All About That Base: Choosing the Right Base Kibble for Your Dog’s Customized Meal

A customized burger is built around a high-quality piece of meat. Even with an array of fresh toppings, a burger isn’t going to be delicious unless the meat is juicy, tender and fresh. Similarly, a customized meal for your dog starts with a high-quality kibble recipe, crafted specifically for your dog’s age, size and nutritional needs. 

A premium, balanced kibble begins with a high-quality protein source as the first ingredient, such as turkey, fish, duck or lamb. This protein should then be balanced with a thoughtful combination of nutrient-dense ingredients that result in optimized levels of carbohydrates, protein, fats, omega-fatty acids and essential vitamins and minerals. Look for kibble options without corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors or colors to ensure the food is free of fillers.

Selecting the Right Kibble based on Lifestyle, Age, Size and Unique needs

1. How active is your dog?

It’s important to look at your dog’s lifestyle in order to gauge his activity level and, hence, that he is getting the right diet to fuel his energy needs. A dog with a very active lifestyle that goes on long walks, hikes and generally has a very active social life will need to  consume more calories than a dog that doesn’t get much activity beyond daily walks. You may find that you need to feed your sedentary dog something like CORE Reduced Fat recipe in order to maintain a healthy body condition. 

2. How old is your dog?

A dog’s dietary needs change from puppyhood to his adult years, and again in his golden senior years. Chose a diet that designated as appropriate for all life stage or specific to your dog’s life stage (ex. Puppy or Senior recipe) to ensure your dog is getting the appropriate balance of nutrients to support growth and longevity. 

• Puppies need more calories from protein and fat to support growth and need additional nutrients such as DHA for proper brain development.
• Try CORE® Puppy, CORE Small Breed Puppy, CORE Large Breed Puppy or, for an exciting boost of protein, try CORE RawRev™ Puppy
• Senior diets, such as CORE Senior, contains glucosamine and chondroitin to support aging joints and is fortified with vitamins and minerals to support senior dogs’ weakening immune system. 

3. How big is your dog? Or how big will your puppy be as an adult?

Since nutritional needs vary depending on your dog’s size, brands like Wellness CORE have recipes specifically crafted for small, medium and large dogs. When possible, select a diet that is crafted for your dog’s adult size to ensure that they are receiving the optimal levels of calories, protein and fat.

• CORE Small Breed Recipes have increased calories to support the higher energy needs and metabolic rate of small breed dogs
• CORE Large Breed Recipes have a larger kibble size and support the growth and longevity of large breed dogs with higher levels of glucosamine and chondroitin to support healthy joints. 

4. What proteins should I consider?

If your dog does not have sensitivities, consider rotating proteins! Switching between proteins is an easy way to bring excitement to mealtime.  Each time you shop for a new bag, select a new protein!

If your dog has sensitivities to a protein (poultry is most common) select recipes that are free of that protein. For dogs with poultry sensitivities, try CORE Ocean and CORE Lamb recipes – both of which are poultry-free.

Now that you have selected the best base kibble for your dog, build a more exciting bowl with mixers and toppers! 

Most dogs don’t hesitate when it comes to mealtime. They chow-down and lick their bowl clean. But, even though it can be tasty and nutritious, serving kibble for every meal of every day can become monotonous. Don’t let your dog become food bored! 

Dogs, just like us, get excited about new tastes and texture experiences, so adding mixers and toppers to your dog’s kibble can help prevent food boredom or be the antidote for a dog that has lost interest in mealtime.