Best Dog Food For Pugs Healthy Pugs should be able to eat any balanced dog food with good quality ingredients. As with any dog, some individual dogs may do better on some foods than others. If your dog has health problems or if he suffers from allergies or food intolerances, then you will need to work with your veterinarian to identify the foods that are causing your dog problems so you can find a food that works for your dog.

Identifying the Best Food for Your Pug

As long as your Pug is healthy, he should be able to eat foods that most people identify as good dog foods. Hallmarks of good dog foods include:

Meat protein: Good dog foods should have a couple of named sources of meat protein in the first several ingredients. Named sources of meat protein would include things like “chicken meal” or “lamb meal.”

Named Sources of Fat: Fat is good for your dog. Some vitamins are “fat-soluble” and your dog’s body can only access them if they are present in fat. Fat has benefits for your dog. But, it needs to be a named source such as chicken fat. Avoid generic sources of fat such as “poultry fat.”

Avoid Digest and By-Products. These are parts of animals that you probably don’t want your dog to eat. And they contain lower quality protein that is not as good for your dog.

Corn. Corn is a controversial subject for many dog owners. Lots of good dog foods use corn as a carbohydrate and protein. Corn itself is not a “bad” ingredient, as long as your dog is not allergic to it, and as long as it’s not being used as a substitute for meat protein. Corn offers a high degree of bio-availability (89 percent) if it is high quality corn that is cooked and processed well. So, don’t shun a good dog food just because it contains corn.

Grains. Some people prefer to feed their dogs a grain-free food. That’s fine, but it is not necessary. They think that it is more biologically appropriate to feed their dogs what wolves would have eaten, and say that wolves don’t eat grain. Well, dogs have been domesticated for 15,000 years and in that time they have adapted to eat a lot of grain and processed food while living with humans. It’s really not necessary to avoid feeding your dog food that contains rice or other grains, but you can if you prefer. From a scientific standpoint, there are no studies that show that dog food with grains are bad for your dog or that dogs fed a grain-free diet are any healthier.

Many people believe that grains cause allergies but dogs are more likely to be allergic to beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, and chicken eggs before they are allergic to any grains.

Avoid Artificial Preservatives. These include ethoxyquin, BHA, and BHT. You should also avoid artificial sweeteners and colorings, as well as sugar in your dog’s food.

Taurine. It’s usually best to look for a food that adds taurine to the food, for your dog’s heart health. Not all foods add taurine. If your food doesn’t, you can add fish oil to the food to supply taurine.

If you follow these suggestions you should be able to choose a good food for your Pug.



Best Dog Food For Pugs

Recommended Foods for Your Pug

Some of the best dog foods for Pugs include:

• Artemis Dog Food

• Dick Van Patten Natural Balance Dog Food

• Eagle Pack Dog Food

• Solid Gold Dog Food

• Wellness Dog Food

• Taste of the Wild Dog Food

• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul

You can feed your Pug either dry kibble or canned food, or feed kibble and add a little canned food as a topping.

No matter what you choose to feed your dog, the most important consideration is how your Pug does on the food. Observe his appearance. Does he gain weight or lose weight? How does his coat look? Are his eyes bright and shiny? Does he have good energy? What does his poop look like? It should be firm and there should only be a small amount of it. He should not have diarrhea; nor should he have hard little balls that are hard for him to pass. All of these things are indications of how your dog is digesting and using the nutrients in the food.

Conclusion

A healthy Pug should be able to eat a good quality food just like other dogs. Choose a good food based on the ingredients. Ignore gimmicks. Make any changes to your dog’s diet slowly. Once you have changed foods, watch your dog carefully to see how he does on the new food.