Loving on your pup requires feeding them all of the right things. Whether you want to feed them natural ingredients or you simply want to look out for their health, you need to know your options. Your dog deserves the very best food and what is best might be different to some dogs.
Greyhounds require very specific nutrition needs. They have a lot of energy and high metabolism so you need to plan for a good blend of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber as well in their diets. All of these things work together to give your greyhound the best nutrition available.
What is the best dog food for greyhounds? Look for healthy nutrition that is easily digestible. Your dog may have certain flavor preferences as well. Don’t ever rule out carbs or fats just to keep your dog healthy, instead look for those important nutrients in a reliable source!
In this guide, we will share with you the best dog food for greyhounds. We’ve looked high and low and done all of the research and testing so that you don’t have to worry about it. We have found some awesome solutions that are perfect for the health and nutrition needs for any greyhound.
Let’s take a look!
The 6 Best Dog Foods for Greyhounds
In our search for the very best, we were able to narrow down the playing field to 6 top picks for dog food for greyhounds. We feel as though these options truly are the very best and they really cater to the nutritional needs that greyhounds require to thrive.
We hope that you can find something that works for you in these options, regardless of what you or your dog’s preferences are.
- Pros
- Lamb and Brown rice with high-quality lamb
- Include Lifesource bites with added antioxidants
- Lamb works to build and maintain healthy muscles
- No additives or preservatives
- No corn, soy, or unhealthy grains
- Cons
- A lot of picky dogs don’t care for the Lifesource bits so this just may be something to be aware of
Blue Buffalo has always been a reliable brand and this is no exception. Their Life Protection Formula is perfect for greyhounds because it’s designed to be sensitive to digestive systems but also provide a well-rounded diet that will give them the nutrition that they both need and deserve. This is especially true if you have a show or performance greyhound as well.
In this food, the real meat is the first ingredient. This particular option is their Lamb and brown rice recipe because it seems to be the best for a greyhound’s needs. However, they do have other flavors if you feel like that just won’t work for your pup.
The meat comes from high-quality protein sources and the lamb specifically really aids muscle growth and health. In addition to the protein source, you will find healthy carbohydrates in the form of whole grains, as well as fruits and vegetables. The good news is there are no additives and nothing like corn, soy, or unhealthy grains.
This brand stands behind their commitment to quality by avoiding by product meals as much as possible and not adding artificial ingredients or preservatives that simply offer no nutritional benefits. It’s all-natural and you can purchase it in sizes up to a 30-pound bag as well.
- Pros
- Made with real beef as the first ingredient
- Quality, balanced diet
- Contains live probiotics
- Shredded blend with savory flavors
- Comes in multiple sizes and flavors as well
- Cons
- Because of the shredded nature of the food, the kibble sizes are inconsistent
Purina sometimes gets a bad reputation because they do have a general food line that is made to be more affordable and sometimes contains ingredients that pet owners get picky about. However, if you look for some of their premium lines, you will find that you have other options that are made better and can offer quality nutrition for your dog. The Pro Plan is one such option.
This Purina Pro Plan options is made with beef, rice flour, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, soybean meal, and whole grains. It’s not perfect but it’s a solid and reliable dog food that offers quality nutrition and your pup will love it.
This dry food comes to you in a beef and rice blend, and there are other flavors also available. You will notice that the beef is the first and most relevant ingredient, which is essential for understanding the quality of the contents. In addition, the food has live probiotics that are essential for your greyhound’s health.
This is a shredded blends and most dogs love the flavors. It does have a good, balanced nutrition recipe so that your dog gets everything they need in their diet.
- Pros
- No meal, corn, wheat, soy, or artificial ingredients
- Wilderness recipe with all-natural ingredients
- Support health and muscles through natural foods
- Includes Lifesource bits with antioxidants
- Several wilderness flavors available
- Cons
- This has a fairly strong smell so beware for the pet owners
If you like Blue Buffalo but you’re looking for a wilderness diet, check out this option. It’s an all-natural food that is designed to feed your dog with ingredients like what they might consume in the wilderness. It’s an interesting approach. This particular option is wilderness chicken but they also have duck and salmon. You can choose with wholesome grains or grain free as well.
This is a grain-free formula that is designed for adults. It’s described as nature’s evolutionary diet. There is no chicken or poultry by-product meals, no corn or wheat or soy, and no artificial flavors or preservatives. It takes your dog back to the wilderness foraging diet.
This is packed with real chicken as the first ingredient. It provides a quality, balanced diet that provides plenty of meat and offers the nutrition necessary to build and maintain muscle mass, which is perfect for greyhounds.
Since this is from Blue Buffalo, it does contain their unique Lifesource bits that are loaded with antioxidants. You will find simple ingredients that are all-natural such as sweet potatoes, peas, and more so that your dog has energy support as well as immune support and healthy fur support as well.
- Pros
- Made in the USA
- Does not contain artificial ingredients or preservatives
- Chicken is the first ingredient
- Highly recommended by veterinarians
- Designed for coat and digestive care
- Cons
- This does contain beets, which can cause sensitivity issues for some dogs.
This is a quality dog food made with quality ingredients and designed to be an all-aroundbalanced diet for your pup. This particular option is a sensitive stomach recipe made for adults so it caters to dogs who have heavy digestive needs and also need a good amount of fiber. This is perfect for greyhounds.
The sensitive stomach and skin recipe offers optimal digestive health that includes prebiotics as well. It also has ingredients that are sourced to help nourish healthy coats and skin, which is a must for greyhounds. This is a simple blend but it does not contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives, no synthetic colors, and no artificial flavors.
Hill’s works hard to study diets and animals and come up with quality foods that fit the bill. This is a highly-recommended brand from veterinarians as well. Hill’s also donates portions of their earnings to help shelter pets, which is a significant undertaking.
This food contains chicken as the #1 ingredient. The ingredients are all natural and you get additional vitamins and minerals as well. In addition, you can rely on this option to not have any chicken by-product meal, which is a valuable addition. It is even made in the USA.
- Pros
- Includes Life Source bits with additional nutrients
- Designed to support joint health, immune health, and skin and coat health
- No corn, wheat, or soy
- No by-product meals
- Made with quality top-notch ingredients
- Cons
- Some dogs have a hard time adjusting to this formula if they are not used to the nutrition and it can cause stomach unrest
Even senior dogs need some of the best nutrition, in fact sometimes more so when you consider that they are aging. You give them the best care that you can and as they get older, you also continue to adjust their nutrition to care for their aging as well.
This senior dry dog food can be used for senior greyhounds and it gives them the nutrition they need to age gracefully. It’s easy to digest and still provides them with a balanced diet. The senior dog food does not focus as much on high energy needs but rather on overall health.
This particular option is made with deboned chicken as the first ingredient. The benefits it offers includes joint health, immune health, and a health skin and coat as well. Just like Blue Buffalo is known for, this contains Life Source bits that add additional antioxidants to the task.
The dog food as a whole contains deboned chicken paired with wholesome whole grains as well as health fruits and vegetables. There are no chicken by-product meals and no corn, wheat, soy, or artificial colors and preservatives.
- Pros
- Quality food made with limited ingredients
- The meat protein comes from one single source
- A balanced diet with wholesome grains
- Designed for complete nutrition
- No corn, soy, wheat, or artificial additives
- Cons
- This dog food is a bit more expensive than others
- This can have a pretty strong smell to it so be prepared for that
Finally, our last pick goes to a timeless brand that is all about using limited ingredients with natural details. This dog food is designed to not have an ingredient list a mile long and the lack of a ton of additives is great for your greyhound. In the end, they get natural health and energy as well as support for growth and life as they should.
This dog food does cost a little bit more because it is made with all-natural ingredients rather than a variety of meals and additives. This flavor is lamb meal and brown rice. Lamb is great for greyhounds because of the natural energy as well as fiber. We would prefer to see fresh lamb as the first ingredient, rather than lamb meal but it’s an alright recipe still.
This dog food offers complete and balanced nutrition for adult dogs. The diet includes grain for a balanced diet as grain does offer valuable health benefits. The key here is that it uses wholesome grains rather than white rice and things like corn or soy.
This concludes all of its animal protein from one single source, which is the lamb meal and that is where this one really takes the cake. The limited ingredients and that single source of protein from meat makes a significant difference and can be far gentler on a dog as well.
How to Choose the Best Dog Food for Greyhounds
Now that you’ve seen your options, you should know and understand what to look for as you check out the dog food aisle.
Remember that some dog breeds require specific nutritional needs. What is suitable for one person’s dog might just not provide the nutrition that your greyhound needs. In this part of our guide, we will talk about things you should consider or look at before you purchase a dog food.
Nutritional Needs
Greyhounds have specific needs for their energy and activity levels. While you probably aren’t going to find a dog of bag food labeled “greyhound food”, you should have a general understanding of what to look for in your greyhound’s nutrition.
Greyhounds are very energetic dogs well into adulthood. They rely on their metabolism to work up their energy and to sustain them. They require carbohydrates as well as protein and fat to really make this work.
With that in mind, your dog needs a well-balanced diet. They need a reliable source of protein but they also need healthy carbohydrates and healthy fats to provide them energy. They rely on all of these to sustain them and not just one. So a high protein dog food is certainly acceptable but you also need to be sure you are providing carbs and fat sources for energy as well.
In addition, greyhounds need some fiber in their diet to keep their digestive systems in check and working as they should be. We recommend looking for 3-5% fiber for the best amount. Your dog food might not say fiber specifically so learn to understand what food and vegetables in food provide valuable fiber and look at the guaranteed analysis to know anticipated fiber intake.
Most greyhound experts would tell you that you should accompany your dry dog food with some sort of wet food like minced meat. They don’t mean canned wet dog foods here but rather fresh meat that you can supplement with the dry food.
Ingredients
Always check out the ingredients on the dog food you’re looking at. Even though some dog foods claim to use natural ingredients or claim to not have additives, you have to be very careful to actually check out the ingredients. They can all make claims but you should look for the evidence to back up those claims so you don’t end up tricked.
Look for things like the use of real meat or a heavy use of by-product meals. You might also want to look for a lot of different meals or unidentified meals that you really have no idea what is in them.
From there, you can find any number of additional ingredients that are simply used for fillers and provide absolutely no nutritional benefit. We firmly believe that every ingredient should have a purpose. While we certainly understand there may be some fillers, a brand can choose to use quality ingredients for these.
We like to stay away from dog foods that use a lot of things like corn, wheat, soy, and artificial additives because there really tend to not provide nutritional value. When you think about it, these fillers can actually be hard on dogs and certainly don’t fill in their nutritional needs.
Remember that your greyhound relies on these ingredients to supplement their energy but also their health and so they need ingredients that you can trust.
Adjustment Period
If you have been feeding your dog some brand that is not considered to be a healthy brand and you’re adjusting to a high-quality dog food, take your time. Don’t get frustrated if your dog vomits or perhaps diarrhea the first couple of days.
You don’t want to simply just toss out the old and in with the new. Most of these quality dog foods will actually have a recipe for adjusting to their new diet for you to follow. This slowly incorporates the new food and weeds out the old food, giving your dog time to adjust.
During this adjustment period, you very well might see some stomach sensitivity from your dog. Don’t be alarmed at first. Keep an eye on your dog and be mindful of the possibility of an upset stomach. If they continue to use the food and their symptoms don’t get better over time, then you may need to consider another option.
Our key takeaway here is that you should expect a slight time of adjustment for any dog food switch so you may need to be prepared to be patient with your greyhound through the transition.
Budget
Sometimes the budget is an integral part of choosing the right food for your dog. The good news is that if you have a limited budget, you can still find quality dog foods that truly meat the nutritional needs for a greyhound. You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to feed them properly and provide them with a balanced diet.
The truth of the matter is that high-quality dog foods definitely cost more than your generic bag of dog food. However, even those high-quality foods can be found at budget-friendly prices if you do your research and look for an appropriate solution.
Never settle for a less than stellar option just because it costs more to feed your dog well. Instead, look for alternatives that meet your budget. You should anticipate spending some money when you decide to take in a dog. This includes health care, food, and shelter for your greyhound.
On the same note, your beloved companion can be well taken care of on a tight budget too. You just need to make the effort on your part to support the dog to the best of your ability. A little research will go a long way in the end!
Conclusion For The Best Dog Food For Greyhounds
We hope that you find this guide to the best dog food to be a valuable resource for choosing a good food for your greyhound. There are some really great choices here. Your dog deserves the best food that you can give them.
Keep in mind that choosing a good food is not just about the brand but about providing a complete and balanced diet for your pup. Greyhounds rely heavily on proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to supplement their energy so always look for a food that will fulfill those needs.
Claudia Bensimoun is a writer who specializes in dog content and veterinary topics! Aside from writing for We Love Doodles, Claudia also writes for other major dog blogs like Fido Friendly, Animal Wellness Magazine, and the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA). She has a ghostwritten over 50 different dog e-books. Her passions include animal welfare, veterinary research, and wildlife conservation.
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