Kibbles and bits......................fuel? I think not.

Elsa pictured here enjoying a treat when we visited Just Food For Dogs.  

Kibbles and bits?  Really?  They still sell this crap?  Let's have a look at this stuff.     Meat meal is the third listed ingredient; the first two are just fillers but what exactly does meat and bone meal mean?    It means scary; it is a generic term meaning that it did come from an animal but you are given no information as far as what animal, what part or health of the animal.  It is just plain scary food.  Meat is the most important thing for dogs and to even suggest that this food is good to feed or promote good nutrition.........well that would be a stretch.

Feeding dogs has gotten way out of hand I have to say.  It went from feeding table scraps in the good old days to quick and easy pre-made, pre-packaged and nutritionally correct (completely incorrect) for dogs food.  So now some dog owners are thinking about what they pour into their dogs bowl.  Of course not all are thinking about it; heck many people don't think about what they put into themselves let alone their dog.

Feeding dogs is actually very easy, the simpler the better.  But if you look at the list of ingredients on the low grade foods it's scary.  Check out the ingredients listed here on Beneful dog food, by-products if the third ingredient listed.  What exactly is a meat by-product?

By products 

As you all know I feed real food to my dogs.   When I was at the grocery store the other day I picked up a package of little pre-made cake things and read the list of ingredients on the back.  I wondered what had to be in the product for it to sit here on the shelf for so long.  Wow, there were a lot of ingredients. I had grabbed the package because they looked like Twinkies, but weren't.  Having never eaten a Twinkie in my life (yes I know, probably the only living human right?) I wanted to see that I hadn't been missing anything.  Scary.

So I am rambling.  Nutrition is a funny thing, it is a means of fueling our body.  I remember watching an amazing National Geographic video years ago which had a huge impact on how I thought about food.  Here is a very short version I found.    Our bodies, like our dog's bodies run on fuel.  The better the fuel that is put in the better our body can function.  If you fill the body with waste then there is nothing for our body to thrive on.  Since I saw the full length Nat Geo Digestion video I always picture food into the system and pulling what it needs.  If you give your dog poor quality dog food then there is nothing to pull from and it all ends up in your yard.

Sure, I eat things that I shouldn't eat; I love food.  I have a few items that are weaknesses of mine as does anyone.  But I try to eat them in small amounts and focus on nutrition.  My whole family are foodies we are always talking about food, even when we are eating we are talking about food.  As canine family members, Luke and Elsa are scooped into the loop as well; so I feed them the best nutrition that I can.  It just makes sense.