# grain-free safe for puppies?



## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I posted a thread earlier asking about BB and Wilderness for Jake, he is 15 weeks old and seems to get itchy from too much chicken. It was brought to my attention that it is possibly a bad thing to feed grain free to a puppy, is that correct???? I am switching him over to BB sweet potato/fish adult food...is this ok?


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

The sweet potato/fish wouldn't be considered a grain free food so it should be ok. The problem is the calcium ratio in most grain free foods isn't suitable for a puppy, it incourages too fast of growth. If you did want to try a grain free Orijen makes one thats safe for puppies.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

BB Natural Fish/Sweet potato
calcium 1.0%
phos 0.9%
I thought these were way ion the normal limits???
And it's the Wilderness BB that is grain free I am considering?


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Not sure what you mean by way ion? Typo I'm assuming? 

The problem is the higher calcium in most grain free foods, around 2%. This high calcium, and often higher fat and calories, encourages too fast of growth. Large breed puppies need to develop slowly.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Sorry, was a typo...
Am I correct with BB Sweet Potato/Fish? Those numbers are in the good limits, right?


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Yep, they are. BB sweet potato and fish is NOT a grain free food though. 

Here are the ingredients, with the grains bolded:


> Whitefish, *Whole Ground Brown Rice**, Whole Ground Barley, * Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid), *Oatmeal**, http://www.bluebuff.com/health/ingredients.shtml#canola_oil*Canola Oil (naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace (natural source of Lycopene), * Whole Sweet Potatoes, *Natural Fish Flavors, *Whole Potatoes**,* Peas, Whole Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed(natural source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Garlic, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Turmeric, Sunflower Oil (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Fish Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Dried Chicory Root, Oil of Rosemary, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium



This is a good food. It does bother me though that its called Fish and Sweet Potato, when according to the ingredients (which are listed most to least volume) it should be Fish and Brown Rice. I went ahead and bolded potato and sweet potato, though they are not technically grains they are starches and are used similarly to grain when it comes to binding together kibble.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Wow, thank you! I think this is the best bet for him...until I rule out chicken as main source of itch...so much controversy over whether to feed adult foods to a pup. I don't see the difference as long as numbers are well within range.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

One more question, at what age can I move him into something like BB Wilderness?


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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

<----- personal opinion from myself

Orijen is a chicken based formula. I have heard a few things about the chickens being used currently, and I won't use a purely chicken based at the moment, which is one reason we went OFF orijen.

Natural Balance is good if you want to go ahead and try to figure out if you can narrow the allergy down. Their grain-free foods are in a safe range of Calcium and such, and each food is a single protein source. You can use this for elimination. My only thing is, our pup is active, and wanted more meat based, and natural balance's #1 ingredient is Sweet Potato..

ALSO, we use Canidae grain free... ALS grain free is all kinds of protien sources, but ALS grain free salmon is just fish I believe...


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