As per your question above.....if someone's dogs are in superb condition, how would you even be able to tell if using another "better" food were giving "better" results.
ok, so the answer would be you don't have a basis of comparison. that's all i wanted to know.
The point of breeding is that it is impossible to tell just how "good" a food is unless a b!tch is RAISED on that food, fed on that food during gestation, and then you see the quality of the newborns condition. Are the newsborns in good weight? Do they have sleek shiney coats. Do they have good bone, and does the dam maintain her weight while lactating. Does she have sufficient milk for the pups, etc, etc, etc. THAT is the only way to judge the quality of a food being fed.
among other things, but for that i don't have to be a breeder myself.
Over the years there have been food that were considered almost miracle treatments for feeding dogs. Food that were widely used that I am sure you never heard of, and I have long since forgotten. But when they were used it was discovered that b!tches aborted pups, b!tches had NO milk for puppies, males were infertile. All kinds of fun things. The ultimate proof of a food goodness is in the breeding of the dogs fed those foods. Gee........isn't that the same thing the food companies do, and call it research???
that's my entire point, there are many companies out there who manufacture poor quality food mthat barely meets the (in my opinion inadequate) AAFCO standards, and stuff like that happens. why do you think there are foods labeled as only suitable for "maintenance"? because they wouldn't support anything but a moderately active adult.
what you can't tell me is that a food made from poor quality industry byproduct is better than those made from whole, good quality ingredients, but i feel like a broken record harping on that since you always ignore that kind of statement anyway.
Do the names Carlton Fredericks, Adele Davis, Winfred Shute, Linus Pauling ring any chimes with you? I grew up with them, not by choice, but it gave me an excellent foundation in nutrition. I knew all about carbs, protein, fats, complex carbs, incomplete protein and the like long before becoming involved with dogs. So what you say on your web site is not anything I have not read or heard long before you decided to start your research. It is good that you took the time to compile the info and make it available to those who need it.
yes they do, and not all of them for a particularly positive reason. it's nice that you say you have an understanding of nutrition, really, but i think it's about time you stopped patronizing me and making assumptions about what i do and don't know. i have a professional background in (human) nutrition and i've studied (and still am studying, the work is never done) canine nutrition quite in-depth as well. claiming to know all you do, some of the statements you have made on other nutrition-related threads surprise me even more. maybe you should spend some time and catch up to the latest developments. dwelling in the past doesn't do any good.
as you noted, my website has a lot of information, and it's kept simple for a reason - it's intended as a resource for people who
don't know much about nutrition and want to feed their dogs better. what use is it to go into more detail when you start losing readers after the first paragraph? much better to provide a resource and the possibility for people to ask follow up questions at their own pace.
I have a slight advantage of having been able to personally observe things that you only have access to thru others written words.
nice ASSumption again. you seem to know more about me than i do. *chuckles*
I am a firm believer in hands on experience.
so am i. but i don't need "hands on" in all situations, a concept you don't quite seem to grasp. if someone contacts me and tells me the life story of their dog's struggles and health issues and i write up a diet plan for them and it works, i don't need to be there. the thanks of the owners who are quite thrilled that their dog is finally problem free is proof enough.
by the way - are you aware that the "maxximum nutrition" food is the same as purina one, just packaged for sale as a store brand by wal mart?