What is the best dry dog food according to Cesar Millan?
Millan uses a simple-ingredient dry food made by a friend and fellow pioneer he's known for decades. He chose it after it helped one of his own dogs, Daddy, who had cancer.
At a glance
Length
14 min
Channel
Cesar Millan
Video from
Apr 2024
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Dog owners seeking practical, psychology-based feeding advice and treat strategies.
What this video answers
What is the best dry dog food according to Cesar Millan?
How should you prepare home-cooked dog meals?
What treats are best for training and mental stimulation?
How much of a treat should you give your dog at one time?
Why does Cesar emphasize the dog's mental state during feeding?
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Cesar Millan's Complete Dog Feeding Strategy
Cesar Millan shares his practical approach to feeding dogs at his Dog Psychology Center, breaking nutrition into two distinct categories: food for physical health and treats for mental stimulation. His core philosophy centers on the state of mind during feeding—he emphasizes that dogs should eat in a calm, surrendered state rather than an excited one. The video walks through his personal feeding routines, the specific foods he uses at the ranch, and why he chooses them based on both physical health outcomes and psychological benefits.
Millan's main staple is a combination of dry kibble paired with home-cooked rice and ground meat, which he prepares personally because the ritual and aroma create a deeper connection with his dogs. He also relies on a simple-ingredient dry food that has helped his dogs maintain good digestion, skin, and coat health over many years. Treats are handled separately from meals, with different goals: they should excite the mind and encourage engagement, unlike food which should calm it. The video demonstrates several treat options—liver, fish-based treats, marrow bones, and bully sticks—each chosen for their smell, nutritional value, or engagement duration.
Key Moments
Key Feeding Principles from Cesar's Ranch
Feed dogs in a calm, quiet mental state—avoid giving food to excited or agitated dogs, as this rewards the wrong behavior and emotional pattern.
Home-prepared food creates stronger bonds because dogs witness the preparation, smell the ingredients, and associate the meal with you personally, making it the highest-value reward.
Choose simple, natural ingredients over complex formulas; Millan believes effectiveness comes from quality and purity, not ingredient quantity.
Treats and food serve different purposes: food should promote calm surrender, while treats should create joy, excitement, and engagement for mental enrichment.
Always exercise and drain energy before offering treats or rich foods like bones; energy in should precede energy out through treats, or you intensify behavioral problems.
Establish feeding rituals with structure—make dogs wait in silence, make them earn anticipation, and teach them that food means patience and respect.
Why Mindful Feeding Matters for Your Dog's Behavior
The way you feed your dog shapes not just his digestion but his entire mental and emotional state. Millan's approach treats feeding as a training and bonding opportunity, not merely a nutritional transaction. By controlling the mental state during meals, you're reinforcing calm leadership, teaching patience, and building trust. This philosophy extends beyond the bowl: when you skip exercise and give high-value treats to an already-excited dog, you're literally rewarding and amplifying the energy you don't want. Conversely, home-cooked food prepared with intention creates a ritual that dogs recognize as an expression of your care, deepening the psychological connection. Understanding this distinction—and applying it consistently—can dramatically reduce food-guarding behavior, reduce jumping at mealtimes, and create more balanced, confident dogs overall.
Common Questions About Dog Nutrition and Treats
What is the best dry dog food according to Cesar Millan?
Millan uses a simple-ingredient dry food made by a friend and fellow pioneer he's known for decades. He chose it after it helped one of his own dogs, Daddy, who had cancer. He prioritizes natural, simple formulas over complex multi-ingredient brands because he believes effectiveness comes from quality rather than variety. He feeds this as the base, then adds home-cooked rice and ground meat as a supplement.
How should you prepare home-cooked dog meals?
Millan prepares rice and ground meat together, inspired by memories of watching his mother cook and prepare food with intention. He personally buys the ingredients, cooks the meal, and feeds it to his dogs so they witness and smell the entire process. This ritual—seeing, smelling, and waiting—makes the meal far more valuable to the dog than simply serving the same ingredients in a bowl. The key is involving yourself in the preparation; it's not just about the food itself.
What treats are best for training and mental stimulation?
Millan recommends treats that appeal strongly to the nose: liver pieces, fish-based treats, and bully sticks are his top choices. He uses only small amounts because the smell and anticipation matter more than quantity. He also gives raw marrow bones as high-value treats because they engage the jaw, take 15–30 minutes to consume, and completely drain remaining energy. All treats should be given after exercise, never to an already-excited dog.
How much of a treat should you give your dog at one time?
Millan treats feeding sessions like a dessert or special occasion—they should last no more than 10–15 minutes, and treats should be surprises, not daily staples. For liver, he gives just small licks, not large pieces, especially if the dog has a sensitive stomach. For bully sticks and bones, he lets dogs consume until satisfied (typically 20–30 minutes for small dogs, 5–10 for larger ones), then removes what remains. Always supervise to prevent aggressive competition if you have multiple dogs.
Why does Cesar emphasize the dog's mental state during feeding?
Dogs remember emotions attached to food more than the food itself. If you feed an excited, jumping dog, you teach him that excitement earns food. If you feed a calm, patient dog, you reinforce calmness and patience every single time. Millan believes feeding is a training tool: the ritual—the waiting, the silence, the surrender—is what shapes behavior and psychology far more than the nutritional content alone.
Cesar Millan's facility where he teaches and practices natural, simple methods of dog communication, training, and relationship-building.
Calm surrender
The mental and emotional state Millan aims for in dogs during feeding—quiet, patient, and emotionally still rather than excited or agitated.
Primal treats
Raw or natural foods like bones with meat that engage a dog's instinctive chewing and hunting behaviors and take extended time to consume.
Exercise, discipline, affection
Millan's formula for a balanced dog routine: physical activity first, mental structure second, and food or treats last as the highest form of affection.
This video is genuinely helpful for anyone who feeds their dog by rote and hasn't thought about the psychology behind mealtime. Millan reframes feeding as a form of leadership and communication, not just nutrition—a perspective that can shift how you approach every bowl you set down. His emphasis on simplicity and ritual gives you a clear, practical framework to follow, and his examples with real foods and treats are concrete enough to actually implement.
What I found most valuable was the distinction between how to feed meals versus treats: the calm surrender versus the joy and excitement. It's a small mental shift, but it completely changes how you'll approach training and bonding. If you're serious about understanding your dog's behavior and want actionable feeding strategies backed by real experience, this video is absolutely worth your time.
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In our newest vlog, I answer the question "Cesar What do you feed your dogs?" From food to treats learn what we feed our dogs at the ranch, when we feed them, and why we feed them! Remember it is important to know what state of mind you are feeding.
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Video transcript for “THE BEST FOOD TO FEED YOUR DOG | DOG TIPS #1” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
hey guys my name is C Milan and I am at my magical place the dog Psychology Center where we practice natural simple profound way of being connection communication relationship and today I'm going to answer the second most frequent question people ask me is what do I feed my dogs and what's the best streats for
my [Music] dogs and we're going to break it down in two categories what keeps the body healthy what keeps the stomach healthy and the second one is treats what keeps the Mind healthy so food and treats let's break it [Music] down and we're going to start with my dog's favorite because we get to cook it
it's rice and ground meat is an add-on to the uh dry food that I feed them and and the reason why I love it and the reason why they love it is because I personally like to uh uh cook it prepare it for them buy it for them so it has a lot of beautiful uh rituals that I that I like to bring in uh it's just like my
mom cooking I I I used to go to the market with her and we pick up whatever we were going to eat and I saw her preparing and then I saw her feeding it to me so I like that that uh ritual for me is is definitely my dog's favorite is rice and ground meat they love it they know that uh then every day they're
going to have that add- on and their nose goes crazy uh they have to stay very calm and they have to wait in silence uh something that I do every feeding ritual I don't like to feed an excited mind I I like to feed a Calm Mind a very quiet dog because that's exactly what I want to nurture I want I
want to nurture noo silence I want to nurture patience and I want to nurture the heart and that that way the Mind remembers the food means silence calmness patience anything that you personally make and your dogs are seeing you preparing it and the your dogs are smelling it and the your dogs are
waiting uh and you know personal zone is definitely going to be the highest uh reward the highest level of food that you can give this is the top of the top of the top the alpha the alpha of the food the leader of the food because they seen you doing it they say they they smell it and then two three days later
once you prepare it they know that that food is for them so they're very eager on receiving that food plus they're waiting for it and the smells H they they take them to Paradise right so it's definitely their favorite food it's my favorite food to to do because I see the the level of Happiness they have is is
out of this world right so I like to make sure that my dogs are hungry and that my dogs are waiting for it and they of course they enjoy it at the highest level of Joy calmness confidence love Joy right so it's love joy so for me food is something that I give to the mind when the mind is calm surrender to
give them love and joy and definitely this is the highest of the highest well I have a good friend of mine who made food I would say like 20 years ago or more we know each other for I think forever right and we both are pioneers and what we do and and and his uh diet helped me with daddy long time ago when
Daddy developed cancer and I was looking for some body to help me because you know food is is super important in treating cancer and and so from that point on I became a super fan of this food and this is the food that we feed here this is a dry food this is a very simple ingredients is not a lot I don't
believe in food needs to have a lot of ingredients to be the best food in the world I like things that're natural I like things that're simple I like things that create this profound effect of healing uh of health of uh uh anything that has to do with happiness and for us this is the food that has helped our our
dogs to stay with a good digestion good good uh skin uh good uh fur uh they love it uh and and so for me the fact that it helped me with that is uh keeping live longer is just something that I'm very loyal to because I saw it work well let's go into the next category which is is treats definitely
treats as more for the mine definitely without a doubt you want to use the more smelly ones there the more they have that punch and we have something that I really enjoy very very much which is the uh liver liver treats and remember Li treats are just a little little tiny uh pieces of it is you don't have to give
too much okay just by opening the box that's a treat on its own the nose goes into this Euphoria feeling and you want to encourage the nose to come to you where are you there you go you want to encourage the nose to come to you you want the the mind to say how much they want it then the dog on his own and
start making his own little movements for it and then you reward the behavior that you want again the treat is more to entertain the mind to help the Mind learn something new right so this is where you had a very short day with them and you want to teach something new and you want to make sure you drain H the
mine a little bit more and that's when you come with Treats but the treats for me in my experience they need to have they need to address the nose more than anything else right and again when you use liver don't use too much because some dogs are very sensitive in the stomach and it's really honestly it's
more like a lick so it should be like a combination of the smell of the liver and The Sensation of peanut butter right so the peanut butter is something where a dog keep licking so the the dog stays within the uh entertainment uh uh system entertainment moment uh where the dog stays there for a long period of time
remember when you use treats you don't want to do it for more than 10 15 minutes the most right because it's like an ice cream it's like a little dessert it's not a necessity that's why you don't want to overdo it you know you want to make sure it's every once in a while it's a treat it's a surprise it's
like it's like a Christmas time right and then again you want to make sure that the do really is smells it yeah and then he shows you how eager or how much they want it my second pick on the smells is anything that is fish oriented like the skin of a fish uh I like to use this little fishes right here again it's not
about giving them too much you don't want to give too much it's just to encourage the nose don't open it inside your house okay don't open it inside your house this is really Punchy this is when you do it in the open and you want to practice uh that your dog to come back to you or your dog to find uh
something this this is definitely an odor that they love it they love uh uh the smell of fish you present the smell remember frenches Bulldogs pogs they don't have a long nose so it takes a while for them to to to get into it look at that yeah yeah you know many times just let it him lick it let him stay right
there and then they so how do I get it how do I get it how do I get it you want them to get into that that motion of how do I get this treat right the food you don't want the excitement you know with the treat you do want excitement so look at the difference with the food I want the dogs to be calm surrender and with
the treats I want the dogs to be happy gol lucky so don't confuse okay uh you want uh food uh to be more in the calm surrender State and I'm going to show you another treat that is very very pop popular here with us this is a tree that that we use a lot here at the ranch it is very Primal it is the most Primal
treat that we have here and this is the marrow bones right is the the knee of the cow and these guys right here uh they have food they have it's a combination of food and it's a combination of uh uh cartilage It's a combination of them you know exercising the jaw but at the same time when I when
I give this kind of food I have to be very careful uh not to give them when they're too excited because and then they start challenging each other so the more bribe more the food the more the more you can bring the uh the competition you know to to get the bigger peas or to eat fast and go get
the other ones food because we what we do here is we feed everybody at the same time so it's like a big family reunion right but at the same time we're very mindful because this is a treat but it's also food but it's also Primal so it's it's raw I like to give them to them raw it's just I like for them to to expend a
little at least 15 to 20 minutes the smaller the dog the more time they're going to spend and by the time they finished I mean they're just drop right they're just completely drop and also another uh another note for the treats make sure you always do it uh after the walk right so it's exercise discipline
affection so food and treats is affection and this is the biggest affection you can give between food and treats because this is more the most organic the most Primal uh the most delicious a dog can totally get this is how it looks like look nice beautiful pieces of meat the steel in the bone so
it's meat it's food but this is how they finish right look it's it's it's almost like they bleach it but it this I don't I don't buy bones with bleach and this is how it finish look at the difference so they spend a lot of time they spend a lot of times uh focusing on it um like I
said when you feed this kind of food and you have two or three dogs make if you don't trust them just put a leash on each one of them so they can finish their food pick up the the bones or the leftover of the bone and then make sure that the dog that is the commas of the mo you release them of the you know with
you take the leash off and so that way they finish they know they after they finish eating the bone they just have to go and relax and just forget about it right because a lot of times if they're still too excited they can go and try to compete with the other dog okay so it's a it's without a doubt uh after my after
this meal the my favorite thing to do this is without a doubt uh another top top top treat that we have here which is real real bones with with pieces of meat and this is something that we use at least uh three three to four times a week here at the ranch uh we do we do spoil them we do spoil our dogs that way
and this is one way to spoil them obviously again we first do exercise mental stimulation this is affection okay so we don't just give them food so so they can stay quiet because if we don't drain energy and then we give more energy we're just going to intensify the problem right so food is energy we take
energy first and then we give energy in a form of treats or in a form of food or in a form of this Primal the most Primal food in the world right which is you know bones with meat so the second the second favorite thing that they like or we like to give to the dogs here is the bully stick uh uh without a doubt it's a
lot more expensive than this believe it or not okay so it's if you're asking hey which one is less expensive I would say the real bones are less expensive the the uh The Bully Sticks they're pricey they have a a good price on it but at the same time they do their job they do the job well and there are some Bully
Sticks that have no odor and most of the Bully Sticks have a odor so make sure if you're going to provide it to the dogs uh uh don't do it inside the house because it's going to smell like a bully stick okay so if you don't like the smell I personally don't like smells inside my house and you know here at the
ranch is 43 Acres so I like to give give them sopia loves to grab them and she just goes and and and hides and eats it by herself so you're going to see something very particular very beautiful very Primal when you give them this kind of a treats is they all go by themselves and then they grab their food it's
almost like a kid who doesn't want to share an ice cream that's how it looks like and everybody has their own particular way to eating their little their their little treats and and this this lasts this lasts at least like 20 to 30 minutes for like little dogs and for like a size like uh Ricky Ricky will
eat it in five 10 minutes you know but at the same time is it's plenty that's it again this is just like uh like at the end of the day and you feel that your dog has a little extra energy and you don't want them to go to sleep with that 10 20% of energy you just want to drain then the bully stick the bone will
be a perfect way to completely drain the energy at the same time show them how much you love them all right pet parents I hope you enjoy this natural simple and profound information that we Shar to you from the dog Psychology Center this is how we feed our dogs here at the dog Psychology
Center uh sometimes we ask our dog to be in noo silence come surrender patience and then we give certain kind of food if we want our dogs to learn new tricks or we want our dogs to enjoy being in a happy gol lucky State and then we bring the treats and so I hope this information gives you a good sense of
direction so you can give the protection that you need and the relationship that you want to have with your dog trust respect love with food and with Treats have a good day guys I hope you enjoyed the video make sure you like subscribe and comment and join me on my mission of better humans better Planet TR respect
love communication where a chicken can sit down and enjoy uh Bob Bob being happy goak eating his uh bully stick
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