Let Food Be Thy Medicine, Thy Medicine Shall Be Thy Food.

The majority of dog owners don't really know exactly what's in the food they're feeding their dogs. I was part of that majority when I first adopted Kylie. She started off on Science Diet, per the vet's recommendation. FYI - your veterinarian most likely gets a kickback for selling certain foods, so make sure you do your research and make an informed decision about what to feed Spot. Amy and I noticed after a while that she had really smelly breath. That's when i decided to do some research on the subject and quickly switched up her diet.

Since then, I have done a lot more reading about what actually goes into the run of the mill dog food and quite frankly, it's scary. Pet food can contain:

• Animal scraps
• Grocery store expired meat (Styrofoam wrapping intact)
• Road kill
• Diseased and disabled (and dead) cattle
• Even euthanized pets, just to name a few

I am still learning new things every day and I am not at the top of Dr. Karen Becker's list of "Best to Worst Foods," so don't beat yourself up if you are not at number one either. Not everyone can afford a raw, homemade diet for their dogs. Your goal here should be to figure out where you are on the list, and make it a priority to move higher up.

On some level, I can't blame dog owners, we live in a world today where the marketing of products has become overwhelming and it's harder to find good information, especially about dog food. Luckily, over the past few years a lot of information has come to life via the internet. Check out what Dr. Karen Becker has to say here. 

I currently have Kylie on Orijen Adult, grain-free, dry kibble, along with some wet food from Nature's Variety.

What are you feeding your pups?

First Impressions

How many of you remember the first time your pup walked into your life? I know I do. It was a crisp January night when my wife and I were on our way to the shelter to finally meet our puppy! Getting out of the car I was nervous, but excited at the same time. So many things were running through my head. Will she like us? Will I be a good dad to her? Will she be healthy?

That's when I saw her, nose to the ground sniffing away. Little did I know how adept she would become at finding any morsel of food ANYWHERE!!! It's funny how the first thing I saw her doing has become such a large part of her life today...more on that later.

After our initial meeting I felt relieved, she was such a sweetie pie. As we were leaving the parking lot, Kylie (thats what we named her!), settled into a little ball on my wife's lap...out cold. Below is a picture of Kylie on the 1st night at home with us.

Because of Kylie, my life has changed for the better in so many ways I have lost count.

Tell me your experience when you met your dog for the first time. What do you remember most about that day? How has your dog changed your life?