2010 Resolutions for the 2 and 4-Legged Family Members!

Our 4-Legged Family Members!

Many households have become larger this Holiday season with the addition of a pet. It is extremely important to know how to keep them healthy. I am including a rating system for your dog food at the bottom of this blog. You start with 100 points and see what score your dog food gets. You may be very surprised. I became acutely aware of the numerous dog health problems when I started getting calls about feeding our trim and ground to people’s pets. Their veterinarians were telling them they needed "all natural" and "venison" to feed as their pet was allergic to dog food (many were scratching themselves raw, losing their hair, etc). This happens to many pets because they can not take the grains, because of the added chemicals, added coloring, or the meat, which may come from and usually does dead animals from rendering companies. These companies pick up animals that have died from sickness. Animals that have been euthanized or given all kinds of medications are included, with nothing left out. All these medications and deadly chemicals are thrown in. Eating it once might not be enough to make a dog sick or die but constantly feeding the animal this will at some point make the body react, the kidneys and liver cannot flush out all these pollutants. We have many happy 4-legged customers. So, before you have problems, please take the dog food-rating test and just make sure you are feeding a highly rated food. Keep them Happy and Healthy.

Our Natural Protein from our Red Deer has never had antibiotics, added hormones, or tranquilizers (incidentally, did you know there are tranquilizers that are used that can remain in the body and meat for a year or more). But, as you know any diet needs more than just protein. If using our Venison choose your vegetables carefully. Make sure it is a complete diet for growing puppies, adults, or aged animals.

Let's all make Healthy Resolutions for this New Year!

RATE YOUR DOG FOOD:

Start with 100:
1) For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2) For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal orfat) reference, subtract 10 points
3) If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4) For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract
5 points5) If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first fiveingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are allthe same grain), subtract 5 points
6) If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meatsin the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7) If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
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
10) If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2points
11) If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergicto 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 towheat), subtract 2 points 14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic tobeef), subtract 1 point
15) If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

1) If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2) If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5points
3) If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4) If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5) If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6) If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7) If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8 ) If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9) If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10) If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11) If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12) For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein sourcebut "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13) If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14) If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-freeadd 1 point
94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 = F

Here are some foods listed alphabetically that have already been scored. Notice the score is the last number in the line. There are plenty of "F" scores.

Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
Canidae / Score 112 A+
Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
Foundations / Score 106 A+
Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 D
Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
Innova Evo / Score 114 A+
Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Sounds of the Season

In most locales it's the leaves falling and blowing around into piles, the winds from the south that suddenly turn to the Northwest, the many flocks of birds gathering up and heading south some so close you can hear their wings, while others so high only the faint sound of one talking to the other.

Here at Bur Oaks it's all of the above along with the sound of the Red Deer Stags "Roaring". Yes, it is the rut (breeding season) and they are extremely vocal. Each Stag tries to be louder, lower, and roar longer than the other. It is the manner in which they attract the opposite sex, female (the hind). This all begins between Sept 1st and 15th, by the end of Sept they are all practiced up and are at their very best.

By the second and third week in Oct. they become hoarse and sometimes nearly lose their voices. It isn't just their voices that become weaker. When our stags come in to get their antlers removed (that story for another time), before they go into the breeding groups with their respective hinds they weigh between 600-700 pounds. By mid Nov. when they are removed from the hinds they will weigh about 400 pounds. They can and do usually lose approximately 1/3 of their body weight during the rut.

Red Deer Hind gestation is 233 days, so I predict that from May 20-25, '09 we will be seeing lots of spots being born. They will start arriving about May 10th and can arrive up until about the second week in July.