Case - Dog food logic : making smart decisions for your dog in an age of too many choices

Dog Food Logic
Making Smart Decisions for Your Dog in an Age of Too Many Choices
Linda P. Case, MS

Dogwise Publishing
A Division of Direct Book Service, Inc.
403 South Mission Street, Wenatchee, Washington 98801
1-509-663-9115, 1-800-776-2665
www.dogwisepublishing.com / info@dogwisepublishing.com

2014 Linda P. Case
Photos: Kathy Steepleton
Graphic design: Lindsay Peternell
Cover design: Lindsay Peternell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Limits of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:

The author and publisher shall not be liable in the event of incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of the instructions and suggestions contained in this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Case, Linda P.

Dog food logic : making smart decisions for your dog in an age of too many choices / by Linda P. Case, MS.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61781-138-8 1. Dogs--Nutrition. 2. Dogs--Food. I. Title. SF427.4.C37 2014 636.70887--dc23

2013045528

ISBN: 978-1-61781-138-8

Printed in the U.S.A.

More praise for Dog Food Logic

Not often does one consider a book of this sort to be a page turner. Surea book may be very readable and the material presented accurate and informative. But, in so many instances, reading page after page of scientific jargon can be a sure cure for insomnia. So, a page turnerreally??? Thats exactly what I found when I picked up this book for the first time and read every single word in spite of a hectic schedule. Simply stated, this book was very difficult to put down, and it was with great displeasure that this happened to me on several occasions throughout the reviewing process.

Perhaps it was the writing style of the authorrelaxed and sometimes emotional, yet at the same time scientific, credible, and understandable. Perhaps it was the examples used to illustrate major pointsstory-like, but with just the right content of scientific rigor and hard facts. Perhaps it was the balance of topics providedfrom the emotional (e.g., Food is Love) to the highly scientific (e.g., Whats So Special About a Dogs Nutritional Needs?). Whatever it was, I found this to be a very compelling presentation of topics related to pet animal nutrition and the pet food industry that provides the foods for these animals. Rarely, if ever, can one find the variety of topics presented in this text to be under one cover. The author clearly has done due diligence in investigating the 11 major topics covered in the book, then distilling and summarizing that information into an entertaining, factual, educational presentation that will benefit readers regardless of their expertise (or lack thereof) in this discipline. There is something in this book for everyone interested in pets and what they eat. And there is no question that a pet owner will come away with a great deal of awareness of the complexities associated with the seemingly easy task of choosing the proper food for his/her animal companion.

Dr. George C. Fahey, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dog Food Logic is an indispensable book for any pet owner who wants to make thoughtful, informed decisions about what to feed his or her canine companions. The dog food industry is a bewildering, ever-changing landscape of companies and brands, and dog owners are inundated with marketing masquerading as science, with rigid advice from self-declared experts, and with fads every bit as intense and short-lived as those in the human weight loss business. Dog Food Logic cuts through the noise and chaos and provides pet owners with a rational, science-based approach to evaluating their pets dietary needs and their feeding choices.

Rather than simply telling dog owners what food to buy, Dog Food Logic provides a concise and comprehensible guide to the three main subjects we must understand in order to make sound feeding choices: the science of canine nutrition, the nature of the dog food industry, and the pitfalls in our own ways of thinking that make us susceptible to marketing hype and irrational decisions. Rather than trying to tell us what to feed, Ms. Case empowers dog owners to make choices consistent with the needs of our individual pets and our own values.

In Dog Food Logic, the author displays a deep understanding of not only the science of nutrition but of the human-animal bond. Feeding our pets is more than providing them with essential nutrients. It is an expression of love and one of the most enjoyable shared experiences between pet and owner. Ms. Case understands that the emotional nature of feeding our animal companions must be appreciated and nurtured, but that it can also make us vulnerable to manipulation. Advertising and advice about what to feed our pets often plays on our anxieties about their health and happiness and our desire to do everything possible to ensure a long and healthy life for our dogs. Ms. Case is able to help us see through such manipulative marketing and make sound feeding decisions based on science while still respecting the role of feeding in the deep bond between owners and our pets.

As a veterinarian, a scientist, and a dog owner, I have waited a long time for a book like Dog Food Logic , one which I can enthusiastically recommend to my clients and colleagues. After reading Dog Food Logic , you will of course have a deeper understanding of canine nutrition, the pet food industry, and how to make good choices about feeding your pet. But you will also have a greater understanding of yourself as a pet owner and a consumer. Understanding how we make choices, and how those choices can be influenced by the quirks of our own thought processes and by the manipulative power of marketing, enables us to make better decisions about all aspects of our pets care. If we apply the same critical thinking and evidence-based approach to behavior and training, veterinary care, and all the other decisions we make as pet owners, we will better caretakers with happier, healthier pets.

Brennen McKenzie, MA, VMD, President, Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association, author of SkeptVet Blog http://skeptvet.com/Blog/

To Mike, my best friend and life companion,
who read every single word of this book
and provided invaluable advice, insight, lots
of great conversation and laughter, and of
course, the occasional glass of wine.
You are simply the best.

And to our family of dogsCadie, Vinny, Chip
and Cooper, who bring endless joy, laughter
and fun to our lives, every single day.

Table of Contents

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Acknowledgments

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This book would not have been possible without the help of many long-time nutrition and dog training colleagues and friends. These folks have not only helped with this project in particular but have also been outstanding mentors, scientists, trainers, teachers and friends for many years. Thank you all for your willingness to chat with me about the many topics that this book involved and for the loads of expertise and dog-feeding experiences that you so generously shared. Most of all, thank you for your continued love for all things dog; the dogs of America are the better for your care and your passion. My sincere appreciation to Roger Abrantes, Greg Aldrich, Eric Altom, Patty Brewster, Jessica Buchholz, Marcie Campion, Dan Carey, Jill Cline, Gail Czarnecki, Steve Dale, Gary Davenport, Leighann Daristotle, Maria de Godoy, David Dzanis, George Fahey, Beth Flickinger, April Hammer, Diane Hirakawa, Russ Kelley, Jessica Lockhart, Pam Lowrey, Kim Matsko, Bruce MacAllister, Jackie Mertens, Sandy Myers, Melody Raasch, Dan Rode, Kate Shoveller, Greg Sunvold, Kelly Swanson, Mike Ward, Pam Wasson, Greg Watt and Lauren Zverina. And very special thanks to the great folks at Dogwise Publishing, who have been fabulous to work with from the very start of this project through to its fruition: Jon Luke, Lindsay Peternell, Charlene Woodward, Larry Woodward and all of the staff who have worked so hard to make the book a reality.

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