10 Best Dog Foods for Golden Retrievers With Allergies in 2024 – Reviews and Top Picks  

Dealing with dog food allergies can be frustrating. The last thing you want to do is jump from food to food to find something that your dog can eat, but you also don’t want your dog to feel unhappy.

It’s also a fine line trying to find the right dog food for your dog without blowing through your entire budget, which is why we wanted to highlight 10 of the best dog foods for Golden Retrievers for allergies here.

There are thorough reviews for each one to walk you through everything that you need to know, as well as a comprehensive buyer’s guide that will answer any questions that you might have.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 10 Best Dog Food for Golden Retrievers With Allergies

1. Ollie Fresh Dog Food Subscription Service (Lamb Recipe) — Best Overall

If you’re looking for the highest-quality food for your Golden Retriever that’s sure to get their allergies under control, it’s hard to top Ollie’s fresh lamb recipe. With a novel protein like lamb, it’s unlikely that your pup will have any issues, especially when it’s paired with butternut squash, kale, and cranberries like in this recipe.

Even better, Ollie pre-portions all the meals for you, so you know that your dog is getting exactly what they need. It considers all your dog’s information when building the meal plan, and it’s perfect for all life stages.

You’ll be feeding your dog fresh ingredients that they’ll love, and it’ll help with their allergies. So, while it might be more expensive than traditional kibble, it’s easily the best overall dog food for Golden Retrievers with allergies.

• Read more: Ollie Fresh Dog Food Review: Pros, Cons & Verdict

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2. Diamond Naturals Beef Meal & Rice Dog Food- Budget Buy

If you’re on a tight budget, Diamond Naturals Beef Meal & Rice recipe is what you need to get your Golden Retriever’s allergies under control.

It’s affordably priced, and by swapping out chicken for beef, it will help clear up many dogs’ allergy problems. It’s a nutritionally complete formula made right here in the U.S.A.

There are no artificial colors or flavorings, giving your dog the proper nutrition without any fillers. It’s not an allergy-specific formula, though, and contains meal products to help boost the protein content.

Still, you could do far worse at this price point, and it’s why it’s the best dog food for Golden Retrievers with allergies for the money.

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3. JustFoodForDogs Venison & Squash

JustFoodForDogs is a fresh food option for dogs. With its venison protein choice, it’s an excellent choice for Golden Retrievers with food allergies to common proteins.

JustFoodForDogs only uses the highest quality ingredients in all its recipes, and this is a formula that’s great for all life stages and has a litany of health benefits.

However, it’s expensive, and you’ll need to figure out exactly how much you need to feed your dog.

Still, there’s no denying that JustFoodForDogs is a great option for your Golden Retriever, and it should do wonders for any food allergies that they’re experiencing.

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4. Purina Pro Plan Development Sensitive Skin & Stomach

Puppies have unique dietary requirements, so we recommend getting dog food that specifically recognizes that fact. That’s exactly what you get with the Purina Pro Plan Development Sensitive Skin & Stomach recipe.

The brand recognizes the unique factors that go into a puppy’s development and it addresses that in its formulas, but it also created a recipe that helps puppies with sensitive skin and stomachs.

This formula is specific for large breed dogs like Golden Retrievers, so you know that it’s exactly what your dog needs. There are multiple size options available, and if your puppy does well on this food, you can graduate them to the adult version.

This recipe does contain meal products, which aren’t ideal, but these increase the overall protein content without involving more sources of protein that your dog might have an allergic reaction to.

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5. Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach

If you’re trying to find the perfect food for your Golden Retriever with food allergies, why not go with a choice that a vet recommends? This one is also budget friendly, which is a real win-win. The food is specifically for dogs with sensitive skin and stomachs and uses salmon as the protein source.

There are multiple sizes available, so you can try it out before you purchase it in bulk. This Purina Pro Plan recipe uses meal products to boost the protein content, but that means there are fewer protein sources, which can help out with allergies.

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6. Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Stomach & Skin Dog Food

This Hill’s Science Diet recipe is specifically for dogs with sensitive skin and stomachs, which is a common reaction to food allergies. While it uses chicken as the primary protein source, not every dog has an allergy to chicken.

This recipe is specifically for helping out digestion and includes probiotic fibers for added health benefits. There are multiple size options available, so you can try it out before purchasing a larger bag, but there’s no denying that it’s expensive.

Still, it’s a popular choice for a reason, and it might be just what your dog needs.

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7. Blue Buffalo Basics Skin & Stomach Care

Blue Buffalo is one of the biggest names in the pet food industry, and its Blue Basics Skin & Stomach Care recipe is one of the best choices if your Golden Retriever has food allergies.

It uses salmon as the primary protein source, which is an excellent choice for most dogs with food allergies. It’s also a single-protein recipe, which is a huge perk if your dog has other food sensitivities.

However, to get the protein content to the level that your dog needs without driving the price through the roof, Blue Buffalo uses salmon meal.

The other issue with this recipe is that it’s expensive, especially when you consider that the largest size bag is only 24 pounds. Still, if your dog has a sensitive stomach and food allergies, this might be the recipe that they need to get it all under control.

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8. Taste of the Wild Ancient Stream Smoke

This Taste of the Wild food is not specifically for dogs with food allergies, but when you look at the ingredient list, it should be just fine.

It’s a fish-centric protein formula, making it an excellent choice for dogs with food allergies. Taste of the Wild also only uses high-quality ingredients, and this is an affordable option.

However, it has a much higher protein content than any of the other dry dog foods on this list. So, if your Golden Retriever isn’t extremely active, it’s too much protein.

That said, if you have an active Golden Retriever with food allergies and don’t want to spend an excessive amount of money to feed them, Taste of the Wild is an outstanding choice.

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9. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Salmon & Sweet Potato

Grain-free diets aren’t always ideal because unless your dog has a food allergy to grains, most vets agree that the inclusion of grains is a beneficial part of your dog’s diet, and for most dogs, the food allergy comes from the protein source, not the grain. Still, if your dog does have a grain allergy, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Salmon & Sweet Potato dog food is an outstanding choice.

With fish products making up the protein, your dog shouldn’t cause problems, and the limited-ingredient formula reduces the chances of it being a food that your Golden Retriever is allergic to. There are multiple size options for you to try out, but the largest size does top out at just 24 pounds.

Also, when you compare the size of the bag to the cost, there’s no doubt that it’s one of the more expensive kibble options on this list.

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10. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Lamb & Brown Rice

Blue Buffalo recipe makes many different recipes that you can try if your dog is suffering from food allergies. While this one isn’t an allergy-specific formula, with a novel protein like lamb, it might be just what you need to get your dog’s allergies in check. It’s also quite affordable.

That’s especially true when you consider the size options that this dog food comes in, with an option to go all the way up to a 34-pound bag. Blue Buffalo only uses high-quality ingredients in the recipe, but it’s not a single-protein formula.

Still, when you look at the fact that this food uses lamb and fish meal, there’s a good chance that your Golden Retriever won’t have any problems, even if they do suffer from food allergies and sensitivities.

Buyer’s Guide: Buying the Best Dog Food for Golden Retrievers With Allergies

Now that you know more about the best foods out there for your dog with allergies, you likely have a few questions. How do you know what’s causing those allergies in the first place, what should you look for in a dog food, and how do you switch them to their new food once you get it?

We answer these questions and more for you here.

What Causes Most Dog Food Allergies?

While some dog food companies try to push that grains, corn, or other dog food ingredients are responsible for most dog food allergies, that’s simply not the case.

In fact, most dog food allergies come from proteins. The most common causes of dog food allergies and sensitivities are dairy, beef, chicken, eggs, soy, or gluten.

But keep in mind that while these are the most common allergies, they’re not the only ones that your dog might have. If you’re trying to figure it out on your own, those are the ingredients you should strive to avoid, but we recommend reaching out to your dog’s vet first.

How Do You Find the Source of Your Dog’s Allergies?

The last thing that you want to do is jump from food to food without having any idea of what’s causing your dog’s allergic reaction. The best way to determine exactly what foods your dog is allergic to is to take them to a vet.

The vet can run an allergy panel for them and let you know all the foods that your dog reacts to. Once you have this list, you can look at the different dog food options out there and pick a recipe that doesn’t have any of the foods that they can’t eat.

What Are Other Things to Look For in Dog Food?

When you’re looking at the ingredient label on dog food, it can be a little confusing. The first thing that you want to look at is the protein content. For dry kibble, you want a protein content between 20% and 25% for most dogs, and for fresh or wet foods, the number should be a little lower. For fresh foods, you ideally want a protein content between 8% and 15%.

Next, take a look at the top few ingredients on the list and see if they include any byproducts. None of the recipes on this list do, and that’s why they’re among the best of the best.

Finally, while many companies like to push that their products don’t include grains or corn, the truth is that these ingredients are perfectly fine for dogs when processed properly.

How Do You Switch Your Dog’s Food?

You can expect some sort of reaction if you suddenly switch your dog’s food all at once. That’s why we recommend slowly transitioning your dog to their new food by first mixing the old and new foods and then weaning them off the old food.

Of course, if your dog had a bad allergic reaction to the old food, you might need to immediately replace it. If that’s the case, give your dog a couple of days to adjust to the new food before concluding that they’re still having problems.

Conclusion

If you still can’t figure out what dog food is right for your Golden Retriever after reading through these reviews and buyer’s guide, why not pick from our favorites? There’s an option here to help every dog:

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