# Science Diet vs. Iams



## TaylorPuppy

Okay okay I feel like I am going to get flamed here because everyone seems to be on the raw food kick, but lets be honest, a lot of us don't have the time for this. I love my puppy to death, she is my friend and companion and I spend a lot of time with her, but it is tough to have to get all of your foods online or feed them raw food. I have had a couple of vets recommend to me Science Diet, Iams, and Innova, but the latter cannot be found in stores.

I want to feed my puppy (Taylor) a good food, but what would you choose between Science Diet Large Breed or Iams Large Breed? Both of these can be found in any store and it is very easy to obtain if you run out or you are traveling with your dog. 

I was thinking Science Diet, but after reading this web site it seems Iams might be a better choice. Can someone please give ma little help on this?

Here is a picture of my buddy!


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## RonE

Not that many of us are on that "raw diet kick" but neither of those foods you're asking about give you much bang for the buck. You will be hard-pressed to find any on this forum that will recommend either of them.

I'll put in my vote for Canidae All Life Stages and there will be other good suggestions coming from others.


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## xoxluvablexox

Do you have a Petgoods near you or a Petsmart? I just found out about five minutes ago that Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo and thats way better then both Iams and Science Diet. Some petsmarts only carry the cat food so you might want to check online. If you have a Petgoods they carry Canidae and Chicken Soup For the Dog Lovers Soul. Do some research there's a post up at the top of the dog food forum with all the top 2007 dog foods. They all have websites and if you actually take the time you can use the store locater on all of them untill you find stores near you that carry good dog food. That's what I've been doing for the past half hour.


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## cascabel

Raw feeding isn't for everyone and I don't think anyone here would flame you for not feeding raw as long as you don't start flaming those who do! 

That being said, I think RonE's suggestion for Canidae is a great one. It's a great food for not very much money...especially when you factor in the high amount of calories by volume. Have you done a search on their website for a store in your area? Here's the link:
http://www.canidae.com/company/storelocator.html

I was really surprised the first time I did a search on that website to find a couple of little 'mom and pop' pet stores in my area that I never knew existed.


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## briteday

I would suggest that you look around on the dog food sub-forum here and also check out dogfoodanalysis.com. Look at 5 and 6 star foods, make a list of those you can live with, find a retailer that carries a few of the brands. The retailers will generally have sample bags to try before you buy. Then you can figure out what works for BOTH you and your dog.

Even if you have Petco near you they carry Natural Balance and Solid Gold. And an independent retailer or a farm store may carry many more high quality brands...Canidae, Wellness, Artemis, Innova...


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## Wimble Woof

I also wouldnt recommend either of those foods.
Of the foods I would recommend in no particular order other than how they popped into my head would be:
-Canidae
-Chicken Soup for the dog lovers soul
-Wellness
-Orijen or EVO 
-Solid Gold
-Kirkland brand (from Costco)

thats all i can think up right now,
Main thing, avoid corn especially if it is being used as a protien source(most of the time is especially in lower grade foods)
Try to get a food that has a named meat or even meat in meal form for the first 2 or 3 ingredients.
There are many things to watch for in pet foods but really those 2 tips listed narrow the choices down easily, from there you can do more research if you choose.

Also, dont feel the need to buy into the "Large breed" hype, really its just added Glucosamine in the diet, other than that, I dont see the need to be rushing out and buying foods that say that on the label, and also, many people do not even feed "puppy formulas" so again, this is up to you, both sides have their arguments but I tend to lean more towards the not feeding puppy food. Just my personal comfort level.

All that aside, VERY VERY cute puppy!


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## lynn'stwo

To answer the OP's question, I would go with Iams. SD has too many grains including soy (way too much corn also) and the Iams actually has fewer ingredients.


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## Wimble Woof

Iams active maturity Large breed.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=140&cat=7
Corn meal, chicken by-product meal, ground whole grain sorghum, fish meal, chicken, ground whole grain barley, dried beet pulp, dried egg product, chicken fat, natural chicken flavour, brewers dried yeast, and so on...

Science diet large breed puppy lamb and rice.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=136&cat=7

(pretty much all grains) first ingredient is Lamb meal, pretty much the only meat

Honstly both foods are a waste of the money they will cost you.
But if you must feed one of the two... then I would say Iams, but if there is ANY other foods you could look into... check them out.


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## TaylorPuppy

Whew, got through unscathed . I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I figured SD and Iams were both pretty much overpriced hype, better than some of the others but still not in a higher class like Innova, etc. 

I noticed someone above mentioned Blue Buffalo. Is that a good food? My Petsmart does have that brand of food stocked up. 

I will also check out Candidae at a local store, provided it isn't ridiculously overpriced.


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## cascabel

Price comparison from www.petfooddirect.com:

30 lb. bag Blue Buffalo Adult Chicken and Brown Rice, $40.49

33 lb. bag Canidae Chicken and Rice, $25.69

40 lb. bag Canidae All Life Stages, $33.99


Blue Buffalo is definitely the one that’s overpriced!


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## RonE

Here, Canidae is about $33 for 40 pounds.

Best bang for the buck I've found, though it will not work for every dog and owner and might be harder to find than some.

If there were a single best food out there, the others would cease to exist. But, if SD and Iams ceased to exist, the canine world might be a better place.

In fairness there ARE worse foods out there. You can find them lining the shelves at your local Wal-Mart or grocery store.


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## Wimble Woof

I'd go with Canidae but like Ron said, not every food works for every dog, but its worth seeing if it will work for you and your cute pup.
I honestly think its the lest costly of all the foods you can get and definately better than SD or Iams.

Good luck!


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## BriMac35

I have fed my dogs Solid Gold for years , $48 for a 33lb bag . The only place I could get it has went out of buisness . Going to switch to Canidae now . As for the better food being "ridiculously overpriced" , think of it this way , it takes more of the cheaper food to get the nutrition out of half of the better , more expensive food . A half a cup of Canidae equals a full cup of SD or Iams in nutrition. Hence , you feed less and the bag of food lasts longer saving you money in the long run . I used to feed my dogs a cheaper brand , before I swithched to Solid Gold . I was going through the cheap stuff quicker than the SG , so I was ending up spending more on food instead of saving money by buying the cheaper .


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## TaylorPuppy

Again, thanks to everyone who posted. I will be checking out my local pet store that has Canidae and we will see how she likes it. I am sure she will considering she is eating a small bag of Purina Puppy Chow that was given to us when we got her haha. She probably can't wait to get off that!


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## scintillady

I don't know if it is available where you are, but the food I give my Ruby is Artemis, Holistic adult dog food. I switched gradually from Innova EVO, and she has done much better on it. I also give her some cooked meat (small amount) every day, canned pumpkin, and a can of no sodium green beans, because she needs to be filled up and doesn't need the extra calories. I make her dog cookies with oatmeal, brown rice flour, chicken broth, and eggs, along with a little psyllium husk for fiber, and a dash of cinnamon. I can get her to do just about anything if I say "COOKIE". She loves them.


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## TaylorPuppy

I'll check that one too next time I am at the local pet food supplier.

I have another question though guys. I read on her bag of food that she is supposed to get 1 1/3 cup *DAILY*? That seems like an awfully small amount of food. I thought they meant that much food per sitting. She is only 22 lbs but a little less than a half cup per sitting seems like not very much.


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## cascabel

To give you a reference, my 12 pound sheltie used to eat about a quarter of a cup of kibble twice daily (so 1/2 total per day) before I switched her to raw. With many of the premium foods, you don't have to feed as much because it doesn't contain as much filler. (which is nice because we all know where filler ends up! )


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## Wimble Woof

The better the food quality the less that is required. For the simple fact that was stated above.
No fillers means less poop as well, which is a definate bounus.
One of my dogs does horrible on raw diets so he eats Orijen, with his activity level and size he eats less than 2 cups a day,where as before when I knew nothing about foods he was eating close to 5 cups of Pedigree a day. 
It is true you do end up saving money in the long run on a higer quality kibble or food. Less "junk", less minor vet visits, less filler, less food required and so on!


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## TaylorPuppy

Wimble Woof said:


> The better the food quality the less that is required. For the simple fact that was stated above.
> No fillers means less poop as well, which is a definate bounus.
> One of my dogs does horrible on raw diets so he eats Orijen, with his activity level and size he eats less than 2 cups a day,where as before when I knew nothing about foods he was eating close to 5 cups of Pedigree a day.
> It is true you do end up saving money in the long run on a higer quality kibble or food. Less "junk", less minor vet visits, less filler, less food required and so on!


Wow so when I was feeding her 1.5 cups 3x daily I was feeding her too much? haha oops, no wonder she was pooping 4x daily! I mean heck she seemed starving at every meal, so I wasn't aware of that. I lowered her to .5 cups 3x daily, this sound okay? She is 22 lbs.


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## Lovemytessapoo

I am not the one to say what is better as I have always fed my dog what I thought was a good food, ie: not bought at the grocer, but at my vet or pet store. I used Science diet when my pug was going through a false pregnancy that the vet acted like I was the one who was crazy (a perfectly loving dog suddenly thought everyone except me and my mom were enemies and played cujo at them all) would not eat. The vet had samples of science diet on one of our office visits for this false pregnancy issue and she had not been eating well at all. She would go 3 days without eating, even a table scrap during this time and I opened a sample at the vet and lo and behold, she ate them like she was ravenous, so that is what i started feeding her. I think it really depends on your dogs taste and how your dog reacts to the food. I think also, any better quality than Pedigree or Walmarts ol roy is ok.


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## GreatDaneMom

i wouldnt personally ever feed either of the foods. no matter if my dog liked the taste or not. 

in relation to the feeding amount. personally, every dog is different because they all live different lifestyles, some more active than others. i would say start off feeding the amount it says to on the bag and watch his weight. if he loses weight, increase it, if he gains, decrease it. my girls eat more than whats listed to feed on the bag, and theyre on a high quality. but like i said, no two dogs have the same lifestyle.


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