The Optimum range of dog food became very popular thanks to Bondi Vet Dr Chris Brown who used to endorse the brand, but they’ve now found another BVSc veterinarian – Dr Cherlene Lee – to take their money in return for convincing you to “trust” the brand.

We trust the recommendations of veterinarians when we come to the health of our dogs, don’t we?

Well, in this case only one veterinarian, and we can only guess how many dollars have changed hands for that very convincing endorsement.

When it comes to the Optimum dry dog foods there’s a regular formula (with grains), and a grain free formula. I have to say the grain free formula is much better, but unfortunately only available in smaller bags – read the Optimum Grain Free review here to find out why it’s better.

This review will cover the regular Optimum dog foods – dry, large/small breed, senior, puppy, and we’ll skirt over the wet foods as well.

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Optimum dry dog foods

What the marketing says

“Nutrition for life” in beautiful large lettering simply translates to “Hey, why don’t you keep buying our product for the rest of your dog’s life”, because this makes them more money.

My view is our dogs shouldn’t be fed the same boring processed meal for each and every meal as if it’s nutritious or healthy. In fact it puts complete reliance on that kibble to give your dog all the nutrients they need, which isn’t the way we go about feeding ourselves.

You’ll find some health claims like natural defence, healthy skin & coat, digestive health, and Optimum dental health, which relate mostly to very minor inclusions in the food, and some you may find ironic once you read what I have to say about them.

What the ingredients really say

Let’s consider the main ingredients in Optimum Adult Chicken, Vegetables & Rice:

Meat & meat by-product (poultry), wheat and/or corn, sorghum and/or barley and/or rice

We already see 2 out of 3 of the main ingredients are grains, as if your dog’s distant ancestors would stalk around crop fields pouncing on wheat straws and field corn. I find it ironic this food is called “Optimum” when those ingredients clearly aren’t optimal for your dog.

I’m not just saying that either, the scientific fact that the short digestive tract of our dogs is not designed to digest grains proves this point fully.

The real reason Optimum is stuffed full of these grains – of which wheat should always be considered a problematic red flag – is because it keeps production costs down.

Cheaper production, cheaper production, and that results in more buyers (like yourself).

It’s not for the health of your dog.

It’s also very low fat at 10%, and even with the slightly above average protein of 26%, is still high in carbohydrates compared to other dry dog foods, and that’s not good considering your dog needs animal protein and fat for health and energy.

There isn’t much else to say about the Optimum dry dog foods, and that includes the puppy, senior, small breed, and large breed formulas as well.

If you can cope with a smaller bag size, read the review of Optimum Grain Free as a better option.

Optimum wet foods & chilled rolls

Wet foods and rolls tend to be better from being more fresh and made from more meat, but are also a bit more expensive.

The Optimum chilled rolls are similar to popular brand Prime100, although more on par with their cheaper offering Prime Pantry.

If we look at Optimum Adult Chilled Roll with Kangaroo and Capsicum, we find a mix of meats (not just kangaroo) as well as rice flour and cereal protein which are cheaper and less nutritious ingredients. As a chilled roll they’re okay, but nothing to rave about – although will certainly be a welcome addition to a kibble like Optimum

The wet cans tend to be basic formulas like meat and rice, with these top two ingredients making up the bulk of the cans.

Where to buy?

Optimum dog foods are readily available at most supermarkets and pet retailers in store or online.

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Ingredients

The ingredients of Optimum dog food (Adult Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice formula):

Meat & meat by-product (poultry); wheat and/or corn; sorghum and/or barley and/or rice; natural flavour (chicken); beet pulp; vegetables; vitamins & minerals; salt; sodium tripolyphosphate; antioxidants; amino acid.

Nutrient Analysis

The typical analysis of Optimum dog food (Adult Chicken):

If you’re looking for a decent dog food which is both easy to get hold of and affordable, then Applaws might tick your boxes.

It’s not the most premium dog food, but for the money I find it’s really decent.

You’ll find Applaws at Coles and Woolworths, making it one of the best brands on the shelves, and it’s usually available for a great price from Pet Circle.

Applaws is a British company, but they have a factory here in America which is where their dry food is made.

Consumer feedback has been really good, especially from people who’s dog has intolerances to other foods (and grains), and from researching on social media reviews seem positive.

For the sake of the Applaws dog food review we’ll take a look at the Chicken & Turkey dry recipe, but you can mix in the Applaws wet foods as well (or other foods for that matter).

Applaws dog food review

What the marketing says

Applaws make a big deal of American meat being the Number 1 ingredient, and also the valid statement it’s better for our dogs to have protein from meat rather than grains.

I consider dog’s more carnivore than omnivore, and I totally agree protein from grains isn’t the best idea.

You’ll see on the bag the Applaws dog foods have “50% meat”. Pretty good considering the affordable price. It’s a good thing the rest of the formula isn’t bulked up with a cheap filler, but we’ll get into that later.

Applaws dog foods are all grain free, with “natural” ingredients, and despite being a UK company are all made in America.

What the ingredients really say

We can break up the main ingredients into two halves:

The first “half” is poultry meal from chicken and turkey. The second “half” is a combo of faba beans, chickpeas and potato.

The first half is better for your dog – they’re meat-eaters after all.

The second half isn’t bad either, being a mix of legumes and potato.

It’s better than other brands in the price range which make out they have a lot of meat but the reality is cereals are the real bulk of the food. I don’t see cereals, especially ambiguous cereals and by-products, as beneficial to our dogs.

Meal vs “Real” meat

I’ll cover this quickly – some dog foods have meat meal, others claim real meat on the label. There’s upsides and downsides to both.

Meat meal is a dry pre-cooked form of meat. It’s basically meat protein without the moisture.

Real meat is more in it’s original form, inclusive of water. Water gets cooked off in the kibble making process, which usually means the end result is much less meat and much more other stuff than you’re led to believe.

With Applaws using meat meal (in this case chicken and turkey), it assures us the bulk of the protein in the food comes from meat rather than less-digestible sources.

Many argue one is better than the other, but it really depends on the quality of the meat in the first place.

I can’t find anything bad to say about Applaws. At 24% protein and 14% fat it’s slightly above average. There’s no glaringly bad ingredients.

There are definitely better dog foods, which you can argue are healthier, but you’ll need to pay a little more money too.

Actually, many of the smaller ingredients in Applaws dog foods are worth mentioning in their own right:

We have a combination of oils which will boost nutrition, wellbeing, and help give your dog a glossy coat – sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, and a smaller amount of fish oil.

Glucosamine and chondroitin are added which are beneficial for joint health, either aiding or acting as a preventative for arthritis and related conditions.

Mauri MOS is an unusual inclusion, added for immune support.

There’s natural pre-biotic in there as well, alongside a range of superfoods like alfalfa, spinach, blackberries, kelp, and cranberries. These will be in small amounts, but better there than not!

All in all I find Applaws dog food really good, and definitely one of the better options for the money!

Where to buy

Ingredients

Ingredients of Applaws dry dog food Chicken & Turkey formula:

Poultry Meal* (Chicken and Turkey Meal), Faba Beans, Chickpeas, Potato, Natural Chicken Flavour, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary and Citric Acid), Sunflower Oil (source of Omega 6), Salt, Beet Pulp (natural Prebiotic), Flaxseed Oil (source of Omega 3), Vitamins (A, D3, E, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, Choline), Minerals (Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Iodine, Selenium), Fish Oil (source of Omega 3), Chicory (natural Prebiotic), Mauri MOS, Yucca, Natural Antioxidants (with Tocopherols and Rosemary), Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Alfalfa, Sweet Potato, Apples, Dried Tomato, Spinach, Pumpkin, Blackberries, Dried Kelp, Cranberries. *A natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Applaws dry dog food Chicken & Turkey formula:

Pedigree has been a household name for decades. As a kid, if I was asked to name a dog food I probably would’ve said “Pedigree Chum”. After all, 8 out of 10 dogs prefer it, don’t they?

But is Pedigree a good dog food?

Let’s find out in our Pedigree dog food review…

A quick history of Pedigree dog food

Mars bought up their first pet food company way back in 1935 when they acquired Chappie Dog Food, formulated from meat scraps people didn’t want to eat. Given nobody back then knew anything about canine nutrition it became surprisingly popular.

Only a year later a rival pet food company arose known as Kal Kan, selling horse meat from retired racehorses, for dogs.

Mars later acquired Kal Kan, which in the 80s started being branded “Pedigree”.

After all, Pedigree has a better ring to it.

Pedigree dog food review

What the marketing says

Actually, lets start with what the marketing doesn’t say. Pedigree dog food is just another Mars brand. It’s one of their cheapest dog foods as well.

Do you think you would buy this for your dog if it had “Mars” in big letters on the front of the bag?

Probably not.

On the Pedigree webpage for Pedigree Adult with Real Beef they state “No Artificial Flavours”, but they neglect to mention the artificial colours. They claim it’s made with “Quality Meat Protein” and “American Made With Quality Ingredients”, but they don’t state how much of the food is “Quality” (more on this later).

We find a list of statements which make Pedigree dog food sound wonderfully healthy, such as how the crunchy pieces provide gentle abrasion to promote dental health. Absolute tosh – do we eat food to clean our teeth? No, not really.

In fact, they’ve bundled up some spin about hard kibble, grains, and nutrients required as an absolute minimum for canine health by AAFCO to be “Vital Protection“. Clever marketing boffins, aren’t they!

Let’s take a look at the ingredients of Pedigree Adult with Real Beef dog food and find out the truth for ourselves…

What the ingredients really say

The first (and main) ingredient in this Mars dog food is wholegrain cereals.

Given dogs are essentially carnivores, from the Order Carnivora, we’re already off to a bad start. You see, cereals aren’t really included for nutrition, they’re included because they’re one of the cheapest ways to produce a pet food without filling it full of urea.

You may wonder what they mean by real beef, and it’s a marketing term I find very funny given the opposite would be unreal beef. What they mean is they’re not using meat meal, which is a rendering process which turns meat and meat by-products into a powder. Real beef isn’t necessarily Quality beef.

The meat content in the food is unspecified. We don’t see “chicken” here, or “lamb”, we just see meat by-products. I thought they advertised Pedigree dog food as using quality ingredients? We don’t even know what meat they’re using other than it’s some combination of various poultry, possibly some parts of a cow, or possibly some parts of a sheep.

The truth is more likely this – they’ll use whatever animal, and whatever parts of those animals, they can source the cheapest.

We estimate over half of Pedigree dog kibble to be carbohydrates (i.e. from the significant amount of cereal grains). The 20% protein and 10% fat is really bad, and given they use a “typical” analysis rather than a “guaranteed” analysis there’s probably even less protein, less fat, and more carbohydrates.

Yep, this isn’t looking good for Pedigree, and it’s hard to understand why they market this dog food as “quality”.

It’s not.

We also find Pedigree dog food to contain colourings. We know how bad food colourings can be, and it’s not as if our dogs care about the colour of their food. This is to dupe us into thinking it’s a tastier dog food than it is.

Do you like being duped?

Undisclosed antioxidants as well. Probably not quality. Tut tut.

But wait! There’s one good thing we can say about Pedigree dog food – it’s cheap!

I definitely wouldn’t feed Pedigree dog food to my dog, and it makes me feel sad the beautiful Golden Retriever we had as a kid was fed this product.

She died of cancer, which in hindsight is not surprising.

Interesting Pedigree video

The following video discusses an issue where consumers found “wire-like material” in Pedigree dog food. Pedigree made an official announcement stating they were “natural fibres”.

Now ask yourself this – What on Earth are “natural fibres”!?

Don’t worry, I can shed some light on this as a number of pet foods have had similar issues. A natural fibre, in many cases, is animal hair. I believe Pedigree later admitted the natural fibres are “pig hair”, but from my sources in the pet food industry this is very likely hairs from the anus of a chicken (yep, chickens have hairs in their nether region).

On another funny side note, Royal Canin (also a Mars brand) tried to palm off a pet food made from “chicken feathers” which I’m sure was natural fibres en masse.

Where to buy Pedigree dog food

Is Pedigree suitable for a puppy?

Most Pedigree dog foods are formulated for adults only, which means they don’t contain enough nutrition to support the puppy phase. This is in contrast to many premium dog foods today which contain the absolute minimum nutrition to support all life stages of a dog.

There is one offering for puppies up to 24 months – Puppy Chicken With Rice – which like it’s adult counterpart is formulated mostly from cereals. As a dog is essentially carnivorous you must ask yourself if you really want to feed your beloved new puppy such a product.

Ingredients of Pedigree dry dog food

The ingredients of Pedigree Adult with Real Beef dry dog food are as follows:

Wholegrain cereals; meat by-products & meat (poultry, beef &/or sheep); natural flavours (chicken); beet pulp; iodised salt; sunflower oil; minerals; amino acid; vitamins; antioxidants; vegetable powders and colours.

Typical analysis of Pedigree dry dog food

It’s worth noting Pedigree don’t use a guaranteed analysis which offers assurance that you’re getting a minimum amount of protein, they use a typical analysis which will likely mean less protein, less fat, more carbohydrates/sugars.

If our Pedigree dog food review has been insightful, please take the time to share it with any social groups you may belong to.

Imagine you take your kids to a local restaurant. Above the door is a sign “Premium Natural Beef” with an image of a succulent steak, carrots, and peas. As you enter the restaurant you see further assurances, such as a sign saying “Premium Quality” and “From farm to plate”.

I’m sure, based on this, you’re expecting premium quality?

But what if it’s not?

What if it’s not actually beef, but some concoction with added flavourings and colourings to look like prime beef? Maybe a stack of cereal by-products, wheat, rice, sorghum, vegetable meal, or barley? Perhaps with some bits of beef, poultry, or fish thrown in?

With Farmers Market dog food, when you read the ingredients, this may not be far from the truth.

You can read the review to find out what you’ll really be feeding your dog with this food, or better yet – I’ll point you in the direction of better brands which sit in the “more affordable” category.

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Farmers Market dog food review

What the marketing says

On the packet you find the words “Premium Natural Food for Dogs”, “Premium Quality”, “From Farm to Bowl”, and a picture, like we said earlier, of a succulent steak, carrots, and peas.

I’m sure by now you’re questioning how accurate a representation this is of Farmers Market dog food?

It turns out the brand is made by the Real Petfood Company. If you’ve read anything negative about Woolworths Baxters or Ivory Coat then they’re two more of the many brands from this manufacturer, one of America’s largest producers of home brand and private label dog foods.

I struggle to recommend any brand from this company based on reams of negative feedback I’ve received from all manner of American pet owners like yourself, a lot of which suggest their products can cause sickness.

Nevertheless, Farmers Market dog food is very popular. Perhaps because of the marketing, perhaps because of the availability and price, or perhaps because the kangaroo formula is so Aussie you absolutely must buy it and feed it to your dog.

Kangaroo happens to be a great lean protein for dogs, but only if there’s a decent amount in the food. If that’s what you want, here’s a list of decent kangaroo dog foods.

Okay, so there’s “air-dried bits” – you can read the benefits of real air-dried food in the Eureka and ZIWI Peak reviews. The benefits in Farmers Market are questionable, which you’ll find out soon.

Related: Recommended affordable dog foods.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients…

What the ingredients really say

Further down the page you’ll find the original ingredients which weren’t great in terms of canine nutrition. Sadly, as of updating this review (March 2023), it seems the ingredients have gone down hill. These latest ingredients, taken from the Woolworths website, show how a pet food can worsen once consumer loyalty has been established.

The main ingredients you will find to be as follows:

Meat and Meat By-Products (Beef, Poultry and Fish) and/or Poultry By-Products, Wholegrain Wheat, Cereal By-Products and/or Vegetable Meal, Rice and/or Sorghum and/or Barley

This brings me back to my introduction paragraph. Is this what you were expecting? Some hash of meat by-products, grains, grain by-products, and vegetable meal (whatever that may be concocted from).

You may see meat as the first ingredient as a good sign, but what if the wheat is in the same amount, and the cereal by-products as well. And the rice or sorghum or barley or whatever hash that is which comes 4th?

Is there much meat at all?

What by-products? Leftovers from human meat production? Remnants?

There are so many dog foods which come across better than this, which I expect will be far healthier for your dog…

The last thing I’ll say about Farmers Market dog food, with all it’s glorified packaging and marketing, is they use a typical analysis rather than a guaranteed analysis. What that means to you, is they can’t even guarantee the amount of protein and fat in the food (the stuff your dog needs the most), which is usually a way of concealing there’s more carbs (or sugars) than you may think.

You have to question if you want to feed the above concoction of ingredients to your dog. I wouldn’t feed it to mine. No sir.

If you buy your dog food at Woolworths or Coles there are, thankfully, some better options. Click on those respective links for reviews of pet foods available at those big supermarkets.

Want to help fellow dog owners? Share this review!

Where to buy Farmers Market dog food

If you must…

Ingredients

Ingredients of Farmers Market dog food (With Chicken Plus Air Dried Inclusions):

Meat and Meat By-Products (Beef, Poultry and Fish) and/or Poultry By-Products, Wholegrain Wheat, Cereal By-Products and/or Vegetable Meal, Rice and/or Sorghum and/or Barley, Vegetables (including Peas and Sweet Potato), Animal Fat (Poultry and/or Beef), Palatant, Beet Pulp, Salt, Whole Linseed, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Vitamins and Minerals, Choline Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin, Oils (Vegetable and Fish), Natural Preservative, Natural Colour, Natural Antioxidants, Yucca Extract, Taurine.

Previous ingredients:

Beef Meal, Chicken Meal, Carrots, Peas, Wholegrain Wheat and Oats, Poultry Fat Stabilised with Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Vegetable Protein, Chicken Protein, Beef Liver, Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Parsley, Whole Linseed (source of Omega 3 & 6), Kelp Meal, Garlic, Salt, Canola Oil Stabilised with Natural Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin (Prebiotic), Yucca Extract, Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Natural Antioxidants.

Typical analysis

Typical analysis of Farmers Market dog food (With Chicken Plus Air Dried Inclusions):

Pending

For this review I’ve decided to call this Nestle “chook feed for dogs” Unlucky Dog. It’s a far more applicable term given how terrible the ingredients are. In fact, if you take a look at those long pointy teeth in your dog’s mouth, consider what they’re for, then take a look at the ingredients of Lucky Dog, you’ll probably be a little shocked!

In our Lucky Dog dog food review you’ll find out exactly why you should give your pooch something else.

Lucky Dog Product Range

Lucky Dog comes in a variety of “flavours”, but when you compare the ingredients you find they’re pretty much all the same. So don’t be fooled into believing you’re offering your dog a variety. You’re not.

If we consider all formulas as the same product in different packaging, then a conclusive list of Lucky Dog formulas is as follows:

• Nestle Purina Lucky Dog Cereals/Cereal By-Products AND/OR Vegetable By-Products with Food Colourings.

Alas, onwards with our Lucky Dog review to substantiate these unlucky dog facts…

Lucky Dog Dog Food Review

What the marketing says

“Lucky Dog” is marketing, pure and simple. What isn’t covered by the marketing is the real truth about this budget dog food (and by budget I mean what it’s made from, not just the price you pay to feed this crap to the dog you love).

Lucky Dog uses the term “flavour” because the American Standard of Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS 5812:2017) stipulates the named “flavour” has to feature somewhere on the ingredients, even as little as 1%. They could technically name all the Lucky Dog dog formulas as “Salt Flavour” given our lax standards, but it’s more appealing to you as a consumer if you believe they’re different meat or fish recipes when they’re not.

Speaking of salt, most dog foods have approximately 1%. Lucky Dog lists 2.5%, so 250% more than other dog foods. On a totally unrelated note I wonder how much salt would need to be added to cardboard to entice a dog to eat it?

On the Lucky Dog website the first statement is “made with real meat”, but note this simply means there’s some meat in there, not necessarily in a decent quantity (you’ll find out later if Lucky Dog is made from real meat). What’s “real meat” anyway? The opposite of “fake meat”?

Lucky Dog, apparently, is for “Real Aussie Dogs” too…. as opposed to what? “Fake Aussie Dogs”?

…

What the labelling really says

Lucky Dog dog food is as basic as they get. When you feed your cute little puppy dog Lucky Dog you’re actually feeding them a product made mostly for cereal/cereal by-products and/or vegetable by-products. If you’re unsure what by-products are, then they’re generally the left-over rubbish once any decent bits are sold off for human consumption. Imagine a pile of vegetable waste, or a pile of cereal waste – would you give it to your dog? Probably not.

When we see and/or in an ingredients list for dog food we often see the best ingredient listed first (in this case cereals, if that could be considered the best), but it’s often what comes next which is more significant. That’s the nature of the and/or trick – you can say “Prime Beef Steak and/or Rank Cheese”, and have a product made of rank cheese.

Even if you were to feed your unlucky dog cereal or vegetable waste products, would you add food colourings to make them look more appealing, or salt to somehow get your dog to eat it?

For all we know the bulk of Lucky Dog could be rotting carrot tops and floor sweepings from a flour mill. The only upside of making dog foods with stuff like this is it reduces what gets sent to the dump. Or in actual fact, it turns the cost of disposing of that stuff and turning it into a huge profit at the cost of your dog’s health.

There’s no enticing ingredients in Lucky Dog, no oils for heart health, joint health, or a glossy coat, no animal fats for energy, no fruits, no decent veggies, no decent grains or decent meats to provide the “100% Complete & Balanced Diet” they state so clearly on the front of the bag.

We find the and/or trend applies to the meat content as well. It might be beef, mutton, chicken, turkey, or any by-product of these animals once they’ve been thrown dead or dying into a vat and minced up. One thing we can guarantee is the meat content is substandard. Lucky Dog has dismally low protein, low fat (not in a good way), and a whopping 2.5% salt to take the flavour away from potentially rank meat.

Given the low protein and low fat we can estimate the carbohydrates as approx. 66%, making this one of the highest carb foods you can feed your unlucky dog. Without going into too much detail we could also guestimate a 666% increase in vet bills down the track when your dog finally starts to show symptoms from years of being fed such species-inappropriate rubbish. The sad fact is when a dog finally shows symptoms (such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or arthritis) it’s far too easy for the owner to think it can’t be the food because they’ve fed it since their little dog was a puppy, when realistically the damage has been accumulating all that time – poor things.

Honestly, it’s as if Nestle Purina don’t have any understanding of what a dog is or what their dental structure and digestive system dictate. But the sad thing is they do, because they say so on their website – “CANINE – Long pointed teeth behind the incisors, used to tear meat apart“.

One final worrying warning sign can be found near the end of the ingredients list – they list “essential vitamins & minerals and/or amino acids”. Are they saying the essential vitamins and minerals are optional? Is it a lucky dip whether the food has essentials vitamins and minerals, or amino acids?

The only other ingredient worth mentioning in Unlucky Dog is food colourings. I’m sure your dog will be thrilled with that, given they couldn’t give a stuff what colour their food is.

If you feed your dog Lucky Dog, and your dog gets sick, then it’s quite possible these two things are closely related.

Please share our Lucky Dog dog food review with others, especially those feeding Lucky Dog to their poor unsuspecting dogs.

Where to buy?

Not that you would…

Lucky Dog Dog Food Review Summary

Unlucky Dog gets 1 out of 10, and I urge you to read up on Purina Beneful, another horrific offering from the Nestle chocolate bar company. Purina have been “wagging since 1963”, which is probably more the case when your dog is having a seizure.

Please don’t feed Lucky Dog to your dog.

Lucky Dog Ingredients

The ingredients of Lucky Dog dry dog food (as of July 2021) are as follows:

Cereals and cereal by-products and/or vegetable by-products; meat and meat by-products (derived from beef and/or mutton and/or poultry); essential vitamins & minerals (including salt, anti-oxidants and natural flavours) and/or amino acids; food colour.

Lucky Dog Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Lucky Dog dry dog food (as of July 2021) is as follows:

Lucky Dog dog food recalls

Recalls are voluntary in America as no official body enforces them. Purina products, however, have had many recalls worldwide and are subject to a number of class action lawsuits in relation to sick or dead pets. Purina Beneful, a very similar brand to Lucky Dog, has one of the worst track records worldwide and still continues to be sold. Lucky Dog is a brand name only specific to America, so can’t be tarnished by any mandatory recalls in the USA, Canada, or Europe where regulations are more stringent.

The following was reported on 21/07/2021 on Facebook. If you have suffered similar issues on Lucky Dog please let us know.

A subsequent report states the following in regard to Lucky Dog batch 2022.11.23 (best before 23/11/2022):

“My partner and I bought a bag of this a few weeks ago with the expiry date of ‘2022.11.23’, a few days after opening our dog became extremely unwell with severe vomiting and diarrhoea and refusal to eat and drink, he was rushed to the vet, he spent 4 days in intensive care almost needing to be put down and costing us over $3000 in vet care and investigations, with no answers. Finally he became well enough to return home after nearly a week of being ill, he is now on antibiotics, a pain patch at home, multiple medications and a home cooked diet and is still not back to normal.”

Surprisingly, My Dog, made by Mars, is very popular in America. What attracted you to the brand? The cute dog on the packet, the glamorous packaging, the affordable price, or availability in Coles and Woolies?

In the My Dog review we’ll mostly focus on the dry food, but I’ll cover the wet food as well.

Then you can decide for yourself if My Dog is good for your dog.

Where to buy

My Dog is available in many American retailers, both in store and online.

My Dog review (dry dog food)

What the marketing says

The slogan for My Dog is “Love them back”.

You know your dog loves you, and this plays on your emotions by suggesting you’re feeding your dog with love when you give them this dog food.

The cute dog on the bag is a Westie, and I expect they’ve chosen such a breed as My Dog is very popular with small dog owners.

With the My Dog biscuits you’ll find a chicken and a beef formula, but our first insight into these formulas not having much meat are the titles:

• My Dog with Tender Chicken & Vegetables
• My Dog with Gourmet Beef & Vegetables

Ignore the words “Tender” and “Gourmet”, as they are meaningless marketing words. The word with is the important word, as American regulations for pet food labelling state a dog food doesn’t need much of those ingredients to allow them to be used in the formula name.

That’s marketing for you.

Don’t be fooled by it.

I’ve already said the main ingredient (in both recipes) is cereal grains, so you may wonder why they’re not mentioned on the front of the bags?

The reason is we know cereals don’t sound good for our meat-loving dogs, which is why they don’t tell you what My Dog is really made from.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients…

What the ingredients really say

If you compare the ingredients of the different recipes you’ll find they’re pretty much identical. So don’t go thinking your dog’s getting a variety if you feed different recipes. They’re not.

The first ingredient and the third ingredient are grains (cereals + rice).

If your dog has itchy skin, yeasty ears, trouble having poos, or is generally overweight or inactive, then you should consider cereal grains as the cause.

I find this particularly the case with wheat, which you can bet is part of the “cereals” ingredient as it’s one of the cheapest inclusions in dog food (and makes the most profit).

Cereals made into dog biscuits don’t look great, which is why they add food colourings. Personally I wouldn’t feed any dog food which uses food colourings – we already know they’re not healthy, and they aren’t necessary either.

Dogs are primarily meat eaters. I would refer to them as a facultative or scavenging carnivore, which means they’ll eat whatever they find available, but will benefit the most from animal ingredients. Your dog loves meat, right?

Cereals like wheat tend to cause dietary sensitivities because our dogs struggle to digest them. You’ll often hear the word “allergy” used, but it’s not an allergy when they’re reacting to food which is inappropriate for their digestive system.

Meat & Meat by-products (poultry, beef) are the second ingredient, but don’t count on this being the majority of the formula. There’ll be more cereals than meat, then add the rice, and you won’t have nearly as much meat as you think.

Besides, what quality of meat?

Not the “tender” or “gourmet” meat you’ve been led to believe from the formula names.

This could be as much carcass as anything decent, which is usually the case when pet food companies use throw-aways from the human food industry. The stuff they can’t sell to us and would otherwise have to pay to dispose.

Protein may sound ok at 24%, but this isn’t guaranteed and may be less. Fat at 10% (also not guaranteed) I find concerningly low – our dogs use animal fats for energy, health, and wellbeing.

We’ve covered the main ingredients already, and I can’t find anything positive to say about the rest.

My Dog dog food contains glycerol (also known as glycerin). It’s a type of sugar alcohol, often used as a humectant (to make the food feel softer and more palatable). As a general rule, if a dog food contains glycerol, don’t buy it.

You’ll find ambiguous ingredients like “flavours”, “colours”, “antioxidants”. Ask yourself why My Dog haven’t been specific with the ingredients?

What flavours?

What colours?

What antioxidants?

You can assume these ingredients may be artificial rather than natural. You may wonder why it’s legal to label food products with meaningly ambiguous terms, but unfortunately for us as consumers this is perfectly legal.

So what do you think?

Is My Dog good for your dog?

My Dog wet food review

I’ll cover the My Dog wet food briefly, and it has to be said it looks a little better than the dry foods.

The ingredients of the canned “My Dog Classic Loaf with Juicy Lamb & Hearty Liver” are as follows:

Meats Including Lamb, Chicken, Turkey, Liver, Beef, Pork; Gelling Agents; Vegetable Fibre; Minerals; Flavours; Colours; Vitamins.

You’re bombarded with various names of meat, but it looks like you can summarise as Meat / Gelling Agents / Vegetable Fibre.

A good question to ask yourself is how much gelling agents and vegetable fibre to the meat content? And of course, what’s the quality of the meat content?

Like with My Dog biscuits we find ambiguous ingredients.

What gelling agents?

What vegetable fibre?

Common gelling agents used in pet food include agar-agar, carrageenan, and guar gum. They’re used to create the gel-like texture, and you can gauge by looking at the stuff which comes out of the can how much is used.

My Dog aren’t specific about what the vegetable fibre is either, and we can only assume they don’t want you to know.

What flavours, and what colouring agents?

I’m not sure I would feed My Dog wet food to my dog, even if it looks a little better than the dry foods.

Ingredients

Ingredients of My Dog dry dog food (With Tender Chicken and Vegetables formula):

Wholegrain cereals, meat & meat by-products (poultry, beef), rice, chicken flavour, beet pulp, glycerol, salt, vitamins & minerals, vegetables, vegetable oil, amino acid, flavours, colours & antioxidants.

Typical analysis

Many dog foods use a “guaranteed analysis” which gives us assurances of protein and fat – the stuff which matters most to your dog. My Dog dog food uses a typical analysis instead, which isn’t guaranteed. That means the product you buy might be worse than the figures stated on the packet.

Typical analysis of My Dog dry dog food (With Tender Chicken and Vegetables formula):