Can anyone please define 'grain' for me in relation to dog food?

[dorito]

I make quite a bit of my dog's food, often use oats and/or whole grain rice or barley - but think these all count as 'grains'?

He sometimes itches and I am wondering if he should go grain-free for a while to see if that improves things for him.

Would someone be able to give me a quick checklist of what is/isn't grain and what can be substituted?

many thanks!

 

[galaxy]

Grain is rice wheat barley oats etc etc etc

Google grain free foods and looks what their ingredients are. It's will generally be mainly meat, some veg and herbs

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I think flaked maize which is flattened and steamed maize can be heating, ie makes them itchy.
We used to give farm dogs porridge leftovers, that's oats and milk but I don't really think about feeding cereals to carnivores, though I see there are diet dry foods based on brown rice.

 

[dorito]

Thanks for the replies...I know it sounded like a dumb question, but some people seem to regard (for instance) wild rice as a grain, while others don't.

Another opinion says that organic whole grains are ok, while non-organic may not be ok.

 

[galaxy]

Rice is a grain. No matter what type it is. Some are more digestible than others. Whether you should feed it to a dog in a matter of opinion. But grain free foods do not contain any form of rice

 

[druid]

High end grain free foods contain only meat and some veg (usually 20-30%). Mid range grain free foods usually contain potato or sweet potato (still much better than even premium grain foods).

Oats, barley, maize, rice are all grains. Rice, especially brown rice, tend to be more easily digestible and are found in "hypoallergenic" feeds.

 

[nianya]

Rice is ok to feed to dogs, they aren't purely carnivores the way cats are. It's the only grain that is used in hypoallergenic foods and is often recommended for dogs that have digestive or pancreatic issues. Wheat, barley, and corn are likely to provoke an allergic reaction in a sensitive dog and should be avoided.

Organic vs non-organic makes absolutely no difference if you're worried about digestibility or sensitivity.

All of these count as "grain" though.

 

[Bellasophia]

http://www.farmina.com/?q=en/product-dog/view-line Ive just put both my dogs ,one is a pup,on this grain free food...the green pack is grain free. the second ,red pack contai ns a diet similari to your dogs,with ancestral grains.Eg oats ,Barley etc...Have a look at the ingredients .i think you can get a good idea of the difference in the two foods..