Is your Miniature Schnauzer looking forward to his meal times? How can you make sure your hearty little tail-wagger gets all the right nutrients?
Feeding your Schnauzer the right type of dog food is certainly of utmost importance.
Responsible owners will know that a pup’s general wellbeing and happiness is nothing but the reflection of a healthy diet. For this reason, we look at several quality food types, hoping to help you make just the right choice.
Schnauzers belong to the family of terriers, which explains their frisky and mischievous nature. Always up for tricks and games, these little dynamos will make your time together filled with joy and fun. They will not hesitate to show their affection and attachment to your family.
Yet, only a healthy one will be a happy one. Hence, to keep your pet in great shape, you should rely on the proper type of food. At the same time, you must neglect the role of exercise.
We believe you will find some of these guidelines handy in helping your pup have a great life. For overall high quality dog food, click here.
Top 7 Schnauzer Dog Food Reviews
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | INGREDIENTS | |
|---|---|---|---|
Our Top Pick  | CANIDAE Our Top Pick | ✓ Salmon ✓ Menhaden Fish Meal ✓ Salmon Meal ✓ Sweet Potatoes ✓ Peas | Check Price |
Raw Food  | The Honest Kitchen Raw Food | ✓ Chicken ✓ Potatoes ✓ Organic Flaxseed ✓ Celery ✓ Sweet Potatoes | Check Price |
For Digestion  | Holistic Select For Digestion | ✓ Salmon ✓ Anchovy and Sardine Meal ✓ Potatoes ✓ Menhaden Fish Meal ✓ Peas | Check Price |
Adult Dogs  | Hill's Science Diet Adult Dogs | ✓ Chicken Meal ✓ Whole Grain Wheat ✓ Brewers Rice ✓ Whole Grain Sorghum ✓ Soybean Meal | Check Price |
For Joint Health  | Merrick Classic For Joint Health | ✓ Deboned Chicken ✓ Chicken Meal ✓ Peas ✓ Brown Rice ✓ Turkey Meal | Check Price |
For Brain Development  | Wellness For Brain Development | ✓ Deboned Turkey ✓ Chicken Meal ✓ Oatmeal ✓ Ground Barley ✓ Salmon Meal | Check Price |
Puppies  | Royal Canin Puppies | ✓ Chicken By-Product Meal ✓ Brewers Rice ✓ Brown Rice ✓ Wheat Gluten ✓ Corn Gluten Meal | Check Price |
CANIDAE - Our Top Pick
A short, but carefully selected list of ingredients makes this tasty dry food stand out from other commercial formulas. It will suit any pup with sensitivities, due to its easily-digestible contents. Combining the delicious taste of salmon and sweet potatoes, it will make your canine’s favorite craving.
Salmon serves as the main source of protein – the vital nutrient in a sound diet. Whole foods like sweet potatoes and peas provide other essential components of well-rounded nutrition.
CANIDAE grain – free never includes common allergy-triggers, such as corn, soy, and wheat. It does not contain gluten, either. With its optimal contents of minerals and vitamins, it strengthens your furry friend’s immune system. Supported by probiotics, it makes the digestion easy.
Take no chances and provide your beloved pet dog with only the best. With CANIDAE grain free, your walking down the right path for sure!
The Honest Kitchen - Best Raw Food
The Honest Kitchen grain-free dehydrated formula will meet the two most important criteria for your canine’s healthy nutrition. It is extremely tasty plus it ensures a healthy and well-balanced diet for your pup – enough to make it your pet’s favorite choice!
Real, cage-free chicken provides the necessary protein that will keep your pup energized and maintain a lean body. Variety of plant ingredients contribute their beneficial features, completing the list of vital mineral and vitamin components. Some of these are apples, bananas, green beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and many others.
If your furry pal suffers from allergies or food sensitivities, this no-soy, no-corn, and no-wheat formula will be a safe feeding option. It rules out the use of GMO products, preservatives, antibiotics or hormones.
Top-class quality ingredients in combination with its manufacturers’ great commitment rank this excellent blend among the best food formulas to pamper your buddy.
Holistic Select - Great For Digestion
Whatever your pup’s age, Holistic Select will ensure an optimal intake of all the necessary nutrients. Based on salmon, sardine and anchovy meal, this protein-rich blend will cater to your canine’s nutritive and energy needs.
Specially designed Digestive Health Support System provides a complex of beneficial components. It encompasses probiotics, digestive enzymes, and dietary fiber to support healthy digestion and maximal absorption of nutrients.
Tasty fruits and veggies such as papaya and pumpkin add both dietary fiber and great taste to this mixture. Superfoods extremely rich in antioxidants keep your pal’s body cells toxin-free and healthy. These include pomegranate and blueberries.
Enzymes that facilitate the digestion help break down components such as starch and cellulose. It makes a great solution to canine’s experiencing digestion difficulties.
Savory and nutritious, Holistic Select will take great care of all the aspects of your buddy’ s wellbeing.
Hill's Science Diet - Fit For Adult Dogs
Chicken meal and rice are combined in this tasty formula to provide your adult, small breed pup with necessary nutrients. Such a combination of most important ingredients supports a strong, muscular body, fueling your furry pal with the optimal energy levels.
The manufacturer of this dry food formula puts particular stress on the quality and purity of ingredients, setting the standards very high. This blend is ideal for grown-up canines, meeting the nutritive requirements of small and toy breeds.
Addition of calcium supported by high-quality protein maintains the bone and muscle strength. Omega 6 Fatty Acids nourish the shiny coat and healthy skin. Vitamins E and C pair together to bolster your pooch’s immunity.
Hill’s Science diet excludes elements such as artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.
All in all, this nutrient-rich formula will easily become your furry friend’s main preference.
Merrick Classic - Ideal For Joint Health
A properly balanced combination of quality nutrients is what makes Merrick Classic one of the pets’ and owners’ favorite. It features chicken as the first ingredient, to ensure an optimal level of this significant nutrient.
Whole grains, including ancient quinoa, supply the significant amount of dietary fiber, promoting easy and healthy digestion. Freshly picked fruits and vegetables ensure a sufficient intake of vitamins and minerals. There is no question about their role in strengthening the immunity system and boosting metabolic processes.
Merrick Classic takes care of your pup’s joint health and mobility, due to its high levels of glucosamine and chondroitin. Abundant in Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids, it preserves the healthy skin and glossy coat.
The manufacturers of this formula achieved a lower glycemic value by eliminating potatoes from the ingredients list. The rest of the ingredients are obtained from trusted, local suppliers for the best of quality.
Savory and nutritious, Merrick Classic will keep your beloved pet content, well-fed and active at all times.
Wellness - Best For Brain Development
Wellness Small Breed Complete Health, as the name suggests, addresses all aspects of your pet’s wellbeing. It combines top-class ingredients for the maximum nutritive effect, providing your small breed pooch with everything he needs to thrive.
The protein in this formula comes from real, deboned turkey. Moreover, chicken meal and salmon meal provide additional amounts of this essential nutrient. Plus, high levels of DHA supplied by salmon support the brain development and cognitive functions of your lively little pal.
The list of ingredients of this delicious formula includes a variety of tasty fruits and vegetables, providing high contents of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals, important for the overall health of your canine. Moreover, your pup will get all the energy he needs from carbs contained in oatmeal and barley.
The size of the kibble suits the jaw-shape of small breed pups, making this formula even more appetizing.
Tickle your pal’s taste buds and provide him with great nutrition – all of it thanks to Wellness.
Royal Canin - Fit For Puppies
If you are a proud parent of a baby Schnauzer, then Royal Canin will make the best feeding option for your new family member. Formulated to cater to the needs of baby Schnauzers between 8 weeks and 10 months of age, it provides an excellent ratio of vital nutrients.
This formula will help to maintain the intestinal system health, by adding useful bacterial flora to make the digestion easy. To prevent excessive weight, it contains L-carnitine and controlled contents of fat.
A special combination of antioxidants strengthens your baby puppy’s defense systems, eliminating toxins and free radicals. It will be responsible for a healthy looking, silky coat and skin in your pup. Small-sized kibble is ideal for baby pups to pick up and chew, too.
Help your baby Schnauzer grow and develop to be a happy and satisfied dog relying on a formula aimed exclusively at him!
Common Health Concerns Of Schnauzers
Eye Conditions
Owing to genetic predisposition, Miniature Schnauzers are prone to developing several eye disorders.
- Progressive Retinal Atrophy, manifested through unstoppable atrophy of the back part of the eye (retina) first causes poorer night vision, and results in complete blindness.
- Another condition, retinal dysplasia (detachment of the retina), is often accompanied by cataracts and glaucoma.
- Congenital cataract, impairing your dog’s vision, usually develops at an older age, and can also result in complete blindness.
The rolling of eyelids inward, known as entropion, causes a great deal of discomfort in miniature Schnauzers, too.
Comedo Syndrome
Small, wart-like bumps often form on the skin of dogs from this breed. Although they are not harmful to the pup, owners often feel upset about their pet developing this condition. The pores on your canine’s skin get clogged, forming these blackheads.
Their location is typically down the spine region. The cause of this skin problem has not been determined with certainty and is usually marked as a genetic issue.
Hypothyroidism
Miniature Schnauzers belong to the group of canines susceptible to developing this endocrine issue. When the thyroid gland slows its function down, the levels of thyroid hormones go down. It will make our pup gain weight, feel lethargic, unwilling to exercise and so on. Proper supplementation of the hormone is an efficient form of therapy for this issue.
Hip Dysplasia
It is not uncommon to encounter hip dysplasia in Miniature Schnauzers. It is a hereditary orthopedic disease, which can be rather painful and deteriorate the quality of your pup’s life.
Hip dysplasia is a condition in which a malformation of the hip joint results from the fact that the upper leg bone’s head does not fit into the rounded socket. The two bones rub against each other, limiting the mobility of the affected joint. It often results in chronic osteoarthritis over time.
Changing your pets diet could help with this condition. Read our recommendation for Top Rated Dog Food for Hip Dysplasia and find the one for your beloved friend.
Bladder Stones
Miniature Schnauzers are among the dogs which are at a greater risk of forming bladder stones. It happens when calcium and oxalate ions contained in urine combine to form crystallized stones. It may cause great discomfort when trying to pass urine. Sometimes, you are likely to notice traces of blood in your canine’s urine, which may be a signal of the existing problem.
For preventing this and other kidney problems consider giving your puppy the food from this group.
Pancreatitis
The pancreas is an organ in charge of controlling blood sugar levels and helping digestion. Sometimes, it gets inflamed and results in several typical symptoms. These include the loss of appetite, painful belly, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and several others. If the symptoms persist for more than a day, your furry pal will require treatment by a vet.
It is not completely clear what causes it, but it more frequently affects older dogs. Some experts believe that extremely greasy meals can be one of the triggers, in addition to different drugs. Our suggestion is to give special diets to your senior dogs in order to prevent this to happen.
How To Feed A Schnauzer
Diet & Nutritional Guide
Small in size, but hyperactive, Miniature Schnauzers require the type of nutrition that will fuel them with the necessary energy to keep up with all the daily activity. At the same time, it has to be rich in all the essential nutrients, to meet all the dietary needs of this athletic breed.
However, it is hard to set a single, uniformed rule for all the pups in this group. Depending on your pet’s age, lifestyle, level of activity and general health, you should make a carefully designed small dog feeding plan.
Daily needs of Miniature Schnauzers depend on whether they have been spayed/neutered or if they are nursing females or growing puppies. Owners need to take all these important factors into consideration.
What they all do have in common, though, is the need to be fed a high-quality food in adequate amounts. Also, its calorie density needs to be higher than that of large and medium breeds, too.
What To Look For In A Dog Food
All canines, Miniature Schnauzers being no exception, thrive if fed a protein-rich diet. Protein in a quality dog food should come from real animal meat, such as chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, salmon and so on. Meat meals are also abundant in protein, while the meat by-products are not considered as quality ingredients.
Fats are the second most important ingredient to look for in the canine diet. They make a substantial source of energy for your active pup. Fish and salmon oils, as well as flaxseed oils, make a great source of this nutrient. Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids they contain also have several benefits for your pup.
Minerals and vitamins play a crucial role in the proper functioning of your pup’s body and overall health. Fruits and vegetables are the best suppliers of these elements, and a variety of them find their way to dogs’ feeding bowls. Yet, you should always check which fruits and veggies are safe to offer to your pooch.
Carbs are not what a pup requires in huge amounts. However, some complex carbs obtained from brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, and barley provide long-lasting energy your active pup may need.
How Many Calories Do They Need?
- Miniature
Athletic and playful, Miniature Schnauzers call for a calorie-dense food to sustain their high levels of activity.
Adult pups normally require 480 calories on a daily basis. If extremely active, this number may go up to 775. As they age, their energy needs drop to 390 calories a day.
Standard
Standard Schnauzers do not exceed their Miniature relatives’ height that much. Yet, this small difference adds extra weight, creating the need for higher calorie intake.
Grown-up dogs in this group approximately need 1000 calories to stay healthy and in good shape. Working dogs’ requirements will mount to 1600 calories, whereas seniors benefit the most from about 800 calories in a single day.
Giant
By far the largest among all Schnauzers, the giant relatives need the highest number of calories, due to their large size. If they follow an extremely active lifestyle or serve as working dogs, their requirements are even higher.
Average adult canines need about 1680 calories per day. Highly active ones will benefit the most if fed as many as 2800 calories. When they get older, 1500 calories on a daily basis will meet their energy needs.
Helpful Feeding Guide
Your main goal when feeding your Schnauzer is to prevent overeating. With their hearty appetite, these eager eaters should not be left to free-feed. In this way, many health issues typical of this breed can be prevented, too.
An ideal feeding pattern includes two meals per day. By offering two equal portions of food to your pup, you will help him digest the food properly. This is also a safe way to prevent eating too much in a single meal.
Growing puppies aged between 7 and 12 weeks make an exception from this scheme. Their energy and nutritive requirements are higher compared to adult dogs. For this reason, three to four meals per day make an optimal solution.
Conclusion
With so many positive features, it is not surprising that Schnauzers rank among the top favorite dog breeds. These little mischiefs will shadow you, seeking attention, amusement and activity they enjoy.
To be a responsible parent of a Miniature Schnauzer, it is important to learn about the breed’s characteristics well in advance. This also means making yourself familiar with their health issues as well as nutritive needs. Everyone will agree that it is proper and healthy nutrition that help these funny rascals thrive.
CANIDAE, our favorite pick when it comes to this breed, sets a good example of what well-rounded nutrition should include.
You can help your furry pal live a healthy and content life. All it takes is to make some effort and provide it with nothing but the best.
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