The following are the top eight ingredient (by weight) used to manufacture Iams Adult Dog Food and a review of the ingredients nutritional value.

Chicken – Good start by Iams.  At least it is real meat, although not necessarily human grade.

Corn Meal – Corn is difficult for dogs to digest.  Not a good thing for it to be the second highest ingredient.

Ground whole grain sorghum – Another filler that is not particualarly digestable.

Chicken by-product meal- Low quality source of protein.  Mainly the parts left over after removing the meat.

Ground whole grain barley meal – Another difficult to digest filler.

Fish meal – Low quality source of protein.

chicken fat – Good source of protein.

Dried beet pulp – Another filler.

Overall, not a very impressive list from Iams Adult Dog Food

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You need to take responsibility for your dog’s safety and health because politicians and bureaucrats cannot be depended on to protect the pet food supply.  The story focused on the FDA’s Amendment Act that Congress passed into law in September 2007. “FDAAA was established by Congress to protect all foods, human and pet and requires that the FDA establish pet food ingredient standards and definitions, processing standards for pet food, and provide updated standards for the labeling of pet food that includes nutrition and ingredient information. Briefly, FDAAA asks for a total reform of the existing pet food regulations. These new standards and definitions must be established within two years (September 2007-September 2009).”

You would think that this action would start a new effort towards pet food safety regulations from the FDA, especially considering the last years pet food recall disaster.

According to Ms. Thixton “that’s not what is happening. Instead of working on reform, the FDA is relying on an incomplete five year-old program that is chock full of loopholes and gaps to meet the requirements of FDAAA. In fact, the day before the May 13th pet food safety meeting, the FDA released the latest version of this dated program implying this dusty ill-effective work meets the requirements of FDAAA.  AFSS is a five year-old program that is full of loopholes the FDA refers to as ‘gaps’ and is full of more problems for pet owners.”

Some of the gaps include:

- AFSS is relying solely on pet food manufacturers to determine risks and to provide a solution for these risks.

- the AFSS accepts the AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) ingredient list which sacrifice the public interest for industry desires.

- AFSS has been in the works for five years and the latest version acknowledges 14 significant gaps. There is no end in site.

Her final comment: “It is perplexing how Congress can pass a new bill (FDAAA) which requires the FDA to update and reform pet food safety standards, yet the FDA seems to ignore this. Perhaps they told Congress their patented excuse, “we don’t have the funding or the manpower to get this done” as to why they are using an outdated ineffective system instead of the mandated reform. Sounds similar to a child telling the teacher ‘the dog ate my homework’, except in this case the ‘excuse’ is working.”

The full article can be read at http://www.naturalnews.com/023995.html

My final thought:  You must take responsibility for your pet’s health and welfare and make sure that you are providing quality food for your pet.  This may mean making it yourself or thoroughly researching the dog food manufacturer to make sure they are reputable and acting responsibly.

Additional Resource: Problems with Pet Food Video (Warning, not for the feint-hearted)

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Doggie “potato chips” are also a favorite and can last from an hour to a couple of days depending on the dog. They are available in different shapes like pig ears, snouts, cow knuckles, femurs, hooves and bully sticks. Others are bone-shaped made from a variety of vegetables such as carrots.

Another good toy for your dog’s chewing pleasure is the rawhide. These are a non-consumable, mummified skin-like toy that you have to throw away when they get soggy, and give your dog a new one. Some rawhides are basted with a variety of flavorings. The “USA rawhide” with a little flag sticker are best because these do not contain preservative flavorings that are harmful for your dogs.

One chew toy to avoid is the Four Paws Pimple Ball which has been recalled by the manufacturer.  Four Paws executives said a defect in the product’s mold sealed one of the ball’s two holes, creating a vacuum effect that could trap a tongue and has caused injury to some dogs.

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We’ve found some more great blog posts on comparing dog foods you might like to take a look at:

• Dog Information – What You Need To Know – This dog food comparison article informs the reader that there is both misinformation and lack of information on the subject. The author states that some brands sold at local stores are of poor quality and that the Bones and Raw Food …

• Comparing Your Dog Food Options: Because Your Dog Is Worth It. – The price tag is not going to tell you that the food is healthy knowing what to avoid will be one of the keys when you do your dog food comparison. Just like with human food, reading the ingredients is key. …

• Your Dog Trusts Which Food You Put In The Bowl – The price tag is not going to tell you that the food is healthy knowing what to avoid will be one of the keys when you do your dog food comparison. So, read all the ingredients. Are most of them natural? Do they have a lot of additives? …

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