# Hill's Healtny Advantage Puppy Food



## BoBucks (Oct 17, 2012)

Hi all, 

I'm the proud new owner of a 14 week old Boxer/German Shepherd mix named Levon! 

In short my question is what is the best food to feed my puppy? 

The detailed explanation of why I'm asking is that my vet recommended Hill's Healthy Advantage Puppy Food which I've been feeding him for the past six weeks. 

Unfortunately I'm now reading online about how it contains many inferior ingredients such as corn meal and chicken by-products. I'm quite frustrated that a vet would recommend a seemingly inferior/overpriced food for my new best friend!

On the other hand, Levon does seem VERY strong and VERY healthy and his stools have been wonderfully consistent.

So should I go ahead and switch foods and if so which would you all recommend?


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## boxerlover876 (Dec 31, 2011)

Hill's is absolutely terrible. They even started coating their kibble in plastic....
Most of the time vets get a cut in the sales of Hill's food and they're nutrition courses are sponsored by Hill's. 

I feed raw so that's what I would recommend. For kibble though I'd feed Orijen, Evo, or Go! Grain Free.


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## BoBucks (Oct 17, 2012)

Hey, that's what I thought but just wanted to confirm. Thank you for the suggestions!


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## Nil (Oct 25, 2007)

Congrats on your new puppy! 

Here is a resource for future reference/curiosity: www.dogfoodadvisor.com

You can click on "dry dog foods" on the left hand side and see the ratings for different foods (1 is worst, 5 is best)


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## BoBucks (Oct 17, 2012)

Thank you! 

I have a friend in vet school you see who told me the BEST puppy food would be at the vets office and that she'd been taught all other foods were inferior. 

The vet himself seemed absolutely genuine in his recommendation of Hill's... scary stuff! 

Hooray for the internet. 

It's my fault though that I didn't research this earlier on my own.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

You are researching now - that is all that matters. We've been taught that you defer to vets as they have your pet's interest at heart. My ex roomie's father was a vet. He swore Iams was the best. Roomie got a puppy. She fed her Iams. We had cocker spaniel tumble weeds everywhere. She decided she didn't want said puppy 4 months later.. I took the puppy home and she is a thriving 8 year old today on far better kibble with some raw. I started to wonder and did my own research, was shocked that vets don't know all when it comes to nutrition.

I have had some good battles with vets over what I feed.. But I'm far more informed these days and if pushed will fight back when it comes to my dogs nutrition needs. I have friends that just recently graduated vet school. I've tried as they are friends to gently push them to articles about better food choices. They've been honest that they got massive swag from Hill's and sometimes Royal Canin. None of my friends have practices yet, still very newly minted vets.. but there's also the kickback for selling their food..


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

Hills is not coated in plastic, that's ridiculous. And while it isn't the best dog food, it won't hurt your dog. 

However, for the price they charge you can find a much better food (more meat, less filler) for the same price or even less. Before the recalls, I raised my Beagle on Wellness puppy and Taste of the Wild.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

Hill's applied for a patent to put polyethylene in their food, they got it last week. So technically, yes it will be adding plastic to Hill's foods..

http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?p=5351


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## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

Actually they got the patent about a month ago. Sept 11th

Here's the patent

It's polymer film composed of starch and polyethylene. Polyethylene is pretty much the most common plastic material. Calling it a plastic coating sounds like a bit of an exaggeration but plastic is a part of it.

Having the patent doesn't necessarily mean they're going to apply it but it's certainly not doing them any favors on publicity.


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Awesome that you're doing research on better foods!

I'm so fortunate that my own vet recommends Acana and Orijen for a healthy dog. I think she has additional nutrition education over what vet school offered.


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## BoBucks (Oct 17, 2012)

They're gonna need that plastic coating to increase the shelf life of their product because nobody I know will ever be buying it again. Thanks for the responses. 

What do you guys think of Blue Buffalo Wilderness line of foods?


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## boxerlover876 (Dec 31, 2011)

Duke did ok on it. He was on the salmon formula. He had a hair patch loss and ended up with diahreah sometimes. I've heard of other dogs doing fantastic on it though. It'd be worth a shot.


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## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Another option is Earthborn Grain Free which is comparable to Taste of the Wild but without the past recalls. I feed my husky Earthborn and my papillon raw.


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## BoBucks (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the posts! 

Speaking of a dog's coat/hair loss... what can be done to improve the sturdiness/shininess of his coat? I've heard of adding fish oils to their foods. Anyone have any tips? Thanks.


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

ever since i switched to a better food, my dogs coats are really shiny and look super healthy. no need for supplements. but salmon oil can help.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Fat and protein really help coat and skin health. Fish oil helps balance the fatty acids better but just adding fat helps. I saved the trimmings from the beef and lamb we ate and put a tiny bit into Sassy's food after she stopped tolerating fish oil. Beef and lamb is partly grass fed unlike pork, chicken and turkey so has a better fatty acid profile. Max's dry sticky coat turned super shiny and silky after he started eating raw which is a high fat diet no matter how closely I trim the meat.

I never could get a lot of fat into Sassy's diet but one year I thought her back was turning gray. Nope, it was super shiny. That was the year I got the furminator so I could get the old dry dead hair out of her coat better. Furminators are not right for many types of fur but it was perfect for Sassy's short dense double coat. Max's dead undercoat comes out with the use of various strippers for instance, the furminator does nothing on his coat. Depending on your pup's coat get grooming brushes and keep him brushed out.


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

After hearing about this thing with Hill's I just feed my dog bits of plastic instead of food since Hill's is the expert in nutrition. My dog's coats is shiny and he has a new swagger in his step. Small, hard poops too.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 4, 2011)

BoBucks said:


> Thanks for all the posts!
> 
> Speaking of a dog's coat/hair loss... what can be done to improve the sturdiness/shininess of his coat? I've heard of adding fish oils to their foods. Anyone have any tips? Thanks.


You can add a raw egg to their food a few times per week. If they will eat it you can add the shell too. My dogs are raw fed and sometimes they eat the shell, sometimes not.


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