Dog Food—What do you feed yours?

I'm sure some of you have read this article by now. Information like this seems to circle through the dog community fairly rapidly. The article isn't strictly about food, but the pet industry in general. However the part I took notice of was the food. I don't know about you, but what I feed my pup is a big issue for me and I've discussed it before. (Just search this blog for "food" and see how many posts show up!)

Now things like super gourmet food, fancy dog coats, or heaven forbid—"neuticals"—is not my style, but making sure I'm keeping track of what's going on in the dog food market is in Bella's (and my) best interest. So although the fashion trappings don't rock my boat, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I read this section in the article from a professor of veterinary nutrition:

Are our pets healthier for all of this? Tony Buffington, a professor of veterinary nutrition at Ohio State University, says his students have studied the diet history of thousands of animals and have not yet determined that one pet food is better than another.

“We have been unable to distinguish an outcome in healthy animals eating a wide variety of foods,” he says. Asked about the variety at megastores like Petco, he says, “I don’t even go in there anymore. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

He adds: “If you put them all in a plain brown bag, you’d probably be fine with any one of them.”

Huh? There's got to be some missing information here. What pet foods are they studying...just premium or all foods? Is he saying they studied dogs who ate a wide variety of foods (meaning their diet changed regularly) or the dogs they studied were all eating a different diet?  (I had read something similar in the past stating that any dog food would be adequate for your dog; that basically ingredients were the same.) I don't buy it. I am not a scientist, but it doesn't add up. And all ingredients are not the same.

With my first dog, Suzy, I noticed a rapid decline in the shine and silkiness of her coat when I switched to a less expensive, generic brand. When put back on a better food, her coat lost its coarseness and once again was glossy. For Pete's sake! I know how I feel when I eat junky food. (Just watch the movie Super Size Me and tell me a crummy diet works!) Why would I expect or want less for my dog? This of course is one of the selling points in feeding (home-made) raw to your pet—you have control over the ingredients.

Bella has had a bout of (sorry) diarrhea lately, so I immediately cooked up a bland organic chicken and organic brown rice diet for her (which she loves). If I eat organic foods, it makes sense to me that I would also feed my dog organically if I could afford it and find it.

Granted, I have not switched to raw yet. (I don't feel confident enough yet figuring out the essentials.) I also realize many people with limited budgets can't afford a better grade pet food—and that's okay. We all do the best we can within our circumstances. But to say that the students at Ohio studying pet nutrition haven't determined one food is better than another seems downright silly. Better food is to going to make for a stronger, healthier body.

What's your opinion?