<p>But the mama dogs should have good homes to finish their lives. I thought it was a great option.</p>
<p>Yes, they should. They often do not. But think of how traumatic that would be for the dog. Living with and loving someone for 7-8 years and then suddenly thrown into a completely new environment. The dogs must miss their original “parents” terribly.</p>
<p>My two that came to us at slightly older age were slightly confused initially , but they adapted to their new homes very quickly and enjoyed the pampering they receive , so I don’t think the disruption is a negative thing. A year after we got Stella , we took her with us to the breeder to meet Truman ( our now deceased corgi ) She absolutely remembered her breeder , but if you could have seen her reaction to her, and me simultaneously, it seemed like she was meeting up with a long lost friend who she was excited to introduce to ME ! She also has the same reaction to the other breeder from different state , who I have boarded my dogs with when traveling…clearly she loves them …the vet , not so much 
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<p>Older dogs from breeders are wonderful pets that have received love, attention, training and also , proper veterinary care…you know their history , their temperament and whether or not they will fit into your household and get along with other pets or young children.</p>
<p>You can’t always tell that with a shelter pet, and it can be very valuable information to know before bringing a pet into your home</p>
<p>That’s another virtue of breed rescues. The ones I’m familiar with foster the dogs with members, who are able to observe them and report on their behavior and temperament. When we got our rescue golden, we were initially slated for a different dog, but they said that he had been observed to be iffy with other males, so we got our gal Sal instead. </p>
<p>I recall that the info from the shelter from which she had been taken said that she should be an only dog, and that she should be taken for obedience classes. They were wrong on both counts. She greatly benefited from being with a very stable, mature dog who could show her the way. She would have become completely hysterical with fear at an obedience class. Training, yes, a class, no way. Actually, she was so neurotic that rescue didn’t charge us a fee. It kills me to think of how terrified she must have been in the shelter. 
But thankfully she is a true golden in nature, and very sweet. (Well, unless you are wildlife! 
)</p>
<p>Our youngest, a rescue golden, is known around the neighborhood as the Enforcer. She loves our male and my grandpuppy…loves people. She also was found my retreiver rescue in a shelter where she had been brought, near death, from the dessert. There is a maltese who waits to scream at our dogs. </p>
<p>She flunked obedience (as noted before our dogs all flunk)…but her heart is pure gold. </p>
<p>And our deceased golden is proud to accept the award for most destructive golden. But she too was loved completely.</p>
<p>Interesting article about dog evolution in relation to their nutritional needs today. They speculate that as wolves began hanging around people, the members of the population that could better digest a human diet (carbohydrates) eventually became today’s dogs. Most important tidbit for dog owners is that modern dogs need carbohydrate in their diet, and may be harmed by too much protein.
[Carbs</a> were key in wolves’ evolution into dogs - latimes.com](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-how-dogs-evolved-20130124,0,1620029.story]Carbs”>Carbs were key in wolves' evolution into dogs)</p>
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<p>I disagree with that. Grain free foods are much better for dogs, and most vet have little to no knowledge about nutrition (which is why they recommend Science Diet, etc.). The best dry foods on the market today are Orijen, InnovoEvo, Wellness Core, etc. - ALL grain free. Most foods sold in pet stores, however, are like junk food for humans.</p>
<p>I did a lot of research on dog food, and I don’t really have time to go into it more, but if anyone is interested, this is a really good place to start looking for a good food (or find out if yours is bad):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/[/url]”>http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/</a></p>
<p>OMG, the dog food wars…I recall reading something several decades ago that stated that the first thing wolves eat when they kill a caribou or other herbivore in the wild is the intestines…which are full of grasses.</p>
<p>I’m not even going to dip a toe in those waters, except to say that I would never feed supermarket brands or Science Diet or anything with corn in various forms.</p>
<p>Dog food wars ! Yes…I participate in a dog forum where there are multiple threads and arguments about what food is best…just like breeds and manners in which to get your dog, there is no one fits all way to do it, IMO</p>
<p>If a food contains cancer-causing preservatives and by-products (most foods in pet stores), grains or no grains, it’s a bad food.</p>
<p>We use Blue Buffalo. I’m not even going to pretend to understand any of the nutrition stuff but I do know that when we switched, our dog started eating less, had more energy, healthier coat, and just generally seems healthier. Even though we spend quite a bit per bag, it lasts us soooo much longer than our last food (which I <em>think</em> was Iams but I’m not positive).</p>
<p>Romani, we started our dog on Blue Buffalo and unfortunately he could not tolerate it. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it didn’t agree with his digestion. There is certainly a lot of discussion over the best food for dogs, and the best diet for dogs; I’m with Consolation and lje62 that each dog has specific needs and no one food is going to suit everyone. It is an eye opener, certainly, to go to several sites which analyze different foods.</p>
<p>After our 9 y.o. lab’s melanoma scare 2 years ago we went completely grain-free. We alternate giving her Canidae Land (bison) and Sea (salmon). Instead of grain filler, it uses potatoes. It is obscenely expensive ($70+ per 40lb bag :eek:), but things have been good for two years, so I don’t want to rock the boat…</p>
<p>Understandable, sabaray.</p>
<p>What irritates me about the dog anything wars is the idea that somehow there is one universal answer to every dog. We had used Iams for years with our other dogs without a problem but this puppy just was not having it.</p>
<p>If they had good ingredients, I would agree with you. But it’s like people who eat junk food/fast food all their life. Some will have no problems, but we generally agree that it will have an impact on their health. My parents’ dog did just ‘fine’ on Iams too until he got cancer, and the first thing our vet told us is to get him off of dry food. Grains, in my opinion are a lot less of a concern than the junk that’s in a lot of these foods.</p>
<p>And my rott/GSD did just fine for over 10 years on Iams. Lived much longer than they expected, the only problem being hip arthritis.</p>
<p>There are people who smoke and live into old age without developing cancer. That doesn’t mean it’s good for them.</p>
<p>Sigh. Ok you win. Feed your dog whatever the experts tell you to feed them. </p>
<p>Me? I’ll do what works best for mine.</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with the ‘experts’. It’s very simple: I won’t feed my dog anything with ingredients I can’t understand, any chemicals or cancer-causing preservatives preservatives, which are by the way banned in human food, or artificial flavors and colors. It has little do with ‘experts’.</p>
<p>And I am not trying to convince you.</p>
<p>We feed our new pup Wellness food (same as what we fed our previous dog until we had to put him down because of a terminal diagnosis). It’s a good brand and rated highly for nutrition and health benefits. </p>
<p>However, not everyone can afford expensive dog food. This doesn’t mean they are bad pet owners or don’t love their dogs.</p>