The Noble Quest for Kinder and Gentler "Nutrition" Postings

I have heard of the name, but I don't know much about it...do you own it?

(sorry to be off-topic, lol)

ORIGINAL: willowchow

Regarding feeding--- A word to anyone who reads these nutrition threads and gets upset.  I used to read every topic about nutrition and want to change my whole routine everytime I read something (an opinion) on what I was or wasn't doing.  Be comfortable with what you are doing and if it's working well for your dog, be done.  Don't put yourself in this obsessive frame of mind constantly worrying about dog food like I did.  I think I missed a year of fun with Willow because I was in Petco looking at labels.  Life is too short.  If you need to change because of a problem, that's different.  But, don't get sucked into this constant worry that you're not doing the right thing.  There are lots of things that cause a dog to have bad health besides nutrition.  They need lots more to be healthy besides food too, grooming and exercise, interaction, love.  Don't spend time defending yourself on threads like this when you know you are doing the best, most affordable and what's right for you.  Don't compare yourself to what others are doing, you know what's working for you. 

To Billy---I see a pattern in your threads and I'll start reporting them if you don't knock it off.  I've been on this board a long time and I'm tired of every so often seeing it flare up because of posters like you.  This board isn't a joke to those of us who have been here. 

I am new to forums like this one, and I agree with you.  Before adopting my dog, I read everything I could get my hands on regarding nutrition among ohter things.  Decided to feed raw, which has worked for me, but I don't knock off processed food either. I  keep  in stock canned food by Merrick which I give to Romeo, when I forget to thaw his food out.  I also stop by my favorite BBQ place after work sometimes and get a brisket plate for me and 1/2 lb of brisket w/o sauce for Romeo.  When I order Hawaiian pizza, I give him a slice and I get extra kisses.  And since he is crazy about bananas, every night before we go to bed I make banana smoothies, I have mine with oreo cookies and he has his with carob cookies.  He also goes bonkers for pineapples, so he gets  some after dinner almost every day.  My vet does not think pizza is a good idea, but Romeo likes it and he is healthy, so he will continue to have pizza.  I have also chosen hollistic medicine over western although I am not completely opposed to it, since I am a med student.  With Romeo, hollistic medicine happens to work better.  He also gets to play hard, either at the dog park or doggie day care, he also goes hiking with me or to a friends ranch where he gets to chase whatever he wants to his heart content, sometimes the ducks have taught him a lesson by chasing him instead, he gets all the love in the world from me and all of these things have contributed to his physical and emotional well being.  There are people, who think I am out of my mind for treating my dog the way do, they even call me scary, I respect their opinion, and keep on doing what I do.  They are also not as fortunate as I am, to have a bond with such an exceptional being.

I like forums like this one.  I learn a lot from them, and at the end I take everything into consideration and make my own decision about what I think is best for my dog, based on his physical condition, likes and dislikes.

Thank you for moderating, sometimes it gets to be a bit too much.

wow--what a long and ultimately pointless thread (seeing as even many of those advocating a kinder and gentler stance are not doing so themselves)....

A word about companies, quality, and bottom lines--I work for a company who makes fire surpression equiptment. The failure rate of our competators tends to be high. Our failure rate is not because we test every peice of equiptment before we ship it. Of course we care about our bottom line, we wouldn't have jobs if that wasn't a consideration, and the extra testing costs money--a testing facilty, people to man it, the extra time it takes, however, in the end it is WORTH it because we sell more product. Just because we are interested in profit does not mean that we are not interested in taking the time to make sure that our products are trust worthy.

Compare that with say, Ford. They are a very large company that upon discovering quality issues with the Pinto--crunched the numbers. They figured that it would be cheaper to send cars that they KNEW had a significant quality/safety and deal with lawsuits than retrofit the cars that were already assembled and recall the cars that had been sold. And the rest is history. If a small company could have eaten the costs Ford could have--they just chose not to.

Olinda,
 
Great post and very well said.
 

olinda, I don't think you have offended anyone...so don't worry about that. Your opinion is just that, your opinino. And we read these boards to get other opinions. I think in the end we all hope to do what we see is best for our dogs, not what others see is best for our dogs.
Welcome!