What is the best puppy food for a puppy with a sensitive stomach

8 Best Puppy Foods for Sensitive Stomachs & Diarrhea 2024 Reviews & Top Picks

It seems like few people ever mention one of the biggest challenges of puppy ownership: the fact that many of them have sensitive stomachs. It may seem like regardless of what you feed them, the food comes back with a vengeanceoften on your most valuable piece of furniture.

Finding a suitable puppy food isnt easy, either. There are so many ingredients to look through, and labels seem to be designed to be intentionally confusing. It can be terrifying to think that you might feed your dog the wrong food and accidentally make the problem worse.

Fortunately, weve made finding the right food for hair-trigger tummies easier than ever before. In the reviews below, we take an in-depth look at some of the top puppy foods on the market today, so you can finally find one that your adorable little friend can keep down for longer than a few minutes.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 8 Best Puppy Foods for Sensitive Stomachs

1. Ollie Dog Food Lamb Recipe Fresh Dog Food Best Overall

If youre looking for the best overall puppy food for sensitive stomachs, youre not alone. The good news is that Ollie builds your pups meal plan around what your pup needs, and theres even an option to avoid different ingredients. But the truth is that if your pup has food sensitivities, theres no better choice than Ollies Lamb Fresh Recipe. The novel protein is great for most pups with food allergies, and its an ideal hypoallergenic choice.

Even better, Ollie only uses the best possible ingredients in its food, and since it formulates the recipe for your pup, it changes with them. That means you wont have to switch their diet later, which is a huge perk if your puppy has a sensitive stomach.

It is more expensive than most other dog food formulas, but its the best of the best for your pup. Theyll certainly appreciate the high-quality food and how easy it is on their sensitive stomach.

• Only top-notch ingredients
• Novel protein is great for food allergies
• Vet-approved fresh recipes
• Hypoallergenic formula

• More expensive than store-bought kibble

2. Wellness Grain Free Dry Dog Food Budget Buy

While we feel that the Pro Plan is the best food you can feed a picky pup, its expensive. If youre looking for something a little more budget-friendly, we believe Wellness 89147 Natural is the best puppy food for sensitive stomachs for the money.

Its grain-free, eliminating one of the most common triggers for touchy bellies while also helping reduce the risk of obesity. Instead of corn or other grains, it uses ingredients like salmon that are high in DHA, and it has probiotics and chicory root extract to support healthy bacteria in the intestines and aid in the digestive process.

This is a dry kibble rather than a wet food, and you may find that you need to feed your dog more of it to keep him full. Some puppies also turn their nose up at dry food as well, so you may need wet food to mix it with.

The Wellness 89147 Natural was neck-and-neck with the Pro Plan for our top spot, but the fact that the latter is a wet food helped push it over the edge. Still, Wellness offers excellent nutrition at a great price, making it a no-brainer for our value pick.

• Grain-free formula
• Helps reduce risk of obesity
• Includes probiotics
• Uses chicory root extract to promote healthy gut bacteria
• Has salmon for DHA

• Requires large portion sizes
• Picky dogs may not eat it

3. AvoDerm Natural Puppy Dog Food

In addition to chicken and white and brown rice, AvoDerm 100064769 Natural is bolstered with avocadoes, which are chock-full of the omega fatty acids your dog needs to grow a healthy immune system. Its also good for the skin and coat, making it a good choice for animals struggling with allergies or other skin conditions.

The kibble pieces have been pressure-cooked to seal in all the nutrition, and this also makes it easier for your pups stomach to break down. You should be able to feed your dog less of this food than other brands, without skimping on nutrition.

Our biggest beef with the Avoderm is the fact that the first ingredient is chicken meal, rather than actual chicken. That seems out of place in a food like this, given its relatively high price point, but the rest of the ingredient list goes a long way toward making up for it.

The high price and use of chicken meal keep this food from climbing any higher than #3, but this is still excellent food. We would just recommend starting with the two options above it first.

• Provides a boost to the immune system
• Good for dogs with skin conditions
• Filled with healthy fats from avocadoes
• Pressure-cooked to seal in nutrients

• Uses chicken meal instead of real chicken
• More expensive than others

• See our guides to doggy nutrition here!

4. Purina Pro Plan Wet Dog Food

One of the biggest causes of sensitive stomachs in dogs is the use of chemicals and other fake ingredients in dog food. Purina Pro Plan lists real chicken as its #1 ingredient, so you can be sure your pup is eating something that his stomach naturally expects to eat, rather than being forced to try to digest a bunch of fillers and preservatives. It also has rice, which is gentle and bland enough that its not likely to cause problems.

The food is extremely soft and tender, so your pup should have little problem getting it down easilyand thats the first step towards proper digestion. Its gentle on little teeth and mixes well with dry kibble if you have some youd like to add to it.

Beyond being easy to process, this food is chock-full of other nutrients that are important for a growing dog, like vitamin B-12. This will keep your little buddys fur soft and manageable while making sure that his eyes, brain, and other organs develop according to plan.

• Real chicken is the first ingredient
• Rice is gentle on upset stomachs
• Includes additional vitamin B-12
• Soft, tender, and easy for puppies to eat
• Good for transitioning to dry foods
• Makes fur soft and manageable

• A little on the pricey side

5. NUTRO Puppy Dry Dog Food

NUTRO puppy food has added calcium in it, which helps build strong teeth and bones (and lets face it, puppies need strong bones to survive all the times they somersault down the stairs). Its also filled with natural protein from lamb or chicken, as well as glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health.

They have a formula specially designed for large-breed puppies, which is good because those dogs can be susceptible to digestive problems like bloat.

It does have a bit more salt than wed like, which can cause your dog to drink too muchwhich, ironically, can lead to diarrhea or vomiting. So, while this is a gentle food overall, monitor your pups water intake for the first few days to see how they react. The bag isnt re-sealable, either, so youll need to find a way to keep it fresh if you dont want to feed your pooch stale kibble (and the lamb formula is especially prone to going bad quickly).

Overall, NUTRO puppy food is a nutrient-dense option that should help your pup grow big and strong. We just cant rank it any higher than 4^th, primarily because of the high sodium levels.

• Plenty of calcium for strong teeth and bones
• Includes glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health
• Special formula for large-breed pups available
• Good amount of natural protein

• Lots of salt, which might cause excess water consumption
• Bag is not resealable
• Lamb formula doesnt keep very long

6. Blue Buffalo Basics Dry Dog Food

Blue Buffalo Basics is a limited-ingredient food, so there arent a lot of potential culprits to make your mutt sick in each bag. Its limited to a single protein source as wellin this case, turkey, which tends to be handled well by most dogs.

The kibble also includes the companys LifeSource Bits, which sounds like artifacts you need to collect to defeat an evil wizard. Instead, it turns out that theyre chunks of vitamins and antioxidants that are mixed in to meet your pups nutritional demands.

However, one of the few ingredients listed is potatoes. Many dogs have issues tolerating potatoes, and they can cause loose stools or thunderous gas. This isnt true of all breeds and tends to break down on a case-by-case basis, so if your dog can handle this food, its well worth keeping them on it. Theres also more salt in it than wed like to see.

While Blue Buffalo Natural is certainly better than most bags of food youll find at your local supermarket, theres a decent chance it could cause some of the same ailments youre trying to avoid, so wed recommend starting with one of the gentler foods above.

• Limited ingredient formula is easy for dogs to digest
• Has LifeSource Bits that are full of vitamins and minerals
• Uses turkey, which most dogs tolerate with ease

• Includes potatoes, which some dogs dont process well
• May cause diarrhea or flatulence
• High salt content

7. Natures Recipe Dry Puppy Food

Fiber is important for keeping everything running smoothly in a dogs gastrointestinal tract (and yours, too, but we recommend finding a better source than puppy kibble), and Natures Recipe is packed with fiber. Your dog may go to the bathroom more often, but as long as the stools are well-formed, thats a good thing.

Its loaded with taurine, which is important for maintaining healthy heart function. The combination of taurine and fiber may help to combat obesity (but only when combined with regular exercise and strict portion control).

The biggest issue we have with this food is that it uses lots of barley and oatmeal, which some dogs react poorly to. Some dogs dont care for the taste, either, so you may struggle to get your pup to eat it at all. That may be a blessing in disguise because while this can make your dogs poop healthier, it will definitely make it smell worse (and we bet you didnt think that was possible).

Natures Recipe is a smart choice for dogs who struggle with constipation or breeds that are prone to heart problems, but the considerable grain content limits how high it can rise in these rankings.

• Filled with fiber
• Includes taurine for heart health

• High grain content, especially barley and oatmeal
• Finicky pups may turn their noses up at it
• Worsens poop odor

8. Blackwood Sensitive Stomach Dog Food

Blackwood Pet Sensitive Stomach is more like a home-cooked meal for your pup than it is a bag of dog food, as each batch is slow-cooked with quality ingredients like salmon, celery, beets, and spinach. Your dog will get quite a few nutrients from a wide range of sources, which is good for long-term development.

The manufacturer also adds pre- and probiotics to the food, which can help improve the quality of your dogs gastrointestinal tract. Unfortunately, its heavy on protein meal and grains, which isnt ideal. Wed recommend supplementing this food with some additional meat to ensure that your dog gets all the fuel needed to build strong, supple muscles.

There also isnt much fiber in it, and its not formulated specifically for puppies, so you might be better holding off on it until your pooch gets bigger (but not too much bigger, as the bits might be too small for larger breeds to eat easily).

All in all, Blackwood Pet Sensitive Stomach is delicious food with plenty of nutrients and probiotics, but it may be better suited for older dogs, and so we cant justify ranking it any higher on this particular list.

• Contains nutrients from a wide range of plant and animal sources
• Includes pre- and probiotics

• Relies heavily on protein meal
• Kibble may be too small for larger breeds
• Not much fiber
• Isnt specifically formulated for puppies

Buyers Guide: Choosing the Best Puppy Foods for Sensitive Stomachs

Deciding on the best food to feed a puppy with a sensitive stomach is no easy task. Theres so much conflicting information out there, and ingredient lists on dog food labels can be longer than War and Peace. So, how are you supposed to know what to feed your pooch? Rely on trial and error and hope for the best?

Thats one way, but we feel you have better options. Below, well discuss exactly what to look for when shopping for puppy foodand, perhaps more importantly, what to avoid.

What You Want

There are three main components that you should look at in any food, regardless of the dogs age: protein, fiber, and fat.

Protein

Protein is usually the big selling point of any dog food and provides the primary flavor. Typical protein sources include fish, beef, chicken, lamb, and even more exotic animals like wild boar. Theres not one protein source thats better for dogs with sensitive stomachs than another, as your pup is equally likely to be sensitive to anything. This is one of the few areas where trial and error may have to come into play.

More important than the type of protein is the form it takes. While dogs are omnivores, they need meatreal meat, not meat-like substances (guess that means McDonalds is out, then). Make sure that the ingredients show actual meat as one of the first ingredients, rather than some sort of protein meal.

How much protein should your dog eat? That depends on the breed, but generally speaking, more is better. Think about it: if you turned your dog loose in the wild, do you think hed spend more time chasing prey or harvesting carrots? Of course, you dont want to feed your pet an all-meat diet, but youll be hard-pressed to give your pup more than he can handle.

Fiber

Fiber is another important element of any food (and if youve ever been told you need to eat more fiber, then you probably know how painful going without it can be). Some sensitive stomachs are exacerbated by a lack of fiber, so look for ingredients like beet pulp, pumpkin, psyllium, or inulin.

These ingredients are all known as soluble fibers, which means they get broken down inside the dogs digestive tract (insoluble fibers pass through pretty much unchanged). This is valuable for dogs with sensitive tummies because that soluble fiber can help feed the beneficial bacteria inside the dogs intestines, helping to reduce digestive issues.

Most foods average about 5% fiber content, which should be fine. However, a dog with a sensitive stomach may need a little bit more. Just dont go over 10%, or else you could make things worse.

Fat

The fat content is also important. You want to find the sweet spot here, which is probably in the 10%15% range. However, like with proteins, the type is potentially more important than the amount.

Look for healthy fats, like those from fish oils. These are full of omega fatty acids, which can improve your dogs immune system, brighten their coat, and keep their skin healthy.

Vitamins and Minerals

While the above are the three most important factors, you want to make sure your dog is getting enough vitamins and minerals as well. Most high-quality foods do a good job of making this happen, but your dog may need an additional boost of some ingredients, like glucosamine or chondroitin. This is something to discuss with your vet.

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What to Avoid

Knowing what to feed your pup is important, but giving him food with bad ingredients can undo all your other nutritional efforts.

Corn and Animal By-Products

The most common problematic ingredient is corn or other filler grains. Manufacturers use corn because its cheap, but your dog will likely have trouble digesting it, and it could lead to obesity down the road. Some grain is okay, but make sure its fairly far down the ingredients list.

Corn syrup, on the other hand, should be an absolute no-go. The same goes for ingredients like MSG, preservatives like ethoxyquin, BHT/BHA, and propylene glycol, and any sort of by-product. These are included to artificially extend the foods shelf life or to give the manufacturer a cheap way to get rid of all the nasty meat they couldnt sell to more discerning customers.

Think of it this way: if you wouldnt eat animal by-products yourself, why feed them to your dog? (Also, dont think about this if you just ate a hot dog.)

Conclusion

If youre struggling to find the right puppy food for sensitive stomachs to suit your furbaby, we recommend starting with Ollie Dog Food. Its top-of-the-line ingredient list is gentle on little tummies without being bland and has all the nutrition a puppy needs to grow up big and strong.

However, it is expensive, so if youre needing something less pricey, you cant go wrong with Wellness Complete Health Natural. The grain-free formula is filled with gut-friendly ingredients like pre- and probiotics, which should help tame any nasty issues your dog may be struggling with.

Regardless of which one you ultimately choose, we know how frustrating and heartbreaking it can be to see your dog struggle with digestive issues. We hope these reviews have made it easier for you to find the right food for your pup, so you can both spend more time playing and less timewell, well leave that part to your imagination.

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