Jasper Thrives on CANIDAE, and Now He Eats for Free!

By Julia Williams

The sponsor of this blog, CANIDAE Natural Pet Foods, selects one reader every three months to receive a free six month supply of their premium quality pet food. It’s yet another gesture of goodwill from a company I’ve come to know as being exceedingly generous and kind to both their two- and four-legged friends. The free pet food winner is chosen at random from every new reader who subscribed to the Responsible Pet Ownership blog via email during the past quarter, and they get to pick any formula of CANIDAE dog food or FELIDAE cat food.

The lucky winner from last quarter is Heather Cann of California, or perhaps I should I say Jasper Cann, since he is the one who will actually be enjoying the food! Jasper is an adorable 2-year-old Miniature Poodle that Heather said is “very sweet, a little spunky and always playful.” Heather’s family adopted Jasper from a local shelter in 2009 when he was about 4 months old.

They searched rescues and shelters for 2 months for a dog that was more asthma/allergy friendly before they found Jasper. “He was a small, scruffy little puppy at the time and looked more Fozzie the Bear than a poodle. But Jasper was totally fearless of our toddler Stella, so we knew he was a good fit for our family,” said Heather.

According to Heather, Jasper often gets mistaken for a terrier/poodle mix because he has a “natural” tail that follows him like a horse’s tail when he runs really fast (awwww, how cute!). Jasper enjoys the dog park, long walks, sneaking Cheerios from little Stella, and playing keep-away food games with the family’s five chickens, who always manage to keep him in line.

The Cann’s are already fans of CANIDAE pet food – they’ve been feeding Jasper the All Life Stages formula for the past five months, and Heather said he is thriving on it. She wrote: “Jasper was diagnosed with Gastroesophageal reflux disease last year and is sensitive to many dog foods, but is in excellent health on CANIDAE. We are happy to have found a holistic dog food our Jasper does so well on. Thanks CANIDAE!”

Now, Jasper will get to chow down on a free six-month supply of the CANIDAE ALS formula he loves. ALS is made from four high quality meat meals (chicken, turkey, lamb, and fish) and also contains balanced Omega 6 & 3 fatty acids, wholesome brown rice and essential vitamins and minerals. Like all CANIDAE pet food products, the ALS formula contains no corn, wheat, soy, grain fractions or fillers, and is naturally preserved.

Congratulations, Jasper! And for those of you who have yet to subscribe to the Responsible Pet Ownership blog – do it before the end of March to be entered in our next drawing for free pet food. Who knows, your dog (or cat) could be the next big winner!

Read more articles by Julia Williams

Excess Calcium Isn’t Good for Dogs

By Lexiann Grant

When you think of essential minerals your dog requires in his diet, calcium probably comes to mind first.

Because bones and teeth are formed and maintained with calcium, the body requires this nutrient in greater quantity than any other dietary mineral. Calcium is also critical in nerve impulse transmission, contraction of muscles and heart rhythm regulation.

Excess calcium causes numerous health problems, including kidney disease and some urinary stones. Parathyroid hormones influenced by dietary calcium levels, can disrupt dynamics in the gastrointestinal tract.

Feeding insufficient calcium also undermines health. Puppies may have poor bone growth and inadequate dental development. Bones in deficient adults can soften or fracture, and tooth loss or accelerated tooth decay occur.

Because of this, some owners feel their dog or puppy – particularly if he is a large breed – should be given extra calcium. But too much calcium can have the opposite effect: excess calcium can slow bone and cartilage development, even stunt growth.

One Cornell University study found an increased incidence of skeletal problems including hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD), osteochondritis dissecans or osteochondrosis (OCD) and hip dysplasia when dietary calcium was excessive.

In HOD part of the bone over-grows causing pain, fever, enlarged joints, and possibly hunched spine or bowed legs. With OCD, fluid accumulates in affected joints or connective tissue separates resulting in inflammation and pain. By the time symptoms of lameness, pain, or swelling are present, the damage is done.

Young pups fed certain commercial foods, and dogs eating homemade diets, may not be getting enough calcium. Table foods naturally high in calcium, such as broccoli or dairy products, can increase levels.

Balanced dog foods like CANIDAE® All Life Stages supply the correct amount of calcium without guessing. This amount is based on AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) and National Research Council guidelines. Formulas are tested to assure nutritional adequacy.

The minimum requirement is 1.0% and the maximum is 2.5% for a dry product basis. Growth formulas average 1.6% with maintenance formulas around 1.4%.

Calcium must also be balanced against phosphorous intake. The ideal range recommended by AAFCO is between 1-to-1 and 2-to-1 parts calcium to phosphorous. With improper ratios, phosphorous and zinc levels may become deficient.

Check with the manufacturer for calcium levels and ratios in your dog’s food. Nutritional information is usually available online as well. Your veterinarian can advise you if your dog or puppy requires extra calcium, but healthy dogs on a balanced, premium food shouldn’t need supplementation.

Read more articles by Lexiann Grant

How to Pick the Right Dog Food

When walking into the pet store these days, the dog food choices can be overwhelming. There are many new foods along with the old names that many of us recognize.  How do you pick the right one? There are several things to consider when choosing a dog food. The dog food you pick should be appropriate for your dog's weight, activity level and any allergies that he or she may have. So what do you look for on a dog food label?

Every dog food label has the same basic information. The guaranteed analysis lists protein, fiber, fat and moisture contents. Usually this will also have vitamin and mineral information. There will be an ingredient panel, which tells you what ingredients were used to make the food. You will also find the Daily Feeding Guidelines, which gives you an idea of how much dog food to feed your dog.

The ingredients should be listed in descending order on the ingredient label. This means that the first ingredient listed should be the protein source. An ingredient panel that lists corn as the first ingredient is one you want to stay away from. Corn ingredients help to shape the kibble and the dog food companies use it to keep their costs down, but some believe it has been causing health problems like obesity, pancreatitis, diabetes and even liver disease in our companion animals. So you want to have a meat protein listed as the first ingredient.

I ran into the overwhelming choices myself recently and even though I have experience in the pet industry and plenty of experience with dog food, I was overloaded with the choices offered. My dog Skye is a three year old American Staffordshire Terrier with seizure issues, and though she has not had any seizures since living with me, her weight has gone up due to the medication she is on. I don't want to feed any of the diet foods, as they tend to use powdered cellulose to add bulk, and to help the dog feel full; so they weren't even considered.

I am happy to say that I found the perfect food for her. I had been doing research on the Internet and had been looking at a food made by CANIDAE. They have a new food on the market called CANIDAE Grain Free ALS Formula. With my nutrition background, I was impressed with the fact that not only was it grain free, it could be fed to any life stage of my dog; I just need to adjust how much to feed her based on her age and weight issues. The first three ingredients on the label are: chicken meal, turkey meal, and lamb; which are three protein sources. This food is 80% meat and 20% fruits and vegetables. There were no added sugars, or commercial preservatives like ethoxyquin, BHA or BHT. I took a sample home and mixed just a bit in with her regular food.

While Skye has always been a good eater, she has never before this been dancing around in the kitchen while I was preparing her food, and recently I had been having issues getting her to eat, as the medication she takes is a liquid and very salty. Even though it is mixed into her food very well, it wasn't enough to hide the taste of her medicine. I am happy to say that is now a thing of the past. While it will take me two weeks to change her over gradually, as the bacteria in her intestinal tract needs to adjust to digesting the new food. In this way we don't have any stomach or intestinal issues, and that makes me happy, though Skye would be perfectly happy to be eating only CANIDAE from now on.

Ruthie Bently