5 Top Brands Compared: The Ultimate Dog Food Review

It seems like a new brand of dog food pops up on pet store shelves every day, and with all the untrustworthy advertising it can be difficult to tell which are worth the hype. Our dog experts did the research, comparing ingredients and scouring the internet for honest reviews, and came up with this ultimate abridged dog food guide, to get down to the brass tacks of which food you should be buying your dog — without all the fluff. We breakdown the most overrated brand, the best dog food for weight loss, excellent senior dog food options, and the top kibble.

Pedigree Dog Food, The Most Overrated

Pedigree is a popular brand, but is it really good for your dog? There are a lot of variations, but we used the canned Chopped Ground Dinner with Chicken, Beef, and Liver as a good example of their selections. All in all the ingredients are OK, but there’s a couple of huge red flags when it comes to their meat. The second ingredient listed is “chicken by-products” followed by “meat by-products.” If you’re not familiar, these don’t exactly meet the description of what you would normally consider meat. Chicken by-product is what’s left of the chicken after choice cuts have been removed. This can include some pretty scary stuff like organs, feet, beaks, and undeveloped eggs.

The customer reviews aren’t all pretty, either. While most testimonials are positive, some claimed that Pedigree brand blends were making their dogs sick. On Consumer Affairs, Kieth from Thatcher, Arizona says, “Bought this poison at Walmart until I could get my regular brand. All 4 of my dogs were sick within 5 days. Clear vomit, diarrhea, lymph nodes swollen in the neck, not eating.” Yikes!

Nutrisource Dog Food, Best For Senior Dogs

Nutrisource is a lesser known brand that focuses on bioavailability, which emphasizes a dog’s ability to actually digest and absorb the most nutrients in their food. Nutrisource has a formula specifically designed for senior dogs, making it our top choice for senior dog food. It’s also a grain-free formula, for sog parents looking for the best grain-free options for their pup. Their turkey and lentils formula is specifically created for dogs 7 years of age and older. It uses Sel-Plex for optimal brain health and reduced inflammation, which is important for mature dogs. They also add Chondroitin and Glucosamine to help dogs with limited mobility.

There are few customer reviews online which is usually a good sign, since dog parents with bad experiences will usually rush to write a review. However, DogFoodGuide gives the brand a 4.5/5, which is a pretty good score. They note a slight red flag: carrageenan, a thickening ingredient which some studies link to carcinogenic effects.

Ollie, Best Dog Food For Weight Loss

Ollie is a customizable, human grade dog-food brand that you can’t buy in the pet store. They deliver meals weekly with subscriptions for customer convenience. Other than their human-grade ingredients, what makes Ollie stand out is that they create one of a kind formulas for your pet based on their age, weight, breed, and lifestyle. Ollie is our pick for best dog food for weight loss because, in addition to being able to formulate your pups meal specifically to help them lose weight, Ollie sends every meal with a perfect-portion scoop that keeps you from accidentally overfeeding by making portion control easy. The special scoop also makes Ollie our top choice if you’re looking to change your dog’s food, say from dry to wet. If you prefer being able to physically pick up your food in a store instead of having it delivered, you may find the subscription to be a downside of Ollie.

All brands have an occasional bad testimonial, and there are one or two users who didn’t like getting their dog food delivered or didn’t feel Ollie was right for them. But most reviews make it clear that dog parents see real changes in their pups energy and coat shine.

Natural Balance, Best Kibble

Natural Balance wins our review for best dry food on the market. It’s widely available, including from most pet stores and for one day delivery from Amazon Prime. Their ingredients are much higher quality than most dry foods, and they don’t use “meat meal” though they may use “chicken meal” or “duck meal”. Natural Balance has several duck-based formulas, which is a less common meat for dog foods that are high in iron and easier to digest than the standards. Dogs with allergies to chicken or beef often eat duck as an alternate. People also really love that the kibble size is small enough for puppies to easily eat, which is a pro for households with a new pup and a more mature dog sibling.

Margaret Smith is one of many customers on Amazon who gave Natural Balance 5 stars: “We just got a new puppy and needed a puppy food until he’s older and can eat what the other dogs do. The puppy loves it, and the kibble size (small to medium) is perfect for our growing puppy (he’s about 30 pounds now).”

There are a lot of misconceptions about what you should be feeding your dog, and over the years conventional wisdom surrounding our furry friends has changed. We always recommend putting branding and slogans aside and looking into the ingredients for yourself to determine what’s best for your pup. By comparing the ingredients and real customer testimonials (that means you shouldn’t be looking at a brand’s website, instead check out third-party sites like Customer Affairs) you should come away feeling satisfied that your dog is getting the nutrition they need to live a happy and healthy life.