What's New

Hello Friends! Welcome new subscribers!!

For those on our waiting list for our precious Japanese Chin puppies we want to let everyone know we expect that there will be at least one litter born around the middle of January. It will still be about a month before we will be sure if there is a pregnancy but the chances are good. This will make puppies ready for new homes around the first of April. Anyone who has filled out a questionnaire and is currently on the waiting list, please send us an email to let us know if you will be interested in a puppy around this time frame. We remind you there are still no guarantee's so please don't get your hopes up until we have a litter born.

WWW.DOGLOVERSGIFT.COM -- We have upgraded the store again and you can now find us at the old web address or this new one; dogloversgift.com
NEW SMALL BREEDS ADDED TO THE GIFT STORE: We've added several new breeds to our dog lovers gift store collections. We now have cute Chihuahua, precious Pugs, adorable Yorkies, sweet Shih-Tzu's and more. The collections are currently small but are growing every week. Check out some of the new items on the right or stop by the store to see what's new.

Contest Winners

Congradulations to this month's winner from the gift store Eileen from Tennesee won a 16x20 Japanese Chin art poster!! Next month's prize is a 2004 Puppy Calendar, enter to win yours today!

January's Pup of the Month Contest will begin on the 25th and will include NINE different cuties to vote on. You will be able to vote once per day for the entire month so stop by and help make your favorite entry the winner!
We will have winner updates in the next newsletter at the end of the month. click here for the me & my puppy contest click here for the pup of the month contest

TOP TEN DRY DOG FOODS

There are countless pet food manufacturers calling their foods "premium" these days, but are you aware that the word doesn't actually mean anything? That is, there are no official standards a manufacturer has to meet in order to call its food "premium".
Unfortunately, countless dog owners are being taken in by this appellation - people who want "the best" for their dogs, and trust that a high price tag and the word "premium" on the label means they are buying the best food their dogs could ever want.
In order to deserve the title "premium" we feel a food must be something really special. It's not enough to simply be un-awful; only foods that are formulated with the most wholesome, pure, and beneficial ingredients are "premium". The Good Dog Library picked the following ten dry dog foods as their favorites and along with why they were chosen. Please note they appear in alphabetical order because we do not necessarily consider one better than the other, each has their own advantages and disadvantages.

BACK TO BASICS (Chicken Formula): Beowulf Natural Feeds is the radical in our group of dog food makers. Both their pork and chicken forumla's are extremely high-fat foods (19 percent) This formulation stems from the founders (breeders of mastiffs) belief that diets high in fat increase a dog's stamina and protect against heat stress. There is some compelling research that indicates that relatively higher-fat diets may benefit animals with cancer. The product literature says that the maker's goal is producing a highly digestible super premium food using natural, wholesome ingredients. Unlike other companies, this aim is consistent with Back to Basic's list of ingredients.

CALIFORNIA NATURAL: This food is often recommended for dogs with allergies, due to the simplicity of the formulation; besides the requisite vitamin and mineral supplements, it contains only four ingredients. However, this high-quality food shouldn't be considered solely for allergic dogs. Think about it: If a food is "nutritionally complete", contains a good amount of protein and fat, and has only a few ingredients in it, those ingredients must be of the best quality.
CANIDAE: This is a nice food, loaded with ingredients. Canidae claims nothing but Grade A lamb and poultry meal, and the only grains are whole brown and white rice. And although this could be considered "the kitchen sink" approach, Canidae has added herbs (rosemary and sage) and biotin for their beneficial effects on skin and hair.

FLINT RIVER RANCH: This is probably one of the best-known healthy dry dog foods available. Flint River's formulation of quality ingredients is not unique among premium foods, but it's cooking method is different. The company oven bakes the food, rather than using the traditional "steam extrusion" technique. According to company literature, this form of cooking "changes the hard-to-digest molecules of 'raw' starches into easy-to-digest dextrines" resulting in "less strain on the dog's digestive system" and producing "a greater degree of food absorption."

INNOVA: Innova is the second food made by Natura that makes our Top 10 list, but our reasons for liking it are completely different than our reasons for liking California Natural. This is another food taking "the kitchen sink" approach to feed formulation. Natura has included every conceivable food in Innova; though they are all good foods; it's impossible to know whether the tiny amounts of each ingredient are beneficial. Unlike most other foods, which tend to have the vitamins and minerals appearing shortly following the top ten ingredients, Innova continues with "whole steamed carrots, cottage cheese,whole eggs..etc.. The first ten ingredients are the most important, and the ones here are winners.

LIMITED DIET: This food is uniquely qualified for our top ten list. It's not a food you'd seek out for just any dog; it's specifically made for dogs with food allergies. However, this food, unlike the better known Science Diet's allergy foods, it contains better quality ingredients in its simple formulations. The only thing we don't like about this food is the use of "lamb digest", which is lamb meat and miscellaneous other lamb parts. But as the sixth ingredient, it's not a major constituent of this food.

GUARD LIFESPAN: This is a rather high protein food, with a high price. But the maker claims to use nothing but the best ingredients, including chicken raised without hormones. PetGuard's product literature says they freshly grind the grains used in LifeSpan on the first day of production, which helps keep the vitamins intact. PetGuard also claims to use a unique cooking method (undescribed) that "fully cooks the carbohydrates for better flavor, carbohydrate blending and digestibility". The one questionable ingredient is corn gluten meal, which appears fifth on the list of ingredients. Corn gluten meal is a by-product from the manufacture of corn syrup.

PINNACLE: This is a fairly new offering from the people who produce Avo-Derm. This food, however, doesn't resemble that food in the least. If anything, the ingredient list looks more like Canidae's or Innova's than Avo Derm's. The list of ingredients looks great. We especially like the choice of foods used for carbohydrates: oats, potatoes, quinoa and vegetables.

SOLID GOLD: This company has been critized for monkeyshines regarding its labelling and its possibly overzealous claims about its potential benefits for dogs. However, no one has ever said the food is not good. Solid Gold has built a reputation for using top-quality ingredients, starting with USDA-inspected, hormone free lamb from New Zealand. Hund-N-Flocken, which means "dog food flakes" in German, contains none of the common allergens: no corn, no wheat and no soybeans. In an interesting departure from many other manufacturers, Solid Gold disdains the use of chicken in its food, citing the danger of salmonella poisoning, especially in chicken meat that has not been passed for human inspection.

WYSONG: Like Solid Gold, Wysong was built on the reputation of its quality ingredients. The company's founder is a driven indvidiual and healthy foods are his lifeblood. He's written numerous books and has produced video's about the importance of "health optimizing ingredients" including things like whole grains, free-range chicken, and active enzymes and probiotic cultures. Wysong was one of the first pet food makers to package his products in specially sealed bags to keep the food free of light and oxygen until it's opened. The "Nutri-Paks" keep the food fresh and prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.

**This information was taken from The Good Dog Library -- Although we personally believe a home prepared diet is the best you can give your dog, we realize not everyone has the time or resources for this. We encourage everyone to research your breeds nutritional needs and remember that breeds have different requirements and different food allergens. We are also firm believers that switching foods every 6-8 months is a great way to ensure complete nutritional coverage.

NEW ITEMS

New Chin Antique Photo Notecards

New Chihuahua Blank Notebook

New Spoiled Pug Ornaments & Gifts

New Shih-Tzu Mini Poster