Why is it that if you ask on an internet forum what to do with a dog with allergies, that people will tell you to feed it a grain free food?
Considering that only about 10% of dogs with allergy problems have food allergies to start with, and that the most common allergens are beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, and eggs FOLLOWED BY corn, wheat and soy, it seems like the hype over "grain free" is 95% marketing bullshit and not based on any actual science.
Please show me the research where allergies to beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, and eggs were ALL found to occur more commonly than allergies to corn, wheat, and soy.
My dog is allergic to wheat and does very well on a Grain-free diet.
Add:
Per the link you provided:
"The most common food allergens for dogs are: beef, dairy, and wheat. These three ingredients account for 68% of canine food allergies."
WHEAT is a grain. While I don't see Corn and Soy included in this list, I also DO NOT see Chicken, Lamb, Fish, and Eggs. I also do not see any references supporting the claim that Beef, Dairy, and Wheat are more common than the others.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com And, here is another website (also written by a vet) that lists common food allergens for dogs, with corn, wheat, and soy at the top of the list.
http://www.vetinfo.com/dogs-skin-problem ... And just for the record, if someone were to simply suggest "a grain-free food" for a dog with allergies, that would be giving incomplete advice IMO. While grain-free diets help a lot of dogs there are still many other possible food allergens that fall outside the category of grains.
Although potentially omnivore, (although most would disagree as do I) 85% of their protein comes from meat. In wild dogs, vegetation comes primarily from the stomach contents of the animals they consume. Dogs need protein. Most manufactures learned that corn is a cheap source of vegetable protein so they load up the food and claim the protein content. You know as well as I do, however, that corn goes out just about like it went in . It's not digestible enough for a dogs shorter digestive system so they extract less. Hence, you feed more and they poop more. That is complicated by the fact that because of the high concentration of Corn, Wheat and Soy in dog food, 30% of the dogs out there have developed intolerance or allergies to these ingredients. A dog food who's protein content comes predominantly from meat is fine even if it contains some grains providing your does not have issues with it. Since they can't tell us, sometimes it's better to avoid. Try a good fish based grain free diet for a while and see the difference it makes in your dogs skin, coat and weight. You may be amazed.
Dogs are carnivores their digestive tracts are not designed to break down grains. Actually when my dog ate a food with grains he had constant ear infections that would not clear up for anything. As soon as I switched ear infections were gone. Now he eats a Raw Diet and is 110 times better off. But he is not the only dog that I know that had problems with grains. Yes many dogs have other allergies but most of the time you take out the grains and keep the same meats the problems are gone. I have spent 4 years and THOUSANDS of dollars dealing with allergies. FOOD makes a HUGE difference. I have attended 13 different seminars for nutrition and dogs and allergies, have consulted with some of the best Holistic Vets and Nutritionalists in the country. I did not use the internet to make up my dogs diet. Top Holistic brands do NOT have corn do NOT have wheat and DO NOT HAVE SOY. The cheap commerical foods do. Grain Free will not help all allergy problems but a GOOD food makes the biggest difference
Could you point us to your research that says that those items are more common allergens than wheat, corn and soy. I've not seen any that lists them like that.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Dogs' bodies cannot properly digest grain materials. I've switched my dog to a grain-free food and it's not marketing bullshit. She's much healthier on i and she's getting a lot more nutrition out of her food.
I had to my dog on a diet a couple of years ago, went vegetarian, rice and vegetables, with a little home-made gravy, she lost the weight, I stll give her a lot of vegetables in stews that I make for her. She hates peas
Well dogs are carnivores ... want scientific proof? Look at their teeth.
Grains are what you feed cattle like corn oats, rye, soy etc and that does not belong inside a dog food.
In the wild dogs do not hunt for grains, they hunt for meat and fruits like apples, berries etc.
Dogs do not need grains as much as cattle do so there is the answer.
Dogs get allergies from beef, dairy, eggs and so on but they also get it too from foods and how they are prepared or processed.
Grains are for cattle, squirrels, rabbits what ever but not ment for dogs and grains are added as fillers to stretch out the food.
