Canine Grain Free Food

Why not just cut back on the amount you're feeding her?

We feed ours Nutrisource. She tends to gain weight in the winter, even though she is an active border collie mix. I think it is because of the colder weather that they instinctively eat more. She is usually leaner in the summer.

Why are you concerned with grain free??? Absent a true allergy to corn, wheat or soy there is no proven benefit to grain free in dogs (or cats for that matter). Apparently Blue Buffalo has done a good job marketing.

The grains do add calories, but adjusting amounts is usually all that is needed.

Find a food that your dog does well on and is readily available and you should be good to go.

Doug, DVM

Oh boy, here we go again with a food thread.

We have been very happy with Evangers. Our local boutique pet supply store always has it. Costs a little more, but we feel it is worth it. Can see a difference in the coat of the dogs. Made in the USA, and they ahave never had a recall.

dturm wrote:
Why are you concerned with grain free??? Absent a true allergy to corn, wheat or soy there is no proven benefit to grain free in dogs (or cats for that matter). Apparently Blue Buffalo has done a good job marketing.

The grains do add calories, but adjusting amounts is usually all that is needed.

I agree with Dr Doug - as a matter of fact, my late Aussie seemed to do VERY well on oatmeal as part of his diet :-) The higher carbs in his diet seemed to stave off dementia a bit?

Don't forget that fat has 9 calories per gram; carbs have 4 calories per gram. Currently, I have my aussie-mix adult dogs on a lower-fat "maintenance" dog food (Diamond Naturals lamb and rice) and they are at a good weight.

I'm not sure how the theory got started that dogs only eat meat - the first thing a wild dog eats is the entrails - which contain carbs.

The beauty of grain free is that you can usually feed less of it to keep your dog healthy, thus making it affordable. I'd try cutting back a little and see if that helps slim down your dog.

If you really want to switch, brands I like are that come in grain free varieties are: Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, Pro Plan (grain free only - never thought I'd be saying anything good about Pro Plan - lol, but it's actually more expensive than TOTW in my area), Back to Basics, Victor, Acana, Now, Fromm, Farmina (Italian company - no GMOs used), and Dr. Tim's. Many of these are only available at specialty pet stores or online. Amazon.com and/or Chewy.com carry most of these.

Yes, there is grain-free weight control: Wellness Core Reduced Fat. Just make sure you feed the amount for what the dog SHOULD weigh (vet recommended weight, of course), rather than the current weight. Also, the suggested amounts on the bags are usually excessive, IMO.

Each dog is different, so what works for one dog may not work for another.

We use Purina Pro Plan, grain free, salmon and sweet potato. We only wound up there because we were trying to determine if Jesse had food allergies. In our area it's one of the least expensive brands. Jesse is 50 lbs, Jake 60 lbs, but we feed Jake a little less because he has a tendency to chub out if we aren't careful. I'd just try feeding a little less like others have suggested.

dturm wrote:
....
Find a food that your dog does well on and is readily available and you should be good to go....

Gee . . . . that makes sense to me. :)
Maybe I'll sit this one out.:W

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, of course, I have been feeding less food! She is eating a measured amount. It is not left for her to eat freely. For those asking why grainfree....over a year ago, my Aussie went thru a period of bilious vomiting. This would occur early in the morning waking us up and causing her distress. After much research, I learned that this was common in deep chested breeds and caused by too much stomach acid being produced. Also, I read that dividing up food into 3 meals with last feeding in the evening would help. Grainfree food with low fiber and fat is recommended. She was eating Nutro Chicken at that time. She started on Diamond Puppy as recommended by her breeder. The stomach issues have ended. Seems to me that the 3X feeding grainfree has been the fix. I merely do not want to have a future overweight Aussie. She is happy, healthy and active weighing about 42# at 4 years old. I guess dog food & diet may be a sore subject here. Thanks to xteacher for answering my question with reduced fat grainfree Wellness Core!

Not so much a sore subject as misinformation, advertising and internet postings taken as fact.

You have given a great example of finding a food type that works for your dog and trying to stick with it. There is obviously a GI issue that has been addresses successfully with diet and you have a happy, healthy dog.

This situation points out a difficulty with getting information (especially medical) over the internet. None of us have the history and medical information that you and your vet have and run the danger of giving inappropriate responses.