The Best Dog Food For Bulldogs To Keep Them Healthy

As an English bulldog owner, you already know that these dogs are charming and goofy and make wonderful family pets. You are also probably aware of the bulldog’s many health issues including respiratory problems, joint issues, and skin sensitivities.

But did you know that feeding your bulldog the right food can decrease the odds of them developing many of these health concerns? Let’s get to know these products so you can find and get the best dog food for bulldogs.

Reviews of The Best Dog Foods for Bulldogs

#1. Crave Grain Free Adult Dog Food

Best Overall

Score: (5/5)

Crave Grain Free Adult Dog Food

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High protein food with quality animal-sourced ingredients to keep bulldogs healthy.

First on our list is Crave’s grain-free adult formula. We chose this excellent dry dog food for Bulldogs for its high protein content and nutrient-dense formula.

This product you can find in four kibble flavors: salmon/ocean fish, beef, chicken, and lamb/venison. All four meal versions contain great ingredients, but we especially love the salmon/ocean fish formula for bulldogs due to 3 and 6 fatty acids addition to help nourish sensitive skin.

Two ingredients, chicken and salmon help this food achieve an impressive protein level of 34%. This dog food also contains high quality carbohydrates such as split peas and Lentils.

This grain-free dry dog food is great for sensitive bulldogs, but keep in mind that all four flavors contain multiple protein sources, so this formula may not be ideal for bulldogs with protein allergies.

This dry dog food does contain a higher fat content at 17% and is best for active and young bulldogs. Older English bullies and those that spend a lot of time on the couch need fewer calories per day and could put a lot of weight on this food.

For all the protein this food packs, it’s nicely priced just under midrange and a great buy for dog owners on a budget.

#2. Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream

Runner Up

Score: (5/5)

Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream

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Quality food with healthy fats and protein from fish for bulldog skin and coat health.

If you’re looking for a protein-packed food with healthy fats but a lower calorie count for your less active adult bulldog, then Taste of the Wild’s Pacific Stream adult is a great fish meal formula for your dog.

Like our first choice, this recipe contains high quality ingredients like salmon and ocean fish meal. Fatty acids in this fish meal along with added vitamin E and canola oil will ensure your bulldog’s skin health.

Along with all that healthy fat is a reasonable dose of protein at 25%. With a lower overall fat percentage and lower protein than our food number one food on the list, this dog food is a great option for every dog who needs fewer calories per day but will still benefit from a high-protein, moderate-fat diet.

This kibble is supplemented with probiotics and dried chicory root which is a great source of prebiotic fiber. All this makes this kibble designed for dogs who need nutrition to promote their digestive health.

Like our first choice, this dry dog food is grain-free. It’s also limited to only fish-sourced ingredients making it a good choice for bulldog with protein sensitivities.

This recipe does contain a higher amount of fresh fruits and vegetables including sweet potatoes, lentils, peas, raspberries, and blueberries to boost your dog’s health.

This dry food is slightly less expensive than our first choice, though, making it the bulldogs best fish meal formula for owners on a budget.

#3. Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet

Best for Allergies

Score: (5/5)

Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet

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Single-source meat and plant ingredients for bulldogs with food allergies.

We chose our number three pet food on the list specifically for those bullies with food allergies. Instinct’s Diets company has crafted a kibble that contains few ingredients that still deliver on protein and nutrition.

This recipe comes in four flavors: duck, lamb, salmon, and turkey. Each recipe contains only one animal-sourced ingredient, making this a great choice for adult dogs with protein allergies. Lamb meal has a great taste and your dog will love it!

These grain-free dry products are made of one vegetable (rice) in addition to the meat source. This adult dog food product doesn’t contain any corn, wheat, peas, sweet potato, potato, or soy. This definitely qualifies this food as the good food for bulldogs with allergies

Just because this grain-free dog product is made of a small number of ingredients doesn’t mean it has compromised on nutritional value. These recipes all contain protein amounts around 25% and added vitamins and minerals to help your bully keep his health.

As with most limited food ingredients and specialty diets, this dog food sits at the higher end of the price spectrum. Nevertheless, it is the best dog food for English bulldog suffering from skin allergies.

We found that Instinct raw products taste great. The natural and soft texture of this meal will get any picky dog to eat. If you are looking for a good and tasty solution for adults that avoid their hypoallergenic diets, you have found the one.

#4. Canidae Pure Weight Management

Best Weight Management

Score: (4.5/5)

Canidae Pure Weight Management

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Low fat, high protein food to keep bulldogs trim and healthy.

While Canidae offers a number of great recipes for adult dogs, we’re focusing specifically on this pet food that can help us maintain healthy body weight. Because our friends are prone to weight gain, this is one of the best dry dog food for English bulldogs.

This is the good one for bulldog who need a little help watching their figure. With just 9% fat, this food has fewer calories than our number one and three picks while still maintaining a high 28% protein.

This dry dog food contains real vegetables such as sweet potatoes, potatoes peas, and beans. Allergies trigger food ingredients such as corn, soy or wheat can not be found in these products.

Your dog was made to turn quality proteins into energy and muscle, but less active and older dogs struggle to stay trim with diets too high in fat. This food brings low fat without sacrificing quality ingredients.

The first three ingredients in this kibble food are chicken, chicken meal, and turkey meal. Like all our other choices, this chicken meal is also grain free and only contains a handful of natural plant ingredients, making it a great choice for English bulldogs with sensitive digestive systems. Zero corn, wheat, and soy ingredients make it a perfect chicken meat meal for adults.

In fact, not only is this chicken meal a weight management dog food, but it’s also a few ingredient diets. So it’s made our fat Bulldogs! Last updated information on this product states that there is an addition of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids, which is a huge plus

As a specialty dog food for allergies and weight control, we would expect this diet to be priced pretty high. But at just over midrange on the price scale, this dog food is practically a steal for all you get.

#5. Victor Dog Food Grain-Free

Best for Puppies

Score: (4.5/5)

Victor Dog Food Grain-Free

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High protein, nutrient-dense food for growing bulldog puppies.

Victor’s puppy recipe is dog food for English bulldog puppies with its optimal protein percentage and quality ingredients to help your dog grow up healthy.

Every puppy needs more calories per pound to support its quick growth and brain development. With a protein content of 33% and a fat level of around 16%, Victor’s puppy and active dog formula is the best dog food for puppies.

This dog food is made without carb sources such as corn, wheat, and soy. It still does include natural nutrients such as potatoes and peas. Victor food products are made with a high fiber nutrient to ensure healthy digestion. We find, however, that senior dogs can develop constipation from too much fiber per day.

The first ingredient in this puppy product is beef meal, but the feed also contains other ingredients like fish, pork, and lamb meal as well. These along with a few healthy non-animal ingredients like sweet potato and yeast culture add a boost of nutrition to this food that growing dogs need.

It also contains DHA to support brain development and added fatty acids for healthy skin and joints. And, like all other foods on our list, this formula is grain-free.

Best Nutrition for a Bulldog

Our lovely Bulldog dogs need balanced nutrition to stay fit. As they are prone to obesity we need to take a closer look at all the nutrients when choosing the best high quality bulldog food.

Optimal Protein Levels

Good food for bulldogs contains high quality proteins. The main source of this much-needed ingredient should be listed meat. If your pooch has issues with poultry and lamb meat, they will love the diet that uses lean and bison meat.

The protein content of a balanced meal depends on age, breed, activity level, and gender. While active French adult bullies need a higher percentage of this nutrient (up to 30% ), English bullies can maintain healthy body weight with a lower protein percentage (25%) in their dog food.

The level of proteins needed in the food formula depends on your dog’s life stages and medical conditions.

Senior Bulldog’s nutritional requirements are different and they need less calories per day than young to midlife stages Bulldogs. Wellness core Senior grain-free dry pet food contains enough chicken, turkey, and chicken fat to keep our oldie fit and well nourished.

A pup will require more calories per pound than adult dogs for lean muscle development. Wellness core puppy grain-free dry food is made from real chicken meal, turkey, and vegetables. This high quality product is specially designed to secure the good development of every puppy.

On the other hand, breeding, pregnant, or nursing female bulldogs need more calories per pound for the production of hormones and milk. Wellness core natural high protein is a dry dog food formula with the right nutrition value, fruits, and vegetables, amino acids that could satisfy your dog’s needs in these particular times.

Carbs are important nutrients

There is an ongoing debate about Carbohydrates in dog food. Carbohydrates provide energy for the body to function properly.

No grain formula contains carbohydrate sources such as brown rice and sweet potato. Some bulldogs, however, can develop food allergies to some carbohydrates such as corn and oat. In that case, the best dog food for bulldogs needs to be a nongrain formula.

Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are important for the immune system. However, you should avoid giving fruits if they don’t chew them properly. You need to clean up and chop their fruits nicely before giving to them to avoid choking.

Boiled rice is an excellent diet if your dog is suffering from gastritis or watery stools.

Optimal Fat Content

The best dog food for Bulldog should contain 5% -15% of fat content depending on their activity level. This nutrient is not only a great source of energy, but it’s also important for fur health. Fat also keeps a body temperature, which is important for an outdoor Bulldog.

Less active French Bulldogs need only 10% of this nutrient in their food to avoid excessive body gain. Optimal English bulldog fat content should be less than 10%. Young and vibrant dogs need up to 15% of this nutrient in their meal.

Best Supplements

Best bulldog dog food should have the addition of much-needed vitamins and minerals. Your dog’s diet needs to include minerals such as iron, magnesium, selenium, potassium, and zinc. These minerals provide all kinds of different benefits to your Bulldogs overall health and body function.

The best food for an English Bulldog puppy needs enough chelated minerals and amino acids to build up lean muscle mass. Products with the right Calcium and Phosphorus ratio are good for skeletal development.

Vitamins such as A, C, E, K, and Folate are important to boost the immune system of your Bulldog. B complex vitamins and omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are beneficial for the shiny fur and nervous system but can open up your pet’s appetite.

Crude fiber is one of the nutrients that are well known to promote digestive health. We find that puppies get more out of the high fiber products than adults and senior pets. High fiber products enhance digestibility in our pets. Puppies need calories and proteins per pound, and fibers help use these nutrients more efficiently.

Weight Gain is a Serious Issue for Bulldogs

Does your pet struggle to stay trim? Keeping English bulldogs at a healthy weight is another thing many owners struggle with.

Like their American bulldog cousins, our dogs generally have hefty appetites and don’t always stop eating when they should. Carrying extra weight puts added pressure on joints and bones and increases the risk for certain types of diseases such as:

• Diabetes mellitus.
• Heart conditions.
• High blood pressure.
• Kidney problems.

To keep this breed healthy, make sure you feed a high quality diet with real-meat formula and limited fat and carbs. Look for protein sources like chicken meal, lamb, and turkey as the first ingredient and foods with at least 20% protein.

Not sure if your pet is a healthy weight? Stand over the top of them and look down.

On a bulldog, you should be able to see a slight indent between the ribs and the hips. From the side, you should notice an upward rise from the end of the rib cage through the belly.

If you are looking for a more in-depth method of telling if your bulldog is a healthy weight, check out this video.

Common Health Conditions in a Bulldog

Any future owner of this breed should be aware that this breed needs constant care. Behind that glum face and rough exterior, there is a sensitive being prone to many disorders and conditions.

Throughout its life, this dog type can face many health issues. The good news is that with the right nourishment these types of problems can be avoided or at least controlled.

Bulldog airway issues

Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) is an inherited disorder that causes several breathing obstacles such as narrow nares, tracheal collapse, and elongated soft palate. This type of deformity is responsible for Bulldog’s well known charming breathing sounds. As much as we love those noises during physical activity, they can turn into labor breathing.

Bulldog, like every other dog, releases excessive body heat by panting, and since this breed can have airway issues there are super prone to heat strokes.

What can we do to avoid the worst-case scenario?

• Exercise by walking early in the morning and late in the evening. Avoid by all means concrete surfaces when walking your pet.
• Mind his calorie intake.
• Use foods supplemented with glucosamine and chondroitin. These types of ingredients are good for cartilage of the trachea to keep its shape and remain strong.

Joint defects in a Bulldog

Bulldogs have a unique body build and posture, characterized by wide shoulders and a narrow pelvis. Because of this body shape, they often suffer from a structural defect so-called chondrodysplasia. It’s an abnormal cartilage development, which could increase your dog’s chance of having bone and joint issues.

Cartilage is an important structure that keeps healthy mobility of all the joints in Bulldog’s body. It’s estimated that over 70 % of these dogs can develop some of the following conditions in their life, because of Chondrodysplasia.

Hip Dysplasia is a well known joint looseness or laxity that happens when bones don’t fit into their joints, as they should and it’s causing pain, lameness discomfort, and exercise intolerance.

By providing your pet with the right kind of dog product right from the earliest age you can prevent or postpone the development of this painful condition. Puppy food with brown rice and real chicken has all chelated minerals, fruits, and vegetables to satisfy the nutritional needs of bulldog puppies.

Patellar Luxation is a condition where a kneecap is not where it should be. This uncomfortable condition causes lameness in this breed. Treatment of mild cases includes diet change and supplement the addition of glucosamine and chondroitin.

Arthritis is a condition that affects mid to old age Bulldog. Once the cartilage is worn down, the joint capsule becomes inflamed because of constant irritation.

Digestive system issues in a Bulldog

Bulldogs have a sensitive digestive system and are very prone to gastrointestinal disturbances, flatulence, and watery stools.

Sensitive digestion can be treated by carefully picking out ingredients in our dog’s product. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint which kind of meal is causing the problems.

Many dogs can have a reaction to foods that contain soy and corn. In these cases make sure to switch to a grain-free diet. Artificial flavors and artificial colors can trigger digestive system issues in your pet. Some dogs may have food intolerance to some protein from meat, eggs, and dairy.

Best dog food for a Bulldog suffering from gastrointestinal issues needs to contain hydrolyzed proteins from listed natural meat sources, balanced fibers that reduce digestive upsets, and probiotic addition to promote good bacteria growth.

Eye Issues in a Bulldog

There are certain eye conditions that can develop in any Bulldog breed such as cherry Eyes (prolapse of the third eyelid gland), Brachycephalic ocular disease, and dry eye. We need to set up a daily cleansing routine off our Bulldog’s eyes to make sure to preserve their vision. Any discharge should be reported to your veterinarian.

The addition of vitamins such as A, C, E, selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids in our pet’s food can help prevent and treat certain eye conditions.

Hypothyroidism in Bulldog

Many dog breeds are highly susceptible to this endocrine disorder. One of them is an English bulldog. The thyroid gland is responsible for maintaining our body’s metabolism. Once this gland slows down, weight gain is inevitable Besides taking medications, diet change is essential when controlling this often lifelong issue.

A diet that contains optimal nutrients levels from salmon or other fish sources is the best dog food for English Bulldog suffering from Hypothyroidism. These fish formulas also provide a source of fatty acids, essential for nice fur.

Bulldogs and Skin Problems

Does your pet suffer from red irritated or infected skin flaps around the nose and eyes? Have you ever had to take your pup to the vet to be treated for eczema or acne?

If you answered yes, unfortunately, you aren’t alone.

Our Brhaicephalic companions, especially English bulldogs, are prone to many skin issues and diseases. They are also prone to allergies and food sensitivities.

Causes for these conditions are numerous. Food brands that contain low-quality food sources could cause itchiness in English Bulldogs. Environmental allergens such as mold can also trigger allergic dermatitis. Symptoms include itchy skin, dandruff, excessive shedding, and frequent ear infections.

Some of the most important skin conditions in Bulldogs include:

• Canine atopic dermatitis is the most frequently diagnosed skin issue in bulldogs. It causes progressive itchiness, dried-out skin, and rash.
• Pyoderma is a bacterial infection of your pet’s skin( Staphylococcus and Streptococcus spp). It can occur as a primary disease or secondary, following allergic dermatitis. The infection can affect the surface of the skin or deeper layers.
• Hot spots, or are acute circular allergic reactions to different skin irritants.
• Acne can develop because of the dirty pores of our
• Interdigital cysts are also common in bulldogs. Cysts can develop between our Bulldogs’ toes. They are big lumps that need to be cleaned regularly.

If you think your dog suffers from food allergies, the right food is very important in healing the skin and preventing future issues. Look for foods free from corn, wheat.

Many dogs are also sensitive to other grains, so picking a grain-free food might be helpful. If your dog is allergic to proteins like chicken or beef, look for a limited ingredient diet with more exotic proteins.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Best Dog Food for English Bulldogs?

After reviewing dozens of quality dog foods we have named Crave’s Grain Free Adult Dog Food as the best dog food for bulldogs. This recipe comes in multiple flavors to keep your bully happy and interested while all formulas provide an impressive 34% protein.

Crave’s quality ingredients and low price are another reason we love this food. And with no grains and added healthy fats for skin and coat health, we know your bulldog will love it too.

If your bulldog needs a lower calorie food or one with more benefits for allergy-prone dogs, our list contains great options for those as well.