Wellness is a well-known and respected dog food company founded in 1997, offering a wide variety of recipes for both dogs and cats. Their recipes offer a balanced diet for dogs of different sizes, life stages, and special health requirements. Whether you're in the market for grain-free, high-protein, hypoallergenic, or joint-supporting foods, Wellness has something for your pet! This article delves into the Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet, exploring its features, benefits, and considerations to help you determine if it's the right choice for your dog.
Understanding Wellness Dog Food
Wellness is committed to using carefully selected, authentic ingredients from trusted sources to create an ideal nutritional balance. Their foods contain lean, healthy proteins, probiotics, omega fatty acids, fresh fruits and veggie antioxidants, and vitamins and nutrients. With over 200 varieties of foods with high-quality proteins like salmon, beef, rabbit, and duck, in grain-free limited ingredient, dry and wet formulas, Wellness can offer every dog and cat something special and perfect just for them. Using only whole foods, with no wheat, corn, soy, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, or empty calories, Wellness is the face of a new generation in pet food.
Wellness Dog Food Product Ranges
Wellness offers a wide variety of dry and wet foods for dogs, with over 50 dry and 40 wet food recipes currently available. Here's a closer look at some of their popular ranges:
Wellness Complete Health Dog Food
The Complete Health dog food range provides a wholesome, balanced diet for dogs of all ages, shapes, sizes, and nutritional needs. It’s full of the nutrients your dog needs for a lifetime of well-being. Wellness Complete Health dog food is good quality overall, with real cuts of meat as the top ingredient in each kibble recipe, followed by meat meals for a protein boost. Canned wet recipes list broth and several cuts of meat among the top five ingredients. Grain-free and grain-inclusive options are available, with oatmeal, barley, and brown rice as the main grains. Nutritionally beneficial secondary ingredients across the range include sweet potatoes for fiber and flaxseed, a source of omega fatty acids.
The macronutrient levels in Wellness Complete Health dog food are better than average. For example, Wellness Complete Health Chicken & Oatmeal dry recipe contains above-average protein (26.6% as dry matter) and average fat (12.2% as dry matter) compared to standard kibbles. Wellness Complete Healthy Stews Chicken recipe contains above-average protein (44.4% as dry matter) and above-average fat (22.2% as dry matter) compared to standard canned dog food.
Read also: Explore the benefits of Tupelo Wellness
- Complete Health: This range contains all of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants your dog needs to stay playful and active. This product range includes 16 dry foods and 12 wet foods in patés and stews, with varieties for puppy, senior, small breed, and weight management.
- Complete Health Grain-Free: These tasty recipes are formulated with a balanced blend of proteins, grain-free carbs, and select fats, providing the energy your dog needs to thrive. There are five dry food formulas, including for puppies, and small and large breeds.
- Complete Health Small Breed Petite Entrees: Petite Entrees were created just for small breeds. There are 10 wet food foods, and each recipe features all-natural chicken, beef, or turkey and wholesome vegetables in tasty sauces.
Wellness CORE Dog Food
The Core product range is a protein-focused natural dry dog food with bark-worthy recipes your canine will thrive on. The ingredient quality in Wellness CORE dry recipes is similar to Complete Health, with meal cuts of meat and meat meals topping the list. Oatmeal, brown rice, and barley are the main grains in grain-inclusive recipes, while they're replaced by chickpeas, lentils, and peas in grain-free options. One of Wellness CORE's main selling points is its high meat content, boosting its protein levels.
For example, Wellness CORE Grain Free Lamb recipe contains 36.6% protein as dry matter compared to just 28.8% protein as dry matter in Wellness Complete Health Grain Free Lamb & Lamb Meal recipe.
- CORE: This range features 12 dry food flavors and three subranges of canned wet food. The dry food is grain-free and full of premium protein along with nutrient-rich superfoods and nutritional supplements. It includes flavors like Wild Game and Ocean, and formulas for puppies, weight management, and small breeds. The canned wet food includes five CORE Paté flavors, three CORE Hearty Cuts flavors, and three CORE 95% flavors.
- CORE Wholesome Grains Dry: CORE Wholesome Grains is a high-protein food packed with premium meat along with nutrient-rich superfoods and nutritional supplements. Their four dry food recipes include Original with chicken and turkey, Ocean, Puppy, and Small Breed.
- CORE Small Breed Mini Meals: This food is ideal for small but mighty dogs. They come in a single-serve pouch packed with shredded meat and gravy. There are six flavors for your little friend to choose from including proteins chicken, beef, lamb, and tuna.
- CORE Digestive Health: The four varieties of canned dog food in this line is a highly digestible paté crafted with prebiotic fiber and superfoods to support digestive health with flavors in chicken, beef, and lamb. It also comes in six dry varieties with prebiotics and probiotics to support gut health.
- Wellness CORE+ (Formerly RawRev): CORE+ offers the convenience of dry dog food with the taste of raw your canine craves. High-protein, grain-free kibble is combined with 100% raw meat pieces to create a savory, nutrient-rich meal. Some of the proteins include fish, lamb, and turkey. They have six recipes, including foods for puppies, weight management, and small breeds.
- CORE RawRev Wholesome Grains: This dry dog food has the same raw taste and protein that will help your dog thrive, formulated with easy-to-digest, wholesome grains like oatmeal, barley & quinoa. They have six flavors to choose from, including one for puppies and one for small breeds.
Wellness Simple Dog Food: Focus on Limited Ingredients
These natural, limited-ingredient diet dog food recipes keep it simple with a single source of protein and no extra fillers or additives, and are perfect for those pups with certain food allergies. Most recipes consist of 10 or fewer primary ingredients (aside from nutritional supplements). They're similar to Complete Health in regards to fat and protein levels - Wellness Simple Grain Free Turkey dry recipe contains above-average protein (28.8% as dry matter) and average fat (12.2% as dry matter) compared to your typical canine kibble.
Wellness Simple Natural Limited Ingredient Dry Dog Food is healthy, natural limited ingredient diet dog food formulated for allergy prone adult dogs or adult dogs with food sensitivities, allergies or ingredient intolerances. Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet dog food formulas keep it simple with a balance of single source of protein and easily digestible carbohydrates, without extra fillers or additives, including no meat by-products, wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.
Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Dry Dog Food is a natural alternative to the therapeutic diets most commonly prescribed to dogs with food allergies and food sensitivities.
Read also: Research on MCT & Weight
- Simple Limited Ingredient: These grain-inclusive recipes feature two dry foods and one wet food flavor containing easily digestible carbohydrates from oatmeal.
- Simple Limited Ingredient Grain-Free: These grain-free recipes will fuel your dog with a single source of protein and easily digestible carbs from potatoes. There are four dry food variations, Salmon and Potato, Turkey and Potato, Small Breed, and Healthy Weight. There is also a wet food option made with Turkey and Potato.
Wellness Simple Grain Free Natural Limited Ingredient Diet Salmon and Potato Recipe Dry Dog Food is an easily digestible recipe with probiotics and prebiotics. Wellness Simple limited-ingredient diet dog food recipes keep it simple using only a single source of protein and easily digestible carbohydrates, without any extra fillers or additives. Wellness Simple Grain Free Natural Limited Ingredient Diet Salmon and Potato Recipe Dry Dog Food uses high quality Salmon as the first ingredient making this recipe perfect if your dog is restricted to eating only fish based recipes.
Key Features of Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet
- Limited Ingredients: These diets typically feature a single animal protein source (like lamb, salmon, or turkey) and a limited number of carbohydrates. This reduces the risk of triggering allergic reactions in sensitive dogs.
- Easily Digestible: The recipes are formulated with easily digestible ingredients, such as oatmeal or potatoes, to promote healthy digestion and nutrient absorption.
- No Fillers or Additives: Wellness Simple diets avoid common fillers like corn, wheat, and soy, as well as artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors.
- Grain-Free Options: For dogs with grain sensitivities, Wellness offers grain-free Simple diets that use potatoes or other alternative carbohydrates.
Wellness Mixers and Toppers Dog Food
Supercharge your dog’s kibble with a boost of extra flavor and nutrition. Whether you need a topper with the most simple ingredients or one tailored to your dog’s specific health needs, Wellness has it.
- CORE Bowl Boosters BARE: It doesn’t get more pure than with the BARE toppers: each recipe is crafted with just 1 ingredient: raw, freeze-dried meat. It comes in two flavors: 100% Beef, and 100% Turkey.
- Ninety-Five Percent Mixer or Topper: Each can of Wellness Ninety-Five Percent is packed with all-natural, grain-free meat and not much else. It comes in five varieties: chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and whitefish.
- CORE Bowl Boosters Functional Toppers: These functional toppers are crafted with supplements and nutrients to help support your dog's specific needs. The five topper varieties include Digestive Health, Heart Health, Immune Health, Joint Health, and Skin and Coat Health. Nutritious and delicious!
- Bowl Boosters FRESHLY: Quality ingredients are selected at the peak of freshness and then frozen. Simply thaw, serve, and watch your pup devour every morsel. Its four recipes include Chicken and Butternut Squash, Beef and Carrots, Turkey and Sweet Potatoes, and Turkey and Rice for Puppies.
- Bowl Boosters Simply Shreds: This grain-free, filler-free boost of pure protein is perfect for topping or snacking. Each of the four varieties is made with only four, simple, natural, ingredients.
- Bowl Boosters Tender Toppers: Tender Toppers are an easy way to add a boost of flavor and protein to your canine's meal. The tender texture is great for puppies, adults, and aging dogs. It comes in two flavors: Turkey and Chicken, and Lamb and Salmon.
- Bowl Boosters Hearty Toppers: Wellness Hearty Toppers are somewhere between a wet and broth topper, featuring finely ground meats and veggies in bone broth. These come in three meaty flavors.
Wellness Treats
Wellness has a whopping 19 different all-natural treat lines. With dozens of different dog biscuits, jerky, dental chews, and soft treat recipes, they have something for almost every pup!
Wellness Treat Lines:
- Their Crunchy WellBars are natural dog biscuits that come in one plant- and dairy-centric recipe: Yogurt, Apples, & Banana. Peas and chickpeas are the leading ingredients in these biscuits.
- The Rewarding Life offers 5 meat-flavored training treats: Beef & Turkey, Chicken & Lamb, Chicken & Venison, Lamb & Salmon, and Turkey & Duck. We love that real meat is the first ingredient and that they pack a healthy dose of omega 3s without any corn, wheat, or soy. They DO contain chickpeas.
- Complete Health Puppy Bites come in two DHA-rich recipes: Crunchy Chicken & Carrots and Soft Lamb & Salmon. We love that the soft treats are the perfect size for rewards when working on obedience training!
Wellness Core Treat Lines:
- Wellness Core Tiny Trainers Tender Treats are grain- and preservative-free training treats that are currently available in two versions: Lamb & Pomegranate and Turkey & Apples.
- The Power Packed Jerky Treats offer a chewy jerky texture with flavors like Beef, Beef & Venison, and Chicken. We love that these treats feature real meat as the main ingredient and use spearmint, rosemary, and green tea in place of artificial preservatives.
- Wellness's Brainac Puppy Treats are soft-baked training treats that offer the DHA puppies need to support their growing brains. These treats come in a single flavor, Beef & Turkey, along with antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies like blueberries, apples, and sweet potatoes.
- If you have a senior or large breed dog, their Healthy Joints treats come in one flavor (Beef & Chicken Meal) and feature real meat, glucosamine & chondroitin, and fatty acids to support muscle and joint health. These bite-size biscuits have a crunchy texture to help combat tartar, as well.
Wellness Good Dog Treat Lines:
- The Happy Puppy Treat line comes in two flavors: Crunchy Chicken & Carrots and Soft Lamb & Salmon. These treats can help meet your pet's DHA and vitamin needs with their "Triple Puppy Care" blend of vitamins and nutrients. Since these are bite-sized, you can use them throughout puppyhood as your baby's first treats and as training treats as they get older.
- Once Fido ages out of puppyhood, you can transition them to Training Rewards treats, their adult training treat line. These are about the size of a small cracker but can easily be broken down into smaller morsels for training little pups. These come in two flavors, Chicken & Venison and Turkey & Duck. Like all Wellness products, these are free of fillers and artificial ingredients.
- The final treat line in the Good Dog subrange is the Drool-Worthy Jerky Bars. Unfortunately, this line is currently only available in one recipe, chicken, but we're hoping they will expand their offerings in the future.
Old Mother Hubbard by Wellness Treats
Old Mother Hubbard, now part of the Wellness brand, is one of the oldest dog treat manufacturers in existence, dating all the way back to the 1920s. Nowadays, the brand has seven different treat lines with over two dozen recipes.
Old Mother Hubbard by Wellness Treat Lines:
- Old Mother Hubbard's Wholesome Indulgences is a line of adorable heart-shaped soft-baked biscuits that are available in two flavors - Bacon, Oats, & Maple, and Peanut Butter & Banana. We love that these are high in whole grains, which means plenty of fiber for your pooch!
- If your dog prefers an even chewier consistency, their Soft & Chewy biscuits might hit the spot. These feature whole wheat and oatmeal as the first two ingredients and come in fun flavors like Bark'n Beef and Pleas'n P.B. Bacon.
- The Solutions line come in a Fresh Breath recipe featuring spearmint, parsley, and fennel and a Hip and Joint version with glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate to help promote joint health. These both feature whole wheat flour and oatmeal as the primary ingredients.
- Training Bitz are bite-sized crunchy training treats that are sold in a single assorted pack with a mix of flavors like chicken, liver, and veggies. These treats are just two calories each, making them paw-fect for pooches who are watching their diet.
- Old Mother Hubbard's Classic Dog Biscuits are similar in the recipe to their Soft & Chewy treats, but have a crunchy texture. These come in several different options, including Chicken Pot Pie and P-Nuttier. We love that these come in multiple different sizes to suit every woofer!
- Classic Grain Free Biscuits steer away from their traditional formulas (which are primarily wheat and oat-based) in favor of grain-free potato and peas-based recipes. These come in three flavors: All The Fixins, P Nuttier'N'Nanners, and Pick of the Patch.
- The final line in the Wellness' treat offerings is Wellness Whimzees. These dental chews come in a variety of sizes and shapes, like antlers, hedgehogs, alligators, sticks, and toothbrushes, to name a few.
- Wellness also has seasonal offerings within their treat lines for different holidays, like their Halloween-themed dental chews and heart-shaped Bitz for Valentine's, so keep on the lookout!
Why Choose Wellness Dog Food?
Wellness dog food is known for its high-quality ingredients, making it a popular choice among pet owners. The brand emphasizes using real meat as the primary ingredient in their recipes, and this commitment to ingredient quality sets them apart from many other dog food brands on the market.
Read also: Explore the foundations of a healthy lifestyle
Another advantage of Wellness dog food is its affordability. While it’s still considered a premium brand, Wellness offers a range of options that can fit many different budgets. Pet owners can find a variety of formulas, such as grain-free or limited-ingredient diets, allowing them to choose the best option for their dog's specific needs without breaking the bank.
Transparency is an essential value for Wellness, and the brand is dedicated to providing pet owners with detailed information about their food processing practices.