A guide to large breed dog foods (and large breed puppy foods)

Hopefully I can point you in the right direction when it comes to large breed dog foods in Australia, but let’s consider what you’re looking for.

I’ll split the recommendations into the following sections:

• Best of the best large breed dry dog foods
• Affordable large breed dog foods
• Large breed puppy foods
• Australian made large breed dog foods (in case you’ll only buy Australian!)

Please note I’m sticking to dry dog foods for the sake of keeping these recommendations “short”, but keep in mind you can feed other types of dog food as well – fresh, BARF, wet, raw etc.

In fact, you could pick one of the following as a good base diet, then feel free to experiment with other types of food as well. There’s no reason your large breed dog should be fed the same food all the time, and they’ll likely benefit from a more varied diet.

Why I recommend these large breed dog foods

If you’re on my wavelength, you’ll view your dog as an animal who thrives off a meat-based diet rather than stuff like corn, wheat, and ambiguous cereals – the stuff which keeps production costs down but probably isn’t optimal for your dog.

Like any dog, a large breed also needs a balanced diet with a focus on animal ingredients and fat. Perhaps even more so, and joint support is an absolute must.

With large breed dog foods you often hear calories mentioned, and concerns with calcium to phosphorous ratios ensuring your large breed grows correctly. Although large breed formulas differ slightly from regular formulas in these respects, note they detract from what a large breed formula should really be made from – animal proteins, fats, and quality ingredients.

For example, many large breed dogs claim calories and calcium to phosphorous ratios beneficial to your dog, yet the ingredients are mostly grains, with proteins from grains or legumes which your dog won’t readily digest.

Also, while researching consumer feedback I often find many complaints are about the kibble size not being large enough, rather than what a food is actually made from.

Feel free to add any useful information in the comments. I’d love your feedback on any of these brands, or other brands you’ve had success with. This helps me keep this information current, and helps other large breed dog owners too!

Where to buy

Most of these recommended brands are available at Pet Circle (who stock most decent brands),  , and many pet stores and independents.

Hopefully that means you’ll easily find these recommendations, and you’ll find most online stores have one of these on sale whenever you stock up – check for special offers!

Best of the best large breed dog foods

#1 Orijen

Orijen has to be the first recommendation. It’s expensive, but for a dry food it’s so much more appropriate for a large breed dog than any other dry food sold in Australia.

Orijen doesn’t have a formula specific for large breed dogs simply because the regular adult formulas are more than enough to support the needs of any size or breed.

At approximately $1.75 per 100g it’s about twice the price of the affordable brands listed below, and it doesn’t help the largest bag size is 11.3kg, but you’re buying a dry food made of excellent, highly nutritious ingredients.

Or in other words, you’re paying for the health of your dog.

Benefits:

• The best dry dog food available in Australia, with ingredients highly beneficial for your large breed dog.
• Whole prey ingredients, organs (liver, heart, kidney), eggs, fish, and fish oils – stuff which will really support your dog’s health, wellbeing, and joints.
• Excellent proteins and fats, without redundant carbs, sugars, or ingredients which negatively impact health.
• Includes bone and cartilage for calcium and further joint support.
• All high quality ingredients, with no rendered meats.
• Fantastic feedback from dog owners worldwide for years!

Where to buy:

#2 ZiwiPeak

I’m throwing in ZiwiPeak for good measure, specifically Tripe & Lamb, although I know most large breed dog owners would need to take out another home loan to feed such a food as a main diet.

But wait!

ZiwiPeak makes an excellent supplement or topper, and your large breed dog would really benefit from some of this food added to their diet. You could even use it as a healthy training treat.

Benefits:

• Green lipped mussels are wonderful for supporting joint health in large breed dogs.
• Tripe is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and probiotics. It’s highly beneficial for your large breed, and otherwise hard to get hold of fresh (and it stinks in other forms).
• ZIWI Peak is almost entirely meat and organs – liver, heart, lamb, bone – plus vitamins and minerals which will certainly improve the health of your dog.

#3 Wellness CORE

Wellness CORE Large Breed is a premium dog food, but sits under $1 per 100g which isn’t too bad, especially considering the amount of meats combined with excellent selections of grain-free ingredients, flaxseed and salmon oil for skin, coat, and joints, and a range of fruits and vegetables.

It’s not up there with Orijen and ZIWI Peak as the top two recommendations, but given the price it’s probably the best “premium” large breed dog food without compromising too much on the ingredients.

Benefits:

• Great meat content to support growth, energy levels, and muscle support.
• Omega fats and glucosamine to support joint health.
• Probiotics to support healthy digestion.
• Grain free and hypoallergenic to avoid nasty skin and health conditions.

Where to buy:

Affordable large breed dog foods

#1 Earthborn Holistic Large Breed

Earthborn has a great reputation as an American brand sold worldwide. It’s high protein, grain-free, with added fish, egg, flaxseed, fruits and veggies. The protein comes from being a meat and peas recipe, with the upside of that being it’s not full of high carbohydrate grains or potatoes.

At over $1 per 100g in 12kg bags it’s not the most affordable, but from Earthborn large breed you’ll benefit from a reliable manufacturer and a dog food far better than most!

If it’s too expensive, the next recommendation may suit you better.

Where to buy:

#2 Instinctive Bite Large Breed

Instinctive Bite is only available at Pet Circle, and works out much cheaper than Earthborn Holistic, also benefitting from larger 15kg bags.

It doesn’t have as much protein (58% meat wet weight), and potatoes are a significant ingredient, but as a whole the ingredients are still decent and it’s nice to see a varied mix.

It’s a decent affordable choice, but if you can stretch to a formula with a little more meat check out the next recommendation.

Where to buy:

#3 Taste of the Wild

You won’t find a large breed specific formula from Taste of the Wild, with the reason being their formulas cater for all breeds and sizes.

Taste of the Wild has been around for many years with excellent reliability and consumer feedback. It’s a very good balance of ingredients and affordability, which makes it a great base diet for your large breed.

Some formulas benefit large breed owners with the 18.1kg bags. Kibble size is regular, but otherwise it’s a great option with a great range of meats and other ingredients. It’s a brand which has proven to work really well with dogs who suffer itchy skin or allergies, which is testament to the quality of the food.

At around 70c per 100g it’s definitely one of the most affordable and decent dog foods I can recommend.

Where to buy:

#4 SavourLife Large Breed

I find SavourLife hits a sweet spot – it’s under 70c per 100g in a 15kg abg, with a decent amount of meat content. It doesn’t have the emphasis on potatoes as Instinctive Bite does, instead opting for peas as the second ingredient.

Your dog should benefit more from a higher protein, lower carb food, so I feel the ingredients in SavourLife are a good balance, and consumer feedback is good. There’s also a few different formulas for large breed puppies which you can rotate between.

Where to buy:

#5 Diamond Naturals Large Breed

What you’ll love most about Diamond Naturals Large Breed is it comes in a whopping 18.1kg bag at approximately 58c per kilo at the time of writing. That makes it the most affordable of all these brands!

The manufacturer has a great reputation for reliability and quality, and if you’ve heard of Taste of the Wild then that’s another brand of food by the same company (and also one of my best rated dog foods).

The reason it’s cheaper than the others is it’s a grain formula, but it’s a good mix of grains (rice and barley) which are better than cereals or wheat. If the grains bother you, there’s no reason you can’t use Diamond Naturals as a solid base diet then mix in a more expensive brand, BARF, or fresh foods as well!

Where to buy:

#6 Holistic Select Large Breed

Holistic Select is the cheaper sister brand of Earthborn Holistic. It’s been around for many years with decent consumer feedback, but the ingredient favour grains over meat.

It might prove a reliable and affordable base diet for your large breed, but it’s worth considering mixing with other food options which have more meat, organs, and fats. BARF patties could be a good option in this respect.

Where to buy:

Large breed puppy foods

#1 Orijen Large Breed Puppy

Yes, Orijen large breed puppy is the most expensive dry puppy food in Australia, but it’s also the absolute best, particularly for the long term health of your growing pup.

It’s the only kibble sold in Australia made from whole-prey ingredients – various meats, fish, and wonderfully nutritious heart and liver which should really boost your dog’s health.

It’s a brand with an excellent reputation worldwide, and I’ve know many dogs to absolutely thrive on it.

Highly recommended if you can afford it (and it doesn’t need to be their entire diet).

Where to buy:

#2 Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy

Diamond Naturals is my best budget tip. It’s much cheaper than Orijen, but as it’s made by the same company behind the highly regarded Taste of the Wild brand it benefits from an excellent reputation for quality and reliability.

It comes in a large bag – 18.1kg – which also helps save money for feeding a large breed, working out at under 60c per 100g at the time of writing. That makes it one of the cheapest large breed dog foods.

The downside is it’s formulated with meat and grains (possibly with a greater emphasis on the grains), but overall it’s a good, varied mix of ingredients with a lot of positives.

You could feed Diamond Naturals as a good, affordable base diet, then mix it in with another brand or style of food as well.

#3 SavourLife Large Breed Puppy

My third recommendation is Australian brand SavourLife. The large breed puppy food comes in about 20c more expensive per 100g than Diamond Naturals, but in return you’re buying a food with a greater emphasis on meat proteins rather than grain.

SavourLife donate 50% of the profit of every bag to help save rescue dogs, so you can feel good about feeding it to your dog.

Australian made large breed dog foods

#1 SavourLife Large Breed

I’ve mentioned the SavourLife large breed formulas a couple of times already, so won’t go into detail again here. But it’s one of the better Australian Made large breed dog foods available, and for every purchase money is donated to support rescue dogs. It’s a good mix of price and affordability, and consumer feedback has been good.

#2 Instinctive Bite

Another brand mentioned earlier, Instinctive Bite large breed is another Australian made brand I also covered in the affordable category.

Both SavourLife and Instinctive Bite come in 15kg bags, with Instinctive Bite being the cheaper of the two.

What about other large breed dog foods?

I’ll skirt over some other popular brands of large breed dog food in Australia, which should give some idea why they didn’t make the recommended lists above.

Eukanuba Large Breed Dog Food & Puppy Food

Eukanuba is incredibly popular in large breed circles, and you’ll often find it endorsed by breeders and at shows.

What many of us fail to realise is it’s one of the many brands of dog food by Mars.

At the beginning of this guide I mentioned my view of dogs as essentially meat-eating mammals, which they are, so lets take a quick looks at Eukanuba Adult Large Breed to see if it “fits”.

First off, in big letters on the bag they claim “Poultry 1st ingredient”, which makes you think it’s a meat-based dog food.

But take a look at the next four ingredients – maize (maize is corn), wheat, maize flour (so more corn), and barley.

That’s a lot of grains, and those four ingredients will significantly outweigh the meat. That’s just one of the reasons I wouldn’t recommend Eukanuba large breed dog food (or large breed puppy food), and I’m sure you can understand why.

Wheat has shown to be problematic in dogs for various reasons, and I often find it a cause of weight gain and skin rashes.

Supercoat Large Breed Dog Food & Puppy Food

I find Supercoat highly recommended all over social media, usually by people who feed it to the dogs, and often based on the metric “my dog eats it so it’s good”.

It’s also popular because it’s cheap, and makes the large breed foods listed above appear expensive.

But when you consider the ingredients – one part ambiguous meat by-products to three parts grains – you start to see why it’s cheap. You get what you pay for after all.

They’re also some of the worst grain inclusions. Cereal by-products, wheat, and some unknown combination of sorghum, corn, and barley.

It wouldn’t surprise me if feeding Supercoat large breed dog food to your puppy or adult dog leads to joint and other health issues in later years. It may take several years for symptoms to show, and by then you’ll possibly think it can’t be the Supercoat as you’ve fed it for years without any visible problems.

Or perhaps you’ll put it down to bad luck or old age?

Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Dog Food & Puppy Food

Hill’s Science Diet is vet recommended, and much more expensive than the Supercoat and Eukanuba large breed dog foods mentioned above.

So would you be surprised to learn this one doesn’t have much meat either?

In fact, despite chicken being the first ingredient (weighed before cooking off around 70% moisture), the next ingredients are wheat, barley, sorghum, corn, and corn gluten meal.

Doesn’t that tell a different story? All those grains for an animal with the instincts, dental structure, and digestive system of a carnivorous animal.

It makes you wonder why vets recommend it, doesn’t it?

Pro Plan Large Breed Dog Food & Puppy Food

Another brand you’ll often find recommended by dog owners is Pro Plan, with this one being a product of Nestle.

Again, it’s surprising how well endorsed it is given this large breed dog food uses the same cunning formulation as the other brands mentioned above.

Just like Hills Science Diet Large Breed, we find chicken as the first ingredient, listed first because it’s wet weight (inclusive of around 70% moisture which gets cooked off in the kibble making process).

That makes the next ingredients the main bulk of Prop Plan Large Breed – brewers rice, wheat, oats, and barley.

Doesn’t that mean you’re feeding your dog, an animal who depends on animal ingredients for optimum health, a diet mostly of high-carbohydrate grains which turn to sugars?

Pro Plan large breed puppy isn’t much different, so doesn’t feel to me like a good choice for such a vital stage in your large breed puppy’s growth phase.

Some final thoughts on large breed dog foods in Australia

I bet if you’ve just read the last section about “popular” brands of large breed dog foods in Australia you’re scratching your head a little.

How can so many large breed dog foods and puppy foods be so full of cheap grains and by-products, and still be so popular?

To quote Glen Richards, founder of Greencross, the largest pet care company in Australia, most consumers buy the cheapest possible products.

You’ll also find most consumers blindly recommend the products they buy to anyone who’ll listen on social media.

That doesn’t meant they’re good products.

When choosing a diet for your large breed dog or puppy, keep in mind the following two key points:

1. Make sure you choose a diet rich in animal ingredients, including proteins and fats from animal sources.
2. Don’t be afraid to feed a variety. If dry food is your choice of base diet, why not consider some fresh or wet foods to feed with it?

Lastly, feel free to leave a comment or get in touch!

I hope this guide to large breed dog foods in Australia helps you choose a healthier diet for your dog!

All large breed dog food reviews

If you want to read the full reviews of any of the above, then below you’ll find reviews for most of them:

• Applaws Dog Food Review
• Black Hawk Dog Food Review
• Earthborn Holistic Dog Food Review
• Holistic Select Dog Food Review
• Ivory Coat Grain Free Dog Food Review