Is Science Diet OK? Trying to decide on the best dry dog food.

[yorkipower]

Lickthestar, again, I agree with everything you wrote! More great advice!

Forgot to mention another great KIBBLE diet out there - Flint River Ranch
(this one I don't beleive petfooddirect sells)

http://food4dogs.com/

Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue is now a Solid Gold affiliate - if you buy Solid Gold Kibble from them you will not only be doing your own dog a favor but you'll also help Yorkies in Need (I feed my dogs "Just a Wee Bit" and when they were puppies the Puppy "Flocken (sp?))

http://www.yorkierescue.com/storesolidgold.html

Also directly through http://www.solidgoldhealth.com

Merrick also sells directly through their website as does Newmans

Sorry about not being clear on the food rotation thing - I DO NOT recommend changing food every day 1) some dogs have sensitive stomachs and if you change the food constantly, it gives them stomach aches and 2) Yorkies are already very finicky and that would just exaserbate the problem (I have in fact a little princess at home who does her nightly "sit in" when she is fed the 2nd half of an opened can. I just wait it out until she comes to the conclusion that she is hungrary and that what's on the floor is for what's for dinner, take it or leave it). When I say rotation, what I mean is every couple of months, usually, I'll buy a case of dog food which will last me about a month and half, then I will buy a different brand, among the brands I listed, to fill the next order. Also, I suppliment with missling link or Solid Gold Sea Meal and/or Sea Pet Cod Liver Oil and/or Grisley's Salmon Oil. I also feed one of my dogs Cosequin for his joints. I prefer giving wholefood supplements as opposed to vitamins because there is less of a chance of over supplementation of fat soluable vitamines and there's a better chance of 1) absorbancy of the nutriants and 2) incorporation of phytonutriants that might have been destroyed in the food making process.

OK, now as for by-products and commercial (supermarket aisle and major pet food chain dog food) here are some links to info which may be helpful:

Great book: Canine Nutrition by Lowell Ackerman available at "DogWise"
http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DN175

Great resource: Whole Dog Journal https://www.belvoir.com/offers/whole...le+dog+journal

Internet info on commerical dog foods and "by-products" The writer of this article refers to a "prescription dog food" he was given by his vet. Hmmm. . . wonder which one he means:

Health Risks of Commericial Dog Food Click Here

[schatzie]

WOW - I thought I would be the only person on here using Bil-Jac. However I am not, LOL (Ilovebaby) I also mix it with a tsp. of Little Ceasers.

I used to use Royal Canine, but Schatzie never cared for it. I had the RC leftover when my Half-Pint was still alive. Well, I noticed one day that I had some dry RC and dry Bil-Jac, i put each in a glass and added some water to check how fast it would dissolve. The RC stayed intact forever while the Bil-Jac broke down. I just kinda thought, wow, if the RC isn't dissolving how is Schatzie to digest this hard stuff in her little belly??

I know RC is a high quality dog food and am not downing it. I think Bil-Jac is a high quality food too.

While Schatzie is a puppy i will be keeping her on the Bil-Jac then once she is old enough to be placed on an adult food I will find a food that both Schatzie and Annabelle with share. Right now they are on differant brands except for the Little Ceasers being mixed in their food.

Im pretty happy with Bil-Jac so far.

[orinskye]

When do you switch food to adult food???..... toby is five months and still on puppy food, and i was wondering when i should switch..... some people say six months, others say a year, and some start there puppies out on adult food and skip puppyfood altogether...... im a little lost.... i know that puppy food is fattening and i dont want toby to be a walking "stuffed sausage".... my last dog was overweight and i dont want to do the same thign to toby.
any advice??

[Ilovebaby]

Well I have Baby on Bil-Jac Puppy right now, but because she is 10 months old and I now starting to mix the Bil-Jac puppy with the Bil-Jac adult food. Just to ease the progression into the big girl food! I don't know if I'm doing it right but it seems to be doing pretty well for Baby! P.S. I'm also glad that I'm not the only Bil-Jac user....Baby really likes it, and so if it makes her happy then it makes me happy too!

[coopersunshine]

I started out with Royal Canin mini puppy 33 and then when i went to the vet they convinced me to try Hills p/d (science diet) . But now after reading all these posts, am not sure i should continue to feed him that. I don't care how much money his food costs as long as i know he is being well taken care of. Newf was 2.4 lbs at 8 wks old when i got him and now he is 4 months and 10 days old and he is 5.6 lbs. So i am starting to wonder if this dog food is too fatty for him. Plus, i have noticed that this dog food (dry) feels greasy. I just want to have a happy, healthy puppy. He doesn't look overwieght or anything but i was thinking that maybe he shouldn't have gained that much weight that fast. Who knows maybe i am just worrying too much. But, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know !!! Thanks!!!

[Harbinger]

Sheila is now just a little over 10 weeks old and not to big on the dry puppy food. I've tried wellness puppy but she wont eat it, I think maybe the kibbles are too large. The day care(yes, she's in day care, I could only take a week off sadly and have a carrer to worry about) gave me some Natural choice small that she'll eat though even that's some work! Should I mix it with the Wellness puppy moist and some hot water? The breeder had her on some crazy home cooked diet (Ok, maybe not crazy, I know there is a fresh food movement out there, but I'd rather my dog eat dog food) that I have gotten her off of after consulting with the vet. I really do want her off just moist, but that's all she'll really eat right now. Any advice is appreciated .

[miezzi]

To those who use Bil Jac- That is what Luigi was on at the breeders. Came home with it. Took him to the vet and was asked what food he was on. I said Bil Jac and my vet went spastic on me along with just about the whole vet office. They made me feel so terrible. She told me that Bil Jac is all the leftover organs of the animal including the digestive track. It is ground up and goes thru some kind if food processing. They then freeze it. So Bil Jac is frozen uncooked product. If the animal it came from happen to have a parasite or any bacteria in its intestinal track, then you are essentially tranferring it thru the food. And it can make the dog very sick. So she then told me to NOT feed that anymore. She scared the crap out of me. She gave me a HUGE lecture on it and she even had gotten into arguements with the reps who come into the office.

I AM NOT a professonal in this area, all I am going by is what my vet told me about it. Has anone else heard this??

[Breeze]

Here is a site that lets you compare dog or cat food ingedients in different brands.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

[schatzie]

Here is a site that explains Bil Jac to those who feed this to your Yorkie (or other pets)

Schatzie eats Bil Jac, loves it!

http://www.biljac.com/store/dogmain.asp

[Carters Mom]

I just got back from Petco to purchase new food for Carter. He was always fed Science Diet's Nature's Best and I've been wanting to switch to something with more protein and less corn.

I was all set to purchase Nature's Balance which is one of the recommended brands from the Whole Dog Journal's list. In talking with the girl working at Petco, I decided to look at the Nutro Max to compare with the Nature's Balance. (I had heard many people in this forum speaking well of NM) It still had corn products in it so I looked at the Nutra Natural Choice Ultra Puppy and decided to purchase it. It has no corn products at all!

I opened the bag in the car and Carter was ready to attack! He has never taken such an interest in his Science Diet as what he did with the Nutro Ultra! I'm hoping it will agree with his belly . . . we'll be making the switch for the next 5 days.

Here's the website if you'd like to check it out.
http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncultradog.asp

[miezzi]

So I wonder why my vet freaked out? I am going to print that out and take it with me the next time we visit the ver which is the end of next month. I should have just kept him on that. Luigi went thru so much switching his food. He was sick (from both ends) Had to stay at the vet cuz he wasn't eating. Everything upset his tummy.

[Bentley'sMom]

Schatzie - I would be careful with that food. The second ingredient is by-product and the third ingredient is corn. Both are not the best. I would try to find a food without byproduct or corn.

Originally Posted by schatzie

Here is a site that explains Bil Jac to those who feed this to your Yorkie (or other pets)

Schatzie eats Bil Jac, loves it!

http://www.biljac.com/store/dogmain.asp

[schatzie]

Thanks Bentlye's Mom....Schatzie is almost out of her Bil Jac now so if Im going to switch Id like to do is asap so I can incorporate the old with the new food as to not upset her tummy.

Is there a magic dog food out there that has no by-products, corn,wheat, etc.

If so please tell me, also Id really prefer a dog food I can get at Petsmart and not have to worry about purchasing online.

Thanks much!!

[Mya'sMom]

My Mya is 15.5 weeks and she eats Nutro Natural Lamb and Rice puppy food and is doing ok with it. I was considering switching to Flint River or Royal Canin. The most important thing is that she gets the best nutrition because she is so small. The biggest thing I hear is to STAY AWAY FROM BY-PRODUCTS! Anyone know anything about Royal Canin?

[Breeze]

schatzie-
If you look at the link above that I posted you can compare up to 4 dog food brands.

I think if you feed any of these it would be a good choice:

Wellness, Canidae, Nutro max, Chicken Soup for the pet lover's soul (has dairy in it so some dogs may be sensitive to it), Wysong, or Solid Gold