Hi, Kobe! Somewhere in this long discussion, and I’m sure Hound Dog Mom can tell you more about how she feels about grain inclusive foods, but she mentions that she only included grain-free because that is her preference. She doesn’t believe that a grain inclusive food is a bad choice for everyone, but she prefers to feed her bloodhounds grain free. I’m sure she can expand on that for you.
Our beagle, who is no longer with us, had a severe corn allergy and sensitivity to both rice and wheat. Our first instinct was to just chuck it all and go with a combination of foods I prepared myself and grain free kibble (which was very hard to find in 2007 in Okinawa where we lived). She was not thriving on a totally grain-free diet, and we tried a lot of different things over about a year. She had runny stools; she was not very energetic; and her coat was not as glossy and she shed more than she ever had before. Grain free diets bring out the best in some dogs. They thrive on it and it does amazing things for them. Our little dog did not thrive on a totally grain free diet, so we looked for something else.
I eventually came upon Pinnacle brand foods, which are also 5-star dog foods, but they include quinoa and oats. She did extremely well on the Pinnacle. Within a couple of weeks, her coat looked better and her stools firmed up to normal. She was back to being “on the beagle crack” as we always said when she was her hyper-and-needs-exercise normal self.
I don’t believe that Hound Dog Mom or anyone else with the best interests of all dogs would say that the same diet is best for ALL individuals, but grain-free is helping a lot of dogs who cannot seem to thrive on foods containing grain.
