I got this letter recently from a pet sitter who works for Lydia Best in Leesburg Virgnia and attended the seminar on pet nutrition that I gave last year, sponsored by Nordic Naturals after they sent me to VA TECH veterinary school to talk to the students:
Dear Tracie:
I attended your seminar last spring in Leesburg, Virginia, sponsored by my employer, Everything and the Dog. I have to admit that I went into it a bit skeptical, but after hearing what you had to tell us about what is in most commercial dog foods I was appalled at the thought that I was feeding my dog garbage, or worse. I had been feeding her Science Diet Small Breed, and thought that I was giving her one of the best foods on the market. After attending your seminar, I learned how to read a label, saw what the ingredients were in that food, and we switched her to the dry version of Spot’s Stew.
We have since moved onto our boat in Baltimore, anticipating that in a few years we will cruise to the Bahamas and other destinations for the winter months. We recently attended a “webinar” given by a veterinarian, and former cruiser, who spoke about all sorts of issues a pet owner may face while away from home. One of those issues was dog food. He stated that all commercial dog foods are garbage, and it didn’t matter whether you spent $10 on a bag of Purina, or $50 on a designer dog food, they were all the same.
Needless to say, we are now confused. Is Halo considered a “designer” dog food? At $40.00 a bag, it is expensive. At some point our cruising budget may not allow us to spend $40 on a bag of dog food, and this vet recommended that we start now, feeding her different types of dog foods to get her system used to eating whatever we can purchase in the Islands. I have even looked at Blue Buffalo, even though the only one recommended on your web site is the canned food. The dry food is a bit cheaper than the Halo.
My question then, is this: Is Halo in the dry form also garbage? Am I wasting money, where I could be feeding her something cheaper, something that may be easier to find off the beaten path?
Thanks very much for listening, and I enjoyed your seminar!
Toni aboard the S/V Peregrine with Schipperke Holly
Dear Toni: I am trying to recover from my dismay at this veterinarian spouting his own misinformed version of true garbage regarding the feeding of our pets over the internet in a webinar on sailing and pets. If he knew as little about sailing as he clearly does about the manufacture and philosophy behind premium small companies versus the big commercial ones — I dare say you all would have sunk your ships by now! There is no dispute in nutrition for either people or pets that we “are what we eat” and REAL meat or other wholesome protein ingredients and other healthy components of a pet food are key to the wellness of our beloved pets. HALO is completely different from other commercial dry foods. The biggest difference is the fact that it is made with human grade meat. They don’t use any rendered products to achieve their protein content. Doing a label comparison says it all and you did learn from me down in Leesburg last year how to read a label. It’s unfortunate that the vet that conducted the webinar is so cynical and jaded. All foods are NOT the same. Again, every label tells the truth of what they have slipped into those formulas. Pet foods based almost entirely on cheap corn by-products can hardly be compared to those using quality protein sources and real vegetables. There are many blogs posts on my website about good nutrition and I would also suggest you check out HALO’s website. Not only will you learn more about their philosophy, but you will also see the good ingredients that are used in the creation of their food. (If you’re still in touch with that veterinarian, I strongly suggest you send him both places as well for a little re-education). Remember: it’s a good use of your money to provide the best food you can for Holly. In the long run, a small investment of quality food can prolong her life and save you on Vet bills for illnesses related to poor nutrition. AND I certainly hope it wouldn’ be that vet you would be seeing, in any case!
Toni replied:
Thanks for the response. We plan to keep our Schip on the HALO food; she does very well on it, and I feel better after hearing back from you. I was a little concerned after the webinar that maybe we were “throwing good money after bad”! We really like the zipper close on the bag as well; what a concept!
Dear Toni: I’m so pleased to know that HALO with it’s nifty zippered bag will be on board the jolly ship Peregrine and that your lovely little Schipperke will be getting the high quality nutrition she richly deserves as your first mate (or is it deck hand?!) But now that I’ve set you on the straight course about a quality kibble, I hope you’ll also take to heart the fundamentals of my “nutrition seminar,” which is that an all-kibble diet is not balanced or healthy because even the finest kibble (which I believe HALO to be, based on the source of their ingredients) is still highly processed carbohydrates and Holly needs quality protein and fresh vegetables and even some fruits. So if you can balance out her kibble with an equal amount of protein from your own table like meat, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese and of course fish (which has to be easy when you’re sailing!) you’ll be giving her the optimal diet.
I’d also like to extend an invitation to you to try a new way of feeding dogs called Proportions which was just developed based on my nutritional theories — at least get a free sample of two meals and see for yourself what you think. Although they have a nice selection of kibble you can choose for that portion of the meal. You can also choose to use your own kibble, as I do, since all three of my dogs are now on Proportions and I use my own HALO, which you could do as well. If you see how amazing the pouch of real chicken breast is and the packet of dehydrated vegetables — and the super convenience of it being delivered a month’s worth at a time, you would be able to stash the two little pouches for each of her meals right in your ship’s galley, next to your zippered bag of HALO’s finest.
–Tracie Hotchner
Tags: balanced diet, chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, halo purely for pets, human grade meat, proportions