It’s not fair to tar all vets with the same brush in regards to pet nutrition. You can’t say you don’t trust ALL vets when it comes to the subject, that’s just being arrogant. The simple answer is to ask your vet what qualifications they have in regards to nutrition. Yes, they will lean towards the veterinary specific brands because it is a brand they are familiar with and are educated on the contents. I agree that today, vets needs to be educated more on the importance of nutrition, it’s only touched upon in the qualification, but I feel it should be explored more as many conditions are a direct result of poor diet.
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I would say the majority of vets seem to lack an in depth knowledge of nutrition but that certainly doesn’t mean all vets do. Many will only make recommendations based published studies and feel it would be inappropriate to give a professional recommendation for anything that is lacking in hard evidence such as raw or home-cooked diets. Unfortunately, the amount of manufacturer funded studies far outweighs the amount of independent studies. I can’t say I blame them really. If they advocate diets that are not backed by solid research they could jeopardize their reputation and/or practice if something happens as a direct result of such a recommendation. My vet is pro raw but will not recommend it to clients for the simple fact that she doesn’t want them to fail the dog by not doing the proper research and end up feeding an unbalanced diet. She much rather offer advice on what to look for or avoid and encourage her clients to read labels and do a little research to understand better what it is that they are actually feeding.
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Not at all I’m afraid…
In my experience, vets don’t often seem to recommend raw food, even though the health benefits are obvious.
I think it’s because a lot of vets are trained with the backing of dry food companies and are influenced by their biased views.
I don’t feel need to ask my current vet practice for dog food advice but would trust them to give it.
I actually changed to current practice for various reasons…not least due to my old practice having views on dog food that were far from aligned to my own.
I am lucky as current independent vet practice has an integrated approach to healthcare & offers homeopathic options when appropriate…They don’t encourage clients to feed rubbish food either.
I am inclined to think that most vets err on the side of caution as raw feeding is not completely without risk. Even though there may be health implications associated with feeding different dried foods, they are harder to directly implicate should problem arise. A bone causing issues, is not. My vet does not exactly advocate feeding raw but they don’t discourage it either.
…Raw bones can cause some dental fracture & choke risks but so can antlers & rawhide bones. Raw complete mince does not present these risks.
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I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this. Have you talked about your dog's diet with your vet?
Yes I have talked with my one of my favourite vets about dogs diets when we were discussing a number of subjects including the differences between what is the ‘modern’ trend to immunise and neuter dogs vs the ways of the ‘old days’…
What were their thoughts?
The vet agreed that it was helpful to keep abreast of changing times, including how dogs diets have altered and I agreed to continue to do so.
Do you think they know their stuff when it comes to nutrition?
This is not really a straight forward Yes or No as I know that that vet is extremely open minded enough to research further and openly discuss with a large referrals veterinary centre about anything limiting in her knowledge. She really is an extremely motivated and competent vet in my opinion - I guess that’s why she is one of my favourites 8)
And do you think their advice is truly impartial?
Yes, and she knows I’d know if her advice is not impartial, so we have a respectful understanding… will say no more … 
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I think it depends on why you need to talk to your vet about diet. If the dog is ill and needs a special diet then they might suggest a prescription diet because it is easier for the owner and for the vet. A better approach is to talk to the vet about the dog’s nutritional needs then do your own research but some pet owners are not in a position to do this.
I firmly believe that the pet owner does not necessarily need the advice of a vet if the dog is healthy and they are willing to learn a bit about a dog’s nutritional needs. There will always be some controversy about what is the right diet for a dog, probably because they are all so different in their needs.
As for BARF diets I suspect that vets largely don’t push them because their governing body has a policy of not doing so. Also, as has been said it is not without risks. I suspect that vets are kept quite busy removing teeth and foreign bodies from dogs who are fed like this. Also, perhaps to a lesser degree treating infections. I wish there were figures for this as it would help people to make decisions.
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