Chihuahuas are tiny, precious toy breed dogs that offer companionship. They come in a short-haired and long-haired purebred variety. They are also quite feisty and possessive.
Tiny as they are, Chihuahuas have a high nutritional demand and tailored dog food for their needs. The best Chihuahua puppy food prevents them from suffering from floating kneecaps, heart disease, epilepsy, etc.
We evaluated the nine products and found Solid Gold Mighty Mini Gut Health to be among the best food for Chihahuas. This diet includes probiotics and is grain-free. Chicken is the main source of protein and includes various veggies and fruits.
Keep reading for more information on the top 9 best foods for your Chihuahua puppy. Our picks are focused on breed-specific food for this pet to help prevent diseases later in life.
Choosing the best Chihuahua puppy food is challenging because of the many varieties. This review will help choose the best food. Start by looking at our recommendation of the best dog food for Chihuahuas.
1) Solid Gold Mighty Mini Gut Health — Best Overall
Solid Gold Mighty Mini Gut health is the best overall for most Chihuahuas. It has chicken as the main ingredient. So, if your pup isn’t allergic to chicken, this diet is the best option. Its kibble size is also small hence enabling your Chihuahua to eat it without any difficulty.
Probiotics are included to help improve your dog’s general health. This diet is free from gluten and grain, too.
Moreover, it includes various helpful veggies such as cranberries and pumpkin. These ingredients provide antioxidants, healthy fiber, and other minerals and vitamins that the Chihuahua puppy requires.
Key Benefits:
- 100% free from gluten and grains.
- Specially crafted for small breeds of dogs.
- Made in America without any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
- It has Omega-3 fatty acids to boost your pup’s coat and skin health.
- Packed with probiotics to support your furry companion’s gut health.
- Includes quality fruits and veggies
- Small kibble size for easy eating.
2) Purina Pro Plan Small Breed Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food – Best on a Budget
If you’re strict on budget, you might want to consider Purina Pro Plan Small Breed Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food. This diet is decently high-quality and inexpensive. Thus, it’s easily the best Chihuahua puppy food under a strict budget.
It has chicken as the main source of protein. But, it includes a few lower-quality proteins, such as poultry by-product meals and corn gluten meals. Also, it has probiotics to help boost your pup’s overall digestive health.
The kibble is small to enable your canine to eat it with ease. The high amount of protein-rich ingredients increases its protein concentration, though it isn’t the best quality.
Key Benefits
- Inexpensive.
- Real chicken is the main ingredient.
- Packed with live probiotics to boost digestive and immune health.
- High protein to meet the needs of your active pup.
- Small kibble size for easier to eat.
3) Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken & Sweet Potato Senior Dry Dog Food – Best for Senior Chihuahua Puppies
Senior Chihuahuas are unable to maintain an optimal weight because of their decreased activity and energy levels. Merrick Lil’ Plate senior small breed dog formula comprises fewer calories to ensure your older Chihuahua doesn’t become obese. It contains L-carnitine to help boost a healthy metabolism.
Merrick Lil’s Plates dog food is produced with deboned chicken as the primary ingredient. A delicious blend of vegetables and fruits creates a balanced, nutritious meal for your senior Chihuahua to enjoy. Chondroitin and glucosamine help keep your pup’s joints and bones stronger.
Key Benefits:
- Blended with chondroitin and glucosamine for healthy joints and hips.
- Fewer calories, so your senior pup can maintain optimal weight.
- It doesn’t contain artificial flavors, preservatives, or colors.
- Made in Merrick’s Texas facility with local ingredients.
- Blended with nutritious vegetables and fruits.
4) Holistic Select Small & Mini Breed Puppy Health Anchovy, Sardine & Chicken Meals Recipe – Ideal for Tiny Puppies
This grain-free food formula is balanced with high protein and fat, particularly for tiny puppies’ development and growth. Oatmeal, quinoa, and brown rice provide energy for exercise and playtime. It also contains super-foods like blueberries that offer natural support for cellular health.
This diet contains DHA for proper growth and development of your Chi’s eyes and brain. It’s formulated with high-quality inorganic ingredients that ensure your pup grows and develops most healthily.
Key Benefits:
- Made in the USA with high-quality and locally sourced ingredients.
- A healthy, nutritious diet formulated to please your young guy’s palate.
- Probiotics, glucosamine, taurine, and antioxidants all contribute to a healthy heart.
- It has omega-3 fatty acids to help your pup achieve a healthy coat and skin.
- Include multiple ingredients that support your pup’s general health.
5) Royal Canin Size Health Nutrition Small – Best for Puppies Under 12 Months
Royal Canin Size Health Nutrition Small helps meet the unique nutritional needs of puppies under 12 months old. Remember your Chi needs higher amounts of calories than large puppies. L-carnitine helps metabolize fat to help your Chi maintain an optimal weight. Ideal levels of DHA and EPA support healthy skin and a shiny coat. Spice up your Chi’s bowl by mixing it with his favorite wet food.
Key Benefits:
- An enhanced palatable dog diet satisfies the fussy appetite of small pups.
- It has a small kibble size designed for miniature jaws
- Support skin and shiny coat with optimal levels of DHA and EPA.
- Has L-carnitine to help meet higher energy requirements for small pups.
6) Natural Balance L.I.D. Chicken & Sweet Potato Formula Small Breed Bites – Best for Sensitive Stomach
This diet is the best for Chihuahua puppies with sensitive stomachs. The limited number of carbohydrates and protein sources provide all of the nutritional components your Chihuahua puppy requires without stressing its tummy. The diet is balanced and complete to promote its general health.
Natural Balance L.I.D is made with wholesome ingredients that provide nutrients for your Chihuahua puppy to live a fulfilling life. The diet nourishes your pup’s coat and skin, too.
Moreover, the small kibble pieces help clean gums and teeth to keep your pup’s pearly whites in tip-top condition!
Pros:
- Available in other protein flavors, like lamb, fish, beef, and duck.
- No artificial flavors or colors.
- Flaxseed and salmon oil boost healthy coat and skin.
- Small kibble size to clean gums and teeth.
- Limited ingredient diet for Chi with sensitive digestion and allergies.
7) American Journey Salmon & Sweet Potato Recipe – Most Popular
American Journey Salmon & Sweet Potato Recipe combines delicious flavors with nutritious ingredients. Your Chihuahua puppy is sure to crave this diet, as it contains wholesome vegetables and fruit. Veggies and fruits offer immune support, and fiber-rich ingredients provide boundless energy.
This grain-free diet is made with real, deboned salmon as the main ingredient. Salmon consists of amino acids that help your Chi maintain a healthy figure.
American Journey dog food contains everything you could desire in a nutritious meal choice for your precious Chihuahua puppy.
Key Benefit:
- It has omega fatty acids that boost your pup’s coat and skin health.
- Balanced and complete nutrition with no ingredients such as wheat, corn, poultry by-products meals, or artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.
- Affordable.
- Lean protein for healthy muscle mass.
- Good for Chis, with sensitive stomachs.
- Packed with natural antioxidants and fiber-rich ingredients.
8) Purina Beneful Small Breed IncrediBites – Best for Stronger Bones
Purina Beneful Small Breed InccrediBites is fully packed with over 23 essential minerals and vitamins that supports your pup’s overall health and deliver balanced and complete nutrition for all dogs. It also includes low-quality ingredients like barley, whole grain corn, and chicken by-product meals.
It has a smaller kibble size for comfortable eating. Purina Beneful Small Breed IncrediBites is high in protein, which is beneficial to your pup, too.
As a calcium-rich diet, this diet helps support your pup’s fragile bones, which are riskier of being broken.
Key Benefits:
- It’s produced in America with no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.
- Packed with protein to support your little guy’s muscles during his playtime.
- Specially crafted with real veggies, real salmon oil, and grains.
- It has a smaller kibble size for easy eating.
- It comes with over 23 essential minerals and vitamins to support overall health.
9) Wellness CORE Grain-Free Small Breed Turkey & Chicken Recipe – Best for Allergies
Wellness CORE small breed dog food is designed for tiny pups like your Chihuahua puppy. It features chicken, turkey, vegetables, fruit, and salmon oil. These ingredients help your Chi maintains an active, healthy lifestyle. If your Chi is allergic to grains, Wellness CORE is the right diet he will thrive on.
Key Benefits:
- Crafted without any corn, meat by-products, wheat gluten, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
- Ideal as a dog food topper or mixed into food.
- Packed with protein for optimal calorie content.
- It features chicken, vegetables, fruits, and salmon oil.
Chihuahua Puppies Food Guide
As mentioned earlier, Chis are tiny dogs and have tailored food to meet their higher nutritional needs. But finding the best Chihuahua puppy food is challenging.
That’s why we’ve put together a handy guide to help you choose the best Chihuahua food. Keep reading!
Calories
Chis are highly active and have higher energy needs. They require about 300 to 450 calories daily (depending on weight). However, be on the lookout for your individual pup’s needs.
Proteins
High protein foods are best for Chis to prevent muscle deterioration and gain muscle. Look for dog foods full of real protein in the ingredients. Lamb, real chicken, or beef are great protein sources. These ingredients are the first to show a high-quality dog diet as the main ingredient.
Carbohydrates
There are no laid guidelines for carb content in dog food for Chis. However, be sure that the carbs included are beneficial and healthy. Crabs are sources of energy that reserve fat and protein for other beneficial bodily functions.
Look for healthy and beneficial carbs in ingredients like root vegetables, rice, seeds, and fruits that give your pup energy and ease digestion.
Fats
Chis are prone to massive weight gain, but they need fat in their food to remain healthy. Fat provides energy and boosts brain functions. Fatty acids make for a heart-healthy pup and prevent heart illness, which affects these tiny dogs. Thus, choose a dog food that contains 20 to 25% fat.
Vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits are great sources of minerals and vitamins. Various ingredients give your Chihuahua puppy all the essentials it needs to stay healthy. Some types of vegetables provide unique benefits.
For instance, leafy greens like spinach are a source of fiber, while carrots provide beta-carotene that improves ocular health. Kale, raspberries, and blueberries are antioxidants and improve heart health.
Vitamins and Minerals
Chihuahuas need various vitamins and minerals to maintain the immune system, coat, and skin in good condition and boost brain function. Chondroitin and glucosamine support bones and joints, Omega-6 and Omega-6 fatty acids help your pup’s brain and heart and make for a healthy coat and skin. Antioxidants help keep your Chihuahua puppy’s immune system stable, while probiotics help digestion.
Fiber
Fiber must be part of your Chihuahua puppy’s diet to prevent constipation. Perfect sources of fiber include root veggies and fruits and healthy whole grains like barley and rice. The dog food we’ve listed above has all these necessary vegetables and fruits mentioned in the ingredients.
Appropriate Kibble Size
Besides considering what’s inside the diet, you must look at the shape of the individual kibble piece. Chis have small jaws. Thus, they’ll need kibble that they can eat at ease and comfortably!
It will help if you give your Chihuahua puppy dry food instead of wet food. Dry kibble scrubs the teeth while chewing, helping your dog avoid dangerous dental problems.
AAFCO Approval
The food you choose MUST be approved by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). It should be tested and proven to meet the minimal nutritional needs of puppies.
Takeaway
Choosing the best Chihuahua puppy food should involve finding the smallest food possible. The market is flooded with many foods designed for small breeds, but these aren’t small enough for Chihahuas.
Also, Chihuahua puppies benefit from high-quality food. Thus, what is in the diet is important, too. At all times, ensure that you feed them a balanced diet, since if it is balanced, you will have minimal veterinary visits. On the other hand, when you feed them will, they will serve you well and bring unmeasurable joy to your household. Hopefully, our reviews have helped you choose the best dog food for your Chihuahua puppy here.
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