Is Royal Canin or Eukanuba better for my 2 year old shih Tzu ?

Question

I have a 2 year old Shih Tzu and I have been feeding him Eukanuba since I got him, but when I took him the get groomed I was asked what kind of food I was giving him, I mentioned that I was giving him Eukanuba and the groomer said that I should think about changing him to Royal Canin because it was better for his coat. I only feed him high quality food and what I've been told is that basically its between these two brands of food that are at the top by groomers. I've checked both web sites but they don't seem to give me the info that I want, I'de rather get the imput from dog owners.

Answer 1

RC without a doubt!
Now that Proctor & Gamble owns Iams, their foods have been reformulated and contain undesirable lower quality ingredients and their $$ goes to cute little radio and television commercials.
I work in the pet nutrition industry and by far, the biggest complaint we get with Iams/Eukanuba is skin and coat problems, body odor and feet chewing.

Answer 2

I agree that between the two, Royal Canin is better, but there are other choices out there, such as Canidae, Innova, Eagle Pack Holistic and several others that are all way better than Eukanuba and somewhat better than Royal Canin. I feed my dogs Nutro Natural Choice, which is similar to Royal Canin on the quality scale, but my dogs do well on it, so I stick with it. Highly digestible foods cost more, but the dog eats less, poops less and is healthier. With a small dog, especially, cost should not be a determining factor.

Answer 3

Definitely go with the Royal Canin over the Eukanuba. Eukanuba/Iams is only good because of advertising (just like Beneful or Dog Chow which are both horrible). If you want something really good go with Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, or Nature's Variety.

Answer 4

Royal Canin is a much better diet than Eukanuba....although their are higher quality foods on the market than Royal Canin but typically they cost a lot more. Eukanuba is more of a name than a good food the name is what you are paying for.

By the way the Eukanuba/Iams company does not have great means of testing on their dogs. I dont support them at all for that. There are much better ways to do animal feeding studies than how they do theirs.

Answer 5

I fed my dogs ( I have a Yorkie, Chinese Crested, Bassets, and Mastiffs) Eukanuba for about six months, but they grew bored and picky with it, so I switched them to Royal Canin... which they love. I've noticed a real difference in their coats being shinier, and even their breath has a better smell. My Yorkie had super dry skin before, and since switching to Royal Canin, he's doing a great deal better. Eukanuba's a decent food if you're not into the BARF diet, but I'll stick with Royal Canin since it's what my guys seem to prefer. :-)

Answer 6

Royal Cannin by far! Royal Canin gets an A+ where as Eukanuba gets a C. Its all natural and the primary ingredients are way better. Other alternatives are Candaie (my dogs looked 20 times better when I switched from Iams to it) Innova and solid gold. If you can't find it at walmart its most likely a good food. Heres a test that will help you out! I post it on every food question because its so helpful!

Heres some information on dog food. My rule of thumb is if you find it in a walmart or your vet office its not good (Science Diet is vet recommended but fails the dog food scoring)


How to grade your dog's food (Some brands are done at the very bottom):



Start with a grade of 100:

1. For every listing of "by-product, " subtract 10 points
2. For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry," meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3. If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4. For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
5. If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice," "brewer's rice," "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
6. If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7. If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8. If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9. If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10. If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
11. If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12. If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13. If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
14. If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to beef), subtract 1 point
15. If it contains salt, subtract 1 point

Extra Credit:

1. If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2. If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or nutritionist, add 5 points
3. If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4. If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5. If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6. If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
7. If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
8. If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9. If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10. If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11. If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12. For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "--" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13. If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14. If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point

94-100+ = A

86-93 = B

78-85 = C

70-77 = D

69 = F



************ ***

Here are some foods that have already been scored (listed alphabetically, note the ratings after each name):



Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+

Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F

Canidae / Score 112 A+

Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+

Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F

Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B

Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+

Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+

Foundations / Score 106 A+

Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 93 B

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

Innova Dog / Score 114 A+

Innova Evo / Score 114 A+

Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+

Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B

Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B

Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F

ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+

Purina Beneful / Score 17 F

Purina Dog / Score 62 F

Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+

Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+

Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A

Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F

Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F

Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+

Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 97 A

Answer 7

Royal Canin is better. Be careful changing diets, though. Food change can cause major tummy upset with very unpleasant results.

Mix it in with Eukanuba gradually. You will need to see if he tolerates it well. I have had a lot of problems with some of the higher quality food.

Answer 8

Of those, Royal Canin is best.

BUT

There are better foods to feed. Look into Innova, California Natural, Artemis, Wellness and Canidae.

Answer 9

i'd say to either go with the Royal Canin or Nutro Natural Choice. The Eukanuba isn't really going to do much for him, as it's better suited to higher energy working dogs.

Answer 10

If I was forced to choose between those two, I would go w/ the Royal Canin. But there are far better foods than both those out there.