Top positive reviewAll positive reviews›  Nicole and Sean Gau ...or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the CORE. Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2015 I am a dog owner and dog trainer with a thirst for knowledge. When I first started hunting for a great dog food I did my research and began with Blue Buffalo. I tried a number of premium brands and formulas before this came out and nothing, including the regular line by this brand, can hold a candle to CORE. It's not the most affordable, but at least in MN, I can't find a better price for this. If you can get the subscribe and save discount this food is a steal!My dogs are constantly observed as extremely healthy by vets and trainers alike. They have noticeably softer coats since switching them to CORE and less skin issues. I also no longer deal with frequent gas - something several premium brands caused.If you're still not sold, here are some guiding principles for why this food is great and how to shop for quality dog food. Everyone has a budget, but try to find one you can afford with the best of these:- The first ingredients should always be meat. Just like human labels, the first ingredients comprise the largest quantities within the product.- Lamb and then chicken tend to be most digestible for most dogs.- Meal is like a protein powder made by rendering down a stew-like mixture to maximum potency. It contains more protein than meat alone by eliminating water per ounce. That said, not all meal is created equal. Make sure the source is specified. Simply saying "poultry meal" can mean it came from any source they could find and usually that means varying degrees of quality.- Avoid grains as they can irritate many dogs stomachs. You want potatoes, oats, and/or brown rice for fiber and carbs. If you see "brewers rice" on a label, it shouldn't be in the top five ingredients (or at all for me). It's a cheaply obtained processed carb and a filler.- Flaxseed and fish oils are great for skin and coat. I used to supplement my dog food with salmon oil in winter, but it hasn't been necessary since they started this food. Mentioning the source of the fish oil indicates its quality, just like the meal source.- I like a food with few antioxidant ingredients in it, such as blueberries and broccoli. Healthy for us, healthy for them. That's just my opinion though. I treat with the fresh stuff when I can.- That list of vitamins at the end? It's your dog's daily multi vitamin. Glucosamine is important to joint health for any size, age, or weight. This product has natural preservatives, which is my preference where possible for their diet and my own.- Protein percentage! Vets say stay above 15% for a normal adult dog; my goal is closer to 25% or 30%. If your dog is very active, that should be your goal too; however, even if your dog isn't that active a higher protein content is fine. Early research used to claim it could cause renal failure, but that research has long been debunked.Don't believe me? Do the research yourself. Don't trust the word of food reps, breeders, or even many vets. Most haven't paid attention to nutrition science, it's advances, or have an agenda of their own. Even a well meaning vet may not know some of this and be operating on outdated common knowledge.Never transition your dog's food all at once. Pay attention to their unique reaction to a new food over the first few weeks at 100% of it. Pay attention to their stool and frequency of bowl movements. Watch for weight fluctuations. New food means you may have to increase or decrease their volume per meal. Each dog has unique needs and sensitivities, just like we do, so even a great food may not be great for your dog. I hope this helps! Looking for a high-protein kibble for your dog? Then this might be an option. Here’s our ultimate Wellness Core dog food review made by our dog food experts; with everything you need to know to make the best choice for your pup.
Wellness Core - 3.5 Star Rating
Wellness is a US-based pet food brand that has been around for a while and is easily available at pet stores in Australia. Their “CORE” line was conceived as their premium offering, and as of the writing, the line includes regular and grain-free kibble and wet food. We have reviewed the original grain-free kibble formula, although all other dry options from the brand have a similar composition. Here’s what you should know about it! Taste 5/5In general, pups like this food. We appreciate that they offer small breed options with a smaller kibble size since that increases palatability for picky eaters. Owners are particularly happy with the taste: many fussy dogs liked the original flavour. The wild game formula is also popular among dogs that tend to turn their nose up at dry kibble. On the other hand, this brand also offers wet toppers to either pair with their own kibble or spice up other kinds of food. Their “shreds” and pâté options seem to be tasty, and most dogs that have tried it really like it. As we’ve said before, adding toppers to your dog’s food is an easy way to increase palatability, and this brand seems to do its job. Finally, some owners liked the low smell of the kibble. Of course, if you’re properly storing it, kibble shouldn’t stink up your kitchen nor smell rancid. But it’s always nice to serve food that isn’t too strong for our senses. We’re giving Wellness Core 5 out of 5 in this category. Ingredients 3.5/5Overall, Wellness Core has one of the best ingredients lists we’ve seen in a while. For starters, the first three ingredients are animal meat, and the rest of the food is mainly comprised of ground potatoes, peas, and lentils. But let’s start at the beginning: the guaranteed analysis. For a kibble, it looks nice: this brand features a minimum of 34% crude protein, 16% crude fat and a maximum of 4% crude fibre. Not bad at all! Both the crude protein and crude fat percentage are significantly higher than the bare minimum recommended by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The AAFCO recommends a minimum of 18% crude protein for adult dogs, and a minimum of 10% crude fat [1,2]. Comparing that with the respectable 34% of Wellness Core, it’s obvious this is a high-protein kibble. We really like the higher fat content, since lipids are essential to keep your dog’s body functioning right. On top of the meat ingredients, the bulk of the food is completed with peas, potatoes, and lentils. Peas and lentils are a common ingredient in grain-free foods. These add carbs, a bit of fibre and bump up the overall protein percentage of the food. There has been some controversy around the role of legumes in grain-free dog food in increasing dogs’ risk of heart disease [3]. Nevertheless, the results aren’t conclusive and both the AAFCO and the FDA consider grain-free dog food as a healthy option for dogs. Following this recommendation, we consider lentils and peas a good addition to dog kibble, particularly when compared with corn and wheat which can increase skin allergies [4]. The addition of potatoes is good enough. It would have been nicer to maybe see sweet potato since it has a lower glycemic index. Nevertheless, plain potatoes are good enough for most dogs when fed in moderate quantities. Considering this is a kibble that needs a binding agent to be processed, potato is a much better option than the wheat or corn gluten used by other brands. The rest of the ingredient list in this kibble looks nice enough. Of course, these ingredients are a minimal part of the overall composition, but still help to round up your dog’s micronutrient intake. We will examine these extra goodies more closely in the additives category, but we like the overall composition. Finally, we couldn’t finish this review without mentioning the lipid sources used in the kibble. Instead of regular soybean or sunflower oil (a common ingredient in dog food), all the fat in these recipes comes from animal sources. So, for example, the original formula has chicken fat and salmon oil. As the bulk of the food comes from animal sources and the composition is high in protein, we’re giving this brand 3.5 out of 5 in the ingredients category. We’ve taken off one star because it would have been nice to see sweet potato instead of regular. Protein content 4/5The high protein content in Wellness Core is one of the highlights of this dog food. As we mentioned above, this brand’s kibble features a minimum of 34% crude protein. This is way above the minimum 18% recommended by the AAFCO [2], and a few points higher than the usual 25%-28% crude protein in most kibble available in Australia. In fact, the protein percentage in these recipes is on-par with other high-performance dog food options available on the market. Of course, the protein percentage includes both animal and vegetable protein. Nevertheless, considering the first 3 ingredients of the recipe are meat, it’s very likely a good chunk of this protein comes from animal sources. Moving onto the actual ingredients listed, it’s nice to see a brand that priorities animal meat over cheap fillers. All the kibble recipes from this brand have at least two animal ingredients at the top of the list, and most recipes have three. The Original formula has deboned turkey, turkey meal and chicken meal as the first ingredients. Poultry is an excellent source of high-quality protein, and this recipe has a lot of it. Other meat-based ingredients on the list include chicken fat and natural chicken flavour. Of course, there are still some cons in this category. For starters, this is a kibble, meaning it’s been cooked twice before being packed and shipped. This double cooking process can destroy some of the micronutrients and denaturalise some of the protein in the food. This is an issue with all traditional kibble, so it’s not specific to Wellness Core. On the other hand, we would have loved to see organ meats on the ingredient list. Of course, this is a mid-range food and organ meats tend to increase the overall cost. But while understandable, adding some lung, heart or liver could have given this food 5 stars. Due to these small complaints, we’re giving this brand 4 out of 5 in this category. Additives 5/5The addition of nice extras is one of the best features of Wellness Core. These ingredients help to round up the nutritional profile of the food through minerals, vitamins, and fibre. Since this brand has added plenty of extras, we’ve grouped them based on their main feature: Overall, we like the extra ingredients in these recipes. It’s nice to see there are no artificial preservatives and the bonus chelated minerals are a definite plus. We’re giving this brand 5 out of 5. Variety 3/5While this is an established brand, they don’t have a huge offering. We find that single-protein recipes are a weak point. If your dog can’t eat poultry, they wouldn’t be able to try any of these recipes! Other than that, it’s nice to see different recipes according to dog size. So, for example, Wellness core has several small-breed recipes as well as a couple for large-breed pups. Considering the specific nutritional requirements of large-breed dogs, it’s nice to see them being taken care of. There is also a single senior recipe, as well as a reduced-fat kibble if your dog needs fewer lipids. While we like the breadth of the offering, there is a rise in food allergies among dogs. We’re taking off 2 stars for the lack of single-protein recipes. Price 3/5The price of this food puts it among other mid-range options. This is not a supermarket brand and it doesn’t compete with those cheaper options. But among the regular mid-range dog foods, Wellness core is a strong player. Other brands at this price point tend to have less meat and more grains, and these recipes have prioritised animal products. Nevertheless, if you’re on a low budget and want to give it a try, you’ll have a hard time finding discounts or bulk deals. It doesn’t seem like this brand offers important discounts, even when buying online. This could be a deterrent for those with large dogs or with several pups at home. We’re taking off 2 stars because of the lack of discounts, which is unusual for a mid-range food. While this brand checks a lot of boxes, it might not be the right choice if you: |
Wellness core senior dog food reviews
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