Corn is not digestible for puppies/dogs?

Question

Have been reading some forums and there has been many comments saying that corn is not good for dogs and it shouldn't be in dog food.

We feed our 2 large breed puppies Eukanuba, and cannot afford anything more expensive.

Any suggestions if I want to cook for them myself? Also, I give them raw chicken wings but my 7mth old golden has started woolfing them down and I'm worried about him choking, any other raw food I can give them?

Would appreciate any recipes or suggestions.

Answer 1

Corn is a useful vegetable. It is used to make corn meal, which sits on your stomach like a heavy lump until passed. Sweet corn is great, with butter in the summer, but did you ever notice it comes out the same way it goes in? Corn is fermented to make ethanol and corn whiskey. The fermentation process also produces methane. Methane is a useful gas, it can power all sorts of machinery. However the process of fermentation, which produces gas, is also the process that causes bloat in dogs. When fermented, grains produce gas - or rye whisky or scotch, etc. Meat may rot but it does not ferment.

Regarding chicken or other food, you have to fillet them. Never give dogs chicken or duck bones because they splinter (unlike pork or lamb bones) and this can cause serious damage to your dog's intestines.

Answer 2

I'm not sure how digestible corn is for a dog, but have you ever seen one munching down in a corn field?

But, seriously, THE most important thing is to read the label on the dog food. You do not want a food that lists corn as a first or second ingredient, and the further down on the list, the better. The first ingredient should be meat in some form. With the recent recall issue, a number of people have gone to cooking their dog's food. Recipes are available in books dedicated to dog food recipes.

Answer 3

Corn itself isn't bad. If you're dog wants to eat corn on the cob, that's OK every now and then.

The problem is corn gluten (which causes skin problems and other assorted health problems), and how the corn is processed. The processing takes out all the nutrition, and its filler. Meaning, corn is taking the place of vitamins and protein that dogs need more than corn.

There is a right way and a wrong way to feed the raw diet.
Make sure you're doing research and that your dogs are getting all the nutrition they need.
The most common and popular is call the BARF diet. Seriously, that's what it's called.
Look here:
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html
http://www.dogpack.com/shop/food/OrderFarMore.html
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/

As to dog food.
Look into Innova, Wellness and Canidae. California Natural is the best, cheapest, corn/grain free food.

Artemis is the most expensive. It's holistic with human grade everything. Good food if you can afford it.

Answer 4

Chicken wings are to small for your breed of dog. Feed him Leg Quarters. Dogs are not chewers by nature. Mine eat leg quarters in under a minute and swallow large pieces. They do not choke and digest them just fine.
You really need to look into feeding raw though because you should not be feeding a raw food and kibble at the same time. This is when people run into trouble and blame the raw diet.
Dogs have very short digestive tracts and very acidic digestive juices that start breaking down the food immediately but when you stick raw meaty bones in the gut with grain based kibble it confuses the digestive system and slows it down. This is the reason vets and others say that raw feeding is dangerous because of bacteria. It's not when it is fed by itself. If you want to feed some raw foods then I suggest you pick a couple of days in a row to feed it and leave kibble out of the mix on those days.

Answer 5

Purina is CRAP, for dogs and cats. It's very low quality. Also stay away from brands like Pedigree, Iams, Ol' Roy, and Science Diet. These contain low-quality ingredients, and corn, which is basically indigestible. Many dogs are allergic to it. If you really want what's best for a dog, try Canidae, Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Evo, Innova, or Taste of the Wild. Some good cat foods are Felidae, Wellness, and Newman's Own.

Answer 6

Corn, wheat & soy are ingredients to stay away from.They are common allergens, not very digestable, soy& corn have been implicated in recent studies as a cause of unexplained seizures in dogs..they are nothing more then cheap fillers used by dog food companies..they really serve no purpose in a dogs diet. A good qaulity food should contain more meat then grain.Meat should be at least the first 2-3 ingredients in the food.
People buy cheap thinking they are saving money, but they aren't.Cheap dog food is false economy. The better quality the food the less you will need to feed and the less waste you'll be picking up.

Some good food choices;
Canidae, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Wellness, Percise, premium Edge, Innova, Merrick, Fromm just to name a few.

As for raw foods:
chicken (including wings, necks & backs) , turkey (including wings 7 necks), pork (yes pork is fine in moderation, stay away from ham though), lamb, heart, liver,gizzard, beef, green beeans, carrots, watermelon, apples, bananas, berries,sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese........... basicly anything NOT highly spiced, salted, processed, containing grapes, raisins, chocolate, onions, sugars, corn, wheat, soy.

Make sure to NEVER give your dog cooked bones of any kind..cooking makes them brittle and easily splintered. Chicken/turkey wings & necks are fine for dogs even as big as Great Danes...they aren't too small.

Answer 7

I dog sit for a couple that fed their dogs a raw chicken thigh in the morning and a large leg bone at night. Every other day they gave them 1 cup of frozen carrots or mixed vegetables without corn.

I have not used the raw food diet. However, I use the Nutro Natural Choice dry food for my dogs. It does not have any corn fillers and they don't eat half the amount of the Nutro that they did for the other brands. It is a little more expensive. However, since they don't eat as much it balances out on price and its better for them.

Answer 8

There are commercial dog foods without corn. Our dog eats Sensible Choice - chicken and rice formula. They also make a lamb and rice formula. I don't think it's any more expensive than Eukanuba. I get it at Petco. If you use their rewards card, you can earn free bags of food.

Answer 9

I've always been told not to feed dogs chicken with bones. Even raw can splinter

Answer 10

Woolfing