Guest NJgrey Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 To the OP, don't over-think it. To me a good food has 2 components: 1.) I trust that the manufacturer is making it in the US and sourcing the ingredients in such a way that they aren't poisoned or pose a threat to my dog, and 2.) the dog tolerates it well - maintains a good weight, looks and feels good, good poops. Outside that, grains, no grains, whatever. Our girl is on Wellness Core Ocean. It's grain free and fish-based. We also give her brown rice, oat meal, veggies, red meat or chicken etc. mixed in with her kibble. Whatever works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) For some of us the switch to grain free happened specifically because we had a dog with food related problems that seemed to respond to nothing else until we made the switch. I tried countless different food formulas, including one meat/one carb versions, over a couple of years time. Nothing solved my girls problem until switching to grain free. We've now used many different grain free foods, for a variety of reasons usually related to other dogs in the household, but my girl's problem has never returned... except... when we've added a food or treat with grain & fed it regularly for a week or so. It's like her system has a limited tolerance for grains or some specific ones I've yet to compile the full list of. Once you've found a solution to the runny poo all over in the house & multiple middle of the night potty trips it's hard to want to mess with the formula. And still, I do use foods with grains when a specific dog in the house might benefit from it. Oh, but it is so nice when I have a group that can all eat the same food. Such convenience... Food allergies are, according to the veterinary dermatologist I took my old dog too, much more commonly the PROTEIN source in the food, not the grain. I am confused by this. Did you perchance mean he said the protein most dogs were allergic to was animal based as opposed to plant based? As plants contain many types of proteins & some/many grains are used specifically to add protein to foods it is quite possible to be allergic to a plant based protein. Edited March 16, 2012 by kudzu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreytNut Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Dogs do not require grains to be healthy. Raven has a violent allergy to wheat. It makes her projectile vomit. So we'd been feeding wheat-free for years. About a year ago we tried Taste of the Wild, which is completely grain-free, just to see how they did on it. They loved it and thrived on it. In fact Raven has been able to go off her joint supplements. I suspect that she had a low-grade allergy to grains other than just wheat, and that they were causing inflammation in her joints. She's 12 years old and has no arthritis whatsoever, whereas a year ago she moved like a stiff old lady. FWIW, Raven's dramatic results inspired me to go grain-free as well. And I'll be danged if my own joint inflammation didn't go away. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Quote Kristen with Penguin (L the Penguin) Flying Penske x L Alysana Costarring The Fabulous Felines: Squeak, Merlin, Bailey & Mystic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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