July 5th, 2011
While hiking recently with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, we got to talking about pet food choices and how our decisions about them might change over time. This “evolution” of my own thinking about dog food made me wonder if I could reconstruct my past dog food choices — like you perhaps would for cars you’ve owned or people you’ve dated. Here, in its full glory, is “my list,” as best as I can remember.
What does yours look like?
Puppy Chow and Dog Chow, because the brand has been around for a long time and I could afford it for my first very-own dogs (as an adult) ~ circa 1990
Eukanuba, because I’d started writing about veterinary medicine and began hearing people speak of “grocery store brands” with derision (At the time, I believe, it was available ONLY in pet stores.) ~ circa 1995
Pedigree, because I could get large bags of it at Costco ~ circa 1997
Science Diet k/d, because my late dalmatian developed kidney disease (and yes, some not-so-sensitive people blamed her illness on what I had fed her throughout her life) ~ circa 2001
Exclusive Chicken and Rice, because the guys at our local feed store (I live in a rural area) recommended it and we could get 1 free bag every 6 bags ~ circa 2004
Infinia Salmon and Sweet Potato, because the Exclusive got an F from K9Cuisine’s Free Dog Food Rating Tool (My dogs were doing great on the Exclusive, but the F bummed me out. The new food gets an A. Both are mayde by the same company, so I still get a free bag once in a while.) ~ circa 2010
Infinia Turkey and Sweet Potato, because my eldest dog became a water monger (drinking and peeing like crazy) on the salmon kind. (We feared he had become diabetic, but he returned to normal when we changed back to a poultry-based food.) ~ circa 2010
So, I’m curious. If you traced back your past pet food choices, what did you feed and why? What made you change?
Related Posts
Tags: best dog food, dog food, dog food choice, dog food evolution, dog food history
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
2 Responses to “Dog Food Choice and Evolution”
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
It’s interesting to see your evolution. Mine began with Strongheart when I was a kid and had two dogs. I have to admit, I fed some pretty crappy foods when i was younger. When we got our first rescue, she came with a box of those hamburger looking food. I then went to Science Diet and then KD for her with her kidney ailment. Now we feed Wellness.
Our evolution was somewhat similar to yours. From Dog Chow for our late Roxy, as we were broke and didn’t know better; to Science Diet because Jasmine was suffering with GI issues; to Eukanuba because the Science Diet wasn’t working; to California Natural, after some self-education and reading dog food reviews; to Urban Wolf which we would have stayed on but Jasmine wasn’t getting her minerals from it properly; to home-cooked diet, the only diet that’s ever worked for her.