It can be a confusing and overwhelming experience trying to figure out which dry food is right for your dog.
There’s no shortage of kibble that you can find at your local supermarket or pet store.
But sometimes you may find labels confusing to read and ingredients that you’ve never heard of or you can’t even pronounce.
It’s important to pay attention to ingredients labels because you’ll want to know if a brand is using highly-processed powdered meat meals and artificial additives.
However, there are some dog food companies that are creating customised dry food using natural ingredients to provide pet parents with a fresh and healthy alternative.
These pet food brands will work with dog owners to tailor their recipes to meet a dog’s specific needs as well as conveniently shipping the custom dry food direct to a customer’s door.
In this article, we’re going to examine some of the best options available at the moment for dog owners based in the USA.
Editor's note: The content on this website is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as veterinary, medical or professional advice. The content of our articles does not constitute veterinary advice. It’s always best to speak with your vet or a certified pet nutritionist before making any changes to your pet's diet or feeding routine.
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Factors To Consider When Picking Best Dry Food For Dogs
UnKibble (Photo: hellobark.com)
• Ingredients – We only considered dry dog food brands that used high-quality, human-grade ingredients in their recipes. We love to see dry dog food companies source their ingredients from within the USA, using local farmers and growers.
• Transparency – You want peace of mind knowing that your dog is eating a healthy and high-quality diet. Some dog food brands are transparent about where their ingredients have been sourced – you can even track each ingredient’s journey to your dog’s bowl.
• Customization – Obesity is a big problem amongst dogs in the USA so it’s great to have the ability to customize your dog’s meals to meet their specific needs. Customization is a nice personal touch that makes you feel part of the brand’s pack.
• Ordering experience – If you’re ditching the store-bought kibble in favour of a subscription plan, you’ll want a smooth ordering process that’s easy to follow. We’ve tried and tested all the brands featured on this page and the experience was positive.
• Price – There’s no getting away from the fact that you’ll probably have to pay a little more for your personalized dry dog food than regular kibble or gravy bought at your local supermarket or pet store. Having said that, the brands in this feature claim that there food is 40% cheaper than fresh dog food.
• Delivery schedule – If you’re placing your faith in a subscription service, you’ll want your dog’s meals to arrive on time. After all, you’re paying a little extra for healthier food and you don’t want to make an emergency trip to the pet store.
Best Dry Food For Dogs
Editor's note: Be sure to check the latest information shown on the official website of any product you're considering purchasing, as details may change from time to time and therefore may differ from what's shown on this page.
Now that we’ve taken a look at some of the criteria we considered when looking for the best dry food for dogs in the USA, let’s start our breakdown of brands.
1) UnKibble by Spot & Tango
Website: www.spotandtango.com
UnKibble (Photo: hellobark.com)
Spot & Tango is one of the leaders in the dog food market, especially when it comes to dry food thanks to their UnKibble range. Spot & Tango started as a result of one family’s commitment to their dog’s health and wellness. They use 100% human-grade ingredients in the production of UnKibble to ensure that your pooch is getting the very best in dog nutrition. They produce customised meal plans for your four-legged friend based upon the information that you provide through their simple questionnaire, which includes questions about age, weight, breed, and lifestyle. You’ll receive a customized scooper to ensure you can control portion size. Spot & Tango have four recipes to offer pet parents who are interested in giving their UnKibble range a try: Beef & Barley, Chicken & Brown Rice, Turkey & Sweet Potato and Cod & Salmon. It’s worth noting UnKibble is created using a Fresh Dry process so it’s minimally processed, shelf-stable food with only human-grade ingredients and no artificial additives or fillers. Every UnKibble recipe is made with simple ingredients that you will know and probably have eaten in the past. That means: no powdered “meat meals”, no artificial additives or preservatives and no soy, gluten or wheat. They’ve got a great eco-friendly and sustainable approach to to their business so you can feel good about feeding your dog UnKibble as well as doing your bit for the planet. If you decide to give UnKibble a try, you can get a full refund if your dog doesn’t like it. So there’s nothing to lose!
New Spot & Tango customers can get 50% off their first box, which is an offer exclusive to our readers on our website. To get your 50% discount, click here.
2) Sunday For Dogs
Website: sundaysfordogs.com
Sundays For Dogs (Photo: hellobark.com)
Sundays For Dogs is an air-dried dog food brand that was created by founders Tory and Michael after their dog became sick. They wanted to create dog food that is healthier than kibble but easier than home-cooked foods. Unlike some of the other dry dog food brands in this feature, Sundays For Dogs have a unique air-dried approach that helps to preserve the nutrients and flavours. Sundays For Dogs gently dehydrate food slowly and at low temperatures to preserve nutrients and flavours. They believe the food’s jerky-like texture can encourage even picky eaters to tuck into their air-dried food. Sundays For Dogs offer a beef and chicken recipe that comes in an easy-to-store box. The recipes have been created by their team of vets and they’re human-grade, natural and ready-to-eat. You can save 35% if you opt to subscribe to Sunday For Dogs (you can also select the frequency of your deliveries).
New customers can get 35% off their first Sundays For Dogs order and free shipping when you use coupon code HELLOBARK at the checkout. To avail of this discount, click here.
3) A Pup Above
Website: www.apupabove.com
A Pup Above Whole Food Cubies range (Photo: A Pup Above)
A Pup Above have recently launched a new dry dog food range that merits a mention. They’ve used their unique Nutridry cooking process to gently dry out whole foods to preserve nutrients and flavor. In doing so, A Pup Above explain that the flavor of fresh food is retained. Dog owners will get to enjoy the convience of dry food but the benefits of fresh food. For instance, you won’t have to worry about making space in fridge and freezer for your dog’s food. A Pup Above use 100% human-grade ingredients and non-GMO vegetables. They also include “superherbs” for joint, immunity and digestive support. You can even source where each ingredient came from if you use the lot code on your bag and input the code into their website – so there’s complete transparency. A Pup Above offer Chicka Pupatouille, Beef Pot Roast, Porky’s Porchetta and Turkey Pilafu in this particular format. If you decide to subscribe, you can save 10%. Alternatively, you can make a one-time purchase before subscribing to make sure you dog likes the food.
Our readers can can get 25% off their first A Pup Above order when they sign up to a subscription plan using the HELLOBARK25 coupon code at the checkout. Click here to subscribe now!
4) Open Farm Dry Dog Food
Website: www.openfarmpet.com
Open Farm Gently Cooked (Photo: hellobark.com)
Open Farm are a dog food company based in the USA (but they also ship to Canada) who have a fantastic approach to pet nutrition. Open Farm are meticulous about sourcing their ingredients from the most humane and ethical farms, fisheries and producers. You can trace each ingredient from source to your dog bowl so you can have complete peace of mind about your dog’s food. Open Farm offer Ancient Grains Dry Dog Food (salmon, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork and whitefish recipes) and Grain-Free Dry Dog Food (beef, turkey & chicken, salmon, chicken, lamb, venison, whitefish and pork) so you can pick and choose what works best for your dog. When you settle on a recipe, Open Farm will clearly display each ingredient used as well as a brief explanation behind its inclusion in your dog’s food. So you can gain a greater understanding of why your dog is eating and the potential benefits. They’ve adopted science-backed goals to ensure they reduce their carbon footprint in the next 10 years, while they use sustainable packaging. You can make a 5% saving if you decide to sign up for their subscription, otherwise you can opt for a one-time purchase.
Open Farm have provided our readers with the chance to get 15% off a subscription purchase when you use the discount code OFSUB15.
5) Just Right by Purina
Website: www.justrightpetfood.com
Tails dog food (Photo: Tails)
Most pet owners will know about to pet food brand, Purina. However, you may or may not know about their personalized dry food called Just Right Pet Food. They use 100 per cent natural ingredients that are full of vitamins and minerals, keeping their recipes “pure and simple”. You won’t find any artificial colors, flavors or fillers. It’s crafted in the USA and is formulated by a team of experts that include nutritionists, vets and animal behaviorists. Just Right Pet Food ask for key details about your dog, ranging from activity level to weight, to ensure their meals are customised to meet your canine’s specific requirements. Just Right has been formulated by a team of experts to ensure your four-legged friend can get the most out of their lives with you. Just Right Pet Food offer four different recipes: salmon, lamb, beef and chicken. Your Just Right Pet Food bag will come displaying your dog’s photo, which is a nice personal touch. They provide custom feeding instructions to help pet parents with portion control.
How We Picked The Best Dry Dog Food For Dogs
UnKibble (Photo: hellobark.com)
If you’ve done any browsing and research for yourself, you’ll know that there are a lot of options out there when it comes to dry dog food for dogs in the USA.
To compile and put together this best dry dog food guide, we conducted our own online research. This included checking out some of the top selling dry dog food and reading customer reviews to unearth some of the highest-rated options.
We also consulted social sites such as Reddit to see what other people were saying and recommending, and combined this with content produced by other publishers. We then used all of this information to put together this guide.
Most importantly, we went ahead and tested the dry dog food options in this guide to see how our dogs enjoyed the food, examine the quality of the ingredients firsthand and understand what the ordering experience looks like.
Although we very much hope that this article has been helpful, we do strongly recommend that you do some of your own research before making a decision. This could include reading some customer reviews for yourself or checking out what other publishers are saying in their own content.
Wrapping Things Up – Our Final Thoughts
Sundays For Dogs (Photo: hellobark.com)
We’ve reached the end of our article on the best dry food for dogs.
My top pick would be Spot & Tango’s UnKibble. They provide a great option for pet owners who are looking for a fresh and healthy alternative to traditional dry food.
UnKibble is tailored to meet your dog’s needs using simple ingredients, while adopting a sustainable approach to meet your canine’s needs.
We also like Sundays For Dogs based upon how much my dogs loved their air-dried dog food and my impression of the brand. I love that they use high quality ingredients and gently cook their meals.
Having said all that, we highlighted other good options and you won’t go too far wrong by feeding your dog any of the brands in this article.
They’re open about what ingredients go into their meals, which are customised depending on your dog’s age, breed, size, activity level and more.
