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The other day, as I was standing in the checkout line of a well-known pet supply chain store, a man approached the clerk. "Could you help me?", he asked. "We just a got a Pug puppy. We've been feeding it **** puppy food, but it keeps throwing up." The brand he mentioned was a familiar "premium" pet food. The complaint was also all-too-familiar. Something in this supposedly "high quality" pet food was making his puppy sick. What could it have been?

It could have been drug residues, carcinogenic preservatives, rotten, diseased meat contaminated with feces and parasites, beaks, feathers, hair, corpses of euthanized dogs and cats complete with collars, tags and plastic body bags....think these aren't in your dog food? Think again. If you buy your dog food at a grocery or chain store, chances are you are getting some or all of these items. (Read "What's Really For Dinner?", by Tina Perry).

The pet food industry in this country is self-regulated. They can, and do, put cheap, contaminated, rejected-for-human-consumption ingredients into their "high quality" dog food (in a word, garbage). The most important thing you can do for your pet is read labels knowledgeably and make an informed decision about your pet's nutrition.

Here are some common ingredients, and what they really mean:

Meat Meal, or Meat & Bone Meal: This generally contains the rendered remains of "4-D" animals (dead, dying, diseased, disabled). At rendering plants, slaughterhouse material such as heads, feet, skin, hair, feathers, cancerous tumors, bowels with contents, worms, liver flukes, and the corpses of euthanized companion animals are thrown into huge containers, chipped and ground, then cooked at 220-270 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-60 minutes. The grease that rises to the top is removed and becomes the source of animal fat in most pet foods. The raw, horrific mess remaining is placed in a press where the moisture is squeezed out. Voila! We now have meat and bone meal. You say your dog food specifies the animal meat used, as in "lamb meal"? The lamb used is probably unlike anything you would find in your elegant grocer's meat case. Meat in pet food can be skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels - in short, anything humans don't want.

NEWS FLASH: The United States Department of Agriculture recently stated that all meats dehydrated for inclusion in animal foods must now be classified as "meal", thereby further confusing the already muddled criteria for pet food labeling. Be assured, companies using human grade meat meal will advertise this.

Meat By-Products: Non-rendered, clean parts other than meat. May include lungs, spleen, liver, kidneys, brain, blood, bone, fatty tissue, stomachs, intestines freed of their contents. All these organs may be diseased, none are fit for human consumption.

Poultry By-Product Meal: Ground rendered necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, no feathers except amounts which occur unavoidably.

Grains used in pet food manufacturing are typically leftover parts from processing for humans. They are largely devoid of any nutrition, cannot be digested, and may actually be injurious to your dog, especially if your dog has allergies.

Hard to believe? This is just the barest tip of the iceberg. I once thought that feeding my dogs anything other than their "high quality" kibble was ignorant and would cause them harm. That's what the pet food companies wanted me to believe, and what they taught student veterinarians who then relayed this falsehood to their patients' owners (veterinary education is sorely lacking in the area of nutrition). I now cook for my dogs. I still feed them a kibble along with their cooked food, but the kibble I feed my pets contains only human grade ingredients. While there are several of these human grade pet foods on the market, the one we like best is Flint River Ranch.

Like most of you, I work full-time and have numerous commitments for the rest of my hours. Here are a few of my time-and-money-saving tips (NOTE: All recipes are generally combined with a small amount of kibble):

Chicken and Rice: A favorite. I buy large bags of chicken fryer leg quarters at the local grocer and stew them in a large pot. When the chicken is falling off the bone, I let it cool a bit, them remove all bones and gristle from the pot. I then move the chicken into a large bowl and refrigerate. What is left in the pot is chicken stock. To this I add whole brown rice which I cook until nearly done (add more water, if necessary). I then add enough kibble to fill the pan without drying out the mixture, and let it steep. The chicken, rice and kibble is then refrigerated together. For variety, I add carrots, green beans, asparagus, chopped baked potatoes or other veggies (no peas or corn - dogs cannot digest these). This is easy to make and lasts a few days.

Ground Turkey: Buy fresh or frozen ground turkey, fry it in a skillet with a little vegetable oil, add veggies or a jar of vegetable baby food.

Chicken or Beef Liver: Cook in a skillet. When done, chop and add any veggies, yogurt and honey.

Scrambled Eggs: Scramble eggs in a skillet with low-fat milk. Add cottage cheese, shredded cheese, chopped veggies and serve.

Cheeseburger Surprise: Brown ground beef in a skillet, add chopped baked potatoes and shredded cheese.

Oatmeal: Oatmeal is especially great for convalescing dogs. Mine prefer it cooked in chicken broth!

Cooking for your dogs takes extra time and effort, but the results are great. My dogs look forward to meals. They are healthier and happier now, which is ample reward for me.