Rice based dogs food vs corn based food

Question
We live in Belize with our 2 bullmastiffs. Age 2.5 years. I was adviced not to feed the dogs with corn based food since both dogs, especially our female, have mange problem on their paws. The holistic vet in Dallas said corn based food generates additional heat in the dog body while being digested. Could you please provide additional information. The dogs currently eat boiled chicken meat (no bones) vegetables, white rice, raw beef bones and get vitamins, minerals and Omega3 oil. Thank you for your time and help.

Answer
Hello Jarmila,

I agree that a corn based food is usually very problematic and I don't recommend using one.  Your home made diet is likely to be low or deficient in several essential nutrients, although it seems you have made a good start. Are you interested in having a diet formulated for you? I can certainly help with that, or another idea would be to join my yahoogroups, where there is a tutorial set up to help people figure out their dogs' nutrient requirements and devise a properly balanced diet. The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePossibleCanine-Nutrition - you will receive a great deal more infoprmation there than I can possibly provide here.
You need to ascertain precisely how much of each nutrient your dogs require, and then analyze your diet to see what it is low in. For example, depending on how much bone your dogs eat and how much calcium is in the supplement, they could need more added in the form of a supplement. This diet is possibly low in Vitamin D, in iodine, in multiple minerals. I can't say for sure, but am basing this on the hundreds of diets I've analyzed professionally. It's a good start, and preferable to a cheap, corn based kibble - but it probably needs some additions. We can help at the group, or speak to me about  having a diet plan tailor-made for your dogs.

Hope this helps, Catherine