I'm neither for or against grains in dog food. They could be a problem if your dog is allergic to them, of course, but there are other ingredients in commercial food that could cause allergy reactions like herbal supplements, preservatives, etc . All kibble foods need a binder of some sort and like Sassafras said it's either grains or some kind of potato or legume. Canned food and/or raw can be better if you're willing to feed it because of the moisture content and less need for a carb binder. My dogs don't seem to have a problem with a little grain in their food, such as rice or oats. I don't like corn or wheat in my dogs' food, though. However, I'm currently feeding Natural Balance LID potato and duck because of a health reason in one of my dogs. All of mine are eating the food, however, and doing fine on it. I'm also using the canned food as a topper. You will find many opinions on this subject and others, like high protein versus lower protein, raw versus kibble, etc. Just make sure your food is a good quality food with ingredients that you can understand when you read the bag. Make sure there are no artificial preservatives or colorants, etc. And make sure that your dog is doing well on it....good stools, good energy, good coat, eating it well, etc.