What food for my dog with severe grain and multiple food allergies?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Beagle | Male | neutered | 4 years old | 27 lbs
My 4 year old beagle is allergic to many grains and other foods, wheat, barley, rice, corn, soy, white and sweet potatoes, corn, flax, green beans, carrots. Would he be okay on a food with millet? what food do you suggest for him?
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on August 3rd, 2020
Wow - Ryder certainly has many food allergies! It is surprising that he's allergic to many of the grain sources because as Dr. Leigh mentioned, the vast majority of dogs are allergic to proteins rather than grains. The prescription diets that Dr. Leigh mentioned, including Hill's z/d, Royal Canin HP, Royal Canin Ultamino and Purina HA, are all hydrolyzed diets. This means that the ingredients supply necessary nutrition, but are broken down to the point where the immune system cannot react to them. An immune system response is what occurs with an allergy. I strongly recommend discussing one of these diets with your veterinarian, as it has the greatest chance of helping Ryder. As far as your question about millet goes, it's certainly worth a shot. There is no way of knowing if he's allergic to it without exposing him to it. I don't know of any commercially available diets that does not contain one or more of the ingredients you'd mentioned. If you're really against using a prescription diet, cooking your own food (as long as you're using the proper vitamin/mineral supplement!) is an option. The website www.balanceit.com has recipes formulated by boarded-veterinary nutritionists. I hope this helps and that all goes well!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on
Most dogs are actually allergic to the protein in the diet and not the grains. If your dog has a food allergy then you should try him on a prescription hypoallergenic diet like Hill's z/d, Royal Canin HP, or Purina HA. You should be able to get these diets through your vet.
0Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on September 28th, 2018
Hi there. I normally recommend feeding a food like Royal Canin, Iams, or Purina. These companies have a great deal of research behind their diets to prove that they are complete and balanced, and provide appropriate nutrition for whatever age or life stage the food is labeled for - puppies, adult dogs, seniors, etc. There is no particular benefit to feeding a grain-free diet unless your dog happens to be allergic to some type of grain, which isn't very common - most food allergies in dogs are to proteins such as chicken, beef, etc. If you think that Gary has food allergies, you may want to talk to your veterinarian about doing a diet trial with a prescription hypoallergenic diet such as Purina HA or Hills z/d.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on August 13th, 2018
Given all of George's food allergies, it might be better if you did a homemade diet for him. There are two websites that have recipes for homemade diets formulated by veterinarians who are specialists in veterinary nutrition, and that can help you tailor a diet for him that avoids the foods he is allergic to but gets grains into his diet to avoid grain free. I will put links to the websites below. I hope this helps! https://secure.balanceit.com https://www.petdiets.com
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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