Halo Dog Food
October 30, 2011
Filed under Dog Food Reviews, Halo, Latest Dog Food Reviews
Halo Dog Food Review
Halo dog food products are manufactured and marketed by Halo, Purely for Pets based in Tampa, Florida. Aside from being a maker of premium dog food products, the company’s popularity can also be attributed to its famous co-owner and celebrity endorser, Ellen DeGeneres.
Halo’s dog food formulas are tailored based on a holistic approach to pet nutrition. The company’s guiding principles – “balance, nature, and love”— form the base of a pet product development program which is geared towards optimum health, wellness, and vitality of your pets.
Halo claims the use of only real meat sources like chicken, turkey, lamb, beef or wild salmon. Farm-raised fruits, vegetable and whole grains have also been added with no flavors, artificial colors, or preservatives.
All of these dog food rations have been designed to meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles—two for growth and four for adult maintenance.
Ingredients
Halo’s protein component is mainly composed of fresh meat sources— like chicken, salmon, and lamb. Although these are all viable sources of high quality protein, raw meat contains high amounts of water (about 80%). Processing results in the loss of moisture which can leave only a fraction of the ingredient’s original weight as the main source of protein.
Chicken includes the flesh and meat without accompanying bone and devoid of feathers, feet, entrails, and heads.
Salmon is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids which are essential in maintaining your dog’s healthy skin and coat. This type of fatty acids also helps boost immune system functions and preserve the integrity of body cells. Studies have also shown that dogs with food-based allergies do well with Halo rations containing salmon.
Many dog owners might wonder why eggs are listed right after the meat-based protein source in most Halo dog food products. Eggs are considered one of the best sources of digestible protein, selenium and riboflavin. Eggs is known for having a complete amino acid profile thus it is suffice to say that eggs have the highest biological protein value.
One thing to remember about eggs includes the factors that can affect the ingredient’s quality. Eggs from commercial hatcheries usually have lower quality. Eggs have also been implicated in outbreaks of salmonellosis and other food-borne infections.
Pea protein is produced when the starchy component of peas has been extracted. It contains amino acids which can contribute to the total protein content of the dog food.
Oats is a grain cereal which is commonly used in livestock and pet foods. It is a good source of soluble dietary fiber and it is the only cereal which contains the globulin protein, avenalin. The protein content of oats is comparable to that present in soy, meat, milk, and eggs. It also contains essential B-vitamins, and minerals.
Vegetable broth is present in all Halo dog food products. Although it is almost devoid of essential nutrients, it lends an appetizing flavor and aroma to the dog food.
Pearled barley is an excellent energy-source for dogs. It is a form of barley wherein the hull and bran has been removed. It is a cholesterol-free ingredient with low fat content. It contains high amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber. With a low glycemic index, it can help maintain your dog’s stable blood sugar levels.
Chicken fat is a product of rendering. Its linoleic acid is viewed as the highest among all animal sources. Linoleic acid helps your dog maintain healthy skin and coat.
Flaxseed is considered as one of the best sources of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids. It is also rich in soluble dietary fiber.
Probiotics or beneficial microorganisms have been added to the surface of the kibble after processing. These friendly bacteria have been proven to boost a dog’s digestive and immune health.
Chelated minerals, where essential minerals have been chemically attached to proteins, have also been added. Chelated minerals have the advantage of being better absorbed and consequently utilized in the body.
Customer Reviews
Many owners are happy with Halo dog food formulas. They reported lesser digestive problems including vomiting and diarrhea in dogs given Halo dog food products. There are also lesser hypersensitivity reactions which have been observed. However, there are many dog owners who point out that Halo’s prices are quite higher compared to other dog food products in the market.
Overall, we believe that Halo produces good quality formulas and we highly recommend this brand. While it is a very pricey alternative, those that can afford it, should be more than happy with the quality of ingredients, meat content and digestibility.
Please visit the links listed below for Halo Spots Stew dog food reviews by formula.
Have a comment or question about our Halo dog food review? Want to share your experiences with others? We welcome your comments!
Halo Spot Stew Dog Food Formulas:
- Halo Spots Stew Puppy Wholesome Chicken Dog Food
- Halo Spots Stew Puppy Wild Salmon Dog Food
- Halo Spots Stew Adult Wild Salmon Dog Food
- Halo Spots Stew Adult Wholesome Chicken Dog Food
Halo Spots Stew Dog Food Consumer Ratings
| Title | Votes | Rating | Review |
| Halo Dog Food | 92 | 6.8 | -1.0 |
| Halo Spots Stew Adult Wholesome Chicken Dog Food | 28 | 7.3 | -1.0 |
| Halo Spots Stew Adult Wild Salmon Dog Food | 35 | 6.5 | -1.0 |
| Halo Spots Stew Puppy Wholesome Chicken Dog Food | 19 | 6.2 | -1.0 |
| Halo Spots Stew Puppy Wild Salmon Dog Food | 31 | 6.8 | -1.0 |
Dear Ellen,
My name is Shelly Torok. I moved to Dover, TN in July of 2009 and it wasn’t long before I saw the need to join the local Humane Society. In October I created a website for the humane society and I update the articles at the beginning of each month. During my search for informative articles I came across your letter on Halo, Purely for Pets. I did some research on the product, have read some great reviews and have tried it with my two dogs. They love it of course!!! I have included your letter and a link to Halo’s home page on our Pet Tips page:
http://www.humanesocietydover.org/article1.html
I hope that our readers will try Halo and help to spread the word. Thank you for all you do and Happy New Year.
A fellow animal lover,
Shelly
My little chihuahua and lab mix refused to eat Halo Spot’s Stew dry, Spot’s Stew can and Liv-a-Littles dog biscuits. That was a total waste of money. Pass them on to my sister’s dog and she refused to eat it also.
A message to nancy pelt, i was wondering what you feed your dogs on.
Dear Shirley:
Sorry it took so long to reply, I didn’t know there was a question to my review. I have been doing so much research after I lost my 2 dogs to the recall a few years back. With these 2 new dogs, I have tried almost every health food dog food (or what they claim to be healthy)on the market and the only one that they liked without me having to add liver to it was Evanger’s braised beef. But after a few cans they refused that also. Note: FDA suspended Evanger’s license and now the owners of Wheeling, Ill.-based Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company are facing charges of felony theft and money laundering for allegedly stealing more than $1.7 million worth of gas and electricity to run the company and its manufacturing plant. So I would never buy from them again anyway. I would have stayed with Halo if they liked it but even with some chicken liver in it they refused it. Please read the labels on all can and dry. I don’t like Potassium chloride, sodium selenite (FDA appoved selenium yeast an organic selenium that’s not toxic to dogs/cats, natural flavors, fish meal because that is treated with ethoxyquin, BPA dog food cans. You can call the company and see if they use BPA for their cans. Make sure you look up who makes their own dog food or who ships it out to God knows where to make it. UPDATE: I now found Party Animal dog food that is organic and has selenium yeast. This is what I ordered for my dogs. I e-mailed the company a few months back to ask them what Natural flavors was in their dry dog food but they didn’t get back to me. Now I am wondering why. Good luck with your fur babies.
I just went to the store today and picked up Halo Wholesome beef can dog food. I really love all the great ingredients. As I mentioned above I only found 3 can dog foods that I will feed my dogs and that’s Party Animal can and dry, Halo Wholesome Beef can and Wellness 95% meat. I will not feed my dogs any other Wellness products because I feel they have nasty ingredients. Only the Wellness 95% meat seems ok. Anyway, my dogs had Halo beef with a little chicken liver mixed in and it is still on the floor. I don’t care if it takes them some time to get use to it. I know it’s healthy so I have to be strong and not give in and make them my own home made food. They also refused Party Animal and Halo Wholesome chicken.
Nan Pelt,
quick question, you mentioned that Wellness had nasty ingredients. Please elaborate or clarify what you mean by that?
NAN,
IVE HAD EXACT PROBLEMS AS YOU. PLEASE TRY–YOU WONT BE SORRY…RAW FOOD. YOU WILL ELIMINATE ALLLL YOUR DOG PROBLEMS! MY DOG IS SOO HEALTHY NOW. I TRIED MANY RAW COMPANIES AND DID EXTENSIVE RESEARCH AND THESE TWO ARE THE BEST
PAWNATURAW.COM AND BARFWORLD.COM THE CUSTOMER SERVIVE AT BARFWORLD IS OUT OF THIS WORLD. I BEG YOU PLEEEASEEE TRY EITHER ONE OF THESE COMPANIES. TAKE IT FROM ANOTHER DOGGIE JUST LIKE YOURS. PLEASE WRITE BACK LET ME KNOW IF YA EVER TRIED. YOU WILL BE SO HAPPY! RAW IS THE BEST!
Ellen Degeneres is a celebrity. She is not an expert on anything other than her profession. She is a celebrity. Halo Pets is a business. Their agenda is to sell their idea of what pets should eat. They now make stain and odor products, joining the eleven thousand other brands sold in the US alone. Cats and dogs are meant to eat meat, not vegetables and other stuff in their products. You pet owners are humans trying to make your pets eat what you consider to best for them. Halo’s owner and Ellen state that they make their products because of allergies or other issues with one or two pets they have had in their homes. The longest living cat in the world has only been fed fresh meat since it was born. Its never been fed wheat, corn, soy, peas, squash or other human grade ingredients that you all consider what your pet should be eating.
Our three cats rejected every can of Halo product we tried to feed them. There is not enough meat protein in one can to satisfy a cats daily requirements of food. Halo is another example of a company that is founded by one pet owner with pet food issues and gets everybody to listen to their pitch. Cats and dogs are carnivores and are meant to eat rodents, birds, bugs and scavenge for meat. I am waiting to here how many folks jump off their roofs because Ellen on her hit show told them it would improve their mental health!
My dog refuses to eat HALO!!!
I have a 2 year old black pug with an extremely healthy appetite. Because of her allergies a friend of mine recommended HALO.
Ive tried different flavors and combinations and she still refuses to eat it. However when given the chance she will scarf down an entire bag of Pedgree if Id let her
Great product but shes just not a fan…sorry Ellen
to Jaimie: pedigree sucks!!!!!!!!! you should not feed your dogs pedigree. the only reason they eat all the pedigree is because IT IS SALTED AND HAS ARTIFICIAL STUFF AND FATS SPRAYED ON THE GARBAGE IN A BAG. PLEASE EAT HALO!!!!! BETTER QUALITY FOOD produces better results.
Jaime, she is right, pedigree is bad stuff. I had to put down a dog due to a tumor and the vet thought his diet might have been the cause. I WAS FEEDING HIM pedigree AND Beneful.Bad stuff both of them.
My 7 year-old Shammy, a Shihtzu loves all the HALO line of canned and dry foods. Shammy has horrible paw/skin allergies and costs us a fortune to see a doggie allergists who is also the same animal allergists at the San Diego Zoo. We were surprised to hear that Wolves suffer from skin/paw allergies even on raw food diets. Other than that, we’ve tried just about every NATURAL dog food available. HALO is extremely expensive! I would bet that Ellen D. bought Halo SIMPLY as a business venture, since she gives a ton of dog food away on her show, to prop herself up as a hip dog lover. Ellen certainly does not take care of her own dogs, she probably has a full-time dog sitter/groomer that even travels with her. Shammy will eat just about anything I give her, but the Halo treats just sit on the floor. As potty treats, we give her Rice Cake pieces for treats and good-girl treats which has nothing in them and she devours them down with little calories. Just break off little pieces and she runs away with a little piece like their beef-steak! I still think Shammh is doomed to bite her paws for life. It makes me sad to give her allergy pills that make her appear ‘HIGH’ and that’s kinda sad. I love her so very much, she’s better than the human kid that I bore, and she is so intelligent. It took me just one day to train her as a puppy.
My picky 7 year old Chihuahua loves HALO and will even eat it with no wet food mixed in. She is very very picky and I’ve tried everything but this she loves. My recently adopted Greyhound/Lab/? mix also loves it as I notice he will steal it when she’s not looking!! It smells pretty good and although it is pricey I’d say it’s worth the money. Good job Ellen!
I have 3 rescue dachshunds, one with food allergies…when I adopted her she had terrible red itchy skin on stomach,paws, ears. I have been feeding Halo Spots Stew dry now for 2 years,the dachshund with the allergy issues has been on it just about a year. I also use Dream Coat, as well as the Mineral/vit supplement.
My three dogs are all EXTREMELY healthy, robust..with clear skin and shiny fur. They had great energy, sleep well and are quite healthy…despite their questionable health backgrounds. I attempted recently to introduce another high quality food..thinking it might save a few bucks…my dachshund with allergy issues immediately began with the itchy,red skin again,red ears…she is a Halo dog..period ! Since going back fully to Halo…..she is back to normal without skin issues.
This has been my experience..we each have our own challenges with feeding….good luck to us one and all ! Onceyou find the system that works for you and your dog…stick by it…..
I do not feed the canned Halo, as they turn up their noses at it..as do my 4 cats….
this is so weird…I did not know about the celebrity connection with this food. My poodle LOVES chicken, but he is not a picky eater and he likes bad dog food/used tissues/junk food on the road. Mind you, I do not feed him junk food on the road or used tissues, but he will try to get them if he can
I usually get him a quality chicken-based food. The usual brand I have been getting was not in the store and I thought all the Halo ingredients sounded good. But he does not like it. If I mix another food with it, he eats that and leaves the Halo kibbles. He really hates the cranberries and will pick them out and throw them on the floor. This dog likes crab apples when they fall off the local trees and he likes fresh berries such as straw berries and raspberries. I do give him those in moderation. 
So what is not to like? (as they say)