Walk into any pet food aisle and you will see two loud camps: one saying grain-free is the healthier, more natural choice, and another warning that grains are necessary and grain-free is risky. The truth is less dramatic. There is no credible evidence that grains are automatically good for every dog or automatically bad for every dog. What matters most is the full formulation of the food, ingredient quality, digestibility, and how the individual dog does on it. The FDA’s current position is also more nuanced than many headlines suggest: reports of non-hereditary dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM, have involved both grain-free and grain-inclusive diets, although many reported diets had peas, lentils, or other pulses high in the ingredient list.
At Dorchester Pet Care & Supply, our view is straightforward: based on the research we have reviewed and what we see in real dogs, grain-free is still a very good option for most dogs. That said, some dogs genuinely do better on a well-made whole grain formula, especially when digestion and stool quality are better on that food. That is why we carry both. We are not interested in ideology. We are interested in what works for the dog in front of us. Research on grains in pet food also does not support the idea that grains are filler by definition. Corn and other grains can be well digested by dogs, can contribute useful nutrients, and processing can affect stool quality and digestibility.
What grain-free actually means
Grain-free simply means the formula does not use grains like corn, wheat, rice, barley, oats, or rye. It does not mean low-carb, high-meat, or automatically higher quality. Some grain-free foods are excellent. Some are mediocre. Some replace grains with large amounts of peas, lentils, chickpeas, or potatoes, and that formulation detail matters more than the grain-free label itself. The FDA has repeatedly said the current DCM concern is not as simple as “grain-free equals dangerous.”
What grain-inclusive means
Grain-inclusive, or grain-friendly, means the food includes grains such as rice, oats, barley, rye, or corn. That does not automatically make it lower quality either. In a properly formulated diet, grains can provide digestible carbohydrate, fiber, and other nutrients, and some dogs do quite well on them. There is peer-reviewed evidence that dogs can digest corn well, and that processing and starch characteristics can affect fecal quality and total-tract digestibility.
So which is better?
For most dogs, we still lean grain-free when the formula is well designed. That is the key. A well-formulated grain-free food can work extremely well for skin, coat, stool quality, body condition, and overall vitality. But grain-free is not automatically better just because the bag says so, and grain-inclusive is not automatically worse because it contains grains.
- A better way to think about it is this:
- Some dogs thrive on grain-free.
- Some dogs digest whole grains better.
- Some dogs need a formula with lower legumes.
- Some dogs simply do best on the food that gives them the best stool quality, body condition, energy, and consistency over time.
That is one reason the sweeping internet claims around this topic are so unhelpful. Dogs are individuals.
A short, honest note on DCM
DCM is the issue that made this topic messy. In recent years, veterinarians and regulators began looking at reports of non-hereditary DCM in dogs eating certain commercial diets. Many of those diets were grain-free and many also had peas, lentils, pulses, and/or potatoes high in the ingredient list. But the cause has not been fully nailed down, and the FDA now explicitly states that cases have been reported with both grain-free and grain-containing diets. The agency also says there is no evidence that legumes and pulses are inherently unsafe on their own.
That said, the DCM concern should not be waved away either. In observational studies, dogs eating grain-free or “non-traditional” diets have shown higher cardiac troponin levels, more ventricular premature complexes in some cases, and in some studies lower taurine or echocardiographic changes consistent with nutritional DCM risk. Another study found that some subclinical abnormalities improved after a diet change. These studies do not prove that every grain-free food is a problem, but they do support being careful about formulation quality rather than assuming every grain-free recipe is equally safe.
If you want the deeper version of this topic, we will be publishing a full breakdown here: Read our DCM blog post.
Why some dogs do better on grain-inclusive food
This is the part both extremes miss.
Some dogs really do better on a whole grain recipe. In practice, that can show up as firmer stools, better digestive consistency, or simply better day-to-day tolerance. Research on canine digestion shows that carbohydrate source, fiber source, and processing all influence digestibility and stool quality. In other words, the answer is not just “grains” or “no grains.” It is the whole diet and how the dog responds to it.
That is exactly why we carry both grain-free and whole grain options at Dorchester Pet Care & Supply. We are not trying to force every dog into the same nutritional box.
Our bottom line at Dorchester Pet Care & Supply
We still believe grain-free is the best option for most dogs when the food is properly formulated and made with good ingredient choices. But we also understand that some dogs do better on whole grain formulas, especially when digestion points us in that direction.
So our position is not anti-grain and it is not blindly pro-grain-free either. It is simpler than that:
Choose the formula that is best designed and that your dog actually does well on.
- That means watching:
- stool quality
- digestion
- skin and coat
- body condition
- energy
- long-term consistency
If you are not sure which direction makes the most sense for your dog, that is where we can help.