Can you recommend a grain-free legume-free dog food please?

[stampsurprise]

I am currently feeding my terrier on Arden Grange as he reacts badly to wheat. I think he could be doing better though and Arden Grange has a lot of maize in it.

The vet told us he is a few pounds overweight. He will be 6 this year and gets walked about 2 to 2.5 miles a day and we play games too. We wfh and are always together.

I have been reading how a lot of grain-free foods are full of legumes - peas,lentils, chickpeas... apparently they can cause cardiac issues

I read on another forum that someone’s vet recommended sticking to the big manufacturers as the small boutique companies don’t use nutritional bets or feeding trials.

I would be okay with only rice and some potato though. I am struggling to find this however.

On a tight budget but would cut back on something else to buy DDog whatever he needs.

Tbh I am overwhelmed with it all and didn’t realise how many brands were on the market!

Nutritional VETS

I also feed him Cesar on those little foil trays

Feed raw. It’s the healthiest and cheapest option.

@Pasithea

Feed raw. It’s the healthiest and cheapest option.

Thank you.

Ca it be fresh but cooked meat or must it be raw?

I will need to research this as I am unconfident I could create the right diet for him. Mind you, I don’t think feeding him maize has been doing him any favours. He can be quite flatulent at times.

We are trying Harrington's Just 6 salmon at the moment. Although ddog is undergoing allergy testing so it might change. It does include peas and isn't specific about whether that includes the pods though.

Ddog loved it straight away and always finishes it. I think it's very reasonably priced. About £30 for 7.5kg

Fresco dry raw has very limited ingredients and I don't think they include legumes (you would have to double check).

It's not raw, raw - it's dried into little kibble-like nuggets.

If you're open to wet food then I think Millies and Akela are legume free - but you would have to double check. Bother are excellent foods; Millies is cheaper than Akela.

I'm on a bit of a dog food research sprint at the mo, so if I come across any more I'll drop them on here.

Forthglade 'X with pumpkin & broccoli' range is a wet food without any legumes....

Also Forthglades National Trust range.

This website is an excellent directory, and will allow you to filter and exclude both grain and legumes www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

You can get complete raw diets, which are essentially just a case of defrosting each portion and popping it in the bowl - they're nutritionally complete.

@WisestIsShe

We are trying Harrington's Just 6 salmon at the moment. Although ddog is undergoing allergy testing so it might change. It does include peas and isn't specific about whether that includes the pods though.

Ddog loved it straight away and always finishes it. I think it's very reasonably priced. About £30 for 7.5kg

Thank you for that - I’ll check it out

@SirSniffsAlot

Fresco dry raw has very limited ingredients and I don't think they include legumes (you would have to double check).

It's not raw, raw - it's dried into little kibble-like nuggets.

If you're open to wet food then I think Millies and Akela are legume free - but you would have to double check. Bother are excellent foods; Millies is cheaper than Akela.

I'm on a bit of a dog food research sprint at the mo, so if I come across any more I'll drop them on here.

Thank you so much - the choice put there is overwhelmIng!

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages

This website is an excellent directory, and will allow you to filter and exclude both grain and legumes www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

You can get complete raw diets, which are essentially just a case of defrosting each portion and popping it in the bowl - they're nutritionally complete.

Thank you I’ll certainly check that out

Pets at Home's own brand Step Up to Naturals Grain Free Chicken and Sweet Potato has 30% chicken and no maize. My two are on it and doing well, however my friend's dog hated it and 30% meat isn't particularly high so it won't suit everyone. But you mentioned being on a budget and it's £28 for 14kg so very reasonably priced.

We also use Millie's Wolfheart Countryside mix dry food as training treats and think that is really nice stuff - but it's more expensive.

Pets at Home also do another of their own called Fishmonger's Finest which is also grain free and we used the salmon and potato. Ddog loved it and did very well on it but went off it which is not like him so as he's old I switched him off it. But it seemed a good food. I second using the allaboutdogfood website mentioned above. Good luck!

DDog is raw fed and has Poppy’s Picnic complete. Very easy to use and he does really well on it. I tried Fresco dried raw but it made him incredibly thirsty all the time resulting in a few accidents indoors.

Definitely look at Allboutdogfood

When not feeding raw, we use Orijin.... full of great stuff and a really helpful helpline. they also have one that is Slim and trim or something like that. Anyway no padding and you know your dog is getting the best - and it is delicious. I confess I tried it - the fish one especially good and I went back for seconds/thirds! Oh and the dog likes it too....

We're using a Hills no grain - not sure if it is legume free.
The dogs love it and are thriving

As the above poster said please look at allaboutdogfood.com as the nutritional
Value of some big brands are awful. We raw feed Natural Instinct but we also use Wolfworthy when we are away as it has similar nutrition to raw. Both companies are very helpful on the phone

“ I have been reading how a lot of grain-free foods are full of legumes - peas,lentils, chickpeas... apparently they can cause cardiac issues “

What?! I’ve never heard of this.... place marking. DDog has kidney disease and IBS so options are limited as it is. I don’t want to give him any other health issues if I can help it.

And just because vets recommend a certain brand of food food- unless it's for a medical reason- please research it. Our vet recommended Hills but when you look at the nutrition in it on allaboutdogfood it is shockingly poor

Wainwright's from Pets at Home - some of those are just meat and veg. I also buy Forthglade which seems to have a nicer texture.

Raw all the way! 👍🏻

@madamegazelle1

And just because vets recommend a certain brand of food food- unless it's for a medical reason- please research it. Our vet recommended Hills but when you look at the nutrition in it on allaboutdogfood it is shockingly poor

All about dog food is a website run by a bloke who did a zoology degree 20 years ago. He has no nutritional or veterinary qualifications.

I find it bizarre that people trust a bloke on the internet over actual qualified professionals.

The large brands employ veterinary nutritionists and are nutritionally balanced - dogs are not complete carnivores and naturally consume fairly low protein diets - around 30%

Many people confuse ingredients (carrots/salmon/rice/beef/maize) with nutrition (carbs/fat/protein/vitamins). They aren't the same thing. A couple of people on this thread have said the nutritional content is poor - it isn't, hills etc are nutritionally complete and carefully formulated. They just don't like the ingredients used. That isn't the same thing.

The large pet food brands spend a lot of money on research to ensure their food are nutritionally balanced at the micronutrient level - it's why they can produce specific clinically proven prescription diets for animals with significant disease. Other brands can't do that.

Smaller brands tend to just chuck a bunch of wholesome sounding ingredients together and market them. And it works. It's exactly why grain free diets are popular and we see dogs with heart disease stemming from that. Those diets still 'score' well on all aboutdogfood.com

But then why trust professionals eh?

Example: 83% rating from all about dog food

Grain freed, lots of legume fillers
Linked to cardiac disease
Look at the list of nutritional additives needed to make this a complete diet