A few ideas and thoughts... I've read through this thread and it's evolution from dog poop to food, but didn't see a link to
DogFoodAdvisor.com. It's extremely informative and rates nearly every commercial dog food on the market with monthly updates, and the founder isn't beholden to any corporate pet food company, see their
About page. They also post dog food recalls and will email these to you if you sign up. Don't miss their
Library either: it has links on problems any dog might be having from it's diet.
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It's known that when one country conquers another through war, the hardest things to change are the food preferences of that culture and their religion. Dogs don't have the latter, but they sure have their preferences in taste which are established at an early age. In late 2017 thru 2018, I literally went through dozens of dry dog foods costing hundreds of dollars to convince then-puppy Bella to eat her darn food. In 2019, I found two that she will eat consistently (currently Royal Canine Puppy, and a cheaper brand with a low dog advisor rating), but only if she gets home-cooked food/scraps at least once a day. Otherwise she'll literally starve herself, lose weight, and get sick, so Zesti, I've been where you are and it's frustrating. I'm bringing this up because
I care.
This is what I learned
from this PF thread in Feb 2018 and the latest news at the time. Please read the thread in it's entirety. Dogs have an acutely sensitive sense of smell and taste, and the process of how any kind of food is made, cooked, or seasoned. It provides insight into why so many are picky to downright rejecting of so many dog foods or simply don't thrive on certain brands.
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Here's a comment from Post #9 from Peppersb (bold font mine), and she included a link to the
full Harvard article:
"What goes into the rendering vat? ... [R]endering persists because it provides an essential service: disposing of millions of pounds of dead animals.[164] Proponents of rendering claim that there is no other way to dispose of these dead animals. Dr. William Heuston, formerly associate dean of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, argues that disposing of animals via landfills would create a “colossal public health problem,” because dead animals are the ideal medium for bacteria.[165] Cost and potential air pollution problems preclude burning the animal carcasses.[166]
Instead, United States rendering companies pick up 100 million pounds of “waste material” every single day.
This “waste material” includes: heads, feet, stomachs, intestines, spinal cords, tails, restaurant grease, feathers, bones, and dead or diseased animals rejected from slaughterhouses.[167]
Remember that under FDA and USDA regulations half of every cow and at least one third of every swine is not consumable by humans.
Cancerous tissue, tumors, contaminated blood, injection sites and any tissues treated with a substance not permitted by or in excess of FDA or EPA limits is also rendered.[168]
The inclusion of such items in pet food violates the FDA’s requirement regarding unadulterated food. Recall that foods containing “any part of a diseased animal” is deemed adulterated. [169] With an understanding of the rendering process and its ingredients, it is then unclear how AAFCO (and thereby the FDA) approves ingredients such as meat and bone meal for use in pet foods.
In addition to the “waste material,” six to seven million dogs and cats killed every year in animal shelters make their way into rendering vats.[170] The city of Los Angeles alone sends 200 tons of dogs and cats to a local rendering firm every month.
I feed a mostly home-cooked diet. I do use a little bit of kibble, but the kibble that I use is either vegan (v-dog) or certified humane (Open Farm)."
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In early 2018 the news blew up our TV's and Internet with investigations about how many dog food companies use rendering,
and they found that euthanized pets were also included in the vats. The phenobarbital used to put down shelter animals was finding it's way to some of the dog food manufacturers and making them very ill or killing them. I learned later that I personally have a friend whose Cavalier Spaniel died from this.
And that PF thread wasn't the only one nor the only recall. Even back in 2015, there was this one that's worth the read on this thread:
What's in your dog food?
And here's the video from that thread:
Back to DogFoodAdvisor.com. They're thorough and trustworthy. You may have to experiment with a lot of different brands to find one your dog loves, but here's a hint: if you order from chewy.com, and your dog rejects it, they will reimburse you.