We love that this is a simple and affordable formula just for small-breed puppies. This chow is all-natural and can work well for most small breeds. Blue Buffalo offers products for dogs of all ages, so if your pup fares well on this, you can move him up to the next step and stay with the brand.
Each can offers a balanced nutritional meal made from chicken, whole grain rice and other high-quality animal proteins like beef and lamb, as well as added DHA. If you’re a new puppy parent, the countless product choices in the pet food aisle are understandably overwhelming. With so many options promising to provide the healthiest and most delicious foods for your pup, it can seem impossible to make an informed decision about food for puppies. Finding the best food for puppies doesn’t have to feel like navigating a minefield, though.
All of these companies offer various brand lines that provide options to align with your budget and nutritional values, like Purina’s Beyond organic line. Always discuss your choice in puppy food with your veterinarian. These days, there are a multitude of dog food brands for you to choose from—so much so, that the selection can be overwhelming. To help narrow down your choices, choose a manufacturing company that is committed to conducting scientific research on the foods it produces via organized feeding trials. There are no specific ingredients to look for when choosing the best puppy food, but pet parents must ensure the food is made by a reputable company and contains high-quality ingredients. “You should also be aware that there’s a high risk that raw food can contain pathogens, such as listeria and salmonella, which can make both pets and people sick,” Shepherd told The Spruce Pets.
Instead, the organization provides a standard for each state’s feed laws. But in order to be marketed as “complete and balanced,” foods must meet nutritional standards outlined in AAFCO’s minimum requirements. The exact cause is still under investigation by the Federal Drug Administration, but you can read more about why we don’t recommend grain-free dog foods here.
Remember, you should be feeding based on your pup’spredicted adult weight, not current puppy weight. Dry food on its own is a good answer for most dogs, but wet food tends to have a richer odour, making it more palatable, so if you have a fussy dog, you may prefer to offer them wet food. “Some say natural ingredients like whole chicken are better than something processed like chicken meal; however, both are from the same source — chicken meal is just dehydrated chicken,” Roberts noted. AAFCO has developed several safety standards for ingredients used in pet food, and the association goes into depth about common pet food labels.
You have a ton of options when it comes to customizing your dog’s food and are able to include proteins such as duck, lamb, beef, chicken and more. This is all served as raw food which contains more of the amino acids and enzymes that help them to live their best life. This is healthy, and high-quality food made to support your dog at every stage of life without cutting corners or skipping on key nutrients.
The key to choosing one of the best puppy foods is understanding the nutritional needs of puppies. Depending on your dog’s breed and size, you’ll need to select a diet that provides all essential nutrients in appropriate amounts for growth and development. The biggest concern with feeding large- or giant-breed puppies is providing too many calories and nutrients, which can cause your puppy to grow too quickly. This rapid growth causes abnormal bone remodeling and skeletal abnormalities, affecting the dog’s ability to walk and exercise normally later in life.
Another solution is to soften the kibble with a tasty low- or no-sodium broth. Favoured by field sports specialists, this is a nutritionally complete dog food, formulated to support the early growth and development of puppies. Standard dry dog food is no better for dogs’ dental care than wet food. Alternatively, you can offer your dog a daily dental chew, or you can resort to daily toothbrushing.
Deciding what food is best for your new pup is a challenge. There are plenty of choices, so the good news is owners are sure to find something that works for them. Stick to high-quality foods and avoid those that use fillers and cheap protein substitutes. Hopefully, our guide has helped you learn more about the best food for puppies. This company has been around longer than many and offers multiple recipes.
It’s not recommended to feed puppies grain-free diets because of their connection to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy . The issue may not simply be the lack of grains, but more so the ingredients added in place of the grains that may alter metabolism of nutrients necessary for proper heart development and function. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, raw food is not recommended for any dog, no matter what age. Although many advocates say they’ve had positive experiences with raw food diets, there’s no scientific evidence to suggest raw pet food is better than any other kind. Dry foods contain 10 to 12 percent moisture content, while wet foods contain 75 to 78 percent moisture. But while wet food will keep your dog more hydrated, there’s a trade-off since it may also increase tartar buildup on your dog’s teeth.