Beneful Problems

ORIGINAL: Dulce Pit Bull

You see, with people and kids it's different.

YOU choose what you eat, and YOU choose what your kids eat.

Our dogs don't. They depend on us to feed them. And it's our job to keep them fit, healthy, and happy.

Part of keeping our dogs healthy, is doing the proper research to find out what food is best for THEM, not for us.
Finding foods WITHOUT fillers, and WITHOUT junk, and WITHOUT artificial coloring.

I've recently posted on 3 forums to find which food is best for my dog after an elimination diet, studying what she does and doesn't react to, and what is the most WHOLESOME food for HER.

Yes, I took my budget into consideration, but I would NEVER buy Beneful, Purina, Pedigree, Mighty Dog, Eukanuba, or Iams because I WANT what's best for HER, not necessarily my budget.

There are ways to work around conveinance, and budget, and I think people are going about it the wrong way in this case.

What bothers me is that sites like this, were you would expect most everyone to be knowledgable about dog foods, you still get some people defending the dog junk food as OK for their dog.  Nobody mentions that 50% of dogs die from some form of  cancer, yet the junkfoods have alot of suspected carcinogen ingredients. I see people getting the best gas for their car and the most expensive oil on an oil change and then buying a cheap bag of crud  for the dog to eat just to save a few dollars....I just don't understand their value system...

YOU choose what you eat, and YOU choose what your kids eat.

Our dogs don't. They depend on us to feed them. And it's our job to keep them fit, healthy, and happy.

 WE choose for our kids...just as we choose for our dogs, right? Or am I not understanding your point?
 We also have to understand that what is important ingredients to some is not to others. Again, I feel Eagle Pack dog food, think its the best for my Dane...I've had others on this board in the past knock me for that...  and yet there are many on this board that feed it. 

They had a quote from somebody at Purina on one of the sites a few days ago stating that they were looking into the problem..

Yes, I saw that, I am hoping if they found any validity to it, that they would be letting the world know before loosing dogs...as with what happened to Diamond et Food.

What bothers me is that sites like this, were you would expect most everyone to be knowledgable about dog foods, you still get some people defending the dog junk food as OK for their dog.  Nobody mentions that 50% of dogs die from some form of  cancer, yet the junkfoods have alot of suspected carcinogen ingredients. I see people getting the best gas for their car and the most expensive oil on an oil change and then buying a cheap bag of crud  for the dog to eat just to save a few dollars....I just don't understand their value system...

Wow,,,THATS A BIG STATEMENT!  I guess I would be "one of those people defending dog junk food" because I am defending peoples choice to purchase what they see best for their dog. If they have a healthy happy dog, they should not be having people like you and me knocking them, THAT is their right!
You say 50% of dogs die from some form of cancer...I guess you are talking about cheap food causing cancer. But I bet you put chemicals such as pesticides into your dog...to prevent a disease that they may or may not ever encounter.  HW preventatives that KILL heart worms,,,not prevent them.... or flea medicines....or even over vaccinating,,,tearing down their immunse system to just about any disease and illness.

ORIGINAL: chelsea_b

You know, you all are saying the people who feed crappy foods just don't know better, but isn't that the point? Why don't they know better? Because they don't care enough to. Would it be okay for someone to feed their kids nothing but candy bars and potato chips because they didn't know better? Considering most people think dog food is disgusting, I think they DO know better, they just don't CARE. My sister fed her dog food that she literally felt she had to RUN wash her hands after touching. But it's okay for her dog to eat every meal??? She KNEW it was crap, but she fed it because it was cheap and convenient. I think that's how 95% of dog owners are. And that is just NOT okay, IMO.

Yeah, I'm judgemental, and I'm not sorry for that.

I agree with you.  When I meet a new dog owner I tell them to do a google search on dog food quality and ingredients to avoid.  It only takes a few minutes to read enough on one or two sites to realize that these companies that make the supermarket brands are interested in making a large profit on what they sell, and they do that by using the cheapest ingredients they can get away with. It would probaby be equivalent to us eating canned Spam every night with french fries and canned veggies.  We could probably live on a diet like that for many years, but eventually it would take it's toll on our health.  Look at the people that get type 2 diabetes in the US, which is going to be at an epidemic level in the next decade, because people eat junk food full of sugar and refined grains and fat, and are more than 20% overweight.  We have teenagers eating diets like that and childhood obesity is at an all time high.  .All the saturated fat and triglycerides do a great job of plugging up our arteries, and yet people say....." Oh I am doing fine on my diet, there is nothing wrong with it"  ........ Now if that is the way they take care of themselves and their kids, you can't really expect them to feed their dog a healthy diet either. 

ORIGINAL: dyan

What bothers me is that sites like this, were you would expect most everyone to be knowledgable about dog foods, you still get some people defending the dog junk food as OK for their dog.  Nobody mentions that 50% of dogs die from some form of  cancer, yet the junkfoods have alot of suspected carcinogen ingredients. I see people getting the best gas for their car and the most expensive oil on an oil change and then buying a cheap bag of crud  for the dog to eat just to save a few dollars....I just don't understand their value system...

Wow,,,THATS A BIG STATEMENT!  I guess I would be "one of those people defending dog junk food" because I am defending peoples choice to purchase what they see best for their dog. If they have a healthy happy dog, they should not be having people like you and me knocking them, THAT is their right!
You say 50% of dogs die from some form of cancer...I guess you are talking about cheap food causing cancer. But I bet you put chemicals such as pesticides into your dog...to prevent a disease that they may or may not ever encounter.  HW preventatives that KILL heart worms,,,not prevent them.... or flea medicines....or even over vaccinating,,,tearing down their immunse system to just about any disease and illness.

Far as I am concerned you can feed your dog anything you want.  Nobody is talking about banning foods on any post that I have read, or forcing anyone to feed their dog any particular diet.  If you like defending junk food, that is also your privelge.  Do I feel sorry for your dog, yes I do , but that is just my opinion.  Same goes for not giving your dog heartworm medicine.  I think that is a horrible thing to do to a pet, but  that is your choice.  If you are really sure of your convictions, you shouldn't care how I feel about what you are doing... I feel sorry for kids that get a breakfast of a donut and a coke before school, I think it is terrible, but I can't do anything about that  either. It is the parents responsibilty. 

If you research the longevity of people, it is generally shown that people with the best diets get the least health problems and live the longest.  It is pretty cut and dried....I would suspect that research on pets would show the same results...

ORIGINAL: dyan


Wow,,,THATS A BIG STATEMENT!  I guess I would be "one of those people defending dog junk food" because I am defending peoples choice to purchase what they see best for their dog. If they have a healthy happy dog, they should not be having people like you and me knocking them, THAT is their right!

 
I dont' think anyone is denying that people should have rights, we all recognize that this is a free country and people are free to do as they please. But just because there are people out there doing things because it is their right to do so, does not mean that we have to pretend to agree with their choices.  Animals can not speak English so it is up to us to speak for them.  Besides, it is because of people speaking up and gaining interest in pet nutrition that has cause the improvement in pet food quality in recent years.  If everyone remained quiet and didn't have opinoions, we would all be feeding our dogs Gravy Train and woudln't have the myriad of great choices that are available and continuously improving today.

That is like saying that someone was feeding their kids McDonalds so they decided to try them on shrimp and the kid got sick so they went back to McDonalds food. There are so many good dogfoods avilable , I doubt that most of would make your dog ill.

 
You know, if you ate something twice a day for 4 days and it m ade you throw up each time, would you continue eating it, hoping to adjust to i t?  I doubt i t.  It was suggested by some here that 4 days was not near long enough to get him adjusted.  I should have tired it for at least 2 weeks.  I know you hate purina with a passion, but it works and works great for my dogs and many hundreds of thousands of others.

because dog food has needed vitamins and nutrients.

 
Okay, I'm sorry, feed your kids potato chips, candy bars, and a Flintstone's vitamin! I'll bet you could make a "100% complete" diet out of them! Maybe with a hot dog or bologna thrown in. Yum yum!
 

If they are feeding their dog Beneful, or any other food for that matter,  and their dog is healthy and happy, why would most people be looking to change? 

 
Then I guess I'm nuts. Cherokee was fine and dandy when I started researching dog foods. I was 13 years old. Why WOULDN'T you want to know what your dog is eating every meal of her life?? I've had enough common sense all my life to not feed the really cheap, crappy brands. Cherokee has never (since I've had her. No idea what she ate her first year) eaten anything worse than Science Diet or Iams, which obviously aren't the greatest, but they're leaps and bounds better than most foods.
 

You see ads for orange juice, yogurt, milk, telling you how good they are for you and you believe it.

 
No, I don't. If I see a commercial telling me how good something is for me (or my dog), my BS-radar goes nuts. The real healthy foods don't need commercials, or nutrition facts labels, or an ingredients list.
 

And as for being judgemental, you better watch out.

 
Not worried about it. You judge me, I'll judge you, the neighbors will judge both of us. That's the nature of society.

No, I don't. If I see a commercial telling me how good something is for me (or my dog), my BS-radar goes nuts. The real healthy foods don't need commercials, or nutrition facts labels, or an ingredients list.

 
Geezz, many, many, many years ago when i took nutrition, i learned that milk, yogurt, orange juice, etc was good for us.  So now we know because they are advertised, they are not good for us.  That is how i read you post--if it has to be advertised, it is not good for us, but things not advertised IS good and don't need to be advertised.  Those that include cigarettes, herion,  speed, etc.  Heck no.  Not all advertsied products are good for us, but certainly just because they are advertised doesn't mean they are bad for us, and vice versa.  Just because they are not advertised doesn't mean they are good for us, not that they are bad for us us.  it just means some companies advertise, others' dont.
 
Maybe you were raised to go around judging others but I was not.  it is not up to me to judge.  It would be a sad state if everyone in the world went around judging everyone else over such petty things as the type of food they feed their dog, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, etc.

Geezz, many, many, many years ago when i took nutrition, i learned that milk, yogurt, orange juice, etc was good for us.

 
Yeah, I just don't agree that they're good for us. I'm sure you don't want reasons, so I'll skip them. We don't need to turn this into a human food debate.
 
I'm not saying everything not advertised is good, and everything advertised is bad. That'd be a tad ridiculous. But it's not a terrible rule of thumb that anything that has commercials, nutrition facts, and an ingredients list isn't the healthiest food. It's of course not ALWAYS that way, but it's not a bad thing to keep in mind while shopping, IMO. []
 

It would be a sad state if everyone in the world went around judging everyone else over such petty things as the type of food they feed their dog, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, etc.

 
But that IS the state of the world. And I don't think dog food is petty. Certainly shouldn't be grouped with clothes and cars. [&:] What you feed your dog is just a bit more important than what you wear or drive, IMO...

Chelsea and Bob--I completely agree with the both of you. (But I always do, Bob)



Anyway, yes, WE decide what our dogs and cats eat. I decide what my fishes eat too.

The point is, it's up to us to give them the best food possible, expensive or not.


I am 21, live on my own, go to school part time, and work part time, and I still manage to get the best I can for my animals.  My paychecks don't go to ME, they go to my animals, and I am not joking. You can look at my bank statements. However, that is MY choice. I'm not trying to say everyone needs to do that.

But when people say "I can't afford the expensive foods" is a load of hooey! There are foods, that are good for your dog, and are the same price as the crappy foods.

It makes me so sad that some dogs get such a lack of good nutrition in their diet. This kind of junky food can cause health problems, obesity.

My grandma feeds her dog Pedigree. He is overweight, and has a number of health problems. Now I'm not saying that the Pedigree is solely  responsible for that, but it is a big contributer.
She was on Vet prescribed food, and decided it was "too expensive". Which is a bunch of BS considering she is a millionaire.

I believe in most cases, it's lack of knowledge, and in some cases, people just don't care about the quality of food they feed their animals.

What bothers me is that sites like this, were you would expect most everyone to be knowledgable about dog foods, you still get some people defending the dog junk food as OK for their dog. Nobody mentions that 50% of dogs die from some form of cancer, yet the junkfoods have alot of suspected carcinogen ingredients

 
all foods have carcinogens and toxins in them , but these facts are usually twisted and distorted to fit certain peoples belief systems, just cause others may believe differently doesn't mean that they are wrong or less knowledgable. Food quality is very subjective, and many very knowledgable people believe that you can not tell a good dog food just by looking at the ingredients lists, and many myths are propagated that are not necessarily true, but are constantly presented as facts, even the dog food companies have to do studies to determine the quality of there products because even they can 't tell how good a food is without doing digestability and bioavailability studies.  Other people may  feel more comfortable feeding a product from a large company that has been making dog food for ever and has an army of vets, nutritionists, veterinary nutritionists working for them, spends millions of dollars on research, owns there own manufacturing facilties and has complete control over the entire manufacturing and distribution process, as opposed to a relatively new company that may not have any full time nutritionists working for them, that probably subcontracts out purchasing, manufacturing, and distrubution.  It doesn't mean that the people that feed foods from the large companies are somehow less knowledgable, perhaps they use different measures to determine quality.

Ok, so I just have to throw my two cents in here… I personally am VERY particular about the food I feed. I have tried about 6 different brands and countless formulas to find one that I am personally comfortable feeding AND that my pups do well on (with JJ#%92s allergies, with their sensitive tummies).  My parents dog is fed Kibbles and bits and they cannot believe that I spend close to $200 a month JUST ON dry kibble (Timberwolf Organics) and the canned fish and fresh meats I feed them (this does NOT include the extra $75+ a month I spend on treats, bones and stuff for their kongs).
 
I have tried to have multiple conversations with them on diet… but how do I argue that what they are feeding is BAD for their dog when he will be 17 in 2 months and has no health problems other than JUST starting to loose a little vision and hearing over the past couple of months. That dog has been on Kibbles and Bits Kibble and Pedigree canned for the 15 years they have owned him…. He has NEVER had a single health problem.
 
SO while I do absolutely agree that what you feed your dog is important and knowing what I know now about canine nutrition, I would never feed my dogs those foods… BUT for some people they feel the “proof” is in how there dogs are doing and not all dogs do POOR with what many of us (me included) feel is lesser food….          

Far as I am concerned you can feed your dog anything you want.  Nobody is talking about banning foods on any post that I have read, or forcing anyone to feed their dog any particular diet.  If you like defending junk food, that is also your privelge.  [color=#330033]Do I feel sorry for your dog, yes I do , but that is just my opinion.  Same goes for not giving your dog heartworm medicine.  I think that is a horrible thing to do to a pet, but  that is your choice.  [/color]If you are really sure of your convictions, you shouldn't care how I feel about what you are doing... I feel sorry for kids that get a breakfast of a donut and a coke before school, I think it is terrible, but I can't do anything about that  either. It is the parents responsibilty. 
I know we are not talking about banning food. However I do think if people such as Sandra keeps saying over and  over how long her dogs have lived, how healthy they are that she deserves the respect even though she feeds what you consider bad food.  Its a right to feed what we want and be able to discuss it ALSO without feeling guilty and a bad dog owner.
Don't ever feel sorry for my dog,,,,you obviously don't read anything I say or you would know (the way most people on this board know since I have been here for so long) that I feed my dog Eagle Pack with cooked meat, veggies, eggs and yogurt,,,every day. People here also know that even though I talk about chemicals in our dogs body causing a lot of problems,,, that I do give my dog Interceptor every summer.  I'm not sure I should be,,,but I am.  Along with Milk Thistle hoping to get it thru her liver ASAP.  My dog has been vaccinated but probably won't be anymore other than Rabies vaccines and that is only because its our law.  But as long as we continue to put these things in our dogs body, there is no way on earth that you will know at the end if it was the pesticides or the corn that gave our dog cancer or some other illness.
I think the hardest thing for me though is the fact that while we all have the right to feed what we want and yes, the responsibility to feed our pets well, we all have different ideas as to what is right, and that is the part that makes this conversation hard.  I don't ever think anyone has a right to say that someone is not taking care of their pet the right way when their pet is living a happy healthy long life.   If there is any studies as to how long and healthy our pets are on one food vs another I sure would love to read it.   I mean a study, not an advertisment.
 

Ok, I'm officially starting the "JJsMom" fan club!! I always love your posts.

I would also like to point out, that I know people who eat fast food on a aily basis, and don't have any health problems, and are still skinny as rails. But that doesn't mean that it's GOOD for them. The same goes with dogs.