Best Dog Food for Shihpoo puppy?

[azn43ver]

I will be getting a shih poo. Just wondeirng what the best food for my pup will be?

[bellasmommy]

i feed our shih-poo Innova (made by Natura Pet)

[garybrian]

We took out 4 year old shih poo to the vet the other day to have his teeth cleaned. After the cleaning they suggested we use Hill's Prescription diet td. We were told it would help prevent gingivitus and help protect his teeth.

[Aqueous]

Let me guess garybrian, Hill's Prescription diet t/d is a brand you vet conveniently carries?

You'll find that in all actuality most vets know very little about proper nutrition. The reason they push products such as Science Diet/Hills is that they get a cutback from it.

The main ingredients in Hills t/d are Brewers Rice and Ground Whole Grain Corn, which provide hardly any nutritional benefit considering dog can't digest grains and starches. The only "meats" that seem to be in it is Chicken By-Product Meal (which is not necessarily meat) and Pork Fat. While it may "help" protect his teeth and prevent gingivitis it's mostly filler and not contributing substantially to anything nutritious. There's a really good chance that it's not doing anything more to maintain tooth health than any other kibble is capable of doing.

If you compare the ingredients in the Hills t/d to something like Evo you'll definitely notice a difference. Evo has less fillers, more nutritious ingredients that you can actually pronounce (like turkey, chicken, egg, etc.) and less artificial preservatives.

Personally I feed Evo and have had really good results with it. I used to feed Eukanuba but Rocky was starting to get a lot of tartar buildup and it wasn't that great of a food so I switched. My Yorkie Rocky is going to be 9 next month and he's never needed a cleaning and my 2 y.o. Bichon Baxter (a breed that it notorious for dental problems) isn't anywhere close to needing a cleaning and my vet says he probably will never need one with the condition his teeth are in.

There are a lot of really good foods out there like Innova, Evo, Canidae, Nutro, California Natural and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. Evo, Innova and California Natural are all made by Natura Pet. You'll basically want to stay away from the "Supermarket brands" like Pedigree, Science Diet, etc.

[HDrydr]

I agree with what Aqueous had mentioned all too often the vets will automatically recommend Science Diet/Hills because they often do get a cut back. I feed my Boxer/lab Nutro Natural Choice I pay attention to the label and grains and corn are very hard to digest......
Stay away from any food that you can buy in the grocery store and yes Hills can be found there.......
All you have to do is go to an actual pet store and go to their premium food isles and look at the bags the top 5 ingred. should not be corn etc..... actual meat should be up there....
In the long run you end up feeding them less because they are using the nutriments and they poop out less as well. Fillers only bulk up the food and make them feel full and so is the poop....
Good luck....

[garybrian]

Thank you for this most helpful information. The reason we thought about the t/d product was because we were told that it would help his teeth as far as gingivitus and other teeth problems that are associated with Shih Poo's. As you are probably aware teeth problems are a major concern with this breed.
Any response would help a very confused dog owner--me
thanks