🍂 🐾 Dogs Diving Into Leaves 🐾 🍂

 🍁 Doggos Diving into Leaf Piles

🐋 The Whale Watching Hound

🤥 Understanding Pet Food Labels

🎖️ Lotto Winner (at Bottom)

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^Heartwarmers
Diving Headfirst Into Fall
^{Labrador Style}
 

• Fall is here, and there’s nobody better to kick things off than a couple of dogs sprinting into massive piles of leaves.

• A dog named Stella and her sister Maple have taken the honors this year.

• This video is guaranteed to make you smile at least 10 times.

• Happy Fall, everyone!

^{Tails of Happiness}
Sweet Girl Finally Finds a Home

^{Front Page Pets}
The Whale Watching Deckhand Dog

• Bear is quite possibly the most famous deckhand in the world.

• His incredible ability to help his owner with tending to their whale-watching boat, along with his loving and calm demeanor, has made him a fan favorite to anyone who boards the boat to spot whales.

• Even more incredibly, Bear can indicate whether or not whales are in the area while the boat is at sea.

Beautiful Strays
The Meowiest Little Man

What Do Pet Food Labels Mean?
^{The Ins & Outs}

Let’s say that you run a dog food business, and you had an amazing product.

You sell an all-natural, amazing dog food that is truly beneficial to dogs. It helps their health, and you’re really proud of your product.

Now, it’s time to name your dog food.

Which of the following would you choose?

1. Very Healthy Dog Food

2. Premium Holistic Formula for Dogs

You’d probably call it the fancier name, right? There’s no shame in that.

The trouble is that a very low-quality dog food company could use the exact same fancy name and they would be within their rights to do so.

This guide will go through some of the most common sleight-of-hand marketing tricks that pet food companies use to market their foods. You might be surprised to find that pet foods don’t really have to be very truthful with their labeling, and there are a handful of terms and tricks used on nearly every package.

Now, just because these terms are used doesn’t necessarily mean they’re being used deceptively. The important thing is that these terms shouldn’t be taken at face value, because they can be used without anything to back them up in most cases.

So, copy some of this down and have it with you the next time you go shopping for pet food.

Common Terms
^{& What They Really Mean}

Here are some of the most common, possibly deceptive words you’ll see on packages and how they’re used.

1. “With”

For example, “Chicken with Rice” is one you might see.

• Because the word “Chicken” is used before rice, it implies that the primary ingredient is chicken and that rice is secondary.

• In reality, products with this labeling could only have a tiny percentage of chicken with a much higher percentage of rice and other fillers.

2. “Natural”

For example, “Natural Beef Formula” is common.

• The use of “natural” implies that the beef and other ingredients are wholesome and minimally processed.

• The term “natural” isn’t strictly regulated in the way that the term “organic” is monitored by regulative agencies.

• This means that products with the word “natural” on the label aren’t necessarily natural at all, and the other ingredients included don’t have to be natural either.

3. “Premium” & “Gourmet”

For example, “Premium Chicken Dinner” and similar titles are used often.

• The words “premium” and “gourmet” are not regulated, so there are no criteria that need to be met in order to use these terms.

• As a result, a food product with very low-quality ingredients could be marketed as “premium” or “gourmet” without any consequences.

4. “Holistic”

For example, “Holistic Lamb Recipe” or “Holistic Dinner Formula”

• Again, the term “holistic” isn’t regulated.

• It can be misleading and doesn’t necessarily mean anything about the food in the bag.

The Key Language:
^{How much of the key ingredient is really used?}

If you take anything from this guide, take the following information. Some of these differences are slight, but they make a huge impact on your pet’s nutrition.

We’ll be honest, it can be hard to keep all of this stuff straight because it’s so cleverly designed to be hard to understand.

For example, while researching this article, here’s a package that really tricked us:

You’d think there is actual steak in this product, right?

Well, not really. It includes grilled steak flavor, which doesn’t necessarily include any grilled steak, but more likely includes artificial sources used to mimic the flavor.

There is a method to the madness, though. Laws dictate which words have to reflect which percentages of the ingredients listed. Here’s how laws dictate what pet food brands can say on packages:

1. Foods That Include at Least 70% of The Labeled Ingredient

These apply to dog and cat food alike. Also, when we say “chicken” below, you can substitute it for the ingredient in your pet’s food. The idea is to identify the terms and phrases surrounding the meat ingredient on your pet’s food bag.

• Says “Chicken” only

Usually means that the product contains at least 70% of the listed ingredient.

• Says “Chicken Meal”

This product contains at least 70% chicken meal, but chicken meal could have up to 35% other ingredients. So, the percentage of chicken meal in this product is 70%, but the actual percentage of chicken in the chicken meal is only 65% (or more).

2. Foods That Contain 10-70% of The Labeled ingredient

• Says “Dinner”

• Says “Recipe”

• Says “Entree”

• Says “Chicken & (other ingredient)”

These labels usually imply that the amount of the active ingredient is anywhere from 10 to 70%.

3. Foods That Contain at Least 3% of The Labeled ingredient

• Says “With Chicken”

• Says “Made with Chicken”

These products are extremely common, and don’t have much of the ingredient they’re advertised to have.

4. Foods That Don’t Necessarily Have The Ingredient

• Says “Chicken Flavor”

• Says “Natural Chicken”

• Says “Holistic Chicken”

These don’t necessarily have to have a specified percentage of the labeled ingredient, although they might include some of the ingredient.

Rule of Thumb When Purchasing
^{& a list of transparent brands}

If your brand isn’t listed below, inspect your bag and think of the following rule. We think this rule cuts through a lot of the tricky language you’re likely to see the next time you go the store.

Here’s a General Rule of Thumb:

Choose pet food where:

• the first ingredient is a specific meat (like chicken or beef) and look for labels that say '70% meat' or similar phrases.

• If it says 'dinner' or 'recipe,' it likely has less meat—aim for brands that prioritize transparency in their labeling.

Brands Known for Transparency ✅

• Orijen

• Acana

• Taste of The Wild

• Canidae

• Instinct

^{_{The Tail Wag Tribune}}
This Week’s Key Pet News

Helmet Cam of Dog Being Rescued from Hurricane
^{& Interview from The Hero}

A heroic coast guard swimmer saved a man and his dog from their boat during Hurricane Helene. The story itself is amazing. A man dove into choppy high-tide hurricane ocean waves, only to risk his life in order to save the man and dog.

Without his help, who knows what could have happened? Watching the rescue video from his helmet brings that story to life, and it’s incredible.

Cat City: A Look at Chicago’s Feral Cats
^{Seeking Solutions}

Chicago is home to approximately 200,000 stray and feral cats. A new documentary called “Cat City” takes a look at how the city’s cats impact the humans and wildlife around them, and what can be done to appropriately address these animals.

The issue of stray cats is surprisingly connected to many aspects of human life. The interview below discusses this interesting issue. If you’re interested in watching the documentary after viewing the interview, you can learn more here.

Peanut Butter Cologne for Dogs?!
^{A silly scent for your dog}

Milkbone & Jif peanut butter have teamed up to make a fragrance that the canine world has been waiting for - peanut butter purrfume for dogs.

As you’ll see in the video below, there’s no actual perfume involved. It’s just a silly commercial that might make you smile. The reality is, there are some new gif peanut butter bites for dogs that your pup might enjoy (and the dog treats they’re making together seem pretty tasty for dogs).