Staffordshire Bull Terriers are aggressive, strong, energetic, and playful. Owning these dogs is challenging, but training them is somehow easy as they are quite responsive to commands. But, the next big challenge is what exactly to feed them.
Every dog breed has different nutritional requirements, and it is crucial for you to consider those nutritional factors while choosing diet plans. Many people do have questions relating to diet and food concerns for Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
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What Is The Best Diet For A Staffordshire Bull Terrier?
The best diet for a Staffordshire Bull Terrier includes raw food containing high protein and should be fresh. It is so because the canine anatomy of Staffordshire Bull Terriers is pretty much different in comparison to other dog breeds.
The digestive tract of this dog breed is not considerably evolved from that of the wolves. Therefore, it is essential for you to consider giving these dogs prey-based diets. In veteran terms, this diet is called species-appropriate nutrition.
Staffordshire Bull Terrier and many other breeds have a digestive system that doesn’t have the design for fermenting carbohydrates.
There are many food items that people add to the diet plan of this breed and regret later. Therefore, to avoid such adversities, you need to know what is the best diet for a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Choose Right Packaged Foods For Staffordshire Bull Terriers
Certain minimum standards for food are consumable by Staffordshire Bull Terriers. All the major dog food companies of the US meet these standards set by American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
To know if the product meets the AAFCO requirements or not, you can refer to this article for the same.
It should be the first thing for you to check! You can consider all the foods with the AAFCO certification over the packaging for your Staffordshire Bull Terriers diet plan.
The AAFCO standards ensure that the dog foods for the Staffordshire breed have a sufficient amount of protein and other healthy nutrients for the proper growth of the dog.
These foods do contain meat-based protein and are also within the budget. If you prefer only packaged food for this bull terrier breed, then you need to stop this habit.
Even though these items meet the essential standards, they still cannot be the first preference to meet your dog’s nutritional needs. Raw foods should be the first preference for your Staffordshire Bull Terrier as they are nutrient-rich food sources.
You can give your dog a mix of raw and packaged food items.
However, another essential thing that you must check while buying these dog foods is the ingredient list. The first few ingredients over the list on the packaging are in heavy amounts within the product. And some animal-protein source holds up the position as the prime ingredient in these foods.
For example, it can be turkey, salmon, beef, duck, chicken, or others. The next thing that you must consider is the age group for which the food is packaged. It means whether the food is for an adult Staffy or a puppy.
In fact, puppies need a high amount of protein in their initial years to ensure that they grow properly. And the same high-protein food is not feasible for adult Staffordshire Bull Terriers, as it might cause permanent damage to them.
Check for the statement over the packaging by AAFCO or any authorized standardization to know about the age group for consumption.
Things To Consider When Picking Up Commercial Food For Your Staffordshire Bull Terrier
- Consider the age, activity, and reproductive status of your Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Also, your dog’s physical characteristics, overall health, and behavior are quite important to consider for picking the correct food item.
- Puppies and lactating adult bull terriers need more calories every single day. And senior dogs, after the age of 10, demand fewer calories!
- Check the protein content in a specific amount of food, for instance, 21g protein in 100g of serving, and others. It is essential for you to consider this aspect to plan out your Staffordshire Bull Terrier diet.
- Decide whether a grain-free diet is ideal for your Staffordshire Bull Terrier or not. If you think your dog has some kind of allergies with a grain diet, then consult a vet right away. Grains are not considered a bad pick for this breed. But, if there is a case of allergy, then ensure to pick grain-free commercial products for the same.
- Compare different brands according to ingredients, nutrition, and pricing. You need to stay constant with a particular brand for a particular Staffy. Also, you cannot switch to any other brand with different ingredients and tastes, as they might not accept it.
Raw Food Diet Is Good For Your Staffy
A raw food diet plan is ideal for your Staffy because it works in boosting gut health!
Gut health is the center of maintaining and balancing the overall health of your dog. Therefore, if raw food improves or maintains gut health, then there shouldn’t be a second thought about adapting this diet.
Faulty gut health leads to poor nutrition absorption potential of your dog. In addition to that, the immune response will also slow down over time. And your Staffy will suffer from systemic inflammation within the body and will incur several other health conditions.
There is practical evidence that highlights the efficacy of a raw diet for dogs’ gut health compared to commercial foods.
The immune system of your Staffy is the natural protection aspect for their body. In fact, it reduces the adversities of pathogens, toxins, harmful bacteria, and others within the body of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
A sound immune system will help your dog live a healthy and happy life, free from common illnesses. And here, raw food items play a vital role.
The raw diet you choose should have healthy fats and appropriate protein to meet the weight requirements.
You can consider giving them ground bone or vegetables with other vitamin and mineral-rich foods. This, in turn, will be ideal for your Staffy’s optimal performance and health. In addition to that, you can give your dog broccoli, spinach, celery, apples, yogurt, organ meats (kidney or liver), bones, etc.
In case you plan on changing the diet of your Staffy, then here are some things that you should consider on priority:
- You need to keep a tab on the metabolism rate of your Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Talk to the vet regarding the same!
- Quality of food that the dog eats within the existing raw diet plan.
- The amount of exercise that your dog is doing.
- Weight of the dog.
- Age of your Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
- The intention of change in diet plan. (Gain, maintain or lose weight)
Human Food | Good for Staffies? |
---|---|
Carrots | Yes |
Apples | Yes |
White Rice | Yes |
Dairy Products | Yes |
Cooked Fish | Yes |
Cooked Chicken | Yes |
Peanut Butter | Yes |
Plain Popcorn | Yes |
Cooked Pork | Yes |
Cooked Turkey | Yes |
Blueberries | Yes |
Bananas | Yes |
Cucumbers | Yes |
Green Beans | Yes |
Watermelon | Yes |
Avocado | No |
Cherries | No |
Chocolate and Caffeine | No |
Raisins and Grapes | No |
Citrus Fruits | No |
Cinnamon | No |
Coconut Products | No |
Nuts | No |
Ice Cream | No |
Onions and Garlic | No |
Raw Meat | No |
Diet Routine For Staffordshire Bull Terrier Puppy
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppies should be fed at least three meals a day.
When they cross the age of 6 months, you can consider reducing their meal count to two per day. Don’t reduce to one meal per day. Keep the two meals per day routine constant.
If your Staffy prefers to eat snacks throughout, you should count the same with the maximum quantity limit for the day! And snack eating should not exceed 10% of the total daily consumption of food.
Commercial Food Products
Consider feeding adult Staffordshire Bull Terriers, once in the morning and once in the night.
An average adult Staffy is usually of 35-pound weight, and they should consume no more than 2 ½ cups throughout the day. If you give two meals, they should be broken down into 1.25 cups per meal.
For Staffordshire puppies, this distribution should be further broken down into three meals. And the total daily amount must increase to 3 cups throughout the day. You can break it down to 1 cup per meal for your Staffordshire puppy.
Raw Food Diet
For adult Staffy, you can consider providing them raw meat or vegetables by researching the nutrient aspects. Consider the protein or fat contents within the food item to ensure that this diet works for your adult Staffy.
For a Staffy pup, the quantity of raw food diet should be comparatively more than that of adults. But the meal breakdowns should be increased in case of a puppy to allow their body to digest.
Related Questions
What Kind Of Raw Meat Should I Prefer To Give My Staffy?
You must give muscle meat to your Staffy. Also, you can consider giving ground meat, whole meat, or organ meats.
Do Staffordshire Bull Terriers Have Sensitive Stomachs?
Staffordshire Bull Terriers generally don’t have sensitive stomachs. Staffordshire Bull Terrier is an energetic breed, for which staying in shape is not a big deal for these dogs.
The usual high protein diet is the reason for intestinal distress for them. Therefore, for adult Staffordshire dogs, you should cut down on high protein and let them consume more fiber-rich food for regulating digestion.
How Many Times a Day Should a Staffordshire Terrier Eat?
A Staffordshire Terrier should eat at least twice a day with around 160 to 180 grams of food every meal.
To know more, you can go through this article that provides information about the sensitive stomach of this dog.
Conclusion
You need to ensure that you are aware of the correct ratio of food that you can feed to your Staffy. Also, you should blend the raw food diet and commercial food diet in appropriate proportions. In that way, you can ensure that you are not over-stuffing or giving less food to your dog in terms of nutrients.