Well, I just want to jump in here!

Our Winston, an old lab, by any standards, was failing. He had arthritis, and was showing it. He had spent 2 years in the mountains with another family when I could not have him where I lived..... And was fed Purina. When we got him back, he had lost his bark!!!!!!!!!!! I had never heard of such a thing, and did some research. What I found, amazed me. I could readily see that my dog had lost much besides his bark - and he was already 15 years old. So I decided to take the risk.

I began to make his own food. I called it "doggy stew". I made a "stew" of 10 grain cereal, spinach, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, and whatever meat was on sale - mostly liver (of any kind) or chicken....What I saw was nothing short of amazing....His bark came back!!! He began to move around more like he used to and enjoy his life with us. Sadly, after another 2 years, he left us, but, still, I think, at his age, he would have left us sooner......My only thought was that even if you feed your animal the best of prepared foods (we did move him to Science Diet) , they don't have the very best ingredients to sustain long life!!! So now, I am a proponent of making-your-own!!!!

Searcher

Oh, but I should mention, we also fed him vitamins for senior dogs. Only $5 for a huge bottle......well worth the effort. You may buy these at Wal Mart.