Pure Balance Dog Food Reviews

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You may have seen Pure Balance on the shelf at your local Walmart and wondered if this exclusive brand was worth a look or had a good rating among customers. In our Pure Balance dog food review, we’re going to take a closer look at the brand to determine how it holds up against other dog food brands to help dog owners like you decide if this is the best choice for them.

About the Brand

Pure Balance is made by Ol’ Roy, Walmart’s pet food brand. It was started in 2012 in response to an increasing need for high-quality dog food at an affordable price. Premium recipes are typically expensive because high-quality ingredients cost more. They’re also typically found in specialty pet stores or have to be ordered online. Pure Balance changed all that. Now, dog owners can get high-quality dog food right on the shelf of your local Walmart store or order it conveniently from Amazon.

Now, let’s get right into our Pure Balance dog food review.

Dog Food Reviews

Pure Balance doesn’t have a very extensive product line, but there’s a lot to like about the recipes it does have. We’re going to start by taking an in-depth look at Pure Balance dry food recipes, examining the ingredients lists as well as the nutrient breakdown to give pet parents a better idea of whether this dog food is right for your dog.

Dry

Pure Balance has a handful of high-quality dry dog food recipe options, some of which we explore below.

Pure Balance Chicken & Brown Rice

Pure Balance Chicken and Brown Rice dry dog food contains carefully selected quality ingredients to deliver well-balanced nutrition. It uses real chicken as the first ingredient and things like brown rice, chicken fat, and oatmeal support digestion as well as helping with skin and coat health with omega 3 fatty acids. Pure Balance never uses any corn, wheat, or soy, or artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. This formula has an ingredient analysis of 27 percent crude protein, 15 percent crude fat, and delivers

The full ingredients list is as follows: Chicken meat and meal, dried peas, brown rice, pea protein, dried plain beet pulp, poultry fat (source of linoleic acid and preserved with mixed tocopherols), brewers rice, natural flavor, whole flaxseed, rice bran, oatmeal, sunflower oil, natural flavor, dried egg product, salt, yeast, dried carrots, dicalcium phosphate, menhaden fish oil, potassium chloride, zinc proteinate, dried cranberry, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), lactic acid, copper proteinate, mixed tocopherols (used as a preservative), choline chloride, manganese proteinate, biotin, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, sodium selenite, l-carnitine, bacillus coagulans fermentation supplement, thiamine mononitrate, rosemary extract, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid

Pure Balance Wild & Free Bison & Pea

If you’re interested in a grain-free dog foods for your dog, take a look at this bison and pea formula that also includes natural and nutrient-packed ingredients like potato, venison, turkey meal, and fish meal. Because this food is grain-free and uses novel proteins, it’s a great option for dogs with food sensitivities. The dog food ingredient analysis is 30 percent crude protein and 12 percent crude fat.

The top ingredients in this option from the brand’s recipes include bison, poultry meal, dried ground peas, tapioca, pea protein, poultry fat, dried plain beet pulp, pork protein, and venison.

Pure Balance Wild & Free Grain Free Salmon & Pea

Next up in our Pure Balance dog food reviews is another great grain-free formula that features salmon as the main animal protein to help build strong, lean muscles. Because it’s grain-free and salmon-based, it’s a good choice for pets with food sensitivities. This formula contains a mix of wholesome vegetables to add fiber, amino acids, and nutrients, and is balanced to support your adult dog’s all-around health and wellness. It’s 24 percent crude protein and 15 percent crude fat.

The top ingredients in this Pure Balance grain-free formula include salmon, salmon meal, dried ground peas, tapioca, pea protein, fish meal, dried plain beet pulp, poultry fat, diced carrots, sunflower oil, natural flavor, and whole potatoes.

Pure Balance Small Breed Grain Free Chicken and Garden Vegetables

Pure Balance dog food also has a few recipes for small breeds, including this grain-free chicken and garden vegetable formula. It features farm-raised poultry and real vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, and peas. There are no grains or fillers and no artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors. It’s nutritionally balanced for small dogs and contains 26 percent crude protein and 15 percent crude fat.

The top items on the ingredient list include Chicken meat and meal, Dried Ground Peas, Tapioca, Whole Ground Potato, Turkey Meal, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Flaxseed, Natural Flavor, Dried Ground Carrots, Dried Egg Product, Sunflower Oil, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, and Menhaden Fish Oil.

Pure Balance Small Breed Grain Free Chicken & Pea

Another Pure Balance Grain Free formula for small dogs is this chicken formula. It’s grain-free and uses real poultry as the first ingredient. There’s corn, wheat, or soy, and every ingredient is carefully selected to deliver the balanced nutrition your little dog needs. The ingredient analysis is 26 percent crude protein and 15 percent crude fat.

The top ingredients in this formula are chicken meat and meal, dried ground peas, tapioca, whole ground potato, turkey meal, poultry fat, and flaxseed.

Wet

Next in our dog food review, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the wet dog food that Pure Balance has to offer.

Pure Balance Grain Free Wet Dog Food

This multi-pack features two of Pure Balance dog food’s wet dog food recipes, chicken dinner, turkey and beef dinner. These recipes are both soy, wheat, and corn-free with no artificial preservatives or flavors. You get three of each in this pack, and each contains 8 percent crude protein and 4 percent crude fat.

The top ingredient list in the beef recipes includes beef broth, beef, beef liver, brown rice, salmon, dried egg white, carrots, dried egg product, peas, and tomatoes.

The top ingredients in the chicken formula are chicken broth, meat, and liver, brown rice, salmon, dried egg white, carrots, dried egg product, peas, tomato, potato starch, sweet potatoes, and chicken meal.

Pure Balance used to have some additional recipes, including turkey and sweet potato, but these are not available at the present time.

What Dogs Is There a Pure Balance Dog Food Recipe For?

Pure Balance is a little limited in what they have to offer when compared to other brands with extensive product lines, but it still does a decent job of having something for most pups. The side of each bag tells you exactly what type of dog each formula is safe for, and most say that, according to AAFCO standards, they are formulated for all life stages. Some are even safe for dogs over 70 pounds. But if you’re looking for a specific recipe, you might have a difficult time finding it in this brand’s product line.

Small Breeds

Small Breeds

Pure Balance has two grain-free products formulated especially for little dogs. While most formulas are formulated for dogs of any size, we appreciated that this one is particularly suited for small breeds.

Large Breeds

Large Breeds

Again, there is not a specific formula for large breed dogs. That said, the chicken and brown rice, bison and pea, and salmon formulas have feeding instructions for pups over 100 pounds, indicating that Pure Balance is just fine for these big dogs.

Picky Eaters

Picky eaters are tough to figure out sometimes, but generally, a novel protein that tastes new or a wet dog food that adds more texture, flavor, and aroma to dry dog food does the trick. Most of the products use chicken and might not interest a picky eater, but the bison and salmon formulas might do the trick.

What Dogs Is There Not a Pure Balance Dog Food?

As we said, most of the formulas in this product line are formulated for all life stages and some are even good for large breeds. But if you’re looking for something specific, Pure Balance does not have a recipe marketed toward the following types of dogs.

Life Stages

While most of these products are AAFCO approved for all life stages, Pure Balance does not have a specific formula for puppies or seniors. Some of the foods have puppy feeding instructions to support growth, but we’re a little disappointed that there isn’t a specific item available.

Allergies

While Pure Balance does have a few grain-free recipes, most include chicken as the main protein. Even the bison and pea recipe has chicken meal listed as one of the items in the formula. If your dog is particularly sensitive or had food allergies to chicken protein, you may need to go with another brand.

Overweight Dogs

Pure Balance does not have a healthy weight formula available. While most of its formulas are higher in protein than the average dog food, none of them are low fat so they’re not a good option for pups who need to lose weight.

How Does Pure Balance Dog Food Measure Up?

Now that you’ve read our Pure Balance dog food review, there are a few things to consider when deciding whether this line of Pure Balance dog food is the right brand for your pup.

Most of these formulas contain more protein than the average commercial dog food. For example, the bison and pea formula has a whopping 30 percent crude protein. That said, most of these formulas also contain pea protein, which increases the protein, which is not as easily used by your dog’s body as animal protein. In the bison and pea recipe, pea is the sixth most plentiful ingredient.

The fat content in this line is about average for commercial dog food, but the sunflower oil that shows up in some of these formulas isn’t an ideal source of fat. Look for something with more fish oil instead. it’s worth noting that the inclusion of significant amounts of pea protein and lower quality oils makes this food less than optimal for highly active dogs, but they are fine for a typical pet.

Now, onto the good stuff. We love that Pure Balance stays away from corn, wheat, and soy as these grains are low in nutritional value and seen as fillers by many brands, although some formulas include brewers rice, which has only moderate nutritional value. There are also no animal by-products, which is another big plus.

What really stands out about this brand of dog food is that it’s of above-average quality with good ingredients at a very fair price. This brand doesn’t use any of the common fillers that inexpensive dog foods typically do and packs an impressive protein content at a much more affordable cost than some comparable brands. If. you’re a dog owner on a budget looking for a better quality item, Pure Balance is a great brand to try.

We want to point out that Pure Balance is manufactured under the Walmart brand, but it’s manufactured by various third-party suppliers. This is part of the reason why it’s so affordable, but this does open up the possibility of some quality control issues as there is not as much oversight by the brand that is putting out the product. That said, Pure Balance has never had a recall at this time, so it does not appear that quality has been a problem for them.

Overall, our rating for this brand is good. We recommend this food for companion dogs, and it’s a good choice for small breeds, too. We wish there was a formula to account for the nutritional demands of puppies and mature dogs and would recommend choosing a brand that does offer these formulas if they apply to your pet large breed puppies should not eat this food at the nutrition is not tailored to meet their particular needs. People with large breed puppies should wait until a time when they have stopped growing to make the switch.

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