Best Dog Food for Goldendoodles of 2022: Best Picks

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One of the most adorable hybrids, Goldendoodles combine the best of poodles and golden retrievers, such as intelligence, affection, and playful attitudes. However, choosing the best dog food for your Goldendoodle is your responsibility, and a nutritious, appropriate diet will keep your pup healthy and happy. Here is everything about the best dog food for Goldendoodles!

Comparison Chart

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Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Natural Senior Dry Dog Food
Best Choice
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IAMS PROACTIVE HEALTH Adult Minichunks Small Kibble High Protein Dry Dog Food
Best Price
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NUTRO WHOLESOME ESSENTIALS Adult Small Bites Natural Dry Dog Food
Best Ingredients

Best Dog Food for Goldendoodles Reviews

Blue Buffalo Freedom Senior Chicken Dry Dog Food

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Blue Freedom offers grain-free dog food alternatives for pet owners who want to choose high-quality, nutritious food for their furry friends. These products are made of natural ingredients enriched with minerals and vitamins.

Product Highlights

Blue Buffalo’s Freecom recipe is made with grain-free, gluten-free ingredients. It has real chicken and does not contain any poultry by-products, soy, wheat, or artificial flavors, among others. It is specially formulated for senior Goldendoodles, so it contains both chondroitin and glucosamine that support mobility and joint health.

Additionally, the dog food is enriched with taurine, ensuring proper support of heart health. The LifeSource Bits are a combination of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants chosen by animal nutritionists and veterinarians, supporting your pup’s wellness and health.

What We Like

The dog food contains real deboned chicken as the main ingredient, ensuring a proper source of quality protein. Furthermore, it does not have any grains or gluten while ensuring an appropriate amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that promote a shiny coat and healthy skin. Another great feature is the addition of taurine, which supports heart health.

What We Don’t Like

The recipe is standard for all breeds sizes. As a result, if your dog is quite a picky eater, the size might not be suitable.

Pros

  • Made with real chicken and without containing any by-products, wheat, corn, and others
  • Free of gluten and grains, but enriched in omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids
  • Contains taurine for heart health
  • Perfectly crafted by vets and nutritionists for senior dogs

Cons

  • One-size-fits-all recipe

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Nutro Small Bites with Lamb and Rice

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Nutro offers dry dog food that stands out thanks to the delicious taste and high-quality protein sources from lamb as the main ingredient. The food is also enriched with essential minerals, vitamins, and many other nutrients, promoting wellness and health.

Product Highlights

Nutro Small Bites have a clean recipe with lamb and rice, ideal for adult dogs. The main ingredient is deboned lamb, ensuring quality protein for the healthy development of your Goldendoodle. Furthermore, the recipe is rich in all the necessary ingredients for a balanced meal, including nutrients.

The Nutro Lamb and Rice recipe is made with non-GMO ingredients and promotes healthy skin due to the omega 6 fatty acids.

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What We Like

The dog food is rich in natural fiber, which helps with a natural digestion process. Furthermore, it contains antioxidants required for a healthy immune system and delivers the necessary amino acids for building muscle and a healthy metabolism. Also, the kibble is smaller, making it ideal for dogs that require easier chewing.

What We Don’t Like

Some owners might feel that the small kibble is not suitable for their pets, especially for medium-size dogs.

Pros

  • Main ingredient is pasture-fed lamb, offering high-quality proteins
  • Includes zinc and amino acids to promote skin health
  • Ideal for sensitive stomachs and it helps to boost immunity
  • Does not contain GMOs, artificial flavors, preservatives, and others

Cons

  • Small kibble might be too tiny for some dogs

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Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-free Dog Food

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Taste of the Wild formulas contains real, roasted meat and different types of vegetables, fruits, and legumes carefully selected for their health benefits. Given its quality, this recipe offers long-lasting energy and plenty of nutrients for a healthy metabolism.

Product Highlights

Taste of the Wild High Prairie is a nourishing formula created by combining novel proteins, such as bison and buffalo. It also includes sweet potatoes and peas, offering the long-lasting energy your dog needs. The added vegetables and fruits add natural antioxidants, which, combined with chicory root, offer your dog prebiotic support and improve their digestive system’s health.

The recipe helps to boost the health of the muscles due to the high-quality protein combination. The recipe is based on real buffalo meat, combined with other protein sources, such as bison, beef, and roasted venison. This lean nutrition adds vitamins and powerful antioxidants for your pup’s overall health.

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What We Like

This dry dog food is made with natural ingredients that are sourced from sustainable, trusted sources. It does not include any wheat, grain, artificial flavors, or fillers. It helps to maintain optimal digestive health due to the additional proprietary K9 strain probiotic blend.

What We Don’t Like

If your dog is usually picky with their food, this might not be a suitable choice. It is best to try it out and see if they like the taste.

Pros

  • Contains the proprietary K9 probiotic blend to boost digestive health
  • The recipe is natural and contains only real meat, fruits, and vegetables
  • Grain-free recipe without gluten
  • First ingredient is buffalo, followed by other protein-rich ingredients

Cons

  • Buffalo-based recipes might not be for picky dogs

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Wellness Deboned Turkey and Chicken

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Wellness CORE provides formulas full of quality protein without any fillers or grains. They add nutritional supplements, providing a full, healthy meal. Each portion contains carefully thought-out proportions of protein, fat, and other nutrients, ensuring a balanced dish.

Product Highlights

Wellness dog food is made of grain-free ingredients. It contains real chicken and turkey, providing a protein-focused meal. It also includes a wide range of probiotics, antioxidants, omega fatty acids, and glucosamine. This nutrient density is perfectly balanced for everyday food and is safe for adult dogs.

The recipe contains chondroitin and glucosamine, which helps to maintain bone and joint health and supports your dog’s mobility. Furthermore, it is enriched with salmon oil and flaxseed to boost the omega 3 fatty acid content, supporting the skin and fur coat. Finally, it embeds nutrient-rich ingredients, such as spinach, broccoli, and kale, among others.

What We Like

Wellness Core is perfectly balanced to provide nutritious meals for your Goldendoodle. All recipes lack meat by-products and other less-than-desirable ingredients, such as wheat or soy. In addition to this, they are rich in superfoods, such as spinach, broccoli, and kale, coming with an essential supplement of vitamins and minerals.

What We Don’t Like

The product could benefit from a resealable bag so that it remains fresh.

Pros

  • High-protein recipe is full of nutrients
  • Kibble is coated in probiotics
  • Includes salmon oil and flaxseeds
  • Supports mobility

Cons

  • The bag is not resealable

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Iams Adult MiniChunks

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Iams is a vet-trusted brand that combines tailored nutrition with real ingredients. It combines well-balanced contents and a meaty flavor that turns into a favorite for many dogs. There are 0% fillers in Iams’ recipes.

Product Highlights

Iams Adult mini-chunks are made with real chicken. The smaller kibble size is ideal for feeding your pets with the correct mouthful of premium-sourced proteins, helping them to develop their muscles for optimal health.

Furthermore, due to the additional prebiotics and wholesome fibers, your dog benefits from healthy digestion.
The dry dog food is packed with supporting antioxidants that keep your pup healthy by strengthening their immune system. The first ingredient is real farm-raised chicken, ensuring quality meals for your pet.

What We Like

The Iams dog food recipe contains only real farm-raised chicken and other veggies rich in antioxidants, providing premium nutrition. It is also rich in amino acids that promote the health of muscles, antioxidants for the immune system, and prebiotics and fiber for optimal digestion.

What We Don’t Like

The kibble size is very small, so it might not be suitable for every Goldendoodle. On the other hand, this might make it ideal for very picky dogs.

Pros

  • The main ingredient is real farm-raised chicken
  • Fully packed with quality protein
  • Healthy digestive system
  • Contains antioxidants, fibers, and prebiotics

Cons

  • Small kibble size

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Alternative: My Ollie

If you are unsure whether any of these recipes are suitable for your pup, My Ollie provides fully customized plans for your Goldendoodle. The friendly and knowledgeable experts create a personalized plan for your dog based on a questionnaire you need to fill in. As a subscription service, you will first receive two weeks of food, followed by regular deliveries of fresh food for your pup. This service can be paused or changed at any time.

The starter box contains food packs that are ready to serve and easy to open. There’s also a feeding guide, customized to your dog’s unique needs. Finally, they provide a scoop to ensure the correct portioning each time and a container to ensure that food remains fresh.

Customers can choose four main proteins as the base for their recipes: beef, chicken, turkey, or lamb. All dishes are made with fresh, high-quality ingredients. The main protein source is real meat, ensuring the proper development of tissues and muscles.

Fruits are included, such as cranberries and blueberries, packing in a nutritional punch full of antioxidants and vitamins. Plant-based protein is added for balance, while leafy greens and root vegetables come with dietary fiber that maintains digestive health.

As the most customizable dog food service, Ollie is the right option if you want to ensure that your dog’s nutrition is perfectly tailored to their needs. Just like human beings, dogs have unique needs, and Ollie can ensure that they are well cared for, so your pup has a long and healthy life.

Buyer’s Guide

Dog food is as complex as our food needs to be. Each being has its own needs and weaknesses, and these need to be properly addressed through nutrition to avoid health problems later in life. Here are the main aspects you should consider before choosing the best food for your pup.

Ingredients

When it comes to ingredients, you wouldn’t want to feed your family with fillers, chemicals, or additives, and your dog should eat those ingredients either. The food needs to be human-grade, well-sourced, and include fresh ingredients.

As a general rule, the first five ingredients of dog food should include two protein sources, such as salmon, chicken, turkey, beef, and more. One of the two top ingredients must be a protein source, as this means that the highest proportion of the food is actual meat.

Grains are sources of carbs, providing a source of energy for dogs. However, there are many proponents arguing that carbs lead to inflammation that can result in heart disease and cancer. This is why most people prefer grain-free foods.

Grain-free foods are also ideal for dogs with certain conditions, such as a sensitive stomach or food allergies. In this case, it is best to make sure that the food comes with plenty of meat to make sure your pup gets the energy they need.

Nutritional Info

Reading the label might be as tricky as ever, but this the key to understanding what we feed our dogs. Apart from protein, dog food must contain other essential nutrients to ensure proper development. Many states have guidance regarding the minimum amount of nutrients in pet food, so the label must clearly display the percentage of crude protein, fat, fiber, and water.

When reading the nutritional information, keep in mind that each ingredient is listed in order according to their weight, i.e., the first ingredient is also the main ingredient in the food.

Food Form

You must decide whether you choose wet or dry food. Canned wet foods are often offered to dogs that need more moisture or fat in their diet. Most dogs prefer this to dry food since it has a stronger flavor and taste. However, it usually comes with 80% moisture, often from fat, so this might not always be a sensible diet choice. Most pups tend to put on weight quickly when they have wet food.

On the other hand, dry dog food is generally considered better than wet food. Firstly, it helps with dental hygiene because they chew it, and, secondly, dry food contains much lower fat than wet food. It is also easier to store, measure the portions, and often is more affordable.

Health Features

Dog food should promote the overall good health of the entire organism. This is why the ideal recipe should include meat, vegetables, fruits, and other added vitamins, prebiotics, antioxidants, and more. One aspect you need to consider is to choose the pet food according to your pup’s stage of life – puppy, adult, senior, pregnant, or nursing. There might also be foods that are approved for all stages.

Furthermore, you should check whether the package has a statement from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). They often state that the food is “complete and balanced”. The word “complete” means that the food contains all the nutrients required, while the term “balanced” indicated that they are also in the correct ratios.

Food Flavor

Aroma and flavor profiles are as important as they are in our diets. This might be the only thing attracting the fussy eaters, too. Meat-eating pets are generally attracted by an umami taste.

For instance, this can be created by cooking meat, such as the aroma of a steak or burger on the grill. This is because the amino acids released when the food is cooking make it smell amazing. The process is known as the Maillard reaction.

FAQs

When to switch from puppy food to dog food for Goldendoodle?

After your pup is weaned, it can start eating puppy food. Then, in a few months, you can start feeding them a life stage food. To make this decision, you need to be aware of a few considerations.

Firstly, puppies need food that is higher in nutrients, protein, and calories. This is to support their development and growth stage. Many puppy foods also have a smaller kibble size or a soft formula to accommodate their special needs, such as delicate teeth. These are also rich in calcium, potassium, and sodium, and are also heavily enriched with multiple enzymes.

As your puppy grows and the process naturally slows down, they no longer need such a special diet. In fact, feeding your dog with puppy food can lead to obesity and numerous other health problems, such as hip dysplasia.

This being considered, there is not a standard moment when you need to switch to adult dog food. Each puppy is unique, so you need to be careful when adjusting their diet.

Usually, dogs are ready to start eating adult dog food when they reach about 75-85% of their adult size. In this stage, their growth naturally slows down. However, the age when this happens depends on their anticipated size.

How much food should I feed my Goldendoodle?

Your puppy should have 3-4 small meals per day until they are 6 months old. After that, you can switch to only two meals per day. It is best to consult the puppy’s breeder and ask for advice for their diet because the best diet should be based on the puppy’s parents. You may also consult a vet.

Should a Goldendoodle eat dry or canned food?

Ideally, your Goldendoodle should eat dry food. The kibble must contain all the nutrients they require. Another reason for choosing dry food is that chewing dry food helps them with their dental health, removing bacteria from their teeth.

This will, in turn, help to prevent the formation of tartar and the development of other oral problems, such as canine periodontal disease and gingivitis. A wet food diet is recommended for senior pets with poor dentition, as they do not need to chew as much.

Should a Goldendoodle eat a grain-free diet?

Some pups have sensitive stomachs, just like people. A grain-free diet can help relieve their distress, but it is recommended to check with your vet before making any serious changes in their diets.

If this is the case for your Goldendoodle, make sure you check that the food is also free of corn, dairy products, soy, and wheat. Choosing recipes without artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives can further help with many health conditions.

Additionally, many pet owners choose a grain-free diet because dogs are not grain-eaters by choice. A diet high in carbs for your pup can also increase inflammation in their bodies, potentially causing cancer and other health conditions.

How to measure dog food portions?

Feeding your dog the incorrect food portion can lead to many problems, including malnutrition or obesity. Simply having a standard measuring cup is not the answer, as this does not guarantee that you choose the portions correctly.

A responsible owner must invest in a dry-food measuring cup that is suitable for the amount of kibble needed. As a result, you could consider buying a set of quality measuring cups. Each time you measure, you need to be consistent. Scoop the kibble and shake or tap the measuring cup so the food is level with the rim.

To minimize the risk for mistakes and inconsistent portions, you can consider measuring the kibble for the whole day once. Do this in the morning and place the full amount in a storage container or a plastic food bag. Then, when it is time to feed your pet, simply eyeball approximately half of the amount (for adult dogs) if you feed them twice per day.

The gold standard of measuring dog food portions is to weigh the kibble, which ensures accuracy and precision. Some pet food manufacturers offer the weights of serving sizes in grams on their package, so you can feed the right portions with ease.

Conclusion

All in all, Goldendoodles are adorable, intelligent pups, but we need to ensure a proper diet for their long-term health. My Ollie is a great food delivery service that provides customized meal plans, considering your pet’s nutritional needs, and they also have regular deliveries, so you never run out of food for your buddy.

This might be the best way to ensure that your pet’s unique needs are well cared for, without using standard formulas that might lack certain vitamins and minerals, among others.

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