Science Diet vs. Acana!!?

[BonBon]

Originally Posted by cj125

I'm sorry Bonny - I just went to Petsmart's site and it does show a ton of SD food. I don't recall ever seeing those but then again I wasn't looking. lol! Yea we were getting the I/D and J/D for out kids.

Learn something new every day! Sorry about that Bonny!

That's ok. I wouldn't have known either except I fed SD for a while a few years ago, before Alexander's chicken allergy made itself known.

[AlicetheYorkie]

Originally Posted by sweet_tikka

Update:
First off, I tried a piece of Acana and a piece of Science Diet, wont lie the SD smelled better than Acana... BUT when I ate 'em they tasted the same! It's just that's outter layer grrrr.

I think I found a trick... I couldn't find any gravy type products to mix in up here in my small town except for some no name stuff... so today I took a piece of Acana and put in my hand and showed it to Tikka.

She put it in her mouth and spit it out. So I did it again, except the second time as soon as she put it in her mouth I put my hand under her chin... for about 30 seconds she just looked like she was holding her breath, so I opened her mouth and there was the kibble, just sitting on her tongue.

I kept my hand under her chin and 10 seconds later she ate it, THEN I took a handful of Acana and she scarfed it down! And even a second handful!

All she needed to do was try it! She was going by the smell and not the taste! And people say dogs aren't anything like children... I'll bed to differ! I even gave her a treat for eating all her Acana.

Ok, i am cracking up right now that you tried them yourself hahahaha, now THAT'S a dedicated dog mommy

[sweet_tikka]

Haha yeah I was getting frustrated as to why she wouldn't eat Acana... I mean it's 60% meat it's gotta taste good for a dog lol. S.Diet def. smells better, but the tastes are very similar... it's that darn coating on the SD!

I actually cant believe I ate it either.... now that I think about it. Gross!

[Kimberly812]

I agree with a previous poster that you can't even begin to compare SD and Acana - it would be like comparing a McDonald's hamburger to filet mignon! The first ingredient, first of all is CORN! Dogs have a very difficult time digesting corn and it shouldn't be part of their diet. That is followed by Chicken by-product meal which, in addition to also being difficult to digest, contains bones, undeveloped eggs and feathers! YUCK! The first ingredients in any dog food should ALWAYS contain either a meat meal (i.e. chicken meal) or a whole meat.

It makes me so angry that there are still vets out there praising and recommending SD simply because they get kick backs from the company, all the while knowing it is a terrible food... shame on them.

[sweet_tikka]

Yeah, I am pretty much just switching them cold turkey... i only mix in a few pieces of SD for the smell but if they're hungry they've got to eat their Acana... I have a 16lb bag of it that is NOT going to go to waste lol. After this is gone I might see if I can find NB or NV here though. Heard good stuff on YT about those.

[sweet_tikka]

Update: Switching cold turkey might not being working... I haven't noticed her eating at all! I've hand fed her as much as I could, but the past couple days she hasn't eaten at all. So I got out a handful of the SD and she gobbled it up [of course!] I had to give in, I wouldn't want to risk her running her health down just over some food and a stubborn appetite.

What's the best brand with the most flavour and taste you guys would reccommend. Acana is pretty much the only thing in our ONLY pet food store that's on the list of recommended foods I've found on YT. But if there's something I can order online to Canada might have to try it, although that might get mighty expensive :/

[Roxy 87]

There's a pet food store in Grande Prairie called Pawsitively healthy, they sell Solid Gold and Canidae, Innova, Evo and other foods. I haven't been able to go there yet to check it out though, but would love to.

[sweet_tikka]

I'll have to make a trip down there for some shopping and check that out... it's so depressing to see her not eating, and because she needed to lose a little weight, but now I think she's loosing too much so until we find something that works she'll be getting SD, having a healthy girl is more important right now, one bag of SD can't kill her! Ugh.

[AlicetheYorkie]

Originally Posted by sweet_tikka

Update: Switching cold turkey might not being working... I haven't noticed her eating at all! I've hand fed her as much as I could, but the past couple days she hasn't eaten at all. So I got out a handful of the SD and she gobbled it up [of course!] I had to give in, I wouldn't want to risk her running her health down just over some food and a stubborn appetite.

What's the best brand with the most flavour and taste you guys would reccommend. Acana is pretty much the only thing in our ONLY pet food store that's on the list of recommended foods I've found on YT. But if there's something I can order online to Canada might have to try it, although that might get mighty expensive :/

Have you tried Orijen instead of Acana? It's grain-free and maybe that would go over better. My other recommendation for "tasty" kibble that picky Alcie likes is Nature's Variety, not sure if you can find it in your local store though. For now, I agree, if she skips more than one meal (try that first, maybe if she gets really hungry she'll eat it, I know it's hard to do but it worked here) give the SD for now till you find something she's willing to eat.

[tjwarder]

Several YT'ers suggested ordering samples from different dog food companies and that is what we did when Sugar Bear would not eat the Wellness Core Small Breed Kibble that we bought for her.

I only sent two requests, but we got (kibble) samples from Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (2 small packs) and from Taste of the Wild (8 small packs !!). If we ever have to change her food, I will definitely send off for samples before buying whole bags of a new food!

Someone suggested doing a taste test to see what your dog will eat, and that worked for us. I taped the names of each food to the bottom of 6 small saucers, placed 10 pieces of each kibble on each and laid them in a row for Sugar to sample at dinner time. I called her into the room and watched what she did. She turned up her nose at Wellness, sniffed and ignored Chicken Soup, ate most of the TOTW Bison, picked up a TOTW Lamb and dropped it on the floor, ate a few TOTW Roasted Fowl, polished off the TOTW Salmon, then ate the remaing Bison & Fowl.

Now we have three kibbles that she likes, and we feed her a different flavor for each meal, followed by a spoonful of Wellness (beef, chicken or lamb) or TOTW (fowl) canned food. I love the sample & taste test ideas I learned here! Guess I should request treat samples now since we haven't been able to find healthy dog treats that she likes.

[sweet_tikka]

Oh thanks, how do you get free samples, did you contact the company directly or was the a form to fill out for samples? That'd be a life saver, these foods are expensive haha! And I have $80 worth of food they wont eat lol... yay.

[AlicetheYorkie]

You should see if you can get your money back for some of them. I know alot of these companies "guarantee" their food and if your dog won't eat it you should be able to return it to the place you bought it. I did that with a bag of Merrick I bought, you'll have to check the company's policy though or check with your pet store.

[sweet_tikka]

I will def. do that if I get my samples in the next month there'll still be LOTS left over in those bags, otherwise I'll just try to sell them lol! There is ONE pet store 2.5 hours away that sells Taste Of The Wild, and Chicken Soup's nearest dealer is 5.3 hours away. But if she will eat TOTW that drive will be worth it haha, just buy a couple diff flavours each time and do a little shopping for myself lol.

I'm just gonna ask every company for samples haha, then that way if she every rejects her food again I've got test kibble on hand... she's such a stinker. I put Acana in her mouth and tried hold it shut again like I did last time, and that piece of Acana sat on her tongue til is was so soggy lol, she will def. NOT eat it.

[tjwarder]

Oops, thought I had posted a reply but don't see it now. Just Google each company you are interested in and look for the 'contact us' link. TOTW and Chicken Soup have online email forms that you fill out and send. I think I sent an email to Merrick also and they replied that they do not send out samples but that I could return a purchase for a refund. PetSmart here let me return the unused portion of the Wellness Core and a box of Wellness treats. There are many more good brands that YT'ers have recommended - I bet you can find several that will send samples.

[Britster]

Most places will let you return opened bags. I've had do this a few times... tried about 1/2 cup and when he refused, I did not want the bag sitting around so I returned it with receipt. They happily take it back.

Are you feeding Acana grain-free or the other Acana's? Jackson is probably the pickiest dog I know, like literally, with everything. And he LOVES Acana Grasslands and Prairie Harvest. He likes the taste of Orijen better but he started getting the runs on the Regional Red so we stopped plus the food was more expensive.

Nature's Variety Instinct was the first kibble I had found when he was around 9 months old that I could tell he just loved the flavor and enjoyed eating. The kibbles in NV are a lot smaller too.

TOTW sent me a ton of samples a while back. Acana and Orijen did not but you can buy little .88lb bags of their food in a store for like $3. Natural Balance also sent me a lot of samples. Umm... I forget who else. Fromm sent me coupons!