History of Dog Food

The following was adapted from Dr Janice Elenbaas blog on the history of dog food posted on the website at www.luckydogcuisine.com
For the full story please click here.

History of Dog Food

People and dogs have been intertwined throughout history. Some say 15,000 years and others tout an even longer relationship. Dogs have been eating our table scraps for millennia.  So how did the current trend of feeding dry kibble come to be? 

The advent of commercial dry dog food and biscuits can be traced back to an electrician from Cincinnati, named James Spratt in the mid 1800's. His work selling lightning rods often took him to the docks area in London England. Often he would watch as sailors would amuse themselves by tossing leftover "ship's biscuits" to the local dogs. These early dog treats were made from water, salt and flour and needed no refrigeration and made up the bulk of a crew's diet while at sea.

With a few variations Spratt came up with his own line of dog biscuits and dry food was born.

The 1930's brought Ken-L-Ration, the sponsorship of the very popular radio show Rin Tin Tin and canned horsemeat to the forefront of the dog food business. 50,000 horses were slaughtered yearly for the production and by 1941 90% of dog food was canned. 

Feeding the troops during the war years resulted in the birth of portable and long life food such as Spam. With the rationing of both meat and tin commercial dog food companies like Ralston Purina turned to their cereal divisions for alternative solutions. Post war America brought a slew of changes to the dog food industry. Every major player in the business was a processed food company looking to rid themselves of their waste products and dog food was the new way to do it. Mars, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive, Proctor and Gamble and Delmonte all owned or still own multiple of the dog food brands you see today.

Today we are seeing a change again. People are better educated about what they are putting in both their own bodies and their dog's. According to Psychology Today, 81% of people consider their dogs members of the family. With Canine Cancer reaching epic proportions with one in two dogs now being diagnosed with cancer and with the fallout from the dog food scandal of 2007 still in the minds of health conscious pet owners - more than 4,150 dogs died from melamine contaminated dry dog food in 2007 - more and more people are switching to whole food diets for both themselves and their dogs. 

Your dog needs you in every way. Let's do our best to provide them with lots of exercise, fresh air, plenty of love and a whole food diet that allows them to stay with us as long as possible. 

For the complete article on History of Dog Food please click here

Yours in good health,

Dr. Janice Elenbaas

Hot Day in the South

We are so fortunate to live near the May River, South Carolina. The morning was steamy hot so the boys and I went down to the river for their swim.

They are too smart! They know when it is swimming time and not just run around the park time. As soon as I start to collect sticks to throw, they know, and off they go down the hill at full trot and right in to the water! I think they smile with their whole bodies!

Bugsy is usually first and plops in the water with great satisfaction. Murphy goes in up to his knees and waits for action. I throw the stick and he decides to let Bugsy go first. After his brother is half way back with it, Murphy leaps into the water and wrestles the stick away. This goes on for a few throws until my poor Bugsy has had enough and growls at this annoying little brother.

After lots of swimming, sniffing and peeing, we are headed home. Today was one of the hottest days I can remember! I stood there watching the boys and was soaked to the skin. We headed for home and for the hose! Both dogs waited patiently while I rinsed the salt water off of them . Bugsy tries to steal the towel and makes my life difficult for drying off dog number two. By the time we are done, all of us are soaked, but the two of them are frisky and ready for more.

As a woman who has spent most of her life in colder climates, I am grateful every day for the treasure of this place. The heat is wonderful and enveloping. The bright sunshine and blue skies fill the soul. I never tire of the glistening of the water, the smell of the jasmine. I walked down to buy my shrimp for dinner directly from the shrimp boats! How fabulous is that?!!

Tomorrow is another day by the river. I am very lucky!

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Always remember, health comes from the inside out!

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Janice and the boys, Bugsy Wonderdog and Annoying little brother Murphy

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Lucky Human Cuisine

When I started Lucky Dog Cuisine it was with the express purpose of creating a quality gourmet dog food that would allow all dogs to eat healthy natural dog food. I was hoping to provide the finest nutritional value coupled with great taste and succeeded in doing this by using only all natural human grade ingredients. One of my favorite phrases is "if you wouldn't eat it yourself, don't feed it to your dog".

Little did I know that feeding great tasting food would come full circle to reward me in a way I had never anticipated. Our hotel and restaurant program, while only a small part of Lucky Dog, is probably the most fun part. We have a variety of dog friendly, hotels and restaurants that serve a canine menu of Lucky Dog Cuisine with many of them donating a portion of all profits to various animal charities.
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One of these restaurants had us to dinner the other night. My husband Jeff, our spokesdogs and chief testers, Bugsy and Murphy, and yours truly attended Bistro 17 on Hilton Head Island for a dinner that owner Anna Buckingham hinted would be a great surprise. While Bugsy and Murphy chowed down on a great meal of Lucky Dog Cuisine, Jeff and I were treated to a special feast as well. Executive Chef Christopher Carge had prepared a special tasting menu that was absolutely incredible.

Owner Anna Buckingham and Executive Chef Chris Carge

Six courses of perfection, and unlike typical tasting menus these were six full portions. Both Jeff and I were, full about halfway through the second course but we could not stop eating. Everything was amazing and aside from taking one of the desserts home with me we ate everything.

I had my camera with me and I took pictures of all of the dishes. I probably didn't need to for my sake, because I will never forget it anyway but it is great for sharing so I have included them here.
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Course Number 1

Ahi Tuna Tartare
Pickled onions, avocados, Thai Chile sauce & avocado milkshake

Yep, that's right, an avocado milkshake. I was a little worried about Jeff because he rarely eats fish. Never eats raw fish and is not a fan of avocado. Sounds like a recipe for disaster doesn't it but this was actually his favorite dish of the night. It was incredible. Light, tasty, non fishy and very summer specific. What a great way to get started.

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Course Number Two

Poached Pear Salad

Mixed field greens, candied pecans, vanilla bean oil, gorgonzola & port vinaigrette

The only item from the "real" menu to make it into our meal. This is one of my favorite salads and it was awesome as always. The only negative is that it is so big that I was already needing more room for the courses to come.

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Course Number Three

Hand Made Ravioli

Spinach, Ricotta, White Truffle, Roussin Egg & Beurre Noisette & Sage

I think Chef Chris was second guessing his choice to put this one on the menu. He got this one organized in advance and apparently, It took him hours to make just a few, but from the customer's point of view it was worth it.
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Course Number Four

East Coast Halibut

Beet and Balsamic Puree, Golden Beet foam tableside

Another fish dish and my dear husband came through like a trooper. I think if we could talk Chris into doing this once a week or so that Jeff would become a fish love eventually. It was great and the Beet Foam was an interesting touch giving it a very light touch that suited the hot summer night.
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Course Number Five

Colorado Rack of Lamb

Local garden Ratatouille, Lavender Lamb Jus

The lamb was cooked to perfection. I can't believe Jeff and I are still eating. Bugsy and Murphy offered to help but it was just too good to share.

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Course Number Six

Homemade Desserts

Chocolate Lava Cake forrest Berry Gelato

Chocolate Pate Pastichio Gelato

Tiramisu, Carmel, fresh Florida Strawberries.

Riggghhht! We hadn't had enough food yet so we really needed dessert. The way Chef Chris was bringing out food I thought for a moment that we were going to have to eat all three but as it turned out we had options. Jeff, not really a dessert guy, (what does that man eat anyway?) had the Chocolate Lava Cake and loved it. I opted for the Tiramisu and after having a couple of bites I knew it was going home with me. It was amazing and despite the fact that I thought I might never eat again I wolfed it down the following evening with coffee.

All in all, the food was awesome but even more so was the thought. It was totally appreciated and I would like to thank, extremely talented Executive Chef Christopher Carge for the magnificent meal he prepared along with Bistro 17 owner Anna Buckingham who comped the meal for us. Anna has done great work with our dog food at Bistro 17 with all of the profits going to Best Friends and other animal related charities. Thank you so much for supporting Lucky Dog Cuisine and for being our friends.

Janice

I'm baaack

After an extended absence from my blog I have finally returned. I have been busily posting to my website with nutritional articles on everything from gourmet dog food to the best premium dog food so have not been keeping up with my blog here. I have had so much going on lately that the time has come to start sharing again.

Among the new news is the fact that we received a letter from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group stating that they were ready to add Lucky Dog Cuisine to their Miami location. Now, not only will you be able to stay with your faithful dog at one of the finest hotels in the country but you will be able to feed them the finest dog food in the country right from the room service menu.

Closer to home we have added a number of new restaurants to our program and have dramatically increased the number of "club autoship clients". This makes me extremely happy as I feel that we are either saving, or at least extending, each dog's life that makes the switch to a "human grade food".

I have had a number of requests to start posting some of my nutritional articles here on blogger so without further ado here goes article number 1


Healthy Natural Dog Food - Part 1 Humans vs Dogs


I have always been interested in knowing how dogs function. Looking at how they are built and how they differ from humans helps us understand them. With this knowledge, we can also choose foods that suit their physiology to help them live long and healthy lives. For those of you that are frequent readers you know I have a passion for healthy natural dog food. To understand the differences between humans and dogs is to understand why they need quality proteins and whole foods.

Let’s start with the teeth and jaw. Dogs have 42 well-spaced teeth. People have 32 and our teeth are closer together. The space between dogs’ teeth allows food to enter quickly. Dog’s mouths are funnels to get food into the stomach as quickly as possible. Your dog gulping his food is his natural way of eating. He has fewer taste buds than we do, so there appears to be no need for him to savor his dinner! Our canine friends also lack the ability to grind food. Their jaws only allow up and down movement, not side to side like ours. They also do not predigest starches in the mouth like we do. We get cavities. Dogs get more tarter build up, but no cavities!

It takes about 5 seconds for food to move from their mouth to the stomach. Once in the stomach, the food is stored and digestion begins. Dogs have more acid in their stomachs than people do and this allows them to break down bacteria more effectively than we can. They also have this antibacterial ability in their saliva.

The small and large intestine in the average human is approximately 36 feet long. That’s the length of a school bus! A 70 lb dog has a 6-foot long intestine therefore dogs need high quality proteins to be able to digest them quickly. People have longer digestive systems so we can handle eating raw fruits and vegetables. Give a dog a piece of whole carrot and it comes out the other end much the same way it entered!

That’s why even with healthy natural dog food we need to make sure that we follow certain protocols. Complex carbohydrates and vegetables should be cooked and vegetables pureed to allow predigestion. Cooking keeps the glycemic index low to help maintain even blood sugar levels. This causes less stress on the pancreas and liver and less chance of developing diabetes.

If you are like me and have your dog sleeping on the bed with you it’s not a great leap to understand that after being domesticated for thousands of years dogs, while different from humans in many ways, are similar in others. You need whole natural foods to thrive in our environment and your dog needs, healthy natural dog food to do the same.

Look for more info on dogs vs humans in upcoming segments.

Always remember your dog needs whole foods too!

www.luckydogcuisine.com

Take Your Dog to Dinner Night

Wow, what a busy month! First it was adding a number of new retail outlets to the Lucky Dog Cuisine family, then some more restaurants and most recently an appearance on the local CBS affiliate WTOC's mid morning live. I did the Hilton Head Pet Expo with Anna from Bistro 17 jumped in the car drove to Orlando for my son Ryan's graduation from Full Sail University with a degree in Film Production. Next week I am in Charleston for a special "Local's Only" demo day at Whole Foods Market and the following week I am in Columbia as a guest speaker and Nutritional Expert for an animal fundraising event. It's a good thing I love what I do.



For those of you who haven't seen it I have tried uploading the WTOC program below but am dealing with a slow internet connection tonight. Instead please take a look at our newly redesigned website. http://www.luckydogcuisine.com/ The video is now on the front page. Please feel free to give us any feedback on the new site as well. It's worth watching the video just to see how the Murphster tries to upstage everyone. I've never seen a dog who is makes himself so at home everywhere he goes. Especially on his boat.

Travelling to Orlando for Ryan's graduation gave me a chance to find an amazingly dog-friendly hotel. The Sheraton in North Orlando is a very nice hotel and they truly deserve four paws up for their canine attitude. No additional fees for dogs, no size limits and no grief. They have a beautiful atrium restaurant and they even allowed the dogs to do a down-stay just on the other side of the railing while we had dinner. Not allowed in the restaurant of course but to the "boys" this was the next best thing. They made quite a few friends but one of the cutest is pictured below.

The usual parade of passerbys stopped patted the dogs and asked all the usual questions but Bugsy and Murphy were on their best behavior. I was a little concerned that Murphy might bark at some of the noises inherent in Hotels, voices in the hallway, doors slamming etc but he acted like a seasoned vet. I was very proud.

I am attaching a pic of Ryan and I taken just after his graduation. He is an amazing child and I am thrilled to see him get out of school and get ready to move on to the next phase of his life. I wish he'd work for Lucky Dog but I think he has grander plans. Look our Hollywood.

One of the most exciting things to happen this month is the addition of a number of new restaurants to our program We now have five locations in the Savannah/Hilton Head area where you can take your dog with you when you go to dinner and have them served with a nice fresh bowl of Lucky Dog. Along with Bistro 17 and Skillets Grille we have added Up the Creek at Broad Creek Marina, Leoci's a new Savannah restaurant opening the end of this month and featuring amazing Italian offerings and long-time Hilton Head favorite Hugo's at Wexford.
Brandon, the owner at Hugo's is working very closely with us on organizing our first annua"Take Your Dog To Dinner Night!" How cool is that? We will be doing it on Oct. 10 and hope to have a number of new restaurants all located in Wexford Center come on board to make it a great doggie event. Plans call for the proceeds to benefits a couple of great canine charities and if you can make it please join us. More info will be available as we get closer both here and on the Lucky Dog website.

Janice

Your dog needs Whole Foods too!

Always Remember Health Comes From the Inside Out!

Pets for Health

I can't believe I haven't blogged since April 9th.

It's not that I don't have anything to say it's just that I never seem to have the time to say it. No wonder Bugsy decided to start his own blog. http://www.bugsythewonderdog.blogspot.com/ althought I don't think he has been blogging as regularly as he planned either.

My biggest challenge, and I'll bet it's true of most people, is time. The economy teeters between recession and disaster, gas prices have been on a rollercoaster, the housing industry is in a record funk and now icons from many of our younger days like MJ and Farrah are dropping dead around us. Who has time for anything other than survival? Sress is at an all time high and few if any of us have any confidence in an immediate solution. Where can we turn? The answer might surprise you.

Snuggle your dog. Cuddle with your cat. Heck, swing from the ceiling with your pet monkey if you have one. Research has shown us that pets are good for our health.

DID YOU KNOW?

• According to a recent study by the University of Minnesota, cat owners are 40% less likely to die from a heart attack than non-cat owners.
• The same study reports that cat owners are also less likely to die from all cardiovascular diseases, including strokes.
• A number of additional studies show that interacting with pets may help protect against allergies, asthma and even cancer.
• Smokers who are told that second hand smoke may affect their pets are more willing to quit than non pet owning smokers.
• A University of Missouri study shows that dogs are more likely to inspire older people to stick with a walking program than human walking partners.
  

All of this may come as a shock to the non pet owners of the world but we dog and cat lovers who can't seem to understand the concept of going through life without a wet nose waking us up every morning have known it for years. When Bugsy signs off on his blogs he always uses the phrase "Always remember your dog loves you unconditionally". It may not be scientific but I think having a pet simply makes the world a better place.

Over the last number of years there has been an increasing humanization of pets. Led by the newly empty nested baby boomers we are starting to treat our pets more like family and less like animals. Dogs now live inside more than ever before and we are the biggest beneficiaries. We always knew that our pets were basically "love bundles", now we are finding thanks to more and more research that they are also our best medicine.

Maybe as an interim phase of Obama's new heatlh care program everyone should be required to snuggle with a pet every day.

I know the day is always brighter when I do. Now if there was only a way to get Bugsy to help me with my blog.

Kiss your pet on the nose for me today.



Janice

"Always remember, Health comes from the inside out."

Out Blogged by my Dog!

Ok, I admit it I'm embarrassed.
I'm being outblogged by my dog.

A couple of days ago my dog Bugsy decided that I wasn't talking enough about him on this blog and that I wasn't updating it enough. He told me in no uncertain terms, (with whining, facial expressions and a couple of well-placed slurps to my face) that he was going to take control of his own marketing and promotion.

Ha! Bugsy the Wonderdog my foot.
I wonder where he got those glasses?

We hadn't heard back from his agent re that movie we had talked about with Jennifer Aniston and I think he was having a little identity crisis. 48 hours ago he launched his own site on Twitter and that same day he started a blog right here on blogger. In less than 24 hours he had over 600 twitter followers and in the last day he has doubled that again.

Who knew that so many people would follow a bloggin Dog. He has even set up his blog to test new products and services for his canine companions. His PACK as he refers to them. What the heck is happening here. Has the world truly gone to the dogs?

I know that he has valuable opinions and I truly value his input in all things Lucky Dog but today he's supposed to talk about Dogs at the Masters. What in the world does he know about golf?
I think I'm just have to start using Murphy pics more in this blog (he's just chillin and hanging around the boat) just to keep Bugsy from getting a swollen head. Although that may be too late when you find out his site names.

Murphy Chillin on the Boat

You can find Bugsy on Twitter using the username BugsyWonderdog and you can access his blog right here at

www.bugsythewonderdog.blogspot.com

If you get a chance take a look and if you are a dog you might want to sign up to follow him on his blogsite as he is giving away the products he tests at the end of each month. Here he is doing all this work outside the home and I just wish I could get him to stop leaving my shoes all over the house and pick up after himself.

Blog to you soon.

You and your dogs both need Whole Foods.

~Remember, Health comes from the Inside Out!~

Janice

www.luckydogcuisine.com