Rice And Other Grains

[Guest Scarter55]

I have a great dog food book that is called "Natural Dog; A Holistic Guide for Healthier Dogs" by Dr. Khalsa. She is a vet who has studied dog nutrition. It is a good book, and I highly recommend it.

One of the food groups she recommends is grains. She actually advocates feeding dogs a fair amount of quality carbs, more than I would have thought. So I have taken to cooking veggies and brown rice up in the handy rice cooker and than portioning that out to Lady over the week. I still think twice about it though, since we have been encouraged to find grain free food. I realize that a big part of this is that the dog food manufacturers likely wouldn't use quality carbs, and any grain they did use would basically be filler. So I thought I'd put it to all the GH experts here;

 

Do you feed your dog(s) rice?

[greysmom]

I don't much anymore. Mostly because I usually see it coming out the other end without much digestion in between. If I need to feed carbs for some reason (easily tolerated foods for stomach upset, for example), I usually do potatoes (sweet or regular) or pasta.

 

I'm not sure of the necessity for carbs in canids. Domesticated dogs are mostly scavengers and will eat just about anything, but I don't think they *need* carbs to survive with a proper diet. I have always thought that carbs are added to commercial diets to make them more cost effective (filler), not nutritionally better.

[NeylasMom]

I have always thought that carbs are added to commercial diets to make them more cost effective (filler), not nutritionally better.

And to make them into a processed kibble. That's one of the reasons why even the grain-free kibbles have potato in them.

 

To the OP, no, I don't. I don't believe grains are a natural or necessary party of our dogs' diets. Doesn't mean they can't get some nutrition out of them, there's even been some research lately that indicate dogs are evolving to be able to digest grains, but that doesn't mean it's the ideal form of nutrition. To me it's common sense, if you have to cook it in order for it to even be digestible, is that natural? Last time I checked wild canids aren't pulling out their camping stoves to make their dinners.

[MaryJane]

Grain-free is a new trend in dog food ... it's the new flavor of the month. As far as I know, there have not been any independent studies done that prove that it is better (or worse) than dog food with grains. IMHO, the big issue to worry about today regarding processed dog food is that the meat (and grains) are likely being sourced from China.

 

I have been making home-made food for my dogs for 5+ years (probably closer to 8 now) and my oldest is 11 1/2 and seems to be doing OK as he has severe allergies to chicken/noodles and slight kidney issues. My middle girl is 6 1/2 and has seizures so I need to be careful of preservatives in her food so home-made is the only way to get complete control of all ingredients. My youngest is 3 1/2 and can eat anything but, he ends up getting the same food as the others. They get plenty of grains, although I feed white rice rather than brown because of my oldest kidney issue means carefully watching his protein intake. They also get other grains, oatmeal and grits for breakfast. They all get yearly vet exams/blood work and urine tests to make sure that their diets meet their nutritional needs - so far, the blood work has been OK. Their diets were formulated by a nutritional vet years ago.

 

As a side note, a dog's ancestors in the wild would have eaten a high percentage of the animal that they killed and that would include stomach contents which in many small and middle size animals would include digested grains, nuts, and berries. But, many breeds are so far removed from their "wild ancestors" at this point that it would be hard to classify what exactly is a natural diet for them.

[Guest Scarter55]

MaryJane, Lady is very jealous of your three and their home cooked meals! I agree that where the ingredients come from can be just as important as what they are. Although I wasn't a dog owner back then, I've read all the horrors about dog food from the late 90s/early 2000's and really hope those days are behind us.

 

I didn't know there was such thing as a nutritional vet, though I suppose that is what Dr. Khalsa is, who wrote the book I use. I should find one in my area for consultation.

[a_daerr]

Grain-free is a new trend in dog food ... it's the new flavor of the month... many breeds are so far removed from their "wild ancestors" at this point that it would be hard to classify what exactly is a natural diet for them.

 

 

To answer OP's original question, yes my guys both eat a lot of rice and oatmeal.

I bought a $20 rice cooker from Target, and it was one of the best investments I ever made.

[RedHead]

My guys eat small amounts of grains like bread, pasta, and rice from my leftovers. I prefer to feed veggies/potatoes as the "non meat" portion of the diet. My personal view is that if they were designed to have a diet based on grains (I'm talking 60%-70% or higher) they would have the flat grinding teeth/side to side jaw movement and long digestive system of every other plant/grain eating animal. Either way, it is certainly a myth that they can't get nutrition from grains as I have read many times. One philosophy is that as long as they are getting proper nutrients it doesn't matter where they are coming from, the other argument is that the nutrients should be in a more biologically correct format. Either way, dogs seem to do okay on grain or grain free...there are people on both extremes of the line who will tell you they are right. Go with what works.

[deboosh]

Our girl has a sensitive tummy and we had quite a time of it trying to find the right food for her. She hasn't had any trouble with diarrhea or pudding poops since feeding her a diet of mainly brown rice. I give her 1 1/2 cups that I mix with 1/3 can of green tripe (excellent for tummy trouble and very nutritious) followed by 1 cup of kibble~~Nutro's Sensitive Skin and Stomach. She eats this twice a day and we haven't looked back since.

[TheFullHouse]

Bullitt has kidney disease and when I cook his meals they are mainly rice (cooked in twice the water you normally use so it's nice and mushy) and boiled potatoes. The one thing I learned is it sure firms up a dog with runny pooh! He's only allowed a small amount of protein so along with the rice or potatoes he gets a daily vitamin to make sure he's getting all the vitamins he should.

[Blaidd49]

Dogs evolved as scavengers and the ability to eat carbs in the form of grains was part of that evolution. However, the grains of today may not be of the same quality as yesteryear grains. I do feed grains as part of their breakfast but I use organic grains such as barley and organic oats.

[PatricksMom]

When I was cooking for Patrick, I fed grains (mostly rice & oatmeal). But he had mild kidney issues that had been seriously aggrevated by a grainfree diet, because it was too high in protein. At that point, though, he loved rice in particular and I would have fed him anything to keep him eating.