TDG

to be honest, i don't see how nonprofit organizations could be affected by legislation that regulates commercial operations. i could be wrong, but it doesn't make sense.

Best Friends L.A. is having a fundraiser dog walk on sunday november 13th to benefit shelter dogs. you can find all the details here: [url]http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1244507[/url] [url]http://strutyourmuttla.com[/url] anyone from the greater LA area or southern california in general interested? i thought it might be a nice occasion for local people and their dogs to meet in person. :)

raven, nichts zu danken. gern geschehen! :) back to english, so nobody feels left out :D thanks for the compliments, it always makes me really happy to hear people like the site. not everyone may agree with all my points of view on dog food, but at least it's a place where info is available from an unbiased source and people can take away what they find useful. and if anyone ever has a specific question, please do feel free to contact me directly, i don't always manage to keep up with all the forums i visit, but i regularly check my email. as far as dog food goes, there has been another update today, canidae slightly changed their existing formulas and a new, limited chicken & rice formula will be available soon.

raven, yes, i did all the work myself. and thanks for the offer, but i don't need help translating - i'm german! :)

the article on menadione is relatively new, but wasn't part of last night's update. if you look at the bottom of a page, you can always see when it has last been updated. :)

The Dog Food Project has been updated. Click [url=http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood]here[/url] to see what's new. :)

[quote]i think the only decent brand that petsmart carries is their brand called Authority[/quote] actually that's not a particularly great food at all. it's petsmart's private label food and frankly not something i'd recommend. the best food petsmart carries is blue buffalo, and if that is too expensive, i'd recommend royal canin as it is much better than other mainstream foods. mixing different kinds of food isn't a good idea either, since they are all formulated differently and contain different amounts of nutrients in different portion sizes. innova and california natural are nice foods, and so are healthwise and karma. canidae is good, also eagle pack, pinnacle, solid gold, advanced pet diets, some avoderm formulas, and timberwolf organics, even tho their customer service totally sucks.

[quote]Doesn't freezing the yogurt kill of the bacteria? So would this be counterproductive since the reason for feeding cultured yogurt is for the probiotics? Just wondering, as I sometimes end up with the dogs' yogurt going bad (Goo doesn't like it, and will refuse her food if I put it in there for more than a day of two in a row, so I have to feed it on different days to fool her), and it'd make it a lot easier if I could just freeze some of it. One more, when I do start adding veggies and fruits, should I feed combos of different things every day, or only one type per day? I'm planning on blending and freezing the veggies/fruits, so either way would be no problem, just curious as to what's considered the norm. I'm thinking a variety, but not quite sure.[/quote] it can kill off some of them, but if you don't freeze for too long, it'll be fine. heat destroys more than cold. as for the veggies, you can either use one kind at a time, or a mix. personally i make batches of 3-5 kinds of veggies that last 2-3 weeks. for one i might use carrots, broccoli and yellow squash, and the next time zucchini, sweet potato and green beans etc. the batch i made today had broccoli, sweet potato, yellow squash, white potato, sweet potato and tomatoes. :)

[quote name='Ravyn']I know that you can't make your dog 'sick' by giving it too much pumpkin, but if it has diarrhea and you give it too much, it WILL make diarrhea worse. I guarantee it. I've experienced it. Like an orange flood...[/quote] that might be true for an individual dog, but it isn't an automatic thing that is guaranteed to happen to every dog. some dogs can't even tolerate pumpkin and it doesn't work for them at all, even in small doses. banana is an alterantive that usually works pretty well too.

gooeydog, your plan is fine. it's even possible to feed kibble and raw as a mix if that is what you want to do. some people claim it's a bad idea because of different digestion rates, but that is completely untrue. :) in very rare cases an individual dog may have some difficulty adjusting, but the whole thing about digestion times differing so much is an old wives tale. diarrhea can be both detox or stomach upset, some animals just don't take well to change. it is incorrect that too much pumpkin will worsen diarrhea. there is absolutely [b]no[/b] such thing as a "pumpkin overdose" and it works as well for loosening up constipation as it works for firming up diarrhea. you need to find the dose that works for your own dog, but don't worry about giving more. it's rich in vitamin K and A (in form of beta carotene, so no danger of toxicity). many people i know use a mix of canned pumpkin and cultured yogurt as a filling for frozen kongs.

please buy the book "Before & After Getting Your Puppy" by Ian Dunbar. you can buy it online from amazon or order it at any bookstore, the ISBN number is 1577314557. it's an awesome book that gives you details on everything from housetraining to properly socializing and training your dog.

I received some sad news today. Dogster, an internet community for dog owners claiming to be very concerned about animal's wellbeing, "proudly announced" a new sponsor today: <blockquote>[i]Some great news! We are proud to announce that Dad's Pet Care is our first site-wide sponsor. Believe me, we thought long and hard about choosing a pet food partner. Dad's has been family owned and operated since 1933. They purchase ingredients directly from suppliers without using large commodity brokers. Most importantly, they share the same passion that we all do for pets and their well being. This partnership is the first major step in helping us reach some of our 2005 and 2006 goals which include a ton of site improvements, new features and lots and lots of fun. So let's welcome them to the family and stay tuned for information on new Dad's products and very special offers to our members.[/i]</blockquote> [list][*]They do [b]not[/b] contain any sources of quality animal protein [*]They do [b]not[/b] contain any sources of quality muscle meat [*]They contain many generic sources of animal byproducts and fats that are not clealy defined [*]They are heavily grain and grain byproduct based [*]They contain worthless fillers like "corn gluten" and "soybean seed coats" [*]They are preserved with the synthetic perservative BHA [*]They contain menadione - artificial vitamin K, which can have serious side effects [*]One product contains corn syrup as a main ingredient and propylene glycol [/list] With poor quality ingredients like in the [url=http://www.mordanna.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=31885]Dad's[/url] and [url=http://www.mordanna.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=31886]Econ-o-mets[/url] product lines, it hardly matters whether the company has been "family owned and operated since 1933" or that "ingredients are purchased directly from suppliers without using large commodity brokers". The fact remains that the dog food ingredients used by [url=http://www.dadspetcare.com]Dad's Petcare Inc.[/url] are not what you would want to see in a brand your dog will be eating every single day for a long period of time. For more information, please refer to the articles on [url=http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=identify]Identifying better products[/url] and [url=http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=list1] Ingredients to avoid[/url] - and if you truly care, send an email to [Email][email protected][/Email] and let them know what you think about their decision. Feel free to cross-post.

bless your heart for saving yet another poor dog, HF. you truly are a saint. :)

i'd say it depends whether the dog is sensitive to either of them. wheat is more of a potential allergen than rice, but unless that's an issue, it doesn't really matter that much. nutritionally both rice flour and (unenriched) whear flour are very similar, with the exception of some vitamins: [url]http://nutritiondata.com/compare.php?q=01-02s14f2.01-02s14hp[/url]

:jumpie:

as discussed elsewhere already, nutro = poor quality food at a premium price. :( it's quite sad. you can feed better brands for the same amount of money.

buy some canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin, not the spiced pie filling mix) at the grocery store. feed 1-2 teaspoons per meal until things normalize. and get the dog a better quality food :), neither purina nor science diet is a good choice. see the link to the "dog food project" in my signature. hope it helps.

hehe hi :) not much time for web surfing these days, but i am checking in now and then!

human products are fine. :) personally i use NOW brand's acidophilus powder. dogs have a higher metabolism and a shorter digestive tract, so giving a full human dose 3-4 times a week works well. i'd stay away from most products especially made for pets, since they generally contain ridiculously low amounts of CFU. if it isn't at least a billion per serving, it's not worth buying.

grapes/raisins and onions are the only things you really want to stay away from. there are veggies you don't want to overfeed (e.g. uncooked spinach and other "dark leafy greens" contain high amounts of oxalates) but fed in moderation they are not a problem as long as the dog doesn't have specific existing health problems. don't try too many at a time, so you can keep track of whatever doesn't work for your particular dog, e.g. many get bad gas from raw cabbage-type veggies, so it's better to cook/steam them instead.

bavarian hound- noted, I've only ever seen one black & white photo, it looked fairly low-slung to me --- actually it's the "alpine dachsbracke" that's the shorter legged breed. i just looked up the correct english name and it is actually "Bavarian Mountain Scenthound" german spitz- thanks, my info here was murky. should I include the 3 middle sizes as breeds? --- i guess they aren't as much separate "breeds" as varieties. hard to describe. see below: --- just like dachshunds come in 3 different sizes (standard, miniature and "rabbit dachshund") which are only distinguished by chest circumference (measured at a minimum age of 15 months) and aren't really different breeds. measurements are over 35cm for the standard dachshund, over 30 and up to 35cm for the miniature and 30cm and below for the "rabbit dachshund". this separation into 3 varieties is recognized by the FCI but not by US kennel clubs. also note, per the FCI standard the maximum allowed weight is about 19.8 pounds while the AKC standard lists "usually between 16 and 32 pounds". good grief, i don't see that kind of dog going down a badger or fox hole. but enough of that before i get pissed off again at how they ruined my breed. lol kromfohrlander- noted. It is a general purpose farm dog right? --- it is actually described in the breed standard as a "house and companion dog". listed in the FCI nomenclature in section 9 "companion and toy dogs", even tho it is probably the largest breed in this group (between 38cm and 46cm at the withers). muensterlaender- spelling noted- trying to keep description as generic as possible- i'll double check, but I'm pretty sure I have a listing for three sizes --- that would really be news to me. :) grosser muensterlaender (large): males 60 to 65cm at the withers, females 58 to 63 cm. FCI group 7 (pointing dogs), section 1 (continental pointing dogs), 102 kleiner muensterlaender (small): males 52-56cm, females 50-54cm, FCI group 7, section 1, 118

i didn't look over everything really carefully, but here are some things that jumped out at me: Alpine Daschbrake? -med sized, heavy built, coarse-coated hound --- the correct spelling is "Alpine Dachsbracke" (dachs = badger) Bavarian Mountain Hound?-short legged sceny hound --- this is not a short legged breed. also known as "Bayerische Gebirgsbracke". German Spitz -similar to small am eskimo --- the "german spitz" comes in 5 different sizes, from the smallest, which is referred to as a pomeranian in the US, to the largest, which is also known as keeshond. from the standard, height at the withers: a) Wolfsspitz (Keeshond): 49 cm +/- 6 cm b) Gro

you should check the sore daily to make sure it doesn't get worse. also, cleaning once or twicew daily will speed up healing. if this is a hot spot, it would be better to shave the area and administer a drying agent rather than covering it up so it can't breathe. clean it well with a mild antiseptic soap and pat dry. apply witch hazel (you can get this at any drug store) 3-4 times daily. this will help dry out the spot so it can heal better.

it's not safe to give any form of heat treated (cooked/roasted/barbecued/sterilized etc.) bone. the process doesn't make them "softer", but more brittle and likely to splinter. the changed bone structure from heating also makes the bone less digestible and more likely to cause impaction in the intestines. bacteria aren't an issue for normal, healthy dogs, they have the digestive tract built to deal with it. they ingest more bacteria from licking their own butts or snacking on cat poop etc. than from chewing on a bone. knuckle bones/femurs (beef, veal, pork, lamb etc.) are great as recreational bones for bigger dogs, neck and rib bones (also beef, veal, pork, lamb) are much softer and suitable for smaller dogs. stuff like chicken necks, backs and wings, turkey necks and wings, pig's feet is more meaty and considered a meal rather than just a recreational chew bone. it's true that pork can possibly cause trichinosis, the incidence is very, very low in the U.S. tho, and freezing pork and pork bones to be fed to dogs for a few days will take care of the parasite. the pet industry has done a great job brainwashing people, telling them that raw bones are "unsafe" for various reasons, but the truth is that they are cheap, widely available and healthy - but of course not as great of a source for profit than all the junk especially marketed for dogs. i've been feeding raw bones to my own dogs for 25 years (even when i wasn't feeding a raw diet) and never had a single incident. my grandparents on my dad's side of the family had GSDs for over 60 years, they were also given raw bones and never had any problems. anyone who wants more professional advice on the topic, read the book "raw meaty bones" by dr. tom lonsdale. he's one of the vets the pet food industry doesn't have in their pocket so he truly offers an unbiased opinion. :)

hi katmoon! small world! :D