Thinking of adopting a Chihuahua? While these teeny balls of energy don’t require a great quantity of food, they do need to nibble on a high-quality formula to fuel that bark and big personality! The best dog food for chihuahuas are both nutritious and tasty. We all know that Chihuahua’s are picky eaters that won’t settle for anything less than the best.
Keep your little bundle of energy and bounce happy, healthy, and active by feeding them carefully crafted formulas. What is the best dog food brand for chihuahuas? Our buyers guide to help you buy the right food for your furry friend.
Signs of a Good Chihuahua Dog Food: What to Look For
To provide the best diet for your pint-sized pooch, you’ll need to look out for certain qualities when selecting a dog food product.
Quality Control
For safety reasons, it’s best to choose foods produced in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, or Western Europe. This is due to the stricter quality control standards that these countries enforce.
Since Chihuahuas are teeny, toxic ingredients can harm them more than they would a larger dog. You’ll need to seek out the best quality ingredients.
Size
While your Chihuahua possesses a mouth of strong jaws and teeth, you’ll also need to choose small pieces of kibble. That way they can easily chew and swallow without choking or having digestion issues.
Ingredients
What kind of dog food do chihuahuas eat?
You should choose products that list a meat protein as the first ingredient.
Despite their petite size, Chihuahuas still maintain most of the biological characteristics of their wolf ancestors. Chihuahua’s will happily consume kibble featuring fruit and vegetables, but it’s meat they have a hankering for.
Finally, look for food products packed full of fatty acids. As Chihuahuas are prone to certain food allergies and various skin conditions, so foods that are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are hugely beneficial to keeping your pup’s coat healthy and shiny.
What to Avoid
The Best Dog Food for Chihuahuas should also not contain the following:
- artificial flavors
- artificial coloring
- unidentified meat-meal
- meat by-products
You should avoid choosing foods containing a ton of artificial flavors, colors, and other unnecessary additives. While flavoring or coloring isn’t dangerous, it can trigger food allergies in some dogs, and they don’t provide any benefit to your pup.
If a dog food product contains vague mystery meat by-products, you should consider choosing another brand. While meat meals and meat by-products can provide value to your Chihuahua’s diet, you should only choose products where these are properly labeled so you know exactly what your pooch is eating.
How Much Dog Food Should I Feed My Chihuahua?
Are you wondering how much dog food to feed a chihuahua? Most adult Chihuahuas need to eat around 200 calories a day. Depending on the type of food you end up buying will determine measurements.
Since your Chihuahua eats in small quantities, the benefit is that you won’t need to spend huge bucks on giant bags of food to keep your pup full. Instead, we suggest taking advantage of your Chihuahua’s modest needs, and splurge slightly on higher-quality dog food.
10 of the Best Dog Foods for Chihuahuas
Here are 10 of the best dog foods for Chihuahuas on the market and the benefits they offer to your pint-sized pup. Our product roundup also includes our recommendations for the best food for chihuahua puppies as well.
1. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Small Breed Dog Food for Puppies
Best Dog Food for Chihuahua Puppy
Are you bringing home a Chihuahua puppy soon? While there are several suitable puppy foods on the market, Blue Buffalo’s Small Breed puppy formula is a great option as it features all the health qualities from the Blue Buffalo’s Small Breed Adult recipe, except that it’s specially formulated for puppies.
The way this puppy food differs from the adult recipe relates to protein content. Adult dogs only require foods that include 18% protein, while growing pups need foods packed with at least 22% protein. Likewise, the amino acids and minerals puppies require differ from those that adult dogs require.
Also, don’t just lookout for a dog food product that’s high in protein. Instead, seek out a dog food label designed for ‘growth’ meaning it’s a recipe that’s appropriate for puppies and pregnant mothers.
Ingredients in Chihuahua Puppy Food
Like the adult recipe, this Blue Buffalo small-breed blend is packed full of extra protein and carbohydrates to keep your little pup full. It’s formulated with premium meats, fruits, and vegetables that your Chihuahua puppy will certainly reap the benefits from.
A premium grain-free dog food product, the kibble is full of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to keep your little puppy’s fur gleaming and shiny. It’s also full of probiotics to improve digestive health for your little one.
If you’re looking for the best brand of food for a chihuahua puppy look no further. As long as you don’t mind paying the price for it, Blue Buffalo is the brand for you.
2. Blue Buffalo Small Breed Adult Recipe
Blue Buffalo Small Breed Adult Recipe is full of nutritious ingredients such as deboned chicken and chicken meal, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and brown rice. This protein-heavy recipe by Blue Buffalo is a great option for your chihuahua or chihuahua mix.
The content is stuffed full of omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics, keeping your lovable little dog healthy into adulthood. Not only that, but it includes glucosamine to support joint health, too.
Is your pup a fussy eater? Don’t worry, as this recipe is one of the best dog foods for chihuahuas with a sensitive stomach. The inclusion of brown rice and probiotics means that it is more settling on the gut.
3. Fromm Gold Small Breed Adult Dog Food
Fromm Gold creates a variety of high-quality dog food products, and this recipe specially formulated for small dog breeds is a great choice of food for Chihuahuas.
Chicken is listed as the first ingredient and the product also contains salmon oil and menhaden fish meal to pack in those omega-3 fatty acids. For additional protein content and flavor, duck and lamb are also included to treat your little pup.
Surprisingly, several unusual ingredients are also used:
- cheese
- celery
- carrots
- sweet potatoes
- whole barley
- and whole oats
Such flavors make this product one of the most palatable dog foods around and your Chihuahua will love munching it down. These ingredients are also full of protein, antioxidants, and high-value carbohydrates which will benefit the overall health of your dog.
However, with such high-quality ingredients comes a price and that’s where the main criticism comes from. As you can imagine, the Fromm Gold Small Breed Adult Dog Food is relatively expensive food, especially compared to products on the market that are similar.
It’s important to remember that in such cases you get what you pay for, so if you’re happy to invest it’s certainly worth it to improve your Chihuahua’s health.
4. Nutro Wholesome Essentials Small Breed Dog Food
This is a dog food product by Nutro that truly contains the essentials for small breed dogs such as Chihuahuas. On one hand, it’s positive as the ingredients included are healthy. However, on the other, there’s a great variety of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals missing that many other brands feature.
If you’re on a budget, this is a great option for Chihuahua owners that are seeking high-quality ingredients for their pup, without having to spend a fortune on food.
5. Wellness CORE Natural Grain-Free Small Breed Dry Dog Food
This reasonably priced premium-quality dog food by Wellness works well for Chihuahuas as it’s available in a special small-breed recipe.
Made only from all-natural ingredients, this grain-free recipe is void of soy, wheat, corn, and artificial flavors, preservatives, and colors. Plus, it’s full of antioxidants and omega fatty acids to keep your pooch’s overall health in tip-top condition.
The size of the small kibble means that it’s easy for a small dog like a Chihuahua to pick up and chew, so there are no troubles here! Your Chihuahua is likely to love the taste too – it’s a recipe that’s known to be popular among most Chihuahuas.
6. EUKANUBA Breed Specific Adult Chihuahua Dog Food
This EUKANUBA breed specific adult dog food is specially formulated to benefit Chihuahuas in particular, providing your pup with a food that is full of antioxidants, reduces tartar, boosts the immune system, and tastes delicious. Even the pickiest of pups won’t be able to resist!
Many small dogs like Chihuahuas suffer from stomach issues, and EUKANUBA has considered this. To help combat an upset stomach, this food product features a unique mix of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants which helps promote healthy and proper digestion.
7. Merrick’s Classic Small Breed Dry Dog Food
Want to choose a healthy kibble that your dog will love? Your little Chi will adore the taste of this Merrick’s recipe, which is a blend of chicken, turkey, salmon meal, chicken liver, peas, flaxseed oil, brown rice, barley, oats, and quinoa.
Such ingredients are full of assorted proteins, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, chondroitin, and glucosamine to benefit your pup’s overall health and keep that coat pristine and glossy.
8. CANIDAE Grain-Free PURE Small Breed Food
Does your chihuahua suffer from allergies? Then the grain-free dry dog food from CANIDAE may be the best option to purchase. This formula is specially designed for small breeds that may suffer from food allergies and contains no grain or soy.
Fresh chicken is the first ingredient listed, and the tiny pieces of kibble make the food super-easy for your Chihuahua to pop into their mouth
Even if your Chihuahua doesn’t suffer from an allergy, it’s a high-quality dog food product packed full of delicious and healthy ingredients.
The only negative would be that due to the high fiber content of the product, some dogs become gassy and produce more stools after switching to CANIDAE from another brand. However, this is usually nothing to worry about and passes with time.
9. Wellness Healthy Weight for Toy Breeds
Another fabulous option from Wellness is their healthy weight dog food product for toy breeds.
As you can imagine, this product is a super-healthy option, featuring:
- chicken
- turkey
- brown rice
- barley
- peas
- oatmeal
- tomato
- flaxseed
…and plenty of other nourishing ingredients. Plus, there’s plenty of fat to keep your pooch’s coat healthy and shiny.
It’s also void of wheat, corn, soy, and animal by-products making it a great choice of dog food for Chihuahuas with sensitive stomachs.
10. Hill’s Science Diet Small and Mini Breed Dog Food
This dog food product by Hill’s is a popular option among Chihuahua dog owners due to its carefully composed ingredient list.
The kibble provides high-quality protein, helping Chihuahua’s build lean muscle. It’s also packed full of calcium for bone strength. This is ideal for small dog breeds such as Chihuahua’s as their bodies can be very fragile.
Likewise, the antioxidants and vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin E help boost your pup’s immune system, leading him them to a long, happy, and healthy life.
Check the age range when you buy it, as they also make the best dog food for senior chihuahuas.
