Which meat is best for dogs? Every type compared

Nami tolerates turkey brilliantly, and chicken most of the time. With beef, she once had soft stools – so she only gets it rarely. She loves lamb, but it's too fatty to have often.

There's no single best meat. Turkey and chicken are lean and usually well tolerated, beef is rich in nutrients, game or horse meat suit dogs with allergies, and fish provides omega-3 fatty acids. Pork and wild boar are only ever given thoroughly cooked.

Imagine you're standing at the butcher's and your dog is pulling on the lead because they've already smelt the counter. What do you buy? Beef, because it's supposedly the best? Chicken, because it's cheap? Or turkey, because your vet recommended it?

Honestly: there's no one perfect meat. But there are clear differences – and depending on what your dog tolerates and what your budget allows, it's worth taking a closer look.

In our community, turkey is almost always the meat we start with for dogs with a sensitive stomach. Why? It's lean (around 1–3% fat in the breast meat), extremely easy to digest and rarely triggers allergies. Breeds known for stomach issues in particular – French Bulldog, West Highland White Terrier, some German Shepherds – usually get on well with turkey.

By the way: turkey hearts and turkey gizzards are inexpensive alternatives. How much meat belongs in a home-cooked daily ration is shown in the beginner's guide to home cooking.

Chicken is what many owners reach for first. Understandably – it's cheap, available everywhere and dogs love it. Skinless chicken breast has about 1% fat; with the skin, that quickly rises to 10%.

The problem: chicken is one of the more common triggers of food allergies – in an analysis of published cases, it came third after beef and dairy products. If your dog has been eating chicken-based dry food for years and suddenly develops itching, paw chewing or ear infections, chicken is often the first suspect. That doesn't mean you have to cut it out. But if you want to rule out allergies, start with something else – how is explained in our guide to dogs with food allergies.

Beef has a reputation as the “standard meat” for dogs. It's often found in classic dry foods, and in raw feeding (BARF) anyway. Lean beef (e.g. rump cap or 5% fat beef mince) contains 5–10% fat. Fore rib or flank can go up to 20% – that's too much for most dogs, especially if they're overweight or have pancreas issues.

Beef is rich in nutrients and provides plenty of iron. But: it has now also become a common allergy trigger, because it's so widespread. If your dog reacts to beef, try switching to turkey or game.

Lamb is often sold as “hypoallergenic”. That's only partly true. It's genuinely less common in dog food and therefore less often a trigger of allergies – simply because many dogs have never eaten it. But as soon as lamb becomes the main food, an allergy to it can develop too.

Lamb is relatively high in fat (10–15%) and expensive – expect to pay €15–20 per kilo for good quality. For regular feeding, it's only worth it if your dog doesn't tolerate turkey and beef.

Roe deer, red deer or wild boar (cooked!) are low in fat, very rich in nutrients and not found in most dry foods. That makes them a good option for dogs with allergies. Most dogs love the taste – in our community, owners keep telling us that even fussy eaters suddenly eat properly when it's game.

The downside: the price. And: because of the Aujeszky virus, wild boar must never be fed raw, only thoroughly cooked. According to the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, feeding raw wild boar offal is one of the most common sources of infection for dogs.

Salmon, trout, herring or mackerel provide omega-3 fatty acids in amounts that no other meat can match. They're particularly interesting for skin or joint problems – more on this in fat in dog food. A portion of salmon once a week (about 100 g for a 15 kg dog) is often enough.

Important: raw freshwater fish can contain parasites – so either cook it briefly in a pan or freeze it beforehand. And: please no bones for small dogs.

Pork is cheap and rich in nutrients in itself. But: raw, it's a no-go. The Aujeszky virus (also known as pseudorabies) is always fatal in dogs, and there's neither a cure nor a vaccine. Domestic pigs in Germany have been considered free of it since 2003, but it still occurs in wild boar. Thoroughly cooked? Perfectly fine.

Liver, heart, kidney, tripe – offal is very rich in nutrients. Liver in particular provides huge amounts of vitamin A, B vitamins and iron. But that's exactly why: at most once a week, no more than 5–10% of the daily ration. Otherwise you risk a vitamin A overdose.

Heart is less critical and can go in more often. For many dogs, tripe is a highlight – it smells awful, but it stimulates digestion.

Chicken thighs from a discount supermarket: €5–7/kg. Beef mince: €8–12/kg. Turkey meat: €9–13/kg. Lamb: €15–20/kg. Salmon fillet: €20–25/kg. For a 25 kg dog on raw feeding (BARF), you can roughly reckon with €60–120 a month for the meat alone – depending on quality.

You don't have to change everything overnight. If your dog currently tolerates a food well, try small variations – one turkey meal a week, then some fish, then some game. Keep an eye on stools, coat and energy. That way you'll find out what really suits them.

Don't want to work out yourself what suits your dog? The DoggoMeal app suggests recipes based on weight, age and intolerances – and calculates the amounts for each type of meat automatically. Give it a try: Get the app.