Grain Free Dog Food

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to post in the Food Group. Sonny's vet recommended we try switching him to a grain free food. As of right now he gets a mix of Fromm Four Star and Wellness. (We mix because he decided he liked my parent's dog Wellness so we mix it together.) I was looking into  the following brands for the grain free: Wellness, Fromm, Acana and Earthborn. Is one of those brands any healthier/better than the others? Sonny is about 67 to 70 lbs. 

Thanks for any input you can give. 

Ali

[Mary, Scrappy, Sully and Olive]

If it's any help, we give our doodles the Fromm formulas and they really enjoy the grain free. No stomach upsets and they have several grain free formulas to choose from now.  We alternate flavors and sometimes go back and forth between grain free and regular.  I feel comfortable with this company and don't have to worry about recalls, etc. 

[Camilla and Darwin]

We've used the grain free version of Wellness and Darwin has done the best on that by far. We decided to try fromm (not grain free) out for a while but we think we may switch him back to Wellness Core, because he did so well with it.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Orijen and Acana are highly recommended in our food group.  An independent Canadian company.  My two dogs are on them and I can highly recommend both.

[Kimberly Keenan]

We give Bindi Acana & Wellness Core. We previously just gave her Acana or Orijen, but we started giving her Wellness Core because it has less calories & fat. We give our new puppy Bailey Acana. With the Acana or Orijen you can really smell the freshness of the food.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Thank you guys so much for getting back to me. I am going to decide between the Acana, Wellness or Fromm. Any thoughts to which would be the least gassy ingredients? Sonny has a burping issue. Nothing harmful, he just burps a lot. He also has very sensitive skin which is why the vet wants us to try grain free. 

Thanks again!

[Jen and Annie]

I think grain free is definitely the way to go.  I personally feed raw, but my girls get a little bit of vegetables daily as well, never any grains - just a bit of pureed sweet potatoes, pumpkin, spinach or broccoli, depending on what I have on hand...  I think that once you get the grains out, the burping will likely slow down as well.  Grains can cause gas buildup as they are digesting.  Even though I feed no grains, my girls always give me one big cartoonish burp after they eat, but I think it's more because they eat so fast LOL.  I have a link somewhere about commercial dog food ratings and nutrition content - I'll see if I can find it for you.

 Here it is.  You can look at canned or dry here:  http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Many dogs do have some gas when switching from a grain heavy food to one without grains. It usually goes away in 2-4 weeks, after they adjust.

Burping can be caused by foods that have a lot of legumes in the formula- peas and pea protein are used in a lot of kibble formulas, so you might want to stay away from those. And if there are skin issues, you want a food with an Omega 6:3 ratio of 4 to 1 or less, and one in which the Omega 3 fatty acids are supplied by fish oil rather than flax seed. Lots of info on this in the Food Group here.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna burps after she eats (but not at other times) - so I'm guessing that burping is just caused by her taking some air in with her poorly chewed kibble.  She is most definitely NOT a ladylike eater, more like a vacuum cleaner.

Also - I can attest to the gas... Luna had horrible gas for about a week after we switched to grain-free.  It's been fine ever since though.  She's on Acana - we rotate the flavors at each bag (so about every 2 months).

[Janice Hammond]

I truly think Orijen in the best.Sadie has been on it since was a puppy 6 years now and has never had a problem.

[Ali & Sonny D.]

I looked into The Wellness, Fromm and Acana and went on Dog Food Avisor to look a little closer at the ingredients. Acana and Fromm both had Pea Fiber, which Karen, you said could cause gas. Wellness have broccoli, spinach and kale, which I would imagine could cause gas too. So now what?lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The pea fiber should be fine, it's the peas and beans themselves, and the flour from that, that can cause a problem when its high on the ingredient list.

I also wouldn't worry about the little bits of broccoli, kale or spinach in any formula. Those are usually way down on the list of ingredients. I'm sure some of that is in his current food now.

You don't need the Dog Food advisor site to view ingredients. We have links to all of the dog food companies websites in the Food Group, or just google them. The info will be more up to date on the manufacturer's website than on a review site. The reviews are not updated when there are formula changes.

 

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Thanks Karen. I did use your links too and I am still confused!  I am trying to look at the Omega like you suggested. The Wellness, which I printed and happens to be in front of me, had Flaxseed and Salmon Oil . The Omega 6 has 3.25% and Omega 3 has .50%. Is this what I should be looking at?