How to Buy the Best Dog Food

This guide’s original author, senior staff writer Kaitlyn Wells, used to run an independent pet food blog. And Kaitlyn interviewed multiple sources for this story—including the manufacturers of 16 pet food brands, from big kibble to fresh startups—to get information on how they formulate their food, their quality-control processes, and their nutritional research.

Mel Plaut, Wirecutter’s pets staff writer, did additional reporting for this guide. Mel interviewed four veterinarians—three of whom were board-certified veterinary nutritionists—to learn more about the specific nutritional requirements for puppies, as well as to update our knowledge of labeling standards, ingredients lists, and non-traditional diets (such as raw and grain-free diets).

During the course of reporting this story, we learned that most of the funding for pet-nutrition research is driven by the industry itself—and many board-certified veterinary nutritionists have worked with these companies in some capacity. Despite these relationships, none of the veterinary experts we spoke with steered us toward or endorsed a specific brand.

“There is no true gold standard for pet food,” admitted Darcia Kostiuk, senior veterinarian with Champion Petfoods (the parent company behind dog food brands Acana and Orijen), which itself is owned by Mars Petcare.

What’s good for a title-winning agility dog (video) might not be what the pooch on the sofa beside you needs. Like people, dogs are individuals with different activity levels, preferences, temperaments, and metabolisms. As long as you consult your vet and select a product that your dog enjoys eating, you’re well on your way to providing your pup with a great meal.

If your dog is healthy and happy with their current diet, there’s no need to make a change, said Joe Wakshlag, DVM, a veterinary nutritionist and professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. (Wakshlag also consults for Annamaet Pet Foods and The Farmer’s Dog.) But if you’re switching up your dog’s food for any reason, Wakshlag suggests trying different brands.

“I think when you play around with a few different foods, you start to find the one your dog responds to best,” he said. You should try the new food out for two to three months, to get a good idea of whether or not it agrees with your dog.

If you want to find out whether a particular brand of food is up to snuff for your pup—or whether that chic-looking new dog food spamming your Instagram feed is worth it—you’ll need to do a little homework before you head to the store.

Ask the company about its processes and research.

If you’re up to the task, you can call each company’s customer service and ask the questions suggested by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association. WSAVA provides guidelines (PDF) to help you find out whether a company employs a vet nutritionist; who is formulating its diets (for example, a pet food formulator with an advanced degree in pet nutrition); its quality-control process; and whether the company conducts any peer-reviewed product or nutritional research. (Note: There are roughly 100 credentialed vet nutritionists in the US, so it’s unlikely every pet food company has one employed full-time.)

If a company won’t answer these questions, WSAVA recommends using caution when trying that particular food. But before you give up on your favorite brand of dog food, do a little more digging because the company may have provided this information elsewhere.

Check your dog food brand against the Pet Nutrition Alliance’s evaluation report.

In recent years, the Pet Nutrition Alliance (a group of major veterinary organizations, including WSAVA) created the Pet Food Manufacturer Evaluation Report, an online tool that lets you easily compare brands without having to call each one. The PNA contacted the manufacturers of every food brand sold in North America and asked them three of WSAVA’s recommended questions. The report lists the answers that each manufacturer provided (or didn’t provide, as the case may be), making it much simpler for pet food shoppers to assess multiple brands.

The PNA tool allows you to set certain preferences. So if you want a dog food brand from a manufacturer that owns 100% of its manufacturing plants and employs a full-time nutritionist, you’ll find eight companies that satisfy these parameters, including the expected multi-brand conglomerates, such as Mars Petcare (which makes Pedigree and Royal Canin, among others) and Purina.

If you’re interested in supporting smaller dog food brands, you might set the tool to show companies that don’t own any manufacturing plants and that either employ or consult with animal nutritionists. This group includes a handful of companies, such as Annamaet Pet Foods (which has been operating since 1986) and Evermore Pet Food (which started in 2009).

Dig around on manufacturers’ websites.

If there’s a dog food brand you’re interested in, but the manufacturer either didn’t respond or declined to answer the PNA’s questions, you may still find some of this information online, though it usually takes some research. For example, Wellness Pet Food, which didn’t respond to the PNA survey, lists ingredient definitions on its website, and it has a page where it provides answers to WSAVA’s list of questions. You can also pose WSAVA’s questions to a company’s customer service representatives over the phone, though that has yielded mixed—if not downright frustrating—results for us in the past.

Standing in the dog food aisle and comparing everything from caloric content to serving sizes is enough to make your head spin. Don’t panic! Remember that, at the bare minimum, the FDA has labeling standards. Those standards include providing the name and address of the producer and listing ingredients in descending order by weight—just like the labeling on packaged foods for humans. Most states have also adopted labeling language that resembles the Model Regulations (PDF) of AAFCO (the Association of American Feed Control Officials). AAFCO is a nonprofit organization that provides nutrition standards, model label regulations, and other guidelines for state, federal, and international pet food regulators.

Every vet we spoke with said pet caretakers should always look for an AAFCO nutritional guarantee on the label of any pet food. Through their own agricultural departments, health departments, or feed regulators, most states in the US have adopted regulations based on AAFCO’s standards. (The FDA currently regulates ingredients and how pet food labels should appear, but not nutritional guarantees or adequacy.)

Look for complete and balanced diets.

“For the average dog owner, I would look to make sure that the diet is complete and balanced,” said Jonathan Stockman, DVM, a veterinary nutritionist and professor at Long Island University. (Stockman is also a consultant for Petco and has received research funding in the past from Royal Canin and Hills.) The best way to do that is to make sure the AAFCO statement—which divides pet food by species, life stage, and type of food—matches up to your dog. For example, feeding senior dogs a calorie-rich dog food designed for active puppies may cause them to gain weight (though sometimes that’s a good thing), and puppies need to have food designed specifically for growth. Also, although this should go without saying, do not feed cats dog food—they require different nutrients.

Seek proof that a formula is healthy and safe.

A dog food label should indicate whether a diet has been formulated to meet nutritional requirements; this is verified through laboratory analysis. If the manufacturer has also tested the formula through feeding trials, to show that the food is safe and effective, the label should indicate that as well.

When a diet has been formulated to meet nutritional needs but hasn’t gone through feeding trials, it simply means the manufacturer matched the ingredients with the appropriate nutritional requirements. Many of these foods are safe and healthy to feed your dog, especially if they’re from established companies with good track records.

While both methods meet AAFCO’s standards, “ideally, I want a diet that’s been formulated through feeding trials,” said Amy Nichelason, a veterinarian and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “That’s going to give you the highest level of information that the diet and the ingredients are safe in the long term for an animal.”

There’s a third way of substantiating a diet, where a label may “say that the product is very similar to a product that underwent feeding trials and was shown to sustain an animal in that specific life stage,” Stockman said. Because feeding trials are so expensive, a company might use this method for a food that varies only slightly from another food—in flavor, for example.

Treats, toppers, and prescription foods won’t have AAFCO statements—and that’s okay.

If the food doesn’t have an AAFCO statement on the label, check for a phrase that mentions the dog food is only “intended for supplemental feeding.” This typically means that the food should be used only as a treat, a topper, or a mix-in.

These items can supplement your dog’s regular meals. But even though they may have some nutritional information on the label or come in a traditional pet food can, these supplemental foods are not intended to be a pup’s main source of nutrition. A dog’s regular food should make up 90% of their diet, and these special treats can account for the rest.

Another case in which a food may not have the AAFCO statement is when it’s available by prescription only. For example, a vet may recommend a vegetarian diet to help your dog manage a medical condition, and they may prescribe a specialty food that’s not be considered “complete and balanced” by AAFCO.

For an ingredient to make it into a product’s name, the food needs to contain a certain percentage of the ingredient—but there are caveats.

Don’t get duped into thinking that something called “Dog Food with Chicken” is jam-packed with poultry. AAFCO rules dictate how pet food ingredients can be listed in the product name. If there are multiple ingredients in the title, they must be listed in order of predominance, just as they are in the ingredients list. And though certain percentages of ingredients are required for those items to even make it into a food’s name, they vary greatly—from 3% to 95%. It’s good to know the naming rules (and always check the ingredients list!).

A brand could even have, say, deboned chicken as its number one ingredient, but “it’s kind of like this whole smoke and mirrors Wizard of Oz stuff. Don’t pull back the curtain,” Joe Wakshlag said. “If I dried it all down and made it into astronaut food, that chicken would not really be the number one ingredient,” he explained.

The 95% rule: If a dog food is simply named “[Ingredients] Dog Food,” then 95% of the product must be the named ingredients, excluding extra water added for processing. (Counting the added water, the ingredient will make up 70% of the total.) If a product is called “Beef ’n Liver Dog Food,” the first two ingredients must be beef and liver, respectively, not liver and beef, and they must make up 95% of the product.

The 25% rule (or the “dinner” rule): If a dog food has the term “dinner” in the title, the food can contain as little as 25% of the titular ingredient (or 10%, when not including the added water).

In fact, any product name that includes terms like “dinner,” “entrée,” “formula,” “nuggets,” or “platter” follows this rule. If a product has multiple ingredients that are also listed in the product name, the titular ingredients need to make up just 25% when combined. And any of those named ingredients can account for as little as 3% individually. So something called “Beef ’n Liver Formula Dog Food” might contain only 3% liver and 22% beef.

Because they need to account for just 25% of the total, the ingredients listed in the product name are often not the ingredients that make up the bulk of the food. For example, you’d think that the top three ingredients in Eukanuba Adult Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Dinner Canned Dog Food would be chicken, rice, and vegetables. But the first three ingredients listed are water, chicken, and pork by-products.

This “dinner rule” leaves plenty of room for other ingredients to hide. Therefore it’s a good idea to read the label carefully so you’re not unknowingly buying something with ingredients that your dog doesn’t like or is allergic to.

The 3% rule (or the “with” rule): If a dog food’s name contains the word “with,” the food needs to contain only 3% of that named ingredient. So something called “Dog Food with Chicken” likely contains very little chicken. For instance, although the packaging for Purina Dog Chow High Protein Recipe with Real Lamb & Beef Flavor Dry Dog Food shows a lamb chop and a large cut of beef, the food contains a lot less beef and lamb than shoppers are led to believe. The first—and only—mention of beef is fifth on the ingredients list, appearing as “beef fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols.” The eighth item on the ingredients list is, simply, “lamb.”

Don’t fixate too much on the “guaranteed analysis” section.

AAFCO requires a label’s guaranteed analysis section to provide the percentage of crude protein, fat, fiber, and moisture content. But it guarantees only the minimum amounts of protein and fat, and the maximum amounts of fiber and moisture, notes Lisa M. Freeman, veterinary nutritionist at Tufts University, who has written about this section of the label for the school’s Petfoodology blog. Since there can be a lot of variation between what is listed and what might actually be in a product, the guaranteed analysis section is “fairly useless as a way to compare pet foods or judge the nutrient levels of an individual food,” she writes.

So if your vet tells you that your dog needs to up their moisture intake, for example, and you’re comparing a few different products, consider calling the manufacturers to confirm the amounts, rather than just referencing the guaranteed analysis section.

Don’t be alarmed by some unappetizing ingredients listed on a label.

Here’s what to know about some of the ingredients you might see:

• Meat by-products and meal: “Meat by-product” can include mammal organs, bone, and fatty tissue. “Meat meal” is any mammal tissue, with some exclusions. This is cooked and pulverized into a meal or powder-like substance for pet food. No matter how yucky that sounds to you, “meat and bone meal are concentrated essential amino acids, calcium, and phosphorus, which help your dog maintain lean muscles, as well as strong teeth and bones,” said Rachel Beck, a certified vet tech and director of Veterinary Technician Programs at Banfield Pet Hospital. (Banfield is owned by Mars Petcare.)
• Animal fat and vegetable fat: These add flavor, energy, and nutrients, like omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, to pet food.
• Plant ingredients: Items like barley, corn, rice, and wheat add energy, carbohydrates, and fiber to pet food. Gums from seeds and plants help the food retain its shape or texture.
• Additives, preservatives, thickeners, and emulsifiers: These chemical-sounding names must meet the FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe rule or be approved as food additives for their intended uses.

The amount of food your dog needs to maintain a healthy weight varies both by pet and by packaging. First, read the label carefully, since even the same line of food within a brand can have different serving requirements.

Next, always measure your dog’s food. Simply eyeballing it can contribute to pet obesity, noted Dr. Jerry Klein, American Kennel Club’s chief veterinary officer. “Feeding instructions are so highly variable on the bag that most people will just go and say, ‘Okay, well I’ll feed the highest amount in the weight group based on this puppy.’ And that leads to obesity too, because most dogs should be fed at the lower half of that range probably,” Joe Wakshlag said.

Your vet can offer more-personalized advice based on your dog’s activity level, age, breed, and size. They’ll also examine your pet and tell you whether the animal is over- or underweight. This body composition chart, from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), can help you determine whether your dog is at a healthy weight.

Puppies have higher nutritional requirements than average healthy adult dogs, so their food should be specifically “designed for that early period while the animal is growing,” veterinarian Amy Nichelason said. When you’re shopping for puppy food, you should look for food with an AAFCO statement that says it’s appropriate either for “growth” or for “all life stages,” which includes puppyhood.

“Because they are growing very quickly and they have a very high nutritional need, puppy foods are going to be diets that are higher in fat and protein to compensate for that growth and development. They’re going to usually be higher than an adult food in calcium. They’re going to have very specific calcium phosphorus ratios to really focus on bone and tooth development,” Nichelason explained.

Large- and giant-breed puppies have different nutritional needs from those of miniature and toy breeds.

If you have a large- or giant-breed dog, like a mastiff or a Great Dane, the AAFCO statement should indicate clearly that the food was formulated for growth, including for puppies whose adult weight will be 70 pounds or more.

These larger breeds “undergo a pretty rapid growth rate for the first six to eight months, and then it kind of tapers off for the next six-ish months,” said Lisa Weeth, a veterinary nutritionist in private practice. (Weeth also sits on the veterinary advisory council for Freshpet, has previously been a paid lecturer for various pet food companies, and has worked with the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, Mars Petcare’s research arm.) “And if the nutrients aren’t right, you can get an abnormal growth rate,” Weeth added. The bones, joints, muscles, and tendons develop at different speeds. If they’re fed the wrong diet, large- and giant-breed puppies run the risk of developing joint problems and diseases that can last for the rest of their lives.

On the flip side, miniature and toy dogs need foods with more carbohydrates. These dogs have small livers that can’t produce enough glucose to maintain an appropriate blood sugar level, so they benefit from the easy calories that carbohydrates provide. “I would never do a high-protein, low-carb diet for a puppy in general,” Weeth said. “But you definitely don’t want to do that for a small- or a toy-breed puppy, because they may not be able to maintain their blood sugar levels.”

Steer clear of trendy, less established diets until your puppy is fully grown.

As for newer, so-called non-traditional diets—including raw, grain-free, homemade, and vegan/vegetarian diets—it’s best to leave those on the shelf during puppyhood. “Unless there’s a medical reason not to feed one of the established puppy foods, I generally discourage people from following diet trends during growth,” Weeth said. All of the vets we spoke with recommend letting your puppy reach its full adult size and weight before transitioning to adult food and before experimenting with non-traditional diets.

Ultimately, “the most important thing is that the diet is complete and balanced for the pet, and that it’s safe for the pet,” veterinary nutritionist Jonathan Stockman said. And, of course, you should always consult with your vet on what’s best for your puppy.

The short answer is no. Grain-free prepared foods might contain potatoes or legumes (beans, lentils, or peas) as a carbohydrate source, rather than the corn, oats, rice, or wheat found in many pet foods. These diets were the subject of controversy when, in 2018, the FDA announced an investigation into a possible link between grain-free pet food and a form of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

More-recent research has found a possible association between DCM cases and a high concentration of pulses (such as peas, lentils, and other non-soy legumes) in certain dog foods, regardless of the presence or absence of grains. But while pulses appear on the ingredients lists of both grain-free and grain-containing diets, they are usually found in a greater proportion in grain-free diets, which might explain the initial alarm surrounding them.

The FDA addressed this association in a report, updated in July 2023, that said, “Most of the diets associated with reports of non-hereditary DCM have non-soy legumes and pulses (e.g., peas, lentils, etc.) high in their ingredient lists.”

These ingredients have been used in dog food for years, so you don’t need to avoid them altogether. But Amy Nichelason suggested steering away from diets that have non-soy pulses in the first 10 or so ingredients—regardless of whether or not the food is grain-free—out of an abundance of caution.

Some dog companions might be attracted to the perceived benefits of a raw-food diet for their pups, but it might not be safe for your pooch. What’s more, raw dog food in your home might also make you sick. The CDC, the FDA, and the majority of the animal nutrition community have all deemed raw-meat-based diets unsafe or a concerning public health risk, citing the potential for contamination and nutritional concerns.

Neither homemade raw diets nor those made commercially are perfectly safe.

“We have several types of raw diet. If it’s raw homemade, then there’s a very high likelihood that the diet is not going to be balanced,” said veterinary nutritionist Jonathan Stockman. “And in addition to that, the raw meat can be a source of pathogens, so infectious organisms can be introduced to the pet and also to the people in the household,” he explained. Some commercial raw diets would be considered complete and balanced if they carried the appropriate AAFCO statement. But they may still pose a risk for pathogen contamination. These foods may also be a vehicle of antibiotic resistance in humans.

Some new processing techniques make raw food safer, but they’re not perfect (yet).

Some commercial raw-food manufacturers are employing new methods, such as high-pressure pasteurization, to manage bacterial growth and eliminate potential pathogens. “If an owner is very gung ho, very adamant that they would only feed raw, I would try to steer them toward one of these products that is at least high-pressure pasteurized. But there isn’t any benefit to the animal,” Stockman said. “I generally try to discourage it,” he added.

Besides, some bacteria are resistant to high-pressure pasteurization. And the process itself can have negative impacts, such as eliminating beneficial bacteria and altering a food’s nutritional content, leading some to question whether the food can even be considered “raw” at that point.

Most veterinary organizations recommend caution.

Several notable organizations—including the American Animal Hospital Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (PDF)—don’t support raw-meat-based diets. They cite the high risk of contamination and a lack of evidence supporting the health benefits of any raw-food-based diet (including commercial meals) over traditional pet food.

“Dogs have been eating cooked food as long as we’ve been eating cooked food, and they’ve been evolving with us. They don’t really need a raw-food diet,” Nichelason said.

Vegan and vegetarian prepared foods are specialized diets that are often popular among pet caretakers who are vegan themselves. All of the veterinary nutritionists we spoke with said that as long as a vegan or vegetarian food has an AAFCO statement—which assures that the diet will be complete and balanced—it’s fine for your adult dog. The AAFCO statement ensures that the manufacturer has added in the appropriate balance of amino acids, and other nutrients a dog needs, which aren’t usually found in plant-based proteins.

We recommend consulting a board-certified veterinary nutritionist or a veterinarian with an understanding of nutritional health, to make sure your dog is a good candidate for a vegan or vegetarian diet.

It’s worth paying attention to pet food recalls, to ensure that your pet doesn’t get sick. Although recalls can be concerning, you don’t have to permanently write off a brand you generally trust based on one report. Recalls can affect both boutique brands and huge conglomerates, for problems such as elevated mineral levels, salmonella contamination, or incorrect compliance guidelines.

If your dog’s favorite brand is recalled, don’t panic. Just stop feeding the food to your dog, return it to the store or manufacturer for a refund, and watch for any signs that your dog might be sick. You can always ensure that your dog’s food is safe by checking the FDA’s dog food recall history. If your pet food hasn’t been recalled but your dog develops digestive upset, or you spot moldy kibble in the bowl, you can—and should—report this to the FDA. Consult its How to Report a Pet Food Complaint page.

At Wirecutter, we always check for conflicts of interest between our expert sources and companies. But for this story, it was a unique challenge due to the close relationship between veterinary nutrition researchers and pet food manufacturers. Our experts noted that most of the research is industry-driven, and veterinary nutritionists have few other options for funding.

Many board-certified veterinary nutritionists have relationships with pet food companies, whether that’s as full-time staff, part-time consultants, sponsored speakers, funding recipients, or even through endowed professorships.

“There’s a collaborative relationship between veterinary nutritionists and pet food companies, and part of it is, if you’re doing research, if you’re wanting to do a residency in nutrition, that all costs money. And so who pays for that?” said Lisa Weeth, one of the veterinary nutritionists we spoke to.

“It’s not like the government goes out and says, I need to spend tons of money through the National Institutes of Health on the proper diet for a dog,” said veterinary nutritionist Joe Wakshlag, who consults for several pet food brands.

This article was edited by Joshua Lyon and Harry Sawyers.