I am just still curious as to what others take is in on Science Diet? I feed my pup Science Diet For Large Breed but have been hearing about other good foods.
I use her in the field and want to give her the best that there is, can anyone tell me if I am on the right track or should I change.

Thanks
Eric

My opinion is that it is not a good quality dog food as a result of its ingredient.
This brand spends a lot on Advertising to "create" the brand image, plus marketing campaign with the vet. Then, it's recommended by many dog clinic and hospital.
Do not fall into the trap...

I also attach the thread that posted more info about Science Diet. Check it out.
http://www.lab-retriever.net/board/showthread.php?t=57025&highlight=Science+Diet

Thanks for using that thread, pinnie :).

I agree, SD isn't a good kibble. What other choices of kibbles are available to you?

i would never buy anything by hills, do a little bit of researching on ingredients and then look at hills ingredients. i think the #1 thing is corn(not good)

I wouldn't buy SD. It has mediocre ingredients in it for the price. It also has soybean mill runoff. Not even the beans, just the stuff that runs off the machine. Talk about quality!

Hello all and thanks for the input. I have access to all kinds of dog food. I just want to give the best that I can to my pup. Can any of you suggest some good brands as opposed to Hills SD?

Thanks,
Eric

For dogs that do not suffer from food allergies ( which is a very serious problem) my vet, and breeder recommend Eukanuba. I have always used it and my dogs have done very well with it (present and past dogs).

-Kathryn
Butters 5/11/05
Moose 10/8/05

We use Eagle Pack Hoilistic LB puppy food. Hudson is doing really well on it, and we are more than happy with the ingredients :)

However, I think as long as you are choosing a food with the right ingredients, and one that your puppy/dog is doing well on then it is a great food for your dog. For example, Hudson does not do well on lamb so we need an alternative...food is a pretty difficult topic (as I learned from this board, they helped me out a lot.

Good luck....what I did was make a list of all the ingredients I was looking for (look at the sticky in the Diet and Nutrition on food guidelines) and then I went to the feed store and searched every dog food they had for the right one. Eagle seems to be a good choice for us...Hudson loves it..his coat shines, he is engergetic, and he is growing properly. :)

I am not a fan of Science Diet or any Hill's products....there are many far superior foods available for your pup....We feed Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb and Rice....Our Lab, Toby does great on it...he is very healthy, healthy skin and coat, clear eyes...lots of vitality and energy...but you do have to use what works for your dog...I can name some of the popular premium brands:

Innova
Wellness
Solid Gold
Eagle Pack
Pinnacle
Natural Balance
Diamond
California Natural

IMHO - Very very bad. We had poor results. However, we were virgin lab owners when CC came into our lives. We went with SD because that is what she was on when we adopted her.

I am not a fan of Science Diet or any Hill's products....there are many far superior foods available for your pup....We feed Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb and Rice....Our Lab, Toby does great on it...he is very healthy, healthy skin and coat, clear eyes...lots of vitality and energy...but you do have to use what works for your dog...I can name some of the popular premium brands:

Innova
Wellness
Solid Gold
Eagle Pack
Pinnacle
Natural Balance
Diamond/Kirkland (made my same company)
California Natural


If you have a Costco, try their food, mine love it and it is made by the same company as the diamond.

I am not a fan of Science Diet or any Hill's products....there are many far superior foods available for your pup....We feed Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb and Rice....Our Lab, Toby does great on it...he is very healthy, healthy skin and coat, clear eyes...lots of vitality and energy...but you do have to use what works for your dog...I can name some of the popular premium brands:

Innova
Wellness
Solid Gold
Eagle Pack
Pinnacle
Natural Balance
Diamond
California Natural

Depending on your definition of 'premium,' all of these aren't really premium brands. My point being there is a huge range of prices within these foods and not all of them charge premium prices. I feed Diamond (cheap $, good quality) but have also fed their premium food, Premium Edge and they also make Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul.

Based on a very unscientific board poll, the two most popular brands used by board members are Nutro and Diamond. Natural Balance is very common for those who are having allergy issues.

Thank you KGregson for adding "Kirkland" to Diamond brand...I forgot about that...and gradus...I stand corrected...yes, not all the brands I mentioned are considered "Premium" and they certainly range in price...what I shoud have said was that I feel that these brands are a better quality than Science Diet...and you really need to feed what works best for your dog. For example, we used to feed Toby Wellness...but we realized that it was much too rich for him and he was having some problems...we switched him to Eagle Pack Holistic...and he has been doing so much better...no more problems with his ears and anal glands...Eagle Pack is not as expensive as some of the other brands...but it is better for our dog...Thank you for clarifying...

If you search "Science Diet" on this board you will find a great deal of info about this food, and unless I'm sadly mistaken, most of it will be bad.

My feelings about Science Diet are that it is one of the worst dog foods available. With very few exceptions, it is devoid of meat (which is no kind of diet for a carnivore), and yet they charge an outrageous amount of money for what is basically scrap grain with a vitamin supplement sprayed on it.

You can get MUCH better food for the same amount of money or less. There are guidelines to help with choosing a food stickied at the top of this forum.

Good luck!

I just changed my labs food. He had been eating SD since he was a pup. I checked out this site and found that some people recommended the Nutro brand that you can get a Pet's Mart. Drake is doing much better. His coat has really taken a turn for the better and his skin isn't dry any more.