Grain-Free Diet – Really Good or Bad for Your Dog!

In recent few years, the spotlight has been shifted to grain free pet foods from normal diets. More and more research papers and claims about the benefits of this diet are coming forth. This has boosted the popularity of grain-free diets. However, there still remains the question how practically these diets are helpful and beneficial for your pet.

Benefits of Grain Free Dog Food

With the changing needs of dogs, vets recommend that dog’s diet should contain a small portion of carbohydrates and grains. The dog food industry has evolved dramatically recently, designing more grain-free diets for dogs. These diets mostly comprise of wet or dry food that contains more amount of protein and animal fats and lesser carbohydrates than their grain-based counterparts. It is evaluated grain-free diet is easy to digest and good for dog’s stomach.

Other benefits of grain-free diet include:

·         Provides more energy

·         Improves skin texture and maintains healthier skin

·         Helps keep dogs fuller for longer time resulting in eating less

·         Helpful in reducing canine allergies

·         Shinier coat

·         Fewer and smaller stools

·         Less shedding

·         Better breath

·         Reduced flatulence

Most pet parents are hanging in between thinking whether they should go grain free or not. If you are one of them, then you need to follow the suite of pet owners who have opted for grain-free diet for their pooches based on the following guidelines.

Vet’s Opinion

Before changing to grain-free diet, have a second opinion from your vet. Ask whether your dog would be adjustable or react positive to such diet according to his health condition. Most dogs don’t easily accept grain-free diet. Also check for the allergies, if any, your dog is suffering from. Based on that you can change to grain-free diet.

Check Ingredients

Furthermore, before buying a grain-free product check out the ingredients on the label of the dog’s food. Look for the branded and quality dog food. Always prefer to buy brand products from authentic online petstores as they only sell branded and quality food.

If the food pack label ingredients as wheat, soy or corn as key ingredients then look for diets that have protein as base such as chicken, meat as one of the main ingredients.

Follow the Protocol

When considering of switching to grain-free diet, do not abruptly start giving your furry pal this food. For proper acceptance and digestion, you need to slowly introduce grain-free and higher protein dog food by mixing it in a little at a time. Gradually increase the amounts over the course of a few weeks, this will give your dog’s digestive system time to accept and adjust the new food cuisine. During this switching period, you need to keenly watch your Fido’s stool to ensure that they are not suffering either from diarrhea or constipation.

In a nutshell, it all depends on your dog. So, it’s just worth trying to find whether there is any improvement or difference in their health and quality of their life.