5 Best Puppy Foods for Afghan Hounds (Reviews Updated 2022)

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The Afghan Hound is a noble and elegant sighthound breed, which, as a basal breed, predates a lot of other dog breeds of its type. Having originated as a hunting hound for royalty, Afghan Hound puppies are relatively high maintenance for sighthounds, and because of the breed’s predisposition for allergies, developing a steady and balanced diet for a sensitive puppy’s stomach from an early age is key. When you’re searching for a good brand of dog food to start your Afghan Hound puppy off right, here are some labels to look for.

These are the top 5 best puppy foods for Afghan Hounds:

Best Puppy Foods for Afghan Hounds

Here are our Afghan Hound puppy food reviews.

1. Hill’s Science Diet Chicken Meal & Barley Sensitive Puppy Chow

Hill's Science Diet Dry Dog Food, Puppy, Large Breeds, Chicken Meal & Oats Recipe

At a young age, an Afghan Hound puppy may not look what you expect from an adult Afghan – to develop from their soft, soft puppy fur to the long, silky coat of an adult Afghan Hound. They need a carefully balanced diet with plenty of proteins and fats. Hill’s Science Diet Chicken & Barley Puppy Food is perfect for just such a purpose, having carefully omitted any ingredients which could hinder a growing puppy’s health, and having been enriched with DHA from fish oil to promote healthy brain and eye development. With all-natural, mineral, and nutrient-rich kibble, Hill’s dog food guarantees your Afghan Hound puppy will grow energetic and strong.

  • This dog food is formulated with only the best natural ingredients and is veterinarian approved
  • It does not contain most of the ingredients which are likely to cause allergic reactions in young Afghan Hounds
  • It is enriched with DHA from fish oil to support brain and eye development, which is very important for young puppies
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2. Wellness Complete Health All-Natural Chicken & Oatmeal Dog Food

Wellness Complete Health Natural Dry Healthy Weight Dog Food

Within your Afghan Hound’s first year of life, they can almost triple in size and body weight, but will remain, underneath their long, silky fur, lean and fine-boned because of their sighthound heritage, and so as they transition to adult food, they need a cuisine which will keep them healthy. Wellness Complete Health All-Natural Chicken & Oatmeal Dog Food is designed with lean, delicate hounds like the Afghan Hound in mind, being rich with nutrients and formulated for maximum mineral and protein absorption, which, for dogs that do not carry a lot of natural body fat, is vital. Made with all-natural chicken, spinach, flaxseed, and blueberries, this dog food is an excellent choice for when you are beginning to transition your Afghan Hound from puppy food to adult dog food.

  • It contains only natural ingredients and is designed for maximum nutrient absorption, which is very important for dogs with low body fat like Afghan Hounds
  • It helps maintain a healthy and balanced weight for dogs of any age
  • Because this dog food is so rich, it is excellent for transitioning your Afghan Hound out of puppy food
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3. Purina Pro-Plan Chicken & Shreds Dry Puppy Food

Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Blend With Probiotics Adult Dry Dog

If you ask most veterinarians what puppy food they recommend for the average dog caretaker to buy, one of the names brought up most often is Purina Pro-Plan Chicken & Shreds Puppy Food. Most dog foods offer up dry kibble alone, but the benefit of this Purina choice is that it serves up a combination of kibble and dry shredded chicken, giving young Afghan Hounds a healthy, natural diet from the day you bring them home up to a year in age. Also, it has the guarantee of live probiotics in the kibble to encourage a healthy gut microbiome, which is important to develop in young Afghan Hounds, since the breed is known to have a sensitive stomach.

  • This brand is highly beloved by vets and is easily available in most pet stores
  • Chicken & Shreds formula mixes dry kibble and chicken shreds to ensure a healthy diet for young dogs
  • Guaranteed live probiotics in the kibble encourage healthy gut microbiome development
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4. Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Diet Puppy Food Made With Turkey & Potato

Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Diet, Grain Free Natural Adult Dry Dog Food

The main appeal of Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Puppy Food is that, because it is made from very few ingredients, and gets its proteins from turkey and other very easily digestible sources, it is one of the best choices on the market for puppies with sensitive stomachs. As young dogs, Afghan Hounds’ health can be radically affected by the type of food they get, and how easily they can keep it down, and given Blue Buffalo’s avoidance of any hard to digest foods, like corn, chicken, eggs, or dairy, even the most anxious puppy can keep it down and be nourished by it. The addition of other beneficial ingredients, like pumpkin and the same time of fatty acids found in canine milk, make it especially easy for a puppy’s stomach to digest, and given how prone to allergies, Afghan Hounds can be, this is an excellent choice.

  • It is made from only the safest natural ingredients at the exclusion of any introduced food which can cause stomach upsets
  • It contains pumpkin and the same kind of amino acids found in canine mother’s milk, making it especially digestible for puppies
  • It is designed with holistic veterinary practices in mind
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5. NUTRO WHOLESOME ESSENTIALS No-GMO Puppy Chow for Dogs of All Size

Nutro Wholesome Essentials Puppy Dry Dog Food, All Breed Sizes

A large amount of body mass gained in the first year of an Afghan Hound’s life is directly in the legs department, with so much of their growing size being dependent on the health of their bones. Nutro Wholesome Essentials Puppy Chow is made with no genetically modified organisms and comes straight from the farm to your puppy’s food bowl, and with all the benefits of other natural puppy food, it is also boosted with calcium to encourage vital bone and joint development. Made from farm-raised chicken, brown rice, and sweet potato, this puppy food is as wholesome as its name suggests.

  • This puppy chow is produced from farm-raised, GMO-free chicken
  • All-natural ingredients included therein support a healthy developing Afghan Hound puppy
  • In addition to other benefits, this food is high in calcium for bone and joint development
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Afghan Hound Puppy Food Buyer’s Guide

From three months of age to the end of the first year of their life, an Afghan Hound puppies may grow from under 20lb to over 60lb, and putting on all that body mass for a dog breed with very little body fat is hungry work. When looking for an appropriate food brand for your Afghan puppy, it’s important to keep in mind both the needs of the breed, which is known for having sensitive skin and stomach and the needs of all puppies, who need a rich diet to properly grow into healthy dogs. With this in mind, there are a couple of factors to take into account when comparing dog food brands with your Afghan Hound puppy in mind.

Nutritional Needs for Puppies

Some of the most important habits your dog can develop are taken on at this stage of their life, as a young puppy freshly weaned off of their mom’s milk and developing a taste for kibble, and to help them, you need to know what kind of kibble is best. For larger dogs, like Afghan Hounds, you need a relatively high amount of calcium to encourage healthy bone and joint development, and high caloric intake, since puppies need both energy to play and energy to grow. But you’ll want to make sure that the food in question is veterinarian-approved for its balance of calcium and calories since just an abundance of both does not automatically make it healthy.

Afghan Hound Sensitivities

Looking at an adult Afghan Hound, the fact that they are considered a high-maintenance breed may seem apparent at first glance, with their long, silky fur and love of lounging elegantly on furniture, but the real maintenance comes from within. Like all sighthounds, Afghan Hounds have very low body fat, and so need to get a high caloric and nutritional intake from their daily meals, and because of their anxious personality, they may have trouble digesting their food healthily. For this reason, looking for food specially designed for dogs with sensitive stomachs and predisposition for food allergies is very important.

Ingredients

When it comes to dog food, expensive ingredients and high-quality ingredients are not always the same thing. The exclusion of unhealthy ingredients, like filler carbs and low-grade meat, is often more important than the inclusion of fancy ingredients and additives. When you’re browsing for dog food for your Afghan Hound puppy, make sure that you prioritize the balance of good ingredients and nutrients, and search to see that those nutrients come from reputable sources.

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