# Anyone know of a canine nutrition school



## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

Anyone know of a quality school for canine nutrition? I have a huge intrest in canine nutrition and would love to learn more and maybe make a career out of it but after weeks of searching I can't seem to fins a reputable school for this subject. Most seem to be funded by either science diet or waltham (royal canin) or purina...i dont trust any school funded by those companies and they are in some of the best vet schools...one is US Davis in California...wonder why your vet recommends these foods? they are taught in school to use these foods because those are the companies that put their money out to the vet schools..
well anyone know of a good school? telecomute is okay as long as the school is a real school


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

As far as I know, you have to go to vet school first. Then four years of residency, studies, published papers, and board reviews after that in the program. But that could just be for a veterinary nutritionist, I'm not sure.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

you know i did look into that too but the classes are all funded and ran by hills, purina and waltham...
there are schools that offer certficate classes in canine nutrition that are not funded by the yuck food companies but i am not familar with them...i dont want to spend the money on the classes and find out later the certificate is not worth the paper its printed on...for an example i found this school but dont know what to think...Courses and Programs of Study | Companion Animal Sciences Institute


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Everyone I'm showing it to says it doesnt look like it's worth it.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

see thats the whole frustration i am having


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

I completely understand. At first I was like "hey this looks great, i should do this too!" But I'm gullible and trusting so I had to ask more of my web-savvy friends and they say it's not worth it. It doesn't actually say it will certify you, get you a credible degree, anything. Plus, if they don't even have a physical address you can find on their website, probably not worth it. Sad, I know!


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

yep. its either schools like that OR vet school that is backed by the worst dog foods out there...you know they are teaching that their foods are good and thats why when we go to the vet they recommend the bad foods the doctors really dont know better. i am so stuck! i am starting to think the reason there is so much controversy surrounding pet foods is that since there is no school there is no one answer. i know all dogs are different like people but there has to be a basic needs and how to meet them and so on why is there not a school NOT back by any food company good or bad that just goes into the science of nutritional needs of companion animals. i guess it is really down to us to do our own research on the internet and other pet owners to see what works and learn from out pets


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Is Colorado State University backed by a pet food company? I know they're one of the best vet schools in the country and one of the only holistic vets in Reno who believes commercial dog food is mostly garbage and sells Orijen and Honest Kitchen straight out of her clinic if her clients dont want to do a raw diet, anyway she went to CSU. But then so has one of the worst vets in Reno too. I think it depends on the individual going through school. If they're going to do their own research and keep an open mind and be intelligent that the jerks pedaling their wares in the classroom probably don't have your pet's best interests at heart, they can hopefully escape with a good education. 

If they buy everything they're sold hook, line, and sinker, you get a crappy vet who's all excited about pumping your pet full of vaccinations and Science Diet.


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

from what i can find on the internet hills has their hands in CSU  it really looks like each university has one of the big commercial foods backing their nutrition dept.
i dont know of any holistic vets in my area to ask where they get their knowledge on the subject unfortunately that might be a good idea of someone to talk to. however i am in the process of changing vets with Peanut to one that was highly recommened to me by my parents and they have a doctor they really like that i may talk to and see what she has to say from what my parents say she is very open minded and is even into alternative medicine, she does all the accupunture for the facility..maybe she could help??

you would think with how much pet owners spend each year on pet food there would be schools expanding their programs to include a quality nutrition program


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

No because they want us to spend that money on _their_ products! If they can't make money off of it, why bother educating about it? It's a waste of money for them. In fact, it could hurt their business if they did that. That's why they want the vets to stay ignorant while getting us to instill all our trust in them; so we will almost assuredly stay ignorant as well. Now I'm angry again!


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

It's the same w/medical doctors. They are the worst at giving out nutrional advice as well. A good friend of mine is a Ph.D. in nutrition for that very reason. Anyways, IMO, I would go to the best vet school even if one of the "bad" dog food companies is associated with it and get your education other than nutrition there and then branch off on your own and since you're already interested in the nutrition aspect as well -- read everything you can get your hands on and start a new trend of vets who know nutrition. That would be neat!:biggrin: Good luck!!!!!


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

i am sorry i didnt mean to upset you, but let me say when i was looking for a school that was what i was telling my family too


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## claybuster (Dec 18, 2008)

PeanutsMommy said:


> Anyone know of a quality school for canine nutrition? I have a huge intrest in canine nutrition and would love to learn more and maybe make a career out of it but after weeks of searching I can't seem to fins a reputable school for this subject. Most seem to be funded by either science diet or waltham (royal canin) or purina...i dont trust any school funded by those companies and they are in some of the best vet schools...one is US Davis in California...wonder why your vet recommends these foods? they are taught in school to use these foods because those are the companies that put their money out to the vet schools..
> well anyone know of a good school? telecomute is okay as long as the school is a real school


Hi, I touched on this a little bit in some other threads. Yes, warped thinking is institutionalized because these pet food companies do the research, fund the schools, put up the grant money, the student loan money, etc. Vets preach the same rhetoric we hear from the dog food companies about the joys of high carb high fiber diets and some of the products they sell on their shelves are some of the worst I've ever seen.

From what I have read, Vets typically receive less than 6 hrs of nutrition study in school. The trend now is to simply hire nutritionist to work in the vet office because their knowledge is so limited. So, there are a lot of agents of the industry working in the field, preaching omnivore approach to carnivore nutrition.

The internet is another place where you come across a ton of misinformation. 99% of the dog food forums fall for the same rhetoric and that is what the users preach as well. This board however I find an exception because without question, some of the sharper people who know what they are talking about are found here on this board! There are some obvious poor choices about food I've found here as well, but not nearly as bad as other boards. For the most part the people here I found are much more knowledgeable compared that of other boards. Two in particular are Raw Feed Dogs and ramiller who both seem to have their act together when it comes to canine nutrition and from what I can tell are some of the sharper folks out there.


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