What the Right Kind of Dog Food Can Do For You

It's hard to tell who's on the right end of the dog food debate considering the conflicting studies and the fact that dog food manufacturing is not a regulated industry. One thing the sales representatives have often told me is that after switching dog food your dogs won't eat as much. The serving sizes are much smaller with premium food than with regular dog foods. I have never had a customer back that up though. However I have been told by many people that their dogs poop much less or their dogs poop is firmer and smaller. This is very nice if you have to clean up your yard or if you are currently house training.

I have answered the question "Why do Veterinarians recommend Science Diet" many times. Veterinarians use Science diet in Veterinary school so they are familiar with it, plus they get a commission from it. The veterinarians I have spoken to tell me they have reasons other than the quality of the food for suggesting it to customers. Ask your Veterinarian about some other Brands of dog food and see if they know anything about it. I have had people do that and all that did have said their veterinarian only knew about Science Diet and occasionally one other dog food. This goes back to the Veterinary college, I don't believe they teach their students about dog food, I think they have a Science Diet dog food representative do it. There are studies showing corn is a great source of protein! My dogs love corn. They pick it out of my garden! However, dogs can have allergies just like we can and it seems that the source of the allergies in many cases may be corn and wheat or grain related.

I published this hub about 4 weeks ago. Since that time I have found that Science Diet has come out with a Grain Free dog food!! I am so glad they are joining the rest of the world on the right side of the dog food debate!!

I have witnessed several dogs with allergies, dogs with aggression, dogs that were losing their hair and dogs that were chewing on their feet improve dramatically on premium dog food. By premium I mean an affordable premium, I didn't send people to the most expensive dog food, the dog food I usually recommended was the best quality for the price like Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food, Nature's Recipe, Blue Buffalo and others. A Yorkie I trained was going to the vet constantly, on prescription food and having to get eye drops. His little eyes were so swollen and red, just raw looking. I had his Mamma put him on better food, he had been on Science Diet. After swapping to a better dog food he recovered fully and amazingly fast. She was hesitant to change his food at first because it was our vet that had recommended that the dog be on the Science Diet for allergies. Can you believe that the dog food recommended by the veterinarian, the Science Diet for allergies, was full of ingredients that a dog could be allergic to? It was worth the change for the Yorkie and the owner and for me worth the risk of recommending it. The Yorkie's eye problems have not returned and it has been several years since I had her switch his food from Science diet prescription dog food to a higher quality dog food.

A woman brought a black lab to me with allergies and hormone problems and aggressiveness toward other dogs. With training and a better quality of dog food the lab improved immensely. The aggression problems went away and the Labrador was able to get off the hormone and stress medication. This story didn't end as well as the previous story honestly, the veterinarian talked the lady back into the medication and Science diet dog food so the problems came back in about 6 months. Another woman brought a Blue Healer to me with problems similar to the Labradors issues. Both the Labrador and this Blue Healer are female by the way. The Blue Healer was aggressive toward their other dog and any dog nearby. Just like the lab with training and better dog food she improved immensely, started playing with the other dog and became happier all around. I never had trouble with her in the ring, even though she was surrounded by 8 strange dogs.

I believe the regular Science diet is as good as any average dog food. I have compared the ingredients many times and they are approximately the same. Science Diet Grain Free dog food however, is a high quality of dog food! I am so glad they joined the rest of the world in dog food manufacturing! I recommend feeding your dogs an affordable high quality dry dog food that has no wheat, soy or corn, no animal byproducts and is gluten free. When and if you ever change your dogs food it may be necessary to do so slowly. I usually recommend feeding what you are currently feeding only cut back by 1/3 and add 1/3 of the new dog food mixed in. If your dogs stool is normal after a couple of days add more of the new dog food and less of the old until you have them swapped over. Some dogs don't need this they can go from one food to another with no problems but some dogs need to be swapped slowly. I have noticed from customer feedback that the more high strung dogs were prone to upset stomachs from switching dog food than the easy going pups but, take caution either way.