Grain Free Dog Diet Experience

When you own and love a dog you want to do everything right. Feeding him properly is number one when it comes to his overall health and well being.

Being a dog addict for more than forty years now I have tried different types of food. Feeding raw meat and tripe with vegetables and some biscuits had been my feeding routine for at least fifteen years - until that day three weeks ago when my three year old Golden Retriever boy Sunshine was diagnosed with an allergy to all grains as well as potatoes.

Starting a grain free diet is not easy, especially when it comes to the beloved treats which almost always contain some form of grain.

But my dog's the severe diarrhea made it necessary to be hard on him as well as on my older dog, Sebastian.

Sure enough, Sunshine's diarrhea stopped and has not returned since.

But my story is not about Sunshine - it is about Sebastian, who is, by the way, nine years old.

For the last year or so Sebastian had aged a lot. He was often tired and slow on his walks. He seemed a little depressed at times, not asking me to play with him as he had done in younger years. Apart from that he seemed to be okay. So I put his tiredness down to "old age"...

Today Sebastian is a different dog. He is cheerful, funny, asking me to play ball with him even inside!

Out in the forest he runs about, he even plays with Sunshine which is quite unusual considering his behavior in the past.

As a Psychologist I am always interested in finding cause and reasons if and when some behavior changes.

So naturally I asked myself if there had been any environmental changes for Sebastian which could be the cause for his cheerfulness.

The one thing which had been changed was his diet. Because his pal Sunshine was not allowed biscuits with his food any more, neither was Sebastian.

None of them has received any grain based treats for three weeks now.

This completely grain free diet is the one and only change in Sebastian's lifestyle. And to my own surprise it has changed the quality of his life!

I had read about the advantages of a totally grain free diet for carnivores such as dogs but always thought that "a few grains here and there sure wouldn't do any harm".

Well, maybe they didn't - but they sure didn't do Sebastian any good either which I now know.

From the desk of Psychologist M. Annelie Becher at http://www.dogsandhappiness.com