Since you joined our DFA discussions, our blog has grown and so have your fans. You’ve developed quite a following. So, please stay around. We love you.

If you still have any doubts, please be sure to re-read Richard’s response to your question. Chief White Hair speaks for me, too.

Even though our active discussion area receives about 100 to 150 comments each day, that’s actually way less than 1% of the total number of daily visitors to this website.

This week, for example, The Dog Food Advisor has hosted more than 18,000 visitors (and 90,000 page views) each and every day! And that’s amazing. According to Google Analytics and Alexa.com, we’ve now officially become the busiest website about dog food on the Internet.

And that’s what concerns me.

You see, these many thousands of impressionable folks are watching us — and our discussions — every minute of every day. They’re judging our knowledge, the value of this website, our reviews and (most importantly) the friendliness and warmth of our community.

So, personal attacks like some of the ones I’ve seen here lately have nothing to do with dog food. They offend and frighten new visitors — and make them too fearful to ask questions.

Not to mention, these mean-spirited remarks are a source of embarrassment to all of us — and cannot be tolerated.

Let there be no mistake. All comments that have anything whatsoever to do with canine nutrition or dog food will always be welcome — no matter how long, no matter how detailed and no matter what the level of scholarship or education.

I know some visitors (and some commentators, too) have complained that these more in-depth discussions can make it difficult to locate information and comments about the individual dog foods themselves.

But until I come up with a more definitive solution for this community wide problem, we’ll all have to learn to live with each others’ remarks and presentation styles as they are. Tolerance must be the guiding principle for all of us.

If after reading this comment, you still find it necessary to criticize, demean or insult a fellow commentator, you can expect your comment to be immediately removed.

Please take just a moment and think of how truly important it is to respect the opinions and posting styles of others — and to allow each participant the right to express herself without any fear of unreasonable criticism, verbal retribution or personal attacks.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for your kind comment. I do try to remain objective and post factual information. I appreciate the comment that you have seen many dogs consume grain based commercial diets without all the effects as posted here. (Heck not even all holistic veterinarians think grains in a diet are problematic for all dogs and DogtorJ recommends potato based diets for those using commercial foods, yet others vilify that ingredient.)

There may be at issue a population bias, meaning that the owners of dogs that consume diets containing ingredients that are vilified, and do well with them, are not posting in these types of forums.

The field of nutrogenomics is in its infancy and I have no doubt that there are genetic subsets that are intolerant of particular food types. But I think it is incorrect to make broad based statements based on a subset of the population. I think it more correct to say gluten causes villous atrophy in a susceptible population which then takes into account all the people/dogs who can eat gluten without problems.

I also don’t like to see cause attributed when none is established. Villous atrophy for example, is a tissue level diagnosis and in my opinion should not be made without the tissue in hand. (By my understanding, if widespread it should lead to some pretty profound GI signs!) So if an animal/person improves after removing a particular ingredient from the diet than I think the best we can say to describe that observation is to call it an “adverse food reaction to ingredient “X”. Just my 2 cents

A wee bit sensitive? Lmao. I made a statement to Aimee, in re to how I feel reading this blog as of late-and several other posters have mentioned the same thing in the past, so get over it. Calling you out on your beliefs? Since when does a poster have to feel that by questioning statements and presenting opposing thought processes, it must certaintly be a personal vendetta or attack on another?

Mike S has always entertained opposing thoughts and expressions of belief, so unless he states that we must all agree and hold hands singing “Kumbaya”, I shall continue to present my theories, beliefs and opinions. And, I for one will continue to do it without throwing a temper tantrum and threatening to leave the playground.

And, I stand by my statement that in the thousands of dogs that we have dealt with, gluten/grain issues have seemed to be the exception to the rule, rather than the rule. For those that have sensitivities, it makes sense to remove them from their diet-but just because I am allergic to strawberries does not mean they should be removed from everyone’s diet-