I cant belive I've been feeding my dogs junk food!

What part of stay on topic and if you wish to discuss the pro's and cons of Science Diet to start another thread was not understood?
 
This is the second time I've had to ask.  I would appreciate you taking my request to heart.

ORIGINAL: PyrfectlyPyrenees

I cant belive I've been feeding my dogs junk food!

I could not believe as I read on most of the sites for dog nutrition that Science Diet is such a junky food!

It seems like the pros and cons, well - the cons at least, of Science Diet are the subject?????

ORIGINAL: PyrfectlyPyrenees

Wow is all I can say! Surely didn't mean to start anything. The reason I am so glad of finding out that SD isnt high quality is that my Great Pyrenees often doesnt eat her food unless we add cheese,eggs etc. Our GSD however eats anything you put in front of him. Our GSD's coat is not glossy or soft, but often dry and brittle feeling. He deserves to feel good and be soft and loveable too!  I chocked a lot of that up to old age. ( He will be 10 in Feb.) But watching Shiloh not eat and turn her nose up, is not a pleasant feeling. Pyrenees grow until they are 3 and she has 13 more months till she reaches 3! I want her to be happy and healthy. I wouldn't want to have to eat something I dont like, thats for sure! Anyway, ty everyone for the words of encouragement and yes I do know to add new brands of food gradually to avoid stomach issues, but thanks anyway in case I didn't know. []

 
Where in this post did the OP invite this kind of reaction?
 
So you know, Blue is an excellent food, and you can buy a bag and return it at any time for a full refund if they don't like the food.  Their philosophy is that EVERY BAG is a sample.  If it doesn't work for some reason (gas, whatever) or if your dogs don't like it, just take it back.
 
Other really high quality foods include (but are not limited to) Innova (can be pretty hard to find), Canidae, Solid Gold....I'm sure others will be happy to add to that list.  However, Blue is a very good place to start.

I could not believe as I read on most of the sites for dog nutrition that Science Diet is such a junky food! Now I feel awful . I ordered a sample of the Blue Buffalo and we'll see how they like it. I'm going to have to split it between the two dogs cuz they only let you have one sample. ( with these two horses they will think its a snack, lol) Anyway, I'm so happy I learned something new about dog food through the forum. Thanks everyone!

Welcome!  And please don't feel bad!  There's worse foods than Science Diet, and for some animals it's really the best.  I feed my cats a mixture of Science Diet and Authority.  Both of these are considered crap, but I have cats that have very sensitive stomachs and meow like the dickens if they don't feel full.  SD and Authority contain enough of whatever keeps them healthy (we have no problems with infections, dandruf, lackluster coats, gooey ears, gross teeth, etc) and also contains enough bland fillers to keep them feeling full.  People on a cat board give me crap, but hey, if those people want to come here and feed my cats the "good" food and then stick around to deal with the barf, the howling, the diarrhea, the cat who refuses to eat after a bad tummy ache...sure I invite them to see how they like it.  And just to be clear, I chose SD on my own, it was not recommended to me by any vet, nor was it the food my cats were on originally. 

So 1) please don't feel bad, everyone's education begins somwhere and 2) don't think that you HAVE to feed a really high quality food because sometimes the mid grade foods are what's best for the animal. 

Good luck with the Blue!  That's a good food, a good choice.  I tried it with my cats and well, one pooped a runny splat on the floor, one barfed, and one was really sick and barely moved for two days, but I would have liked to use Blue.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Where in this post did the OP invite this kind of reaction?

 
So are we all supposed to just reply with 'you're welcome?'  Or, if the reaction was a disagreement of whether the OP is making a good or bad choice with Blue Buffalo as opposed to the disagreement about SD, would that be considered off topic as well?

This may be considered off topic, i don't know.  But I would never go by one of those add and subtract point things as to what to feed my dogs.  Hubby and i did one and according to it, we should have never dated, much less got married and we have been married 42 years.  I don't take much stock in it.  Anyone can make one up and fool people into thinking it is right on the money.
 
I say try another food and see how it does.  What works great for one dog will not do for the next one at all.  You may not be able to feed them the same food., you may be able to.  I would suggest a little fish oil for the dry coat of your one dog, at least until you hit on a food that puts the shine and softness back in it.

I would suggest a little fish oil for the dry coat of your one dog, at least until you hit on a food that puts the shine and softness back in it.

I'll second that. Maybe even the fish version of Blue. My dogs do really well on fish based foods, and it seens a lot of them do.

I hope your puppers do well on thier new food, and really enjoy the change. Good luck!

ORIGINAL: abbysdad

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the good doctor have an agenda...like, doesn't she work for PG or someone who produces a food using low cost ingredients?

No she is independent and does not work for any dog food manufacturer.

Maybe, but it seems to me like a pretty good place to start.  Don't you consider the ingredients that are in food you feed your kids?  If that seems sensible for kids, why not dogs?

We control the fresh ingredients we serve our kids, we have no idea of the quality of the ingredients in kibble, that is the point. If you see chicken meal on one label, and chicken by-product meal on another, which is more nutritious.  The answer is no one knows, not me, not you and not Dr. Remillard, that is her point.  The chicken meal can be a very poor quality and poorly digestible chicken meal, and the by-product meal can be a very high quality and highly digestible by-product meal, and the same goes for every ingredient in the food, not to mention the numerous other factors that go into the nutritional quality of a food, like how well balanced the nutrients, vitamins and minerals are, how the ingredients are stored, processed, etc.   Many of the "premium foods" use novel carb sources, like potato, tapioca, are those really superior carb sources than wheat, soy or corn, if you look at the nutritional values of those products, I would say no. I would rather my kids eat corn or wheat everyday than tapioca or potato.

[linkhttp://www.wysong.net/PDFs/healthiergrains.pdf]http://www.wysong.net/PDFs/healthiergrains.pdf[/link]

From the Dog Food Project under ingredients to avoid:


"Chicken byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than the chicken muscle meat.The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. If there is any use for any part of the animal that brings more profit than selling it as "byproduct", rest assured it will appear in such a product rather than in the "byproduct" dumpster."

ORIGINAL: glenmar

What part of stay on topic and if you wish to discuss the pro's and cons of Science Diet to start another thread was not understood?
 
This is the second time I've had to ask.  I would appreciate you taking my request to heart.

 
Glenda, I don't understand.  The OP most certainly was discussing SD, as were Tony and I.  It seems to me we are on topic.  Now, you decide to start discussing the merits of Canidae and Solid Gold which were not even brought up by the OP.  Please, help me understand your thinking.  WHO IS OFF TOPIC???
 
I'll tell you what Glenda.  How about I just stay out of sections of the forum moderated by you.

It may be more worthwhile to discuss Blue or other foods the OP might want to consider.  S/he's already stated s/he's switching from SD, so rehashing the cons of SD is a moot point.  I think we all agree that SD is a crappy food, in the grand scheme of available pet foods, and especially for the price.

Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat.

there is a feeding theory that  suggests feeding those byproducts in conjunction with muscle meat is a good thing. it is called the "whole prey" diet.

basically you feed your dog similarly to the way a wolf would eat. that includes feathers, fur, muscle meat, organs, bones, etc.

any product having passed an AAFCO feeding trial is worthy of being tested on your dog if you are looking for another product.

 
I personally hope my dogs live longer than six months and think the AAFCO feeding trials are a joke.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

any product having passed an AAFCO feeding trial is worthy of being tested on your dog if you are looking for another product.

I personally hope my dogs live longer than six months and think the AAFCO feeding trials are a joke.

You are right, but some people just look for the cheapest product they can feed their dogs, and the dog food companies looks for the highest profit margin they can make. It amazes me that people know how a poor diet effects the growth and health of people, but they think a dog or a cat is different, and they can eat any kind of garbage you feed them and be healthy. The pet food companies, realize that the average pet owner doesn't know anything about what should and what should not be in the food that they are feeding their animals, so they can pretty much get away with anything they put in the food.

I always get a kick out of watching people at the checkout line of the supermarket with a big bag of Beneful or Science Diet in their shopping cart, along with several six packs of the most expensive bottled water.I guess they treat themselves better than they do their pets.....

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8

I guess they treat themselves better than they do their pets.....

Or maybe they just don't know any better...

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat.

there is a feeding theory that  suggests feeding those byproducts in conjunction with muscle meat is a good thing. it is called the "whole prey" diet.

basically you feed your dog similarly to the way a wolf would eat. that includes feathers, fur, muscle meat, organs, bones, etc.

 
Eeeeewwwwwww... there goes my appetite! .... [:'(]