Best Puppy Food

And How You can Find It

You just brought home your new puppy, and of course you want to select the best puppy food for your new arrival.

But with all the dog foods on the market, how do you know which puppy food is the best?

Grains or Grain Free?

Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates, yet most dog and puppy foods contain 50-60% cereal grain. Some cheap dog foods are almost entirely grain. You can probably guess the reason for this. Meat, even low quality meat, is far more expensive than grain.

There is, however, a new trend in dog food: A growing number of super premium brands now offer dog and puppy foods that derive most of their protein from high quality meats and contain no grain at all.

Since kibble must contain at least 18-20% starch as a binder or the kibble pieces would fall apart, these new foods utilize potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, or tapioca as a carbohydrate source.

Are these carbohydrate sources really superior to whole grains?

Unless your dog is allergic or sensitive to grains, the answer is probably "not really." The main benefit of the new grain free dog and puppy foods is that most of them are far lower in overall carbohydrates than foods that do contain grains.

Carbohydrates in general and grains in particular are not really "species appropriate" for dogs.

Like all carnivores, dogs do not produce the enzyme amylase (necessary to break down starches into sugars) in their saliva. They do produce pancreatic amylase, but amylase levels in puppies are inadequate to digest large amounts of starch.

Therefore the best puppy food will contain no more than 30% carbohydrate. This makes grain free dog foods ideal for puppies.

Wet or Dry Puppy Food: Does It Matter?

Canned puppy foods have several advantages over kibble:

Canned or wet puppy food typically contains more meat and less grains or starchy vegetables. Unlike kibble, canned puppy foods can even be entirely carbohydrate free.

Canned puppy food is usually easier to digest than the dehydrated kibbles.

Canned puppy food is less likely to contain questionable preservatives or additives.

Most puppies find wet foods more palatable.

However, canned puppy foods also have a few disadvantages:

Feeding a large breed puppy or adult dog a diet consisting only of canned products may be cost prohibitive for most people. Canned foods are typically at least 75% moisture, and puppies require up to one 12-13 ounce can for every 10 pounds (5kg) of body weight (adult dogs require about half that). That can get expensive if you're feeding a high quality puppy food.

Canned foods are typically higher in fat than kibble. This is a particular concern for large breed puppies, because high fat diets promote rapid growth, which is something we try to avoid.

Canned foods may produce less firm stools. Your puppy probably won't mind, but you probably will.

In most cases, it's best to feed primarily kibble and add small amounts of high quality canned foods for variety or as a "taste enhancer" if desired.

Large and Small Breed Puppies Are Not Fed the Same Best Puppy Food

Due to their increased susceptibility to skeletal disease, special attention must be paid to the diets of large and giant breed puppies.

There are special puppy foods for large breeds, but many of these foods contain lower levels of protein and correspondingly higher amounts of carbohydrate based on the mistaken belief that high protein diets cause skeletal problems.

They do not, and I have already explained why high carbohydrate levels are a bad idea for puppies in particular.

What does cause skeletal problems is diets supplying too much energy, excessive amounts of calcium, and overfeeding.

Since proteins and carbohydrates supply the same amount of energy (calories), there is no advantage to reducing protein levels. Fats, on the other hand, deliver more than twice as much energy per gram as proteins or carbohydrates.

Therefore the best puppy foods for large breeds will contain no more than 14-16% fat.

One concern I have is that many grainless high protein dog foods are also high in calcium.

I recommend a calcium range between 1% and 1.5% for large and giant breed puppies.

This means that many high quality grain free dog foods designated for all life stages as well as some puppy foods are not appropriate for large and giant breed puppies.

Small breed puppies require a very nutrient-dense puppy food.

Since they are less capable of regulating their blood sugar levels, it is best to feed toy and small breed puppies frequent small meals spaced out evenly throughout the course of the day.

Toy breed puppies are in particular danger of becoming hypoglycemic (which is potentially life-threatening) if not fed regularly.

The Importance of Taking the Growth Rate into Account

The most important thing, especially with large breed and giant breed puppies, is to aim for a slow, steady growth rate. Rapid growth and sudden growth spurts dramatically increase the risk of orthopedic problems and must be avoided.

Do not “free feed” your puppy under any circumstances.

Any food that has not been consumed within 15 minutes should be picked up.

Round, roly-poly puppies may look cute, but overfeeding your puppy is dangerous to her health. It's important to keep your puppy lean. Your veterinarian can help you monitor your puppy's growth rate.

Kibble Size and Dog Size: Make It a Perfect Match

Some dog food companies (e.g., Royal Canin, EVO) make kibble pieces of different sizes for different sized dogs.

Small and toy breed puppies will have an easier time chewing small kibble pieces. Bigger kibble pieces for large and giant breed dogs are also available.

While the bigger pieces will probably not slow down dogs who gulp their food, bigger kibble sizes are less likely to get stuck between teeth and cause problems.

The Right Feeding Regimen for Your Puppy

How often you should feed your puppy depends on his age and breed.

Large breed puppies are fed three times a day until they are six months old, at which point you can switch to feeding twice a day.

As I already mentioned, small and toy breed puppies require more frequent meals. Small breeds are best fed four times a day until they are four months old.

Then you can switch to three feedings until they are six months old. After that, you feed twice a day.

For tiny toy breeds, five feedings a day are recommended until they are three months old to keep blood sugar levels optimally balanced. After that, follow the same feeding regimen as for small breeds.

How long should your puppy eat best puppy food?

Until she is fully grown.

When that is depends on your puppy's breed. Toy breeds are typically fully grown at 8-9 months. For small breeds, that age is around 10 months. Medium breeds tend to reach their full adult body weight when they're about a year old. Large breeds usually aren't fully grown until they're 14-18 months old, and for giant breeds that age is closer to 20-24 months.

Once your puppy is fully grown, you can transition him to an adult dog food.

So What's the Best Puppy Food?

My choice for the best puppy food without grain is Orijen.

This Canadian company makes species appropriate dog foods that contain 70-75% meat and no grains at all. Carbohydrate levels are low, and each formula features at least five types of fresh meat or fish plus four dehydrated meat meals.

Moreover, all ingredients are fit for human consumption, and the company uses no artificial additives or preservatives.

My only reservation is that the calcium levels in the Large Breed Puppy formula are borderline for large and giant breed puppies: The minimum value is 1.5% and the maximum value is 1.7%, which is slightly higher than what I like to see.

For a grainless puppy food with human-grade ingredients and lower calcium levels, take a look at CANIDAE's Grain Free All Life Stages Formula, which supplies 1.2% calcium, but the fat levels are higher than in the Orijen Large Breed Puppy formula.

I also like the Royal Canin brand although their puppy foods contain grain, and the ingredients are not human-grade. However, Royal Canin has a long company track record, lots of science and feed trials, and they make breed specific diets.

This is also important, when it comes to find the best puppy food.

Puppy Dog Food Relevant Pages

Dog Age
Puppy diarrhea
Large breeds and food for them
Homemade puppy food
Puppy vomiting and what to do
Giardia in puppies
Organic puppy food


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