What is the best puppy food?
The BIG question is, what is the best puppy food to give to my new puppy? Should I feed my new puppy, dry puppy food, raw or wet meat? Whatever you decide to do, you should at least continue with the food your breeder was feeding your puppy before picking them up. Over the next 3-4 days, you can then start to introduce your new food to them.
Should I feed them raw meat, wet meat, or dry food also referred to as Kibble, this is down to your own personal choice but the easiest and most convenient choice is to opt for dry food. With dry food, you can always mix water with the dry food to make a porridge-like mix which younger puppies prefer in the early weeks. Whatever you do, it should always be good quality food.
There are many good brands out there that can be a minefield, which one to choose for your puppy. We have taken the hard work out of the search and have reviewed some of the best choices of Dry Puppy Food available in the UK.
If your dog is having an off day and doesn’t eat all its food within half an hour or so, it will become wasteful and costly. It is also more convenient to store dry food around the home than raw and wet food.
The next question is, should I go for a big brand, stick with the brand the breeder was feeding the puppy, or are there other smaller brands that offer as good as if not better products?
Depending on your dog breed you may have avoided dog foods labelled ‘for working dogs’ These are not necessary just for working dogs, but many manufacturers add the phrase simply to avoid us from having to pay VAT which knocks off 20% of the retail price. There are other exceptions to VAT too, ‘Assistance dog foods’, ‘Breeder bags’, and Resting Working Dogs’. Some manufacturers produce nearly the same product without the VAT reduction under different names as they believe some people will not buy these brands under these titles.
Dry Puppy Food can contain all the ingredients your puppy requires, and several have high nutritional ratings.
Below are five brands that we have reviewed and are highly recommended for your puppy, and we even fed our puppy one of them for over 6 months before moving on to adult food.
You may wish to read our review on Best Dog Food, too.
Best Puppy Dry Food
Acana Puppy Food
Acana may be a brand that you may never have heard of, but they are an award-winning pet food manufacturer with a worldwide reputation of trust spanning more than a quarter-century and is part of the ‘Champion Pet Food’ group. This is ranked the best brand of food for your puppy, but this does come at a price. If costs are no option for your puppy, then this is the one that is highly recommended.
Acana has opted to have three versions of its food for puppies, one specific for the small dog breed up to 9kg fully grown, one for puppies that will grow to be over 9kg in weight up to 25kg, and finally one for the larger breed over 25kg once fully grown.
Acana prides itself on the quality of its food with a minimum meat content of 30% and it is good to know that it has a Nutritional rating of 93%.
Acana also does one for the medium size dog, from 9 to 25kg when fully grown under the Puppy and Junior brand. This one comes in 4 different sizes, 340g, 2kg, 6kg & 11.4kg, and again has a Nutritional rating of 95%. ACANA Puppy & Junior is brimming with fresh, free-run chicken and cage-free eggs from prairie farms, and wild-caught flounder from Canada’s Pacific, delivered fresh or raw by people they know and trust. In Whole Prey ratios of meat, organs, cartilage, and bone, ACANA delivers nutrients naturally, in their most nourishing form, for peak health and development.
Dogs are born carnivores, bred for a diet that is rich and varied in fresh, whole animal ingredients. Your growing puppy needs protein and fat from animal protein, to support its rapid development.
The Puppy Large Breed formula is specifically for puppies who will grow to be over 25kg in size. This comes in only the one size, 11.4kg but still has a Nutritional rating of 93%.
Autarky Puppy & Junior is a British Manufacture based in Northamptonshire and prides itself on quality puppy food with a Nutritional rating of 65%. It is ideal for all puppies aged 3 to 12 months old and has a minimum meat content of 35%.
The appetising recipe has been formulated with the correct balance of minerals, energy, protein and trace nutrients to support your puppy's growth and development. The small bite-sized pieces are ideal for small developing mouths and can be fed dry or moistened. To help assist your puppy's intellectual progression Autarky is enriched with vitamin E, selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids and taurine to help nutritionally support neural development.
The correct nutrition post-weaning will help to set your puppy up for life, allowing them to go on and lead the most fulfilling life possible.
It comes in two bag sizes, 2 & 12kg for convince and we rate this as the best in the mid-price range bracket and the brand we now feed our adult dog.
Arden Grange weaning & puppy rich in fresh chicken & rice is a complete food for weaning right up to 12 months old puppies. It is a high-calorie diet with just the right balance of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D that puppies need during this rapid growth stage. It has a Nutritional rating of 76%. This rates higher for Nutritional rating than the Arcana brand but comes with a larger price tag.
The delicious small kibble is also ideal for soaking to make a highly digestible puppy porridge and contains 44% chicken, a high-calorie diet for a puppy’s rapid growth stage.
It is specially formulated with a unique blend of natural supplements and contains prebiotics, joint supplements, krill and yucca extract.
This comes in three convenient sizes of 2, 6 and 15kg packages.
Arden Grange pride itself on being a British family-owned company based in Sussex
Harringtons, this brand has grown over the years and has become a very well respected brand. They are a family run business and were first established in 1923 and based in North Yorkshire. Still one of the best in its price range.
Harringtons Puppy Rich in Turkey & Rice is complete pet food that can be fed to puppies from 3 weeks onward up to 12 months old and comes in two pack sizes, 2 & 10kg’s.
It has been carefully formulated to provide wholesome nutrition to meet the requirements of growing puppies and contains no artificial colours or flavours, no dairy, no soya and no added wheat.
It is also has a well-balanced ratio of Omega 6 and 3 fats for a glossy coat and ‘Yucca’ to help reduce unpleasant odours from flatulence.
Harrington’s provides the conventional benefits associated with premium pet foods and has a Nutritional rating of 53%.
Alpha has a puppy brand under the ‘Sporting Puppy’ which is VAT free in the UK. They have two pack sizes, 3 & 15kg and is suitable for dogs weaning to 9 months old when they will then go onto Alpha Puppy Junior. This is the food we fed our Spaniel up to 9 months old, and she loved it. It has the same Nutritional rating as Harrington's, but as it is branded as a 'Sporting Puppy' range it has the benefit of the VAT reduction in the UK.
The ‘Alpha’ brand is manufactured by Grove Pet Foods which are based in Lincolnshire, UK.
Alpha Sporting Puppy is a complete hypoallergenic ‘wheat gluten-free’ food, nutritionally formulated to provide puppies of sporting, working and racing breeds with the essential ingredients for the best possible start in life. It has a Nutritional rating of 52%.
Using only the highest quality ingredients that have been carefully cooked and fortified with a range of minerals and vitamins to ensure that your puppy receives all the protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and oils, essential for steady growth during its first and most crucial stages of development. Despite how well your sporting puppy is bred, they cannot fulfil their natural potential if their diet does not provide their bodies with the essential nutrients they require for optimal growth and development.
It is Hypo-Allergenic & Wheat gluten-free, with No Added Artificial Colours or Flavours. Fish Meal & Linseed for Essential Omega 3 Oils – Aids Healthy Skin & Coat Condition and the highest quality chicken which is a good source of protein
Each meal is balanced and nutritionally complete.
30L Dry Food Container
Now you have found your choice of food, why not store it in a container and keep it dry. This 30L plastic storage container will hold up to 15kg of dry kibble and has a scoop to help you dispense your food.
Last updated 16/02/2022
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