Dog food isn’t one-size-fits-all. Even among the higher-quality dog foods, your dog may react to and digest the different dog foods differently. Some dogs have allergies to certain ingredients and some dogs develop problems that require special diets. So even if you’re using a high-quality dog food, but your dog still seems to be having problems, then it’s probably times to switch things up.
Talk to your local vet. They may have some samples that you can try plus some suggestions on what dog food may be best for your dog.
Tips for Selecting the Best Dog Food
Since there are more dog foods out there than we can possible cover in one post, let’s talk about a few general guidelines for selecting dog foods.
- Look for food companies that exceed AAFCO guidelines. This is the first step in ensuring that you’re not going to be wasting time looking at a low-quality dog food. However, a lot of dog foods are AAFCO approved that are still not a great quality. So you’ll want to narrow dog your choices even more by:
- Check the recipe and ensure that the food is using high-quality ingredients. Choose foods with meat-based items listed as the first two to three ingredients.
- Avoid foods that contain excess chemical preservatives and high amounts of fillers like wheat, corn, and soy.
- Be aware of any allergies or particular food requirements your dog has. Many dogs don’t handle grains well, so they need to be put on grain free diets. Some dogs have allergies, and some dogs have special needs based on specific health concerns. Make sure you take all of these particular concerns into account when selecting your dog’s food and talk to your vet if you have any questions.
Without further ado, here are some of the best dog foods that you can pick up from a pet store near you that won’t break the bank. In no particular order.
List of the Best Dog Foods Around for Any Budget
1. Is Wellness Complete Health Dry Dog Food the Best Dog Food?
The first 5 ingredients in this dog food are deboned chicken, chicken meal, oatmeal, ground barley, and peas. As you can tell from that list, the main grains in this dog food are oatmeal, barley, and brown rice.
According to Dog Food Advisor:
“This Wellness Complete Health formula derives the bulk of its meat protein from chicken and chicken meal. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the product contains 27% protein, 13% fat and 52% estimated carbs . . . creating a fat-to-protein ratio of about 50%.”
This is a highly recommended dog food brand that is said to cause very few stomach and digestion issues. It could be a great choice for your furry best friend.
2. Is Instinct Original Grain-Free Dry the Best Dog Food?
According to Dog Food Advisor:
“This Instinct example derives the majority of its animal protein from beef and chicken meal. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the recipe contains 40% protein, 23% fat and 29% estimated carbs . . . which creates a fat-to-protein ratio of about 57%.”
Reviews of this dog food claim that it’s so easy to digest that even their pugs and bulldogs stopped having bad gas. With many different “flavor” options, Instinct makes an ideal choice for feeding picky eaters and allows you to provide some variety in your feeding rotation.
This dog food is one of the highest quality dog foods you can purchase, without paying an arm and a leg. This could be an excellent choice for your dog.
3. Is Nature’s Logic Dry Dog Food the Best Dog Food?
The first five ingredients in Nature’s Logic are chicken meal, millet, chicken fat, pumpkin seed, and yeast cultures. It derives its grain from millet, as listed above.
According to Dog Food Advisor:
“This Nature’s Logic example recipe derives the bulk of its meat protein from chicken meal. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the product contains 40% protein, 17% fat and 36% estimated carbs… yielding a fat-to-protein ratio of about 42%.”
Nature’s Logic also has several different recipes and flavors available, all of which are good for your dog as well. It is one of the few dry brands meeting AAFCO nutrient standards by using live feeding trials. This is another great option to feed your dogs.
4. Is Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food the Best Dog Food?
Taste of the Wild is the brand my husband and I personally feed our two huskies. They love it, and we love that they don’t have all the digestive issues they had when we first rescued them. There was so much gas and so much diarrhea. These days our lives are mostly free from dangerous dog farts, except for every now and then when they get into something they weren’t supposed to get in to.
High Prairie of Taste of the wild contains buffalo, lamb meal, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, and peas as the first five ingredients. This food is grain-free.
According to Dog Food Advisor:
“High Prairie derives the majority of its meat protein from fresh buffalo, as well as both chicken and lamb meals. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the recipe contains 36% protein, 20% fat and 36% estimated carbs… producing a fat-to-protein ratio of about 56%.”
The reason we’ve decided to pick Taste of the Wild for our own dogs is that it is a great-quality dog food at one of the most affordable prices. Give it a try and see if your dog loves it, too.
5. Is Blue Buffalo Life Protection Dry the Best Dog Food?
The Blue Buffalo line is the lowest, rated of the dog food so far, but it is still a popular and fairly healthy choice among dog owners as it is easily found and affordable, while still maintaining a pretty high quality.
The first five ingredients in this dog food are deboned chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, barley, and oatmeal. This means there’s a good amount of grain in this dog food from the brown rice, barley, and oatmeal mentioned above.
According to Dog Food Advisor:
“This Life Protection example derives the majority of its animal protein from chicken and chicken meal. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the recipe contains 27% protein, 16% fat and 50% estimated carbs… creating a fat-to-protein ratio of about 58%.”
Due to its convenience and affordability, this is one of the top dog foods out there.
6. Is Purina Pro Plan Focus Dog Food the Best Dog Food?
The first five ingredients in Purina Pro Plan Focus dog food are chicken, brewers rice, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, and whole grain corn. This is a very grain heavy dog food with 4 different types of grain, rice, wheat, corn, and barley.
According to Dog Food Advisors:
“Focus Large Breed Adult derives the majority of its animal protein from fresh chicken. Our dry matter label analysis reveals the recipe contains 30% protein, 14% fat and 49% estimated carbs… creating a fat-to-protein ratio of about 46%.”
While this will never be a top choice dog for for me personally, I know several people who do prefer this dog food for their dogs. Pro Plan is one of the dog food brands most frequently mentioned by breeders and veterinary professionals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best dog food, rather that they may have partnerships with purina.
Purina also boasts that each recipe has been expertly formulated by a team of board certified veterinary nutritionists. They really are doing a lot to try and turn their reputation around.
Overall, Purina Pro Plan is a good choice for a dog food, especially when you’re on a budget.
These are some of the top 5 quality dog foods that are still affordable, but there are many more great options out there. What’s your dog’s favorite food? Share with us in the comments below!
