Homemade Dog Food Golden Retriever

What Food Should Golden Retrievers Eat

Golden Retrievers are medium to large breed dogs that usually have an active lifestyle and should eat food formulated to suit their size and activity levels. Furthermore, their food should be adapted to their age, as puppies, adult dogs, and seniors have different dietary needs and their food should reflect that e.g. puppies need DHA for cognitive development and seniors require glucosamine and chondroitin to support their joint health.

Golden Retrievers are prone to obesity and can gain weight quickly if fed inadequately, which can cause a myriad of health issues in the long run, from putting unnecessary strain on their already issue-prone hips and joints to serious illnesses such as canine diabetes. Be sure that the food you pick for your pet is not high in fats and calories, as this majorly contributes to obesity. Protein-packed foods with healthy fibers and complex carbs are a much better option that will nourish your pet and support their health. If your Goldie has already gained a few extra pounds, consider a specialized weight management formula that could help them get back to their optimal weight, alongside regular exercise.

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Recommended Serving Amounts For Homemade Dog Food

As a general rule, dogs will eat around 2 to 3 percent of their ideal body weight in fresh food daily. Larger breeds may need as little as 1 1/2 percent, and smaller breeds may need as much as 4 percent.

This works out to be approximately:

• 2 pounds of food per day for a 100-pound dog
• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of food per day for a 50-pound dog
• 1/2 to 3/4 pound of food per day for a 25-pound dog
• 5 to 6 1/2 ounces of food per day for a 10-pound dog

There is much variation in what the ideal amount should be as it depends on how much your dog weighs and how active she is.

I feel that the best approach is to feed and watch if your dog is losing weight, give more, and if your dog is gaining weight, give less.

For our pugs, we feed a scoop each in the morning and a scoop each in the evening, plus all their supplements.

We have an easy system for this: homemade food is refrigerated in a sealed container with a measuring cup , and all the supplements are lined up together in a cupboard in the kitchen. Keeping your ingredients organized and accessible will make feeding time fast and smooth.

Compared to feeding commercial food, where you might scoop out kibbles or open up a can, feeding homemade food with all the supplements takes maybe 10 seconds more. And even if it took 10 minutes more, fresh wholesome food for our furbabies is worth it.

Other Tips For Making Homemade Dog Food

In deciding how much homemade food to feed dog and how to make your dogs food yourself, keep the following advice in mind:

• Pay attention to nutritional requirements. Dont just assume that feeding your dog wholesome foods will meet all of his needs.
• You dont have to ensure every single meal is fully balanced. Just make sure your dogs diet is balanced over time.
• Give your dog more than just a little bit of yogurt to meet calcium requirements.
• Your dogs nutritional needs are very different than those of humans.
• Your dogs nutritional needs vary based on lifestyle, age, and more.
• Dont go overboard with the vegetables. Pay attention to proportions.
• Dogs need carbs, and grains arent always bad for them.
• Raw diets arent necessarily good or bad. Always do your research before starting one.
• Always change your dogs diet gradually to prevent digestive discomfort.

All of this shouldn’t discourage you from making homemade dog food, but hopefully, it shows you you will need to put in a little more work than simply pouring kibble into your pet’s bowl.

To wrap this up: although I did give my recommendation for a serving size for most homemade food for dogs’ diets in this article and my tips on how much homemade dog food to feed a dog, I cannot stress enough the importance of working with a veterinarian or canine nutritionist.

This is the only way that you can be sure you’re feeding your pet an appropriate diet.

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Taste Of The Wild Southwest Canyon

Image courtesy Taste of the Wild

With Taste of the Wild Southwest Canyon Grain-Free Dry Dog Food, you can provide your canine companion with a nutritious diet that is tailored to his or her specific health needs.

This grain-free recipe, which is formulated with novel proteins like wild boar, includes nutrient-dense legumes such as peas and garbanzo beans that provide highly digestible energy to your active dog, as well as natural antioxidants from real fruits and vegetables and dried chicory root for prebiotic support and healthy digestion.

For complete and balanced nutrition with a taste of the wild your furry companion will constantly desire, essential minerals are chelated with amino acids to improve absorption and assure optimum benefit!

Canidae Pure Limited Ingredient Adult Dry Dog Food

Best Dog Food for Skin Allergies

Although a fairly low proportion of dogs with itchy skin actually has food allergies fleas, ticks, and other environmental factors are far more likely to cause itchiness if you suspect your dog has an allergy, dog food with limited ingredients is the way to go. Canidae Pure dry dog food has just eight major ingredients, plus all the micronutrients and vitamins your adult golden retriever needs to stay healthy. Additionally, since chicken is a fairly common food allergen for dogs, this fish-based formula derives its animal protein from salmon and salmon meals.

Each cup of this food contains 459 calories, as well as 32% protein, 14% fat, and 4.5% fiber. Canidae Pure also mixes in a blend of probiotics, antioxidants, and fatty acids to support healthy digestion. Although grains arent common allergens for dogs, this food is grain-free, which is one less potential allergen to worry about.

Flavor: salmon and sweet potato

Sizes: 4 lbs., 12 lbs., 24 lbs.

Grains: none

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Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials

Best Golden Retriever Food for Limited Budgets

While wed all love to give our pooches the best of the best, most of us dont have the means to buy lots of top-shelf dog food. Golden retrievers are big, active dogs, which means buying a lot of dog food over the years, and so its important to find a food that fits into your budget. Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials is an adult dry dog food that maximizes nutrition and minimizes costs. This food combines hard kibble with softer shredded pieces to create a texture that dogs love to eat, and there are three flavors to choose from.

With 26% protein, 16% fat, and 3% fiber, along with living probiotics, Purina Pro Plan is a complete, highly digestible nutrition for your golden retriever. The chicken & rice formula is also good for all life stages, puppy through senior, so if your dog loves it, you wont need to switch as they age. An adult golden will probably need about 3-3.75 cups per day, each of which contains 387 calories.

Flavors: salmon & rice, lamb & rice, beef & rice

Sizes: 6 lbs., 18 lbs., 35 lbs., 47 lbs.

Grains: rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn

Victor Purpose Nutra Pro Dog Food

Image courtesy Victor

Another option on this list of the best dog food for golden retrievers in 2022 is Victor Purpose Nutra Pro Dog Food. This food is made with real chicken, which is a great source of protein for your dog. This food also contains sweet potatoes and carrots, which are both excellent sources of carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

The first ingredient in this food is chicken, which provides your golden retriever with high-quality protein. This is an essential part of their diet to ensure that theyre getting all of the nutrients that they need. The other natural ingredients in this best dog food are both great sources of carbohydrates and dietary fiber, which can help to keep your dogs energy level up and their digestive system healthy.

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Eukanuba Large Breed Adult Dog Food

Eukanuba Large Breed Adult Dog Food is another top choice of our staff veterinarians. This brand of dog food provides a balanced nutritious meal that fuels an active lifestyle. The ingredients support healthy brain function and lean muscles.

Below is a feeding chart for Eukanuba adult dog food.

Eukanuba Large Breed Adult Feeding Chart

Eukanuba Adult Dog Food is like Royal Canin in that it provides precise amounts of food based on the level of exercise for that day. On the back of the bag, it explains how much food you should give for low, moderate, and high activity.

How To Avoid Health Issues Of Goldens With The Proper Nutrition Golden Retriever Food Guide

If your Golden retriever suffers from the following health problems, giving them home-made food following the recommendations below can get these health issues under control.

Color change on the coat increase the levels of amino acids obtained from protein sources. Make sure to provide 75 g of protein per 1000 cal.

Gastrointestinal issues steer clear from foods that contain tryptamine and histamine. These are commonly found in dairy and fermented vegetables as well is as some meats such as bacon.

Itching and dermatitis enhance their diet with vitamin E and B vitamins. Provide them optimal amounts of omega six and omega-3 fatty acids sourced from fish oil. You may want to add a probiotic.

Scaling and dull coat make sure they have balanced amounts of EPA and DHA levels in their nutrition. You can do this by adding fish oil and zinc.

Dandruff and crusty skin provide them high levels of zinc and vitamin A.

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Diamond Naturals Large Breed Adult Chicken And Rice

Image courtesy Diamond Naturals

Diamond Naturals Large Breed Adult Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food is a high-quality food that’ll give your big breed adult dog everything she needs. Each Diamond Naturals dry formula is complemented with superfoods and guaranteed probiotics to aid in the development of your canine’s physical, mental, and emotional health.

Your dog will enjoy the taste of this high-quality food. It’s made with fresh cage-free chicken, whole grain brown rice, and real fruit and vegetables including kale, blueberries, and coconut to provide your canine with protein, minerals, omega fatty acids to improve skin and coat health.

Assist your buddy in obtaining a comprehensive and balanced holistic diet with Diamond!

Are Golden Retrievers Carnivores

Many people presume dogs to be pure carnivores, but are they just meat-eaters?

Golden Retrievers are not carnivores but omnivores. While protein makes up most of a dogs diet, the domesticated dog can digest and use plant-based foods for essential nutrients. They also have blunt molars capable of grinding up fibrous plants and intestines that can digest non-meat foods.

Through thousands of years of domestication, dogs have adapted to a starch-rich diet. Theyve developed into omnivores, showing that they can survive on a wide range of foods rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

The domesticated dog is known to be a direct progeny of the grey wolf. This research revealed that wolves were true adaptive carnivores, while modern dogs have many digestive and metabolic traits associated with omnivores.

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A Meal For You And Your Dog

While this recipe doesnt make a large amount of food you can use for a few days, it does offer the benefit of you being able to cook a meal for your dog and yourself at the same time, which can be a huge time saver. This recipe comes from The Dog Bakery.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 salmon portions SKIN ON
• 1 head of broccoli
• 2 tbsps olive oil

DIRECTIONS for the dog meal:

• Cut broccoli stems, peel carrots, and cut squash. Keep the peelings for your dog. Mix together and steam in rice cooker or bake in oven.
• Air fry potato shavings after pouring in 1 tbsp olive oil in air fryer .
• Pan fry salmon in 1 tbsp olive oil with skin on. Start with skin side down on the pan at a medium temp. After flipping, pull crisp salmon skin off both pieces of salmon and place in dog bowl.
• Once everything is finished cooking, mix all together in dog bowl. Make sure each piece is bite-sized.
• Let cool for at least 15-20 minutes before serving to your dog.

DIRECTIONS for the human meal:

• Cut broccoli, carrots, and squash and steam in rice cooker .
• Slice potato into chips or fries. Air fry after putting 1 tbsp olive oil in air fryer .
• Pan fry salmon in 1 tbsp olive oil with skin on. Start with skin side down on the pan at a medium temp. After flipping, pull off crisp salmon skin off both pieces of salmon and place in dog bowl.

Golden Retriever Raw Diet

Like homemade diets, formulating a raw diet for Goldens requires lots of effort and planning. There is more risk of contamination and nutritional imbalance due to its raw nature.

Raw dog food usually consists of uncooked and unprocessed animal-based products. These include raw meat, bones, vegetables, fruits, eggs with shells , dairy products such as butter and cheese made from raw milk without pasteurization or homogenizing. A raw dog diet is supposed to resemble the diet of what dogs ate in the wild millions of years ago.

Raw dog food is a growing trend These diets provide canines with more nutrients than cooked foods and help them protect their teeth, coat, digestive functions, among other health benefits. Read our Homemade Dog Raw Diet Guide to learn about raw feeding Goldens and their benefits. We also recommend visiting our best raw dog food article to find the best brands to feed your dog.

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How Often Should I Feed My Golden Retriever Puppy

Growing puppies have different nutritional requirements than adult dogs, requiring more frequent feedings at varying stages of development. Depending on age, heres how much you should feed your Golden Retriever puppy:

Golden Retriever puppies get all their nutrients from their mother when they are born. However, starting the weaning process onto a new diet from three to four weeks old is safe.

Puppies in the early stages of development need enough calories, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals to support rapid growth and development and set them on the road to a healthy life.

Learn More On How Often Dogs Should Eat In This Video

Since Golden Retrievers are a medium-large breed, they should be fed large-breed dog food even puppies. Large breed dog food is essential for your puppys nutrition.

But why?

Large breed foods have a higher protein content and lower calcium, phosphorus, and fat content. It is nutritionally designed to keep puppies from growing too quickly, leading to debilitating conditions like hip and elbow dysplasia.

While adult dogs can thrive on one meal a day, most Golden Retriever owners feed their dogs twice daily. It makes it easier for the dog to digest the food, control hunger, and avoid life-threatening bloat . My dog would much rather eat twice a day.

Why Do The Ingredients Of A Food Matter

Of course, your golden is a highly intelligent and sociable dog. Heâs very lovable and everyoneâs his friend.

Unfortunately, goldens have a higher-than-average incidence of cancer. Many factors, including genetics and nutrition, determine a dogâs health.

All dog foods are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration . They must also meet the Association of American Feed Control Official nutrient standards for the correct life stage.

But AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles consist only of minimum values for all the nutrients required by dogs and maximum values for just a few nutrients that can be toxic if consumed in excessive amounts.

As long as a food meets the minimum nutrient values expressed in the profiles, and doesnât exceed the maximum values, it can be labeled as complete and balanced.

But, even with such regulation, not all foods are created equal.

Feeding a food with low-quality ingredients may contribute to chronic inflammation and obesity. And chronic inflammation can contribute to arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and infection.

Foods should be made from wholesome, natural ingredients with no fillers, by-products, or artificial additives.

They should be rich in high-quality animal sources such as poultry, meat, and fish. They should also name the specific protein sources such as chicken, duck, beef, lamb, not a generic âmeatâ label.

If your dog becomes obese, you can even ask your vet about prescription weight-loss diets.

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Foods You Can Include In Homemade Recipes Of Your Golden Retriever

Despite its different digestive systems, some human foods are very beneficial for dogs. Thus, you must consider including these foods while you prepare homemade recipes for your Golden Retriever. Further, these foods include:

• Apple, Bananas, and Berries

• Green tomatoes and raw potatoes

Thus, you should never include these foods while preparing homemade recipes for your Golden Retriever.

Balancing Homemade Dog Food

Feeding your dog a homemade diet is a bit more complicated than just cooking up some chicken and rice, tossing in a handful of berries and tossing it in front of your dog.

You need to ensure that your dog is receiving the correct number of calories and the proper balance of various nutrients.

Three of the most important considerations include:

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