Thanks for your input folks. Rosemary extract would also be "out". I can't give my epi dog that (hey, I can't use PineSol anymore either). It's considered to be a seizure trigger by the Epi Guardian Angel's list (big kudos to that list also for anyone with a seizure dog, please google it if your dog has seizures or epilepsy). By the way Mazer, no I do NOT EVER use grocery brand dogfood -- EVER. I am a huge proponent for holistic feeding of animals. I stick with California natural due to my Mocha's allergies and epilepsy (89 lb dog). I can't even feed Innova even though I find that Naturapet products are very sound. He just can't tolerate a high variety. Before I had the rest of my dogs, I just had the one and home cooked. When I got the others, my freezer couldn't handle the load (I'm not a raw fan, though its great for some). I guess I'll stick with Cali. However, I would probably reccommend Lassie as a lesser of MANY evils over many of the other commercial foods out there for those that are financially challenged. You guys are great! Thanks. Since all my dogs eat together, it just makes sense for me to feed them all the same thing. There's no *practical* way to feed those four monsters separately given that one would be eating Cali (sort of bland -- 3 ingredients) while feeding the other 3 something else. (Hey there's a reason we all love junk food. It's like feeding 3 children Happy Meals while feeding a 4th a bowl of tofu. LOL).

I prefer Nutro Products. We mix several flavors of the same brand together for variety but I have added a little of the Natural Balance since it is the only beef one I found. It was okay as long as it wasn't the primary food but wow when it made up about half of their food for the day, did their poop ever stink! Nutro has several types and even one that is called Ultra. It has the vegetables and fish and they have one for sensitive stomachs with oatmeal as well. our dogs, past and present like it they seem to do well on it. One thing I really like is that the stools seem firm and there is alot less odor!

I disagree with several of these points. 1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points This is the industry's definition of by-products: The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto. None of these things are bad for an animal to eat. In fact brain tissue contains taurine, an important amino acid that is not found in other body parts. Liver is an excellent source of iron. Bone and cartilage contains calcium, phosphorus, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate and other important trace minerals. How do you think wolves survive 20 years without someone sprinkling vitamins and minerals onto their food? They eat the WHOLE animal, and therefore don't need extra stuff. Vitamins and minerals are only added to pet food because much of the healthy stuff has been removed. The only reason people don't eat by-products is because we think they are yucky tasting (well, some people eat by-products, they just call them tripe, menudo, liver, etc). Wolves don't eat the meat and leave the rest of the animal laying around, they eat the whole animal, and since dogs and wolves are genetically identical, dogs should eat the whole animal too. The "evil" of by-products was invented by a very clever marketing firm, not based in fact or science of animal nutrition. 2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points This isn't a problem unless your dog has allergies. 3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points Actually, if the food contains these preservatives, subtract all 100 points. NEVER feed a dog or cat a food containing these items. EVER. 8 ) If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points 9) If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points Corn is not a bad thing to be in dog food, unless your dog happens to be allergic to it. However I agree it should not be a top 5 ingredient. 11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points 12) If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points 13) If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points 14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to beef), subtract 1 point There is nothing wrong with lamb, soy, wheat, or beef unless your dog happens to be allergic to any of these items. The soy and wheat should not be in the top 5 ingredients since they are not animals, and dogs are by nature, mostly carnivores. 13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point Actually don't bother adding a point because the amount added is never enough to have any benefit. The other points are good. I personally would add a lot more points for raw diets though.

I travelled up the Oregon Coast not long ago. Being a sailor I was poking around some of the yacht harbors and such and found a grated area near where the fishing boats were docked. I poked around looking for things to photograph, and found a HUGE pile of fish remains with flies buzzing around and slime coming from the bottom. I asked the fisherman what the pile was being used for, since I am also a gardener I figured the remains would be used for that. He said they sell to pet food companies. I will never forget that. So - that is what I mean by junk fish. As far as human grade food - I dont mean a nice piece of filet mignon, although I am certain your dog would love that. I mean food that is not just extras body parts thrown in a heated bin and made into a soup and processed into dog food. As far as human grade food Im talking about meat which is regularly tested for pesticides, herbicides, and other contaminants. As far as high protein goes, I know from working at a vet that you add dog biscuits or something crunchy - not for the teeth of the dogs but to help them process all that meat, I know high protein diets can slow the digestive process and I also know that dogs and other wild animals supplement their diet naturally ie:BARF type diets. Even zoo's give their charges food they would not normally get in the wild, cantelope and watermelon to bears and tigers etc....Those are my concerns, that any pet get a good quality food and not junk food, and that food is tested for contaminants. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.