The German Shepherd, known for their terrific traits, are one of the most popular breeds in the world. This article is a guide on how to choose the best dog food for German Shepherds to help them stay healthy.

A German Shepherd is known for being service dogs, search-and-rescuers, police and militaries, and even actors. GSD's earned the title of 2nd most popular breed in the United States and 4th in the United Kingdom; they are one of the  most famous dog breeds in the world. In light of this, German Shepherds, renowned for their intelligence, devotion, and loyalty, will not be half as great without the best dog food for German Shepherds.

German Shepherd Dogs’ Nutritional Needs

Of course, as the name suggests, German Shepherds originated in Germany being shepherds. Because they are medium to large-sized dogs, they make use of this as herders and protectors of flocks of sheep. Due to their muscular, these dogs need the proper nutrition to keep them going at the best rate.

On average, a 70 lb adult dog should receive 1600 Cal, 1200 Cal on older dogs, and 2100 Cal on active/working dogs. But just to be sure, give your veterinarian a visit to specify how many calories your dog needs on a daily basis and from this, we can already give our dog what’s best for him or her.

In effect, what German Shepherd Dogs need most are macronutrients. Macronutrients provide calories and energy. There are three types: protein, fats, and carbohydrates. And these three are what GSD’s need the most. Macronutrients are essential for proper body functioning, and the body requires large amounts of them. Furthermore, all macronutrients must be obtained through diet; hence the body cannot produce macronutrients on its own.

Protein

Protein is a macronutrient that is essential in building muscle mass and maintaining cellular structure. Macronutrients are usually found in animal products, nuts, and legumes. German Shepherds have naturally large and muscular bodies. Therefore, they need a lot of protein. Nutritionist’s

Nutritionist’s recommend having 30-40% protein in the German Shepherd’s food, but having a little more is always better - just not too much.

So where do we get protein? Meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, nuts and seeds. These are part of the protein food group. But meat should still be the main source of protein we should give our dogs. In feeding your dog, make sure that your meat comes from lean sources such as poultry, beef, or fish, not processed meat by-products.

Fats

Our beloved dogs need fat in their bodies. Fat is an essential part of our diet and is important for the health of both dogs and humans.

Fat is also a source of energy aside from protein. In addition to this, it keeps our GSD’s coats healthy and shiny. Ideally, a dog food containing 15-30% of fat should be good enough for your German Shepherd dog to keep him in stellar health. Fat can be found in saturated fats like dairy products (be careful though, some dogs may be lactose intolerant so it’s best to check with your veterinarian) and unsaturated fats like omega-3 found in fish and omega-6 found in some oils.

Carbohydrates

Aside from protein and fat, German Shepherd Dogs also need carbohydrates in their food. Carbohydrates found in fruits, grains, vegetables, and milk products are the sugars, starches, and fibers . These also help in obtaining energy and calories.

German Shepherds don’t always show symptoms of wheat-based allergies. So grains can be given to GSD's, unlike many other dogs. But it’s still best to avoid wheat due to it being difficult to digest. Alternatives for this can be sweet potatoes, barley, rice, and oats - and they are easily digestible.

These three macronutrients are what German Shepherd Dogs need the most and it’s what daily meals should consist of. Unfortunately, not all of us have the luxury to prepare a well balanced meal for our dogs everyday so we resort to dog food instead.

What should I avoid when buying dog food?

So now that we know what my dog’s food should consist of, what are the ingredients that we should avoid?

By-products

At the top of our list are by-products. Generally speaking, these are clean non-rendered animal organs that aren’t meant. To summarize, they come from slaughtered mammals. By-products include lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, blood, bone, fatty tissue, stomachs, intestines, etc. Once their contents are removed, they are ready to go. Some by-products are chicken by-products or chicken by-products.

Meat Meal

Meat meals are made of lamb tissues. They exclude blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents. They are cooked and rendered and after that, the dried solids are added to pet food. An example is lamb meal.

Digest

Some dog food contains meat digest for more taste. These are materials from mammals which results from the chemical breakdown of clean meat tissues or by-products, also known as other parts aside from meat.

Fillers

Fillers provide very little to no nutrition at all to your dog. As a result, after passing through your German Shepherd’s stomach, it will cause gastric problems and various allergies. Common fillers found in pet food include corn bran, rice bran, oat hulls, cereal by-products, feathers, soybean hulls, cottonseed hulls, peanut hulls, rice hulls, wheat mill run, citrus pulp, modified corn starch, weeds, and straw. Fillers are merely ingredients with no calories and nutrients.

Artificial preservatives

Lastly, artificial preservatives should also be avoided. This ingredient is known to cause allergic reactions to German Shepherd Dogs. This can add a risk in toxicity to any dog food when fed long term. An example of a common artificial preservative in dog food is ethoxyquin, colorings, and flavorings.

Does this apply to German Shepherd puppies as well?

But what about our German Shepherd puppies? GSD puppies are not able to eat adult food yet; their jaws and teeth are yet to be strengthened. As a conclusion, puppy food specifically made for German Shepherd breeds is what’s perfect for them as they contain the nutrients that this breed needs.

In addition, German Shepherd puppies already begin to transition from nursing from their mommies to eating solid food at the age of 4 weeks . At this age, they are already old enough to eat and digest dog food soaked in water or milk - not plain solid dog food. Pups need to eat about 3 to 4 times daily.

Once they turn 6 months old, German Shepherd puppies are encouraged to eat high-quality adult dog food. Correspondingly, puppies are fed twice a day. This safeguards that our dogs’ health are at its finest when given dog food especially designed for this type of breed.

Review of products

Here are our most loved dog food brands for our most loving German Shepherd Dogs

Conclusion

All things considered, I still think the Merrick Classic Real Beef with Whole Barley & Carrot is still the best dog food for German Shepherds.

Merrick Classic Real Beef contains many ingredients that are the best for this kind of breed which are the macronutrients found in protein, fats, and carbohydrates and to top it all off, it is enriched with Omega -3 and -6 leaving our dogs healthy inside and out. It is also quite affordable, leaving it with no cons at all.

All in all, I think this is what’s best for German Shepherd dogs since it contains all the needed nutrients (and more) and will undeniably bring out the best them.