Best Puppy Food For German Shorthaired Pointer

A German Shorthaired pointer is a medium-sized, versatile, and energetic Gundog of all trades who flourish after very vigorous exercises. The GSP was initially bred in Germany in the late 1800s. The Garman breeders intended to breed that dog for performing well in any hunting environment.

The overall picture of the German Shorthaired pointer from the observer’s eye is that it is an aristocratic, well-balanced, and symmetrical animal with conformation that indicates power, agility, and endurance with an intelligent and animated look.

The male German Shorthaired pointer stands between 23 to 25 inches from the shoulder and contains 55 to 77 pounds weight. The coat is solid or reddish-brown or liver and white in particular patterns. The dark eyes of German Shorthaired pointer sparkle with eagerness and cordiality. These dogs are specially bred to work for long days in the field and lakes. The “Noble” and “aristocratic” these two words are generally used to depict the overall look of the GSP.

The GSP is always up in physical activities like swimming, running, and other dog support activities that consume a portion of their unfathomable energy and prevents it from investing in other outdoor activities in the human body.   

List of Best Puppy Food For German Shorthaired Pointer

Importance of Puppy Food Nutrition

Food formed for the puppies is quite different from the food figured out for young doggies.

According to Shmalberg; Brain, organ, and bone development occur very quickly in pups and set the foundation of healthy and normal growth in the dog’s life.

Young dogs need a more elevated level of proteins, calcium, phosphorus, and fat when compared to adult dogs. Lack of these elements in the food cause deficiencies and excessive amount cause Longlife complexities.

How much per day to feed your GSP?

Depending on the age and activity level, the GSP requires a very well-balanced diet specially designed for very active dogs. The puppy diet chart of the GSP also depends on many factors like;

• Is your German Shorthaired pointer is a puppy or a full-grown dog?
• Do they eat raw, kibble, or fresh food?
• Are they underweight, overweight, or just contain the right weight?
• Do they perform exercises every day?

The adult GSP who is healthy and very active generally taking 3000 to 3500 calories per day, and the puppies need 1250 calories per day to sustain healthy body weight.

Size	Calories per day
45 lbs	682 calories
50 lbs	750 calories
55 lbs	819 calories
60 lbs	887 calories
65 lbs	954 calories
70lbs	1023 calories

How you determine the ideal body weight of a German Shorthaired Pointer?

According to the American Kennel Club research, the ideal body weight of a GSP is between 55 to 70 pounds, and the height is 23 to 25 inches. This is a much smaller range than the other bred dogs, so most male puppies contain almost the exact size of that range.

The female GSP is slightly run smaller than the male and contains 45 to 60 pounds and an average height of 21 to 23 inches. So, the male and the female GSP contain the significant size and weight the smallest male size of the same.  

Growth Chart of Female German Shorthaired pointer

Age of Puppy	Estimated Weight
3 months	8-10. 4 kg.
6 months	14.7-19.4 kg
One year	19.4 – 26.2 kg

Growth chart of Male GSP

Age of Puppy	Estimated Weight
3 months	9.7 to 11.7 kg
6 months	8 kg to 22.3 kg
I year	24.2  to 30.8 kg

How many cups Should I feed my GSP Puppy?

The quantity of feed of your GSP puppy depends on their weight and age. The diet chart will better guide you about the feed GSP puppy.

Age	No of Cups	Female puppy Weight	Male puppy Weight
3-months	1/3 per day	8-12 kg	9.7-11.9kg
4-months	2.25 per day	10.2 -13.8 kg	12.8 -15.8kg
5-months	3-3.5 per day	12.8-16.9 kg	15.7-19.2 kg
6-months	4-4.5 per day	14.7 -19.4 kg	18.0 -22.3 kg
7-months	3-3.5 per day	16.0-21.5 kg	20-24.8 kg
8-months	3.75 per day	17.2-23.0 kg	21.2-26.9 kg
9-months	3.75 per day	18.1 -24.1 kg	22.1 – 28.2 kg
10-months	3.75 per day	18.8 -25 kg	23-29.2 kg
11-months	3.75 per day	19-25.8 kg	23.7-30 kg
12-months	3.75 per day	19.4-26.2 kg	24.2 -30.8 kg
Full-grown pointer	2.5-3.25 per day	20-27 kg	25-30 kg

Puppies are different from each other; they also demand to eat more food, and whether you give raw food and homemade recipes, the above chart limits how much you give to your puppy.  

This chart determines the average feed plan for both male and female GSP, so if you have a female GSP, then feed a bit less amount of the defined limit and if you have male GSP, then feed a bit more. This chart is just a guideline your daily intake of calories also varies according to your exercise output.

Puppy Diet of GSP

It seems there is no difference between puppy food and adult dog food, but in reality, there is a considerable amount of difference. The puppies are still growing and require many different nutrients like minerals, vitamins, calcium, and phosphorus. The commercial puppy food that you purchase from the market in the form of kibble or wet food often contains high amounts of calories for adult dogs.

Whatever puppy food you want to buy from the market, make sure it is premium quality and contains all the necessary elements that a growing puppy requires. An inferior quality puppy food will be missing few elements that are vital for a balanced diet.

Low-quality puppy food, regardless of whether it is for doggies or puppies, will expect it to give in more quantity and subsequently required more feed.

1.Puppy Raw Feeding 

Puppies can start any type of solid after six weeks, and even after six weeks, their new feed is raw meat or dry kibble. When you give raw food for GSP puppies, it requires a bit of care so, here are some points that you must follow before putting raw meat to the GSP;

a. Only fresh meat

Ensure the meat you feed to the GSP puppy is only fresh meat and stored in a cold and right place. Please don’t leave your meat in the freezer for a long time; it will sick your puppy.

b. Avoid Large Bones

Bones are a vital element of raw feed as they keep the puppy’s teeth clean and healthy. However, long bones also cause tooth damage, and feel your puppy in immense pain. So, avoid giving a bone to large and weight-bearing animals like a cow.

c. Mix Meat 

One type of meat cannot contain all the necessary elements that a puppy requires for good growth. So, always mix up the meat of different kinds of animals to give your puppy a balanced healthy diet.

2. Dry Food

Dry food is the most accessible type of food for puppies. There are many brands, flavors, and types of dry foods and kibble. Regardless of whether you have a GSP dog or puppy, dry food is the ideal mixture of supplements to grow healthy, and the other core benefit of that food is teeth cleaning.

3. Homemade recipes

Homemade recipes are also another great way to provide healthy foods to puppies. These homemade recipes involve a mixture of meat and vegetables, and these homemade recipes do not require any special care or handling like wearing gloves, etc. 

Best dog foods for German Shorthaired Pointers

In addition to the high-quality meat and vegetables, the GSP pointer also requires some high-quality minerals, proteins, and other supplements, which are necessary for their healthy growth.

Regardless of the size of German shorthand pointer age, size, and weight, it is crucial to provide a diet that supports their active lives and helps retain their active body mechanism.

Below are some recommendations of the best foods for the German Shorthaired pointer:

1. Purina ONE Smart Blend Natural Puppy Dog Food.

Prunia one is a healthy diet and strong nutritional formula that meets all the unique nutritional requirements of your puppies. It contains all the necessary elements that are crucial for the healthy life of your dog. The first ingredient in that formula is chicken, a healthy source of fat and protein.

The second most crucial element is rice flour, which is a gluten-free source of carbohydrates. Rice flour provides a notable amount of fiber and nutrition to the puppies. The third ingredient in this formula is corn gluten meal. Corn gluten meal is a form of by-product obtained from various corn products such as corn starch and corn syrup. It contains a very high amount of proteins, almost 60% protein from these corns, which assists in the puppy’s healthy growth activities.

The fourth vital ingredient in that formula is a chicken-by-product meal. The chicken by-product meal is produced by cooking chicken with various product elements in a unique process called rendering that also provides protein to your dog. The fifth vital element includes in Purina one formula is whole grain corn. Corn is a cereal grain that provides many vitamins, minerals, and plant-based proteins to puppies.

The Next two essential elements in that formula are soybean meal containing plant-based protein and Oatmeal, which contains rich dietary fibers like vitamin B and various minerals.

The last essential ingredient included in this formula is beef fat, a significant fatty acid source.

Features

• Authentic chicken pieces are top of the list of ingredients in this formula.
• It contains rice to make digestion easier.
• This formula is perfect for sensitive tummies. 
• It contains DHA that is vital for the development of the brain and eyesight.
• It contains Glucosamine that is important for healthy joint growth.

Ingredients

• Carbohydrate 35.00 % (39.77 %)
• Moisture (max) 12.00 % (0.00 %)
• Crude Fiber (max) 3.00 % (3.41 %)
• Crude Fat (min) 17.00 % (19.32 %)
• Crude Protein (min) 28.00 % (31.82 %)

Final Verdict

The Prunia natural puppy dog food contains all the healthy ingredients for your puppy that they require for their healthy lifestyle. It keeps your dog’s muscles and joints active and healthy.

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2. Blue Buffalo Dog Food – Best Puppy food for GSP

The blue buffalo formula aims to provide healthy, holistic, and natural food ingredients to your puppy. The blue buffalo brand claims that American suppliers naturally provide all the ingredients included in their formula. Below is an overview of some vital elements that blue buffalo formula contains and their benefit to their German Shorthaired pointer puppies.  

The first and most essential element in that formula is Pea protein that contains amino acids and a good quantity of fibers and carbohydrates. This element helps to improve your dog’s digestive system.

 The second important element in this formula is chicken meal. This chicken meal is made with a boned and deboned chicken and cooked in a particular way to produce its powder. This portion contains much protein that is very important for growing puppies and helps to improve their strength and energy level.

The third most important element of that formula is fish oil, such as salmon fish. If your puppy is not allergic to this ingredient, this element is also beneficial for your puppy if he suffers from joint pain.

The Fruits and vegetable mixtures such as carrots, berries, and sweet potatoes are full of anti-oxidants and keep their dog’s immune system strong and keep their cells free from the effect of radicals.

This formula also contains DHA and RHA that is essentially found in mother’s milk and very helpful for your puppy’s brain and eye development.

Features

• It contains all the natural elements.
• The chicken and fish are the main portions of protein in the formula.
• This formula also contains a portion of fruits and vegetables to support a healthy immune system.
• This formula is specially made for puppies, smaller jaws and helps to clean their teeth.

Ingredients

• Protein: 37.8%
• Fat: 16.7%
• Carbs:38.9%

Final Verdict

German Shorthaired pointers are medium-sized dogs with highly active mechanisms, and the blue buffalo grain-free dry dog food provides all the essential elements they need to sustain a healthy and robust lifestyle.

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3. ORIJEN Puppy Dog Food

Orijen assists the puppies to thrive, fueling their day-to-day activities and keep them healthy and strong. The highest portion of the protein with a low proportion of carbohydrates is the most appropriate nutritional diet for most puppies and dogs. Below is a brief overview of the ingredients; add in the Orijen puppy food.

The first and the most vital element in this formula is animal organs like chicken, fish, and poultry. These ingredients, add by this brand, is always fresh and helps to fulfill the most succulent part of the dog’s nutritional needs.

All the protein-rich nutritional elements like turkey coupled with flounder, chicken, cage-free eggs, sardine, herring, mackerel provide essential fatty acids that are very important for your pups and helps to grow them with optimized nutritional needs.

The DHA contained in this formula helps to improve your puppy’s brain and eye development. The grain-free elements in this formula and array of low glycemic fruits and vegetables are especially suited to fulfill the growing puppies’ unique nutrient and caloric needs.

The Orijen brand also claims that all their ingredients are mainly fresh, and the health benefits of giving Orijen puppy food are that it provides a suitable quantity of protein to the pups and removing carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index in the food. 

The Orijen’s brands work hard to make a perfect diet for puppies that matches all the nutritional requirements and includes:

• Animal meat.
• Animal organs.
• Fruits.
• Eggs.
• Vegetables.
• Botanicals

Features

• It contains all-natural elements.
• Grain-free food.
• Orijen formula contains 85% premium quality animal ingredients.
• It contains 15% carbohydrates that have low levels of glycemic and reduces allergies in pups and dogs.
• It contains an excellent ratio of fatty acids.

Ingredients 

• Minimum crude protein: 38%.
• Minimum Crude fat: 20%
• Maximum moisture: 12%

Final Verdict

Origins provide plenty of protein to GSP and help maintain their muscles even if they become older and less active.80 % of the feed ingredients in that feed are fish and meat and a good amount of Glucosamine and chondroitin to keep their joint system healthy.   

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4. Instinct Raw Boost Grain-Free Puppy Food

Instinct raw boost puppy food is made with raw meat, fruit, and vegetables. Raw food is never cooked and very less processed as compared to other pet foods for keeping other valuable ingredients intact. Because raw food contains natural flavors of foods, amino acids, and other vitamins and minerals. Let’s discuss some primary ingredients of that formula.

The first four ingredients in this formula are real chicken elements such as chicken fat and chicken meat. They should give your pooch a wide variety of minerals and vitamins.

The carbohydrate ingredients in that formula are peas and tapioca. These two elements provide more nutrition and energy as compared to wheat and corn that makes it the best dog food.

 This formula is a protein formula, it also includes a variety of raw chicken elements as well as herring and fish.

Cage-free chicken is the number one ingredient of that formula moreover it also includes calcium, phosphorus for strong teeth, and natural DHA for healthy brain development.

Features 

• This formula helps better digestion.
• Increased energy and vitality rate of pooches.
• Improved skin and coat of pups.        
• This formula helps weight improvement.

Ingredients

• 25% carbs.
• 45% fat.
• 30% protein.

Final Verdict

Instinct raw food is an excellent selection of the type of raw dog food recipes. This puppy food is shelf-stable and eliminating the need for a refrigerator for freezing. This feed is specially designed to promote muscle strength, eliminate digestion problems, dental hygiene, and increase coat beauty. This food is gluten or grain-free and best suitable for GSP that is suffering from food sensitivities.  

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5. Merrick Puppy Dry Dog Food with Real Meat 

Merrick puppy dry food recipe is a mid-price range feed for dogs with exceptional range. This product cannot contain any artificial ingredients, colors and include zero preservatives. Merrick dry food includes real meat of chicken, fish, and other poultry elements. Lets closely inspect some primary elements of that formula:

 Deboned chicken is the first and the healthy element of that formula that provides protein, fat, and vitamin B, which helps in dog healthy growing activities. The raw meat contains 75% of water, which is cooked during making dog food. After removing water, protein-rich meal powder is ready that is a healthy dog food ingredient.

This formula also includes potatoes and peas that contain a rich source of Vitamin C and B6, vitamin K, phosphorus, copper, magnesium, zinc, and Omega 6 and 3 fatty acids that makes it healthy dog food and helps to improves puppies coat and skin.

This formula also contains whole grains that support a healthy digestive system and the Glucosamine and chondroitin that helps to support healthy hips and joints.

Features 

• Chicken and fish are the main ingredients.
• Best for the pups who are already suffering joint problems.
• Ideal for long-coated dogs.
• The best feed for the puppies who are suffering digestive problems.

Ingredients

• Min. Protein 31.46%
• Min. Fat 13.48%
• Min. Carbs 47.19%
• Max. Fiber 5.06%
• Max. Ash 7.87%
• Max. Moisture 0.00%

Final Verdict

Merrick dog food is the healthy choice for the German Shorthaired pointer puppies with weak and sensitive digestive functions. The German Shorthaired pointers are highly active dogs, and the ingredients included in that feed make their bones strong, make their coat beautiful, and strengthen their joint function. 

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Things to be considered in the Best puppy food for German Shorthaired Pointers

German Shorthaired pointers are dominant hunting dogs that are noble and loveable and require particular nutrients in their diet. At the time of purchasing the food following things will be kept in mind:

1. Meat Quantity

GSP usually requires food containing more proteins, fibers, and fat than adults and the meat contains all the essential elements that a GSP requires to look better, active, and energetic. So it is essential to check the meat content at the time of purchasing feed. Usually, the GSP requires a daily protein intake is 22% with a minimum fat of 8%. So make sure that all the nutrients help to grow the puppies not to speed up the growing process.

2. Calories in ingredients

In the Starting phase, the GSP requires more calories as compared to older dogs. So, you should pick a portion of food for pups that contain high calories for their tremendous growth. If they feed cannot contain the right amount of calories, then they suffer some health problems like:

• Allergic reactions
• Hip dysplasia
• Problems with their ears
• Von Willebrand’s disease
• Weight gain

3. Easily digestible ingredients

Always purchase that feed GSP puppy that contains ingredients that are easily digestible for them, because GSP has a sensitive stomach.

4. Amount of Fats

 The GSP requires high-energy ingredients in a feed that contains fatty acids like omega 3 and 6. So, it is better to give a feed that contains chicken fat and fish oil elements to Improve their coat skin as well as helps their brain growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How often should you feed a German Shorthaired pointer puppy?

 Before the age of six months, you should feed your puppy three times a day and at the age of six months, only a two-time meal is enough for the puppies according to the above-recommended chart.

2. What to feed german Shorthaired pointer puppies?

The GSP feed varies with the age and the weight of the puppy. They require a feed that contains 22% protein, 8% fat in their diet at the growing stage in 3 meals per day. Because they are working dogs and burn many calories in the all-day workout, the feed mentioned above is the best puppy food for GSP. 

3. How much to feed a GSP puppy?

The answer depends on many factors like:

• Is your GSP a puppy or full-grown?
• Are they underweight, overweight, or just right?
• Do they eat fresh and raw food?
• How many times do they get exercise every day?

When you first bring your puppy home around 8-12 weeks, give 1/4 to 1/2 cup feed three times a day.   

After three months, gradually increase the quantity of the food. You do not want a big jump in their diet; it can cause gastrointestinal distress in pups.

4. Which health problems are common in German Shorthaired Pointers?

The following are some common health problems in German Shorthaired Pointers.

• Cancer.
• Hip Dysplasia.
• Gastric dilation.
• Von Willebrand Disease
• Entropion.
• Bloating
• Blood clots.
• Eye issues

5. Should my German Shorthaired Pointers eat Large Breed dog food?

Yes, GSP is a highly energetic dog and eats large breed giant food. It is an athletic breed and requires many calories and nutrients compared to the other dog breeds.

6. What are bad foods for GSP?

Some foods are harmful to GSP breeds like:

• Chocolate.
• Onion and garlic.
• Sugar and anything made with sugar.
• Avocados.
• Mushrooms.
• Apple seeds.
• Nuts and walnuts.
• Grapes and Raisins.

7. What are some excellent foods for GSP?

• Baby carrots.
• Broccoli.
• Green beans.
• Cooked peas.
• Apples excluded seeds.
• Banana.
• Sweet potato is either fried or baked with salt.
• Cooked plain pumpkin.

Conclusion

Looking for the best puppy food for the German Shorthaired pointer is not an easy task. It is not wise to pick a bag of feed, especially if you have GSP.

It would be best to consider the lifestyle, age, weight, nutritional values, and ingredients before buying dog food.

If you are an owner of GSP and have no idea about their food, then I hope this article will help a lot to select the best nutritional dog food for their healthy and active lifestyle.

Always remember to give the recipes containing ingredients that seem highly indigestible because they have a sensitive stomach.

References:

https://spencequinn.com/how-much-to-feed-a-gsp-puppy/

https://spiritdogtraining.com/growth-chart-calculator/german-shorthair-pointer/