Dogs are more than just animals, they are our best friends. And when it comes to feeding them, we want nothing but the best. If you are parenting a large puppy, it’s important that you get the best large breed puppy food on the market, ensuring it contains with all the proper nutrients—your puppy’s well-being and growth depend on it.
Contents & Quick Navigation
- Our Choices for the Best Large Breed Puppy Food:
- Best Large Breed Puppy Food For Your Puppy’s Nutritional Needs
- Health Problems Related To Large Breed Puppies
- Types of Best Dog Food for Large Breed Puppies
- Here is why you should get dry dog foods for your canine friend:
- What is the Best Large Breed Puppy Food?
- Selecting the Best Large Breed Puppy Food
Our Choices for the Best Large Breed Puppy Food:
Last update on 2018-03-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Best Large Breed Puppy Food For Your Puppy’s Nutritional Needs
Large breed puppies have different nutritional needs than smaller breeds, mostly because they literally grow in size quite quickly. They tend to eat a lot after birth and increase their weight up to a factor of 50 to 70 times!
However, excessive nutrition can be harmful in large breed puppies. Although their bodies grow quickly, they mature slowly and can take almost 24 months to grow up into full grown dogs.
So, what does that mean for you as the owner of a large breed puppy? It means feeding them the right kind of nutrition for nearly two years and choosing the right brand of food is essential.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has set certain nutritional requirements for the dogs. However, their guidelines don’t distinguish between the specific needs of large breed dogs and puppies and smaller breeds. While the standard is acceptable for ordinary food, it doesn’t really meet the requirements for large breed puppies.
Health Problems Related To Large Breed Puppies
Large breed dogs are prone to health problems related to bones and joints. That’s why good large breed puppy food brands have lower fat, vitamin D, calcium and phosphorous in their formulas. This supports your puppy’s optimal growth at an appropriate speed—not too fast, not too slow. It also helps prevent those bone and joint diseases.
Related Read: Diabetes In Dogs: Causes, Treatments & Everything in Between
The skeletal structure of larger breed dogs puts stress on their hips and joints. They commonly face problems like arthritis, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, osteochondrosis, developmental orthopedic disease (DOD), obesity and digestive problems.
One of the key points is to measure the food for your large breed puppy. If you don’t measure it, free feeding can cause the dog to develop orthopedic problems because of too much weight gain; however, measuring their food and providing them with a balanced diet with all essential nutrients will prevent your dog from becoming overweight.
Overweight and overfeeding are also major causes of heart disease and shortened life spans in dogs. It’s imperative that you make sure that you restrict your dog’s diet and make sure they get a lot of exercises. Continuation of this routine will greatly reduce your large breed puppy’s health problems as they age.
Important Read: Dog Vaccination Guide: The Right Vaccination & Schedule
Types of Best Dog Food for Large Breed Puppies
When you want to buy food for your large breed puppy, you have quite a few options to choose from. Do you get wet or dry food? Expensive or cheap commercial food? And a whole host of other questions.
Well, hopefully, this guide will help you simplify things so that you can make the best food choice for your dog.
It’s always better to choose high-quality dry food—also known as kibble—for your large breed puppy. It’s more beneficial in terms of both cost and health reasons than any canned or wet food.
Here is why you should get dry dog foods for your canine friend:
- Dry food is widely available for purchase and very convenient to store.
- It’s very easy to measure and will prevent you from overfeeding your dog.
- Dry food doesn’t go to waste the way wet foods do.
- It’s highly beneficial for your dog’s teeth as chewing will naturally exercise and clean their teeth and gums.
- Wet food is expensive. Feeding large breed puppies will put a dent in your expenses.
Keep in mind, every dry food brand is different. We all know that some people buy cheap brands for their pets. While saving money is understandable, it’s not wise to cut corners or buy cheap food only to save a few bucks; your dog’s health is important.
Buying a quality puppy food may appear to be expensive up front, but in reality, it saves a lot of money in the long run.
It’s safe to say that cheap commercial food is made from low-quality ingredients. They use grains as fillers and add artificial materials which have zero nutritional value.
Quality brands, on the other hand, use human grade ingredients. That means, they contain mostly meat and have the proper nutritional contents—no useless fillers.
Trying out the best large breed puppy food, you will notice that your puppy eats a lot less than that of the commercial foods. The varied nutritional values make a difference in the satiety.
Finally, when you feed your puppy the best large breed puppy food, you will drastically cut down on veterinarian costs over the long run.
Related: Foods You Can and Can’t Share With Your Dog
What is the Best Large Breed Puppy Food?
Here Are the Brands That Have Made It to Our Top 5 List
#1. Wellness CORE Natural Grain-Free Dry Dog Food (Puppy Formula)
The specially-formulated small kibble is easy for your puppy to chew and made from premium natural ingredients. It maintains a strict policy of not using any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and is made right here in the USA.
Wellness CORE is the best dog food for the large breed puppies as it benefits your furry friend in multiple ways. The formula contains live active probiotics, prebiotics and fibers that take care of the puppy’s internal track, promotes a healthy digestion and focuses on holistic wellness.
The vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids boost healthy cellular activity and immunity. Essential nutrients keep the eyes, teeth and gums healthy, high protein levels increase lean muscle mass, and support the body’s ability to burn away excess fat and calories.
Select fruit and vegetable antioxidants alongside high-quality carbohydrates give your puppy the daily energy they need.
Many users have reported drastic improvements in the overall health of their puppies after they switched to Wellness CORE.
Check the latest price on Amazon
#2. Wellness Complete Health Natural Dry Large Breed Puppy Food
The kibble is made from deboned chicken with regulated calories and added DHA for healthy bones, brain, and eye development. It also guarantees levels of calcium and phosphorous to aid in controlled bone development.
Wellness Complete prides itself on having no meat by-products, fillers or artificial preservatives.
Wellness Complete formula understands that large breed puppies have special nutritional needs; that’s why their formula is designed to support the needs of large dog breed puppies through nutrient-rich whole foods.
Check the latest price on Amazon
#3. Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Dry Dog Food
Their formula contains natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin which help to build strong muscles and joints. In addition, a clinically proven blend of antioxidants and vitamin C will ensure a healthy immune system for your large breed puppy.
Hill Science uses natural, easy-to-digest ingredients that contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. However, please note: their kibbles are not for pregnant dogs.
Check the latest price on Amazon
#4. Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Large Breed Dry Dog Food
It contains DHA from fish oil that will nourish your puppy’s brain and vision development. Also, the phosphorus, calcium and other minerals will help build strong teeth and bones.
As puppies start to nibble solid foods at 3-4 weeks of age, they recommend keeping moistened Pro Plan for the puppy to eat until fully weaned.
Check the latest price on Amazon
#5. Holistic Select Natural Dry Dog Food
It contains all the necessary pre & probiotics, natural fibers, digestive enzymes & botanicals, making it one of the best large breed puppy food you can buy.
Holistic Select Natural uses the finest natural ingredients. They avoid wheat and wheat gluten and other artificial ingredients and fillers.
Check the latest price on Amazon
Selecting the Best Large Breed Puppy Food
There are a few things to consider while selecting a brand suited for your large breed puppy, other than large breed puppy food reviews. Apart from your financial concerns, there is the matter of taste—even puppies can have taste preferences!
Dogs are not usually fussy about taste, however, it’s not uncommon that they have a preference of one over another.
Your dog’s breed also matters. Depending on medical conditions and your dog’s breed, you might need to select a food that properly suits him. Calcium and protein contents are most commonly looked out for. Your veterinarian can guide you in this matter—just ask them.
Keep in mind that the nourishing needs of your dogs will change as time passes. As your puppy grows into a fully-grown dog, their caloric requirements decrease. You cannot keep on feeding them puppy food and should change to a blend made for adult dogs.
Connect with us