Pet Nutritionist Explains Grain Free vs Grain Inclusive Pet Foods | Which is Better?
Pet Nutritionist Explains Grain Free vs Grain Inclusive Pet Foods | Which is Better?
Which is better: Grain or Grain Free pet food? We take a look at the history of dog food, why grain free foods were made, how dog allergies influenced diet trends, recent DCM claims, and which food is better.
I am a certified dog trainer and pet nutritionist and focus on holistic wellness and force-free, positive reinforcement based training methods. I have been training dogs and horses for the last 7 years or so, and training/consulting full time for the last 2 (going on 3) years. I am very passionate about animal health and wellness and my goal for all of my clients is to have their dogs as healthy and happy as possible.
If you have any nutrition questions or wish to get a customized nutritional consult form me, you can get in contact with me at:
www.topdogbehavior.com
topdogbehavior@gmail.com
*The topics discussed into this video are my opinions, formed by my own personal research and professional experience. Differing opinions are always welcome on this channel, as long as discussions are civil and science-based research is available to support factual claims*
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FAQs
Where are you from?
Oregon
How many tattoos do you have?
11
How many piercings do you have?
11
What kind of pets do you have?
I have dogs, birds (cockatiels), turtles, frogs, a scorpion, a leopard gecko, and a variety of fish.
What kind of dogs do you have and what are their names?
Tiki (15), Lhasa Apso / Poodle mix
Luna (2), Silver Lab (Lab / Weimaraner mix)
Misty (1.5), Husky / Shepherd mix
dog training train teach puppy dog nutrition pet nutritionist food
#petnutritionistreviews #nutrisource #purevita
I fed my dog, a schnauzer terrier mix , female (in other words not hereditary possible for dcm) taste of the wild grain free pacific mix for 2 + years and she suffers severe dcm, so I don’t really care that there are conflicting studies, I’ve experienced it first hand. My younger poodle mix also developed a heart murmur (they had the same diet). My boyfriend at the time warned me about the first study, the store workers assured me it was nothing. I wish I would have listened to him sooner. I only found out after she hurt her paw and I had to take her in. My dog is still alive and on a homemade diet, but there is no cure for dcm. It only gets worse. If I didn’t have pet insurance I would have had to pay thousands out of pocket! Beware folks! It’s not funny watching your dog collapse from doing the things she used to love doing because her heart can’t function properly anymore! If you are gonna go grain free, make vet check ups a priority for monitoring the size and function of the heart! I would never feed that to my dog again.
Thank you for your informative videos, I follow you for a while and you always said to add more meat to lower the carbohydrate ratio in the kibble, I always add a different protein and some vegetables to my dog , my question is because we need to lower the amount of kibble and add meat on top do I need to add vitamin to make it as a complete meal? Or it’s ok because there are vitamins and minerals in the dry food. Please help me out how to make a good and healthy meal for my dog. Thank you again for all your hard work. You are amazing. 👍
My Dobbie passed away earlier this year from cardiomyopathy, he was 11. My vet told me it was due to his grain free diet. Taste of the wild, high prairie.
My vet told me to stay away from grain free they said they’ve been seeing dogs come in sick because of it
Raw meat!
Hello! I also have a Blue weim 😍 I’m currently feeding him the honest kitchen grain free beef, any thoughts on this company?
Sooooooo. Which one should i feed them?
Thank you for your video! I’m about to pick up my kitten she’s about 3 months and is a ragdoll. May I ask your helps and advice that which dry or wet food I should feed her? I actually researched and watched a lot and a lot of posts but just got much more confused… Really hard to find the one that includes all the nutrients. Would really really appreciated your helps!
can you deep dive Open Farm please!!!
Hello, I am getting a 2 year old Chihuahua, and I’m unsure as to what to feed her. I would prefer to feed her something with grains, and I would really appreciate if you could give me some recommendations. I was going to buy a nutrisource bag, but because I heard Chihuahuas are prone to yeast infections, I decided not to, since in your nutrisource video, you said oatmeal could exacerbate or feed into that issue. I’d really love if you could recommend me some quality food for my Chihuahua, I would be immensely grateful. Thank you for your informative videos 🙂
What about caninex chicken dog food?
heb heritage puppy food any good
Thanks for the info! I have the same canvas prints of the tree behind you!! Got mine at Goodwill last year. You have good style! Again, thanks for the video.
Vets are not nutritionists they are brain dead and all they care about is making money from the food they sell
You are giving people false information
Peas, beans, pea starch, legumes, potatoes and sweet potatoes have replaced the grains as the carbohydrate in most dog foods. These block the function of taurine. Taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy
Hi I am interested in Victor dog food for my German Shepherd. I want to give him a long healthy life and want the best for them. Can you advise please on weather to use grain free or not. Thanks
I just started feeding my Husky-Shepherd honest kitchen grain free dog food. She does have some allergies some I am hoping this will help her. Your thoughts on this product?
Why is Acana linked to cardiomyopathy in dogs? 🙄
And why do these grain free brands have no studies to back up their recipes? By contrast to Royal Canin that constantly does trials for implementing its food?
what do you feed your dog?
Would love a comparison between Royal Canin Medium Adult and Orijen.
I put my dog on grain-free and while she was on it she was waking up barking and growling like somebody did something to her that hurt her. She was even growling at us. At first I didn’t understand but I thought what’s different I put her on grain-free I took her off she got better. I feed my dog Purina only now. I give her canned as well as dry. She is 13 years old and my vet says she’s in great shape for her age. She is a white Swiss Shepherd and weighs around 50 lbs.
I’m just wondering about the claims of so many that kibble is so over processed that it is not only devoid of nutrients, but may actually be toxic to your pets.
All plants are toxic to carnivores. Including humans
Hi! Thanks for all the information provided in this video! And thank you for stating that you’re open to reply our comments regarding food brans. My dog is old english sheepdog and I am feeding him Pro Plan for Sensitive skin, it says it is made with salmon. Should I change it? One of the ingredients is corn 🙁
I love your videos about all the dog food brands and reviews!🙌
What I don’t understand is why sooooo many people think that if someone isn’t a certified “veterinarian or vet tech” that the person talking about pet nutrition knows nothing when vets were never taught proper pet nutrition. They were taught to be a vet. Any person that is knowledgeable of pet food and even better to be certified nutritionist or trainer or behaviorist knows more about pet health then some vet since the all those things they are certified in actually go along with what their certification is and what they teach others. So I believe that peas in dog food are fine but if there is not enough meat and more peas obviously that is not enough meat protein, and then some grains in the food is fine but over 1-2 grains in the food, like the peas and pea splitting, isn’t good either and lowers the protein from the meat. It’s about balance. Whatever is working for someone dog is good just no wheat, soy, or corn since it’s low quality and crap no matter what brand it’s in. I’m hoping more people learn to have an open mind about pet nutrition coming from more then just a standard vet that doesn’t no much.
What do you think about solid gold dog food. Toy poodle I was giving to my puppy and is free grain but the Vet told me to give a grain food so I started giving blue buffalo toy poodle to my dog and he seems not liking it I saw the Solid gold dog food with whole grain but in the Ingredient of this food has spray dried animal blood cells that’s what I didn’t like it so I’m confused 😢
My dog was on grain free all his life and ended up with heart failure. Died. My new puppy has heart murmur and first thing my new vet asked does he eat grain free? I said yes. So I switched him over to grain diet.
If you can’t afford a raw diet for your dog is good quality wet food ok? Love your channel
How about Gentle Giant Dog Food?
Aren’t dogs omnivores? Why do they need such less carbs?
Hi! What’s your thought on Wholesomes kibble? , I’ve never heard of somebody explaining if it’s actually a good brand or not
I have a Puddle that was born with a small liver what kind of food do you recommend and what ingredients can I use to make homemade food for her ? Thank you
I watch a lot of YouTube videos about feeding dogs, and the advice out here runs the gamut, from animal protein only, all the way to a vegan based diet. I have been feeding grain-free, using Dr. Harvey’s base mixes Paradigm, Raw Vibrance, and Veg-to-Bowl. I have considered adding their grain inclusive Canine Health to my feeding rotation.
DCM and grain-free feeding has people on both sides, but I agree with you after watching a separate video from a veterinarian that discussed the flaws in the study, the FDA’s realization that they put the cart before the horse initially without sufficient scientific proof, and lab results from vegan fed dogs being as good, if not better than meat fed dogs.
I will NOT convert my dog to a vegan diet, but I am going to take the same approach with her diet as my Doctors recommend for me, and that is “Everything in moderation.”
I saw your video on your tiered dog food review. I have three rescues that I have to feed so you can imagine it gets very expensive with more pricey foods. I feed diamond naturals lamb and rice if they are out of that formula I try and do the beef. I buy a 40 pound bag and it last me around three weeks for three dogs it’s about $43 a bag. So as you can tell it’s cost for me but I’m also obsessed with feeding my dogs quality food. I do a lot of add-ons like canned food, toppers raw goat milk or raw cow milk and recently, I found a gentleman at our local market that sells Oregon meat for dogs in a roll form. I guess all this said, I was wondering if there was a better food you would recommend around the same price point as my diamond naturals?
Awesome thank you for sharing !
hey! I have 3 dogs and they always stop eating their food. they were in purina1 chicken and rice. i’m switching over to whole hearted from petco lamb & lenin grain free. thoughts on it. one dogs seems to have an allergy his whole life so i figured try grain free
How do you feel about health extentions? I was giving my pack Nutri Source which they ate like crazy but the pooing was way too much. Soft and hard. I switched to health extention and the like it and not as much potty breaks. Price wise H.E. stacks up to the very good foods. What do you think about it. I value your recommendations
Taste Of The Wild has an ancient grains line. Is that good, bad, different than other grain included brands?
My dog stool is better with grain free.
My small dog was on a grain-free diet (Acana Lamb and Apple Limited Ingredient) for 6 years and is very healthy. She recently developed a small murmur and the vet was quick to say we should try a diet that includes grain. We switched her to Go! Solutions Salmon and Grains. It’s been 3-4 months now and she’s been chewing at her paws a lot and don’t know if the salmon or grains but i’m thinking the grains. The vet did say her murmur decreased and is almost non-existent. But what am I supposed to do with that information if she’s allergic to the grain? The food contains Oatmeal as the grain source. Should I change her food yet again to see if another grain works? Allergies are such a pain especially combined with this belief of heart disease linked to legumes.
I chose the First Mate grain free for my baby girls (3 Schnauzers) I found someone that carries it here in East Texas. Now I will check to see if it’s fresh as per dates as well.
Regardless of where the science lands on DCM and legumes and peas. Legumes are not as biologically viable for dogs and they allow these pet food companies to skew the lines between animal and plant proteins. Transparency is not mandatory when it comes to FEED quality foods so the best we can do as pet owners is eliminate the ability for these companies to skew lines and put profit over our pets. The best way to do that is to ensure these ingredients are simply eliminated from the equation
…your voice is insanely annoying😑
I always question the grain and kibble crap…. Ever since I was little I would watch my cats and dogs eat and I study and look at them bite the food and I noticed they don’t and they can not chew!!! They are incapable of chewing mashing up the food! So I always wondered how the heck do they actually eat this. Why are we feeding them food they can not chew up. And you see them in the wild the wild cousins they use the canines to tear up the meat and just swallow it down… And using the strong stomach acids to break it down later.
Hello. I really appreciate your videos. They are so helpful! What are your thoughts about Open Farm RawMix?
Can you do a video on open farm dog food please
What did you expect if you feed your animal only one type of kibble. Man never eats just one thing no matter how great it is, but does just fine on scraps without counting amino acids.
I’m not convinced that peas and potatoes are automatically better than grain. Plant seeds are similar. I love to eat peas myself. They are fuss free. But I also eat grain. We also use bread to hold meatballs together, and to stretch the meat. Dogs have adapted to eat what humans eat.
Grain free kibble from Primordial tastes great, except it is short on salt and basic spices for human palate. It has 70% animal origin materials, a mixture of two animals. They probably grind up whole fish with heads and bones and maybe abdomen.
I would like to see a video on a review of Badlands Ranch dog food.
Our vet told us grain free is not healthy
have you done a video on openfarm rawmix?
Super helpful videos! Do you have any old videos on Nutrience Sub-Zero? Thinking about using it for a new puppy and would love to hear what you think about the food.