Dog food

[Colleen]

We have three shelties who are all little overweight and have been on Science Diet RD with green beans added twice a day for a month and they are losing weight. My question is we want to put them on another food to maintain their weight but also good for them. We are considering Innova for all the salmon and fruits and veggie ingredients. Can anyone tell me if you use this dry food or not and any success stories. Thanks a lot.
Debbie in Baton Rouge, LA

[ClantyreSheltie]

Condition is a funny thing. My dogs eat high calorie, high fat, high protein, grain free foods, and I have trouble keeping weight ON them. When I put them on a food only slightly better than this SD food, they lost muscle tone and got fat.

The ingredients in this Science Diet food are so horrible (no, I won't mince words here, it's bad), that no matter what you put them on, there will be a change in their condition. (For those that will defend SD: Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Mill Run, Powdered Cellulose, Soybean Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp) and probably $3 per pound.

I very much recommend reading Lew Olson's book "Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs." It explains, in regular human language, the nutritional needs of dogs, and how to best meet those.

Barring any other health issues, your dogs will do fine on just about any food but Innova's grain free line (notoriously bad for Shelties, I don't know why). If they get fat, simply reduce the quantity you are feeding. Don't lower the fat or protein. Oh, and ignore the feeding instructions on the back of the bag, they LIE!!

[corbinam]

There are two keys to losing weight, and I think Clantyre has mentioned it on this forum before.

1--Reduce calories in
2--Increase calories out

I don't think putting dogs on a different (and yes, lower quality food like SD) makes a difference. Just reduce the amount you're feeding (and yes you can add green beans if you feel guilty), and help your dogs get more exercise (vow to add an extra walk and an extra session of fetch during the day).

There are a lot of great foods out there, so kudos to you for looking around and wanting to switch. Good luck!

[Colleen]

Thanks for all your advice and yes we have been realizing SD isn't the best but so expensive. We have been researching and are going to start them on Innova adult small bites today. They have a formula to mix for seven days with our food and by 7th day they are on it 100%. I have researched all ingredients and the Innova has meat and fruit and veggies so I think they will get all the nutrients they need and be much better. If anyone has anything to say about Innova feel free to let me know. Thanks.