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After careful analysis, our top recommended high calorie dog food is Adirondack 30% Protein High-Fat Recipe.
At 522 kcal/cup it’s incredibly calorie dense and can help you dog gain weight quickly. It’s also got high quality protein sources and is packed with essential fatty acids to boost your dog’s health and immune system.
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There may be scenarios where your dog requires high-calorie dog food to maintain optimum health.
High-calorie diets are needed for many high-energy working breeds of dogs because they may struggle to keep weight on due to the amount of physical activity they do.
Other pets suffering from certain health complaints may also benefit from a high-calorie diet to help keep their condition on.
It can be hard to determine the number of daily calories a dog needs, as it depends on age, breed, neutering status, and exercise levels.
You may find a calorie calculator helpful to work out your dog’s individual needs and resting energy requirements (RER).
Some working dogs will require two to five times their RER! Here’s what to look for generally when selecting a high-calorie food for your dog.
Compare the number of calories per cup between different brands to see which delivers the most energy for the same volume of food.
Feeding your dog with energy-dense portions may be easier than trying to increase the amount of their regular diet which may make them feel overly full.
Many diets contain calories that come from fat as the diet’s primary energy source. Whilst fats do provide useful calories and are part of a balanced diet, they don’t help to build lean muscle mass.
So, you should be looking for a diet that contains a higher proportion of protein compared to fat, with whole meat or meat meal appearing at the top of the ingredients list.
Steer clear of overly processed foods and treats. It can be tempting to get calories into your dog in this way, but they won’t be receiving a nutritious wholesome diet.
The calories should come as part of a balanced diet with the right number of vitamins and minerals, too, so choose a diet that meets AAFCO requirements.
All of our dog food suggestions are carefully selected by professionals. We extensively research the products to check if they’ve been approved by governing bodies before making recommendations. You can read more about our stringent review standards here. And remember, always consult your veterinarian first, before changing your dog’s food.
Adirondack 30% Protein High-Fat Recipe is a top-quality diet whose high-calorie formulation is a great help for dogs that need to gain weight.
A diet that is exceptionally flavorful, Adirondack packs a powerhouse punch of protein with its inclusion of chicken meal in its formulation. This meat is rich in amino acids to promote healthy muscle development.
Adirondack places a high priority on the use of natural ingredients obtained from reputable sources to ensure maximum nutrition for dogs.
A diet that is considered to be among the best high-calorie dog foods on the market today, Adirondack is manufactured in the United States.
This premium-tier diet is free from artificial colors, flavors, fillers, corn, wheat, and soy. The omega 3 and 6 fatty acid content included in Adirondack fuels energy reserves and helps support coat and skin health.
For families looking for the best high-calorie food for their dogs, it’s hard to go wrong with Adirondack.
Kinetic Performance Power 30K Formula Dry Dog Food, an American-made diet, has been carefully crafted to support the nutritional needs of highly active dogs.
The basis of this high-quality food is several different meat proteins including chicken, menhaden fish, and eggs. This powerhouse helping of amino acids ensures excellent support for strong, lean muscle development.
There are healthy doses of essential fatty acids present organically in the included ingredients to help ensure good coat and skin quality and to provide excess energy to fuel an active lifestyle.
Kinetic Performance Power 30K is free from corn, wheat, and soy. Both digestive fiber and prebiotics have been added to this recipe to promote fluid digestive processes.
To ensure good joint health, glucosamine and chondroitin are also sprinkled liberally throughout this diet.
With so many nutritional benefits to its credit, it is not hard to see why families believe Kinetic Performance Power 30K is among the best high-calorie foods for dogs.
Nature’s Logic Chicken Meal Feast offers dogs all of the high-quality nutrition they need to achieve and maintain their optimal body condition.
A food that prioritizes the use of only natural ingredients in its formulation, Nature’s Logic is free from corn, wheat, soy, and rice, common allergens that can negatively impact the health of dogs.
Nature’s Logic includes both highly palatable whole grains as well as fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants to encourage fluid digestion and a flourishing immune system.
Among the superfoods found in this diet are kelp, blueberries, spinach, and cranberries. To boost digestion, probiotics, and digestive enzymes have also been supplemented.
For one of the best high-calorie dog foods, it’s hard to go wrong with Nature’s Logic.
VICTOR Classic High-Energy Dry Dog Food is a high-protein diet that meets all the marks of what active dogs need to fuel their daily activity.
This formulation’s protein base includes beef meal, chicken meal, and pork meal, ensuring this diet is rich in the amino acids energetic dogs need to support the development of muscle mass.
VICTOR Classic High Energy makes use of whole grains that are easily digestible to promote fluid elimination and to keep energy levels stoked for performance.
One of the best high-calorie dog foods available today, families will be quite pleased with the results of VICTOR Classic High Energy.
Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast Grain-Free Natural Dry Dog Food offers dogs in need of weight gain a high-calorie nutritious diet to fuel their active lifestyles.
This top-tier diet has been enriched with l-carnitine to encourage a strong metabolism to assist with burning fat efficiently and building healthy muscles.
Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are present in abundance in this diet, providing vital help for coat and skin health.
The main ingredient in Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast is bison meal, a lean meat and novel protein source that is unlikely to trigger allergic reactions in dogs.
This diet is rated as one of the best high-calorie foods for dogs, containing no grains or glutens.
It is rich in carbohydrates derived from antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables to support good digestion and the development of a thriving immune system.
For dogs that are highly active or that have difficulty maintaining healthy body weight, it is a good idea to consider feeding a diet that is calorie-dense.
The best high-calorie dog foods derive their calories from top-quality ingredients that are included in their most natural form and that are rich in nutritional value.
Many dog foods that are high in calorie content take their calories from fats.
Though healthy fats are an important part of any diet, calories taken primarily from this food group do not help dogs to develop the muscle mass they require to remain highly active.
The average dog owner owns a dog whose weight should remain status quo or that could benefit from some weight loss.
This means that most owners are looking for a dog’s diet that helps prevent weight gain not encourages it. However, some dogs are picky eaters and others enjoy performance sports or an active lifestyle and need the extra calories to avoid becoming too thin.
In addition to this, some dogs gain weight easily and need to be kept on a low-calorie diet. For these dogs, it is important to find nutrient-rich food for weight management.
For owners whose dogs fall in this category, it is very important to consult with a veterinarian to determine the underlying cause and together come up with a diet that will be the most beneficial to the dog.
Among the health issues which can lead to weight loss in dogs are:
To help dogs that struggle with maintaining healthy body weight, owners should look for high-quality dog food that ideally has a minimum of 30 percent protein and 20 percent fat.
For dogs in desperate need of weight gain, it may be preferable to transition the dog to canned food or to feed a homecooked or raw diet to encourage a hearty appetite for more calorie-rich meals.
Experts agree that dogs that are extremely active do require more food to sustain their energy levels and keep their bodies in good condition.
As a general rule of thumb, these types of dogs require 1.5 to 2.5 times more food than their less active canine counterparts.
When choosing dog food for active canines, look for dog food brands that offer higher amounts of protein and fat as well as complex carbohydrates to fuel activity.
Determining how much of the best high-calorie puppy food to feed a dog can be challenging. The best place to start is by selecting a diet that is naturally high in calories.
These types of diets offer a power-packed calorie count packaged in normal-sized meal portions, allowing dogs to get maximum nutrition from servings of average size.
To ascertain precisely how much to feed active or underweight dogs, it is best to use the suggested serving size printed on the bag as a starting point.
This amount can be adjusted until the dog’s healthy weight gain goals have been met. For dogs that are poor eaters, free feeding is also an option that may encourage dogs to consume more daily calories.
The best dog foods with high calories to assist with weight gain contain only the highest quality nutrition obtained from the most reputable sources.
As a general rule of thumb, your dog’s food should contain a minimum of 30 percent protein. These proteins should be meats and included in their whole form if possible.
Meat meals offer a concentrated amount of protein that is sufficient quality to fuel the energy levels of very active dogs or dogs in need of weight gain. High-protein dog food should also be high in calories with high-quality fat sources.
Grain-free dog food is a good choice for high-calorie diets because grain-based carbohydrates are high in starch and low in the nutrition that is necessary for weight gain. To help an underweight dog gain weight, make sure their food is also packed with healthy fats.
However, by-products and plant-based proteins such as soy, corn, and wheat are not ideal and are best avoided.
Care should be taken for any increase in weight to occur very gradually. Just as with weight loss, any accelerated gain in body mass puts strain on the body and can lead to the development of further health problems in the future.
The most effective way to allow for incremental weight gain is to begin feeding the dog smaller meals more frequently throughout the day.
This slight increase in food amounts will yield the desired rate in a manner that promotes good health.
Carbohydrates can be taken from whole grains, fruits, or vegetables. The primary importance is that they are high in fiber and rich in antioxidants to encourage good digestion and a healthy immune system.
Healthy fats are an important component of any excellent quality diet for dogs. These should be taken from animal sources and include such foods as chicken fat and oily fish.
Healthy fats contribute to overall coat and skin health and also help to keep a dog’s energy reserves fuelled for performance.
Other helpful supplements which can greatly benefit dogs through their nutrition include prebiotics, probiotics, digestive enzymes, glucosamine, and chondroitin.
Another alternative for dogs in need of weight gain is feeding a high-quality puppy formula that is rich in calories, protein, and optimal fats.
Here is a basic list of the most important things to look for in high-calorie dog food:
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