I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post on this thread as I'm no longer a cocker owner, but I do have a question about the 'grain free' and 'danger of heart disease' camps. My vet strongly recommended that I should not go with what gets called the 'boutique dog foods', grain free, lot of meat and fish protein and veggies including pulses, peas and chick peas. She gave me a link that discusses the possible link between diet and a kind of heart disease. It seems to be emerging research that hasn't yet tracked down the exact factors that result in Dilated Cardiomyopathy. I see a Guardian article linked on another thread about this issue. My pup was sent to me from the breeder with a package of dried raw food, chicken, pork, little dried fish, berries, and other green type flakes, no grains from a Canadian company. So presumably one of the 'boutique' foods the vet is referring to. However, the vet cites these reports about the possible dietary link between grain free foods and heart disease and recommends instead the ones you usually get at vet clinics-Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Hills Science diet. I feel caught between the breeders who strongly recommend the grain free, high protein, and presumably pulses, peas and chick peas food and my vet who says steer away from that kind of food. Of course, I want to do what's best for the pup, but find these opposite directions hopelessly confusing. Has anyone else on this site had the same contradictory advice and what did you do? Fraser, my cocker spaniel, was on Royal Canin for most of his life and the issue never came up as I was just following vet advice.