Four Foods, One Method
The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.
Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.
Open Your Saved Comparison- 01 NutriSource Weight Management Swap Remove
- 02 NutriSource Element Series Coastal Plains Swap Remove
- 03 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove
- 04 K9 Natural Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Swap Remove
| 01 NutriSource Weight Management Swap Remove | 02 NutriSource Element Series Coastal Plains Swap Remove | 03 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove | 04 K9 Natural Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Swap Remove | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. | 01 Weight Management 30.0% | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 37.8% | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0% | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 44.4% Best in this row |
| 02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. | 01 Weight Management 34% 30.5% as fed | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 33% 30.0% as fed | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% as fed | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 24% 21.5% as fed Best in this row |
| 03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. The count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on. | 01 Weight Management 2 of 5 | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 5 of 5 | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5 | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 4 of 5 |
| 04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. | 01 Weight Management None | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains None | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None |
| 05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. | 01 Weight Management 1 None in the last 3 years | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 1 None in the last 3 years | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None Best in this row |
| Starch, As Fed Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. | 01 Weight Management 30.5% | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 30.0% | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0% | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 21.5% |
| Kcal / Cup | 01 Weight Management 341 | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains 493 | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406 | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 423 |
| Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes | 01 Weight Management $2.46 26 lb bag, Theisen's | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains $4.42 24 lb bag, Amazon | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file. | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $7.87 16 lb bag, Chewy |
| Cost / 1,000 Kcal Lower Is Cheaper To Feed What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. | 01 Weight Management $1.71 Best in this row | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains $2.39 | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file. | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $4.43 |
| First Five Ingredients | 01 Weight Management chicken, chicken meal, pea fiber, brown rice, barley | 02 Element Series Coastal Plains Deboned turkey, salmon, whitefish, turkey meal, salmon meal | 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp | 04 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Salmon, Herring, Cod, Whitefish, Dehydrated Herring |
Add A Food
The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.
Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.
Think You Know What Your Dog Can Eat?
Ten everyday foods. Safe, In Moderation or Never. No googling, no second guesses. Then share your score with your friends, however embarrassing it turns out to be.
115 foods in the deck. Grapes are in there. So is cheese.
Think You
Know?
Ten foods, one at a time. Call each one Safe, In Moderation or Never, then flip the card to see if you had it right. The ones you miss are listed at the end.
Keys: 1 Safe 2 Moderation 3 Never Enter Next
Copied. Paste it anywhere your friends will see it.
Want the reason behind every answer? The 80-page e-book, $7.99
Now, is your dog's food any good?
Look it up: estimated starch, calories per cup and every ingredient, for 3,207 foods.



