Food, glorious food! It sustains us, of course, but it also does so much more. Anthropologists tell us that humans have used the sharing of food as a bonding force since our earliest years on the planet. In fact, it’s likely that the smell of meat dripping into an ancient campfire that enticed the first hungry canines out of the dark and into our hearts. More than thirty thousand years later, dogs are still turning to us for their sustenance.
Each and every mealtime, my rescue mutt, Demimonde, looks up at me as if the mere act of putting food into her dish is a fresh new miracle. Faced with trust like that, of course I want to give her the best nutrition possible. But figuring out what to feed our dogs is much harder than it sounds. Canine nutrition, like human nutrition, is an ever-evolving science. Advocates for various canine diet regimens can be just as passionate about their food philosophies as human diet gurus and their followers.
Ultimately, you, your vet, and your dog have to decide which diet works best. As you consider the matter, it’s comforting to know that you can find excellent sources for almost every kind of quality dog food right here in the Bay Area.
Bay Woof can’t decide the matter for you, but in this, our annual food issue, we can introduce smart options for your consideration. We start with a review of the history of dog food, courtesy of Dr. Rachel Addleman. It turns out that the way we feed our dogs is coming full-circle, from home-cooked table scraps through heavy commercialization and processing then back again to natural, human-quality foods.
Dr. Adam Piaseczny, owner of Healthy Pets Veterinary Hospital in San Francisco, addresses the changing dietary needs of senior dogs in our Ask Dr. Dog column. Having a hard time keeping up with pet food recalls? Mary Alice Coverdale runs down the latest warnings, links us to dog food recall alerts, and advises us on contamination prevention.
We’re excited to present SFRAW’s Kasie Maxwell’s primer on the use of raw and fresh foods in canine diets. If you’re considering the switch to raw foods, don’t miss her handy “risk list” in the sidebar (at the end of her article).
Heidi Hill, of Holistic Hound in Berkeley, does us all a service by breaking down the Food Safety and Modernization Act. FSMA is “the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years” and the first federal attempt to require comprehensive prevention-based controls for pet foods.
Need more food for thought? Our monthly columns should prove appetizing. We’re fortunate to feature Jean Donaldson, founder of the Academy for Dog Trainers, in this month’s Good Dog! column.. Jean discusses how the “middle ground” has shifted when it comes to using pain and fear as training techniques. Kelly Gorman Dunbar adds to that theme in her Monthly Woof, which illustrates what goes wrong when we mistake normal dog behavior for bad dog behavior.
In Shelter Zone, Marthina McClay from Our Pack, primarily know as a Pit Bull rescue group, busts common myths about another breed found too often in shelters, Chihuahuas.
We’re always happy when we have more news for you than we can fit into the print version of Bay Woof. Visit our website at baywoof.com to read the latest Rover Report on new developments in the local dog park scene. And we think you’ll be charmed by the touching story of one small boy’s big donation to local service K-9s.
Then hurry back in October for our popular health and wellness issue. It’s all about making life better for the dogs!
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