What makes the best Cane Corso puppy food?
Answering that question requires knowing at least a little about this wonderful breed of dog (read our insight into the Cane Corso at the bottom of this article).
If you are raising a Cane Corso (pronounced Kah-Nay Kor-So) puppy, you are entering a long-term relationship with one of the most imposing of all dogs.
Now, let’s consider the five best commercial brands of dog food for Cano Corso puppies.
1. Best Cane Corso Puppy Food for Big Litters and Orphaned Puppies: PetAg Esbilac Liquid Milk Supplement for Puppies
Cane Corso females usually give birth to 4 to 6 hungry puppies, although a two-year-old Cane Corso named Kira, owned by a family in Russia, gave birth to 19.
When a litter of Cane Corso puppies is very large, or when the mother cannot produce enough milk, it is essential to provide a source of supplemental milk to make sure every puppy receives adequate nutrition. Cane Corso puppies need at least a little mother’s milk during the first week of their lives to get the immune bodies that protect them from infection. After the first week, however, Cane Corso puppies can survive and even thrive on PetAg Esbilac Liquid Milk Supplement for Puppies.
PetAg Esbilac Liquid Milk Supplement for Puppies provides the right balance of carbohydrates and fats to give growing puppies all the energy they need, plus all the amino acids required for fast growth. When you bottle feed PetAg Esbilac Liquid Milk Supplement for Puppies, you don’t have to worry about mother dogs that have more puppies than their 8 to 10 nipples. All the puppies will get all the nutrients they need.
You can also help Cane Corso puppies make the adjustment to eating solid food by providing PetAg Esbilac Liquid Milk Supplement for Puppies as a supplemental food for a week or two as your puppies are being weaned.
2 and 3. Best Cane Corso Puppy Food for Weaning Puppies: Solid Gold Grain-Free Canned Puppy Food or NuLo FreeStyle Grain-Free Dry Puppy Food
Breast is best for the first three weeks of life, but the mother will begin weaning her puppies when they are 3 to 4 weeks old. In nature, the ancestors of today’s Italian mastiffs weaned their puppies by giving them chewed meat and allowing them to suckle less and less.
This can be a confusing time for the Cane Corso puppy, because just before weaning the mother produces a maximum amount of milk that ensures that the puppies will have enough protein and energy to continue gaining a pound (or more) a week. Your Cane Corso puppies will have to find the energy to wander away from the mama and start eating from their food bowl.
Two great products for filling that food bowl are Solid Gold Grain-Free Canned Puppy Food and NuLo FreeStyle Grain-Free Dry Puppy Food. There are good reasons to give your puppies both products.
Solid Gold Grain-Free Canned Puppy Food contains substantial amounts of the first-named meat (usually chicken) on the label. Your puppies can associate “food” with the flavor of that meat, so they will accept a variety of products with the same meat as they get older. Canned foods include water, but your puppies need adequate hydration as they are learning to visit their water bowl as well as their food bowl.
After your Cane Corso puppies have been eating from their own bowl for a day or two, you will appreciate NuLo FreeStyle Grain-Free Dry Puppy Food for a different reason: It’s easy to clean up.
Cane Corso puppies, like Cane Corso adults, are messy eaters. They spread food around their bowl. It is easier to clean up spilled kibble than it is to clean up spilled canned dog food. It is also easier to store leftovers, not that you will have many leftovers with Cane Corsos!
Many pet parents wonder why the best Cane Corso puppy foods are grain-free. The reason is simple: Grains aren’t the best source of the nutrients Cane Corso puppies need.
Grains contain some protein with a lot of carbohydrates. A dog’s body can use small amounts of carbohydrate from grains to make sugar for energy the same way a human can.
But canine metabolism is geared for using fat for energy, the same way humans use fat for energy on a keto diet. Feeding your dogs meat, not grains, helps them stay leaner and more active throughout their lives.
4. Best Dry Food for Active Cane Corso Puppies: EUKANUBA Large Breed Dry Puppy Food
EUKANUBA Large Breed Dry Puppy Food provides two critical nutrients that Cane Corso puppies need during the first 15 months of their lives, calcium and phosphorus. Along with the vitamin D that Cane Corso puppies get from occasional servings of liver (which most dogs enjoy), these two nutrients help Cane Corsos build strong bones, joints, and cartilage.
Why should you care?
Next to English Bulldogs, no breed of dog is more prone to hip dysplasia than Cane Corsos. Almost 60 percent of Cane Corsos will develop the condition by the age of 2.
There are lots of things you can do to help your Cane Corso grow healthy connective tissue around the hip joint. You can avoid giving your Cane Corso puppy too much exercise. You can make sure she walks up and down inclines, rather than stairs. You can make sure your Cane Corso puppy is not spayed or neutered too soon. You can get your vet to assess your Cane Corso puppy before the age of six months for appropriate treatment. And you can give your Cane Corso puppy EUKANUBA Large Breed Dry Puppy Food for the best nutrition for healthy joints.
5. Best Treat for Active Cane Corso Puppies: EUKANUBA Healthy Extras Puppy Dog Treats
You aren’t planning to keep a Cane Corso in your lives without training, are you?
Cane Corso puppies need to learn to come, fetch, sit, and stay. The ability to follow these commands can literally save their lives in some emergency situation. And you will need treats to teach these and many other commands.
EUKANUBA Healthy Extras Puppy Dog Treats give your Cane Corso puppy a burst of chicken flavor along with an audible crunch. Even better, they clean the tartar from your puppy’s teeth every time they crunch.
Is there any one best food for Cane Corso puppies that all pet parents should keep on hand? We recommend EUKANUBA Large Breed Dry Puppy Food. It comes in 33-pound bags, so you can make sure you never run out. And it is a great choice for Cane Corso puppies at every stage of development from weaning to adulthood.
Information For Buyers
Cane Corsos grow large, strong muscles. They can be trained to become superior watch dogs. Their rambunctiousness isn’t for dog lovers who, for instance, also collect Hummel figurines, but their constant energy will keep your life from ever becoming boring. With your constant care, you will be raising a gentle giant that will be extremely loyal to the whole family, of a breed that has been known to save its owners in times of peril.
You may have to make some lifestyle adjustments when you get a Cano Corso. Even Cano Corso puppies drool a lot. You will have to place a protective towel or washable mat under his food and water bowls.
And you will be putting out a lot of food and water.
Because Cano Corsos are large dogs, they need a large amount of high-quality food. An adult Cano Corso that weighs 90 pounds (41 kilos), for example, needs about 2160 calories a day, with at least 18 percent of calories coming from protein.
An active Cano Corso puppy, however, can need even more calories than an adult. Moreover, Cano Corso puppies need 22 percent protein, even more than when they get older. Fortunately, all of the brands of Cano Corso puppy food we will recommend here exceed the minimum requirement.
Cano Corso puppies don’t just need a higher percentage of protein in their food than adults. They also need a higher percentage of fat. Adult Cano Corsos do well with 5 percent of calories coming from fat, but Cano Corso puppies need 8 percent of fat. This is due to the fact that the vitamin A Cano Corso puppies need for healthy skin and coats is dissolved in fat. Without enough fat, Cano Corso puppies cannot absorb enough vitamin A.
Other ingredients that can enhance the health of Cano Corso puppies include:
- Fish oil. Fish oil is a great source of docosahexaenoic acid, also known as DHA. This omega-3 essential fatty acid is used to build tissues in the eyes and brain of growing puppies.
- Probiotics. Cano Corso puppies absorb immune cells from their mother’s milk. Once they are weaned, probiotics take over some of the protective functions of nursing.
- Raw (but never cooked) beef or pork bones. Raw bones are great exercise for Cano Corso puppies that are teething and just learning how to chew. Cooked bones, on the other hand, are brittle and can break in the puppy’s mouth, causing punctures in the mouth, throat, and digestive tract.
- Treats. Cano Corso puppies need lots of obedience training. Nothing makes obedience training easier than treats.
Cano Corso puppies love rawhide chew toys, but you should reserve them for when they are adults. Rawhide is treated with some chemicals that can cause diarrhea in Cano Corso puppies.
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