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Avoiding Refined Grains in Your Dog’s Food

November 25, 2010 by  
Filed under Health, Tips

3 Comments

This month, canine nutrition expert Tracie Hotchner has been talking carbs: the importance of feeding your dog fewer carbohydrates and more protein and understanding the types of carbs in your dog’s food. Today Tracie tackles another starchy subject: refined grains. Do you know what they are…and why you need to avoid them in your dog’s food? According to Tracie:

Refined grains are often used in the lower end of the pet food industry because they are cheaper – the healthy bran and germ have been removed and the remaining grain is mostly carbohydrate and lacks most other nutrients. There are many fragments of food ingredients in kibble which have no nutritional value and go right through your dog’s digestive tract. You want to choose kibble made with whole grains rather than refined grains like white rice because whole grains can provide vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, oils and even some protein.

thThis Canine Nutrition Tip is from Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and award-winning host of Dog Talk® on NPR station WLIU. Canine Nutrition Tips are sponsored by Proportions, the whole food custom nutrition program for your dog. Visit www.Proportions.com to get a custom 2-meal trial for your dog, or to learn more about canine nutrition from the full Canine Nutrition University classes written by Tracie.

Author photo courtesy www.traciehotchner.com; photo © Ling Li

About Paris Permenter and John Bigley

DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.

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  • http://smalldogtrainingetc.com/dog-health-problems-avocado-in-dog-foods-risky-toxic-for-dogs#more-529 Dog Health Problems

    Think about the fast food industry and the nutritional value or lack of and compare it to the pet food industry and the same lack of nutrition. Some pet food manufactures do go the extra mile to insure our pets are getting the balanced and safe foods they need and deserve. In addition to reading what is in the food, storage and freshness are often overlooked by a large portion of pet owners. It is our responsibility as good dog parents to know what our dogs need and provide fresh nutritional foods.

    TopDogTom
    SmallDogTrainingEtc.com

  • http://www.dogtipper.com Paris and John

    You are so right…we all just have to make it a habit to read labels on everything, whether we’re buying it for ourselves or our dogs! It only takes a moment but it’s so important to learn before we buy.–Paris

  • http://www.natureslogic.com Barbara at Nature’s Logic

    Yep…labels are important. Look for whole food ingredients, not chemicals. Protein is important for dogs and cats, which are naturally meat-eaters in the wild. Higher protein, lower carbs, and as Dr. Hotchner pointed out, the right kind of carbs in the form of healthy grains are all key for good dog nutrition.

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