Hi, just wondering what everyone thinks of this. I have a 13 week old Bouvier puppy and took her to the vet for a check-up after we got her. Everything was fine, except he asked what I'm feeding her and I said James Wellbeloved dry puppy food. He said "Oh, that's alright, but I'd prefer it if you fed her something more sophisticated - especially as she will be growing into a big dog". He recommended switching her to Hill's science plan (which is the only food the vet sells - it is a big vet hospital, rather than a traditional one-vet practice). I was a bit suspicious he was giving me the hard sell, rather than thinking about what was really good for the pup. What does anyone think? We don't have any problems at the moment with her feeding and she is healthy with a shiny coat. Thanks for any advice.

It's not a coincidence that most vets in the land have Hill's SD as their product placement within their practices.
It is estimated that vets make more from vaccinations and product placement sales than they do from any other source.

You can make up your own mind as to what your vet's motive for this endorsment is :-)

Hills also sponser alot of vet training schools and uni's the US. hence the 'vet recommended' lable
If the Vet was truely clued up about the availabe foods on the market, I doubt whether he would tell you to come off JWB and onto Hills.
Have you got the oppertunity to ask him why Hills is better than JWB? I'd love to hear what he says!!!

I feed James Wellbeloved to mine perfectly happily - very healthy on it. :-) Personally I would not feed Hills. Make of that what you wish. ;-)

I go by the rule if it ain't broke don't fix it ;-)

> I go by the rule if it ain't broke don't fix it ;-)

i agree with this statement!!!

Yes, definitley ignore this advice from the vet.

James Wellbeloved is an excellent food! Vets have little if any experience of rearing pups -breeders DO. :)

If the dog is doing well on JWB, then I wouldn't think of changing it - and if I did, I certainly wouldn't change to Science Plan.

We were given a "free" sample pack by our vet, and the stuff is horrible. It's a dry food, but with an oily texture, which I guess helps it to retain its flavour. The food stank the house out as soon as I opened the bag or put any down. It gave the dog horrendous wind (in volume and toxicity), her breath was foul and her poos were embarrassing in the street/park they smelt so bad. The only good thing was that the dog did love the flavour, but then she eats cow pats given the chance, so I don't think her palate is that delicate!

The food cannot be all bad, or vets wouldn't risk their reputations, but foods like JWB, Burns, Nutro etc are infinitely better (IMO).

well, everyone is entitled to their opinion but i have fed hills in the past and am currently feeding my 9month old Ridgeback on it. He is thriving on it, and looks great. Smell isnt bad (now his tripe and liver cake smell bad!) i dont find it oily at all, puppy has finished every bowl i have ever fed him. He doesnt have excessive wind at all and his poos are nice, firm and regular! Breath is fine as well. At shows several people (including the person who has his brother) have commented on his beautiful, shiny, soft coat. So was just to let you know that its not all doom and gloom, and each to their own, theres a food to suit everyone.

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for the replies. I had my suspicions and have decided not to even try the trial pack they gave me. She is doing really well on JWB and so I agree if it aint broke, don't fix it. The vet just made me doubt what I was doing was ok - but thanks for all your reassurance!

I'd stick with what you have her on.  Alot of vets get commission selling Hills so they will always try their best to get you to buy it.  Its not the cheapest either!!

Mine are all on Arden Grange and I've never had a problem with that so I wouldn't change if my vets told me to!

Nice to see your have Bouvier...love that breed.

> We don't have any problems at the moment with her feeding and she is healthy with a shiny coat.

There's your answer :)

If your happy with the current food then don't change.
Funny enough when I first got my pup the vet advised me to switch to James Wellbeloved, even though they don't sell it he said it's definately one he'd pick himself. I didn't switch as I was happy with what I was feeding allready though.

If my vet told me to switch from JWB to Hills because it was "more sophisticated" I would definitely switch vets.  Not only is that comment a load of rubbish, but to me that would be a sure sign that the vet was less interested in my dog than in making money from pushing Hills.    No vet can honestly believe that regular Hills is a "more sophisticated" food than many other brands available.

well, everyone is entitled to their opinion but i have fed hills in the past and am currently feeding my 9month old Ridgeback on it. He is thriving on it, and looks great. Smell isnt bad (now his tripe and liver cake smell bad!) i dont find it oily at all, puppy has finished every bowl i have ever fed him. He doesnt have excessive wind at all and his poos are nice, firm and regular! Breath is fine as well. At shows several people (including the person who has his brother) have commented on his beautiful, shiny, soft coat. So was just to let you know that its not all doom and gloom, and each to their own, theres a food to suit everyone.

I think that's exactly right. We had a really bad experience on it, but obviously that cannot always be the case or they would never sell any. Our bitch does have a sensitive tummy, which I'm sure was also a factor.

Yep I joined their show points shceme when my Jozi was having a great year and for so many points  you got free food.  It gave my dogs the runs, evne when introduced carefully.

If my vet told me to switch from JWB to Hills because it was "more sophisticated" I would definitely switch vets.

That made me laugh, but me too.

I find it interesting that Hills doesn't list it's meat percentage, and as it lists quite afew cereals seperately, I would guess this is done to keep meat as the first ingrediemnt, giving the impression of a higher meat content than it actually has. If it had a meat content as high or higher than it's competitors, it would want to shout about it. Also, it contains wheat, which is the cause of many skin problems in dogs.

Before I knew much about dog food, I fed Iams. I thoughtmy girl looked amazing on it, in fact, people always commented on the fact that she did. however, when i changed her intially to JWB, and then to raw, I found out what a REALLY health dog looks like.

> Alot of vets get commission selling Hills so they will always try their best to get you to buy it; Its not the cheapest either!!
>

I have no problems with either the food or the vets making a profit from it -  but I don't believe that Hills SD is any better or more 'sophisticated' than most other premium dog foods.
However Hills does produce a number of Prescription diets which may be benefcial for some ailments.

When my 7 week old pup had horrendous diarrhea after i got him, he went on a hills prescription diet for a while and it worked wonders for him. cant comment on feeding it long term though.