This is the reason why experienced dog owners decide to serve their pets grain-free dog food, here are a few tips:
Read the label.
You may be doing dog food shopping and choosing amongst those that are
available. Aside from taking into account the product's price, if you
are looking to find grain-free products, you need to make it a habit to
read the label.
In the label, you will be looking for ingredients
that pertain to grains. This will be easy to achieve as you will only be
looking for barley, corn bran, corn meal, oat bran, to name a few. You
may be familiar with grains and what they are called. So, if you read
them in your dog's food, you know will what to do.
Choose the brand.
If you have previously tried a brand that offered no side effects to
your dog, you can continue using that same brand. However, if you have
tried grain laden products and your dog developed an allergic reaction
to it, you can take note of, not just the brand, but also the
ingredients in that certain product.
The serious reactions that
you can watch out for include skin conditions like peeling or shedding
of the hair. There may be other cases when there are lesions which
develop. Again, if these sensitivities are seen in your pet, avoid
giving them the same brand with the same component.
Determine the main ingredient/s. While
you are searching for the presence of grains in the food label, you
also need to figure out what the main ingredients of the product are.
This
is important as you would also want your dog to get the best possible
nutrition from the right protein sources. Meats are most famous as good
sources of protein and your dog food will be better if they contain such
ingredient.
If grains are the first ingredients that you will
see, most probably, they are also the main components. Grains contain
proteins that are the hardest to process in the body. This is aside from
the fact that it can more likely make your pet develop sensitivities.
Consider proper nutrition.
Proteins would be the main ingredients but, it is also essential that
your dog's meal contain vitamins as well as other minerals. This will
make them grow healthier and keep them away from possible diseases.
Think about changing dog food brands. If
the brand that you have been using has grains in them and even if they
did not cause anything harmful to your dog, it may still be the right
time to change products.