Food

Allergies can literally cause a dog to tear his hair out, setting acute moist dermatitis (hot spots") into motion and triggering fits of paw-licking and head-shaking (caused by allergy-induced ear inflammation and infection). When this happens

Owners who don't feel capable of or willing to carry out a rigorous trial may prefer to try a commercial dog food that has been processed in such a way as to render the proteins hypoallergenic, or one designed specifically for use in an elimination diet. Chances are good that your veterinarian carries at least one of these types of food. Some are limited-ingredient diets, available over the counter; others are prescription diets. All cost around 30 percent more than even the best nonprescription dog foods.

but with the economy of scale and efficiencies of their large production facilities and ability to write big contracts with ingredient suppliers – and you should be able to see that this is happening. Many of you don't trust the "big guys

For some dog owners, a better dry dog food is just one more step on a journey to finding the healthiest diet in the...

wholedogjournal_editorial

Worst (Top) to Best (Bottom)Kibbles 'n bits beef & chickencornsoybean mealbeef and bone mealground wheatanimal fat (BHA)protein 19%, fat 8%Pedigree Adultground whole grain cornmeat and bone mealcorn gluten mealanimal fat (BHA and citric acid)soybean mealprotein 21%, fat 10%Purina dog chow complete whole grain cornmeat and bone mealcorn gluten mealanimal fat (mixed tocopherols)soybean mealprotein 21%, fat 10%Beneful originalground yellow cornchicken byproduct mealcorn gluten mealwhole wheat flouranimal fat (mixed tocopherols)protein 25%, fat 10% …

You know the old expression, It's better to teach someone to fish than it is to give them a fish"? We're ardent advocates of this approach. We would far rather teach a dog owner how to identify the good

Each and every one of the six people who adopted the puppies I fostered recently asked me the same question: How much should I feed him?" I was surprised the first time

How do you choose a canned food for your dog? It probably depends on why you want to feed him a wet food – and it may even depend on how big he is or how old he is. Are you trying to build or rebuild a dog's health or help a starved dog gain weight? Tempt the appetite of a sick, depressed, (or just fussy) dog? Prevent further health problems in a dog with diabetes or kidney disease? Does your dog weight two pounds, 20 pounds, or 120 pounds? Is she two months old, two years old, or 20 years old? The answers you give will undoubtedly affect your choice, because top-quality canned dog food is extremely expensive.

such as "meat

On what do we base that ranking? While it's difficult to get nutritionists to agree on just about anything, it's likely that most would agree on the following general idea: that a diet that was formulated to be complete and balanced" and comprised of fresh

Occasionally we are asked to rate the various options that owners have for feeding their dogs, based on the relative healthiness" of each major type of food: home-prepared (raw or cooked); commercial raw