# How bad is Science Diet?



## SummerwoodSoaps (Feb 3, 2011)

As part of the puppy package at the vets, we were given a bag of science diet LBP kibble. I read the ingredients and it seems to mainly be corn, come chicken meal and beet pulp. 

I have Stella on grain free Nutro with just a little of the Euk from the breeder mixed in. I do plan on switching later to TOTW since I found a tractor supply not to far away that carries it. I also put a tablespoon of canned TOTW in there and some raw bits of meat.

The problem is she LOVES the science diet. I am going to assume it is the chicken liver FLAVOR that makes it tasty to her. How bad would it be to use the SD as a training treat? Should I stick to the bits of cooked hamburger I was using? I will be getting another bag at her next appointment on June 21.

ETA her weight is good, at 9 weeks she was 11 pounds.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

I say take her off of it and feed something else. Why wait to switch? Do it now. Of course vets will peddle off this crap as they receive kick backs from the company.


*Science Diet (Lamb & Rice)*

Rating:







| Price: $$$$ | Website







*Review:* Science Diet for cats is an absolute disaster, but luckily for dogs it isn't quite as bad. This still doesn't mean it is worth the outrageous price, though, as many better foods can be found for the same or less price.
They use lamb meal as the top ingredient and that's great. A "meal" at the top is the best thing to see. Brewers rice, however, is not a good 2nd fiddle, and neither is rice flour at 3rd. Rice is a good grain, if the company uses it as such. When they use a byproduct of the alcohol industry (brewers rice) or rice flour, much of the benefit is lost, and they use it because it's cheaper. Shame on them. The inclusion of corn gluten meal and wheat is also shameful, because Science Diet knows very well that the benefits of these ingredients are slim to none, while the drawbacks can be great.
To their credit, they do use barley and soybean oil, which are pretty good ingredients. Flaxseed is also very welcome as a source for Omega fatty acids. This will not even come close to trumping the fact that they only have one meat source alongside tons of grains, however. For the money, you can do so much better it's really not even funny.
*
What's good about this food....* Lamb meal first, flaxseed.
*
....and what's not so good.* Brewers rice, wheat, corn gluten mealare all present. Meat looks low.
*
Ingredients:* Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Rice Flour, Ground Whole Grain Wheat, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.


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## SummerwoodSoaps (Feb 3, 2011)

I am using the science diet as a training treat only, not her regular kibble. I just want to make sure it is ok to use it for that. I knew it wasn't a good food only product. But it is so much easier to have in my hand than hamburger.



Ace952 said:


> I say take her off of it and feed something else. Why wait to switch? Do it now. Of course vets will peddle off this crap as they receive kick backs from the company.
> 
> 
> *Science Diet (Lamb & Rice)*
> ...


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

TOTW is a much better food. You can moisten the kibbles with a tiny bit of water until they plump up and use that for training.


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## Ace952 (Aug 5, 2010)

Oh ok gotcha.

I guess it isn't a bad treat as it is easy and not messy.
I use a meat treat called K9 Magic that is hard so it isn't messy but has good stuff in it so they don't spend time chewing. (Muscle meat, green tripe, brown rice flour, garlic, thyme, corriander, parsley and molasses. It is preserved naturally with Vitamin C and sea salt.)


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## zeus von entringer staal (Jan 3, 2011)

bad-Brewers rice, wheat, corn gluten mealare all present. Meat looks low. price


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

1. Science Diet is pretty bad... Actually, it's one of the worst foods out there.

2. Don't feed TOTW to a puppy. It has too much calcium.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

give your dog cancer kind of bad.

i use fruit and meat for treats


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## GSD_Xander (Nov 27, 2010)

Science Diet is a pretty craptastic food...I know that my vet peddles that stuff too and a few years ago, when I didn't know better, I bought into it. 

I think only using it as treats isn't so bad - there's worse things and there's better things...I would just kind of mix it up a bit and see if there are other treats she'll love. You can always make your own treats too! There are a ton of recipes out there 



MicheleMarie said:


> give your dog cancer kind of bad.
> 
> i use fruit and meat for treats


Xander goes gaga for apples and carrots!


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

MicheleMarie said:


> give your dog cancer kind of bad.


I would never feed science diet even for training due to the preservatives used in it. 

For training I usually use hot dogs. Higher quality than many dog treats, cheaper than many dog treats, and higher motivation than many dog treats!


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## SummerwoodSoaps (Feb 3, 2011)

Lin said:


> I would never feed science diet even for training due to the preservatives used in it.
> 
> For training I usually use hot dogs. Higher quality than many dog treats, cheaper than many dog treats, and higher motivation than many dog treats!


Hmm, I would like to hear more about the preservatives. I knew it wasn't good food, I was thinking it would be like eating candy. Ok to have a little, but don't make a meal of it. 

I have a hard time keeping hotdogs in the house with an almost 14 yr old son, lol. I was using some cooked hamburger but the kibble is so much easier.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

I use chicken or turkey hot dogs. Natural balance rolls are great for training treats. Cheese. Cut up breakfast sausage. Pretty much any left over food that can be broken into pieces.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

gsdraven said:


> I use chicken or turkey hot dogs. Natural balance rolls are great for training treats. Cheese. Cut up breakfast sausage. Pretty much any left over food that can be broken into pieces.


i use natural balance/pet botanica for mondio ring trainng-i am not thrilled with the ingredients...the meat quality is poor and they put sugar in it (wtf?) but one-two days a week i like it because you can cube it up and it's easy to store and has better ingredients then 95% of the "dog treats" out there.

when im training at home i use hamburger, turkey dogs, apples, carrots, pears, berries (i buy those frozen fruit bags at the store and that's fun on a hot day).

samson's breeder has this graet trick where she takes hamburger and squishes it up and presses it into the bottom on a casserole pot as tight as she can get it and then she microwaves it for a few minutes and it almost preserves it and it's not crumbly.
i haven't tried it because i don't have a microwave and it didn't work when i put it in the oven (which is one reason why i don't have a microwave lol)


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Lin said:


> I would never feed science diet even for training due to the preservatives used in it.
> 
> For training I usually use hot dogs. Higher quality than many dog treats, cheaper than many dog treats, and higher motivation than many dog treats!


If you're concerned about the preservatives in training, treats, check your hot dogs for nitrates and nitrites.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

I don't use kibble for training treats, so no I'm not concerned about nitrates in hotdogs. I'm concerned about feeding BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

Try Wellness soft training treats. I like the ones that are shaped as a cylinder and not square. Cut them in half or feef them whole. They don't crumble nearly as much as Natural Balance rolls and come in a resealable bag.
Treats that crumble are inconvenient to me because my dogs break focus when a treat crumbles and falls to the floor.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Tbarrios333 said:


> They don't crumble nearly as much as Natural Balance rolls and come in a resealable bag.
> Treats that crumble are inconvenient to me because my dogs break focus when a treat crumbles and falls to the floor.


I keep my NB rolls refrigerated and cut them when they are cold, no crumbling.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

gsdraven said:


> I keep my NB rolls refrigerated and cut them when they are cold, no crumbling.


Ah, I usually keep mine on the counter in a baggie. I will try that, thanks.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

gsdraven said:


> I keep my NB rolls refrigerated and cut them when they are cold, no crumbling.


ditto- a bagel/bread knife works good too


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## SummerwoodSoaps (Feb 3, 2011)

It looks like Science Diet has taken the BHA and BHT out of the feed. At least it is not in the bag I have. 

Unless of course they hide it in other ingredients like some cosmetic companies do with their preservatives.


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

It amazes me when people feed their dogs Attaboy or Ol' Roy, then spend $16/lb. on treats. Personally, I'm too cheap to buy low-quality dog treats that cost more per pound than a prime cut of veal.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

Dogaroo said:


> It amazes me when people feed their dogs Attaboy or Ol' Roy, then spend $16/lb. on treats. Personally, I'm too cheap to buy low-quality dog treats that cost more per pound than a prime cut of veal.


oh man...i cringe in the store when i see one of those 40lb bags of ol' roy in the cart....or even worse the generic value brand


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