Is grain-free dog food safe? Worried about heart issues. Affordable food?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As you have probably noticed there are plenty of diets in the market. There are a few that stand out in my opinion in terms of quality and palatability. I really like the Science Diet, Royal Canin and Purina Pro Plan products. A diet that I have found to be of very good quality, affordable and dogs love is the Purina Pro Plan shredded blends. You can find that at your local pet store or online. Otherwise any of the diets of the previously mentioned brands would also be good choices for Harley. Good luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Copper. I do not recommend feeding a grain free diet. You are correct that some of these diets have been linked to heart disease. Furthermore, most of these diets are higher in carbohydrates and calories. This can lead to unnecessary weight gain. I recommend a well balanced puppy food from a reputable company. Depending on his projected adult size, you may consider a large breed formula. I personally recommend Purina Purina ProPlan or Royal Canin as they put an extensive amount of research into their diets. They have veterinarians on staff and perform feeding trials on dogs as opposed to laboratory analysis. These are benefits small boutique pet food company just cannot provide. I hope this information helps!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If the study you are talking about is referring to DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) in large breed dogs, I believe the correlation they are making is between grain-free diets and the development of DCM. Grain-free diets are very trendy right now, and there is NO benefit to feeding your dog a grain-free diet. Many small pet food companies are not well regulated for quality control, and oftentimes the nutritional information they provide on the bag is nowhere near what is actually in the food. Legumes and potatoes can be substitutes for grains, but they lack many of the essential nutrients that grains provide to dogs. This lack of specific nutrients can make dogs, especially large breeds, more prone to developing heart disease. I recommend feeding your dog a food formulated for adult large breed maintenance. Excellent brands are those like Hills, Royal Canin, Purina, and Blue Buffalo. These larger pet food companies are very well-regulated and nutritionally balanced for dogs. I hope this is helpful!

In general, it is not recommended to feed dogs a grain free diet unless they are known to have a grain allergy (which is very uncommon). There are many misconceptions about pet nutrition circulating. While the link is not yet understood and has multiple factors, something about the grain free diets may be allowing heart disease to develop in certain dogs. I recommend to feed a high quality brand with a good reputation and minimal problems with food recalls. The brand I like the most is Royal Canin. They conduct feeding trials to measure the digestibility of their diets. Most pets who eat this brand have excellent coat and stool quality. They also tend to produce minimal stool which is a sign the diet does not contain fillers and is highly digestible. I also recommend Nutro and Purina Pro Plan. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is not known at this time if grain free diets are actually better than diets with grain. I usually recommend feeding a high quality diet. Purina is an excellent diet but if you do not have access to this diet, there are others that you could consider that are also excellent such as Hill's Science Diet, Royal canin and Iams foods. Grain does not necessarily make dogs gain weight so I would be more focused on the quality and balance of the diet per se. Good luck and have a great day!

Grains are very rarely the cause of any skin issues so switching Kyya to a normal, grain containing diet is recommended. Keep in mind that the link is not understood but as long as the pet is not showing signs of heart disease, changing the diet will help avoid any heart pathology. The brand I like best is Royal Canin. You would pick the large breed formula. I also like Purina ProPlan. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While this would be a good short term diet, this lacks some key nutrients, vitamins and minerals. For that reason, a more complete commercial diet such as any of the Purina Pro Plan or Science Diet foods would be more appropriate. Good luck!