Today, with the widest selection of dog foods available, how does one decide what to feed one’s dogs? Years ago, the decision was easy: The food of choice was Ken-L-Biscuit. Its reign as the most popular dog food lasted for decides, until a change in the formula proved to be unpopular. They were also the largest supporters of purebred dogs and the dog shows. Gone are the days of mixing Ken-L-Biscuit with fresh tripe (the smell of tripe stays with you until this day). The Ken-L-Ration Awards dinner was the predecessor to the current day Purina Pro Plan Show Dogs of the Year Awards dinner partnered with Dog News. Following the decades of Ken-L-Ration support, breeders were forced to find new brands of dog food. We saw other dog-food companies give financial support to show-giving kennel clubs. With their support came samples of their foods, and we as a community started feeding their products. Among those were Eukanuba, Science Diet and Iams. Then Pedigree, owned by the Mars family, which had already been sponsoring major shows around the world like Crufts and the World Dog Show, started aggressively sponsoring shows the United States. That had our community feeding Pedigree dry and canned food. Our world was a mass of yellow and blue towels. Then, in a sudden and surprising change in their direction, Pedigree stopped supporting shows around the world. Today Purina is the major supporter and sponsor of dog shows, where their red-and-black towels predominate at the dog shows. Their dog food is a staple in most kennels today. Another Mars company, Royal Canin, for some years has been the major supporter of the AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin. Their scarlet-red-and-white towels are proudly displayed at their sponsored events. Some of our feeding trends seem to go along with whichever dog-food company is sponsoring our dog shows. But today the selection of foods is staggering, from a variety of frozen, fresh and dry foods that run from gourmet and designer labels to the major manufacturers, some of which were mentioned above. These foods have now been specifically designed for every size and age of a dog. The nutritional additives help make present-day food an all-in-one meal. We are fortunate to have this wide range of selections … choosing is the hard part.
#Editorial #June #Dog #News
