There are definitely some considerations you should take into account when selecting the best large-breed puppy food for your precious puppy. Large-breed puppies have special nutritional needs. They grow fast, they get big, and they get heavy.
If you own a giant- or large-breed puppy (Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Mastiff, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, etc.), make sure you feed her a natural puppy food that’s been formulated specifically for large-breed puppies.
These pups grow extremely quickly, but their growth rate needs to be regulated so that they develop properly. A quality large-breed puppy food is designed to control growth rates while providing the nutritional support that the puppies need for proper muscular and skeletal development.
Recommended Large-Breed Puppy Food
Many of the top-rated dog food companies (Innova, Orijen, Wellness, and so forth) make excellent large-breed puppy foods in both canned and kibble varieties. The best large-breed puppy foods contain the proper amounts and balance of protein, phosphorus, calcium and fat to promote proper bone formation, along with glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for healthy joints despite the stress imposed by a large puppy’s weight. Of course, the best large-breed puppy foods also contain all the other ingredients every puppy needs to develop properly.
Dry, Wet or Semi-Moist: Types of Puppy Food Formulations
When looking for the best large-breed puppy food (or puppy food for any size breed, for that matter), it’s helpful to understand the different types of puppy food formulations.
Basically puppy food falls into three main categories: 1) dry, 2) wet and 3) semi-moist. Let’s take a closer look at each of these three types of puppy food.
As its name implies, dry dog food has a very low moisture content, in many cases well under 15%. Wet dog food (canned) includes far more moisture than kibble (a moisture content of 65-75% is pretty typical) and often is more visually appealing than kibble – to people, anyway. Dogs don’t care what their food looks like – to them, it’s how it tastes and smells that’s important. But most dogs seem to consider canned food the ultimate in tastiness, after “people food,” anyway. Semi-moist dog food typically is sold in pouches or bags, includes a fair amount of moisture (25 to 35%) and generally is gobbled up by dogs.
Dry or Wet is Fine, But Avoid Semi-Moist Puppy Foods
When we consider the three types of puppy food formulations (dry, wet and semi-moist), I can say with confidence that both dry puppy food (kibble) and wet puppy food (cans or tins) are fine to feed your puppy. However, I can’t say the same about semi-moist puppy food.
Why don’t I like semi-moist puppy foods? Unfortunately, although many dogs love it, most semi-moist dog foods are loaded with artificial chemicals, dyes and other additives. It’s just part of the manufacturing process that enables the “half-way between dry and wet” nature of semi-moist puppy food. I simply cannot recommend feeding this type of food to your dog for that one simple reason.
Where Can You Find Deals on Large Breed Puppy Food?
As with dog food for adults, in general, the more you pay for puppy food, the better quality it will be. There aren’t really any “deals” on puppy food, other than looking for sales and using coupons whenever possible. Try to stay away from the cheapest, highly discounted puppy foods. There’s a reason they’re priced that way, and it isn’t anything good. The cheapest deal is definitely not going to get you the best large-breed puppy food.