Best Dog Foods Ranked

Thanks for all the time you put into this site…..always lots of good knowledge to be found!!

Thanks for the information on top rated dog foods. It really helps with all the food recalls and those that are dangerous and have not been recalled. I have gone to a dehydrated cooked diet until I am able to get further recipes to make my own. One of my dogs was on Timberwolf. He did do well on the food. The food appears relatively good. Their customer service is alot to be desired. Would not respond to my e-mails. Very little information is shared in terms of who makes their foods, compared to other manufacrers.
I am very thankful for websites such as yours that have done thorugh investigations regarding dog food and can relay this information to the consumer. It is very scary on what goes on behind the scenes in terms of dog food manufacturers not divulging information about their product. They know there is a problem but continue to sell the product, until our precious pets get very sick or die. It is very difficult to trust any of them at this point.
Again, I thank you for your great website. It has helped put somewhat of confidence back into selected manufacturers.
Donna

In your six top ranked foods, how about Primal pet foods? I am in the process of trying myself but know and have read great things about it and what great results people have had using it and it was also on the Whole Dog Journal's List Might be one to consider, its a frozen raw.

I live on an outer island in Hawaii, Kauai, and it is very hard to get things here, including the dog foods you listed. I have been making my own food for my Beagle and Golden Retriever, supplementing the home-made food with a little bit of commercial dry food for the Retriever, and they are thriving! The Beagle had alot of health problems, over weight, breathing problems, yeasty ears, etc., he is 6 yrs old and is like a pup again. Making the food is time consuming but well worth it!

Thanks for all your informative articles,
Candy Sonoda

Bridget,

Have you ever heard of Happy Dog Food? It a dehydrated food and made in California. You cook it on the stove and add meat.
Also have you heard of Flint River Ranch dog food? Not sold in
stores. A smaller company. Delivered to your door.

Georganne Green

Hi Carolyn,

Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate your kind words.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Donna,

Many thanks for your detailed feedback. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for pointing out the problems you had contacting the people at Timberwolf Organics. I agree absolutely that that is a concern. If that's a problem other people have had, I'll reconsider having that dog food brand on my list of best dog foods.

While great dog food ingredients and suitable manner of preparing the food (freeze dried, oven baked, etc.), are very important, customer service is of course something to take into account when compiling a list of top rated dog food.

And lack of information on sources of the ingredients is a major concern in view of the debacle with the dog food recalls in the recent past.

Regards,
Brigitte

P.S. If anyone else has any comment to make on Donna's experience with the people at Timberwolf Organics, please let me know - leave your comment below - thanks!

Hi Susan,

Yes, Primal food for dogs (and cats) is an excellent food. It's fairly similar in type to the Nature's Variety food - they're both freeze dried dog food - basically raw food combined so as to replicate the eating of prey in the wild, including components from all parts of the animal, plus some vegetable matter (which would be expected to be found in the stomach of prey).

Thanks for pointing Primal pet food out as another excellent dog food brand.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Candy,

Thanks for your kind words on the articles.

Well, it may not be such a bad thing that you can't access the foods on my list of top rated dog food, if you're using that opportunity to make your own food for your dogs!

My own preference is for fresh and raw food for dogs. It's followed by home cooked fresh food. And my third preference is the healthy dog food convenience foods listed above.

But last on my list of preferences (by a long way) are the vast majority of commercial dog foods.

If you can eliminate the commercial dog food you're feeding your dogs, they'll be even better off!

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Georganne,

Yes, I've heard of Happy Dog Food. So far as I know, it's a pretty reasonable food. It seems to be similar in type to some of the Sojos foods and the Honest Kitchen foods that are on my list of best dog foods ranked.

And yes! I've heard of Flint River Ranch - it's on my list above!

In fact, all of the dog foods on my best dog foods ranked list can be ordered online and delivered to your door.  Some are also available in physical stores and a couple are not.

Regards,
Brigitte

I feed Solid Gold Holitix Blend, hope no one had heard anything bad it's working great for my girls, I get it at a Health Food store. It's also lower in Phosphorus than most top premium foods.

Hi Brigette,

I have enjoyed your site for some time. I find it very informative and thank you for the many valuable articles and all the information that you post. Keep up the great work, and,
Thank you,
Beverley

Hi Billie,

Thanks for your input!

If you're happy with the food you're using, then by all means stick with it. Solid Gold dog food is not one I'd try to dissuade you from using, although it's not near the top of my list - mostly I think because of the canned food - I just don't like it. Some of the Solid Gold food, though - the dry food - seems pretty good.

Regards,
Brigitte

P.S.  In case anyone's wondering about the phosphorous that Billie mentioned - I understand Billie uses low phosphorous products because of concerns with kidney failure in her dog.

Hi Beverley,

Thank you so much for your encouraging words. I really appreciate it!

Regards,
Brigitte

I understand Timberwolf was sold to Diamond and its now mfg. at their plant.

I recently tried Love Dogs Gold (orig England) and top it off with meat…it seems to be working. I like the limited ingredients, the food has been out for 10 years in England and is now starting to be marketed in the States…its also mfg. in the States, steroid free.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for your input.

I'm not familiar with the Love Dogs Gold brand, but no doubt readers from the UK like yourself are.

That's some disconcerting news about Timberwolf being taken over by Diamond dog food. I'll be looking into that further. I honestly would not feel comfortable recommending ANY dog food that had ANY connection to any of the recalled dog foods of recent months. As you're probably aware, Diamond recalled numerous of its foods due to the contamination of substandard dog food ingredients from China.

Regards,
Brigitte

Greetings,

Good ol' Google led me to find this blog and I thought I would clear up any rumors floating around.

We in fact have 2 full-time customer service reps that are more than welcome to answer your phone calls and e-mails. Please contact Joe or Kelly at customer.support@timberwolforganics.com or give them a call at their direct number which is 407-378-4600.

I work in research and development, so if you have questions pertaining to my department please e-mail Liz@timberwolforganics.com or call 407-378-4601.

Please note: We are a private independently owned company.

Thanks,

Liz

Well, Liz from Timberwolf Organics,

I see that you're trying to whitewash your company for the benefit of my readers.

It won't work.

PLEASE NOTE, EVERYONE:

I did some further research that seemed to indicate a connection between Timberwolf and Menu Foods - another of the notorious companies involved in the pet food recall scandall. 

I then took Liz's advice and contacted the Timberwolf Organics customer support people on 16 September 2007.

Following is a copy of my email to Timberwolf:

" Hello,

Please advise whether you have any affiliation with, or connection to, or agreement with, either Diamond Pet Food or Menu Pet Foods.

I understand from several different sources that your food is now being manufactured in the same plant as one of these foods?

Please provide me with information on any connection that you may have to either of these companies, and as to exactly what that connection is.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Brigitte Smith"

On 19 September 2007 I received the following response from Timberwolf, which you will note completely evades the actual questions that I asked, and addresses only the issue of ownership by Diamond Pet Foods, and completely ignoring my questions about Menu Pet Foods:

"Timberwolf Organics, Inc. wrote:

Hello Brigitte,

Is Timberwolf Organics, Inc. owned by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc.?

No. We are a private, independently owned company. At one time, Diamond Pet Foods manufactured our food; however, we have moved production to another facility owned by another company (we cannot give this information out, as it is proprietary). They specialize in manufacturing specialty formulas of pet foods and meet our high standards for exceptional quality production.

We are certain that Diamond Pet Foods, Inc. is a fine company, but to answer the above question, we have no business affiliation with them.

Hope this helps! Feel free to contact us with any more questions.

Kelly Gormley
Timberwolf Organics, Inc.
407-877-8779 "

On 19 September 2007, I sent the following email to Kelly:

" Dear Kelly,

Thanks, but you have not responded to the other half of my query - any affiliation with Menu Foods.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Brigitte Smith "

Here is the response that I received on 21 September 2007:

"

Update for Case #2145 - "Queries About Timberwolf Dog Food"

Hello Brigitte,

Where our food made is proprietary. Therefore, at this time, we are not allowed to release where our food is made, due to contractual agreements.

I'm sorry that I cannot answer the question in much further detail.

Thank you,
Kelly Gormley
Timberwolf Organics, Inc.
407-877-8779 "

What a load of nonsense - "proprietary" - how can information on where food is manufactured by "proprietary"? - It can't be.

And in view of all the debacle with the recalled pet foods earlier in the year, in my humble opinion, the public is ENTITLED to know EXACTLY who is manufacturing the pet food they are buying, as well as where the raw materials are being sourced from, so they can make an informed decision when buying food for their pets.

On 22 September 2007 I sent off the following email to Timberwolf:

" Dear Kelly,

Thanks. Information about where your food is made should be a matter of public record if you've got nothing to hide. It can't possibly be proprietary information. I've never heard of such a thing.

I take it from your response that you're affiliated with Menu Foods.

I will therefore no longer be recommending your food, and will notify my readers and my 11,000 subscribers of your response to my query.

If my assumptions are incorrect, and you're prepared to point out exactly in what respect they're incorrect, I'll reconsider.

I will hold off notifying my readers and subscribers until I hear back from you.

Brigitte Smith "

That was 18 days ago. I have not received the courtesy of a response.

If you wish to make your own enquiries of Timberwolf, then their contact details are in Liz's comment above.

I no longer recommend Timberwolf products.

Brigitte

Hi Brigitte,

Thanks for the info on all this food stuff. I give my girls raw meat but I mix EVO (Innova) with it and add a teaspoon of plain yogurt for the stomachs "good bacteria"

Thanks again for all your info it's informative and enjoyable reading.

Maruchy

Hi Maruchy,

Nice to hear from you again!

As you know, I prefer raw food myself. And Innova Evo is also a food that's pretty good. A little yoghurt is good, as is cottage cheese - particularly if mixed with a good quality flaxseed oil.

For anyone who doesn't know Maruchy, she's Bailey's "mom". Bailey nearly died from complications to vaccinations some time back.  Luckily, Maruchy was able to save Bailey, with the help of a holistic vet.

Her story is here - Pet Vaccinations - have a read - it's quite interesting.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Bridgette,
This is all interesting stuff about what and what not to feed our beloved companions, I have read a lot abot dog food and the vaccination thing of late and am horrified with the whole thing,I only feed my dogs fresh mince, fresh crunched chicken and garlic [they love that] some dry food and I will cook them a free range chook and they have veges , rice and pasta sometimes, they both have had their yearly vaccines, and they are not going to have any more, for a couple of years at least, this will cause problems if I need to put them in Kennels for some reason, but I am willing to take that chance. I have found a vet who is really into Herbal remedies, but is not quite convinced about the vaccination thing yet, although she would not be surprised about the dangers, she is very willing to listen and learn, she is not horrified about my decision about not vaccinating every year, she is quite interested in it all, so I am lucky to have found her, mind you I have to travel 50 ks to get to her,which is a problem in an emergency.

Hi Julie,

Bravo! You're doing everything I would advocate!

I have a fair bit of info on my Healthy Happy Dogs site about vaccination dangers. If you go to that page, you'll also see links to several other articles.

Maybe you could pass some of this info on to your vet. Also this site - http://www.immune-support-for-pets.com has a stack of info. on this topic.

Yes, 50 kms is a long way to go in an emergency, but just think - with all the right things you're doing, you're less likely to have an emergency.

Regards,
Brigitte

What do you think of EaglePak? Please let me know. I thought I did a lot of research and now I"m not so sure!

Hi Anita,

Sorry, I missed your comment until now.

Eagle Pack is okay. I guess it depends upon what you're comparing it with.

Eagle Pack seems to contain quite a lot of corn product which can cause allergy problems in dogs. I'm not certain of its type. Sojos dog food also contains corn, but it's whole corn, rather than a processed version. I'm not sure about the form of corn used by Eagle Pack.

Other than the apparently high corn content, though, if your dog does not have corn sensitivity, the other ingredients and the cooking process of Eagle Pack are good.

I prefer the foods I've recommended above, but for example in Australia I do recommend Eagle Pack as one of the better convenience foods, as the ones I prefer are not available.

Hope this convoluted explanation helps!

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi! My dog was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Tucker is a 9 yr old male schnauzer, who was very happy until two weeks ago. He started drinking tons of water, using the bathroom in the house, and throwing up. After two days in the "hospital" with iv's, antibiotics and insulin…we desperately want to find a good food for him. I was looking into the Sojo's. Any advice? We were feeding him Blue Buffalo. Thank you

Hi Jody,

Sojos is a great food.

I note that you're currently feeding Blue Buffalo. That's a reasonable food and in fact, a couple of my readers swear by it and wouldn't use anything else.

Because Tucker has been diagnosed with Diabetes, I think it's really important that you find out from your vet exactly what types of food you should not feed. Don't necessarily ask for recommendations on food, because many vets know little about nutrition and a lot about which particular pet food manufacturers are currently pressing them to recommend their foods.

But if there are certain types of food you should not be feeding, that's a really important thing to know.

It may be that grains are bad for Diabetes, for example, which would mean that you would not want to feed the standard Sojos, but the Sojos Europa would probably be good. This is just an example - not an indication that this is good or bad for Diabetes - don't take this example as advice.

By the way, there is a natural remedy for Diabetes in dogs that you might want to take a look at here.

As always, let me stress that I am not a vet and I have no veterinary training whatsoever. You should always take your vet's advice in relation to treatment for any specific illness or condition, but by all means discuss with your vet natural options.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Brigitte,
Do you have any knowledge of the puppy food Chicken Soup for the Puppy lover's soul. Some one told me it was a great natural food for Puppies. My Toy Poodle had puppies and I want a good food that I can recommend to the people that get the Puppies. When I recommand Sojo foods , they say they work and they want a food that they can feed that is easy. To me their is nothing that more important than you Puppy's health, but there are people that do not check dog food they just buy. I thought if I had a food that was available in the store that I can recommend. Thanks for you help. Darlene

Hi, I currently use Exclusive Dog Food, have you heard of it? If so, how does it compare to Life's Abundance Premium? Thanks for the info, I enjoy your comments! Bev

Hi Bev,

I'm not familiar with Exclusive Dog Food, so I can't compare it with Life's Abundance Food, or anything else.

If anyone else knows anything about Exclusive Dog Food, feel free to leave your comments.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hello,

I have a 7 mos old miniature pinscher and I'm ready to switch her from puppy food (I've been feeding her Eagle Pack Small Breed Puppy Dry Food formula) to adult dry food. My min pin is very small(only 5 lbs) and she really needs "small bite" sized dry food.

If anyone can recommend a good quality, healthy dry food that comes in "small bite" variety (i.e. is formulated specifically for small breeds), I'd greatly appreciate it!
Thanks, Hanna

Hi Hanna,

I am now a pug breeder who bred Min-Pins a few years back. I feed all our dogs Blue Buffalo & totally swear by it!!! I have found it to be a very healthy, holistic food, made with 23 essential vitamins and minerals a dog needs… and no other food has! Don't just take my word for it, do the research for yourself & go to bluebuff.com & see the ingredients that go into Blue. You will be surprised at how many ingredients their are and what they will do for your pet to live a long healthy life! All of Blue is small kibble it seems all dogs prefer a small bite over big chunks that are hard to digest. Check it out you & your Min-Pin will be glad you did!
A Bit of Friendly Advice…. PugTona Pug Breeder of NC

Darlene,

I'm so sorry I missed your post until now.

The Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul is a pretty good food that doesn't require any preparation, additions, etc.

Other good ones in this category from my list are Life's Abundance and Honest Kitchen.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi I am getting a Westie puppy in August and I am very unsure of what food to give it. I looked into Lifes Abundance and saw it that it was for puppies and dogs. So, I was wondering if you recomende it for puppies too. They also make other dog products and I wanted to see what you thought of them. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Christie

Hi Christie,

Yes, Life's Abundance dog food is suitable for puppies.

They also make some great gourmet treats for dogs - is that what you were referring to?  They also have a weight loss formula dog food, but that wouldn't be suitable for a puppy.

Regards,
Brigitte

You are the first web site that actually names products. Thank you for your time and expertise. We just got our first dog which is a Bichon Frise. She is 7 mos. old and we use Eukanuba Puppy which Vet recommended but this does not seem to be anywhere near the best per research on internet. Can you give us your advice on best food for Precious.
Thank you
Bob

Hi Bob,

Eukanuba is one of the dog foods often recommended by vets as a supposed premium brand.

It's not.

Possibly it's better than some supermarket brands, but not by much. They basically just have a smarter marketing strategy (market directly to veterinarians and get the vets to recommend and sell their products, so people perceive the products to be nutritious when that's far from the case).

My best dog foods, ranked, and recommendations, for my preferred dog foods are above. Here they are again:

1. Life's Abundance dog food

2. Sojos dog food (also known as Sojourner Farms)

3. Honest Kitchen dog food

4. Nature's Variety dog food

5. Flint River Ranch dog food

(Just click on any of the highlighted hyperlinks for more info on each product).

Any one of them would be a great food for your Bichon Frise.

Regards,
Brigitte

Timberwolf is still owned by Timberwold, Diamond makes a knock off called Taste of the Wild…..Remeber the huge pet food recall that Diamond had in 2005……of course you know Diamond makes Solid Gold!

Thank you for your help. I have 2 more Questions. 1 I cant find the serving size for puppies on their website. 2 I was refering to their treats but alo the grooming supplies and supplements. If you dont know what I am talking about you can type in people planet pes and look for trilogy.com. Then go pets then dogs and go to pet care for dogs and see what you think. Also for the supplements you just click supplements. I would very much appreciate it if you would tell me what you think of the products

Best Regards,
Christie
Thank You

Hi Chris,

I wasn't aware that Diamond make Solid Gold.

As for Timberwolf, read above my correspondence with them. Their food used to be manufactured by Diamond (Timberwolf says this themselves) and it now manufactured by some other company, but they refuse to say who.

I would never deal with a company that refuses to give information about where their product is manufactured.

The only conclusion that I am able to draw from this refusal is that they have got something to hide.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Christie,

Yes, I'm familiar with, and actively recommend, the Life's Abundance treats, or better known as Healthy Pet Net treats.

And yes, I'm familiar with the dog care products that you mention - they're also very good. You can find them by going here - www.dog-health-care-information.com/hpndogcare

They also do some good supplements:

Skin and Coat Supplement

Pet Arthritis Supplement

and a Dog Vitamin Supplement.

Regards,
Brigitte

Thank you for your help

Thank you so much for this site! I have been going mad searching the internet trying to find a good dry food for my puppies. I intend to feed a mix of premium dry food, home made food and raw bones.

One more question what is the puppy serving size because i cant find it?

Hi Brigette,

I started a business last year selling the Timberwolf products. MY dogs have done wonderfully on the food. I am however worried about the fact they changed ingredients. Are you aware of the ingredinet change? What are your thoughts on Orijen? I have always had good luck with talking to Timberwolf. The food has helped many clients's dogs. I jst have concerns with the ingredients–especially since they are now adding the brewers yeast to the foods.

Thanks,

Barb

Hi Christie,

Sorry for the delay.

This is the instruction for feeding Life's Abundance dog food to puppies:

Feed the “Suggested Daily Amount” of dry kibble according to weight and add at least 25% more. Individual Meal Feeding: From 9 weeks to 4 months, divide the daily amount and feed 3-4 meals in a 24 hour period. From 4-6 months, divide the daily amount and feed 2-3 meals in a 24 hour period.

So use this as a guide, and add at least 25% more:

3 - 10 lb dog - 1/4 to 2/3 cup per day + 25%
10 - 20 lb dog - 2/3 to 1 cup per day + 25%
20 - 30 lb dog - 1 to 1 1/2 cups per day + 25%
30 - 40 lb dog - 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups per day + 25%

and so on.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi Barb,

I'm really not sure about the change of ingredients with Timberwolf. It's their non-disclosure that worries me. I personally wouldn't deal with a company that refuses to divulge where their food is manufactured.

Regards,
Brigitte

Hi All,

Does anyone has any experience or comments regarding EAGLE PACK dry dog food?

I've been feeding my Min Pin the puppy formula and now that it's time to switch her to adult food, I don't know whether I should continue with Eagle Pack or look for a new brand?
Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Hanna

i have a bitch that im now mating and would like to give her and the puppies the best diet. alot of breeders in melbourne australia use pro plan. I brought innova, due to being more of a meat product and more natural. it is a lot more expencive, so was wondering do you think there is much of a difference between the two foods? is there another brand you recomend that is better thankyou cindy

Hi Brigitte,

I also had switched to Timberwolf Ocean Blue after I read that a grain free diet would be good for my 10 year old lab mix who has arthritis. He loved the first bag and gobbled it up but now not so much. He also started the habit of waking me up during the night to go outside. I was thinking about taking him to the vet but decided to switch his dogfood again. Is there a particular dogfood that is better than others for my arthritic senior dog?

Hi Brigitte

I really love your site and have been desperately searching in Australia (where I reside) to purchase one of your recommended dog foods. Unfortunately it seems that I can only order one brand and the freight costs are double the amount of the actual dog food. Do you know of anything in Australia that might be somewhat comparable with your recommended foods??

Can you tell me what meat to give my dogs. I have two border collies and a beagle. I currently give them what I thought was premium dog food and occasionally chicken wings. I would greatly appreciate your help

Thanks
Amanda