WHAT is with the Purina people?

Where does one even begin with this post...
 

Why can't the issue of what everyone feeds just be put to rest?

 
That is a question for both sides.  If I recall, the issue was opened by Sandra.  She has the power to end it.  Just walk away.  However, as long as she, or anyone insists on telling me anecdotal evidence is enough to boost the quality of a dog food, there will be a debate.
 

Obviously if Purina or Ol' Roy was that horrible it would not be sold to the public for their dogs.

 
Cigarettes, Alcohol, Guns...shall I continue?
 

The high end feeds are not easily available to the masses and until it is I find this to be a mute point.

 
That was never the debate. If a food is not available to someone, they can't buy it. If Canidae was free, Sandra would still probably not use it, based on her dad's experiences. Your comment is a mute point (and a moot one).

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

If Sandra's dogs are healthy and thriving on Purina what does it matter.  The dogs are happy and healthy.  She is going on her own experiences. 

Sorry, but Sandra's dogs aren't a good example. Half of what they eat is homecooked.

The high end feeds are not easily available to the masses and until it is I find this to be a mute point.

I don't really understand this. Most anyone can find a food with better ingredients somewhere. Rural areas have feed stores and cities have feed stores and Petsmart/Petco. There are 18 places within a very reasonable distance where I can get Canidae - and that's only one of many foods that would be better than Purina or a grocery store brand. I understand that some people may not be that lucky, but I think to say the high end foods aren't available to the masses is false.

I'm not sure how you became the victim.

 
A victim of what?  A victim of seeing how great our dogs have done on Purina for decades?  A victim of not going into a state of panic when I am told my dogs are going to die at an early age because i feed them Purina?  A victim because I don't  believe an ingredient list is everything (ever read ingredents in a recipe and think that it sounded out of this world, tried it, and it was enough to gag you?)  A victim of not jumping onto every brand of dog food someone tells me i should try?  A victim of having healthy, happy dogs.  Just esactly what am I a victim of?  A taraget maybe, but not a victim.

Wow.

I get it.

Paula (Original Poster).

Sorry, but Sandra's dogs aren't a good example. Half of what they eat is homecooked.

 
It has only been in the last couple  of years mine were home fed, and they only get about 1/3 home, 2/3 kibble.  They did get fish when I had it long before i started with the other meats and veggies.  And my dogs did great on just the Purina, and then the Purina and fresh caught, baked fish--maybe they would get fish every night for 2 weeks, then I would not have luck, weather was bad, etc, and they wouldn't get any for 2-3 weeks.  My dad's dogs and my first dogs only had Purina and because of them is why I continued with it. 
 
I have been questioned a number of times why, if I think purina is so great, do i add home cooked and supplements of fish oil, multivitamin, EsterC and Vita. E. Well, it so happens I have noticed many here who feed premium ALSO feed extra meats, home cooked, raw, supplements, etc.  Why, if their premium is so great, do they feed the extra stuff?   It is alway pointed out when I mention Purina that I do feed home cooked and give sups.  But it is never pointed out when one metions X brand or Z brand that they also add home cooked or raw and/or give supplements.  And I add in that I do give my dogs the other stuff because to not do so would not quite be honest.  However I have known to many dogs that lived very long healthy happy lives on Purina alone, including a lot of mine.

A victim of what?  A victim of seeing how great our dogs have done on Purina for decades?  A victim of not going into a state of panic when I am told my dogs are going to die at an early age because i feed them Purina?  A victim because I don't  believe an ingredient list is everything (ever read ingredents in a recipe and think that it sounded out of this world, tried it, and it was enough to gag you?)  A victim of not jumping onto every brand of dog food someone tells me i should try?  A victim of having healthy, happy dogs.  Just esactly what am I a victim of?  A taraget maybe, but not a victim.

Wow.
 
I don't.

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton

I'm not sure how you became the victim.

A victim of what?  A victim of seeing how great our dogs have done on Purina for decades?  A victim of not going into a state of panic when I am told my dogs are going to die at an early age because i feed them Purina?  A victim because I don't  believe an ingredient list is everything (ever read ingredents in a recipe and think that it sounded out of this world, tried it, and it was enough to gag you?)  A victim of not jumping onto every brand of dog food someone tells me i should try?  A victim of having healthy, happy dogs.  Just esactly what am I a victim of?  A taraget maybe, but not a victim.

Your statements like the one quoted below are what she's referring to as you playing "the victim".

So it boils down to I am uneducated, brainwashed, gullible, have my head in the sand, stupid, don't love my dogs enought, are letting them die with cancer and drug induced liver damage & AIHA.

ORIGINAL: chinook

A victim of what?  A victim of seeing how great our dogs have done on Purina for decades?  A victim of not going into a state of panic when I am told my dogs are going to die at an early age because i feed them Purina?  A victim because I don't  believe an ingredient list is everything (ever read ingredents in a recipe and think that it sounded out of this world, tried it, and it was enough to gag you?)  A victim of not jumping onto every brand of dog food someone tells me i should try?  A victim of having healthy, happy dogs.  Just esactly what am I a victim of?  A taraget maybe, but not a victim.

Wow.

I don't.

Chinook are you refering to my post "wow, I get it."?

Paula

Yup.

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

Obviously if Purina or Ol' Roy was that horrible it would not be sold to the public for their dogs. 

That's not true. McDonald's is extremely unhealthy, but it's available...

ORIGINAL: chinook

Yup.

I had asked the original question "What is with the Purina people?" and after reading 4 pages of sometimes very heated responses I have had my question answered.

IMO

Some folks have completely lost perspective.  We are talking about dog food our dogs get regularly. We're not talking about the merits of beating them with sticks, making them sleep out in the rain, or even depriving them of vet care. We're talking about what we feed them.....operative term here being FEED. These dogs are being loved and cared for and cherished, yet we're on the verge of coming to internet blows over food.

Paula

Purina is competing in the holistics market. With this food, they can make the same claims as other brands. So, if another brand says this, that's just their wholesome goodness. If Purina does this, it's just shameless advertising

 
 
  Ron, I've looked at the Pro Plan Selects and the ingredients aren't nearly as good as foods like Canidae, Innova or Timberwolf ; Here's thier " Natural Turkey and Barley" formula;  
 Turkey, brewers rice, pearled barley, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), corn gluten meal, oat meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), dried egg product, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), pea fiber, dried beet pulp, fish oil, natural flavor, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, salt, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, calcium carbonate, dried tomatoes, blueberry pomace, dried dried sweet potatoes, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), niacin, copper proteinate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione, sodium bisulfite complex sodium selenite.
 
   Since the turkey is mostly water, after processing it will be further down the ingredient list, which makes this a  grain heavy food; most other holistic foods list at least one meat meal as the first ingredient. 

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

ORIGINAL: chinook

Yup.

I had asked the original question "What is with the Purina people?" and after reading 4 pages of sometimes very heated responses I have had my question answered.

IMO

Some folks have completely lost perspective.  We are talking about dog food our dogs get regularly. We're not talking about the merits of beating them with sticks, making them sleep out in the rain, or even depriving them of vet care. We're talking about what we feed them.....operative term here being FEED. These dogs are being loved and cared for and cherished, yet we're on the verge of coming to internet blows over food.

Paula

I thought that here we strived for more than just feeding our dogs... what's the point of all this nutrition discussion if people are going to feed Purina? Everyone just go the grocery store then and pick up a bag of whatever they sell and we can stop talking about food because it's obviously pointless. [&:]

That's not true. McDonald's is extremely unhealthy, but it's available...

ORIGINAL: Luvntzus

No kidding.  How about the recent news story about (people) food manufacturer's and fast food restaurants removing trans fats (an artery-clogging fat that is formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening which is used to improve shelf life).  They've been known to be unhealthy for a long time yet sold for human consumption. 
 
Does anyone really think that if people food has many unhealthy additives that anyone is closely (key word) policing dog food?   If so look up the history of Aspartame (made by a pesticide company) and its years of FDA rejections and how Donald Rumsfeld got it approved.
 
Look up the history of margarine also.

ORIGINAL: abbysdad

It just depends on the dog, my experience was that I brought my pup home on Purina One, a recommendation from the breeder, who said to feed ONE or Pro Plan.  My pup did very well on it, but I started reading dog forums and was continuosly told how bad that food was and that I needed to get my pup off of that food ASAP.  Well I believed it and spent almost 3 years, trying numerous super premium foods, and really none of them worked, my dog was always miserable, scratching all night long, hot spots, hair falling out, yeasty ears, under weight, loose stools etc,  finally out of desperation, I went back to Purina ONE and guess what the itching stopped, the hot spots went away, she gained much needed weight, I also found a couple of other foods she does well on, and they are also what would be considered middle of the road foods, so in a nutshell when someone comes on here and says there dog is doing really well on such and such, and I here someone say oh well you can do much better on a "Super Premium" food, I cringe.  Sure some dogs might do well on the "Super Premiums" but I also personally know many people who have experienced the same things I have, better results with a middle of the road food.

 
 
     I had the same experience here! About 5 years ago I was happily feeding Eukanuba when I came onto another dog nutrition board for advice on how to get my newly adopted mixed breed's coat to get thicker. He'd been on antibiotics for an URI at the shelter, and I thought that may have contributed to the thin coat.
     I was told he had a thin coat because of the Eukanuba. This led me to try raw and a plethora of holistic kibbles including Best In Show, Canidae, Back To Basics, Nutro Ultra, Newman's Own, Wellness, Bright Life, Chicken Soup. None of them grew in coat on this dog's underside and none of them gave long term results or made my dogs any healthier than they were on Eukanuba. On the afformentioned diets I had so many serious problems with the dogs, the worst of which were seizures and temporary neurotic behavior in a young dog (on Nutro). We had hot spots, flea infestations, systemic yeast infections, ear & eye infections ... On Canidae, I had two bitches simultaneously come into heat and dropped white mucous instead of blood [sm=eek.gif] They both had vaginal yeast infections. My bitches could not concieve on Canidae in later heat cycles! Their coats were DINGY.
     The "mediocre" diets have worked ownders for my dogs ... Blackwood, Purina ONE/Pro Plan, Eukanuba, Evolve.
     Holistic diets are different, but by no means better.