I just wanted to say that my comment above was about the Pedigree food only, and had nothing to do with the previous comments from Tracy and Cheri in regards to stray dogs and the lack of any food being available etc.

Both made excellent points about those situations, and certainly I understand what they meant.

I would say that I think though there are many who just don't know and possibly just have not taken the time to learn more about what quality nutrition means.

One of the things I say to people when they come in to the pet food store I work at, is " Are you interested in better nutrition for your dog?" This way, they have a chance to let me know if it is something they want to learn about.
We then discuss what that means and after that we can talk about budget and what is available to them. It is true that many are not able to afford the super premium diets that are out there.
I just want to help people to learn the differences and make the most informed decision they can with what they can afford.

I just try my best to educate, the customer gets to make the decision whether the want to be informed or not.
Certainly, no judgment on my part. Just helping people who want to learn about what quality food is all about.

The pet food recall of 2007 left many pets very ill and many died. It is important that consumers be informed as much as they can for any number of reasons. I think that as sad as that situation was, it made people sit up and pay attention to what was going into their pets food. Hopefully, that still continues and is a good thing, I think.

The pet food companies convince the uninformed public with ads showing healthy happy dogs with voracious appetites. Some people have the funds to purchase high quality dog food and truly believe are doing just that.

Sometimes people are simply uninformed about the ingredients found in some of these dog foods,I believe.

No question about it, the marketing teams are really good at making anything look appealing and healthy. Look at all the human food and drink commercials? Let alone the dog food commercials.

The power of suggestion is strong and it works very well.
I do think that once someone has more information about the truth of things though, that the general public is learning to be more informed. Still obesity in humans and our pets is still a problem,
in the U.S.

Agreed, Joyce

Oh I totally agree too. The lack of general nutrition knowledge for humans and animals is pretty sad--and I lay most of the fault on big food companies and their marketers pushing processed foods on the public to the point that it doesn't even occur to people that "real" foods are a viable alternative.

Feeding the family dog Beneful isn't any different than feeding the kids Capn Crunch and Chicken McNuggets. It's all part of the same social problem. But I wouldn't accuse any of those people of neglect or abuse. They either don't know better, or they have other priorities to worry about.

BTW, Joyce, I love your line as a way to introduce the topic to people who visit your store.

 Quote: tracy collins

Oh I totally agree too. The lack of general nutrition knowledge for humans and animals is pretty sad--and I lay most of the fault on big food companies and their marketers pushing processed foods on the public to the point that it doesn't even occur to people that "real" foods are a viable alternative.

Feeding the family dog Beneful isn't any different than feeding the kids Capn Crunch and Chicken McNuggets. It's all part of the same social problem. But I wouldn't accuse any of those people of neglect or abuse. They either don't know better, or they have other priorities to worry about.

BTW, Joyce, I love your line as a way to introduce the topic to people who visit your store.

This is a good point. And even though I'm very particular about what I feed my kids, I'd feed them lesser quality food before letting them starve.

After I got married last year and everything got so crazy, I went off raw because of the time and the concern that I wasn't balancing it well. Then , after adopting Bru, I decided not to start back with raw until he was older for fear that I would not provide all that he needed. I feed Wellness, and while I feel raw is best, I don't feel bad about the switch.

Thanks Tracy, I actually got that line from the owners of the store, and I think it is a great way to talk about nutrition without making the customer feel threatened.

 Quote:

Feeding the family dog Beneful isn't any different than feeding the kids Capn Crunch and Chicken McNuggets. It's all part of the same social problem. But I wouldn't accuse any of those people of neglect or abuse. They either don't know better, or they have other priorities to worry about.

I agree it really seems like a socio-economic problem.
Unfortunately, these kinds of foods are often very cheap and affordable, besides tasting good. It is just the same with dog food. It seems they are interchangeable.

It just takes time for both dogs and humans to adjust their tastes, switching over to whole foods, with little or no processing. Some of my favorite foods are fresh veggies from the farmers market or someone's garden.

But who can deny that McDonalds fries are the best thing when you get that grease craving!

I am still trying to work on my own diet, and getting off some of that junk food. My goal is to eat as healthy as I feed my dogs!

Thanks It's so disappointing that pet food companies who claim to have your pets best interests at heart would make the food unhealthy. Obviously they go by what is cheapest for them but if people are paying good money then they should atleast give them the benefit of quality pet food. I don't blame people for feeding their pets cheap food, I blame the companies for making it unhealthy!

I've yet to see any comprehensive, statisically analyzed, peer-reviewed, multi-breed research on long-term health of dogs on different diets. Everything I've seen is anectdotal.

I'm not at all convinced that feeding a dog Pedigree equates to the health risks associated with smoking or even high cholesterol in humans. I'd argue that Pedigree is not nearly as bad for dogs as McDonalds is for humans- which often results in obesity, increased cholesterol, and spikes in insulin (along with providing little vitamins, minerals or fiber). Pedigree contains everything a dog needs, nutritionally. McDonald's hamburgers do not contain everything humans need- and usually provide too much fat/cholesterol and sodium for the average American.

I'm not going to feed Pedigree, or Ol'Roy, never have. If it came down to neccesity, I would. I know many people that do. Better a dog eat Ol'Roy and stay in the home, than be dumped to starve. Dogs have evolved with humans for something like 10,000 years. They have eaten, and apparently thrived, on anything from human excrement, to boiled oatmeal, to dried salmon.

I'm paying $50 for 40 lbs of performance (30/20) dog food. Raw would be at least twice to four times that around here, while grain free premium type foods run up to $97 for a 30 lb bag.

Another serious consideration is that if every dog owner in the USA fed raw, there would be widespread, major impacts on the price of human-grade meat, supply, demand, cost of grain and feed etc. Dog food companies use meat parts that humans don't consume, providing a use and a market for otherwise discarded meat parts. I'm very glad these animal parts do not go to waste. While there are a few meat types I'd never want to see put into dog food (euthanized pets being a major one), animal by-products are an important part of many American pet's diets.

I'm glad Pedigree is helping homeless pets. I'd like to see Innova or Wellness (to name a few) do the same. Sure, it's marketing, but if it helps homeless pets get adopted, I'm not complaining. Pedigree also seems the first to donate food in any type of animal emergency sitution. We just had them donate a ton (literally) of food to a puppy-mill rescue situation here. I think they also donated to pets in areas affected by recent tornadoes.

Two interesting (to me) articles on this subject. These are about people-food, but the economics involved are the same for pet food.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/what-does-200-calories-cost-the-economics-of-obesity.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/a-high-price-for-healthy-food/

A quote from the NYTimes article:

Healthy eating really does cost more. Although fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients, they also contain relatively few calories. Foods with high energy density, meaning they pack the most calories per gram, included candy, pastries, baked goods and snacks.

A 2,000-calorie diet would cost just $3.52 a day if it consisted of junk food, compared with $36.32 a day for a diet of low-energy dense foods. If you have $3 to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar. Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.

___

The same is true for dog food. The cheapest way to get calories into a dog is corn, corn syrup, and low-quality animal or vegetable fats. Meat is fairly expensive as a source of calories, even though it is pretty nutrient dense.