The Best Dog Food Brands
When it comes to feeding your dog, you want to make sure they’re getting the highest-quality food available. But figuring out the best dog food brands is a challenge even for the best pet owners. If you’re not sure what brands to trust, we’ve got you covered.
There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a dog food brand, including the ingredient quality and quantity and the nutritional needs of your specific dog. But from a general view, let’s look at the best brands of dog food available.
Top Dog Food Brands
Although every dog food is likely to keep your dog alive and fed, not every dog food will keep them healthy and happy. Some brands are more invested in putting out high-quality foods than other brands. Some of the most highly-rated and highest-quality brands include the following.
1. Purina
Purina is one of the most popular brands of dog food on the market. Since its beginning in 1894, Purina has been dedicated to providing animals with healthy and quality ingredients. In 1956, the first Puppy Chow entered the scene, and 30 years later, the Purina Pro Plan was developed using meat as the number one ingredient.
After years of rigorous research, Purina has managed to develop one of the widest ranges of foods available for dogs and cats of all kinds. By using almost exclusive USA sourcing, the company uses only the highest-quality ingredients for puppies, senior dogs, small and large breeds, and even pups suffering from diabetes.
With real ingredients formulated to provide your dog with the perfect balance of proteins, fats, and vitamins, Purina is a top choice for any pet owner with a variety of dry, wet, and grain-free food options for you to choose from.
2. Royal Canin
Royal Canin has long been known for creating high-quality food for dogs. French founder Jean Cathary founded the company in 1968 with the goal of making nutrition the foundational medicine to keep a dog happy and healthy.
Royal Canin foods are made from raw, local, quality ingredients that are combined to provide your pet with the perfect balance of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, and fiber that they need to live a healthy and happy life.
With dozens of options tailored to specific breeds, ages, and nutritional needs, Royal Canin has something for every dog and is a great choice for any pet owner.
3. Taste of the Wild
Taste of the Wild is a pet food formula that relies on natural protein sources that are “based on your pet’s natural diet.” Using meats such as salmon, duck, venison, boar, and bison as the main sources of protein sets this brand apart from many other quality brands, but it is still entirely US-based.
Taste of the Wild performs continuous tests on products to ensure the highest quality ingredients and supplements each food with probiotics that are essential for ensuring your dog’s healthy digestive system.
While the options available from this brand are more limited than those found in the previous two brands, they still have over 20 dog food options to choose from to give your pet the best nutrition for their specific needs.
4. Pedigree
Pedigree uses the best research from The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition to help it formulate food options for all kinds of dogs. Some of the main ingredients found in Pedigree dog foods include ground whole corn and wheat, animal fat, beet pulp, meat, bone meal, brewers rice, and vegetable oils.
Pedigree offers plenty of foods that are designed to help dogs where they’re at nutritionally, whether that’s puppy, adult, small, medium, or large. In addition, there are Pedigree options for oral care, weight loss (or gain) support, skin and coat health, and oral health.
With over 90 products to choose from, you’re sure to find a food from Pedigree to help your dog meet their nutritional needs and grow strong and healthy in your home.
5. Hill’s Pet Science
Hill’s Pet is a science-based dog food company that is dedicated to providing high-quality foods for dogs based on their specific nutritional needs. At every age, size, and life stage, dogs have different needs and Hill’s Pet is devoted to providing the best food for each stage.
Using consistent research into dogs’ biology, Hill’s formulates foods that are based on high-quality nutritious ingredients. Their foods support dogs in maintaining a healthy weight, appropriate vigor as they age, and a healthy gut microbiome. For over 80 years, Hill’s Pet has been designing foods that support veterinarians by treating dogs’ health from their first meal.
Hill’s is proud of its scientific-based formulas and offers nearly 200 options for feeding your dog based on age, size, and health. They even have foods to help with weight loss and curing allergies! You can be sure Hill’s Pet has something for your dog whatever their needs.
6. Merrick
Merrick has been around since 1988 when founder Garth Merrick designed a home-cooked dog food made of premium, fresh ingredients. Merrick foods don’t contain any preservatives and always start with real meat as the main protein source. Apples, blueberries, carrots, and potatoes are other fresh ingredients used to provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
All of Merrick’s dog foods are designed in the kitchen, where cooks use fresh ingredients to create foods with the optimal balance of protein, fat, Omega-6, Omega-3, glucosamine, and chondroitin to make a truly healthy, supportive dog food.
With 149 products designed for various life stages and nutritional needs, Merrick offers a little bit of everything for you to choose what works best to keep your dog in optimal health.
7. The Honest Kitchen
The Honest Kitchen is a company founded in 2002 with the goal of offering “human-grade” food to pets. Using human-grade ingredients and preparation practices, The Honest Kitchen creates foods with quality chicken, fish, turkey, beef, organic grains, non-GMO produce, and fresh herbs.
There are dozens of products created by The Honest Kitchen, from dry foods to wet foods to treats and toppers. They even offer bone broth pour-overs and dehydrated foods if you want your pet to eat something a little less like kibble and a little more like people food.
With so many options, you’re sure to find a type of delicious food for your dog made from honest, natural ingredients and prepared according to high-quality standards.
8. A Pup Above
A Pup Above is a relatively new company that also emphasizes providing human-quality food and human-grade preparation practices. All food from A Pup Above is cooked gently to preserve as much nutrition as possible and most options provide a significantly higher protein content than other brands.
Bone broth, non-GMO vegetables, eggs, and healthy oils make up the majority of other ingredients in the foods you’ll find at A Pup Above. Dogs love the foods too, enjoying the taste of fresh ingredients carefully cooked low and slow to preserve flavor.
A Pup Above has only a few food options (four dry and four fresh), but each one is designed to provide your pup with quality nutrition in a small package. Whatever you choose, you’re sure to provide your pet with something delicious and nutritious from A Pup Above.
How To Find the Best Dog Food
As you can see, there are lots of great dog food brands out there. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to know how to choose the right one for your dog. There are a few tips you can use to make the best choice:
- Talk to your vet about your dog’s nutritional needs.
- Calculate your budget for dog food and how much each brand costs.
- Determine your dog’s preferences (dry, wet, fresh, etc.).
Once you take these three factors into consideration, it will be much easier to pick the best food for your dog. But with these top 8 dog food brands, finding a good option shouldn’t be hard!
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