Every year in February, we review dry dog foods, and attempt, in the process, to teach owners a little more about pet foods and the pet food industry. Last February, we discussed in detail the phrase ยcomplete and balancedย that adorns the labels of most (not all) dry commercial foods, explaining how products with highly disparate nutrient levels could all be considered ยcomplete and balanced.ย We also talked about the different methods by which a company can earn the right to make the ยcomplete and balancedย claim: feeding trials, nutrient levels, or the ยfamilyย method.
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This year, with the memory of the 2007 pet food recalls still fresh in our minds, we are emphasizing pet food company transparency and its value to pet owners. In the past, weยve asked pet food companies to disclose to us, not for publication, where their products were manufactured ย mostly as a lever to pry more information out of them about their ingredient sourcing and quality assurance programs. Following the 2007 recalls, and the months of uncertainty about ingredient and product safety, we decided this was not enough.
For this yearยs review, we required each company who, in the past, had a product on our ยapproved dry dog foodย list to divulge, for publication, information about their manufacturing sites. As a reward, we gave the participants ย the ones that were still talking to us at this point! ย the opportunity to make a short statement about their companies and products. You should find the statements very interesting and diverse.
Another big change to our 2008 dry food review: We pulled all the grain-free varieties out of this category. There are enough of them on the market today that we are going to give them their very own review next month. This way, weยll be able to examine the varied approaches that different companies have taken in order to make a grain-free food. These approaches have led to quite disparate nutrient levels in the product offerings ย higher protein and fat, of course, but also some significant differences in the vitamin, mineral, and fatty acid profiles of the finished products.
Our Training Editor, Pat Miller, took the opportunity this month to ยbustย some dog behavior myths. Iยve spent quite a bit of time in puppy training classes (mostly with a camera, though, not a puppy!). Trust me when I say that many (most?) owners ask questions in class that clearly reveal that they are laboring under many misconceptions about the dogs with whom they share their homes. Want to raise a positive trainerยs blood pressure? Just start a conversation and drop the following phrases:
ยHe knows better!ย
ยHeยs jumping up on me because heยs dominant, right?ย
ยMy dog is stubborn!ย
ยI spanked him to let him know who the alpha dog is in the house.ย
ยShe pees in my bedroom when Iยve stayed out too late; sheยs spiteful.ย
In case youยre not sure why these would get a trainer worked up, check out ยCanine Mythbustingย on page 12.
-Nancy Kerns
