# Grain free foods good for dogs with allergies (chicken & turkey)



## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

Can anyone recommend some? I need something for my five year old beagle. Thanks in advance.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

Is your dog only allergic to chicken and turkey, or grains as well? 

Avoiding chicken is the hard part. Even if the food is advertised as fish, it most likely has chicken meal or chicken fat somewhere lower down on the ingredients list. 

Orijen 6 Fresh Fish would work. Orijen is expensive, but it's very good food.


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

Taste of the Wild has two formulas that don't contain any poultry.

Pacific Stream: http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/dogs/dry_food/pacific_stream_canine_formula/
Sierra Mountain: http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/dogs/dry_food/sierra_mountain_canine_formula/

The first only contains fish as the protein. The second only has lamb. Both are grain free.



dmickle1 said:


> Avoiding chicken is the hard part. Even if the food is advertised as fish, it most likely has chicken meal or chicken fat somewhere lower down on the ingredients list.


Reminds me of that other discussion about reading the ingredients labels 

Just another reason to avoid foods with ambiguous ingredients like "animal fat".


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

You could use the Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream or Sierra Mountain. The Wetlands and High Prairie contain chicken, but the other two do not.


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

My chicken & grain allergy boy does well on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. The local feed store hasnt had the Sierra Mountain formula in so we havent tried that one yet.


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## meggels (Mar 8, 2010)

You could also try Earthborn Holistic's Coastal Catch or Great Plains Feast:

Herring Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Pea Protein, Tapioca, Pea Fiber, Dried Egg Product, Sweet Potatoes, Salmon Meal, Whitefish Meal, Flaxseed, Natural Flavor, Blueberry Fiber, Cranberry Fiber, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Spinach, Cranberries, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Taurine, L-Carnitine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Salt, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Yucca Schidgera Extract, Rosemary Extract, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product.


GPF:

Bison Meal, Peas, Pea Protein, Tapioca, Dried Egg Product, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Flaxseed, Lamb Meal, Pea Fiber, Natural Flavors, Blueberry Fiber, Cranberry Fiber, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Spinach, Cranberries, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Taurine, L-Carnitine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Salt, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Yucca Schidgera Extract, Rosemary Extract, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product.


My dog did really really great on the Great Plains Feast formula, probably the best she's ever looked. And it's a very reasonably priced food.


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

dmickle1 said:


> Is your dog only allergic to chicken and turkey, or grains as well?
> 
> Avoiding chicken is the hard part. Even if the food is advertised as fish, it most likely has chicken meal or chicken fat somewhere lower down on the ingredients list.
> 
> Orijen 6 Fresh Fish would work. Orijen is expensive, but it's very good food.


He's allergic to grains too. Please keep the suggestions coming, everyone. I live in a rural area and am going to be limited to what the pet store can order.


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

zehn said:


> He's allergic to grains too. Please keep the suggestions coming, everyone. I live in a rural area and am going to be limited to what the pet store can order.


Believe it or not you may have to do some research yourself too. Figure out what grain free dog foods your pet store has. From there you should be able to figure out which ones have poultry in them by reading the ingredients. Once you know your options, you can make an educated choice on which brand you want to go with.


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

HerdersForMe said:


> Believe it or not you may have to do some research yourself too. Figure out what grain free dog foods your pet store has. From there you should be able to figure out which ones have poultry in them by reading the ingredients. Once you know your options, you can make an educated choice on which brand you want to go with.


Perhaps, I'm reading this the wrong way, but what makes you think I haven't done research? I know exactly which grain free foods my local store has on hand. If they currently had anything on the shelf that would work for him, I would buy it, but since they don't I'm hoping to get some suggestions of good quality foods from some people who've been in my shoes that I can take to the pet store and see if they are able to special order them.


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## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

zehn said:


> He's allergic to grains too. Please keep the suggestions coming, everyone. I live in a rural area and am going to be limited to what the pet store can order.


How did you determine that he's allergic to grains? Also, it may not only be grains, but starch in general, in which case you need to avoid potatoes and a smattering of other ingredients.

ETA: If you have a dog that's allergic to chicken, turkey, grains and possibly starch AND you're in a rural area with limited selection, prepare yourself to be shoveling out large amounts of cash to pay for dog food. Those specific allergies are very hard to cater to. 

That being said, you don't have to order through your pet store. There are many online pet food delivery services.


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

He was on an elimination diet awhile ago. I don't think it's the potatoes though. He was on a chicken and potato based dog food until he had issues with that, then he was doing fine on the innova salmon and potato . I wanted to switch him over to something different when the company was sold, but that was all the store had. Now I can't get that, either. I'll go online if I have to, but cost is a factor I have to consider right now, although obviously he has to eat either way.

I do really appreciate the help everyone. It's just a frustrating situation.


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## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

zehn said:


> Perhaps, I'm reading this the wrong way, but what makes you think I haven't done research? I know exactly which grain free foods my local store has on hand. If they currently had anything on the shelf that would work for him, I would buy it, but since they don't I'm hoping to get some suggestions of good quality foods from some people who've been in my shoes that I can take to the pet store and see if they are able to special order them.


I didn't mean to come off sounding rude. But you had several good suggestions already. I would think most high quality grain free foods will have at least one formula without poultry in it. 

Also, you can have dog food delivered to your home if your pet store does not carry what you need. If your pet store will do a special order they are going to charge you to cover the shipping anyway so you might as well just have it delivered to your home.


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

And I'm grateful for every single one of those suggestions, however, the more people who weigh in with ideas and personal experience, the better. All I wanted to do was let people know their input was still welcome should they be interested in posting. I would assume every thread starter feels the same way. On that note, back to the subject of food to help my animal.  As I said previously, I will go online if I have to, or if the price the store quotes is too high. The store is still my first choice though.


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

There are a few online stores that offer free delivery for dog foods.
Yes you might have to buy more to hit the minimum order quota, but it's very worth it. You could always get some other supplies such as treats or just more food overall.

And disclaimer: I am not advertising for any of them. I don't work there, they don't pay me, etc. This is all that I can remember at the top of my head. I have seen many other websites that offer the same thing as well, but I can't remember any because I don't have the need to since I live in Los Angeles and pet stores are everywhere.

K9cusine is one of them. You can just google search K9cusine and you should see it. They carry a lot of types of food that you can check out.
I believe Orijen is one of them.
You can also check out certain formulas of Nature's Variety, California Natural, Holistic Select, Wellness, Fromm, etc.
Addiction is also a type of food that has very rare forms of meat such as Kangaroo but it is very expensive.
Ziwipeak is basically the "holy grail" even for your case as well. There are no grains, no chicken, no turkey. They are made from either Venison, Venison and Fish, and Lamb. But of course, they're really expensive on its own.

You can also check out Amazon. A lot of food that are ship and sold by Amazon qualify for free shipping.

Petco's website also offers free shipping for dog food orders above a certain amount. Not sure if that promotion is still available. But even if it isn't, shipping is a flat rate of $5 so it isn't as bad.

I checked out petfooddirect before and they wanted almost $15 to ship a $17 bag of food so that was a little ridiculous. Don't let that deter u. I am sure many other websites offer free ship.

Well unless UPS or Fedex doesn't deliver to where you live then that obviously is a big issue.

Other than that, don't let yourself be restricted to what your petshop carries.
many websites offer the same food for same or lower prices WITH free shipping.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

there are alot of food choices for you to consider. One thing, before I list them, is how about ordering? www.PetFlow.com has very good prices and the shipping cost, if anything, are cheap. The same goes for www.doggiefood.com
Some to look at, and these are all grainfree: a couple of the Taste of the Wild, Earthborn, Wellness Core's fish, Acana and Orijen fish, check out NOW! And GO! as well, I believe they have a couple. Also, Nature's Variety has their Instinct, which is grainfree, they also have some new Limited Ingredient diets.


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## Sangaris (Jun 2, 2011)

This might seem obvious, but don't forget to carefully look at his treats. My hubby forgot to look at the ingredients in some new treats. Ours is sensitive to chicken as well, and apparently he didn't read the label (guess who was stuck taking her out every 15 minutes). "Poultry products" was listed. My vet also warned us about eggs since they are the same protein.


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

Sangaris said:


> This might seem obvious, but don't forget to carefully look at his treats. My hubby forgot to look at the ingredients in some new treats. Ours is sensitive to chicken as well, and apparently he didn't read the label (guess who was stuck taking her out every 15 minutes). "Poultry products" was listed. My vet also warned us about eggs since they are the same protein.


very good advice. The same goes for supplements. I have one that can't have soy; I once bought a fish oil that had soy. Go figure


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

Wow, thanks everyone. I'll definitely be looking into all of this and will check out the delivery sites you linked to as well. 

Sangaris, that's a very good point. Thanks for the reminder. You definitely do have to stay diligent about it, when you have a sensitive dog.


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

Hopefully you will have better luck than I am!
My dog is having diarrhea and I don't even know why. She's on and off and I just started her on some medication last night. Hopefully she gets better.

By the way, how did u realize/determine your dog is allergic to chicken?


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

Enhasa said:


> Hopefully you will have better luck than I am!
> My dog is having diarrhea and I don't even know why. She's on and off and I just started her on some medication last night. Hopefully she gets better.
> 
> By the way, how did u realize/determine your dog is allergic to chicken?


Sorry to hear about your poor dog. Hopefully you'll be able to figure out what's wrong soon.

My dog went on an elimination diet. It's been awhile, so I don't remember the exact timetable, but your vet can tell you more. For example once he started reacting to the food that used chicken and turkey as the protein sources, he was taken off of it and put on a really simple food that didn't have any ingredients he had before. Awhile after his symptoms cleared up, we had to slowly reintroduce the old ingredients into his diet (one at a time, with a break in between), to see if he'd have problems again. He did, and we knew from that what wasn't working for him.

Before, we were just sort of winging it and switching him around from food to food, trying to figure out something that would help him (like "This food with corn is bothering him. Okay, maybe we'll just grab something with rice and hope it clears up" We also took the other dog along for the ride. Thank goodness she thrives on anything), but I'd recommend skipping that step and working with your vet to pin down the problem ingredients. It's really good to know exactly what you're dealing with.


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

I noticed Castor and Pollux released a new formula that is specifically grain free and poultry free. Hope this helps: http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/product/natural-ultramix-grain-free-poultry-free-adult-dog-food

Price point wise they can be cheaper than some other alternatives that are both grain and poultry free, such as Orijen.
Just something I came across when randomly browsing and I was reminded of you! lol

Let me know what you decided on in the end!


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## Angela and Dexter (Aug 11, 2011)

My dog Dexter is severely intolerant to grains. We feed him the raw diet and occasionally we feed him a kibble called NOW grain free by Petcurean. He does well with it and we have tried many.

Check out Dexter's diet at www.dextersdays.com


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

Thanks. I'm going up to the store on Saturday to see what they can do for me. I'll let you know which one we end up with. 

Enhasa, good luck with your dog.

Edit: Well, I went and talked with the store owner, but didn't have any luck. Right now I'm price matching for Earthborn Holistic online and will order a small bag of that first.


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## Sarayu14 (Apr 26, 2010)

Do you have any qualms about trying a raw food diet? your dog may not be allergic to real chicken. I say real because the stuff you find in kibble is processed to heck and back. I say, give him a few ounces of raw chicken breast (skinless and boneless) and see. I may be wrong what happens when he gets chicken? does he vomit or does he get really sick?


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

zehn said:


> Sorry to hear about your poor dog. Hopefully you'll be able to figure out what's wrong soon.
> 
> My dog went on an elimination diet. It's been awhile, so I don't remember the exact timetable, but your vet can tell you more. For example once he started reacting to the food that used chicken and turkey as the protein sources, he was taken off of it and put on a really simple food that didn't have any ingredients he had before. Awhile after his symptoms cleared up, we had to slowly reintroduce the old ingredients into his diet (one at a time, with a break in between), to see if he'd have problems again. He did, and we knew from that what wasn't working for him.
> 
> Before, we were just sort of winging it and switching him around from food to food, trying to figure out something that would help him (like "This food with corn is bothering him. Okay, maybe we'll just grab something with rice and hope it clears up" We also took the other dog along for the ride. Thank goodness she thrives on anything), but I'd recommend skipping that step and working with your vet to pin down the problem ingredients. It's really good to know exactly what you're dealing with.


It warms the cockles of my heart to see a properly done food trial.


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## zehn (Sep 3, 2008)

Sarayu14 said:


> Do you have any qualms about trying a raw food diet? your dog may not be allergic to real chicken. I say real because the stuff you find in kibble is processed to heck and back. I say, give him a few ounces of raw chicken breast (skinless and boneless) and see. I may be wrong what happens when he gets chicken? does he vomit or does he get really sick?


 Unfortunately he's actually allergic to the real, unprocessed meat. The chicken breast is exactly what he got during the trial. No vomiting or anything, on the wrong food, but he gets very itchy, to the point that he'll scratch and chew himself raw if allowed.


sassafras said:


> It warms the cockles of my heart to see a properly done food trial.


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