For a dog owner, choosing the best dog food brands is perhaps the trickiest task as there is an overwhelming number of options available in the market. Healthy and nutritious food is the first thing to ensure your pup stay active and playful. For this, the diet of your dog must contain high protein, low carbohydrate and adequate amount of fat. So, while selecting the healthy dog food brand, you should keep these ingredients in mind.
What to look for in healthy dog food:
Healthy dog food is not something static, rather it varies from person to person. Some may choose the dry dog foods and some other may choose wet ones. But, whatever your preference is, there are some basic from which you may consider as a standard. If you know these basic considerations, it will be easier to pick the best dog food brand for your furry companion. These are:
- The meat should be fresh, not any random meat or animal by-product. Since meat protein is very much important for dogs, it needs to be checked carefully.
- The food must be free from grains and other cheap fillers. This kind of foods may prove harmful to your dog.
- It must be free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, and spices.
- Then, the food brand should be reliable. That means the brand should maintain high standards in terms of manufacturing and processing pet foods.
How to find a reliable dog food brand:
To find the best dog food brand in the market, hope following tips will prove helpful for you:
- Check the label to find out if the company is using quality ingredients or not.
- Authorize nutrient testing.
- Find out the sources of the ingredients used in the food.
- Check if there is any serious recall history of the company.
Read the review of top 13 dog food brands and eradicate all the confusions:
Now that you are well-known for the factors to look for, it’s time to see which brands are trustworthy according to mentioned criteria. Here in this article, we have chosen 13 popular dog food brand which keeps meat or meal as their basic ingredient and avoids grains like, corn, wheat, soy and animal by-products. Also, they hold quality brand value. Let’s have a look at these prominent dog food brands.
1. Taste of the Wild, Premium quality dog food at a cheaper rate:
Taste of the wild is one of the finest quality dog food brands that produce almost all kinds of dog foods. Whether you own a puppy, teen, active and healthy adult dog, sensitive dog, picky eater dog or pregnant one, you can rely on this US-based dog food manufacturer. They produce specialized foods for each kind and breeds of dogs. The ingredients used in their foods are mostly collected from local sources. They use buffalo, lamb or chicken as their protein source and each meal is enriched with different nutrients to ensure the best for your dog.
The brand sharply represents a great combination of quality and affordability.
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2. Wellness core, great combination of taste and health:
Another puppy food brand that gives importance to your pet’s health and taste buds. This brand is considered one of the most trustworthy natural manufacturer in the world of pet food. They always ensures the less use of fat and carbohydrate and sufficient amount of real meat. This brand can be a great choice if it matches your dog’s taste buds.
3. Nature’s Variety, a well-known healthy pet food brand:
Nature’s variety is one of the popular choices among pet owners which is well known for their high quality pet foods. The ratio of their use of protein and carbohydrate is something admirable. Their products are always grain free and enriched with omega-3 and omega-6. If you choose the brand, you need not worry about additives, preservatives or colors.
4. Blue Buffalo, first-class dog food brand:
Being a top quality dog food brand, Blue Buffalo strives to produce nutritious food for your furry companion. They use only quality ingredients like high-quality meat, fish, poultry, fruits, and vegetables in their pet food. You can rest assured about the proper nutrition of your furry companion as their recipes contain antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Their pet foods are free from by-products, wheat, corn, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and even dairy.
Though the price of their pet food is relative higher, you won’t regret spending some extra bucks with the love and care they provide through their recipes.
5. Rachael Ray Nutrish, an affordable option:
If you are on the search of an affordable pet food brand, you can consider Rachel Ray. This US based pet food company collect all of their ingredients from the local source. Most of their recipes include real meat like chicken and other poultries.
So, if your dog likes poultries, you can opt for this brand. Again, some recipes include seafood that provides omega-3. Overall, they provide better quality than most other brands of the same price line.
6. Orijen, the best choice for sensitive dogs:
Because of the high quality ratio in proteins and other natural ingredients in dog food, Orijen is considered as one of the most popular healthy dog food brand. They keep the nutritional benefit of your dog in their priority list. They provide different type of meats, most importantly boneless, in the single product. They also provide meats from some different sources like wild boar which is extremely beneficial for allergy-infected dogs. All of their dog foods are enriched with different healthy ingredients like minerals, probiotics and so on. They also include some botanical ingredients for increasing nutritional value. They ensure that the foods are grain free. They also claim that they use only local ingredients for the freshness of satisfactory level.
7. Blue Wilderness, specialized meat-enriched Dog food:
Blue Wilderness is a relatively young but popular pet food company that boasts on providing healthy food with natural ingredients. All of their dog foods are 100% grain-free. The company ensures providing only premium quality pet foods which are free from poultry, by-product meals, artificial color or preservatives, corn, wheat or soy. You will love their proper balance of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Though the price of the brand’s foods is a little bit higher, they absolutely worth it by their quality.
8. Merrick, pioneer brand in pet food:
Merrick is the first name to mention about dog food. With their excellent quality ingredients and real protein source, they managed to secure top position in pet foods. Chicken, lamb, duck or Buffalo are used as protein source. They makes use of omega-3s and omega 6-s that aid in nutritional value. Glucosamine and chondroitin are also healthy ingredients. Their products contain very little fat which is a plus point.
9. Primal, a popular name for raw dog foods:
Primal dog food brand is also a well-known brand which mainly produces raw dog foods. They use local ingredients in every products, hence freshness is assured. This brand is unbeatable in raw dog food section. They have an wide array of raw foods like formulas, mixes and frozen grinds. Either it is dehydrated meals or organic chew bones, you will get all in Primal. They ensure highest nutritional value, so you can choose the brand confidently.
10. Acana, a combination of quality and affordability:
Another puppy food brand that gives importance to your pet’s health and taste buds. This brand is considered one of the most trustworthy natural manufacturer in the world of pet food. They always ensures the less use of fat and carbohydrate and sufficient amount of real meat. This brand can be a great choice if it matches your dog’s taste buds.
11. Hill’s Dog Food, special care for your furry companion:
Hill’s is one of ancient and largest pet food companies. They produce almost all types of pet foods including canned items and treats. But, Science Diet, Prescription diet, and Ideal Balance are the products that have secured the company’s position in the market. Keeping your dog’s health in mind, they are even providing highly customized dog food in case of rare illness.
The manufacturer uses chicken, grain, and corn- as main ingredients in most of their products. To maintain quality, the manufacturer ensures that their dog foods are free from chicken-byproducts, flavors, artificial colors or preservatives. So, keeping the above facts in mind, consider this brand for your next purchase.
12. Natural Balance dog food, the food for a lifetime:
Natural Balance Dog Food is relatively new in dog food industries which started their journey with the slogan “the food for a lifetime”. They boast of using human-grade meat and high-quality grains and vegetables in their dog foods. They use chicken as their first ingredient and potatoes and sweet potatoes as carbohydrate. Though the company is privately-owned, their formulas are manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods.
An interesting fact is, to earn customer confidence, the company has started “buy with confidence” program where they are delivering lab test result of the purchased food.
13. Addiction, a different taste:
Another popular dog food brand for sensitive dogs you will admire. This New Zealand based company is mostly known for their use of irregular meat sources like Kangaroo, buffalo or venison. They use local wild animals in their products to avoid the risk of food allergy. Though they use dehydration formula while producing, it doesn’t affect nutritional value. They use a very little amount of carbohydrate in their products. You won’t get any grain fillers or other dangerous ingredients. So, rest assured about the quality and go for it if it matches your dog’s preferences.
Where can I get these brands’ dog food:
Generally dog foods are available in pet foods stores, online vendors or you can even buy from the manufacturers themselves. Shopping from direct companies is much cheaper. So, if you want to purchase a good quantity, choose this option. Whatever it is, make sure it is a reliable brand. After all, your pup’s overall wellbeing is your priority.
Here we have mentioned some of the best dog food brands which you can rely on. But all are different and unique as per as ingredient choice is concerned. So, you must check carefully which ingredients are preferable for your pup. Overall, you will have to ensure that the brand’s products are the right choice for your dog’s fitness and appetite.
