Grain-Free Food and Belgian Malinois: What the FDA DCM Investigation Found

General nutrition information compiled from product labels and published sources, not veterinary advice. Your veterinarian is the right person to choose a diet for your dog, especially one with a health condition.

Few dog food topics cause as much worry as grain free dog food and DCM. DCM is dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease. If you own a Belgian Malinois, you may wonder whether a grain-free bag is a risk for your dog.

This guide walks you through checking your own dog's food against what the FDA has said. It does not give a verdict on any brand. The honest answer to "is grain free bad for Belgian Malinois" is that the public record does not settle it, and the steps below show you how to take that question to your veterinarian with the right information.

What the FDA investigation is, and what it says now

The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) runs an investigation into a potential link between certain diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy. The agency's own page calls it a "potential link." That wording matters. It describes a question under study, not a proven cause.

According to the FDA CVM page on the investigation, the latest update is dated December 23, 2022. The FDA also says it does not plan further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information. So there is no newer FDA finding to wait for, and a bag of food does not become safer or riskier because of a rumor you read this month.

Be careful with anything that claims to know more than that. Headlines often turn "potential link" into "grain free causes heart disease." The FDA page does not say that in those words, and this article will not either.

Does the Belgian Malinois have a stated DCM predisposition?

We did not find a breed-specific DCM statement for the Belgian Malinois in the sources used for this site. The American Belgian Malinois Club standard covers appearance and temperament, not heart disease. The Hill's Pet breed page, which does discuss health concerns for the breed, lists hip and elbow dysplasia and allergies with skin or digestive signs. It does not name DCM in the notes we relied on.

That is an absence of information, not proof of safety. If you want to know whether your dog's line has any heart history, ask the breeder, the breed club, or your veterinarian. Do not assume either answer.

Materials you will need

The bag or can your dog eats now, or a photo of its full label.
The ingredient list, the AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement and the calorie content (kcal per cup or per can).
Your dog's age, current weight and any health history, including vaccination and vet visit records.
A list of everything else your dog eats: treats, toppers, chews and table scraps.
A notepad or phone for questions to bring to your veterinarian.

Step 1: Find out whether your food is actually grain free

"Grain free" is a marketing term. Start by reading the front of the bag, then confirm it on the ingredient list. Look for corn, wheat, rice, barley, oats, millet and sorghum. If none appear, the food is grain free in the usual sense of the phrase.

Some foods are not what they seem. A food with millet or sorghum is not grain free, even if it looks "ancient grain" and boutique. A food with peas, lentils or potatoes in place of grains may be marked grain free, but the label alone does not tell you whether that matters for your dog.

When we compared label data for the foods on our Belgian Malinois label comparison, most listed foods contained grains. For one food, the Orijen Original dry recipe, the grain-free status was not something we could confirm from the label data available, so check the brand's own page if that is your food.

Step 2: Read the AAFCO statement

The AAFCO statement tells you whether a food is formulated for your dog's life stage. It is a label claim, not a guarantee of how your dog will do on it. Look for the wording "complete and balanced" and a life stage such as growth, maintenance or all life stages.

For a growing Malinois puppy, the wording matters more. Whole Dog Journal, in its piece on nutritional adequacy statements, explains that growth and all-life-stages foods carry either "including growth of large size dogs (70 lb or more as an adult)" or "except for growth of large size dogs." The article notes that too much calcium can cause bone and joint abnormalities in large-breed puppies.

Many adult Malinois weigh under 70 pounds. Hill's Pet gives the breed's adult weight as 40 to 80 pounds. So the 70 pound wording is a nutrient-level category on the label, not a statement about your particular dog's size. Cornell University's Riney Canine Health Center advises feeding growing large breeds a diet formulated for large breeds and not adding calcium or vitamin D supplements to a growing puppy.

Step 3: Note the first five ingredients and the calories

Write down the first five ingredients exactly as printed. Ingredients are listed by weight before cooking, so fresh meat can look larger on the list than it ends up in the bowl. Do not read much more into the order than that.

Also copy the calories per cup. This is useful for feeding, and it is useful when your veterinarian asks about the diet. For example, the label data we compared shows Hill's Science Diet Adult Large Breed Chicken & Barley at 365 kcal per cup, and Royal Canin Large Adult at 360 kcal per cup, as fed. Foods differ a lot, so a cup of one is not a cup of another.

Step 4: Check your dog for things the label cannot tell you

A label cannot show how your dog is doing. Look at your dog's energy, appetite, breathing at rest, and how well they tolerate exercise. Malinois are usually described as high-drive, so changes in stamina can be easy to miss or to blame on training.

You cannot diagnose heart disease at home, and you should not try. If something seems off, write down what you saw and when. Tell your veterinarian. They can examine your dog and decide what, if any, testing is appropriate.

Step 5: Take your findings to your veterinarian

Bring the notes from steps 1 to 4. Ask questions in this order:

Does this food suit my dog's age, size and health history?
Is there any reason to think my individual dog needs a different diet?
What, if anything, should be monitored, and how often?
If we change food, how should we switch?

A veterinarian decides for an individual dog. Prescription diets are only something a veterinarian prescribes, so do not try to copy one from the shelf.

Step 6: If you change foods, change slowly and keep notes

Do not switch overnight. A common approach is to mix a little of the new food into the old over a week or more, increasing the share gradually. Ask your veterinarian for a schedule that fits your dog, especially if your dog has allergies or a sensitive stomach. Hill's Pet notes the breed can be at risk for allergies with skin or digestive signs.

Use the label's feeding guide as a starting point only. Hill's, for example, advises adjusting amounts as necessary to maintain optimal weight and asking a veterinarian if you are unsure. Excess weight adds strain on joints, and Hill's suggests keeping treats to 10 percent of daily calories. Weight matters for this breed, since Hill's says hip and elbow dysplasia can be common in Malinois and risk can increase with weight gain.

Tips

Look for the source. Check the FDA page directly for the status, not social media posts about it.
Compare like with like. Hill's lists nutrient averages on a dry matter basis, while other brands list guaranteed minimums as fed. Those numbers are not directly comparable.
Keep a food log. Note the product name, date started and any changes you notice. It makes the vet visit shorter and more useful.
Ask the brand. If a label or website does not give kibble size, grain status or calories, ask the manufacturer.
Feed meals, not an all-day bowl. Cornell notes that large, deep-chested dogs are most at risk of bloat, and suggests two or more meals a day, smaller kibble and limited activity after meals. Cornell's page does not name the Malinois, and a breed-specific bloat risk for Malinois is not confirmed in our sources.

Common mistakes to avoid

Switching food in a panic. A sudden change can upset the stomach and does not answer the DCM question.
Assuming grain free means a better or worse food. Neither is proven by the label.
Treating a missing breed warning as a clean bill of health. Not finding a Malinois-specific DCM statement tells you only that we did not find one.
Adding supplements. Do not add calcium, vitamin D or anything else to a puppy's diet unless your veterinarian says so.
Believing the first claim you see. Be wary of any site that promises a food will prevent, treat or cure a disease. No food label can honestly say that.

What to expect

After working through these steps, you should know what your dog's food contains, whether it is grain free, and what its label claims about life stage. You should also have a short, specific list of questions for your veterinarian.

You may find that your current food looks fine to your veterinarian and nothing needs to change. You may find your vet suggests a different food or more monitoring. Either result is possible, and neither is guaranteed. What you should not expect from this process is a final answer that the FDA has not given.

How we compared foods

We compared label data published by the brands. We did not run feeding trials or taste tests, and we did not feed any of these foods to dogs. We did not find any formula marketed specifically for the Belgian Malinois, so the foods we looked at are large-breed puppy, adult and senior formulas, plus some all-breed foods. For the full side-by-side, see the label comparison for Belgian Malinois.