It is very confusing these days determining just what dog food and treats we should be buying for our beloved furkids. Between all natural, human-grade, premium, and organic labels, there are sadly many ways that manufacturers and various small businesses can mislead us about the makeup of their products. And, their explanations as to why their product is really just fine should be making us buyers beware. So, take the time to read the information below, and to explore the referenced articles and resources.

We do not harp on too many things here at the Land of PureGold. But, one thing that is important to us is the quality of what we put into our bodies. That is why organic is so critical in our beliefs, as you can see at our pages on Organic Foods or Bust.

Dr. David A. Dzanis, in his article, Interpreting Pet Food Labels, indicates that "Many foods are labeled as 'premium,' and some now are 'super premium' and even 'ultra premium.' Other products are touted as 'gourmet' items. Products labeled as premium or gourmet are not required to contain any different or higher quality ingredients, nor are they held up to any higher nutritional standards than are any other complete and balanced products. The term 'natural' is often used on pet food labels, although that term does not have an official definition either. For the most part, 'natural' can be construed as equivalent to a lack of artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives in the product. As mentioned above, artificial flavors are rarely employed anyway. Artificial colors are not really necessary, except to please the pet owner's eye. If used, they must be from approved sources, the same as for human foods. 'Natural' is not the same as 'organic.' The latter term refers to the conditions under which the plants were grown or animals were raised. There are no official rules governing the labeling of organic foods for pets."

In the Natural Foods Merchandiser Volume XXVI/Number 3 (March 2005), Marty Traynor Spencer penned the following interesting article: "Old Dogs, New Tricks." Older dogs fed a diet rich in antioxidants, exercised twice a week, and given toys and other dogs to play with performed better on cognitive tests and were more likely to learn new tricks than inactive dogs fed regular chow. The study, published in the journal, Neurobiology of Aging, divided 42 beagles, ages 7 to 11, into four groups. One group got standard care and diet; a second ate dog food fortified with vitamins E and C, vegetables and citrus; a third got exercise and social play but a standard diet; and the fourth got the fortified diet and the exercise and play routine. After two years, the dogs were required to learn a new trick. The results: 100 percent of the dogs in the diet and exercise group, 80 percent in the exercise group and 66 percent in the diet group were able to perform the new task—but only 25 percent in the control group did. And the news may be just as good for the pets’ guardians as it is for the animals themselves. Dogs’ brains mature much like humans’ and are susceptible to age-related declines in learning and memory. The researchers speculate that an enriched diet and a stimulating environment could stave off aging for dogs and their people.

The Positives to Weight Control fat
Besides not understanding food labels and information, many people have difficulty knowing how much to feed to their dogs and how to tell if their dogs are too heavy? Well, try this method which comes from Martin Zucker's book, The Veterinarians' Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs: Safe and Effective Alternative Treatments and Healing Techniques. Stand above your dog. Look down and see if the dog has a waist— that is, a visible indentation behind the ribs. You want to see an hourglass figure, with the rib cage wider than the abdomen. The stomach should be tucked up, not loose and flabby. Gently place the palms of both hands against the animal's ribs. You want to be able to feel the ribs. If you can't feel the ribs, your dog is probably too heavy. Many obese animals have fatty pouches in the groin area.

Weight Loss Hints and Resources
  Cut back your dog's regular food by ¼ cup, and instead add some yummy pureed vegetables instead.
       The weight will come off and your dog's appetite will be satiated.
  Give your dog a muffin in place of a portion of his regular food. He won't even know what he's missing!
  Provide parboiled carrots which are great for the munchies!
 Weight Control (article by Dr. Chris Zink)
 The Trail from Fat to Fit (article by Audi Donamor)
 Stop Itch: Food from Scratch (article by Audi Donamor)   
  Dr. Pitcairn: Calcium Supplementation
 Homemade Treat Recipes (from Suzi Beber)
 Books on Diet & Nutrition 

What To Know
Desired foods SHOULD contain . . .
Premium sources of protein — These should be whole meats and if meal is used, it should be from a single source (chicken meal rather than poultry meal)
Whole-meat or meal should be one of the first two ingredients — For canines, meat is the most important natural source of protein. Whole meat is always better than meal. And, chicken is always better than poultry, as this is a general term which could indicate any type of bird, such as turkey, duck, geese, or chicken.
Grains that are whole and unprocessed and also vegetables — Nutrients and enzymes have a greater likelihood of remaining intact when they come from unprocessed food.

But, Desired foods Should NOT contain . . .
Meat byproducts — Meat byproducts are not handled as carefully as whole meat, and are very poor in quality. They include such questionable parts as lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, stomachs and intestines. Digest is particularly bad to see in an ingredient list as this byproduct has been treated with heat and had water added to it to then create a slurry.
Generic fats or proteins — Generic fats or proteins are a mixed bag as they can come from a number of combined sources. Therefore, beef or chicken fat is better than animal or poultry fat. And, lamb meal is better than meat meal. 
Food fragments —  These include ingredients such as corn gluten, and brewer's rice. Anything with the word corn (corn meal, corn gluten, corn syrup) affixed to it is dangerous as many dogs have allergies to corn.
Artificial colors
Sweeteners — To make unappealing kibbles more enticing, sweeteners such as glycyrrhizin, sucrose and corn syrup are added.
Propylene glycol — This is a toxic ingredient when it is consumed in large amounts. It is sometimes seen in the ingredients of chewy foods as it helps them to keep moist.
Added salt — Salt can be added to foods to function as a preservative. Just like added salt is not healthy for humans, it can upset your dog's calcium potassium balance.
Artificial preservatives (including BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin) — This ingredient is not easily detected as companies do not have to mention that BHA & BHT have been utilized. This is due to the fact that they are needed to stabilize the fat in foods to keep them from spoiling. If you have a kibble with >12% fat, and animal fat is listed as an ingredient, then it must have BHA & BHT as stabilizers. However, there is an exception when the label indicates that the fat was preserved with "mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid" which happens to be Vitamins E & C. These are the the desired stabilizers.

BHA is actually butylated hydroxyanisole & BHT is butyhlated hydroxytoluene. In the literature, these preservatives have been associated with liver damage, fetal abnormalities, and metabolic stress. And, there may be a relationship to cancer. The chemical preserative, Ethoxyquin, also has alleged associations to liver, kidney & thyroid dysfunctions, reproductive failure, and cancer.

Web Articles and Resources

API: What's in Pet Food?   API: Selecting a Dog Food and Sample Diets   FDA: Interpreting Food Labels   FDA: Interpreting Treat Labels   FDA: Raw Food Labeling   Organic Foods or Bust.  Why Vets Recommend 'Designer' Chow     Dog Food Project  The Whole Dog Journal  Seeds of Doubt

Top 10 Fruits and Veggies for Your Best Friend   Recall Must Lead to a Revolution (includes chart)   Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins: Pet Food Industry     Dr. Jean Hofve: Pet Food Regulation     Dr. Jean Hofve: Pet Food Marketing Hype   Dr. Jean Hofve: Mad Cow Disease & Your Pets  Dr. Judith Herman: Home Cooking is Best    Top 5 Benefits of Natural Organic Pet Food for Your Dog   Ann Martin: How safe is a raw diet? Not very     U.S. food imports rarely inspected

Vital Choice Wild Alaskan Pure Sockeye Salmon Oil    Our Golden Alfie has gotten 6000 units daily since 2007, before that getting 3000-4000 units a day. Boy, what a difference it has made. His coat is incredible, and at his now senior age of 9 (2008), the extra softgels keep down joint inflammation associated with increasing age and arthritis. It is a must-have supplement! Derived exclusively from wild sockeye salmon caught in the cold, pristine waters off Alaska, this 100% PURE oil is not blended with any inferior salmon or other fish oils. Here's why this is unique: To achieve high ratios of EPA to DHA, commercially available salmon oil capsules are fortified with other fish oils. One benefit of Vital Choice Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Oil is that it has the lowest cholesterol levels, in contrast to the higher levels found in farmed salmon oil. The freshest and purest oils available, Sockeye contains the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids of any salmon. It's orange color is due to the high levels of the carotenoid and astaxanthin (occurring naturally in sockeye) that helps the eyes and cardiovascular system. Alaskan sockeye salmon are the richest salmon species in the powerful biological antioxidant astaxanthin, a natural caroteniod that imparts a rich orange glow to the oil and eliminates the need for added tocopherols present in other brands. Astaxanthin is a natural carotenoid that gives our oil its rich orange color—and is up to 100 times more potent than Vitamin E at quenching singlet oxygen ‘free radicals’. There are NO artificial preservatives, color or sweeteners; corn, dairy, starch, wheat, or yeast. DR. DRESSLER'S DOG CANCER BLOG Food and dog cancer: omega 6 fatty acids Many people ask me if dog food has something to do with the development of cancer in their pet. Before I devoted my time to studying the topic, I never gave it much thought. Nah, I would say. Dog cancer is mostly genetic, viral, a few carcinogens…who knows? ”There is no real cause of cancer”, I would say. Baloney. There are causes of cancer, and they are real. Most of us vets just don’t take the time to really investigate the literature. Due to our personal biases, lack of motivation, no time, fatigue, or professional indoctrination, we sometimes condemn before investigating. A great example is dietary omega 6 fatty acid excess. Fats are grouped according to their chemical structure. Two biggies are the omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acid groups. Dog’s bodies, and our own, are designed to have a certain ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids in the diet. Too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3, and bad things happen. These bad things are not minor, folks. Excessive intake of omega 6 fatty acids suppress cells that are key in the body’s natural cancer fighting ability (Natural Killer cells and cytotoxic T cells). The omega 6 group promotes inflammation, which is critical in cancer development. They also stimulate cancer cells directly by turning on a path in the cancer cells called PI Kinase, one of the central signaling  events in cancer cells which make them behave like…cancer cells. Where do omega 6 fatty acids come from? Next time you are at the grocery store, read the panel on some popular dog foods. Look for corn (grain, oil, meal), vegetable oil, and beef fat (lard, tallow), to name a few. Foods are put together to be successful enterprises (profit), and omega 6-rich items are favored for this reason. There are ways to offset the effect of the omega 6 excess in dog foods. Dog food and cancer: help fight this problem! In the last post I wrote about one of the issues in most commercial dog foods contributing to dog cancer: omega 6 fatty acid excess. This is a group of fats that are found in large quantities in corn products, vegetable oils, and meat products like tallow and lard, to name a few sources. Dogs in the wild eat lean meats (imagine an antelope’s body) and digested plant matter from the prey’s intestines. The diets we are feeding them currently are inappropriate, and in some ways harmful. This omega 6 fat excess sets the stage for cancer development, stimulates cancer cell growth, and decreases the body’s natural cancer-fighting abilities. Our dog’s bodies can better handle the omega 6 excess by providing them with another type of fatty acid that will decrease the harmful effects of too much omega 6. These are oils containing omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in high concentrations in fish oils. I outline this topic in detail in the upcoming book, but for the purposes of this discussion let’s focus on oil from sardines, menhaden, mackerel , salmon and so on. Cod liver oil is NOT a good source for omega 3 supplementation. If your loved dog has a cancer at this time, you want to get as much omega 3 in him or her as possible. Start slowly and work your way up to large amounts over about 2 weeks to avoid an upset stomach. Give with food. For a dog about 60 lbs, you want about 18 grams of good quality fish oil containing omega 3’s. This usually means about 15-20 of the typical capsules daily, which is a large amount! For double strength caps, halve the dose. Adjust up or down for the size of your dog. The capsules can be popped and the oil mixed in food if your dog resists eating the capsules by themselves. Watch for digestive upset (vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite), and if so, stop and then later start with lower doses increased more slowly. Krill oil is, in my opinion, the best option for supplementing fatty acids for a variety of reasons… If your loved dog is not diagnosed with cancer and is on typical commercial food, I would have you begin an omega 3 fatty acid supplement at lower doses than those dogs with cancer. For a 60 lb dog, my opinion is a standard supplemental dose of roughly 4-6 grams of omega 3-containing capsules daily. Remember to start with low doses than work up over 2 weeks. There is limited, theoretical evidence that you should stop these supplements 10 days before surgery as they may have mild blood-thinning effect. Do this as a precaution, to be on the safe side. Health and Well-Being ealth
	Leba III Dental Herbal Spray This herbal for both dogs and cats stimulates the enzymes in saliva, so cleaning away plaque buildup.		Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil Whole, unrefined pharmaceutical grade Sockeye, highest omega-3s & orange antioxidant astaxanthin!
	Himalayan Dog Chews   Ancient Nepal recipe from mountains at Mt. Everest, this lasting chew of yak & cow milk.		Organic Healing Honey 100% Organic Active 15+ Manuka Healing Honey and treats for health & immune issues. Web exclusive.
	Colorado Elk Antler Chews Free-ranging, ranch raised elk shed these naturally. Completely unprocessed, one can last months.		Wild Sockeye Salmon & Tuna Vital Choice 100% Wild Alaskan Red Sockeye in pouch for travel. Also, troll-caught Albacore Tuna.
	Organic Sweet Potato Chews Organic Sweet Potato and Hemp Chews and Organic Sweet Potato Chips from Oregon. With Vitamin E.		Organic Treats & Food Barkwheats, Plato, Dr. Becker's, Primal Pet, Nature Nosh, Carnivore Kisses, Venison, CheesePlease.
	Organic Wild Blueberries A supreme snack for both you and your dog. USDA rated as the #1 fruit in antioxidant activity.		Free-Range Bullys & More South American free-range grass fed cattle, no antibiotics, hormones, chemicals, smoke, or radiation.
	A Spot of Organic Tea Brew for you & your dog. Also, Washi Storage Tins, bamboo scoop. FREE organic teas bonus!

WETNōZ — Award Winning Designer Dog Accessories
Purchases help fund Cancer Treatment Grants for working dogs

Our homes are a direct reflection of who we are, our animal companions surely part of the family. Therefore, dog bowls should provide the utmost service to our furkids while becoming part of the design and ambience of our homes. With elevated dog bowls, a unique cat bowl, placemats, and wonderful dog lover gifts, Austin, TX based Wetnōz is providing accessories that feature both top-notch utility and award winning design. In fact, the Ultra Big Pooch Bowl is used at one of the local restaurants that is known for their special salad creations.

Not just dog bowls — Wetnōz provides unique collections for your animal companion and your home. For larger dogs there are raised dog feeders up to 5 cups, and for smaller dogs the 3/4 cup Pee Wee Pet Bowl. From the Ultra Collection made from highly polished surgical grade stainless steel with non-skid rubber feet and handles, to the Metro Line that combines brushed stainless steel fused to brilliantly colored translucent high grade ABS plastic, the goal is to integrate design and functionality. The stainless-steel bowls and treat jar feature sandblasted interiors and hand-polished exteriors. And, gleaming 18/10 stainless steel distinguishes Wetnōz  bowls from the standard stainless steel pet bowl on the market. Sturdy 2.0 mm thick surgical grade steel is used to add weight and durability, emphasizing overall quality.

Only the best Pet Products — Wetnōz stainless steel bowls offer a hygienic, chemically-inert eating surface (a definite MUST for raw diets) while providing style and grace to your kitchen. They also offer ergonomically correct elevated feeders that allow your dog to eat with less of the stress involved from floor elevation bowls. Designed for anti-whisker stress, their feline food dish brings serenity to meals.

Only the best for You — As seen on Greatest American Dog, Wetnōz provides the finest luxury pet accessories available. Style and design alone are not enough. You need accessories that improve the quality of your lifestyle as well as your animals. Stainless steel is easy to clean and lasts a lifetime. Many of the bowls also have “scoop and serve” functionality. Simplifying mealtime makes your life easier and adds valuable time to your day. In addition, many kitchens are furnished with stainless steel refrigerators, stoves, and cookware. Designed to coordinate with today's homes, they target the style conscious and design-savvy consumers who demand quality products that blend will into their living environment.
 

Shop the ULTRA Collection (all stainless)

Shop the METRO Collection (stainless fused to plastic)