Letters and Corrections: September 2018

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Actually, corrections first:

In “Fresh Dog Food: A Review of Refrigerated Dog Food Sold in Stores,” an article about fresh, cooked commercial dog diets in the August issue, we made a couple of errors in the description of Just Food For Dogs (JFFD), a California-based company.

JFFD has pioneered a novel (and handy) strategy of installing USDA-approved kitchens in pet supply stores, so shoppers at these stores can watch the food they buy for their dogs being made. However, the article stated that Petco had the first stores that hosted JFFD kitchens; it was actually a small chain of California pet supply stores – Pet Food Express – that launched these in-store kitchens. We love Pet Food Express and apologize for the error.

Also, we failed to mention that, in addition to the six “daily” recipes that are offered by JFFD, the company also makes a number of prescription diets and will formulate and manufacture a veterinary-prescribed diet just for your dog. All of these things have been corrected in the online version of WDJ.

Speaking of the online version, we have added another manufacturer or two to the table of companies that make these fresh, cooked diets. Check the Fresh Dog Food page for updates.

– Nancy Kerns, Editor


I can’t find the article you ran about the dangers of grass awns getting into dogs’ skin. There was a mask featured in a sidebar that I want to try on my Springer, since she is now at the vet for the second time this summer getting seeds taken out of her ears.

Love your magazine, please help!

Chris McGonigle
via email

Hi, Chris. The article was probably “Foxtail Grass: Awns of Destruction,” in the June 2018 issue, although we have run a number of articles about foxtails over the years.

The “mask” is the Outfox Field Guard, and we can’t recommend it strongly or frequently enough, so thank you for giving us the opportunity to do so again. It can be purchased in many pet supply stores, as well as from Outfox directly. Call the company at (800) 261-7737 or see their website.

dogs wearing outfox field guard

Dena Stephens

I just read that horrible article saying that if your two dogs can’t get along after trying all of her [the author’s] steps then it’s okay to euthanize them. That’s disgusting, and she shouldn’t be allowed to have anything she has written published.

You people are very clearly not dog lovers and shouldn’t pretend to be.

Any monster that says a dog should be murdered because it can’t conform the way they want it to should do the world a favor and put themselves down.

I will never visit your site again, and I’m telling everyone I know how phony you are. Gross! Get some morals, people!

Llia Eskridge
via email

I guess, since I just recommended that those interested in the fresh, cooked foods review should revisit the table for additions to the chart, that I should also mention that subscribers to WDJ can access all of our past articles. And that some of our past articles are also available to nonsubscribers.

The article that the writer above is referencing (“Dog-on-Dog Household Aggression“) was originally published in the April 2010 issue. It was recently updated and set “free” on our website.

The article contained more than 4,000 words about how to try to peacefully resolve conflicts between dogs in your family, as well as links to a dozen other articles containing even more training and management strategies for dogs with aggression issues. At the end of the piece, the author wrote:

“No one wants to think of euthanizing an otherwise healthy member of their canine family. Still, if you’ve done all you can reasonably do given the limits of your abilities and resources, and you’ve not been able to create a safe environment for your family and one of the dogs can’t be rehomed, then euthanasia is not an inappropriate decision. It will be terribly painful for you, and you may always feel guilt and regret about not finding the solution to the problem, although perhaps not as much guilt and regret as you would if one of your dogs badly injured or killed the other, or worse, a person.”

We stand by the article. Its author, Whole Dog Journal‘s Training Editor Pat Miller, still writes for us.