Wellness Dog Food Core Ingredients

Wellness Dog Food's Core line focuses on protein, and is a grain-free dog food meant to reduce the risk of disease. Traditional grain-based dog foods have been implicated in problems like excess weight gain and shortened life span. Wellness advertises five different animal protein sources, and 80 percent more meat than traditional grain-based foods. However, it's important to look at the quality of the ingredients themselves when choosing a pet food.

  1. Named Meats

    • Wellness Core's first two ingredients are deboned turkey and chicken, but the location of these ingredients on the list is a little misleading. According to the editors at Dog Food Analysis, the meat content in Wellness Core dog food is weighed before dehydration. Once the water is removed, they weight about 80 percent less. However, the food is still composed primarily of whole, named meats, an important factor in a quality dog food. Chicken liver is also included in this food.

    Meat Meals

    • The next two ingredients are turkey and chicken meals, which also inspire more confidence than generic "poultry" meals, and which are lower in fat than beef or lamb. As turkey and chicken meals are both considered concentrated meats, they provide significant amounts of protein--even more than fresh whole meats.

    Potatoes

    • Potatoes provide the carbohydrates in this food, allowing the food to retain its kibble form without the allergy potential of corn and other conventional dog food grains. Potatoes are often used in veterinary hypoallergenic diets for dogs with allergies or food sensitivities, making Wellness Core suitable for these animals. Potatoes are considered a quality carbohydrate for dog food.

    Other Vegetables

    • This dog food provides most of its vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetable form, using plants which dogs tolerate well. These include broccoli, parsley, spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, blueberries, apples, and carrots. Tomato pomace is also included, despite being controversial. Some people argue that dogs should never be fed nightshades such as tomatoes, while others feel that tomatoes are safe. In this case, the tomato pomace provides fiber and bulk.

    Supplements

    • Wellness Core dog food also includes nutritional supplementation. Chondroitin and glucosamine offer joint support. Added probiotics such as lactobacillus encourage healthy digestion.

    Fat

    • This food's fat comes mostly from canola oil, which isn't the highest quality fat, due to its high levels of Omega 6 fatty acids. However, salmon oil is also included, and provides a better balance, with plenty of Omega 3 fatty acids.