Best Small Breed Dog Foods
- #1 Hill's Science Diet Dog Food For Small Breed Dogs
- #2 Purina Bella Natural Bites For Small Dogs Adult Dry Dog Food
- #3 Purina Pro Plan Small & Toy Breed Formula Adult Dry Dog Food
- #4 Wellness Complete Health Natural Dry Small Breed Dog Food
- #5 Royal Canin Health Nutrition Small Adult Dry Dog Food
- #6 Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Small Breed Dog Food
- #7 Merrick Lil Plates Grain Free Small Breed Recipe
- #8 Purina Beyond Small Breed Dog Food
- #9 Diamond Naturals Real Meat Recipe
- Buyer's Guide
- Conclusion
The best small breed dog food is Hill’s Science Diet Dog Food For Small Breed Dogs.
Small dog breeds are known for being fearless, highly energetic, and simply adorable. With their small stature, you might think they are fragile but the reality is they are tough little dogs.
Smaller dogs have higher metabolisms than larger ones, so they burn through food faster. This means that they need to eat more often, which makes it important to find the best dog food that will keep them healthy and strong.
When it comes to dog food, there are a lot of factors to consider, but small dogs need special care. Their bodies are different (they’re more prone to joint problems and heart disease), and the proper diet is different too. So how do you decide which small breed dog food will be best for your little four-legged friend?
Without further ado, let’s delve into the list of the best small breed dog foods!
Right off the bat is the small breed dog food package that will appeal to the pickiest of pets and provide them with the needed ingredients and nutrients for healthy growth.
Hill's Science small breed dog food contains – among others – chicken meal, pork meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain corn, and whole-grain wheat, all of which contribute to a balanced mixture of both plant and animal protein, carbs, and fiber.
According to Hill’s Science researchers, their ingredients provide easy-to-digest nutrition for growing pups weighing up to 25 pounds when fully grown, along with nursing and pregnant small breed dogs. From vitamins, E and C, which enhance immunity, to DHA, which contributes to healthy brain development, and omega-3 fatty acids, which is essential for muscle and bone development and growth, your small breed dog will get everything he needs when growing.
Hill's Science package for small breeds contains a plethora of other healthy ingredients, including pork fat, which is loaded with omega-6 fatty acids and has a sweet flavor that dogs love, fish oil, and flaxseed, both of which are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for the skin and joints of your dog, and Oat fiber, which is a great source of dietary fiber.
Pros
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An excellent source of protein, carbs, and fiber. This small kibble mixture is balanced and tailored for small breeds and puppies, and it’s well-researched to promote healthy growth. The flavor is also nice and seems to appeal to most dogs, even the pickiest among them.
We get it, the prices of dog food can be too high sometimes, which makes finding a quality brand that can give your dog everything he needs without breaking the bank seem like an impossible endeavor. Worry not, as we’ve already done the heavy lifting and found it for you; Purina Bella Natural Bites, our top value-oriented small breed dog food.
Despite its low price, this dog food brand contains a multitude of healthy ingredients, including chicken by-product meal, whole grain corn, whole grain wheat, soybean meal, and corn gluten meal, making it both delicious and nutritious.
Through its ingredients, Purina Bella’s Natural Bites can provide your small breed dogs with the required vitamins (B12, B1, A, and D3 just to name a few), fiber, protein, and fats for healthy growth. The meat concentrate included in this small breed dog food offers around 300% more protein than fresh chicken, the corn and wheat are (as cereal grains) an excellent source of energy, and the soybean meal is another protein-packed ingredient.
Other components, such as the corn gluten meal and canola meal, also contribute to the overall nutritional value of this dog food brand, thus making for a complete, healthy meal every time.
Pros
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Granted, Purina Bella Natural Bites isn’t the fanciest of dry food for small dogs, but for the price, it definitely does the job perfectly and shines as an excellent mainly-plant-based dry dog food that promotes growth and development through a handful of vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients. Good nutrients, sweet flavors, and reasonable price. What else could you ask for in dog food?
Purina Pro Plan is another affordable dog food manufacturer that has been providing pets with healthy nutrition for years. The formula isn’t revolutionary—with both animal- and plant-based ingredients —but the result is pure nutritional quality.
Among the notable ingredients in this dog food, there’s chicken, which is the primary protein source, barley, which provides decent caloric energy and supports stable blood pressure levels, and animal fat. Quite the complete food, isn’t it?
There’s a catch though. The Purina Pro Plan small breed dog food product contains a lot of by-products, such as the poultry by-product meal and brewers rice, which is a cereal grain by-product, making the mixture a bit controversial as by-products offer a slightly lower quality compared to single-species ingredients.
Nevertheless, they still provide plenty of benefits. The poultry by-product meal, for instance, is a natural source of glucosamine.
Pros
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Although the mixture may seem of lower quality compared to premium brands, Purina Pro Plan small breed dog food comes at a really affordable price and offers great nutritional value that can support and maintain the growth and development of your little pooch.
If your chihuahua prefers natural, premium ingredients over wheat or meat by-products, Wellness’ dog food for small dogs might just be what he needs, especially that it comes in a kibble size that’s just right for a tiny dog’s mouth
Just like other products in the wellness complete health line, this dog food for small breeds contains deboned chicken, chicken meal, ground brown rice, tomato pomace, turkey, and garlic powder, along with many other natural ingredients.
These ingredients not only make for a delicious taste but also contribute to a healthy, balanced mixture that’s good for the growth, immunity, digestive wellness, and high energy of your little pooch.
Pros
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The Wellness Complete Health Natural Dry Small Breed Dog Food lies just in the middle ground. It’s not too expensive, nor is it the cheapest. In playing for both crowds, it does come with a few compromises, but for the price, there’s nothing to complain about, especially that all the ingredients are natural and premium.
Royal Canin is a dog food brand that is known for its nutritious packages that appealed to big dog-breed owners, but, more impressively, they really hit a chord with the small breed dog owner with the Health Nutrition Small Adult Dry Dog Food.
Among the ingredients, this small breed dog food contains a chicken meal, which, although is controversial as is the case with any meat meal, is a concentrate, which means that it contains 300% more protein than fresh chicken. For carbs and energy, Royal Canin’s small breed dog package includes brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that’s easy to digest.
Other healthy ingredients include corn, a plant-based protein booster, chicken fat, which is high in omega-6 fatty acids, wheat gluten, another plant-based protein source, and fish oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Pros
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Although this dog isn’t the cheapest, it definitely lives up to both the price point and brand name and can be the best dog food for small dogs depending on your dog’s needs, though keep in mind that many of its ingredients are controversial in the dog food world.
A few years ago, Blue Buffalo shook up the dog food market with their nutritious large breed packages, and they’ve recently expanded the line to the world of small breed dogs.
Blue Buffalo’s dog food for small breeds includes a plethora of protein sources, both animal- and plant-based ones, including chicken meal, deboned salmon, and pea protein, all of which can promote healthy growth for your pup. This dog food is also an excellent carb source, with energy-inducing ingredients such as tapioca starch and pea starch, both of which are gluten-free and full of calories.
Even though Blue Buffalo claims that the main ingredient in this dog food is meat, it’s worth noting that it actually contains different types of pea products, including Pea protein, Peas, Pea fiber, and Pea starch.
If we were to consider all of these individual items as one ingredient, peas become the predominant ingredient in this recipe, so the “first component is natural meat” claim might just be a marketing ploy.
Pros
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Protein is essential for healthy development, and when it comes to protein-packed dog foods, Blue Buffalo offers the best recipe with both plant and animal sources that contribute to a balanced mixture.
Back to the affordable side of the spectrum with Merrick, another well-known pet food brand, and its small dog food that’s delivered in a beautiful package.
There’s more to it than meets the eye though, as Merrick’s dog food for small breeds offers a well-balanced, grain-free recipe that contains deboned salmon, an excellent omega-3 source, salmon meal for protein, and sweet potato for energy through a gluten-free carbohydrate source.
What’s notable about this dog food brand is that it uses coconut oil as a natural flavor, which, being a medium-chain triglyceride, is also known for its excellent health benefits as it can help in the treatment of chronic skin disorders and canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome.
Pros
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Through its grain-free formula, the Merrick small breed dog food provides great nutritional value for your dog without blowing a hole in your wallet, thus making for a great combo of quality and affordability.
The Purina Beyond Small Breed Dog Food is a solid mid-range dog food recipe. It contains chicken, which is the first source of protein, barley, which is a starchy carb that supplies several healthy nutrients like fiber, and beef fat, which, although does sound appetizing, is a quality ingredient and a great fat source.
Truth be told, we’re a little conflicted about Purina Beyond adding brewers rice and canola meal to its recipe, as both are controversial, but they’re also found in premium brands and can yield significant health benefits, especially when mixed with the other ingredients, so nothing to complain about here.
Pros
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In a nutshell, Purina One Beyond is an above-average dry product that contains both healthy ingredients and controversial components that may seem appetizing to some people.
Diamond Naturals gets the last spot on our list of the best dog food for small dogs. The ingredients include beef meal – which is a meal concentrate – for protein, peas as a source of fiber, and rice flour or ground white rice, which is a gluten-free substitute for wheat flour.
This dog food includes a lot of seeds, including flaxseed as an omega-3 fatty acid source, chia seed, which is pretty similar to flax, and quinoa, which is known for its gluten-free grains.
Pros
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With a long track record and plenty of happy customers, the Diamond Naturals Real Meat Recipe is a good option to consider, especially if you’re on a budget.
Buyers Guide
Dog Food For Small Dogs Buyer’s Guide
Although big and small dog breeds are pretty similar in different physical and behavioral features; they’re quite different when it comes to nutritional needs. For that very reason, choosing the best dog food for small dogs can be overwhelming, especially considering the vast number of brands available today, each of which claims to offer the best ingredients and highest nutritional value.
No need to break into a cold sweat though, as we’ve already done the heavy lifting for you, but you still need to pick the ideal product for your pup. For that, we went through all of the resources available online and offline and researched the subject thoroughly to clear up any confusion you might have in your mind. So, for all the Yorkies and Chihuahuas out there, here goes our guide:
