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I am actually about to switch my puppy to another grain free dry food, he is on Earthborn right now and gets the WORST smelling gas I have ever smelled in my life.

Once I got my puppy I took him off "puppy" food and did grain free and sardines. I just fed him more throughout the day in small amounts, we have this natural dog food place in our neighborhood that was very adamant about not doing puppy food and getting them on grain-free as soon as possible.

We're in the process of changing ours over to a grain free diet.  I spent a lot of time thinking about what we were feeding our dogs and why and realized after doing quite a bit of research that canines simply do not need the carbs in commercial dog food.  They're only in there because the companies can make the food cheaper and make a larger profit.  Dogs were created to eat meat and thus higher levels of protein.  Puppies, I understand need a little less protein in their early stages of growth.  However, as a general rule dogs need a lot more protein than commercial foods provide and don't need a lot of what is actually in most of them.  At least the lower quality foods.  A good book to read, which is available online at Amazon.com is Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs: The Definitive Guide to Homemade Meals (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556439032/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00)  I know a lot of people are incredibly opposed to feeding raw, and some people are even opposed to feeding their dogs home made food, but whether you fit into either of those categories or not, the book has a ton of good info about how canines digest their food, how much protein they need, whether older dogs need more protein, info about calcium intake, how to meet the individual needs of dogs with cancer, dogs with heart problems, dogs with kidney problems etc.  It's extremely informative and easy to read and only costs $11.00 at Amazon.com  At this point I'm not ready to make my dog's food, but I do add shredded chicken breast to our older west highland terriers grain free chicken and rice dog food for the added protein and potassium and other benefits of chicken.   We're going to be adding a new Corgi puppy to the family soon so he'll be eating grain free and at this point I'm reading up on why puppies don't need as much protein as adult dogs.  Of course, since most commercial kibble isn't very high in protein it wouldn't be a problem, but the grain free chicken and rice we're transitioning our other dogs to is 34% protein so I'm not sure if that will be OK or not.    If anyone has any advice about feeding a 10 week old Corgi puppy I'd appreciate hearing it.

I feed Taste of the Wild, wanted to get my dogs on a grain free food.  They love it, and it isn't horribly expensive.

does anyone have any thoughts on the wellness brand? My dog is on blue buffalo now and doesn't seem to be doing to well with it, a lot of burping/gagging and stomach grumbling sounds. So I'm thinking of switching him to wellness

D'Arby did not do well on Blue Buffalo either. I found the best protein source for him is chicken and turkey. So I switched him to California Natural Chicken and Rice and his tummy is great and his coat is shiny and very soft. Whatever you do, do not switch to Nutro, see my prior post. The list of complaints all lines of Nutro grows weekly.  I know, I know, rice in California Natural is a grain. But D'Arby has never done well with too high of a protein content and if you have a dog with a sensitive stomach, what does the vet have you put him/her on? Chicken and Rice, usually.

P.S. D'Arbs never liked Wellness and there were a couple of recent recalls on that brand, snacks I think, but still....

My pet store doesn't carry California Natural brand. My pup was on food that got recalled so that's why he got switched to the blue buffalo, last time he was to the vet she said he looked great and keep feeding him what i was feeding which was the recall food. Any other brand suggestions? 

What is your Corg's preferred protein choice? Do you want grain-free?

I don't think I want to go grain-free, and in the past the protein in what i fed has been chicken but i have read that can be somewhat hard to digest 

My local pet store gives me small sample bags, unlike the major pet store chains.

Wellness is good but D'Arby did not like it for whatever reason.

Ask your local pet store to give you samples. If it is dry, introduce only a few kibbles at a time to start to reduce digestion problems.

We actually had a taste time for D'Arby this way: 4  - 8 kibbles in four separate small bowls. He sniffed each one, then we went with the food he picked first time up like 4 times in a row. Canidae was  a close second if that helps.

Also, if dry, your choice will depend on what size kibble your dog prefers. D'Arby likes smaller, but digests bigger kibble better because he eats that slower and as luck would have it, California Natural is bigger kibble.

I have learned, after owning 3 corgis, that no two are alike in nutritional needs for whatever reason. And for D'Arby, grain-free and TOO MUCH PROTEIN is not the way to go.

It's not my intention to tell people they shouldn't feed grains and carbohydrates but it is important to understand their role in digestion. Human digestive systems are different than canines so carbs and grains are useful for us in order to digest and eliminate the foods we eat.  With dogs it's different.  Dogs don't have flat grinding teeth, or a long digestive tract, and they don't have the enzyme amylase in their saliva.  As a result carbohydrates tend to stay in their digestive tract longer, which slows down digestion.  Their systems are not designed to convert carbohydrates into a form they can utilize, and as a result they end up with larger number 2's that contain excessive moisture and smell.  Carbs and grains are added to dry kibble because they're cheaper than protein and fat, and help form the kibble.  Even when a dog food manufacturer uses high quality ingredients they're still cheaper than meat.  If you add fresh cooked vegetables to your dog's food they do contain vitamins and minerals your dog can use, but you should pulverize them or they're not easily digested by your dog.  The bottom line is dogs can get all the amino acids, fat and minerals they need from animal protein sources which include meat, bones, organ meat, dairy, and eggs.    They certainly do not need all the crap like corn, wheat and soy that comes in supermarket dog foods, a lot of the pet store dog foods, and even some of the "supposed to be" better quality dog foods.

I've read studies that confirm what you just posted and that's why I switched to grain-free kibble with meat toppers for Tipper.  

I once watched a news program reporting that the wheat and corn we consume today is not the same wheat and corn we consumed ten years ago because it's been altered. That's another factor that made me decide to eliminate grains in Tipper's diet and to cut down on wheat and corn in my own diet as well! 

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