effort to continue with the diet. The other thing or problem I had with my vet when I was just starting out was an exersize issue. I thought I was over exersizing my poor pup. My vet said I was not. My vet was wrong again. My dog has a lot of drive and will do whatever it takes to keep up with me around the farm. Had I known then the damage I was causing I would have forced my pup to stay behind even though he so badly wanted to tag along. Proper diet and the right amount of exersize are so important in a young dogs life. It is unforunate that so many people just do as they are told and do not investigate a little further.

Thanks for the link Connie. I've printed it off and anyone who tries to 'educate' me about kibble will get this shoved down their throats! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Just find a new vet.

For the record (I spent 5 years in Japan) and while I was ther e I ate raw egg and raw beef on a regular basis and I am not a dog either.

In Japan, they have much stricter laws for food distribution and consequently things are much more fresh. I still eat raw eggs over here with certain dishes. (Curiously, a lot of Japanese living over here won't eat the American eggs raw). In Japan, they even eat raw chicken and seem to have little or no problems with Salmonella.

So, if I can eat raw eggs and meat without problems - I'm sure a dog's system can handle it just fine. I still feed my dog kibble though - call me lazy but that sounds like a lot of prep time for a raw diet.

Not for nuthin, but they got to put the Vets that gradjitated at the bottom of their class sumwer.

Thanks all for the replies. You all are the best support group! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Every day I go on this forum, I thank God that He but Ed on this planet so that we all can share things amongst each other on this forum.

Connie, I like your rebuttles (sp?) and I might try them should I have to talk to her again. I think what I'm gonna do is just print out the document and give it to her. I don't want to upset her too much and maker her go into early labor, she is pregnant <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />.

I don't want to get another vet b/c since I work at Petsmart, I get a REALLY GOOD discount on vet services. So it just makes it almost worth it to put up with her babble just to make sure my boy gets his shots and is taken care of when I need it.

Thanks again everyone.