Is grain free bad?

[yellowdog5]

I recently read an article that stated that feeding grain free food long term might cause heart problems, because it causes deficiency of taurine? Should I be feeding it? My grain free is not fancy, just diamond Nutra Nuggets beef and pea. I have two dogs allergic to grass, we got by for a long time on Diamond Lamb and rice but then Lady started getting ear infections so we switched to grain free fish, then later Nutra Nuggets. Brandy gets yeast infections between the toes of her right front foot sometimes, so I started feeding grain free to everyone. Should I not be doing this? They also get meat and vegetables sometimes, but I am careful what they eat as much as I can be with dogs who are outdoors a lot on a ranch.

 

[TheDeena]

Very interesting to read this since i am going through a dog change of food recently. I have always owned small breed dogs, one or two at a time, and for the most part they have always been on grain free. Now, my 15 year old shi/mal which i had to put down a year ago, was on grain free. Now she had a heart murmur and my 10.5 year old has a heart murmur and I dont understand the correlation between grain-free and heart disease. I have always fed my dogs the BEST dog foods, so there is ALOT of grain free so I realize it is a confusing situation at best. If you are worried a lot about it, best thing to do is switch to a dog food with grain in it. The food i am trying to change my dog do is Acana Feast, which has several meat proteins and vegetables. I am as perplexed as you. Let me know what you decide.

 

[yellowdog5]

Very interesting to read this since i am going through a dog change of food recently. I have always owned small breed dogs, one or two at a time, and for the most part they have always been on grain free. Now, my 15 year old shi/mal which i had to put down a year ago, was on grain free. Now she had a heart murmur and my 10.5 year old has a heart murmur and I dont understand the correlation between grain-free and heart disease. I have always fed my dogs the BEST dog foods, so there is ALOT of grain free so I realize it is a confusing situation at best. If you are worried a lot about it, best thing to do is switch to a dog food with grain in it. The food i am trying to change my dog do is Acana Feast, which has several meat proteins and vegetables. I am as perplexed as you. Let me know what you decide.

I have done quite a bit of research now, I have decided not to change their food, as the taurine is in meat, not vegetables, and they have a lot of meat in the food they are eating now.

 

[TheDeena]

I just bought them A Taste of The Wild dog food which is grain fee but fish based. Was rated number two on dog food advisor. I think from what i can figure out from reading, it is important the first source of protein is meat/fish not potato, peas or something of that nature. Most of the dogs out there are grain free, they would have to pull everything off the shelves. Looking for things like taurine and what is the major source of protein is important. Also, i buy a limited ingredient dog food because the other ones have hundreds of items in them and you have no idea what they are.

 

[larryjhammondd]

People Are Feeding Their dog's grain-free Diets, and It May Be bad for Their Hearts. Gluten-free diets are going to the dog: So-called "grain-free" dog foods have become popular these days, but the diets may not be good for some pooches' hearts.

 

[TheDeena]

researched this ALOT. Until Dog Food Advisor tells us not to feed grain free it is kinda wreid since 80 percent of dog foods in stores are grain free. They talked about certain ingredients to be careful such as Taurine. Most importantly on the grain free diet the protein source needs to be the number one ingredient followed by other grain free ingredients that have been proved to be healthy. I recently put down a 15 year old shi/mal. She had a heart murmur and my 10.5 birch on/poodle has a heart murmur, i think that is not relative to the “enlarged hearts” they are talking about and I think heart murmurs are pretty common as dogs age. In any event, it is confusing and frustrating on the food issue.

 

[JabariParker]

I go for the dog suiting, on poo easy to pick up..not too smelling and not huge although that depends if a dog needs more fibrous food.
Does your dog smell? If so I never think the food suits...dogs shouldn't smell and having rehomed one that stunk to high heaven then I knew the food didn't suit.
Allergies...if your dog has allergies or food intolerances...then careful consideration is needed when feeding.
Failing to thrive..adult dogs should maintain weight..if they can't for whatever reason the food is likely source