Top 9 Best Dog Foods for Maltipoo – Advice from a Vet

Are you searching for the best food for your Maltipoo? While there are many brands of food on the market, it could take you hours of research to find the perfect dog foods for your Maltipoo. We have already done the research, and this article contains the top 10 brands of dog food that you should consider for your Maltipoo. We have broken the foods down into the different life stages or problems that you may be having with your Maltipoo.

What is a Maltipoo?

A Maltipoo is a toy or miniature poodle that is crossed with Maltese. Maltipoos are considered hypoallergenic and shed very rarely or not at all. Dogs pass allergens to people in the dander that is on their hair or their saliva. Having a Maltipoo that rarely sheds will decrease their allergens. This makes this a great breed for people who have pet allergies.

Maltipoos can be very energetic and will need daily exercise. They also are content curled up on the couch sleeping. They will need frequent brushing and baths to help keep them clean. Maltipoos are very smart and easy to train. This makes them a great breed for your family.

What Ingredients Should I Look for in My Maltipoo Food?

The ingredients that are in the dog food that your Maltipoo is eating is essential. These ingredients can impact the health of your dog. They can make them better, and they can also make them worse.

These are some of the ingredients that are very beneficial to Maltipoos, no matter your dog’s age:

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-up” color=”#008000″ text_color=”#008000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Protein[/su_icon]

This is one essential ingredient that you need for your Maltipoo. Some of the best sources of proteins that you could feed your Maltipoo include lamb, chicken, fish, beef, and turkey. The muscles of animals contain the best proteins. It is best to feed a protein source that is unprocessed as many of the processing methods can destroy the proteins.

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-up” color=”#008000″ text_color=”#008000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Carbohydrates[/su_icon]

All dogs need carbohydrates. These are some of the most important ingredients in your Maltipoos diet. When it comes to your Maltipoo, you must be careful because there are several different types of carbohydrates. Some Maltipoos stomachs have a hard time processing some of the common carbs, such as soy and corn. The problem is that many of the cheaper dog foods contain these ingredients. You should look for food with easier to digest carbs, such as brown rice and sweet potato for your Maltipoo.

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-up” color=”#008000″ text_color=”#008000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Fats[/su_icon]

Every Maltipoo needs to eat some good fats because they can help your dog keep a nice, shiny, and healthy coat. Fish oils are one of the best ingredients for a healthy coat.

Ingredients to Avoid Feeding your Maltipoo

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-down” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Artificial Ingredients[/su_icon]

This includes flavoring, chemical preservatives, and colorings. These often cause many allergy-related problems. Eating these can cause:

• Skin problems such as dry, itchy or irritated skin,
• Poor hair coat such as brittle, dry or poor textured coat or hair growth issues,
• Nose discoloration,
• Digestive problems such as general upset stomach which can lead to decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, or abnormal stools

There are even links between these preservatives and dyes and major health concerns, including neurological issues, organ damage, and even cancer.

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-down” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Fillers[/su_icon]

Many of the common brands have these adding in their foods. Fillers are a very cheap ingredient used to bulk up the food. They contain very little to no nutrients. When your dog eats these ingredients, they feel temporarily full. Some of the top fillers seen in dog foods are corn, hulls, husks, seeds, and pulp.

[su_icon icon=”icon: thumbs-o-down” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Meat by-products[/su_icon]

By-product refers to a part of an animal that is deemed unfit for human consumption. This means that there will be beaks, brains, lungs, spleens, claws, toes, intestines, and undeveloped eggs. Anything that cannot be used for human food is then ground up and used food animal food and called by-products

Top Best Dog Foods for Maltipoo (Puppy, Adult, Senior)

1. Nutro Wholesome Essential Puppy Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Whole Brown Rice, Whole Grain Oatmeal

Type: No Corn, No Wheat, No soy Non-GMO puppy food

Calories: 387 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis:  Fat 16%, Protein 29%, Fiber 3%

Nutro Wholesome Essentials Small Breed Puppy Food is great to start your young Maltipoo off on the right track. This brand of food has real farm-raised chicken and whole-grain carbohydrates. The sweet potatoes found in this food are highly digestible, helping those Maltipoo puppies with a sensitive stomach. You will also be happy to know that this food contains minerals to ensure your Maltipoo puppy is absorbing the nutrients in this diet.

2. Royal Canin Small Puppy Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat, Wheat Gluten, Corn Gluten Meal

Type: Puppy Food

Calories: 354kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 29%, Fat, 18%, Fiber: 3.3%

Royal Canin Small Puppy Food is great for Maltipoos with very small mouths. This brand of food uses real whole food that is great for your Maltipoo. Maltipoo puppies have lots of energy and need food to fuel their activity level. This diet is great for active fast-growing Maltipoo Puppies.

3. Solid Gold Holistic Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Bison, Ocean Fish Meal, Peas, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat

Type: No Corn No Wheat No Soy

Calories: 420kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 28%, Fat: 18%, Fiber: 4%

Solid Gold Small and Toy Dog Food. This is a great choice for your Maltipoo. This food is all-natural, gluten-free, and grain-free. This diet is great for small dogs in every stage of life.

This diet contains real Bison. It is mixed with Barley and brown rice for a great balance of protein, carbs, and additional vitamins. It also has egg protein that is packed with the needed amino acids. Solid Gold contains superfoods that are best for optimal nutrition.

Every cup of this dog food has 28% protein, 18% fat, and 4% fiber. This is highly digestible and healthy enough to support the needs of your little pooch. This heart-shaped kibble is the smallest one on the market. This makes sure it is easy to bite and chew even for the smallest Maltipoos.

This dog food is also free of any fillers and artificial preservatives that may upset your Maltipoos tummy. Even finicky Maltipoos love Solid Gold kibble.

4. Royal Canin Adult Maltese Diet Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Brewers rice, corn, chicken by-product meal, chicken fat, wheat gluten

Type: Adult Food

Calories: 317kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 22%, Fats 16%, Fiber 3.3%

Royal Canin makes dog food that is developed specifically for Maltese. Since a Maltipoo is ½ Maltese, this would be a great adult food to feed your dog. They also make a poodle only diet that would also be great to feed your Maltipoo Royal Canin has been around for years making wonderful diets for all dogs. 

5. Orijen Senior High Protein Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients:      Deboned chicken, deboned turkey, Atlantic flounder, cage-free eggs, whole Atlantic mackerel

Type: High Protein, Grain-Free

Calories: 414 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 38% Fat 15% Fiber 8%

Orijen Senior dog food has a variety of whole animal ingredients, including chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs. This diet does not contain any grain. Orijen dog food is made in the USA. This food is a great choice for your older Maltipoo.

6. Purina Pro Plan Weight Control High Protein Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Chicken, rice flour, whole grain corn, corn germ meal, poultry by-product meal 

Type: Weight loss

Calories: 334 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 26% Fat 8% Fiber: 12%

Some Maltipoos love to eat and will gain weight. If your Maltipoo is overweight, you can try to decrease the amount of food that you are feeding them just a little or feed them a weight loss diet. These foods are usually higher in fiber and lower in fat than normal. 

7. Miracle Vet High-Calorie Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat, Rice Flour Egg Products, White Fish Meal, Dried Beet Pulp

Type: High Calorie

Calories: 600 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 31% Fat 25% Fiber: 4%

Some dogs need a diet to help them gain weight. They may have just had major surgery and lost a little weight, or you may have gotten a Maltipoo from a rescue, and they need to gain weight. Miracle Vet High-Calorie Dog Food is best for Maltipoos, who need to gain weight. This food is highly packed with calories.

8. Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Stomach Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Chicken, Brewers Rice, Chicken Meal, Yellow Peas, Cracked Pearled Barley

Type: Sensitive Skin, Sensitive Stomach

Calories:  392 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 21% Fat 12% Fiber: 4%

Many Maltipoos suffer from sensitive skin or a sensitive stomach. Hills makes a diet that helps with both. This food is designed for small and toy breed dogs. It also contains real chicken as the first ingredient. It is packed with antioxidants and formulated to help support a healthy digestive system while promoting healthy skin in your Maltipoo.

9. FirstMate Small Bites Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

First 5 Ingredients: Potato, Lamb Meal, Tomato Pomace, Chicken Fat, Potassium Chloride

Type: Grain Free Limited Ingredient

Calories: 505 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 24% Fat 12% Fiber: 7.5%

Most Maltipoos who have a food allergy are allergic to beef or chicken. First Mate Small Bites is made with lamb as the main ingredient. This food also only has a few ingredients which help for dogs who have food allergies. When picking a diet for your Maltipoo with food allergies, you will want to look for a diet that has very few ingredients. This diet does just that, and you should consider when looking for a diet for your Maltipoo with food allergies.

Dry or Wet Dog Food for Maltipoo?

When you look at dog food, you will notice that there are two main types of dog food available – dry and wet dog food. If you are wondering which of them is better for your Maltipoo, dry food is the better option. This has to do with the fact that Maltipoos can have dental problems if they only eat wet food.

Dry food is very crunchy and can help clean tartar and plaque off your dog’s teeth. So, when you choose dry food for your Maltipoo, also make sure that the food you choose the one that comes in a smaller kibble. Maltipoos have very tiny mouths and may have trouble eating larger kibble. This does not mean that your Maltipoo can never eat any wet food, just make sure you give it as a treat or mix it with a little bit of dry food.

How Many Calories or Meals a Maltipoo Needs a day?

Maltipoos are like all other dogs and need food that is packed full of vitamins and minerals. They need nutrients that are made of completely natural ingredients and that do not contain any animal by-products. There are some important considerations that ought to be made before choosing the best food for your Maltipoo.

Like most of us know, a Maltipoo is small breed dogs, which basically means that they also have a very small mouth. This is important when picking out a kibble size. Make sure you choose kibble that is small. If you give your Maltipoo kibble that is too big, they may not be able to chew it properly or to even chew it at all and could choke trying to swallow a large piece of kibble.

The age of your Maltipoo dog will also affect the amount of food that your dog eats. This also affects how often your Maltipoo needs to eat, as well. Just because Maltipoo are toy breeds, they can still eat too much food at one time. Therefore, you cannot just feed them once a day. Your Maltipoo should be fed at least 2 or 3 times a day. Multiple feedings help keep them from getting an upset stomach and keeps their blood sugar levels normal.

The exact amount of food you need to give to your Maltipoo, as well as the number of times you need to feed them, mostly depends on the age of your dog. These are suggested feeding schedules:

4 weeks to 3 Months

When your Maltipoo is very young, you need to make sure that they always have food available. This can help prevent hypoglycemia and can help your Maltipoo eat any time they feel the need to.

3 Months – 1 Year

After about 3 months, you need to start introducing your Maltipoo to a feeding schedule. This means that you should not leave food down for your Maltipoo at all times because that will make the potty training very difficult. When your Maltipoo eats on a schedule, you are going to have an easier time training them. During this stage, your Maltipoo should get 3 to 4 meals a day. Remember that you should not feed your Maltipoo 2 hours before they go to sleep.

1 Year and Up

Once your Maltipoo turns 1 year, they can be considered an adult dog. You can slowly transition your Maltipoo to adult food and adjust their feeding schedule to 2 meals a day. Breakfast should be a little larger than dinner to help with the need to potty during the night.

When trying to figure out how much to feed your Maltipoo you can follow either of these recommendations to make sure that you are feeding your Maltipoo the correct amount.

Following the Bag Feeding Recommendations

Many people will follow the feeding recommendations that are on the bag when feeding a commercial kibble to their Maltipoo. Take this amount and split it into a few feedings. Sometimes this is too much food, and your Maltipoo may get overweight.

Feeding based on needed Calories

Some people would rather feed their Maltipoo based on the number of calories that they need a day. The calories your Maltipoo needs to eat throughout the day depends on their age and their activity level. If your Maltipoo is younger, the number of calories is higher, because these dogs are much more active. This is the recommended daily calories for a Maltipoo:

• 200 calories for small breed puppies
• 150 calories for small breed adults
• 120 calories for small breed senior dogs

Feeding based on calories will help your Maltipoo stay fit and trim.

What Other Foods I Should Avoid Feeding My Maltipoo

You should always keep one fact in mind; your Maltipoo is a dog and not a person. If you are feeding them like a human, it could be dangerous. Too many people foods that are a normal or routine diet of humans can be fatal for your Maltipoo. You should always keep your Maltipoo away from people’s foods.

Foods that can really harm the health of your Maltipoo even if given in small quantities are:

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Chocolate[/su_icon]

Chocolate contains a chemical known as theobromine. This can be deadly for dogs if consumed in a large amount. With Maltipoos being very small, they only need a very small amount before they start showing signs of toxicity.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Grapes and Raises[/su_icon]

It is best to keep your Maltipoo away from grapes and raisins. They can cause instant kidney failures in some dogs.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Xylitol[/su_icon]

An artificial sweetener known as xylitol is commonly found in sugar-free gums and candies. If eaten, it can decrease the blood sugar levels in your Maltipoo. It is best to keep your Maltipoo away from all sugar-free candies and gums.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Cat food[/su_icon]

You must never feed your Maltipoo any cat food as they are high in fats, proteins, and sugars.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Nuts[/su_icon]

Nuts contain a high amount of phosphorus and should not be giving to your Maltipoo.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Salts[/su_icon]

You should not feed your dog food with a lot of salt. This can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. It is important that you keep the salt levels in your Maltipoos diet as minimum as possible.

[su_icon icon=”icon: remove” color=”#ff0000″ text_color=”#ff0000″ size=”28″ target=”self”]Bread dough[/su_icon]

A bread dough that contains yeast should never be given to the Maltipoos as it can cause alcohol poisoning in your dog.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know what to look for in food for your Maltipoo, you can find the perfect food for them. Remember that they need smaller kibbles for their small size. When looking for food, consider one of these brands of food. Feeding these brands will help ensure that your Maltipoo lives a long and happy life.