Is grain-free dog food safe for my Shih Tzu? What are the concerns?

Grain free diets are not recommended. They are marketing hype to cater to owners that think grains are bad for dogs. They are not. These grain free diets have been linked to causing heart disease in dogs. Please do not feed these diets. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/health/grain-free-dog-food-heart-disease.html ) If you need a nutritional consult you should speak to your vet. That is what they are there for. There is no "best " diet. Diets are subjective. Each vet has their favorites. It doesn't mean one is better than another.

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!

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!

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.

Great question! In my opinion, grain free diets are a current fad. There is actually no scientific evidence that grain free diets are beneficial to dogs at all. Grains are fine for dogs, they provide a source of fiber which helps fill them up and keeps them satisfied. It sounds like Koda is letting you know he likes grains if he's picking the Royal Canin over Blue. Also in my opinion, Blue is a terrible food and you will find many, many veterinarians agree with that opinion. It is not a well regarded food in the veterinary community. Many vets have seen terrible cases of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in dogs in Blue, as well as a lot of gas. In addition, they have been caught a number of times lying about what goes into their product, false advertising, and no quality control over how their food is made (they don't own their own factories, they send the recipe out to be made). Royal Canin is an excellent brand of food, and the best part of it is that they have veterinary nutritionists on staff. Blue, as far as I'm aware, does not. I would think a veterinary nutritionist would be best to know what a dog does and doesn't need in a diet. If Koda likes the Royal Canin, I recommend feeding that to him. Just be sure to switch his food over slowly so that he doesn't get GI upset from a quick change. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I definitely understand your concern. I do think it would be best to switch them to a regular diet. There are many types out there that are affordable and good. I like the Purina Pro Plan shredded blends in that category because they are palatable, affordable and of very good quality. Good luck and have a great day!

It's going to be hard to notice symptoms before it's too late - but signs that would be concerning are panting at odd times, decreased exercise capacity, rapid breathing while resting, and coughing. There are prescription diets that are hydrolyzed - which means the food is mechanically or chemically broken up in to such small pieces that the immune system no longer recognizes it as chicken or pork (etc). I would recommending asking your vet if one of those diets would be appropriate. If you can't find another diet that works for Padfoot, it's important to know that the risk of heart disease is low, even though it's higher for grain-free or boutique diets than others, so you have to weigh controlling allergies that cause immediate harm with the possibility of heart disease.