Dog food
Through
the generations of dogs we’ve had the joy of living with, feeding them has been
an ongoing topic for thought and discussion.
I realise
this is a First World issue, and am only too aware that many people in this
world have not enough to feed themselves and their families. That doesn’t mean
that we, more fortunate, should not pay as much attention to what we feed our
animals as we do to our own diet.
Our first
dog was Whisky, our rehomed three-year-old Labrador. The first meal we gave her
was lights. Lights are offal, mainly lungs, heart, stomach (tripe) and other
bits and pieces that butchers can extract from a carcase and that might not
otherwise be commercially viable. These days, for the nose-to-tail cooks,
everything is on the table, or at least in the cooking pot.
She loved
her meal, but we did not appreciate the digestive disturbances it caused, so after
that she had tinned food, which she inhaled at great speed.
Through
the years, we tried dried food, wet food, and raw food. At one time, for a few
years, frozen raw chicken, turkey necks, raw bones, and tripe were delivered
regularly, and we had a dedicated freezer for it, known as the dog freezer. They
really enjoyed it and looked tremendous on it, but there was always something
of a question mark over whether they were getting the right proportions of
protein, vitamins, and so forth. Raw bones, too, though greatly enjoyed, could
be a problem. They might splinter and could not be left in the garden for wildlife
to infect with bacteria.
Eventually,
the supplier could no longer supply in the quantities we wanted – he was selling
to kennels, and our order was quite meagre by comparison. So ended the evenings
bagging up frozen meat, to our secret relief. Then we went to dried food.
We didn’t
want food that was full of fillers and additives – junk food for dogs - so
consulted a site – https://allaboutdogfood.co.uk
– a comprehensive and boggling site about many of the commercial dog foods available,
and discovered one that seemed good. We
have just discovered that the company providing it, formerly Canadian, has been
sold to China, and the ingredients have been tweaked. The dogs are not turning their
noses up at it, but we are unhappy not knowing what ingredients are now being
used. It’s increasingly difficult to escape the clutches of China, but at least
we can still source our own food, and that of our animals.
We found
a German company, www.gentledogfood.co.uk
and were sent some free samples to try out, to see if the dogs liked them. They
are Labradors! They like everything, so it was hardly a rigorous test. They are
not at all discriminating in their tastes and wolfed down the samples, and looked
around for more. We shall see how they fare on their new diet.
In common
with doctors, vets are not given much teaching on the value of good nutrition. Medical
students receive fewer than twenty-five hours, often significantly less during their
years of training. Veterinary students have about twenty hours.
Thus, it
is up to us to research, and refine our diets according to our health, taste, and
purses.
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