Why don't you recommend science diet??
 

I feed mine the nature's best chicken and rice and also science diet light small bites. I know that hill's is very strict about their food and it goes thru rigorous testing--so I am curious as to why it's such a bad food?? Also, are you talking general diets or the prescription diets as well??

The ingredients are Bad i would never Feed it to my dog's.

Is it all the ingredients or particular ones?? Is there a link I can go to see specifically why it's not recommended??

For me it isn't just Science Diet or a single ingredient, it is the whole "commercial dog food" issue. The dog food industry isn't regulated very well. If you do some independent research (using sources that have no vested interest in a dog food company) you will find a plethora of information concerning the hazards of feeding commerical dog foods.

One tiny example -- Any time you see "meat" or "meat meal" on a dog food label that is exactly what it means -- it could be cow, pork, chicken, horse, OR road kill, OR even little Fluffy that was euthanized at the vet last week.

Go to the Hill's website and look up the ingredients.

Hill's Pet Nutrition Products: Prescription Diet & Science Diet

For example, these are the ingredients in the Adult Small Bites:

Chicken, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Ground Whole Grain Wheat, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Brewers Rice, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), DL-Methionine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Corn is a cheap filler and one of the top three allergy causing ingredients in dogs. It also contains wheat and soy, the other top two allergy causing ingredients.

This is the AAFCo definition for what is in chicken by-product-meal:

Chicken By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

AAFCO DEFINITIONS OF DOG FOOD INGREDIENTS

Pretty disgusting, huh?

So what kind of food do you give your babies??

I am a homecooker.

I feed Royal Canine. I'd also reccomend Canidae, Innova or Wellness.

Science Diet Nature's Best isn't the worst food ever.
I don't like the pork part but this food is in my top 10 or 20.
Some of that has to do with quality control.
Some other companies are really in question for this right now.

I have basically stopped recommending dog food because there seems to be problems with just about all of it. I am also a homecooker and if I had a bigger dog, I don't know what I'd feed.

There are alot of choices out there and some are better than others. It's up to you to make the right choices for your pup and doing some research, like you are now, is the first step.

I, personally, feed Life's Abundance. LA has never been on the recall list. It's not a commercial food at all. It also has probiotics for their skin, coat and general health. My pups have been on it since June. I am very happy with the results. (my oldest female had some food allergies that now cease to exist).

If you want to do more research on LA, just click on the link on my signature line. If you want some free samples, just PM me and I'll be happy to send some out to you.

Good luck in your research. Our babies can't make the choices - they trust us to make the healthy ones for them. :)

I have 4 dogs--2 yorkies, a terrier mix-28lbs, and a 70lb mixed breed!!!

If I had to feed commercial food, I'd probably look closely at Innova and possibly a few others.

We have been feeding our dogs Maxximum - It's a premium brand made by Wal Mart. It's not as good as the premium brands, but it doesn't have corn, wheat, gluten or soy - My yorkie-chi was scratching a bunch until we started feeding this brand. We have had no problems since PLUS their teeth look great.

Here is a link to a review.
Healthy Dog Foods? - Maxximum Nutrition

This is a good website to read about dogfood reviews

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

I just switched Missy to RAW food.

When I first got Scooter, he was on Science Diet. I bought a small bag of it since thats what he was used to until I could look into what I should feed him. About two weeks after openning the bag (it was stored in an airtight container), I discoved a number of bugs inside. The bag had its own seal so I knew it came from the food itself and not where it had been inside my house....plus, no bug problems in my house before or after. There were so many I even threw out the airtight container I had stored it in.

I, probably like many others, assumed that since my vet carried it, it was a good food. After a lot of research, I discoved how wrong I was. Vets get a large precentage of the profits from selling Science Diet which is why they carry it.

Everyone will tell you to gradually change a dogs food. After seeing the bugs, Scooter was switched right away, no gradual introduction to new food. He is now on Wellness Adult Chicken and loves it. All the research I did told me that I needed to look for other things in his food, not just that my vet sold it. Now, when I go to the vet and the vet asks what I feed him, they (we go to a group of vets) even admit Wellness is a much better food. Some of the workers at my vets office even feed it to their dogs...doesn't that tell you something?!?! They carry it but won't even give it to their own dogs.

My advice, do your research and find the food you think is best. It doesnt have to be Wellness but for your dog's sake, make sure it is a good one. Science diet is junk. It is all fillers with no true nutrients and does nothing to help your dog live a long life.

I've got 6 dogs, 2 big ones and 4 little ones, everyone of them are on eukanuba naturally wild and are doing great on it, even their hair is shinier. Of course, some will say eukanuba isn't good either, but, with some dogs being so picky, if you find something that your dogs are doing well on, not itching, etc, I say keep them on it. I know there are a lot of people that do the raw, but, for me, there is just no way. With eukanuba naturally wild, or even the taste of the wild(which is a 6 star food), that is as close to home cooking as mine are going to get..good luck on whatever you decide. You have to do what you feel is best for your dogs, as everyone in here has their own opinions.

mine are on taste of the wild, pacific stream. I have 4 dogs that range in age from 8 years to 14 weeks, its an all life stage food. They are doing very well on it, thier eyes are bright they are active and thier coats look great.
It is on the list of one of the better premium foods but most wont feed it because its made by diamond foods, however there arent too many pet foods out there that havent had some kind of a recall and the taste of the wild doesnt have any corn or crap in it that started the recall back in 2006. I wont home cook. Its not for me.
Finding a higher quality food is better for your pets however if they wont eat it then feed them what they will eat. :)

they have corn as the second ingredient! corn makes my york itch like a wild man. plus , i don't trust this commercial brand. too corporate.more interested in profit than the health of the dogs.

It has by products, corn, bha, bht and some I think have exothiquin a very nasty pesticide and corn gluten and sorghum are also bad. By products can be hooves ,udders, and god knos what else. I would personally never feed it to my chester boy. Merrick, solid gold, innova, wellness are a few of the better ones.

:yeahthat: :thumbup::thumbup:

:thumbup:

Spend five minutes reading through my threads and you will quickly see I am IN NO WAY QUALIFIED TO GIVE ADVICE on food :D !! I have ask at least 20 questions about every food I find :rolleyes: I am still searching and learning myself...but after I read about Science diet ( which my pup was on ) I changed because I didn't feel the ingredients in it were good for her. I want her to have the best I can give her.

:thumbup: Those by-products and preservatives are nasty and do not belong in our babies!!

I feed frozen and dehydrated raw to my yorkies. I am like you though and have two big dogs as well and sorry but I am not feeding them raw, just can't afford that!! They eat Nature's Variety rabbit at this time, because my lab has severe food allergies.

I feed mines Chicken soup for the puppy soul lover...Its very good and the pups love it.

I Absolutely Agree!!!!!!!!!!
 

I agree. Vets do get a percentage of the sales. Plus vets really look at the medical part of veterinary not the nutritional part (unless they are hollistic vets). I feed my dogs raw and supplement with Evo.

I highly recommend this website: The Dog Food Project - How does your Dog Food Brand compare? It shows you how to read the ingredient label on dog food and whats really in there.

On here I read many warnings against Science Diet. I didnt really care since I fed Wellness. But when Monty needed to switch to cat food he didnt like the Wellness brand. I tried Nutro as well and no go. He LOVES Science Diet. The vet seems to think it is just fine and the local pet store (not petsmart or petco) says it is good as well. Not AS good as Wellness but it is still a good food. I compared the ingredients with Wellness and didnt find any huge discrepancies. I think it all depends on what your yorkie baby likes and his stomach can handle. I feed Wellness hard food and Science Diet soft and have no issues. He is healthier than ever actually.:animal36