Everything But The Weed

Approved by:
Linda Maze, a Wedding photography Gainesville FL in Gainesville Florida

We’ve decided to adopt a new dog, and I’ve been boning up on caring for our doggie-to-be, including getting him the proper medical care, as well as leashes, beds, combs and other various products. Now I’m feeling into dog food. The problem is, I don’t want to buy just any readily available dog food. After having watched Food, Inc. earlier this year, I’ve made an effort to change my eating habits. I don’t want to contribute to the agrarian, medical, economic and cultural problems of our world caused by the large corporate food companies. So we’ve been trying to shop locally as often as possible, plus buy organic and other more environmentally friendly items. It’s hard getting started, but we’re feeling more confident as time goes on.

But now we’re going to have to consider how to factor a pet into our socially conscious lifestyle. I’ve never owned a dog before, so I am starting from scratch when it comes to feeding one anyway. Although I guess that could either be a benefit or a curse–a benefit since I have no habits to break, a curse because I have no idea of where to begin. My first thought was to look at some all natural dog food that I saw advertised. But as I researched, I discovered that “all natural” can mean different things according to who uses the phrase. It’s not very regulated, and therefore can’t be trusted as a label. So now I’m looking largely at organic dog food.

There are quite a few options available, which surprised me in a very good way. I’m very happy to find that dog owners take their pets into consideration when thinking about eating healthful foods and stewarding the environment. I wonder if pet lovers are more likely to also be environmentally conscious? In any case, now I plan to narrow down the choices by researching the individual manufacturers. I don’t want to buy something that’s technically organic, only to find that they mistreat test animals or commit other major offenses. Someone also mentioned today that lots of people are changing to grain free dog food, since dogs in the wild don’t really eat grains.

Much food for thought when it comes to choosing dog food these days. Though it’s taking a while to get all this research done, in the end I’ll feel better knowing my love for my dog is not hurting the environment or his health.