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Under normal circumstances, picking out dog food for your Rottweiler should be a pretty simple task. You just look for the food that offers the best nutrition in the price range you’re willing to spend.
Things get a bit more complicated when your Rottie has a sensitive stomach though. Suddenly, your choices become much more limited and there’s no telling what foods might set your dog’s stomach off!
For Rotties troubled by a sensitive stomach, there are still plenty of options available, you just have to know what to look for.
Don’t worry, I’ve already done the hard work comparing a variety of dog foods to determine which ones are best for Rottweilers with digestion issues and sensitive stomachs.
If you’re not interested in any more information and you just want to see the best foods for these unfortunate Rotties, you can check out the list below.
- Best Overall: Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Sensitive Skin & Stomach with Probiotics
- Best on a Budget: Purina ONE SmartBlend Natural Digestive Health Sensitive StomachÂ
- Best Limited Ingredients Recipe: Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet
- Best Prescription Formula: Hill’s Z/D Prescription Diet for Skin/Food SensitivitiesÂ
- Best High Fiber Blend: Hills’ Science Diet Adult Large Breed Specialty Dry Dog Food
While choosing the right dog food for your Rottweiler will make all the difference, it’s also beneficial to understand what you’re specifically looking for in dog food to feed a Rottie with a sensitive stomach.
In the next section, we’re going to explore that topic thoroughly before we start discussing the best foods for these dogs at length.
Let’s get into it!
What Are Good Foods for a Rottweiler with a Sensitive Stomach?
Knowing what foods to offer your Rottie is half the battle. Just doing that will help substantially with your pup’s stomach problems.
But what happens if you suddenly have to change foods again for some reason? Perhaps that recipe gets discontinued or that entire brand goes out of business.
Certainly, you could come back and find an updated list full of current top choices for Rotties with sensitive stomachs, though a better option might be to learn how to differentiate the foods that are most appropriate for your pooch.
To that end, we’re going to take a look at what makes any given dog food formula a good choice for a Rottweiler with stomach problems.
When your Rottie suffers from a sensitive stomach, you have three primary dog food choices to compare. We’ll delve deeper into each below.
Limited Ingredient Blends
If your Rottie has a sensitive stomach and tends to have problems with most dog foods, then there’s some ingredient or ingredients that are causing said issues.
Obviously, the best way to prevent reactions to those ingredients is to remove them from the diet altogether.
That’s much easier said than done though.
Just determining the specific ingredients causing your dog’s reactions can prove to be a very difficult and time-consuming process.
It’s much simpler to feed your Rottie a diet with very few ingredients than it is to weed through the plethora of ingredients included in most commercial dog food blends and attempt to determine which ones are the cause of your Rottie’s gastrointestinal troubles.
Today, limited ingredient diets are becoming more and more popular. Because of this, you can get commercially produced limited ingredient recipes for your dog.
Blends such as these make it much easier to eliminate food sensitivity issues from your Rottie’s diet. With so few ingredients, the chances of your Rottweiler having a reaction are drastically reduced.
If your Rottie still happens to have a problem with a limited ingredient blend, then you have fewer ingredients to rule out when determining which ingredient was the cause.
Formulas for Sensitive Stomachs
A limited ingredient blend is one way to go, but dog food manufacturers also realize the need for foods that won’t affect dogs with a sensitive stomach.
To fill that need, food sensitivities blends were created. These are dog foods that are meant specifically for dogs with food sensitivities, food allergies, and sensitive stomachs.
Sometimes these blends are referred to as sensitive stomach blends, and they’ll often be intended for dogs with skin problems as well since allergies and food sensitivities can often reveal themselves as skin issues as well.
Unlike limited ingredient recipes, food sensitivity blends will usually still have quite a few ingredients listed. However, these ingredients are specifically chosen for their reduced impact on the gastrointestinal system.
Even so, every food sensitivity blend won’t work equally well for each dog. Some dogs will do well with particular blends and not others because of certain ingredients that might be included in either blend.
Prescription GI Blend
Prescription blends require veterinarian authorization to order, but they represent the top-tier in dog food for sensitive stomachs.
Of course, this means that your vet will need to see your Rottie and rule out the most common food issues and determine that a prescription GI blend is the best route to take.
In that case, you’re rather limited in options, though a few brands do produce prescription dog foods like Hill’s Prescription and Royal Canin.
Unfortunately, because these foods are so specialized and require a prescription, they’re also very expensive. Expect to pay far more for a prescription GI blend than for other solutions to the sensitive stomach problem.
Still, for Rotties with extreme stomach issues, a prescription blend is sometimes the best or only answer.
What to Look for in Food for a Rottweiler with a Sensitive Stomach
For Rottweilers with a sensitive stomach, the three blends we just discussed represent the best food choices.
But even knowing this, you’ll still have to decide between different options of the same type.
For example, you might decide that a food sensitivity blend is the right cure for your Rottie’s sensitive stomach, but many brands produce recipes for dogs with sensitive stomachs and you’ll still have to pick between them.
So, the question arises: how do you compare these blends and determine which ones are the best choices for your Rottweiler?
While there are endless ways you could compare dog food recipes, comparing them in the following categories will help you efficiently choose between foods and ensure that your choice meets all of your Rottie’s needs.
Food Sensitivity Ingredients
Every Rottie’s sensitivities will be different, and your pooch’s sensitivity could be linked to practically any food ingredient.
But if we’re going to play the probabilities, there are just a handful of ingredients that are the most likely culprits.
A large majority of reactions to food in dogs are caused by just a few ingredients. Avoiding recipes that use these ingredients is one way you can attempt to prevent your dog from having food sensitivity reactions.
Of course, removing all of these foods from your dog’s diet might be difficult, so you can try different dog foods out to test your Rottie and see which foods might be causing the problems.
For instance, many of the foods that most commonly cause reactions are proteins. Your dog needs a major source of protein in the diet, so you might have to try a few different ones until you find a protein that doesn’t have a negative effect on your Rottie’s digestive system.
You could start by just offering your Rottweiler foods without chicken, but if chicken isn’t the cause of their reactions, then doing so won’t put an end to the issue.
The foods that most commonly cause reactions in dogs are:
- Chicken
- Beef
- Pork
- Rabbit
- Fish
- Lamb
- Soy
- Egg
- Wheat
- Dairy
Fiber
Most people know that they need fiber in their diets, but you might not realize that fiber is an essential part of your Rottweiler’s diet as well.
Many gastrointestinal issues that are often associated with food sensitivities can be caused by consuming too little fiber.
Constipation and diarrhea, both common symptoms of food sensitivities, can also happen when your Rottweiler doesn’t get enough fiber in their diet.
Fiber aids in digestion, so if your dog is having digestion issues, it makes sense to ensure that they’re getting adequate amounts of fiber.
Furthermore, fiber can help reduce the possibility of obesity since it helps your dog to feel full for longer, preventing overeating. This is especially important for Rottweilers who are susceptible to becoming overweight. Of course, if managing weight is your chief concern for your Rottie then you may want to look at foods specifically designed to help control weight.
It’s recommended that healthy adult dogs consume food that contains roughly 2%-4% fiber.
But if your dog is having GI problems while consuming the recommended amount of fiber, you might consider switching to a high fiber blend that has 4%-10% fiber instead.
Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotics and prebiotics can be added to dog food blends to aid with digestibility.
You’ll often find these included in recipes that are crafted for sensitive stomachs as both probiotics and prebiotics can help to make the digestive process easier for your Rottweiler and improve overall digestive health.
So, what are probiotics and prebiotics?
Probiotics are healthy gut microbes, otherwise known as bacteria and yeasts. These microbes help to break down food, utilize nutrients, and keep the immune system strong. When they’re destroyed or damaged, your dog’s overall health will decline, starting with reduced digestive ability.
Prebiotics are specific nutrients that aid the good bacteria in the gut, ensuring that there are plenty of good bacteria and they’re all in good health.
If your Rottweiler’s food doesn’t contain probiotics and prebiotics you can always add them in supplementally. Either way, they could definitely prove beneficial for a Rottweiler suffering from a sensitive stomach.
Joint Health Supplements
Joint health supplements won’t directly impact your Rottweiler’s digestive system, but they do play an important role in your Rottie’s overall health.
Everyone knows that Rottweilers are big dogs. One of the downfalls of large breeds, including Rottweilers, is that they’re highly susceptible to joint and bone problems.
Some of the most common joint and bone problems that Rotties are vulnerable to include arthritis, hip dysplasia, and elbow dysplasia.
While there’s no way you can truly prevent these conditions from occurring since dogs are genetically predisposed to them, you can still reduce the chances of them occurring and slow down their progression if they do.
Joint health supplements are the way to do this.
There are quite a few supplements on the market that can aid in your Rottie’s joint health, and dog food manufacturers often include them in their recipes.
However, not every dog food blend contains these helpful additives. You’ll most commonly find them in blends that are made specifically for large breeds since they’re the most susceptible to joint and bone diseases in the first place.
Some of the most beneficial joint health supplements to look for include glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, and omega fatty acids.
You’re unlikely to find many foods containing all of these supplements, but many blends contain at least a few of them.
5 Best Foods for a Rottweiler with a Sensitive Stomach
At this point, we know exactly what types of dog food we’re looking for and we’ve even discussed how we can compare different blends in the same category.
Now, it’s time to start talking about specific dog foods that are the best choices for a Rottweiler with a sensitive stomach.
I’ve divided my top choices into categories to make it easier for you to decide which food is the right fit for your Rottie. Just determine which categories make the most sense for you and then compare my favorite food in those categories.
Best Overall: Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Sensitive Skin & Stomach with Probiotics
- Budget-friendly pricing
- Great combination of joint supplements and probiotics
- 4.5% fiber for ideal digestion
For most Rottweilers with a sensitive stomach, my number one pick is the Purina Pro Plan for large breeds. It’s got everything your Rottie needs to maintain peak health, without the ingredients that are most likely to cause a food sensitivity or allergy issue.
Since chicken, beef, and other common protein sources are the most likely culprits of food sensitivities, this blend focuses on salmon instead. Granted, your Rottie could still have a food sensitivity to fish, and this recipe does include beef fat as the 8th ingredient but there is no chicken present. You can see the entire list of ingredients on Purina’s website here.
The overall quality of this recipe is excellent, especially when you consider that it’s rather reasonably priced compared to the closest alternatives.
Let’s just take a look at the ingredients list to prove my point. The first five ingredients in order are salmon, barley, rice, oatmeal, and canola meal.
Four of those five ingredients are whole foods, showing that Purina didn’t skimp in the ingredient department. And of course, it’s always good to see a quality protein source listed as the main ingredient.
With 4.5% max crude fiber, this food contains the perfect amount for healthy digestion.
In addition, you’ll also find glucosamine and omega-3, which can both help to keep your Rottweiler’s joints healthy and prevent diseases common to the breed.
This is a sensitive skin and stomach blend, so it is intended for those dogs that are currently suffering from digestive issues. To that end, this recipe is fortified with live probiotics, which will aid your Rottie’s digestive system and should help to improve overall digestive health.
With a reasonable price tag and excellent nutritional value, this Purina blend is my top pick for Rotties with a sensitive stomach, and you can check out today’s price by clicking here.
What I love about it: Joint health supplements and probiotics in a blend for sensitive stomachs make it a perfect choice for any Rottie with digestive problems.
What I wish it had: I can’t think of many ways to improve this food, particularly at this price point.
Best on a Budget: Purina ONE SmartBlend Sensitive Stomach Dog Food
- Easy on the budget
- Supported by great reviews across the web
- Rottie-friendly supplements like glucosamine and omega fatty acids
My top pick overall is priced pretty reasonably for a specialized dog food blend, but the Purina ONE SmartBlend Natural Digestive Health blend for sensitive stomachs is truly affordable for just about any household, and it’s the best-priced digestive health blend that I’ve seen.
The one downside is that this blend utilizes chicken as the primary source of protein, which is one of the most common ingredients to cause food allergies in dogs. It’s ok though because they also offer a salmon blend as well that will take care of this issue.
To really understand any dog food, you have to take a look at the ingredients list. For this blend, the five main ingredients are chicken, rice flour, whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, and whole-grain wheat.
On one hand, these ingredients are primarily whole foods, which does bode well for the overall quality of this recipe. The flip side is that rice flour and corn gluten meal are certainly not my top picks for any dog food blend.
Still, the most important thing is that this food offers complete nutrition without negatively affecting your Rottie’s digestive system, which you can be fairly sure is the case since this particular recipe has more than 1,300 five-star reviews.
With 3% max crude fiber, this blend contains enough for a healthy Rottie without going overboard. To further aid in digestion, this mix is even enriched with probiotics that will help to keep your Rottie’s gut functioning at full force.
Glucosamine and omega fatty acids are also present, which will help to keep your Rottweiler’s joints in good shape as they age.
Users of this food seem extremely pleased with its benefits, as evidenced by the litany of raving five-star reviews. You can check those out along with today’s affordable price by clicking here.
What I love about it: The affordable price and inclusion of vital digestive aids like probiotics.
What I wish it had: I’d like to see more emphasis on quality, whole-food ingredients.
Best Limited Ingredients Blend: Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet
- Fewer ingredients fewer things for your Rottie's sensitive stomach to react to
- Great protein profile
- Premium dog food with premium pricing
For Rottweilers having issues with food sensitivities, removing as many non-essential ingredients from the diet as possible can go a long way towards eliminating reactions to food.
This blend from Natural Balance is made specifically for those dogs on a limited ingredient diet.
Unfortunately, the price reflects the special nature of this recipe, but the few ingredients used are all high quality and offer a complete nutritional profile, which can be difficult to achieve with a small list of ingredients.
The five primary ingredients in this blend are salmon, menhaden fish meal, sweet potatoes, cassava flour, and potatoes. With the exception of the cassava flour, these are all whole-food and high-quality ingredients of the sort I prefer to see in any dog food blend.
Past these main ingredients, most of what’s left on the ingredient list is supplemental, such as vitamins and minerals.
This blend contains ample protein at 24%, which is pretty evident from the first two ingredients. It’s always good to see high-quality protein sources listed first, especially when they’re less likely to cause a reaction than chicken!
Further down the guaranteed analysis chart, you’ll notice omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for your Rottie’s joints. However, there are no other joint health supplements, which is a bit disappointing. I guess it’s hard to add them in without increasing the length of the ingredients list!
You can read more reviews and see the latest price on Amazon by clicking here.
What I love about it: With fewer ingredients, there’s a lot less chance of your Rottie reacting to something contained in this blend.
What I wish it had: I’d like to see more emphasis put on joint health. A more affordable price tag wouldn’t hurt either!
Best Prescription Formula: Hill’s Z/D Prescription Diet for Skin/Food Sensitivities
- Scientifically formulated to manage allergies and sensitive stomachs
- Excellent fiber content
- Requires veterinarian approval and prescription
This recipe will require a prescription from your veterinarian but it may be worth exploring with your veterinarian if you’ve already tried other options.
Truthfully, this ingredient list looks nothing like other dog foods. Rather than your typical whole foods and animal-based protein sources, you’ll see lots of chlorides, carbonates, and broken-down ingredients.
To give you a good feel of what I’m talking about, here are the first five ingredients listed in order: corn starch, hydrolyzed chicken liver, powdered cellulose, soybean oil, and calcium carbonate.
While that could be off-putting for some folks, Hill’s can’t just call a diet therapeutic without some data to back it up. So the ingredients may be different than what you’re used to but there’s a lot of data supporting their combined effectiveness.
With 4.4% fiber, this blend falls right in the realm we’d expect, which bodes well for other sensitive stomach blends with similar amounts of fiber.
When it comes to joint health, this blend is lacking somewhat, but there are at least omega fatty acids to keep your Rottie’s joints lubricated. You can read more reviews and check today’s price on Amazon by clicking here.
What I love about it: This blend is scientifically formulated to manage tough food sensitivity problems.
What I wish it had: A more affordable price!
Best High Fiber Blend: Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Specialty Dry Dog Food
- Higher fiber content at 5% helps digestion and helps Rotties feel full
- More than 600 five-star reviews on Amazon!
We’ve already talked about how higher fiber content and help with digestion issues.
But higher fiber diets are also commonly used to help manage weight which is why many higher fiber recipes are often marketed as weight control diets.
That means this recipe can not only help dogs with digestion but also help dogs feel more full at mealtime with increased fiber.
This blend from Hill’s Science Diet offers excellent nutrition in a high-fiber blend that’s great for dogs who might need more fiber than the average pooch. To that end, you’ll find between 5% minimum and 13% maximum fiber in here, which should be great for any Rottie that needs a high-fiber diet.
Nearly 700 five-star reviews confirm that this recipe is a great choice for sensitive stomachs. Many users reported stools becoming firmer and bowel movements becoming more regular. And thankfully, this blend is far more affordable than the Hill’s Prescription blend!
To check out those reviews and see the current price this blend is going for, clicking here.
What I love about it: A high-fiber blend for those dogs that are experiencing digestive issues but might not have a food allergy.
What I wish it had: I’d like to see some added joint support!
FAQ
Let’s wrap things up with a few common questions about Rotties with sensitive stomachs!
Are Grain-Free Diets Best For Rottweilers With Sensitive Stomachs?
It’s often said that grain-free dog foods are much easier for dogs to digest. However, there’s not a whole lot of proof for those claims, and you’ll find sensitive stomach dog food blends on both sides of the aisle.
Furthermore, it’s frequently stated that many dogs are allergic to grains, but grains are actually not a common cause of food allergies in dogs. More dogs are allergic to the protein sources in their foods.
How Commons Are Food Allergies in Rottweilers?
Food sensitivities are pretty common in dogs. However, true food allergies are rather rare. Only 10% of all canine allergy cases can be attributed to food allergies. There’s nothing to suggest that Rotties are more sensitive so that 10% estimate is likely to apply to them as well.
What Are The Most Common Symptoms Of Allergies or Sensitivities?
There are a few common symptoms that can alert you to a food sensitivity or allergy that your dog could be suffering from. Most commonly, these are digestive upset or skin irritations.
You’ll often find that your dog starts to have itchy skin, which will then become red and flaky due to the itching. Also common are constipation and diarrhea, which can also be caused by insufficient fiber intake.
Final Thoughts
Even if your Rottie is having bad reactions to their food, it’s more likely a food sensitivity or lack of fiber than it is a true food allergy.
That’s good news because food sensitivities are much easier to deal with! By feeding your dog one of the blends I’ve suggested, you might already put a stop to your Rottie’s digestive issues.
But if your Rottweiler’s food sensitivity problems persist, you might consider contacting your vet and getting authorization for a prescription blend that’s intended to help the dogs suffering from the worst sensitivities and allergies.
