The Siberian Husky is a popular family dog, and for good reason: they are resilient, active, and love being a part of the family. The breed was developed as Arctic working dogs, and Huskies have long been used to pull sleds long distances over snowy terrain.
Because of this unique background, it makes sense that Siberian Huskies have unique dietary needs.
In this article, we’ll review the best dog food for Huskies, because who doesn’t want to feed their dog the best?
At A Glance: Our Top 5 Picks for Dog Food for Siberian Huskies:
- Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula – Our Top Pick
- Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
- Nutro Max Natural Adult Dry Dog Food
- Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Dog Food Recipe
- Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Dry Dog Food – Smoked Salmon
What is the Best Dog Food for a Husky?
Kibble (dry), canned food, or a homemade dog food: Which is the best dog food for Huskies?
With so many options available, it can be hard to decipher what is right for your Siberian Husky. Although there are cases that vary, most experts recommend feeding your dog a high-quality dry dog food as the base of your Husky’s diet.
It can be difficult for a beginner to create a nutritionally complete homemade or raw diet, and canned dog food contains mostly water by weight, and is, therefore, less nutritionally dense than dry dog food.
Because there are cases where this advice could vary, it is important to talk to your vet about your specific Husky’s nutrition needs in order to provide him with the ideal diet.
Best Dog Food for Huskies
Below, we’ll talk about what to look for in a dog food for Siberian Husky. But first, let’s review our top 5 picks for the best food for Huskies.
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | |
|---|---|---|
 | Our Top Pick Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula
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 | Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
| VIEW ON AMAZON →READ REVIEWS → |
 | Nutro Max Natural Adult Dry Dog Food
| VIEW ON AMAZON →READ REVIEWS → |
 | Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Dog Food Recipe
| VIEW ON AMAZON →READ REVIEWS → |
 | Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Dry Dog Food – Smoked Salmon
| VIEW ON AMAZON →READ REVIEWS → |
Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula
Description: Blue Buffalo’s Life Protection Formula uses meats, rice, and vegetables to create a high protein, high fat diet free from common fillers like corn, wheat, and soy ingredients. The Life Source Bits include important nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants to keep your Siberian Husky at his best.
Nutrition Facts:
| Calories per serving | 419 kcal/cup |
| Minimum percentage protein | 22% |
| Minimum percentage fat | 14% |
| Maximum percentage fiber | 5% |
| Maximum percentage moisture | 10% |
| First five ingredients | Deboned Lamb, Menhaden Fish Meal (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley |
Why it’s a good dog food Huskies: Real meat is the first ingredient, and this recipe is nutritionally dense, containing important vitamins and minerals. This is important because many Huskies are picky or light eaters.
Cons: This recipe does not contain quite as much fat or protein as is recommended for a Siberian Husky, and is therefore not an excellent choice for especially active dogs.
Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
Description: Wellness CORE Grain Free provides balanced nutrition for your Siberian Husky and is made from high quality, natural ingredients. This food is high in protein and low in carbs to maintain your dog’s muscles and activity.
Nutrition Facts:
| Calories per serving | 421 kcal/cup |
| Minimum percentage protein | 34% |
| Minimum percentage fat | 16% |
| Maximum percentage fiber | 4% |
| Maximum percentage moisture | 10% |
| First five ingredients | Deboned turkey, turkey meal, chicken meal, peas, potatoes |
Why it’s a good food for Siberian Huskies: Wellness CORE is a nutrient and calorie-dense food to support the high energy and picky eating habits of Huskies, and it is also high in protein. It includes calcium, glucosamine, and chondroitin to keep your Husky’s bones and joints healthy.
Cons: Again, turkey meal and chicken meal are included in the top ingredients, and chicken can cause allergies.
Nutro Max Natural Adult Dry Dog Food
Description: Nutro Max delivers a high quality dog food at a more affordable price than many on this list. This brand is manufactured responsibly in the USA and uses real meat ingredients to feed your dog a nutritious diet.
Nutrition Facts:
| Calories per serving | 329 kcal/cup |
| Minimum percentage protein | 24% |
| Minimum percentage fat | 14% |
| Maximum percentage fiber | 3.5% |
| Maximum percentage moisture | 10% |
| First five ingredients | Chicken meal, whole grain sorghum, brewers rice, chicken fat, dehydrated alfalfa meal |
Why it’s one of the best dog foods for Huskies: This recipe is fortified with botanicals to provide antioxidants and vitamins in your dog’s diet. The grains in this recipe are whole grains and provide lasting energy to your active Husky.
Cons: This recipe contains more grain ingredients than others on this list, and the first ingredient is a chicken meal, rather than pure chicken.
Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Dog Food Recipe
Description: Ziwi Peak contains 95% meat ingredients, meaning there are no filler ingredients, but plenty of fat and protein. Because it is air-dried, the ingredients retain almost all of their nutrient value.
Nutrition Facts:
| Calories per serving | 312 kcal/cup |
| Minimum percentage protein | 38% |
| Minimum percentage fat | 30% |
| Maximum percentage fiber | 2% |
| Maximum percentage moisture | 14% |
| First five ingredients | Chicken, chicken liver, chicken heart, New Zealand green mussel, chicken bone |
Why it’s a top-rated dog food for Huskies: This recipe includes 95% meat ingredients, making it nutritionally dense like Huskies need, and packed with protein and fat. while being grain free. This is a great recipe for active dogs.
Cons: This dog food is well over the price range of most Siberian Husky owners.
Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Dry Dog Food – Smoked Salmon
Description: For a healthy alternative to the more common meats in dog food, Taste of the Wild’s popular grain free Pacific Stream formula contains real salmon as the first ingredient.
With an ideal amino acid profile, this egg-gree and protein-rich formula have added fruits and vegetables to provide important antioxidants. These healthy ingredients provide your Husky with high-quality sound nutrition.
Nutrition Facts:
| Calories per serving | 360 kcal/cup |
| Minimum percentage protein | 25% |
| Minimum percentage fat | 15% |
| Maximum percentage fiber | 3% |
| Maximum percentage moisture | 10% |
| First five ingredients | Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas |
Why it’s a good dog food Huskies: This well priced grain-free formula contains high-quality single-source protein and omega fatty acids for your Husky’s skin and coat health. It also includes the addition of Taste of the Wild proprietary probiotics for optimal digestion. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes are added to support your Siberian Husky’s immune system.
Cons: Some dogs may not be fond of the taste.
Dog Food for Siberian Huskies Buying Guide
Protein
High protein diets are key to a Husky’s health. Protein helps to develop and maintain a Husky’s muscles. This is especially important given the high energy and activity levels of the Siberian Husky.
While it is commonly recommended to feed your dog a diet consisting of 18-30% protein, experts recommend that Siberian Huskies are fed a diet that is between 25-40% protein. Look for foods where meat makes up the first few ingredients on the list.
Fat
Huskies need a diet with high percentages of fat. Fats from healthy sources, such as fish oil, flaxseed oil, and salmon oil, help keep a dog’s coat and skin healthy and provide a good source of energy.
It is recommended that you feed a Siberian Husky a diet that is between 15-30% fat.
Carbohydrates
A specified amount of carbohydrates for dogs has not been determined. A Siberian Husky requires very low ratios of carbohydrates in their diets because this breed was developed in circumstances where it was common for working dogs like Huskies to eat only a small amount of meat in a day.
This diet is nutritionally dense, high in protein and fat, and low in carbs. Carbs in dog food can come from grains, legumes, and vegetables such as potatoes, and also provides fiber, which helps digestion.
Because of these needs, you would do best to purchase a dog food in which grains or carbs are lower on the ingredient list.
Calories
The amount of calories required by Huskies depends on the age, size, and energy/activity level of the dog. It is recommended that you feed your Siberian Husky between 1000 and 1800 calories per day, which is usually about 1.5-2 cups of nutritionally dense dog food daily.
Beneficial ingredients
A Siberian Husky dog will have a tendency towards developing eye problems, including cataracts, corneal dystrophy, and progressive retinal atrophy.
While some of these issues are genetic, a diet high in vitamins A, C, and E, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, can help prevent or slow the progression of these disorders.
This breed is also susceptible to zinc responsive dermatosis, a condition where a dog cannot process the zinc they ingest and develop skin and coat issues. Feeding the correct amount of zinc, not too little or too much, will keep this disease from developing.
Allergies
Siberian Huskies are particularly susceptible to certain allergens. Many are lactose intolerant, so you would do best to avoid foods with milk or whey ingredients.
How Much Food Does My Siberian Husky Need Per Day?
As mentioned above, Siberian Huskies generally need 1.5-2 cups of nutritional dog food per day. Unlike many dog breeds, the Husky tends to only eat when they are hungry, and will sometimes skip meals.
Because they do not eat as much as other breeds, it is important that their food is nutritionally dense so that they receive all the vitamins and minerals they need in the smaller amount of food that they eat.
What To Look For In A Quality Dog Food for My Husky?
There are a lot fewer regulations governing the quality, production, ingredients, and labeling of dog food than there are governing human food standards.
There is also disagreement on nutritional requirements for dogs (especially since dog breeds vary so much). However, here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a diet for your Husky.
You want to be feeding your dog a meat-based diet, where a specific meat is the first ingredient, rather than grain or other filler ingredients. The best dog foods will have real meat, rather than a meal or by-product in the ingredients.
As explained above, an ideal diet for a Husky is made of 25-40% protein, 15-30% fat, and few carbohydrates, all coming from quality ingredients. It should also avoid allergy-inducing ingredients, especially if your dog reacts poorly to them, and should contain plenty of vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.
Here are a few other things to think about when choosing what and how much to feed your Husky:
Activity Level
This seems obvious, but a more active dog requires more calories than a dog who sleeps most of the day. There are some dog food formulas for especially active or working dogs, but often simply feeding more of their regular diet is enough (provided it is good quality food).
Activity level is not always specified in feeding instructions, so the amount you should feed an active dog is not always clear. Be sure to check with your vet to ensure that your Husky is getting all the calories and nutrients she needs!
Age
Husky puppies, adults, and senior dogs have different nutritional requirements. Husky puppies need food with extra high protein and fat content, which aids in their growth and development.
In order to prevent excess weight gain, adult Husky dogs need lower proportions of protein and fat, and therefore their food has a higher proportion of carbs than puppy food. Older dogs are usually less active, have lower calorie requirements, and need less fat in their diet.
Senior dog foods are often higher in fiber as well, which helps digestion. Almost every commercial dog food brand has specifically designed puppy, adult, and senior formulas to choose from.
Size
Just like with activity, a dog’s size will determine how many calories they need, and therefore how much food you should feed them. A large male Husky will have a higher caloric need than a smaller female Husky.
Allergies
If your Husky has any food allergies, it is important to ensure that whatever you feed him will be safe. Some common dog food ingredients, such as wheat, soy, corn, and chicken products, are known to cause allergic reactions in some dogs, and Huskies tend to be particularly sensitive to lactose.
That said, the FDA has found a potential link between diets that rely on potatoes, lentils, and peas to be grain-free and heart disease – so that might not be a good option either!
Please remember that whatever you decide to feed your Siberian Husky should be approved by your vet. A licensed veterinarian will always have more relevant information than the internet research a dog owner can do.
Checking with your vet about your dog’s diet is especially important if your dog has allergies or food sensitivities, if you are switching him over to a new diet, or if you are preparing homemade food.
Vets are there to help you take care of your dog, and this help can really come in handy when considering the specific nutrition requirements of the Husky.
Summing Up the Best Dog Food for a Husky
While all of the best dog foods for Huskies listed here are high quality, high protein, high-fat dog foods, remember that your Husky’s diet should also be determined by its size, age, and activity level, among other things.
Be sure to check with your vet about whatever diet you choose, in order to be sure that you’re giving your dog the best!
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Forrest is a lover of dogs, the wild outdoors, deep mysterious conversations… and coffee. He is the owner of several websites, including Canine Weekly. He resides in Austin, Texas.