The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing.
Rocky’s Viewpoint
Recently on 2 separate occasions I was talking with clients about recommendations they received to switch to breed specific food for their dog. One dog was a lab and the other was French bulldog puppy. For the French bulldog pup, the vet recommended they switch to a food specifically made for English bulldogs.
Not having previously researched this particular manufacturer of breed specific foods, I was curious about why any particular breed of dog would need a “breed specific food”, and what, if any, would be the benefits of such a food. Being naturally skeptical, I wondered if this was a good thing or just another gimmick to sell food.
I took a sampling of their adult and puppy breed specific foods, and looked at their ingredient list. Not surprising to me, it was all really similar. And in my humble opinion, not great ingredients to boot!
Breed |
Main Ingredient List |
Why Manufacturer Says this is Food is for this Breed |
| Labrador Retriever puppy | Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, brown rice, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten, corn, chicken fat, natural flavors, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil. | Kibble is formulated as a donut shape because labs tend to eat quickly. Should slow them down. |
| Golden Retriever puppy | Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, wheat gluten, corn, brown rice, chicken fat, wheat, powdered cellulose, natural flavors, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil. | |
| Yorkshire Terrier puppy | Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, chicken fat, corn, dried plain beet pulp, natural flavors, brown rice, wheat gluten,grain distillers dried yeast. | The kibble is designed with the optimal size, shape and texture to encourage chewing. |
| Poodle puppy | Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, corn, chicken fat, wheat gluten, corn gluten meal, wheat, natural flavors, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil. | The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
| Pug puppy | Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn, chicken fat, dried plain beet pulp, corn gluten meal, natural flavors, wheat gluten, fish oil | The cloverleaf shaped kibbles are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
| Labrador Retriever adult | Chicken by-product meal, brown rice, oat groats, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, natural flavors, chicken fat, pork meal, dried plain beet pulp, powdered cellulose. | Kibble is formulated as a donut shape because labs tend to eat quickly. Should slow them down. |
| Golden Retriever adult | Brown rice, chicken by-product meal, oat groats, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, wheat, chicken fat, natural flavors, powdered cellulose, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil, wheat gluten | The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
| Yorkshire Terrier adult | Brewers rice, brown rice, chicken by-product meal, chicken fat, wheat gluten, corn gluten meal, corn, natural flavors, powdered cellulose, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil. | The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
| Poodle adult | Corn, brewers rice, wheat gluten, chicken by-product meal, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, natural flavors, dried plain beet pulp, vegetable oil, fish oil, grain distillers dried yeast. | The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
| Pug adult | Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, brown rice, corn, corn gluten meal, oat groats, chicken fat, natural flavors, wheat gluten, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil. | The size, shape and texture are designed to be easy for this breed to pick up and encourage chewing. |
If you look closely at the table above, most of the ingredients are the same, they just may be ordered differently. And the reason for the “breed specific” nature of the food is generally that the kibble size and shape is formulated differently for each breed.
Dogs are dogs, they all have the same internal organs, digestive systems, basic nutritional requirements, and so on. Granted, if you have a Chihuahua you don’t want a kibble that’s sized for a Great Dane. And some sporting dogs may require more protein and fat than your average couch potato, but their other nutritional requirements are the same.
In other words, a dog’s diet needs to be formulated for their lifestyle, not their breed.
In my humble opinion, this is just another marketing gimmick to sell dog food. My advice is to educate yourself on what is a good diet for your particular dog, independent of his breed. A good place to start is Dog Food Advisor, a respected source I refer to frequently.
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