gluten-free Dog Food

[africanqueen99]

Hi.  The celiac in our house is the toddler so are eliminating all gluten - including the dog food and treats.  I loaded up the car and took my minions to Petsmart today thinking I'd have maybe 1-2 options.  Holy cow - I was so wrong!  There were probably 15 options!  There's an entire grain-free industry in dog food.  It's all so expensive, too - looks like my beloved Costco won't be able to help with this one.

 

Anybody have any feedback on options?  What do you use?  This is for a large breed lab in her "senior" years.

 

Thanks!

[cyclinglady]

As a mother of a "geriatric lab", I feed her a grain free dog food I purchase from Costco.  It's actually a Kirkland brand and much cheaper than the grain free foods found at feed and specialty stores.  

[Celtic Queen]

Before I went gluten-free I had a cat with some health problems. I had to switch him over to Wellness brand cat food.  It was expensive, but the food was top notch.  Most wet cat food looks nasty when you open the can.  Wellness looks like opening a can of human grade tuna or chicken.  I was seriously ready to grab a fork and dig in.  Not all of their foods are grain free, so if you decide to go with them, look on their website for the grain free brands.  They're listed in a drop down menu.

 

I've also heard good things about Blue Buffalo.  Where I'm at it is slightly cheaper than Wellness, but still pricier than standard dog foods.

[howlnmad]

Don't eat the dog food.

[kareng]

I used to be a fan of Blue Buffalo but not anymore.  My vet says, and there have been recalls by the company, that there is too much vit D in their dog and cat foods.  Both my cat and dog had issues with that.  Once on another food, they were fine.  Also, they were making some of the food near us and the vet went to see the factory.  They leave the ingredients outside in the heat and that has led to recalls due to salmonella or some other bacteria.  I still get the grain free dog biscuits occasionally. 

 

A good training snack or kid feeding snack for a dog is Rice Chex.  For a cat or a dog -  little bites of plain meat.

[africanqueen99]

Don't eat the dog food.

Do you have kids?  I only wish it were easy enough to just tell them not to eat the food.  But it isn't...so it's easier to work the dog around the baby's health.

 

Thanks for the tip, cyclinglady!  I went to Costco today and found the grain free food and some new gluten-free treats.  They're basically chicken jerky, but I'll have one thrilled dog.

 

We were all excited to make the big plunge on Saturday, but I just found out they didn't get enough blood out of the baby for her testing.  Poor kid is going to be up to three blood draws within two weeks.  Not fun!

[shadowicewolf]

You could always make your own dog food. Chicken and rice plus mixed veggies is good option.

[cyclinglady]

Do you have kids?  I only wish it were easy enough to just tell them not to eat the food.  But it isn't...so it's easier to work the dog around the baby's health.

 

Thanks for the tip, cyclinglady!  I went to Costco today and found the grain free food and some new gluten-free treats.  They're basically chicken jerky, but I'll have one thrilled dog.

 

We were all excited to make the big plunge on Saturday, but I just found out they didn't get enough blood out of the baby for her testing.  Poor kid is going to be up to three blood draws within two weeks.  Not fun!

Glad that your local Costco carries the grain free food.  I certainly don't want to get "glutened" while feeding my dog.  

 

Never had to worry about kids getting into the dog food.  My lab gobbles her food down in 60 seconds! Then she licks her empty bowl periodically throughout the day (hoping that a smidge was left behind) and then carries it around when it's dinner time!  I dog sit a German Shepherd who's very picky.  She'll leave her food sitting all day.  My poor lab never steals it though (at least when we are a home).  

 

Hope your baby feels better soon and please, take care of yourself Mom!  

[cap6]

With five dogs we are pretty picky about dog food.  We used Natural Balance for quite some time but recently switched to Kirkland Grain Free (Costco).  Nutrition wise it is pretty much the same and much cheaper.  We use gluten free rice chex for training and Natural Balance has a grain free cookie if you want a treat with more substance. 

[africanqueen99]

You could always make your own dog food. Chicken and rice plus mixed veggies is good option.

I actually considered this after walking around the pet store, but then I brought myself back to reality that I need to get my kids back on track with diet first.  I will totally consider this in the future, though!

 

Cyclinglady - the lab *does* inhale her food and lick and relick the bowl all day.   The kids really love feeding her and being the one to put the full bowl down for her, and getting licked by her, and dolling out the dog treats.  Too many opportunities for a good glutening!  She's a great dog to them so I don't want to take away these options from the kids to love her back.

 

It's nice to hear that the Costco grain-free food is decent.  We've been using that Kirkland food for so many years - change isn't always fun.

[frieze]

Open Original Shared Link

interesting fellow..

[notme]

Do you have kids?  I only wish it were easy enough to just tell them not to eat the food.  But it isn't...so it's easier to work the dog around the baby's health.

 

all of our kids and grandkids have eaten dog food.  even when we didn't have a dog, they would eat their friends' dog's food.  it must be a toddler/little kids rite of passage    i remember eating rabbit food with my little neighborhood buddy - we couldn't have been all of 3 or 4.....

 

rice chex for training - what a great idea! 

[cap6]

Don't eat the dog food.

It is not about eating a food substance. (and you were just being funny, right??)   Dishing up gluten dog food leaves crumbs (seen and unseen) behind that must be promptly cleaned up or you risk cross contamination.  My kids are grown and gone.... but kids like to "help" feed.  How much easier to just know that everything in your home is gluten free.  Such a peace of mind    I'm just sayin'.......  The less to worry about the better. 

[come dance with me]

I find with the higher quality dog food, even though it's more expensive, they require far less so in the end it doesn't work out all that much more expensive.  Our dogs aren't on gluten-free food, but they are fed downstairs and we don't have a toddler in the house who eats dog food, and they are fed a premium variety that costs about $100 a bag.  With the supermarket food, they were eating a lot of it whereas with this food they require less than half the amount they were previously having so over the course of the month I'm probably only spending an extra $15 on dog food.

[SkyBlue4]

The dog "kisses" would definitely be a huge concern with a toddler. I would have never thought of the dog food as the culprit!

[notme]

It is not about eating a food substance. (and you were just being funny, right??) 

 

yes, cap, he always thinks that's funny   that, and his biggest advice:  "just don't *lick* it, you should be ok..."  like i go around licking things........ 

 

I find with the higher quality dog food, even though it's more expensive, they require far less so in the end it doesn't work out all that much more expensive.  Our dogs aren't on gluten-free food, but they are fed downstairs and we don't have a toddler in the house who eats dog food, and they are fed a premium variety that costs about $100 a bag.  With the supermarket food, they were eating a lot of it whereas with this food they require less than half the amount they were previously having so over the course of the month I'm probably only spending an extra $15 on dog food.

yes, i think you're right - all my friends have the same opinion - spend the extra $ on the 'better' dog food - dog will have less health problems (which omgosh vet bills are often astronomical!)  even less shedding i have heard.