Back in in the old days there was an ad in all the hunting dog magazines offering to sell you for a recipe for making your own dog food for something like 10¢ a day if you had your corn. It was a joke to me. I always fed Purina. I got much of it free because of the coupons from NSTRA. Muffin has lost most of her teeth. I gave her moistened kibble with cornbread crumbles. She loved it. Remember the ad? Any picky eaters? What do you feed?

Not saying corn is bad but I feed no corn, soy or wheat dog food.

I've fed victor and Dr Tim's.

I think Dr. Tim's is the best dog food on the market for working dogs. It's primary protein source is chicken and fish. Carbohydrates come from a variety of other grains that have a better nutrition profile than corn.

The issue is availability and price.

I can get Victor and Purina pro plan locally.

Both are good foods even though Pro plan sport's main protein source is corn gluten. They have other formulas I believe that use rice instead of corn.

Since Victor is a bit cheaper and corn, soy and wheat free I feed it over Pro Plan.

Changed to Victor from Purina, had one that had gastrointestinal issues with the purina.

Diamond Naturals Lamb and rice. No corn or wheat.

I heard a great podcast the other day about grain in dog food, but I can't remember which one. I think an old Sporting Dog talk episode. Anyway, the guy made a great case that grain digestive processing is one of the ways a dog is not like a wolf, that back in their domestication evolution dog adapted to being omnivores as a competitive advantage over other lines of dogs that were domesticating, cause it meant more handouts from those humans were available.

It was interesting food for thought and made me feel less bad about feeding the Purina Pro Plan Sport that has grain in it, and is cheaper. Of course the dog food bill keeps me out of trouble by helping me resist the temptation to get more dogs.

Just switched to Exclusive Signature Performance 30/20 for my lab. It's a chicken and brown rice formula.

Grain is good in the right quantity and type.

Pro plan sport is a really good food. The only thing I don't like is that the main protein source is corn gluten.

There is some real evidence to suggest grain free diets can cause heart issues.

I personally would not feed a grain free diet.

Feeding dogs corn meal is history. For instance, my Dad owned a country store in sw Arkansas and before commercial dog food became popular, he sold local houndsmen and bird hunters corn meal and cracklins which they cooked to make dog food. Folks would buy a 50# sack of yellow corn meal, straight from the grist mill, and several big scoops of dog food grade pork cracklins and cook the mix in a wash pot over a coal bed. Dogs loved it and they seemed to be healthy but most people in those days had a milk cow and the dogs got fed raw milk because there was always extra milk. This was in the early to mid 1950's. I think it was 1957 when we started to handle commercially made dry dog food and of course the rest is history.
I have fed many different brands of dog food and for the last two years have settled on Extreme Dog Fuel Elite Blend. I don't think you can buy a better food for a working dog. Kieth Dodson of Magnolia, AR owns the company. Straight up guy who loves his own dogs and makes sure they eat healthy.

I have one dog that can eat anything with no problems. I have another that can't eat grain or chicken. Surprisingly a lot of dogs can't eat chicken. She gets really bad skin issues. I feed her no grains and no chicken and it took a month to clear her skin up. Before I figured out her reactions to chicken, she stunk. She smelled like she rolled in pig doodoo. I sincerely thought she had been going to my feeder across the river and rolling in piglet poop. I would bath her and the next day she would stink. Once I got her lined out, no more troubles.

This and D Naturals chicken. Dogs do great.

grew up on a farm, we had 160 acres of corn, all dogs and cats ate cornmeal mixed with warm water, most of them hunted rabbits coons and mice to supplement. funniest thing you ever saw a bunch of cats and dogs all eating out of the same oil drain pain with 5 lbs of corn mush. No fighting, everyone stayed healthy. The cats were mostly feral, you couldn't pet any but one. The dogs were as loyal as could be. Shoot we ate corn for dinner most nights ourselves!

Different for different dogs. All my dogs ate sweet corn. Some chewed it off the cob. Others ate it Cobb and all. I took a graduate course in physiology. The professor discussed a general metabolic pool? You you don't necessarily eat the same food groups and you are fine. He gave an example of cattle eating grass and producing mostly fat and proteins.