What a year it was! Seriously. What a start to a New Year it has been! Right? All I can say is wow. Just wow. I have been a bit beside myself with all the mess of things, both in our Nation and my own little spot on this globe here with all the four and two-leggers in my home. For several months I have been trying to make the time to write to you all about your dog food. I’ll go into more detail about that in a minute. Then we had dogs dropping dead and ill from poisoned foods, which moved me to research a bit more. At the end of the day (or weeks, actually), the combination of things caused me to wait, as I essentially “experimented” on my own dogs. Now that my Pack has turned a corner for the better, we finally have something substantive to share. So, I hope you stick here with me a bit as I lay out the groundwork for why we need to demand dog food be sourced and made only in the USA.
First Address the Recalls
You likely have seen the list of recalls, I hope, on specific dog foods and numerous dogs that died over the past couple months. Interestingly enough, about five weeks prior to that news I was deep in research and trying new foods for Mia (my Pit Bull). So, literally just after I begin to dig into researching and sampling different foods for my pup, the news blows up with dogs dropping dead. This both infuriates and saddens me.
This saddens me for obvious reasons. So I won’t go into that here. It infuriates me because, frankly, we dog owners have become so derelict and dependent. Derelict in our duty to remain informed and grow in our knowledge. As a direct result of that dereliction we have made ourselves dependent on on the so-called “experts”–even to the point that most of us are convinced that we have no right to research and make up our own minds. As a direct result of that, we have dogs suffering, many unto their deaths. And those “experts” are making lots of money at our (and our pups’) expense. Infuriating!
Mia
My perfectly petite Pit Bull partner, Mia, is an astounding pup. However, she has always been a bit sensitive, emotionally and when it comes to food. Like most Pits, she gets gas easily. But there are also many things that upset her stomach, causing her to puke. That used to be only every once in a great while. No biggie. We’d figure it out quickly, make some adjustments and away we’d go just fine. Except it wasn’t so easy toward the end of last summer and into the fall. It seemed no matter what adjustments were made she would still puke more often, sometimes several times in a day. There were times she’d be alright for a week or two, leading us to think she was fine. Then, almost like clockwork, she’d start heaving and was unable to keep her food down for a day or two.
Most folks would freak out, and some may freak out on me for the plain fact that I did not just rush her over to the vet. Before you mastermind your hateful email to me, chill out and read on.
Mia was not lethargic throughout any time of this process. She was not violently vomiting and had absolutely *no* other symptoms that would indicate she was in any pain, had been poisoned, etc. Her eyes were clear (as opposed to cloudy). She had good energy and playful, in spite of having little fuel. But she was shedding profusely and her coat was quite dull.
Issues with skin and coat, I learned a long time ago, point directly to issues with the food.
Thus, I watched her closely. Kept by my side almost 24/7, even waking her up in the middle of the night, I dug and dug into whatever valid research I could find. In the meantime, I fed her baby food, chicken broth and goat’s milk for several days. She got no extras, no treats. As I analyzed the situation, she snapped out of this slump almost instantly–which confirmed to me this was brought on by something she was consuming on a regular basis. Her coat became silky again, the shedding went down and the “eye boogers” even went away.
To Eat or Not to Eat
Many years ago I started feeding the dogs I had then Solid Gold. Now, this was back when they were in their infancy, before they began outsourcing so much. I chose that company because not only were they one of the first to market on the platform of “free range”, but they also proclaimed their ingredients–ALL their ingredients–were sourced strictly in the United States. Frankly, China has been trying to kill us and our dogs for some time. And even back in the late 1990s and early 2000s we had serious issues with foods and treats for children (ie: Similac, baby foods, toys, etc) and dogs. The stuff wasn’t so well known or publicized then, likely for political reasons (which we have discovered much of that over this past couple years). But it just made sense to me then–as it still does even more today–to feed my pups stuff that is ONLY sourced from and made in the US.
I’m no “expert”. That, to me, is plain common sense.
Back then it was quite more difficult to find research sources that were valid and not contrived to sway consumer habits. For instance, most of the so-called “research” one could find back then was endorsed or funded by Purina (ewe!) or some other company using deceptive strategies to keep a greedy hold on their marketing shares. Nothing has really changed as far as the outsourcing and media propaganda, not to mention the fact that these “sources” (China, others) are still trying to kill our pups, but valid, unbiased information is more easily accessible.
One resource I found that is simple and amazing was put together and maintained by an awesome woman who, like me, just began doing some research. However, unlike me! she is diligent in getting the word out to everyone who may listen. She has vets that consult and goes straight to the sources to support all claims she makes on her site. Better than all that, she provides a direct link to simple, concise lists of dog food brands. Check out both of her sites: PetsumerReport.com and TruthaboutPetFood.com Pack a lunch, you’ll be there for a while 😉
Do Your Homework!
A few years ago, I found out that Solid Gold began, at some point in time, outsourcing. No longer were they the solely made in USA brand to bargain for. What’s more is the utter deceitful pit that I had been dragged into. See, Solid Gold, like many others (Taste of the Wild, etc) merely relabel others’ products that are made for their lines. For example, I fed…gosh. It’s been so long I cannot recall the exact name of the food, but it was a formula claimed and labeled by Solid Gold that I paid, in my area of Ohio, over $40 per 25 lb bag. That does not last long with two dogs. At some point I found and verified that Diamond creates that specific formula, which I could get a 40 lb bag for around the same price!
Oh my! I was fuming! This was before I found Petsumer Report, so I did the best digging I could do given the limited resources. It seemed originally that Diamond was more like Solid Gold started out–made and sourced only in the US. So I switched. That, along with a couple spoons of various wet foods (made in US) to add some tempting aroma for a rather picky pup, is what I was feeding Mia and Hanani (my Dutch Shepherd) for the past few years. Periodically I’d have to switch it up, because dogs can become bored with the same ole foods.
Little did I know that, at some point, either Diamond finally came clean about their actual sources or they changed their original policies. Late last summer I find Petsumer Report and discover that Diamond, like Solid Gold and others, actually does source some of its ingredients from other countries. Only recently (last fall) did I see that truth finally published on their website.
Many folks at this point may ask what the big deal is, finding foods, treats and toys sourced and made only in the USA. To that I challenge you this: The United States of America is overflowing with such an abundance of good–people, crops, creativity, innovation, to name a few things. We also have regulations that provide ways and means of causing manufacturers to progress and give cause to produce better and better. Granted, the laws governing pet foods and toys are deplorable at the moment, but we need to change that and to bring it all back home. Keep it at home and force this industry to do better–product and price-wise.
The USA is the best, we just haven’t been exercising our best, partly due to being subdued into the ridiculous stupor of relying on “experts”.
As a direct result, many of our pups are being poisoned and killed. Let that sink in.
Skirted a Blow
By God’s sweet mercy, I believe I skirted a blow last fall. Looking back, I can see that the eight years I fed Mia Solid Gold, then Diamond “Naturals”, things built up until her little body just could not take it anymore. Thank God I pay close attention. Thank God, He gave me the sense and talent to research and the ability to reason. Thank God He healed my pup.
Over those grueling weeks last fall, I tried several brands of raw foods. Each one, however, I looked up at Petsumer Report before I purchased any. Raw foods specifically, I will go into more detail in the next post–which I promise will not take me four months again 😉 But here I just want to say that both our God-given Country and the fur-blessings He entrusts to us are more than worth the work. Seriously. I can’t imagine life without this sweet, sneaky face…
Here is an extremely thought-provoking article I’d like you to read. It begs the question, should corporations that market products that kill or cause our dogs to suffer needlessly… Should they be held criminally liable?
Here is the article: Should Midwestern Pet Food Face Criminal Charges?
As you ponder that, go to PetsumerReport.com and look up the brands you feed your pups. If you find it is entirely sourced and made in the US, yay! Awesome. If it’s not, please, please change.
If you find yourself in need of some experienced advice, as you search out foods at Petsumer Report, check out what Dr. Karen Becker has to say. In the guilt-trip ridden media and fad reports constantly shoved down our throats, she is a voice of reason. You can find her videos on Youtube at her channel, Mercola Healthy Pets.
At this point you may be wondering what I finally decided to feed Mia. For reasons I’ll discuss more in detail with my next blog post, we have found that a combination of Bixbi kibble (very little) and either Bixbi Raw or Primal freeze-dried Raw has done her very well 🙂
{Please note that I do *not* receive any benefit whatsoever promoting the sites I have linked or the products there. My only gain is to create enough waves for a growing movement that will hold accountable the bastards who lie to us while they kill our pets and use our own money to do so.}
Check those out, leave me a comment or two below, and we’ll chat again soon!
Until then, PLEASE consider what we–The Pet People of the USA–need to do to begin to end this mess of US corporations cooperating with foreign countries to poison and kill our pets!