Puppy food

Question
Hello, I have a 5 month old male bull terier mix. I had been feeding him Science Diet but he had increased gas and did not seem enthusiastic to eat it. Slowly his apetite for the Science Diet went down and down. I know he is still hungry because he loved to eat things like boiled boneless chicken and rice and canned food. So, I am trying different dog foods in hopes of finding a food he will love. I am currently trying Blue Buffalo chicken Puppy food. I have gone on some of the websites and it says its a good dog food but that it contains beet pulp which is controversial. Why is beet pulp controversial? Is the Blue Buffalo chicken puppy food a good food? I have never used this food before but it seemed to have high quality ingredients and the first ingredient is chicken which I think is best. I read on a few sites that the dog food should have meat as the first ingredient. I am trying to find a good quality dog food so that my little guy has the best food possible. Is Blue Buffalo a good food and balanced for a puppy? Is the beet pulp bad or are any other ingredients questionable? I included the break down of ingredients and percents to hopefully help you answer my question. This information is directly from the Blue Buffalo website which is BlueBuff.com

Ingredients-------
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Rye, Whole Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of DHA-Docosahexaneoic Acid), Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), Natural Chicken Flavor, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Dried Egg, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Garlic, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Herring Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Fructooligosaccharides, Monooligosaccharides, Dried Chicory Root, Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.

Percents---------
Crude Protein 27.0% min
Crude Fat 16.0% min
Crude Fiber 4.0% max
Moisture 10.0% max
Calcium 1.3% min
Phosphorus 1.0% min
DHA 0.1% min
L-Carnitine* 100 mg/kg min
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* 0.40% min
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* 3.50% min

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.

Thanks for your help.

Answer
Well Lois, it's no wonder his appetite for Science Diet went down and down. Who wouldn't want to eat chicken and rice and other human food?

Inadvertently you created the mess you are in with his diet. This sentence right here makes me see that you were feeding him this stuff at the same time, so he ate less and less Science Diet.
"I know he is still hungry because he loved to eat things like boiled boneless chicken and rice and canned food." That alone tells me why he stopped eating his puppy growth.
There is nothing wrong with canned dog food, as long as it is a balanced diet. Science Diet is the most balanced diet and most nutritionally dense diet on the market.

You think that Blue Buffalo is mostly chicken because it is the first thing on the list, but if you knew how to really read a label you would see that that is not really the case.

This food is mostly carbs and they are not from chicken.
Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Oatmeal, Rye, Whole Potatoes- these are the third through the sixth ingredient, but by sheer amount and weight there is more grain in this food then meat. This is a trick that is used by the grocery store brand foods. It looks good, and since the majority of the consumers cannot tell what is on a label, it works.

Another thing that you need to read on the label is whether or not this food is trial fed or formulated to meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials)standards.
Formulated is something that can be accomplished by mixing oil, old boots, some cardboard and water together. It will meet the AAFCO standards. But will it sustain your dog?

The only way to know if the food you use is a real life-stage food is whether or not it's been trial fed on hundreds of dogs for a few years. It is an ongoing process. That is one thing that sets Science Diet apart of most of the pack. VERY few manufacturers trial feed anymore. It's too expensive. Blue Buffalo doesn't state on its website whether or not they trial feed. So they have no way of knowing how good their food really maintains the dog over time. Another thing is fixed formulation. That means that they use the same formula for each batch of food. The ONLY diet left that uses fixed formulation now is SD. Iams used to, but stopped and no other food on the market uses it. They all use an open formulation. What that means is that what ever is cheapest on the docks that day is what goes into the food.

Another thing you need to know is what the nutrient content really is in the food. That means you need to figure out what the Dry Weight Matter is of the food. That means that once ALL moisture is out, the food is weighed and compared for protein, Phosphorus and calcium content, as well as other nutrients.
So while the bag says the food has 27% protein, in reality it has about 30 or more. The more water in the food, the higher the protein goes. Protein does not make for healthy puppies. They need it yes, but mostly they need balanced amounts of protein, fat and carbs for energy and growth.

Blue Buffalo LOOKs like a really great food Lois. But when you look closer and deeper, what would you rather have? An unknown food with misleading statements or a food with over 50 yrs of veterinarian research that states on their bag that their food is trial fed to meet all the AFCCO requirements?

If you stop feeding the human food with the dogs puppy food you can get him back on track. If he is having gas problems it is possible its the type of puppy growth you had him on. Science Diet makes three kinds of puppy growth. They have Lamb and Rice, regular and Nature's Best. If you want a natural food that is balanced and has the reputation and quality ingredients that Science Diet has, then put him on the Nature's Best.

So that is what I am recommending if you are asking. Slowly get him off the human food and Blue Buffalo and back onto the SD, only get him Nature's Best. It is also the ONLY food where the company (Hills) controls what goes into the food from the (such as pesticides) from the ground to the bag. No other company does that.

Oh and about beet pulp. It is simply a filler, a sugar beet. It is what they use to fatten cattle with. It is not a good source of anything and has zero nutritional value. In humans they cause blood sugar problems because they are one of the main ingredients in some sugars.
Let me know if you have any other questions.