Please meet Trapper, our inspiration ...

Trapper is currently 6 ½ years old.  For the first three years of his life, Trapper thrived --- a very happy, healthy, active, [spoiled], Yellow Lab. 

Then, the ear infections started, followed by anal gland problems, and ultimately, movement problems.   It started off gradually; we were given the antibiotic medication and were taught to routinely clean his ears.  When that wasn’t helping, we had to have his ears “flushed”, which meant sedation and anesthesia.  In 2006, his ear infections continued, even after the “flushing”.  

2007 was a very bad year for Trapper.  Not only did the ear infections continue, but he now was having anal gland problems.  We even had to take him for an emergency visit one Sunday, because he all of a sudden started crying, had a droopy tail, and kept circling to try and get to the upper portion of his tail. 

Immediately after this emergency trip, he started straining to pass a movement, and would even let out a cry each time he had a movement.  It got so, he tried NOT to eliminate, because he was anticipating the discomfort.  We had to do something for our boy. 

History of Dog Food

When you think about it “commercially sold dog food” is an idea that is only about 50 years old.  Prior to commercially produced and sold dog food, each pet owner was on their own with how they fed their furry family member.  And, remember, in the beginning, our furry family members  were primarily “work dogs”.  They needed and depended on a good source of protein, in order to perform their “duties”.  Depending on their living environment – for example, farm or city, the “dog’s food” was remnants of preparing the family’s foods:  raw milk, raw eggs, leftover raw meats and bone, for farm dogs.  In the urban city, dogs probably depended on scraps from their owner’s table, and/or offal [that which was discarded by the butcher as worthless] or cheaper cuts of raw meat.

In 1860, the first commercially processed dog food was introduced by James Spratt, an American from Ohio, living at the time in London, who developed a biscuit made of wheat, vegetables and meat.  His idea was formed after watching stray dogs eat biscuits thrown away by sailors off ships in port.  [His company continued to manufacture pet food in the US until it was purchased by General Mills in the late 1950’s.]

Commercially produced dry processed pet foods really didn’t take off until after World War II [1939 – 1945].  Food producers were finding a good source in the dog industry, for their “leftover” ingredients.  Slaughterhouses were also available to sell non-human grade, diseased meats, unusable parts, and meat by-products to pet food manufacturers.  This created a market for products that previously had been discarded.  Since many of these meat sources were non-human grade, the practice became common to mix these with the grains and cook them together for many hours or days to kill bacteria or disease.  The final mix was then formed into pellets that were easily bagged for convenience.

Convenience - anything that saves or simplifies work, adds to one's ease or comfort and people were also getting used to new ideas of “convenience”.  This new concept was heavily marketed, and thus “Dog Food” became a consequence.

Now, we need to remember that “Dog Food” is highly processed food, and contains none of the canine’s biologically appropriate foods.  Our furry family member’s ancestors did not eat processed corn, processed grain or rice.  Their primary source of food came from the prey it hunted, and, therefore, from the prey’s food --- and, no one was around to light a fire to cook it!  Think about it !!