Your dog's nutritional health is in your hands. 100%, completely in your hands. Only you can control and provide the nourishment he/she needs for a smooth, shiny coat, dental health, bone growth, muscle tone, energy requirements and proper digestive function.

A dog's loyalty, love and trust in you make him/her an easy target for substandard care. We are all guilty, from time to time, of not treating our dogs as well as they deserve. But since they aren't likely to complain, we in turn can find it easy, too often, to turn a blind eye to his blind trust.

After all, isn't it a betrayal of trust and a void in our personal integrity to knowingly feed our dogs food that is nutritionally inferior? Would you feed yourself or any other member of your family from a can, for every meal, day after day? And you do consider your dog a member of your family, don't you?

This is one time you don't want to let yourself off the hook. Don't take your dog's silence as absolution. Their final act of innocence may be a slow, painful and tragic death. The guilt you will feel will be insurmountable.

I fed my dog substandard food and he did die a slow painful and tragic death, don't make the same mistake.

And the real kicker of it all -- giving your dog the best possible diet is easy! It can seem daunting, at a glance. But, in reality, it doesn't take a whole lot of time, effort or brainpower to do the right thing.

While the loose regulations on dog food labeling leaves us somewhat in the dark as to what exactly we are feeding our pet when we use commercial dog foods, good home cooking allows for flexibility and purity. It also gives us total control over our dog's nutritional needs. We can be assured that all ingredients are of the highest quality, and add up to a balanced, toxin-free diet. We can also maintain complete caloric discretion, modifying as necessary to accommodate our dog's ever-changing demands.

And, let's not diminish the importance of the one ingredient that only we can add, and which most certainly will be lacking in any commercial dog food -- love.

Don't you owe it to yourself, and to your "best friend" to give him the best possible chance at a long, healthy life? We think so, too.

Because, as we said, your dog's health is in your hands. And, we wish you and your dog many healthy returns.