[gebo]

Wow,

This is one mean spirited place to post. You need to wear body armor to come here. Somebody asks a question, you give your opinion, then you get bitten by someone on the sidelines if your opinion or experience is different than theirs. You don’t have to worry about me posting again. As Rodney Dangerfield said, “Man, rough crowd!”

Mom2Cavs,
Please accept my apologies if you thought I was calling or suggesting you (specifically you) were ignorant. That was not my intention. I was writing with an audience in mind when making those inferences.

Dogs will lick each other urine, eat one another’s turds, munch on dead carcasses, eat their own and one another’s vomit, leak each other’s privates and drink water out of an old mud puddle but bless my soul, no grain will ever touch their lips. Yeah, it seems a little extreme to me as well 😉

[gebo]

C’mon guys and gals. Doggiedoc22 doesn’t need to supply his/her credentials. Please read her posts. She is simply saying to do some research on our own and quit listening to everyone’s opinions. It’s better to make decisions based on facts, right?. I don’t see why we need to remain ignorant if there is scientific research out there that can help us and our dogs. I actually spent time researching “corn” and found out what I had been told and believed was not exactly true. I’m just pushing for informed dog owners. You can feed whatever you like and I’ll probably not change the world but there may actually be one person who’ll read this and go and study the research and be able to make a decision based on facts, not merely “he said-she said.” I empathize with some of you as it took me 15 or so years to actually look at the facts concerning dog foods. I’m still today studying and reading to decrease my ignorance. I’ve still got a ways to go as long as I’m feeding Bil-Jac 😉

[gebo]

My goodness. We have a a source of actual research. Hear ye, hear ye…..Great and informative read DoggiDoc22!

By the way, from 20 years in the feed milling business, you must have a starch to hold the other ingredients together. Wheat, corn, peas, tapioca, potatoes, etc. You cannot make an extruded or pelletized product without a binder. SOooo, you need to find the most nutritious binder that will still hold your ingredients together. Corn was not used as an inexpensive grain to substitute for meat. Wheat has almost double the protein and is a much better binder than corn. Corn can be abused if used in large quantities of a mix, but it is not in certain brands. If it is the first ingreadient, then I would not feed that food. If it is down the list a ways, no problem.

[gebo]

Mom2cavs,

In response in why I go to the manufacturer, they are the ones making the food. When I talk to the nutritionist(s) and find out more about their ingredients as to how they are handled and where they come from and why they use such and such, I am better able to use that info in my research. I don’t go to a Ford dealer when I want to know about a Chevrolet. I’ll go to a Chevy dealer first, evaluate what they tell me and then i might make a trip to a Ford dealer to get their opinion as to why their Ford is better than a Chevrolet. Make sense? I’m not so naive that I just believe every single word a company says about their product. But I am wise enough and open minded enough to hear them out and then make a reasonable decision based on what they tell me.

You believe what your Vet told you and I understand where you are coming from. I left a Vet I’d had for over 10 years who I would have trusted alone with my wife. He diagnosed one of my dogs with 2 types of cancer. I went for a second opinion and it turns out they were fat deposits. He cannot look at me in Walmart. He and I know what he tried to do. Hey, I don’t always believe what my personal Doctor tells me. I like to look at actual research and listen to that still small voice on the inside of me. When you have some time to kill, call up Bil-Jac and ask to speak with their nutritionist. You know, just for kicks. Ask him all the questions you have about canine nutrition. He spent over 45 minutes with me one afternoon. After he explained their ingredients, suppliers, their unique manufacturing process, etc., I was convinced to give it a try. I realize you may never get past the corn, but at least you may be able to reinforce your current beliefs.

[gebo]

Sharyorkie,

If you haven’t made up your mind, try a 6 lb bag of Bil-Jac Small Breed select. It has worked for me as I had 4 picky eaters and this is the only food I have found they all love. It will make you giggle when you watch them tear after it as I am 55 years old an have never seen anything like it. Some people will tell you that corn in a dog food is a bad ingredient and you should avoid it at all costs. I believe otherwise. I used to automatically eliminate any food that had corn in it because I read on the internet that it was bad for dogs. This is a great website but it is mostly made up of opinions (me included) and people’s personal testimonies. Do more research and call a few companies.

I got sick and tired of feeding some of the 5 Star foods and watching my dogs not eat it, get runny stools, get weird skin issues, runny eyes, fart up the living room, etc. I went contrarian and fed Bil-Jac and won’t go back. Hey, give it a try. They say they actually have a money back guarantee on their food.

[gebo]

I fed many of the 5 star foods to my dogs and was never totally pleased with results I saw. I went against the grain (pun intended) and started feeding Bil-Jac and became amazed at how much my dogs loved it. A lot of advisors will say I am uninformed, ignorant, etc. but I don’t feel that is this case. My puppies and dogs are doing great! There is great advice here in this forum but a lot of it is opinions (just like mine is) so it needs to be taken as such. Mine included!

I am not “rich” either and if I feed some of these 5 Star foods I couldn’t afford to make my car payments. Check out the April issue of Popular Science magazine on “The Science of the Kibble.” You’ll never look at dog food the same again. Very eye opening. Many companies are now making food to appeal to the purchaser, not the consumer. Companies are in business to make money and increase the value of their stock. If we want “grain free” as purchasers, they will make “grain free” irregardless if it is truly better for our dogs. The article states a company is now in the process of developing “vegetarian” cat food!
Understand? Cat’s are carnivores…

Read, study, do some research and think for yourself and your dog(s). God gave us all a brain. We just need to use it 😉

[Author]

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