How to Choose the Best Natural Food for Puppies

What a puppy eats is one of the cornerstones of guaranteeing their health and wellbeing throughout their life. An approach built on natural food is an option that more and more pet owners are considering.

Choosing the best natural food for our puppy can look like a complicated task, though. As a canine nutrition expert, it is important to approach this subject from a scientific perspective grounded in the specific nutritional needs of growing puppies.

What Is Natural Food for Puppies?

Before getting into the detail of how to choose the best option, it is essential to define what we mean by "natural food". Broadly speaking, natural food refers to foods that are minimally processed, with no artificial preservatives, colourings or synthetic flavourings added. It can include both fresh, raw foods and lightly cooked ones.

The aim of a natural diet is to provide essential nutrients from primary sources, without the involvement of chemical compounds that might not be beneficial to the puppy's health. Although some raw diets have grown popular, it is crucial to understand that not every raw diet is balanced or safe, and certain guidelines have to be followed to guarantee the puppy receives every nutrient they need.

The Basic Nutritional Needs of Puppies

Puppies have different nutritional needs from adult dogs. Their rapid growth and the development of their immune system call for a diet rich in protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and calories.

• Protein: Puppies need more protein than adult dogs, since it is essential for muscle development, tissue repair and cell growth. That protein should come from high-quality animal sources such as chicken, lamb, turkey or fish.
• Healthy fats: Fats are not only an important source of energy, they also play a part in the health of the puppy's brain, nervous system and skin. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, found in fish oils and certain vegetable oils, are particularly important for optimal cognitive development.
• Calcium and phosphorus: These two minerals are critical for bone and dental development. An imbalance in the ratio of calcium to phosphorus can cause growth problems, especially in large breeds.
• Vitamins and minerals: Vitamins A, D and E and the B complex are essential for immune function, the development of eyesight, skin health and metabolism. Minerals such as zinc and magnesium also play crucial roles in growth and general health.

What to Consider When Choosing Natural Food for Your Puppy

Choosing the best natural food for our puppy means going carefully through the labels, the ingredient sources and the vet's recommendations. Some of the key points to bear in mind are:

High-Quality Ingredients

The first step in choosing a quality natural food is to read the ingredient list. It should begin with a specific animal protein source such as "chicken", "lamb" or "fish". Avoid foods mentioning "by-products" or "protein of unspecified origin", since these ingredients tend to be less nutritious.

Beyond that, including vegetables, fruit and complex carbohydrates such as sweet potato, oats or pumpkin can provide fibre, antioxidants and energy, but in moderate amounts. Dogs, and puppies especially, do not need a diet loaded with carbohydrates the way humans do.

Avoiding Artificial Preservatives

Natural food should be free of artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT or ethoxyquin, which are used in some commercial foods to extend shelf life. These compounds have been linked to long-term health problems in dogs.

Instead of these additives, look for natural preservatives such as vitamin E (tocopherols) or citric acid, which give an adequate shelf life without adverse side effects.

Breed Size

The puppy's breed also plays a crucial part in choosing their diet. Large-breed puppies have slightly different needs in terms of the calories, calcium and phosphorus they require. Diets designed for large breeds are formulated to avoid accelerated growth, which can cause bone and joint problems later on.

Small-breed puppies, on the other hand, need a diet with a higher calorie density, since their metabolism is faster and they need more energy per unit of body weight.

Raw or Lightly Cooked Diet

One of the most important decisions in choosing a natural diet for puppies is whether to go for raw or cooked. Raw diets have grown popular thanks to their focus on unprocessed foods that mimic what dogs would eat in the wild.

Raw diets do carry risks if they are not handled properly, though. Bacterial contamination, such as salmonella, is a potential risk both for the puppy and for the people in the household. Cooked diets, whether prepared at home or commercially, can offer the same quality of natural ingredients but with a lower risk of pathogens.

Make It at Home or Buy It

Online you will find dozens of videos with recipes for making natural food for your puppy, but they are not always simple recipes and they are not always balanced. On top of that, we can make the mistake of failing to provide the nutrients our puppy actually needs.

That is why here at Soyunperro we always recommend having the help of a vet who specialises in canine nutrition to advise us on how to go about natural feeding for our puppy, or failing that, buying it from quality companies with a large team of vets specialising in nutrition, who will supply the natural food for our puppy ready-made and matched to their needs (every dog is different).

One of the natural food companies we tend to recommend for its high quality is Dogfy Diet, who will advise you personally and tell you what the best options for your puppy may be, based on their characteristics and needs.