Wellness Dog Food
October 4, 2008
Filed under Dog Food Reviews, Solid Gold, Wellness
Wellness Dog Food Review
Wellness is a dog food brand produced by the Old Mother Hubbard Company based in Massachusetts, USA. It produces both dry and canned foods which are tailored to satisfy specific nutritional profiles of different ages and special nutritional requirements of dogs. At present there are three Wellness Core product lines—the Wellness Core Ocean Formula, Wellness Core Original Formula, and Wellness Core Reduced Fat Formula.
The Wellness Petfood website states that the “Wellness CORE is based on the raw feeding philosophy of providing nutrient-rich, high-quality meat to a dog’s diet”.
The basal ingredients of Wellness dog food is a grain-free formula that incorporates only meat from deboned chicken and turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, and chicken liver.
Like any raw meat incorporated into feed rations, turkey and chicken meat which are the main sources of protein possess 80% water in its raw form. Upon processing, the water content is lost and what’s left is meat which is about 20% of its original weight.
However turkey meal and chicken meal are considered meat concentrates and are better sources of animal protein because they contain almost 300% more protein compared to their raw forms.
Potato is a good source of complex carbohydrates. Chicken liver when incorporated in sufficient levels is also a good source of additional protein and important nutrients.
Among the Wellness dog food ingredients, canola oil and tomato pomace are considered quite controversial. Tomato pomace is a by-product when manufacturing tomato catsup, juice, or soup. Although it has a high fiber content it is often treated as an inexpensive filler which may be laden with pesticides. On the other hand, canola oil which is considered high in omega-3 has also been deemed an unhealthy fat by some people.
The minerals which have been included in the Wellness dog food formulas are chelated thus the body can better assimilate and use the minerals in the different physiological processes in the body.
Probiotics have also been added after processing to infuse beneficial bacteria which have been lost during processing.
The Wellness dog food series have met the AAFCO nutrient profiles for maintenance of adult dogs.
Customer Reviews
There are a lot of positive reviews from satisfied customers of Wellness dog food products. Aside from the high quality ingredients, owners love the grain-free formula which is good for dogs which are constantly experiencing bloat and other digestive abnormalities. Many owners reported that their dogs had better appetites and more energy.
As for negative feedbacks, some owners report about digestive disturbances when making the switch from one brand to Wellness. This may be attributed to the failure of some owners to gradually incorporate the Wellness dog food into their pet’s diet.
Other owner said that his dog refused to eat unless his dog was really starving and it made the dog’s stools soft.
There are also reports bags which had insects and cobwebs inside but these incidents are probably due to the storage conditions of wholesalers and distributors and not during the processing and packing of the dog food.
Please visit the links listed below for Wellness dog food reviews by formula.
Have a comment or question about our Wellness dog food review? Want to share your experiences with others? We welcome your comments!
Wellness Dog Food Reviews
Wellness Dog Food Formulas:
- Wellness Core Dog Food
- Wellness Core Ocean Dog Food
- Wellness Core Reduced Fat Dog Food
- Wellness Complete Health Chicken Dog Food
- Wellness Complete Health Lamb, Barley and Salmon Meal Dog Food
- Wellness Complete Health White Fish and Sweet Potatoes Dog Food
- Wellness Health Weight Dog Food
- Wellness Just for Puppy’s Dog Food
- Wellness Just for Seniors Dog Food
- Wellness Large Breed Adult Health Super5Mix Dog Food
- Wellness Large Breed Puppy Health Super5Mix Dog Food
- Wellness Small Breed Adult Health Super5Mix Dog Food
Wellness Core Dog Food Consumer Review
| Title | Votes | Rating | Review |
| Eukanuba dog food | 3 | 5.0 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Complete Health Chicken Dog Food | 49 | 6.6 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Complete Health Lamb, Barley and Salmon Meal Dog Food | 83 | 4.8 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Complete Health White Fish and Sweet Potatoes Dog Food | 54 | 5.5 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Core Ocean dog food | 60 | 7.8 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Core Reduced Fat dog food | 138 | 6.1 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Core dog food | 109 | 7.7 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Health Weight Dog Food | 35 | 3.6 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Just for Puppy’s Dog Food | 125 | 5.8 | -1.0 |
| Wellness Just for Seniors Dog Food | 19 | 5.4 | -1.0 |
First time trying this brand
please send coupons
where do i also find this food
What about the rest of the Wellness line? They just came out with that complete health food, which is what I’ve been feeding Theo. I had him on Evo, but he likes the Wellness better, and I like that he’s not getting quite so much protein. Will there be reviews eventually?
Julo-
Yes the rest of the Wellness line will be reviewed. I am hoping to get to it here pretty soon.
BTW, I love your website. Corgi’s are awesome dogs!
Can you please let me know what you think about wellness just for puppy i want to get the best food for my puppy.
Thanks
Any of the Wellness foods are good, or at least better than most of the foods on the market. However, if you want the best food for your puppy, Orijen or raw are the best ways to go.
I think Wellness is much better than most of what’s out there. My dog was on the Lamb Super5Mix until recently. She did not seem to love the taste… I usually had to add something to make it more appealing. I also think that she has an intolerance for grains and chicken. Unfortunately she is not crazy about fish, otherwise I would try Wellness CORE Fish. If anyone from wellness or Old Mother Hubbard reads ths, could you develop another grain-free food without chicken or fish?
I have use Wellness Sr. canned for a year now, our dog did well with it but I think she is getting tired of it…she doesn’t tolerate the higher fat contents well. I homecook evening meal for her and she has no problem eating that!
I also use Wellness canned grain free chicken and turkey for our cats. They do well on it. They don’t seem to like the other flavors as much. Maybe it has to do with being grain free.
A canned food is much better than dry, even if it is “high” quality. Dry is exactly that…dry. Maybe why there is so much skin and allergy problems. Read Dr. Martin and Robert Goldstein.
Wellness used to be good dog food about 10yrs ago. It recently switched hands and they altered the ingredients to lower quality and now theres another prenium kibble that went to crap. Of course when quality is altered the price never is. I had my dogs on this for about 3yrs of there lives, once they switched quality of ingredients and it smelled bad and the colour of the kibble was funny I never bought another bag. there aren’t too many kibble out there that are good quality any more even when pay $70-80 a bag. I feed raw and solved all the kibble problems and will not go back.
My dog is a year and a half havanese. He weighs about 19 pounds. He is very active. I have researched dog foods and thought that wellness core was the best for him, but after a few weeks; he ignores his food. I do not know what to do. I do not want him on a high grain diet. I want him to live a very healthy long life. He would not even try the peanut wellness bars. I am at a lost to know what to feed him. Please respond.
Crystal, I was wondering where you received the information about the lower quality of ingredients in Wellness. I’ve fed my dog the fish and sweet potato variety for 9 years and in the past few months she had shown some signs that worry me. She is extremely gasey, eats grass, and now her hair is falling out. I can’t understand why she would be eating grass if she is on the same diet. My assumption is that the quality has changed and there is something she in either allergic to intolerant of. I’ve been to the vet and they don’t see any indication of illness. Blood levels are all good.
I have just changed by dog to Wellness super5mix whitefish & potato today and it seems like he totally loves the taste! I don’t think i have ever came across a dog food which he instantly loves and i have tried like 7 brands, i mean he just gobbles it up! Previously i had him on Wellness Core i researched and got so many great reviews. However, he developed a really bad allergic reaction – red skin, itching, hot spots and a stench, it was really worrying. The vet said hes probably allergic to chicken and recommened a pork or fish protein food. He doesn’t seem to like lamb much too. Hence i tried this wellness whitefish one and it’s great! =)
But i have one concern, the news recently said that deep ocean fishes like salmon and tuna have high mercury content and dogs need to eat their food like everyday in hugh quantity. To be on the safe side, i really like the wellness brand and hope they develop a pork based one – i’ll have him on it in a heartbeat!
As commercial dog foods go, I think Wellness is one the best your money can buy. My dogs coats all shine and they do not shed a lick. I do recommend rotating foods, though as eating one thing their entire life is not giving your dog everything he needs. Wellness is one of my rotation foods, along with Taste of the Wild, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup and Merrick.
Back when I didn’t know any better, my dogs both had failing livers at only 3 years of age. Since they are siblings, my vet said it was hereditary. Well that’s when I started researching, and switched them off of Iams, Purina, eukanuba, and onto holistic. Their livers healed themselves in 6 weeks. No other treatment. That’s all it took to convince me that the “hype” is real. Same with cat food. If you have cats and are tired of shedding and vomit. Switch their food. I did and it was the best decision I ever made. Most holistic dogs food companies also make cat foods.
Do not buy this food, it will make your dog sick.
I just switched my dog to Wellness Core because I have been hearing rave reviews from friends and colleages. Well now my dog is in the hospital because of an allergic reaction. Her whole body is covered in hives and her mouth is swollen!
My Bernese Mountain Dog puppy did well on Wellness large breed puppy formula. However, he is suffering terribly from the Wellness Core Ocean, itching, hives, swollen nose, ears are inflamed, licking and chewing constantly. My vet has him on prednisone and benadryl. To get his system quieted I am feeding him only cooked brown rice and raw lamb.