We have seen a large number of articles out there that cover small amounts of information when it comes to the best dog foods on the market. Unfortunately, the required information is spread out over a number different articles and hard to find.
We have decided to publish our own ultimate guide to dog food and treats to share all of the knowledge we have gained when it comes to dog food. We will be covering both commercial and homemade dog food and treats to try and get your god the very best!
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The Best Dry Dog Food
First up we will be covering the various types of dry dog food on the market. Dry dog food has a number of advantages over wet dog food, they are as follows:-
- It is more convenient for storage than dry food, once opened the food will last much longer than wet food.
- Once served, the dry dog food can be left out in your dog’s food bowl without the need to worry about spoilage. Dry dog foods can be left out for hours, if not days without them beginning to spoil.
- Although there are specialized treats available, dry dog food can help keep your dog’s teeth and gums healthy. The specialized dog treats are more efficient though, check out our article on the best dog treats for teeth if you would like more information.
Some dogs will do their best to avoid eating dry dog food if they have been raised on wet food. If you are in this situation then our article on how to get your dog off wet food can help you.
Since its release, a taste of the wild has gone from strength to strength quickly becoming a market leader and growing a loyal fan base of both dogs and dog owners alike. You can click here to read independent third-party reviews from dog owners currently feeding this to their dogs if you like.
It is currently available in the following flavors:-
Features And Benefits
All flavors of a taste of the wild are made with the very best premium meat available. As the protein sources are all real meat rather than cheap, low-quality dairy alternatives you can rest assured that your dog is getting everything it needs to have lean and healthy muscles. The vast majority of the meat in a taste of the wild is sourced from the United States meaning it meets all laws and regulations required.
Rather than using cheap, low-quality grains as the carbohydrate source in the food mix, they have chosen to go with high-quality superfoods such as sweet potatoes, legumes, and a number of various other fruits and veggies.
These fruits and vegetables provide a long-lasting, slow releasing source of energy for your dog to keep it going throughout the day. As they are rich in fiber, they will help keep your dog feeling full as well as keep it regular. As the food mix is 100% grain free meaning there is no risk of your dog having any stomach issues with potential gluten sensitivities.
Supporting Your Dogs Immune System
A taste of the wild includes a number of essential prebiotics and probiotics to help assist the various bacteria living in your dogs gut and intestinal tract. These healthy bacteria are added in a way to ensure that they are still alive and that your dog will be consuming active cultures within its good to support both its immune and digestive systems.
Increasing Your Dogs Nutrient Absorption
Additional steps have been taken in the preparation of the food mix to ensure that as much of the foods nutrient profile can be absorbed by your dog as possible. Unlike many other brands, a task of the wild takes the time and effort to use chelated minerals. The chelated minerals assist your dog’s digestive tract with absorbing as many nutrients as possible ensuring nothing is wasted.
Essential Healthy Fats
The food mix has also been optimized to contain the correct amount of essential fatty acid that your dog requires to lead a healthy lifestyle. The Omega 3 acids are sources from various fish sources whereas the omega 6 is sourced from plants and vegetables.
Both of these essential fatty acids are essential for your dog to have a healthy glossy coat. They also help keep your dogs skin in a healthy condition and optimize your dog’s natural oil production to help it keep its own skin and fur healthy.
Reports From Dog Owners Using This Product
As we mentioned earlier, a taste of the wild is a high-quality dog food that has an excellent reputation amongst dog owners. We have researched a number of different reports on the product that we will summarise below, you can read the full report by clicking on the link.
- This report comments on how the product is an excellent quality food that is grain free and retails at a fair price. They explain how they have put in hours of research into the various options available on the market and finally settled on a taste of the wild being the best choice available.
- This report comments on how this is the best low-cost grain free dog food available today. They mention how they own multiple dogs with one having issues with its coat on the old food mix. They go on to say that after making the switch over to a taste of the wild, their dog’s coat issues have cleared up and their dogs love food.
- This report again comments on the quality and low price of the food while saying that their three-year-old german shepherd has been fed nothing but a taste of the wild. They go onto mention how their dog has good muscle definition and a very nice coat.
- This report comments on how loyal the dog owner is to the taste of a wild brand and how they would never feed their pet labrador anything else.
- This report comments on how their dog’s coats are perfect and that their dogs have remained free from any digestive issues.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – Are any of the ingredients in this dog food sources from China?
Answer – No, the vast majority of the ingredients are sourced from the United States with around ten percent being sourced from German, New Zealand, and Belgium. The food is also made and packed in the United States in factories in California, South Carolina, and Missuri.
Question – Is this dog food really 100% grain free?
Answer – Yes, unlike some competitors who will pack their food with rice (although not strictly a grain and contains zero gluten) a taste of the wild is 100% grain free.
Question – The flavor I usually order is out of stock, how long will it take to be available again?
Answer – Unfortunately, there is no exact answer to this. The different flavors have their own production schedules. Once created the product goes to the supplier who then distributes it to the retailers who have ordered it.
Nutritional Profile
The image below shows the minimum nutritional profile of the food.
The image below shows the full ingredients list for the food although it does vary flavor to flavor. You can find the ingredients list of all flavors here.
An Independent Video Review
The video below shows a dog being presented with two brands of dog food. One is a taste of the wild and the other is a competitor. As you can see, the dog tries both bowls of food before choosing its favorite.
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The Second Best Dry Dog Food On The Market
It is available in the following flavors:-
Features And Benefits
As you would expect from a global brand as well known as Blue Buffalo, their Wilderness range has been specifically designed to have a high protein content from excellent real meat sources to offer the very best for your dog. These protein sources help your dog develop lean, healthy, strong muscles without the need for any additional supplementation.
The wilderness range is designed to mimic your dog’s natural diet while being largely based around the type of prey wolves would hunt in the wild it also contains a number of vitamin and mineral packed fruits and vegetables. Although many people still think that domesticated dogs are carnivores, they are actually omnivores. This means that a dog can survive on a diet based on only vegetables and fruits if required. There are a number of people who choose to put their dogs on a vegan or vegetarian diet.
That said, Blue Buffalo ensure only the highest quality fruit and vegetables are included products. This ensures a food mix that is jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to help keep your dog as healthy as possible. Blue Buffalos exclusive LifeSource Bits are also added to the food mix to increase its nutritional profile and get the very best for your dog.
Reports From Dog Owners Using This Product
As with any good brand of dog food, there are a number reports available online for you to read. We have researched a number of these reports and summarized them below. You can click the reports link to read it in full if you choose:-
- This report comments on how much their dog enjoys to food with the owner relating it to “doggy crack”. They go on to comment on how their dog was having some problems but the wilderness dry food by blue buffalo helped their dog gain weight and their local veterinarian is now happy.
- This report comments on how switching to this food from one of the competitor’s products has helped their dogs digestive problems.
- This report comments on how the owner tried to cut costs by shifting to a budget dog food brand only to return to Blue Buffalos Wilderness food mix. They go on to comment how their dog’s coats lost their shine and even began to shed when they were being fed the budget dog food.
- This report comments on how the owner’s dog is full of energy and how its coat is now soft and shiny.
- This report comments on how happy the owner is with the food mix. They also go on to comment on a canine vitamin supplement they were advised to start giving their dogs. After comparing the ingredients to that of the Blue Buffalo food mix they saw no reason to add the supplement as the food was providing the same nutrients as the supplement would have.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – Does this food mix contain canola oil?
Answer – No.
Question – Is this really 100% grain free?
Answer – Yes, there are no wheat, corn or other grains are in this food mix.
Question – Are any of the ingredients in this food made in or sourced from China?
Answer – No.
Nutritional Profile
The image below shows the nutritional profile for this food mix.
The image below shows the ingredients list for this food mix.
The Third Best Dry Dog Food Available Today
It is available in the following flavors:-
Features And Benefits
Again, like the other high-quality dry god foods on this list, the number one ingredient in this product is real meat from the animal of the flavor you choose. These protein sources promote the healthy growth of strong, lean muscle in your dog helping it lead a fit and healthy lifestyle.
Again, this is another product totally free from wheat, corn, soy or any other possible gluten holder. Instead, just like the two products above, Merrick choose to go the extra mile and source high-quality fruit and vegetables for their food mix’ carbohydrates. Although these change depending on the flavor, they include carrots, apples, blueberries, peas, and many more.
They have also included an optimum amount of both Omega 6 and Omega 3 essential fatty acids. This allows their food mix to support a healthy skin and coat in your pet when fed this on a regular basis. Additionally, they have also included glucosamine and chondroitin that you would usually have to supplement yourself at extra cost. Both glucosamine and chondroitin help promote healthy hips and joints, something often lacking in your dog’s diet yet essential for a healthy life, especially in older dogs.
Reports From Dog Owners Using This Product
Although they are still building their customer base, at the time of writing, they have managed to earn over 2000 reviews on Amazon. Here are a few reports from independent dog owners currently feeding their dog this Merrick food mix.
- This report comments on how they switched over to Merricks food back in 2015 when dog foods from China hit the headlines as they were poisoning many of the dogs who ate it. Keeping on top of things, he contacted Merrick about where their ingredients are sourced and they informed him that everything is from the USA other than duck from France and Lamb from New Zealand.
- This report comments on how they switched to Merricks food mix from a competitor due to their dog having allergies. They confirm after getting their dog settled on eating Merricks food, the allergies went away and their dog’s health returned.
- This report comments on how they moved their dog over to Merricks dog food and his coat is now healthy and the dog is full of energy.
- This report comments on how their dog is prone to digestive upset and most products they had tried him on caused problems. Once they moved him over to Merricks, his issues cleared up quickly.
- This report comments on how their dog used to have issues with past food brands and even broke out in rashes sometimes. They switched him over to Merricks dog food and now the dog loves it meals.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – Are any of the ingredients sourced or made in China?
Answer – No, the duck is from France, the lamb is from New Zealand and everything else is from the United States.
Question – Is this product really grain free?
Answer – Yes, it is 100% grain free.
Question – What is the Protein, Fat, and Fibre breakdown?
Answer – Protein 38.00%, Fat 17.00%, Fiber 3.50%.
Nutritional Profile
The image below shows the nutritional profile of the food.
The image below shows the full ingredients list for the food.
The Best Wet Dog Food
We will now be moving away from dry dog food and taking a look at the various wet dog food options available. Wet food has some advantages over dry food and they are as follows:-
- It is estimated that around a third of dogs don’t drink as much water as they should. Wet dog food offers an additional hydration source to help increase your pets water intake. Although this is not as good as drinking water, it can help.
- If you have a senior dog or a dog with daw or tooth problems, wet food is usually the better choice. It is much easier for your dog to eat than dry food, even if the dry food has warm water or gravy added to it.
It is available in the following flavors:-
Features And Benefits
Thankfully, a taste of the wild has kept their wet dog food up to the same high standards as their dry dog food. Obviously, the main difference between the two is that rather than being a dry kibble, this is a tasty stew based food jam-packed with goodness.
Similar to their dry food, the number one ingredient is real meat based on the flavor of the product you choose. As we have now mentioned multiple times, this real meat is perfect for helping your animals muscles develop as required to lead a healthy life. Additionally, it has the optimum amino acid profile to assist your dog in growing a healthy coat.
Again, its carbohydrate sources are from high-quality fruit and vegetable superfoods that are jam-packed with vitamins and minerals to help your dog stay in peak condition. To keep the product quality as high as possible they have kept the recipe 100% grain free meaning there is no corn, wheat or barley or any other grain for that matter in this food.
Reports
As with any dog food worth its time, there are plenty of reports online from other independent dog owners currently feeding this to their dogs. As usual, we have summarised the report but you can click the link to read it in full if you choose:-
- This report comments on how their dog loves the wet taste of the wild dog food. The owner then goes on to how he thinks his dogs are happy and healthy due to their diet of a taste of the wild wet dog food.
- This report comments on how the owner used to feed their dog a taste of the wild dry mix before moving over to the wet dog food. They then go on to comment how their dog’s health has improved since going onto the taste of the wild brand.
- This report comments on how the owner’s dog loves the wet food and how it has also helped to improve her coat making it look soft and healthy.
- This report comments on how the dog owner has put in hours of research while hunting for the best wet dog food on the market. They mention how they had to do this as their labrador kept having seizures due to her diet. They then go on to comment on how switching over to a taste of the wild their dog has not had any more seizures and their other dog’s skin condition has seemed to clear up.
- This report comments on how their dog loves the taste of the wet food, especially the gravy broth included in the stew.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – Is there any part of this food that is from China?
Answer – No, the food is made in factories in California, South Carolina, and Missouri. The majority of the ingredients are from the USA with a small amount coming from New Zealand, Germany, and Belgium.
Question – Is this really a 100 percent grain free wet dog food?
Answer – Yes, this is free from wheat, barley, and corn.
Question – Where can I see a list of ingredients for this food?
Answer – We have an image below with the ingredients for this food.
Nutritional Profile
The image below shows the nutritional breakdown for this food.
The image below shows the ingredients included in this wet dog food.
The Second Best Wet Dog Food
In our opinion, the second best wet dog food on the market is another offering from Merrick. Their Merrick Grain Free Canned Dog has proven very popular with dog owners all over the world and has an established community of dog owners who feed this to their dogs as their daily meal. You can read some of the reviews left by independent dog owners currently using this product by clicking here.
It is available in the following flavors:-
- Cowboy Cookout
- Brauts-n-Tots
- Grammy’s Pot Pie
- Smothered Comfort
- Thanksgiving Day Dinner
- Turducken
- Venison Holiday Stew
- Wilderness Blend
- Wingaling
Features And Benefits
Similar to their dry food found earlier on the list, this high-quality wet dog food is totally 100% grain free. Their carbohydrate sources come from high-quality fruits and vegetables to ensure the very best nutritional profile is offered for your dog when fed this as its meals. In addition to ensuring the product is grain free, they have also kept all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives out of the product to further reduce the chances of a digestive upset.
The main ingredient is always the real meat of the animal the product is flavored after. For example, the cowboy cookout flavor’s number one ingredient is real deboned beef. The meat promotes healthy growth and maintenance of your dog’s muscle by assisting with the development and maintenance of lean muscle mass.
You can serve this food to your pet dog as it is or as a topper to any dry kibble food you choose to mix it with. If you do choose to add it as a topper to a dry dog food it can be an excellent source of extra protein and moisture in your dog’s diet. Either way, your dog is sure to enjoy it no matter what.
Reports
As with all of the dog foods we recommend, you can read the reports linked and summarised below if you would like to read the opinions of dog owners currently feeding this product to their dogs:-
- This report comments on how the owner adopted a rescue puppy that was very underweight. They mention how they feel adding this product to their dogs daily meals has helped it reach a healthy weight quickly.
- This report comments on the high-quality of the ingredients used in the stew. They comment on how there are plenty of chunks of meat included in the food and that gravy hasn’t been used as filler product to save money.
- This report also comments on the quality of the ingredients in the food as well as how much their dogs enjoy eating it.
- This report also comments on how there are large chunks of meat and vegetables in the food and that their dogs really enjoy their meals when fed the Merrick wet dog food.
- This report comments on how their veterinarian recommended Merricks wet dog food to the dog owner and how his dogs love eating it.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – Is anything to do with this product from China?
Answer – No.
Question – Is this a dog food pate’ or a gravy?
Answer – It is actually a stew but it does contain some gravy.
Question – Does this contain Carrageenan?
Answer – Yes, Carrageenan is extracted from seaweed and added to the stew as a natural way to help preserve the wet dog food for as long as possible.
Nutritional Profile
The image below shows the nutritional profile of Merricks wet dog food.
The image below shows the ingredients list for this dog food.
The Third Best Wet Dog Food
It is available in the following flavors:-
- Fish & Sweet Potato
- Chicken & Sweet Potato
- Duck & Potato
- Buffalo & Sweet Potato
- Lamb & Brown Rice
- Sweet Potato & Venison
Features And Benefits
As you may have come to expect, this is another high-quality wet grain free dog food. It offers the exact same benefits as the other grain free foods above by removing low-quality filler products as well as the risk of your dog having a reaction to any gluten in the food. They have also taken the extra step to ensure that there are no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives in their recipe or finished product.
The main ingredient in each of the flavors is a specified meat offering a high-quality protein source for your pet. There are no cheap protein fillers in this product at all such as dairy or vegetable protein sources.
Reports
Again, we have summarised a number of different reports from dog owners who are currently using this food below. You can click the links associated with each of the reports to view the full version:-
- This report comments on how their dog was switched to this food due to allergies with the previous brand. They then go on to comment how the symptoms cleared up and the owner’s dog seemed to really enjoy the food.
- This report comments on how their dog was previously overweight while having low energy levels. They go on to comment on how their dog has been switched over to this product and it is now losing weight while having increased energy.
- This report comments on the owner’s dog has problems with grain-based dog foods but was fine after the switch.
- This report comments on how the owner adopted a severely underweight rescue dog. Not only did the dog love this food but it also helped her return to a healthy weight without and digestive issues.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
FAQs
Question – How long will this last once open in a refrigerator?
Answer – There are too many factors to take into account but provided you cover the lid, we would estimate three to five days.
Question – Is there anything in this dog food from China?
Answer – We were unable to find any confirmation of this but you can contact the company here.
Question – Is this really 100% grain free?
Answer – There is no wheat, barley, or corn in this food meaning there is no gluten risk but one of the flavours does contain rice.
Nutritional Profile
The screenshot below shows the nutritional profile of the food.
The image below shows the ingredients in the product although it does change flavor to flavor. You can find all of the ingredients for all flavors here.
The Best Dog Food For Dogs With Sensitive Skin
If your dog suffers from sensitive skin then our article covering the best dog food for sensitive skin may be able to help you. It is a dedicated post and goes into much more detail than the other dedicated posts on dog food for dogs with sensitive skin that we have seen.
The Best Dog Food For Vegan Or Vegetarian Dogs
If you are wanting to convert your dog to a vegan or vegetarian diet then our article on how to make your dog vegetarian or vegan may be helpful to you. There are a number of high-quality vegetarian products on the market that you are able to take advantage of to help you reach your goals.
The Best Dog Treats
They are available in the following flavors:-
- Chicken Liver
- Chicken Breast
- Duck Liver
- Lamb Liver
- Bison Liver
- Turkey Liver
- Pork Liver
- Beef Liver
- Wild Salmon
Features And Benefits
The main benefit of these treats is the raw source of protein that your dog will be getting if you choose to use them. There are no additional ingredients in the product other than 100% freeze-dried real meat. For example, if you choose to purchase the chicken liver flavor treats, there is nothing in them other than 100% chicken liver.
Reports
Again, there are a number of reports available that you can read if you choose. They are from independent pet owners who are currently feeding these to their pets as part of their regular diet. Rather than do a summary and breakdown as we have, click the link below to see them all in one place.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Nutritional Profile
The breakdown below shows the nutritional values for the chicken liver flavored treats. As these chance slightly from flavor to flavor, you can click here to see the full list.
Ingredients: 100% Pure Chicken Liver
Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein 70.45%
Fat 15.38%
Fiber .07%
Moisture 6.5%
Calories Calculated 4554 ME Kcal/Kg or 5 Kcal per gram / 129 Kcal per ounce
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