Gluten Free Dog Food Again..

[Yenni]

We have been using Canidae for over a year now for our dog because if was gluten and soy free... I checked the label just for grins tonight and realized they completely changed it and has put both barley and oat in it! I have had issues this summer and maybe this is why. I am actually a bit mad about it. I guess mostly at myself for missing that they changed their product and not making sure to check every time I got a new bag.

So, does anyone have any suggestions on a gluten and soy free dog food? I need to find something real fast that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks!

Jenny

[Yenni]

Looks like maybe Open Original Shared Link could be an option..

The Honest Kitchen has a dog food that is gluten free too; Open Original Shared Link. very spendy though I think. You add water to the food and it gives 4 times as much of it sorta.. Still..

(I am listing the ones I find here if anyone is interested.)

Found some kind of dog food list Open Original Shared Linkthat seems to be helpful.. But from looking at the Canidae food on it..well, maybe it is not trustworthy.

[tarnalberry]

not sure what you qualify as an arm and a leg, so I'll list the options that I've looked at for the puppy I'm getting:

Open Original Shared Link: Innova, Evo, California Naturals (one of them is grain free)

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (some of the non-allergy formulas have some grains, the others don't)

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (most of them are grain free)

they're not exactly cheap, but from the research I've been doing on dog nutrition, they're a better set of ingredients than the cheaper ones packed with carb based fillers anyway.

[Yenni]

not sure what you qualify as an arm and a leg, so I'll list the options that I've looked at for the puppy I'm getting:

Open Original Shared Link: Innova, Evo, California Naturals (one of them is grain free)

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (some of the non-allergy formulas have some grains, the others don't)

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (most of them are grain free)

they're not exactly cheap, but from the research I've been doing on dog nutrition, they're a better set of ingredients than the cheaper ones packed with carb based fillers anyway.

I completely agree with you that the cheap dog foods out there are bad. I don't mind paying some for good dog food, and we have always gotten quality stuff, but we now have two dogs so it can't be too spendy. Alaska seems to have less brands too, so shipping on top of things.. I was looking at the Thrive one that I listed and four 10 lb's bags with shipping would cost $360 (would give 172 lbs of dog food-you add water). It feels very steep.

Thanks for the list!

We used to feed out first dog Wellness before I got diagnosed and she did well on that. I might look in to the "Core" they have.

We tried "Barking At The Moon" for a while and it was too high on protein for our dog. Some high protein foods can cause diarrhea.

Anyways, I am gonna print this list out and go to the pet store tomorrow and see if I am lucky enough to find any of these. I am very grateful for your reply!!

[spunky]

I have been very disappointed in finding gluten-free dog food that is affordable, easy to find locally, and that the dogs will eat... we were buying this expensive stuff (can't remember which brand now) for 50 bucks a pop... only about 25 lbs. per bag... and they wouldn't eat the stuff unless they just gave up on having anything else... I mean it would sit in their bowls for two days before they'd touch the stuff!

I finally gave up... Now, we buy a big package of Kirkland frozen hamburgers from Costco... I make both dogs a burger and then give them whatever leftover vegetables, rice, or whatever we have from our supper, and I keep a bag of Kirkland dogfood around to supplement with, but I have to be really careful handling that because it's very crummy in texture and contains barley. Some days they don't get the dogfood at all, other days they seem hungry after their burger and veggies, so I put some of that stuff in their bowls. Then I have to be paranoid about getting puppy kisses for a few hours, paranoid about washing my hands, etc., but for now, I can't find another practical way to handle it.

After talking with DogtorJ, the vet from Alabama, I would rather keep our dogs off gluten entirely, as he believes it's harmful for most dogs in one way or another... but just doing what I can for now.

[tarnalberry]

I completely agree with you that the cheap dog foods out there are bad. I don't mind paying some for good dog food, and we have always gotten quality stuff, but we now have two dogs so it can't be too spendy. Alaska seems to have less brands too, so shipping on top of things.. I was looking at the Thrive one that I listed and four 10 lb's bags with shipping would cost $360 (would give 172 lbs of dog food-you add water). It feels very steep.

Thanks for the list!

We used to feed out first dog Wellness before I got diagnosed and she did well on that. I might look in to the "Core" they have.

We tried "Barking At The Moon" for a while and it was too high on protein for our dog. Some high protein foods can cause diarrhea.

Anyways, I am gonna print this list out and go to the pet store tomorrow and see if I am lucky enough to find any of these. I am very grateful for your reply!!

You could look into feeding your dog whole foods like we eat - there are dog nutrition books out there that will help you learn the basics. (I'll be trying a raw food diet with my dog, but have some Addiction and will pick up some Honest Kitchen for backpacking trips/emergency, and may rotate through a little bit of the grain-free kibble depending on how things go.) For a 50lb dog, you need to feed about 1lb of food a day if raw (~2% of body weight), like the Honest Kitchen full meals. That means around 2.2 times that $360 for 172lb of food, or about $2.25 a day for food for your dog. (I put in a little but of rounding up, as that's all estimates, and varies by the dog and activity level.)

[Yenni]

Spunky: Yeah, it sure can be tricky. I have been tempted to go the hamburger and rice way too, but I am too lazy to make the patty every day. And then I heard that they might need a more varied food sort of speak, but you mix it up a bit it sounds like so that is probably fine.

I am definitely NOT going to feed my dogs any gluten (I am pretty sure this is what has given me heartburn this summer-seems like it started when we got the last bag or two.., so I really hope they have something else in the local dog store here. They have a local "chain" up here that is pretty good one (PetZooo/Animal Warehouse) the selection in compared to for example Petco, so I am hoping..

Tarnalberry: Sounds a little tempting to try one of the books though... Do you have a favorite one?

[dandelionmom]

We're really happy with California Natural. My dog has a sensitive stomach and this food has really helped her a lot. Plus they have the small bites which is just perfect for our little terrier and chi-mix! And we spend less money since we switched to this food (we used to feed Iams).

[tarnalberry]

I can't yet recommend a single book. The breeder I'm working with recommended one book, but it's pretty stringent - more restrictive than I'm planning on being after doing more online research. It's a good launch point for thinking about how dogs eat in the wild, and basing their diet off that. At the least, I'm going to try to avoid things cooked at 400F in large quantities after significant rendering. If I come across a single source that I really like, I'll let you know.

[Yenni]

I am off food hunting here. Thank you all for your replies!!

(How I love this forum.)

[jkmunchkin]

I feed my dog Wellness. I know it doesn't have wheat, but it does contain barley. Rather than look for gluten free dog food & treats I just wash my hands 8 billion times a day.

[Yenni]

I feed my dog Wellness. I know it doesn't have wheat, but it does contain barley. Rather than look for gluten free dog food & treats I just wash my hands 8 billion times a day.

Wellness has a grain free food now. I just picked it up today (I mentioned it above). Has potatoes instead. We'll see how my dogs stomachs like it.

[Yenni]

...well, so far so good and my heartburn seems a bit better.. Really weird how stuff like that can affect a celiac.

[gfjayhawk]

I was reading some dog forums lately, and many people were complaining that their dogs had bad reactions (gas, diarrhea) to the new Canidae. Sounds like the change in formula was a bad idea for several reasons!

Our dog eats Natural Balance Duck & Potato. (Another grain free option is their Venison & Sweet Potato formula.) It cleared up his chronic diarrhea nicely. Now, if he eats dog food or treats that aren't gluten-free, the diarrhea comes back.