Taste of the Wild Dog Food-My best friends food of choice

I had picked up my purebreed Maltese dog the first week of May 2010. He is my pride and joy, my new best friend or what other people would say "my baby" When I picked him up, I was given a new bed, a collar, a chew toy and a bag of food (Royal Canin for puppies). He seemed to like his dog food a lot, to the point where he would inhale it in less than 2 seconds (which I'm pretty sure a lot of dog owners can relate).

I would say maybe mid September, I started to notice that he wasn't liking his food anymore. I went to the closest pet store and asked "what to do". They had advised me to mix his kibble with some soft food like Cesar's. So I took his advice, bought a few packs and brought it home. I didn't end up using the whole case, I had splitted it into quarters, so for each meal I would mix 1 quarter of Cesars's with his kibble. Well what do you know, he started to inhale his food again, however this time it lasted for only 2 weeks. So not only is he not eating his food again, he started to gnaw at his back feet. I started to do my research and this is what I found out.

Causes of Gnawing:

• Food allergies
• Paw pad injury
• Paw problems from chemical contact (including Shampoos)
• Anxiety

I did a massive clean up in the house, I made sure I vacummed his living area and bed every other day, washed his bed once a week, changed his shampoo to oatmeal. Then eventually, it started to get worst. Not only was he gnawing at 2 feet, it became all 4 and constant scratching at his nose. Now just to give you a little background about myself, I am a first time dog owner. This is the first time I had ever owned a dog and of course I started to panic and thought something was extremely wrong. I had set an appointment with my vet, brought him in and made all the suggestion that I had already done. So what else is there for me to do. She suggestted for him to take Benadryle. It worked like a charm! He stop itching, he stop gnawing. I saw a major difference and I kept him on it for 2 weeks. Because I had saw a major improvement, I decided to take him off of it. And boy was that ever a big mistake. He went right back to nibbling on his feet and now this time, he removed all the hair from his feet and barfing up hairballs. At this point, I started to think something was really wrong and was worried that he wouldn't get better.

I had set another appointment with my vet. What a waste of money that was. $60 later I was just told to put him back on Benadryle. To be honest with you, yes I know the Benadryle worked fantastic, however, I wasn't to excited of the idea of having him on Benadryle all the time so as usual, I had to take matters into my own hands.

I went to work and had asked my girlfriend for some advice. I had told her the changes that I have made and then she said "maybe he's allergic to his food". DUH!! I didn't even think of that because my vet has always told me that "Royal Canin" was a fantastic food brand. I looked up what Ingredients to avoid in dog food and this is what I found (this was just a few of them):

DOG FOOD INGREDIENTS TO AVOID

Corn should be avoided because dogs can’t digest corn. It triggers allergies and dog skin problems such as itching and excessive shedding.

Wheat is another allergen. Grains are not a natural part of a dog’s diet and should be avoided.

Soy is a grain.

Powdered cellulose should be avoided at all costs. Cellulose is just a fancy word for sawdust. You don’t want your dog eating sawdust – do you?

Meat by-products is a common ingredient you see in commercial dog food. This term means anything that humans don’t eat – undeveloped eggs, neck, feet, head, teeth – anything not fit for human consumption including cancerous tissue.

BHA, BHT and Ethoxyguin are preservatives. They have been recognized as carcinogens and have been banned from human food. If it is cancer causing for humans – it is cancer causing for dogs.

Dyes need to be avoided for potential cancer causing properties.

Meat that is any that is only identified as "meat." This is just more by-products that your dog shouldn’t be eating. If it isn’t the first on the list, you can probably be right in assuming it is a by-product.

Beef and bone meal is a low quality meat product.

Soybean meal is used as a source of protein in dog food but is poor quality. Nothing with soybeans should be included in your dog’s food due to allergy problems.

Brewers rice is a waste product. It is the grain that has been used and is a by-product of the alcohol industry. There is no nutritional value left in the grain – it is strictly a filler.

With this information, I went to do some research on my dogs current food. I had found the following information below from www.dogfoodchat.com (VERY informative website...LOVE IT!) and found out that its top 5 ingredients are:

TOP 5 INGREDIENTS IN ROYAL CANIN MINI PUPPY 33

1. Chicken Meal
2. Brown Rice
3. Corn Gluten Meal
4. Chicken Fat
5. Chicken

The ingredient that alarms me is the CORN GLUTEN MEAL. It states that

"Corn Gluten Meal is the third ingredient. Some believe that’s dog’s digestive systems have a hard time digesting this ingredient. Corn in excess has also been linked to many cases of dog allergies"

Then I decided to change his food. So my first choice was "Science Diet:
Nature's Best- Lamb & Brown Rice Dinner Puppy" He was fine with it for the first couple of days but then...again....he stopped eating it. Now the only reason why I choosed this brand is because Science Diet is the Brand that my vet was selling and thought if it was good enough for them to sell, then most likely its good enough to feed my baby. I had to find something fast because my dog did not want to eat anything at this point.

I continued my research for Dog food that was good for dogs with Allergies. A lot of people have suggested to use EVO and TASTE OF THE WILD. It was a debate between the two. Both are considered prestiage dog food and had excellent reveiws.

(Information below provided by www.dogfoodchat.com)

Evo Dog Food

Evo brand dog food is produced by the Natura Pet Products company, based out of Santa Clara California. Natura Pet Products is also the maker of the following foods:

• California Natural
• HelathWise
• Karma Organic
• Mother Nature
• Innova

Evo and all of Natura’s other formulas are considered high quality foods and are featured in the Whole Dog Journal. None of their products contain artificial ingredients, fillers or by-products. In addition, they are also corn, wheat and soy free.

EVO is a low carbohydrate, high protein dog food that contains no grains. It contains plenty of vitamins,minerals, and Omega three and Omega six fatty acids. Evo contains 42% protein, making it one of the highest protein and high nutrient dog foods on the market.

Taste Of The Wild Dog Food

Taste Of The Wild dog food is manufactured in one of three facilities located in the USA. It is an outstanding dog food that contains a lot of meat, no grains, with a lot of quality, antibiotic and preservative-free ingredients. TOTW uses an antioxidant blend to keep the fat ingredients from going rancid.

The only controversial ingredient is tomato pomace, but it is used in a limited amount. Our dogs really love the taste of this food, and it is highly recommended.

There was the odd consumer that stated the dogs disliked EVO, and found hardley any complaints for TOTW. I was gearing towards TOTW and started to search where I can find the food. Unfortunately it is not being sold at Petsmart and found that a small local petstore is selling the food. and, what do you know....it had a coupon. buy one bag and get one free. PERFECT!!!! I love a good deal and went straight to the store to buy it and boy was I ever excited.

I picked up my first bag of TASTE OF THE WILD and bought Pacific Stream Canine Formula.

(Information below provided by www.dogfoodchat.com)

Taste Of The Wild Pacific Stream Canine Formula Ingredient Analysis

1. Salmon
2. Ocean fish meal
3. Sweet potatoes
4. Potatoes
5. Canola oil

Salmon has high amounts of Omega’s.

Ocean fish meal also has high amounts of Omega’s which is very good for dogs skin and coat.

Sweet potatoes contain a lot of Vitamin A and some potassium, vitamin C, B6, riboflavin, copper, pantothetic acid and folic acid.

Potatoes are rich in Vitamin C.

Canola oil is good for a dogs skin and coat.

Taste Of The Wild Pacific Stream Canine Formula Ingredient List

Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, canola oil, salmon meal, smoked salmon, potato fiber, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Taste Of The Wild Pacific Stream Canine Formula Guaranteed Analysis

Guaranteed Analysis describes the nutrient content required by AAFCO labeling standards to be identified on every product package. Since these are guarantees, pet food manufacturers work to formulate diets that meet or exceed the minimum requirements.

Crude Protein 25.0% MinimumCrude Fat 15.0% MinimumCrude Fiber 3.0% MaximumMoisture 10.0% MaximumZinc 150 mg/kg MinimumSelenium 0.4 mg/kg MinimumVitamin E 150 IU/kg MinimumOmega-6 Fatty Acids * 2.4% MinimumOmega-3 Fatty Acids * 0.3% Minimum

THE END RESULT

I slowly eased my dog into TOTW. My dog LOVES IT!!! I instantly saw a major difference. His coat is shiney, he has sooooo much energy and he stopped itching and gnawing at his paws! I wish I had taken before and after pictures of his paws and show his improvement. It has been well over 3 months of him eating TOTW and he is doing better then ever. He loves the food!

IT IS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I HAD EVER MADE FOR MY BEST FRIEND!