What is the best fish food for dogs?

As carnivores, dogs can be fed meat, fish or both in the same formula without any problem. But some dogs need a good fish feed to improve their hair, skin or due to digestive problems or food intolerances.

There are many ranges of fish that we can feed our dog with, but not all of them are of good quality nor are they recommended based on the needs of the dog. Let’s see in detail which are the best fish feed for dogs and their characteristics.

Benefits of Salmon feed for dogs

Salmon is a fish that offers great nutritional benefits to dogs since it contains a high amount of high-quality protein and many Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, essential for the care of the hair and skin of dogs.

We can find a multitude of salmon and meat feeds or simply salmon, with or without cereals, the most important thing being that salmon is always the first ingredient on the feed label. Let’s see the most remarkable benefits of salmon feed:

However, salmon feed also has some disadvantages, such as that they are a bit heavy when it comes to digestion, so it is not entirely recommended for dogs that have digestive sensitivity. In addition, salmon is quite fatty, so we must ensure that the feed does not contain too high a level of fat.

Benefits of white fish feed

Unlike Salmon, white fish also provides a large number of nutritional benefits for dogs, but without being as heavy in digestions as salmon feed and containing much less fat, which makes it ideal to avoid overweight or to dogs that are on a diet.

Let’s see in detail what are the benefits of feed made with white fish as the main ingredient:

There is a great variety of white fish and all of them provide the same benefits to our dogs, among them we can highlight the whiting, cod, saithe, flounder, sardine, mackerel, hake, sole or blue whiting.

I think of white fish VS I think of salmon, which is better?

Within the high quality ranges that contain white fish or salmon among their ingredients, or rather, as the main ingredient, there is no best or worst, simply the most appropriate for your dog based on its nutritional needs.

If your dog has a hair or skin problem but is not a delicate stomach, the best thing to do is opt for a good salmon feed. If it is a bit delicate in the stomach, for one of white fish, since as we have indicated, salmon feeds are a little more complex to digest than those of white fish.

You should also take into account the preferences of your dog, many dogs love fish feed, but salmon can be a bit strong. Salmon is a fish with a very intense flavor, so much so that some dogs prefer the milder, white fish.

If your dog has a food allergy and you know the ingredient to avoid, you have it even easier. If you do not know it, try a diet of exclusion or exclusion for dogs, it is the most effective way to locate the ingredients that do not go well, always under veterinary supervision. There are no magic formulas, everything is to try until you find the best one for your dog, or vary it so that it does not get bored of always eating the same.

Guide to the best White Fish feed

There are many companies that offer among their ranges the option of purchasing them with white fish mixed with other meats or simply with varied or unique white fish. If we are looking for a white fish feed for our dog, the ideal is to buy it without other meats such as chicken, veal or lamb, that is, avoid the most common red and white meats. These are the best ranges we have found today.

Orijen Six Fish

Although it is not an economic range, we cannot ignore that it is undoubtedly a high quality white fish feed, with which our dog can enjoy all the nutritional benefits of this type of diet.

Orijen Six Fish includes Sardines, Mackerel, Hake, Sole, Lenguadina and Herring in its formula. A combination of white fish that will make your dog lick just by smelling it. You can see more info on its official website: Orijen Six Fish

Naku Ocean

It is not a standard feed, but a different option very similar to BARF natural food. What they do in Naku is to cook the ingredients and then dehydrate them, so that they remain in good condition for longer while preserving all their nutritional properties. Once at home, we just have to hydrate it with a little water and it will be ready to serve, with all its smell, flavor and properties.

Naku Oceano includes Cod, Saithe and Whiting in its ingredients. It is also made without cereals, using the potato as a source of healthy carbohydrates for the dog. You can see all the information about the range from its official website: Naku Oceano

Acana Pacifica

For those who do not know, Acana is Orijen’s white (economic) brand, with a little less quality than Orijen but it is also a good dog food made with white fish and free of other white or red meats .

Acana pacífico includes among its ingredients Herring, Sole, Cod and Hake. Being a cheaper range, some of these ingredients are added in the form of flours, which are always of lower quality than adding dried or whole and fresh fish. You can see its range from: Acana Pacifica.

Other options

Although it is hard to believe, we have not found many more options that only offer white fish in their formula and that are of quality. If there are many ranges that mix white fish with salmon or do not specify the type of fish they use, or if it is dehydrated or is flour, or that its main ingredient is potato or cereal and not fish. In short, there is many white fish feeds of dubious quality that we prefer not to recommend, so when choosing one, make sure that you do not get screwed.

Top best Salmon Foods for dogs

Contrary to what happens with white fish, with salmon we can obtain many more ranges. Salmon is a more common and cheaper fish when it comes to making feed, so it is also much more used and therefore, with many more ranges. Let’s see which are the best feeds made with salmon.

Naku Atlantic

We speak again about Naku, although this time about its Atlantic range, which offers an elusive Salmon formula. Use dried salmon which is the highest quality way to add salmon to dog food. With potato as a source of carbohydrates and completely free of cereals. You can see all the info from: Naku Atlantic

NFNatcane Salmon Plus

It is not the first time we have talked about NFNatcane on this website and it may not be the last. And it is that the composition of its formulas offers a perfect balance between quality, palatability, nutrients and price. By not selling through intermediaries they can offer really fair prices for their ranges.

Salmon Plus from NFNatcane contains dehydrated and hydrolyzed salmon, the hydrolyzing process makes it much more assimilable by the dog’s digestive system and its nutrients can be used much better. As a source of carbohydrates, it uses rice, the only cereal that in adequate quantities, is beneficial for dogs. You can see all the info from: NFNatcane Salmon Plus

Purizon Single Meat Adult Salmon

You may have never heard of Purizon as it is not a highly promoted brand among pet blogs, but it does have high quality ranges such as Single Meat Adult Salmon and Spinach, completely grain free and using potato as a carbohydrate source. It is undoubtedly another excellent option when choosing a good salmon feed for our dog. You can see all the info from its official website: Purizon

Edgar Cooper Norwegian Salmon

That a brand of dog food is little known does not mean that it is of poor quality, we have the proof with Edgar Cooper who offers a range formulated with fresh salmon and using potato as a source of carbohydrates, which also makes it grain free. We can see all the details from his website: Edgar Cooper Norwegian Salmon

Natural Greatness Salmon Recipe

We continue with another excellent option to feed our dog with a Salmon-based feed, such as Natural Greatness Salmon recipe. With 20% dehydrated Salmon, 10% fresh and cereal-free Salmon, with potato as a source of carbohydrates. You can see all the info from their website: Natural Greatness

Is fish or meat feed better?

Both options are just as good for our dog, as long as we talk about high quality feed. The choice of a fish feed over a meat feed is always made based on the needs of the dog, either because it does not tolerate some meats, because it prefers the taste of fish or by veterinary prescription.

On a nutritional level, both meat and fish can provide all the nutrients that the dog needs. So it is neither better nor worse, it is simply the best option for the dog.

Are there ranges of white fish or salmon that we should avoid?

It is not that there are bad ranges, but of inferior quality. For example, those that contain cereal or potato as the main ingredient and not fish. Fish, whether salmon or white fish, should always be the first ingredient on the feed label .

Also try to avoid feed that contains wheat or corn in their formulas, since it is a very cheap cereal that is used as a filler in many feed, but it does not have great nutritional contributions for the dog.

Run away from the pages that recommend dog food and only put options from Amazon, as they are pages that simply work on commission per sale on Amazon and do not focus on looking for the ranges that really are of quality, only those that can be sold through that platform. Google should better assess which pages are the ones, that really offer truthful information and which ones do so for simple commercial interest.

If your dog has kidney or liver problems, he may need a lower-protein and lower-fat feed, which does include more cereals to balance the formula. In cases of dogs with pathologies, we must always follow the recommendations of our veterinarian. Sometimes a poorer quality feed may be the most appropriate for it.

Quality of ingredients in fish feed

When we read the label of a white fish feed or a salmon feed for dogs, in addition to verifying that the fish is the first ingredient on the labeling, we must know that the quality of the fish can also vary. Fishmeal is not the same as fresh fish, for example. And fish is not the same as hydrolyzed fish.

This is the quality ladder when using fish as an ingredient :

1. Dehydrated fish (it offers us the real percentage of fish that is used).
2. Fresh fish (also of good quality, but somewhat misleading, since the percentage they expose includes water, if we remove the water, the percentage will be lower and that is the real percentage to take into account).
3. Fish meal (third on the quality ladder, not the best option but not the worst either)
4. By-products (by-products are understood to be everything that has been discarded from the fish for human consumption, mean heads, bones, guts, etc…).
5. Unspecified fish (if it only puts fish, bad, because they don’t indicate what kind of fish it is or if they use by-products or what).

And if they specify it, hydrolyzed fish will always be better than non-hydrolyzed fish. Hydrolyzate is a very expensive process in the production of feed and not all brands use it. It serves to make the particles smaller, making it much more assimilable by the dog and preventing intolerances.