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-There are many great premium, dry, adult small dog kibble brands out there that are both healthy and nutritional- it really just depends on the buyer's price range, if the dog has an health problems/Allergies, and what food you are currently feeding them.

Diamond Small Breed Adult is a great Premium dog food with small kibble bits, no corn/wheat/soy, no artificial colorings/flavors/preservatives, and wholesome, known sourced ingredients. Diamond Small Breed is one of the best basic, premium foods on the shelf. This brand would be a good choice for someone with a tighter budget.

Next up would be a couple different Holistic formulas including- Nature's Variety Prairie and/or Instinct, Wellness Small Breed, Halo Adult, and Natural Balance Small Breed/Bites. Holistic formulas not only contain meat protein sources, but fruits and veggies as well for a nice balanced diet.

Nature's Variety and Natural Balance Small Bites are both All-Life-Stage Diets, meaning it can be fed from puppies to seniors. Both have small kibbles, no unspecified byproducts, no corn/wheat/soy, single sourced proteins, and nothing artificial.

Nature's Variety has two separate lines known as Prairie and Instinct. Prairie is made with only wholesome grains and absolutely no corn/wheat/soy. Instinct is completely grain free for dogs with extra sensitive systems. Both of the kibbles are bio-coated with raw food for an added yummy taste and to create a unique option of switching from flavor-to-flavor with less concern/risk of an upset tummy. This is especially handy if you have a picky dog who doesn't like to settle with one flavor for very long.

Wellness Small Breed and Halo are both EXCELLENT small breed formulas withs super small kibble, Halo being the smallest kibble I have ever come across. Both of these formulas are corn/wheat/soy free, contain no artificial flavorings/colorings/preservatives, and contain only ingredients approved by company inspectors.

Finally come the raw and dehydrated diets. Raw diets are exactly what they sound like...raw meat processed and packaged with extreme care and precaution by amazing companies like Nature's Variety, Stella and Chewy's, and Primal. Some of the formulas, like Nature's variety, contain added fruits and vegetables to create a more holistic approach, while others contain just meat. This diet is a great option, especially for dental health, because this is how dogs would eat in the wild- this is their natural way of eating food. The active enzymes in the raw meat plus the breaking apart of "frozen" meat does wonders for keeping the dogs teeth clean.

Dehydrated diets are also great options, although they are on the higher priced end of dog foods- they are exceptional in their quality and only require measuring out and being mixed with water. Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's, and Nature's Variety all offer dehydrated diets. Honest Kitchen is processed in USDA approved facilities and has nothing but nutrition in it.

In the end, there is not one dog food that is "the best." Different dogs require different needs and diets, and different dogs react different to different foods. Asking yourself the following question can help you narrow down your search and feel more confident in sharing/asking for information from someone at your local pet food store-

1) Does my pet have any health problems?

2) Does he/she have any allergies?

3) What food is he/she currently eating right now?

4) What breed/type of dog is he/she?

5) How old is my dog?

6) Do I have any other pets that I need to take into consideration while making a food choice?

Science Diet, Eukanuba, Iams, Beneful, Purina, Old Roy, and other grocery store brands usually contain excess amounts of corn, wheat, soy, artificial colorings/flavors/preservatives, and other unhealthy, non-nutritional fillers. Be sure to take the time to read the ingredient panels.

I'll give a brief snippet of an article I posted discussing dog foods and the different varieties. But I think clarification is need on your question. When you ask about "small dogs", do you mean small dogs in the literal sense or do you mean puppies?

Anyway, here's the snippet from my article about choosing a dog food and the label requirements:

The Nutritional Adequacy Statement will also include a statement about which lifestage(s) the dog food is suitable for. Two profiles are used. Below is a definition of each and additional information about other profiles:

  • Growth/Lactation - A product intended for growing puppies, for pregnant dogs or lactating females.
  • Maintenance - Suitable for any adult, non-reproducing dog of normal activity level, but may not be sufficient for a growing, reproducing, or hard working dog.
  • Terms like "Senior" or "Formulated for Large Breed Adults" means the dog food meets the requirements for the Maintenance profile, but nothing more.
  • A product that doesn't fit within the two profiles above must state that "This product is intended for internittent or supplemental feeding," except if it is conspicuously identified as a snack or treat.

Low residue Eukenuba is quite good. You can purchase only from the vet office. It has been explained by a vet that most of the nutrients are absorbed into the body, hence less waste is eliminated, by your dog.

The age and activity level of your dog, as well as your pocketbook should guide you in choosing a food. In general look for a dry food that has a fresh meat ingredient as the first listing, or at least a dried meat, rather than a grain. Rice is easier to digest than corn, but corn has a higher carbohydrate and oil content. Dried beet pulp (has no sugar in it) is an excellent source of fiber that "smooths out" digestion by helping to prevent loose or too firm stools. Mixed tocopheral preservatives (vitamins) are preferred rather than BHA, an artifcial chemical preservative. Acidophilus bacteria (found in yogurt) helps maintain a healthy balance of good digestive bacteria in the gut. Please do some homework of your own in advance of buying a brand by asking breeders and groomers for recommendations. I have found professional groomers to be extremely educated about pet foods - nutrients go last to the coat of an animal and one with a great coat is generally fed a top food. I used to be a pet food sales rep and have found that many brands recommended in a store are either the "house brand" for which the store manger gets a bonus based on sales, or a national brand that is recommended because the sales rep recently threw a great pizza party for the sales staff and handed out free dog/cat food ;-)

Eukenuba tests on animals and kills many of them to study the effects of their foods. Science Diet is chemical based and recommended by vets because of the kicker they get from the reps. Natural Choice seems like a good food it is all natural ingredients and I have seen dogs who couldn't eat anything else have no problems with the duck and potato style. My dog has skin problems, I fed her ole roy when she was a pup and her hair fell out. When i switched to Purina Pro Plan (NOT purina one!!) her hair grew back rather quickly and thicker and healthier than ever.

Eukanuba, Blue Buffalo amd Solid Gold are all good quality pet foods. Make sure you buy for the correct size/age of the dog...The bags clearly label if the food is for adult, puppy or senior and will even have "small bites" available for the smaller breed.

Getting back to the "Eukenuba tests on live animals and kills some" answer.....That seems like an awful bold statement to be making. Can you back up that statement with actual proof? I would be very interested in knowing. I have been feeding my dogs Eukenuba for over 14 yrs. and would not want to support such a company if this were true about them. So please elaborate.

Eukenuba caused my husbands Shephard's intestines to get tangled, causing the bloat...he was treated with medications, but nothing could solve what the food had distroyed. I highly recommend if you want a quality food, to go to a natural dog food store....we use Innova on our dog. Also, Solid Gold and Blue Buffalo are good brands.

About Iams, Since Diet, & EukanubaAll three of these companies partake in unneccessary animal testing... going so far as to kill and maim their test subjects. Here are a variety of websites regarding this problem. I don't support any companies owned by Proctor and Gamble as they are one of the largest supporters of animal testing in all of North America.

http://www.uncaged.co.UK/iams.htm http://www.buav.org/campaigns/petfood/facts.HTML http://www.iamscruelty.com

- Good Foods -

California Natural Innova Health Wise Wysong Flint River Ranch Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul

There are a lot of them out there.

Read my article on what to watch for when reading pet food labels at my website; http://www.noselicks.com

I would have to say Wellness because its a high quality holistic food and it does have a formula just for small breeds. Also you could try Canidae, Evo, Natural Balance, Fromm, or Solid Gold (they also have a small breed formula) All of those would be healthy holistic good foods with not by-products, wheat, corn, soy, or any of those bad grains.

I would say that Blue Buffalo is definitely the best dog food out there. It is amazing how wholesome and nutricious it is. i used to feed my dogs Science Diet and it had multiple problems with its insides. i heard about Blue Buff and when i tried it my dog seemed to be feeling better. i am so happy and grateful for Blue Buffalo =)

Wellness has a small breed adult food that is really good for small breeds! Wellness is a top of the line holistic food! There are other foods that are good! I would stay away from foods like Eukanuba, Iams, Science diet; those foods tend to have fillers, dyes, and animal by-products.

I work at a pet supply store and the first question I always ask is "how much are you willing to spend?" While many of these answers are accurate, there are affordable foods that are good. Science Diet is much too expensive for the amount of corn in it. Wellness, Solid Gold, and California Natural are all fantastic foods if you are willing to spend $40 or $50 a bag. In my opinion, Diamond Naturals make an affordable small bites formula with minimal filler. It all depends on your budget and your dog. Also, if you already have a small dog that is doing fine on it's current food - regardless of what it may be - if it's not broken, don't fix it. Changing your dogs food for the heck of it is stressful to the dog and detrimental to their health.

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8y ago
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12y ago

There are many quality dog foods on the market that are great for your dog, but won't drain your piggy bank. Keep in mind that by putting a little bit more money into purchasing a higher quality dog food, you are going to save money in the long run because you will have a healthier dog that won't have to see the vet as often. Also, you end up feeding less of the high quality foods overall so you save money there as well. Below are some high quality dog foods that I would personally recommend for large breed dogs:

These are the more expensive Foods but they are some of the best foods on the market - Evo, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild

These are good foods that are better priced - Diamond Natural, 4 Health, California Natural, HealthWise

The most important things to remember when choosing a dog food are:

1) Be sure the food doesn't have any fillers, wheat, corn, or soy.

2) The first ingredient should be a meat or meat meal (not a meat by-product).

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12y ago

Pedigree would be the answer! Because it's highly recommended by others, too. Trust me!

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Q: What is a premium dry adult dog food for small dogs which is very healthy and nutritional?
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