Is Grain Free Dog food worth the hype?

[Anonymous]

Is it truly better to feed a dog grain free food or is this just a trend? Thanks! We are adopting a dog in the next month and want to research benefits to grain free foods.

[Anonymous]

Well, FWIW, every respectable (positive reinforcement) trainer I know feeds grain-free or raw.

[Anonymous]

YES.

Our dog eats Orijen. When we were planning to go out of town a few months back, her bag of Orijen ran out, so we decided to buy her a different (smaller) bag of food that contained grains to last her the few weeks before we left instead of buying a big bag of Orijen that would go to waste.

For the weeks she ate the new food:
1. Her poop was smellier and larger.
2. Her normally-shiny coat lost its luster.
3. Her breath smelled bad.
4. She smelled bad, even shortly after bathing.

She's back on Orijen and things are back to normal.

[Anonymous]

In my case YES! My dog is allergic to wheat. Wheat causes her to throw up, have diarrhea, and lose all her fur.

We thought she had mange when we adopted her, turns out it was a wheat allergy.

[Anonymous]

Are there affordable grain free foods? I'm on a budget!

[Anonymous]

Costo has a big bag of grain free food (can't remember the name but it's a blue bag) that is MUCH cheaper than Blue, etc. and seems to be just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Costo has a big bag of grain free food (can't remember the name but it's a blue bag) that is MUCH cheaper than Blue, etc. and seems to be just as good.

How can you tell if it is safe to buy after the recall? thnx

[Anonymous]

My dog ate Enova Evo for a while. This is TMI (or should I say DTMI?) but her reduced stool size meant that her anal glands were never really getting naturally expressed. We ended up switching to Purina Pro Plan and she is much more comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Dogs only eat one thing for most of their lives, and I think that feeding the much healthier less processed grain free food will save you money in vet bills down the road and your dog will live longer. The ingredients in mainstream commercial dog food are horrifying at best, do a little research and you won't regret it.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. we feed Acana (same company as Orijen but slightly cheaper) to our dogs. It is expensive but our dogs have been healthy. Grains are fillers, so make sure if u get a grain free food u get something with good quality protein. High protein grain free dog food is not bad provided it is good quality protein. Sort of like McDonald's burger vs your homemade top sirloin.

[Anonymous]

The grain-free thing is all hype and marketing. Seriously, don't waste your money unless your dog has a known wheat allergy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The grain-free thing is all hype and marketing. Seriously, don't waste your money unless your dog has a known wheat allergy.

Actually it is not all hype. Many dogs have trouble digesting grains and the fillers. I would not eat crappy food so I do not give it to my dog either.

[Anonymous]

We switched to grain-free food (Wellness brand) from purina, and although each bag of food was more $$, the amount my dog ate every day went way down. We used some simple healthy fillers--frozen veggies, mostly--to help ease the transition. Now the cost is roughly the same as it was on the cheaper food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with PP. we feed Acana (same company as Orijen but slightly cheaper) to our dogs. It is expensive but our dogs have been healthy. Grains are fillers, so make sure if u get a grain free food u get something with good quality protein. High protein grain free dog food is not bad provided it is good quality protein. Sort of like McDonald's burger vs your homemade top sirloin.

+1 on Acana, great food.