Do I need to feed a diet specific to my dog’s breed or size?

So, for big breed puppies, I would recommend feeding a big breed puppy food. When they get older, it's a little less important. Royal Canin has some awesome breed-specific foods that they've put a lot of research into. So I would encourage you to look more into those foods as well.

I think it's less necessary for their breed. I know there are some diets out there targeted for specific breeds, and I think that's great. Do I believe that you have to feed that diet? Not necessarily, as I think there are many wonderful options out there. When it comes to the size of your pet, I think that that has a little bit more significance. So, you'll see large breed or small breed-recommended foods, and what I like about the small breed foods is the smaller kibble size. It’s much easier for smaller dogs, like Coconut here, who's got a smaller mouth, to eat those small breed diets.

There are breed-specific dog foods out there. For instance, the sporting mixes tend to have higher protein content for the high-energy dogs. Will your dog thrive on a non-sporting mix? Yes, sure. But they may do better on the high-protein food. Some toy breed foods have smaller kibbles because little dogs like to crunch the little kibbles or pieces of food. Your large breed foods are formulated for the nutritional needs of large, big-boned dogs, particularly puppies. It optimizes their growth levels to prevent problems later in life. Do all breeds need breed-specific food? No. I recommend feeding for the life stage, but there are foods formulated for specific breeds which focus on palatability and kibble size. Kibble shapes may differ depending on the preference of certain breeds. Labradors, for instance, may chew and crunch their food more given it has a certain kibble size and shape. So that's why they are breed-specific.

While it's not necessary, there can be advantages to feeding breed or size-specific diets. Large or giant breed puppies should be fed large or giant breed puppy food, and this should continue as they grow into adults. There are also breed-specific foods available that have unique characteristics, which can be discussed during a consultation with your veterinarian.

Specific diets are particularly important for large breed dogs. Their food, whether it's a puppy or adult formula, has slightly different ratios of minerals and vitamins that help them grow properly as they are going to get so large. Apart from that, ensuring a good quality and complete diet is important. If your dog eats really fast, there are different sizes and shapes of food that can be helpful in slowing them down.