Wheat, Corn and Soy

[mkbartz]

Ok, I keep my girls on high quality grain free food. One of them is prone to ear infections plus, all of the research I did said that wheat, corn and soy weren't good for dogs as they didn't naturally occur in their diets.

However, are they only negative for dogs if those dogs in particular are allergic to those ingredients?

One of my friend bought a puppy this week (from and pet store ) and they gave her Royal Canine 33. Our vet doesn't seem to advocate grain free.

I would appreciate it if you could tell me why or why not your chose to put your dogs on a grain free diet?

[hugz4all4]

After much research and trying a countless number of foods,(and a whole lot of money) we are now using a grain free food. I didnt have a good experience at first when we tried grain free so I went back to a lower protien good food with good grains and my dogs continued to have numerous problems or they would quit eating it. The last "straw" was when they were on Merricks they ended up with terrible red staining everywhere so I decided that thier problems were related to foods with grains in them. So I finally decided on Acana's grain free line for my smaller dogs and EVO for my bigger dogs. Im keeping my fingers crossed they will continue to eat it and do well on in. I have no problem with higher quality foods with good grains in them, there are alot of good brands on the market. I feel that everyone needs to follow their pets lead and feed them what they will eat and do the best on.
My vet isnt real keen on high protien diets either..

[mkbartz]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

So I finally decided on Acana's grain free line for my smaller dogs and EVO for my bigger dogs.

Both of our girls are on Acana now, but I didn't like their change of ingredients so we in the process of slowly changing to Fromm Family (Grain Free) Surf and Turf.

[Woogie Man]

Originally Posted by mkbartz

I would appreciate it if you could tell me why or why not your chose to put your dogs on a grain free diet?

I think many folks feel that grain-free is better. I personally don't feed grain-free. I think that the advantage of grain-free is that most grain-free foods have high quality ingredients overall, not so much the absence of grain. There are, however, high quality foods that do contain grain.

I feed all my dogs Nature's Logic. The only grain it contains is millet, a low allergen, low starch grain. It has high quality ingredients throughout but what really tips the scales for me is that Nature's Logic is the ONLY kibble that doesn't contain any synthetic vitamins and minerals.

You can check any other kibble, grain free or not, and you will find added synthetic vitamins and minerals. Adding these vitamins and minerals does not mean you get a better product. What it means is that it was necessary to add these things in order to meet AAFCO guidelines. Nature's Logic does not need to add these vitamins and minerals because the nutritional value of the food ingredients meets or exceeds AAFCO guidelines. I appreciate this difference because some synthetic vitamins and minerals can have negative health effects. Add to that the fact that most of these vitamin and mineral compounds come from China and you really have to wonder about the safety of these foods long-term.

Grain free foods don't contain grains but do have to have something to hold it together so potatoes and/or sweet potatoes are used. Potatoes are high in starch, which convert to sugars and I feel that makes a poor choice for a daily feed. Sweet potatoes are much higher in sugars and, while they make a healthy snack, I don't feel they are appropriate in a base food.

Well, that's my reasoning for making Nature's Logic my food choice. It's an all life stages food so I feed it to all my dogs and also wean puppies on it. It comes in 5 protein varieties so I can rotate flavors every bag to prevent boredom with their food.

Here's a link to their website..
Nature's Logic

[107barney]

Disagree regarding sweet potatoes which are an excellent natural complex carbohydrate source for people and for dogs.

I personally disagree with grain free and opt to feed my dogs grains.

I also opt to avoid feeding anything with wheat, soy or corn my dogs (I would not eat those items myself either) but I do not think it is terrible to feed those items to dogs. I just feel there are better natural carbohydrate sources to choose from like long grain brown rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa, or oats.

Lots of people choose Royal Canin foods and have healthy dogs. I think it's really up to the individual dog owner and different minds vary regarding diet. LOL the never ending debate!

[mkbartz]

Originally Posted by Woogie Man

Well, that's my reasoning for making Nature's Logic my food choice. It's an all life stages food so I feed it to all my dogs and also wean puppies on it. It comes in 5 protein varieties so I can rotate flavors every bag to prevent boredom with their food.

Here's a link to their website..
Nature's Logic

Yes, I very impressed by there food. The fact that it contains plasma is both cool and icky at the same time. But I think that sometime, eventually, we are going to try NL.

[viviansnickers]

In a nutshell, since I have had Snickers, his health and diet is something I obsess over. I feel that he is a life I am responsible for and I will give him anything if it is best for him no matter what the cost.

When we got Snick (from the dump we did) he was eating Nutro and HATED it. He would itch and feeding him was battle. This is when I found Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble and then it was nothing less than 5 star foods. I started with Merrick Puppy Plate and Snick liked it (anything was better than the nasty Nutro) but I noticed the itching again. He itched ALOT and had a funky smell coming out of his ears. I didn't like it at all and could tell he was not comfy.

We then tried 543756748356478356347 foods. Any and everything from Wellness, NB, Nature's Logic, NV kibble, Evo, and other Merrick foods. Snick decided he liked Evo and was on it for a good 7 months with great results. No more itching, ate well, and no more smelly ears. That was it, grainfree for us b/c it worked for Snick. Then I went nuts for raw and have been on that ever since and that's when the most drastic changes occurred. I won't get into that but will if you want me to lol!!! Snick decided that he didn't want Evo after 7 months and we recently switched to Acana which he ADORES!!! Still grainfree and doing well.

Hope that was what you were looking for!!
Happy Holidays
Snick & Viv

[Sweet Apple]

My story is similiar to Viviansnickers...Apple didn't have smelly ears, but she's a girl lol, and girls don't have smelly ears lol...She did have a musky smell to her while on grain...After much research, I switched her to raw, and she loves it!!!!And she has no musky smell, wonderful breath, beautiful hair (I should eat raw ) and lots more energy...I fought, daily, to get her to eat anything on the planet...Had to add chicken broth, yogurt, scrambled eggs, just to get her to eat...She only weighed 4 lbs. 6 oz. when I switched her to raw...I was, absolutely, not going to spay her 'till she weighed 5 lbs...On raw, I got her to 5 lbs. 1 oz. , and she's been spayed...I just got my little boy at 4 1/2 months...He didn't want raw, when I first got him, however, he was a little under the weather, so I fed him what he came with, and it was a very good grain food...But, while he was getting well, he didn't eat, ANYTHING, for 48 hrs., so I tried raw, and he ate it!!! I'm giving raw all the credit for saving his life...He loves raw, eats a little organic blueberries and organic spinach...He's one of us now ...I'm totally sold on raw...They still get carbs from the fruit and veges, just no grain...It just seems right to me...

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by viviansnickers

In a nutshell, since I have had Snickers, his health and diet is something I obsess over. I feel that he is a life I am responsible for and I will give him anything if it is best for him no matter what the cost.

When we got Snick (from the dump we did) he was eating Nutro and HATED it. He would itch and feeding him was battle. This is when I found Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble and then it was nothing less than 5 star foods. I started with Merrick Puppy Plate and Snick liked it (anything was better than the nasty Nutro) but I noticed the itching again. He itched ALOT and had a funky smell coming out of his ears. I didn't like it at all and could tell he was not comfy.

We then tried 543756748356478356347 foods. Any and everything from Wellness, NB, Nature's Logic, NV kibble, Evo, and other Merrick foods. Snick decided he liked Evo and was on it for a good 7 months with great results. No more itching, ate well, and no more smelly ears. That was it, grainfree for us b/c it worked for Snick. Then I went nuts for raw and have been on that ever since and that's when the most drastic changes occurred. I won't get into that but will if you want me to lol!!! Snick decided that he didn't want Evo after 7 months and we recently switched to Acana which he ADORES!!! Still grainfree and doing well.

Hope that was what you were looking for!!
Happy Holidays
Snick & Viv

This was "us" too, ... we had gone from terrible ear infections, to smelly ears (mainly my toy poodle), nasty runny eyes, itchy skin, odd dog odors, licking the paws, red staining, many changes in food and me being pretty much broke to finally decide on grain free.. and Im keeping everything that is crossable on my body that they stick with it and do well on it!!

[mkbartz]

I just realized that I have my pudgy girl on the light and fit by Acana. My other girl is still on grain free Acana (slowly being switched to Fromm GF). Anways, Pudgy girl has been itching more than usualy the past month--it just dawned on me that she the Light and Fit has grain in it!!
Strange that she has been itching for only about a month but has been on it for 3 months.

It looks like my girls NEED to be GRAIN FREE LADIES!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by mkbartz

Ok, I keep my girls on high quality grain free food. One of them is prone to ear infections plus, all of the research I did said that wheat, corn and soy weren't good for dogs as they didn't naturally occur in their diets.

However, are they only negative for dogs if those dogs in particular are allergic to those ingredients?

One of my friend bought a puppy this week (from and pet store ) and they gave her Royal Canine 33. Our vet doesn't seem to advocate grain free.

I would appreciate it if you could tell me why or why not your chose to put your dogs on a grain free diet?

You're asking different things here...so as not to confuse myself () I'm going to just address the ear infection issue, if that's okay.

Dogs who are "prone" or have recurrent ear infections are often having yeast in their ears. Yeast feeds off of carbs - in other words, sugars, grains etcetera.

Bottom line is this: if your dog is having recurrent ear infections, you need to get a prescription ear ointment that has both an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent - these are readily available and very common at the vet.

Also, if your dog has recurrent yeast infections IN THE EARS - you really need to find out if the dog is also having, therefore, systemic (meaning, intestinal root cause) yeast - which really then needs to also be treated with oral (pill) Diflucan or oral Nystatin for a good 3-6 weeks (may need to be compounded, still not that $$$).

[Ellie May]

We do both (homecooked though) depending on what I feel like that month. The only reason we sometimes avoid grains here is because of allergies. I do not necessarily believe that dogs on grain free foods are healthier and yes, I would even feed corn (gasp). While grain may or may not be a natural part of a dog's diet, I'm not really seeing anything about grain free diets increasing lifespan, so...

[Sweet Apple]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

We do both (homecooked though) depending on what I feel like that month. The only reason we sometimes avoid grains here is because of allergies. I do not necessarily believe that dogs on grain free foods are healthier and yes, I would even feed corn (gasp). While grain may or may not be a natural part of a dog's diet, I'm not really seeing anything about grain free diets increasing lifespan, so...

Ya know, you are, absolutely, right about this, as I did my research regarding longevity too...However, I think grain free is all about quality of life, not number of years...I see a great deal of difference in Apple's energy level, her coat is unbelievably gorgeous now, and she hasn't suffered from any sort of allergies...In all fairness, she didn't have allergies, before grain free...I'm glad I've got an opportunity to start Buzz grain free from 4 1/2 months old..He loves it, has gained the weight back he lost at first and is full of energy...In fact, I should give them a big ol' slice of white bread so I can get some peace and quiet around here lolol....(just kidding, wouldn't do that to my babies, that would be tantamount to pup abuse lol)

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Sweet Apple

Ya know, you are, absolutely, right about this, as I did my research regarding longevity too...However, I think grain free is all about quality of life, not number of years...I see a great deal of difference in Apple's energy level, her coat is unbelievably gorgeous now, and she hasn't suffered from any sort of allergies...In all fairness, she didn't have allergies, before grain free...I'm glad I've got an opportunity to start Buzz grain free from 4 1/2 months old..He loves it, has gained the weight back he lost at first and is full of energy...In fact, I should give them a big ol' slice of white bread so I can get some peace and quiet around here lolol....(just kidding, wouldn't do that to my babies, that would be tantamount to pup abuse lol)

It seems like Ellie has the same amount of energy on both types.
Yup, they do cause some food intolerance issues, but I think that's dog dependent and I wouldn't tell person B that their dog shouldn't have grains just because person A's dog doesn't do well with them. If a dog doesn't seem to be doing okay on them, then absolutely pull them.

I suppose the only way too know for sure is to have peer reviewed studies done on illnesses in dogs fed grain or grain free foods, but it's not happening anytime soon.