What’s The Best Food For Golden Retriever Puppy

Easy Homemade Dog Food Recipe

Jump to RecipeMy easy homemade dog food recipe combines lean ground sirloin, wholesome brown rice, fresh vegetables, hard boiled eggs, and tender herbs

***Please note, I am not a veterinarian, just a very passionate dog owner! The information in this blog post documents our own personal experiences, research, and the recipes that we feed our dogs under our veterinarian’s careful supervision. Please, consult with your vet and use your own personal judgment when considering transitioning to a 100% human grade food diet for your pup. This post was updated with video August 16, 2020, updated with additional recipe links 9/14/2020, updated 1/7/2021 with metric measurements.***

Nutro Ultra Large Breed Adult Dry Dog Food

Nutro Ultra Large Breed Adult Dry Dog Food contains about 3 types of proteins that would provide the best muscle support for your dogs. If you are looking for dog food that is packed with high-protein sources, this is the best option for you.

It contains protein from lamb, chicken, and salmon meals. Through this combination, your dogs will have omega 3 fatty acids from the salmon meal and improve their skin and coat. The other two sources can provide lean muscles for your dogs.

What to Like About It

The fact that this dog food is packed with protein is already a good reason for you to buy it. This dog food contains high-quality protein sources that would help provide the required protein for large dogs to grow healthy and strong.

Fromm dog food has human-grade, high-quality ingredients in every recipe, ensuring your dogs health is prioritized. This dog food recipe undergoes strict quality control measures and has not seen any recalls in recent years.

Key Benefits

• Produced at Fromms family-owned-and-operated facility
• High nutrient digestibility and utilization
• Third-party pathogenic bacteria testing on all production batches
• Fromms specially developed blend of probiotics

Best For Aging Pups: Hills Science Diet Dry Dog Food Large Breed Adult 6+ Senior

Just as puppies have a specific set of nutritional requirements, aging dogs also need extra, specialized support. With this Hills Science Diet dry dog food, your Golden Retriever can enjoy a harmonious blend of easily digestible ingredients that help to support his energy levels and keep him feeling playful. Once your pup starts aging, his joint health becomes an even higher priority. This recipe includes natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin and incorporates a balanced set of minerals to promote heart and kidney health. Omega six fatty acids and vitamin E nourish your Goldens skin and support that shiny coat he loves to show off.

Our testers immediately noted that their dogs dont seem hungry all the time with this formula. They are satiated more quickly than with other food brands and they exhibit more happy energy instead of the sluggishness they were previously displaying. Even if your dog has a sensitive digestive system, this recipe is easy on the tummy. Older dogs need a little extra attention and a bit more love as their bodies change and when you incorporate this dry dog food recipe, you deliver just that.

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Golden Retriever Diet And Nutrition

Golden Retrievers typically weigh between 55 and 75 pounds and stand between 21 ½ and 24 inches tall at the withers. Male Goldens are usually larger than females. Golden Retrievers are members of the Sporting group. As a breed, Golden Retrievers have an average lifespan for dogs of their size, reaching about 11 years of age.

By weight, the National Research Council of the National Academies recommends an average daily caloric intake of 1740 calories for an active adult Golden Retriever weighing 70 pounds. Dogs that have been spayed/neutered, or that are older, may need fewer calories. Some dogs may need more calories depending on their level of activity and their individual metabolism. Growing puppies, for example, consume more calories than adult dogs and so do young adult dogs. A young adult Golden Retriever weighing about 70 pounds, for example, and getting lots of exercise would need about 1876 calories per day. However, if your Golden tends to lie around the house all day with little opportunity to exercise, he would need fewer calories. Goldens, in particular, can excel at many dog sports such as hunting, agility, obedience, water sports, tracking, search and rescue, guide dog work, and many other things. Dogs that are putting in lots of hours in training and exercise often need more calories in their diet.

Wellness Complete Health Large Breed Adult

Primary Ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Barley, Peas, Oats

Wellness Complete Health prepares its food to support all the needs of a large breed dog like a Golden Retriever. With high-quality proteins, essential vitamins and minerals, and wholesome grains, it can boost your dogs immunity, improve their coat, promote digestive health, and even protect their skin.

Customer Review: We highly recommend the Wellness dog food Our Golden Retrievers have healthy energy and coats.

Rating: 4.5/5

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How Much And How Many Times Should You Feed Your Golden Retriever

It will depend on the individual Golden Retriever because some are great at regulating their food intake. If thats the case, you can free feed. Itll also depend on how active a dog is. If your Goldie worked hard on a particular day, a few extra calories would be needed.

On average, active Golden Retrievers require 1,353 to 1,740 calories a day, while sedentary Goldens will only need about 989 to 1,272 calories daily.

A dog calorie calculator will be handy to determine how much your dog should eat. As long as your dog is growing well and not packing on the pounds, you shouldnt worry too much.

As a general rule, a puppy should be eating ½ a cup of kibble, four meals a day until hes 3 months old.

Around 3-6 months, he should be eating three meals. You can swap out his puppy food for adult food around 6-14 months or after you sterilize him.

Always err on the side of caution, its okay to be on puppy food longer than needed.

When they turn one year old, you can feed them one full meal a day or divide it into two meals breakfast and dinner.

Readjust your pets diet if you cant feel his ribs , or you can see his ribs .

Best Food For Golden Retriever Puppy Tasty & Nutritious

Excuse me! Bowls empty!

Energetic, playful, and goofy golden retriever puppies burn a lot of calories and need highly nutritious food to grow and develop properly. The food you decide to feed to your puppy now can affect them as an adult and put their health at risk. Finding the best puppy food for golden retrievers is your best bet for preventing these problems from happening.

There are many high-quality puppy foods you can choose from, not all are formulated to meet your pups dietary needs. Choosing the wrong formula can be detrimental to your pups health and cause nutrient deficiency, musculoskeletal problems, heart disease, or cancer.

While these arent things you want to hear, you need to understand the full effect of unhealthy puppy foods. On the other hand, high-quality food that is formulated to meet the nutritional needs of a still-growing golden retriever puppy will give your pup a good start in life.

To help you do just that, Ive found and reviewed the seven best foods for golden retriever puppies!

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Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy Food

Purina Pro Plan Large Breed is our top choice of puppy food for Golden Retrievers. It provides a complete, healthy, nutritious diet to your puppy. The number one ingredient is chicken which helps development of strong muscles and healthy body functions. Our staff veterinarians highly recommend this puppy food.

Below is Purina Pro Plans feeding chart for a Golden Retriever puppy.

Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy Feeding Chart

Purina Pro Plan Savor

• One 35 lb. Bag – Purina Pro Plan High Protein Dog Food With…
• Hard kibble combined with tender, shredded pieces for taste and…
• High protein formula, with real chicken as the first ingredient
• Fortified with guaranteed live probiotics for digestive and…

If you click the link above and make a purchase, we earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

This recipe is designed for those dogs who do not enjoy a lot of fiber in their diet, but who still have a sensitive stomach, and many Goldens find themselves in this category. Beef tallow is also listed, which is a saturated fat that is much more palatable than most other fats, which again aids a healthy digestive system.

Chicken, fish meal and poultry by-product meals provide protein and high levels of glucosamine and chondroitin for his larger bones and joints and energy, and dogs find the extra meaty shredded pieces tasty too. Vitamin A, linoleic acid and fish oils provide plenty of nutrients for his beautiful coat.

We love that this recipe has the lowest fiber content for those who do not do well on a highly fibrous diet, but it focuses on gut health with added and guaranteed probiotics in every bite.

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How Much Food Should I Give My Adult Gold Retriever

Vets and animal nutritionists recommend two meals a day, totaling 2-3 cups of dry food per day.

It is vital to keep track of the meal frequency and quantity. This action will prevent your dog from becoming obese or undernourished.

We dont recommend feeding your dog once a day, as frequent small feeding helps to prevent bloating.

Why Is It Important To Give Your Golden Retriever The Right Amount Of Food

Keeping your dog at a healthy weight is very important. It can minimize your dogs risk of health problems, ultimately increasing his lifespan. Golden retrievers are one of the dog breeds who are most likely to suffer from obesity, so its even more important to be vigilant about their diets.

In recent years, the lifespan of golden retrievers has gone down significantly. They used to live for an average of 16 or 17 years, and now their average lifespan is 10 to 12 years. This is because golden retrievers are more susceptible than other dogs to different types of cancer, and a factor that plays a role is the type of food and how much you give them.

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How To Choose The Best Golden Retriever Dog Food

Each breed of dog has its own nutritional needs, and golden retrievers are no exception. While many dog food brands break up their products by the size category your furry friend fits into, thats not enough to tell whats the best fit for the breed of your dog. Here are some areas to keep in mind to narrow down your choices.

Best Overall Dog Food: Purina Pro Plan Large Breed

Purina Pro Plan Large Breed provides an overall nutritious diet to your Golden Retriever. This food comes highly recommended by our staff veterinarians. The number one ingredient is chicken which provides the protein needed to help develop strong muscles and healthy body function. It is also formulated with live probiotics that helps with your dogs digestive and immune systems.

The Purina Pro Plan adult product line has 19 different dry foods to choose from. The food is specially formulated to fit your Golden Retrievers needs. You can choose food that is good for sensitive skin or stomach. It also has different choices of meat like chicken, beef, or lamb. Having a variety of different formulas to choose from is beneficial due to different medical needs that your dog may have at certain times in their life.

Purina Pro Plan is the highest quality line of Purina dog food apart from the prescription diets. This food is highly digestible promoting optimal nutrient absorption to give your Golden the energy they need.

Top Ingredients:

The nice thing about Royal Canin dog food is the exact calculations of how much to feed your Golden Retriever based on their activity level for the day . On the back of the bag, there is a chart that shows these exact amounts. They can do this because there is a veterinary nutritionist on staff who chooses high quality ingredients for a nutritionally balanced meal.

Top Ingredients:

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Iams Proactive Health Large Breed

Primary Ingredients: Chicken, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Ground Whole Grain Corn

IAMS has been a leading brand in the dog food industry for yearsand for a good reason. They produce high-quality dog food for your Golden Retriever at an affordable price. Veterinarians recommend IAMS Proactive Health because it uses ingredients like animal protein and antioxidant-rich veggies to nourish your dog and meet their complete health needs.

Customer Review: I have two larger breeds, and this has been really good for them and cheaper than what I have fed before. Highly recommend it. Good for maintaining a decent weight too.

Rating: 4.7/5

How Much Water Should A Golden Retriever Drink

Moreover, the amount of water your pal needs every day depends on its activity level, size, weather, food type , weather, health conditions, etc. Further, since wet food has a high moisture content , your dog needs lesser water when you use wet food in its diet.

Besides this, it is better to include more water in your pals diet if it is overweight to prevent illness and ensure its regular activity. Generally, a Golden Retriever needs to drink about 30 ml of freshwater every day for each pound of its weight. Thus, when the dogs mostly rely on dry food, you need to increase their water intake.

However, when your dog avoids drinking water, you need to add more moisture to its diet or use a water fountain to encourage it to drink water. Along with this, dont forget to regularly switch the water of its water bowl with fresh water.

Further, you can also ensure that your dog gets all the essential nutrients through some easily available kitchen foods. Do you know about them?

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The Dangers Of Beg And Grain

In recent years, DCM has increased in Golden retrievers, according to this study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

There seem to be two potential causes of this.

When they surveyed what these dogs were eating, more than 90 percent of products were grain-free, and 93 percent of reported products had peas and/or lentils.

So when choosing which food to feed your puppy, you may want to think twice before you decide to go grain free.

Now you know what the most popular foods are, and which ones to avoid, lets get into some of the most common questions Golden Retriever puppy owners have about food.

Heres a table of contents for you:

• Fewer allergies

Thats a lot of health benefits, right?

Now high-quality food can be a little on the expensive side, but chances are likely that youll save more money in the long run on vet bills.

Origen Puppy Large Breed Formula

The top five ingredients are deboned chicken, deboned turkey, yellowtail flounder, whole eggs, and whole atlantic mackerel.

This recipe contains a minimum of 43 percent protein, 18 percent fat and 30percent estimated carbs, creating a fat-to-protein ratio of about 41percent.

This high-quality food is more expensive than many five-star rated foods.

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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

Royal Canin Golden Retriever Puppy Dry Food

Top Ingredients: 1. Chicken By-Product Meal, 2. Corn, 3. Wheat Gluten, 4. Chicken Fat, 5. Wheat

Golden Retriever pups tend to have a different dietary requirement which a regular puppy food might not be able to fulfill. This Royal Canin recipe is formulated to cater to their specific needs. It is created to meet their nutritional requirements during the development stage, without expediting their physical growth. You get all a delicious meal with all the nutrients necessary for the pup to grow into a healthy, active, and beautiful adult. As with the adult formula, this puppy food is also among the best dog food for golden retrievers.

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Royal Canin Golden Retriever Puppy

Primary Ingredients: Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn, Wheat Gluten, Chicken Fat, Wheat, Brewers Rice, Brown Rice

Supporting the needs of a growing Golden Retriever puppy is of utmost importance and will shape their health for the rest of their life. Royal Canin makes dry food tailored explicitly to particular breeds. Its Golden food variation uses chicken and brown rice ingredients to support digestive health, strong bones, and a healthy coat.

Customer Review: As a breeder of English Golden Retrievers, I am always looking for the ideal puppy kibble, and I have finally found it! Gorgeous coats, healthy body conditions, great activity levels- perfect puppies!

Rating: 4.8/5