The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Ok I know that this has more than likely been discussed before but we as owners like to feed our pups a good quality diet that is good for them. I was feeding Mason grain free due to his feet chewing and it helped. I was feeding our sheltie and our other cocker Jessie a high fiber diet dog food by Costco until cleaning up dog poop was taking longer and more often and larger piles than cleaning my house every day.

I have sense found a dog food made here in Ontario called Canine Plus Lifetime. Its Corn Free- Wheat Free and By Product Free but here's the kicker it contains Oatmeal. It also states it is Soy and Meat by products free as well.

The one we are now feeding all three is Chicken & Oatmeal.
Mason now eats all his food instead of walking away from his dish and Sadie and Jessie love it as well. My husband and I love it as well because now we are only cleaning up half of what we were cleaning up after the dogs.
My question is,, isn't Oatmeal a grain? Is it just wheat we have to watch out for? What about soy?
I know meat by products aren't good as its the left over crap we wouldn't eat and its processed into dog food.

I will continue to feed this new food to my three as they like it and no issues so far and it does come in different flavors as well like Fish & Oatmeal, Lamb & Oatmeal and they are all for All life stages so I can change the flavors up for them.

If they're doing well on it and it appears to be a good food, then go with it! Just because it is or isn't grain free doesn't make it good or bad. For example, Gromit is on a grain free, limited ingredient diet. But that's because I know what grains she's allergic to, and ironically they are not the common "corn and wheat" allergies. She's allergic to rice, oats, barley, but Rice is found in many "allergy" or "sensitive" foods and treats. So in her case, it's just worked out that the limited ingredient grain free food is best for her, and it has made a huge difference.

Darra Thanks for your reply. I will be keeping them on this food until I find they are not doing good on it or they start having issues with it. I was feeding them the Costco Grain Free but it was Salmon and that did not agree with their stomachs. Something about Fish and my pups does not agree and we the humans get gassed out more times than not when they eat it. It's bad when even your dog's clear a room after eating a fish based diet.
Most grain free kibble has fish in it as I found out after searching many brands and this one so far has no fish in it which makes our noses very happy.

I didn't have any luck with the Costco grain free Salmon food, either. It went right through my little 17 pound dog, and her eyes were runny on it, too. I think they're just like us - some things agree with them and some don't.

Max got horrible gas on fish too (CN's Herring and Sweet Potato, btw). I say if oatmeal works for you then go for it. If it doesn't, don't do it. Grain free can help a lot of dogs but since every dog's an individual it doesn't make sense to make blanket statements. I think the most important thing is to give good quality foods (and know what goes into your dog's food) that keeps them healthy. I feel like I'm constantly reevaluating Max's food but ultimately come back to what he eats now as it is the best for him. No harm in learning about other things but there is no wrong or right way for every dog.

ETA: I would argue that diets (homemade or commercial) made with whole, human grade foods are better, across the board, than some of the junk and chemicals that make it's way into a lot of commercial dog food.

I was trying to figure out what in the Costco food makes Sadie eyes run. (Does anyone have any ideas?) I thought her eyes were running more on this food, but she likes it so much better than Orijen. Of course, I like the price, but don't like the side effects. I relented and have been feeding her half Orijen and half Costco. I need to try another food that she like and that likes her as well.

I'm glad to see Tina's post on the runny eyes.

Oatmeal is one of those things that tends to be far better as a filler than things like corn and wheat, but it is used as a filler and not something that dogs would naturally eat. It is so hard to find dog food that doesn't have fillers because dog food companies use it to boost profit margins, but I would think that if your dog is doing well on it, there are certainly fillers worse than oatmeal. I think the frustration with dog food companies using fillers has caused a lot of people to start cooking their own food. I'm not there yet but I can certainly see why others do it.