Right now we are 4. Yes, 4 dogs in one apartment. My sister Lola and me, and since late January, Blackie and Brownie. We were 5 for over a week. My mommy brought in 3 little puppies all of a sudden. She said they were like me, stray dogs. She found them somewhere around our home, looking for food in the cold. One of the puppies, her name is Spray Can, was adopted very soon so I didn't get to know her well. Her 2 brothers are still with us. So, here we are, 3 previously stray dogs who ate garbage for survival. (Only 3 because Lola was never really on the streets) And guess what? We all like our dry dog food!

It wasn't always like this, as I mentioned on another post, it took me a long time to get used to this kind of food. My parents kept on trying to find a brand I would like. They tried everything: imported from Canada, the US, Australia, and so on. They tried some brands with lots of "benefits" for dogs. For example, to make our hair shinny, to help us digest better, to improve our breathe and a bunch of other things. Also some "gourmet" kind of thing: with organic vegetables pieces from the valley of I don't know where, "carefully selected for your dog's health". Grrrrr, to me, they tasted worse than the stuff I used to find on the streets, and would prefer to be hungry for a whole day or 2 than eating it.

I think another reason my parents decided to keep on changing brands was because of some... side effects. I'm not proud of this, but, some of those brands made me expel intestinal gas through the anus (read "fart"). Badly. You wouldn't hear it, you would just smell it. It wasn't making anyone happy and when they had to pick up my poo it was even worse, I could see their faces twisting around! Not my fault! It was the food.

Anyways, a few months ago, they finally found it, the perfect dry food for us. You see, since we were suddenly 5, they ran to the supermarket and got whatever was available and looked reliable. Another international brand, yes, but it turned out to be cheapest one. I won't tell you the brand but I can tell you is a yellow bag. So, we discovered we like cheap stuff! even the 2 puppies, who had just arrived, got adjusted to it in a day! Really hard to imagine, if you ever adopted a street dog you would know that all we want is human food. 

Don't get me wrong, I still beg for eggs and apples, but, I don't mind eating my dry food anymore, even without any meaty wet food.

So here is a tip: Don't let yourself be guided by all the "benefits" of some imported brands, we sometimes just like the basic simple stuff. 

Another tip is to check which brands have been approved to be sold in China. As it turns out, MOST OF THE BRANDS OUT THERE ARE BEEN SOLD WITHOUT THE REAL PERMISSION, which means they have not passed any test. So, becareful. ICVS Asia wrote on its website (2010) that there are 7 brands legally registered in China:
- Royal Canin dry dog and cat foods (manufactured by Mars Corporation)
- Purina Pro-Plan dry dog and cat foods (manufactured by Nestle Corporation)
- Purina Dog Chow and Cat Chow dry foods (manufactured by Nestle Corporation)
- Purina Friskies dry cat food (manufactured by Nestle Corporation)
- Whiskas dry and canned cat foods (manufactured by Mars Corporation)
- Pedigree dry and canned dog foods (manufactured by Mars Corporation)
- Cesar canned dog food (manufactured by Mars Corporation)

 A cat! Gotta go!
Woof!