After a long, hot summer with an itchy dog, where nothing was working to relieve the constant chewing and gnawing night and day... I began to question the dry food that I was feeding Jasper.
Being a "free feed" fellow, Jasper was on a dry dog food diet - one that I thought suited him perfectly. His weight was good, and he had lots of energy. After all dog food is basically all the same, right?
After a quick consult with a local pet shop to see what they recommended, I found that there were many ingredients in dry foods that I couldn't even pronounce - why was I feeding this stuff to my beloved furry friend? Feelings of guilt quickly arose.
Reading up on some of the chemicals that are common in dry dog foods, it was uncovered that many dogs have horrific allergies (just like Jasper) to the preservatives that are used so that manufacturers can have a longer shelf life and sell more of their product.
Returning home with a small bag of food that did not contain these harmful chemicals in them - BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) -, Jasper dined on his new food gladly. And the itchy dog syndrome went away... temporarily.
More mystery ingredients on the packaging was then researched.
Corn kept creeping up on my radar, but corn is a normal ingredient, right? I love corn! But I soon found out that the corn in our doggie's food is not the same corn-on-the-cob that you and I enjoy.
NOTE: Corn is the number one ingredient in almost any dry pet food. Often labels are misleading and report a protein source, such as poultry meal as the first ingredient - but often it's not the main ingredient (More on this later).
You wouldn't believe what they do to corn - or rather where it really comes from. Many (and I mean a lot!) of what we consider reputable per food manufacturers, get their corn from storage silos where the corn past it's expiration. It's moldy, full of toxins, pesticides and many mycotoxins.
NOTE: Mycotoxins are carcinogens that have been linked to cancer.
Whoops! Not only are they using sub-par grains including wheat, barley and rye, the packages scream that the food inside is actually healthy food for your dog! This is not an ingredient your want to see in a dog food for skin allergies.
Ok, back to square one. I now knew Jasper could find relief with a better quality kibble. Could grain free dog food be the final answer?
Honest to goodness good-for-dogs feed can be found in the pet shops, but you need to sift through all the muck to find it on the shelves.
There is just not enough profit in the inexpensive brands of food for the pet food manufacturers to concern themselves with what is best for Jasper - or your pooch.
Jasper is now on a better diet for dogs, and he has lots more energy (almost puppy like) than when he was an itchy dog.
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