Wild Earth Dog Food: Review

Well-known veterinarian and regular TV personality Ernie Ward is behind this unique, meatless dry food brand. Frustrated with the frequent recalls and unsafe practices that blight many of the large corporate pet food manufacturers, Wild Earth was founded with a simple idea: to remove the main cause of pet food safety issues—low quality and imported meat.

Unlike other alternatives to mainstream brands, which go to great lengths to use meat ingredients from local or sustainable sources, Wild Earth opts for a 100 percent meatless protein recipe, using a combination of yeast, plant materials, and prebiotics to create a formula that might work well as an option for dogs with meat allergies and severe digestive issues.

A vegan dog food? You read that correctly. While it is still up for debate whether plant-based protein offers the same benefits as meat-based proteins, this formula is still high in protein. It has 31% protein, higher than the industry average, consisting mostly of animal-based proteins. This recipe uses pea protein and chickpeas as its main sources of protein.

This vegan recipe is full of prebiotic fibers, which help promote a healthy microbiome in the gut. This recipe also has quality sources of carbohydrates in pumpkin, oats, spinach, and sweet potatoes. If you feel like purchasing a natural product free of fillers, additives, and animal meat then this is a good option. Just be aware that the long term effects of vegan diets are relatively untested for dogs.

Customer reviews:

“I have two miniature poodles and one has every issue from pancreatitis to yeast overload- and being a dog mom I want the best for them and have tried and failed with so many things I thought one more time and have been mildly surprised that my babies would eat this and stomachs seem to be not as sensitive and redness is gone and itching is somewhat subdued. Will I buy this again– YES.”

“I’ve been ordering wild earth since it first rolled out and have not turned back. My dog loves the taste. I sometimes offer treats when I’m with my friends’ little dogs and most of them seem to love it as well. Most were like no way ever will they touch vegan dog food but they loved it. The ethical and environmental impact of the pet food industry is at a critical point. Please consider vegan for our future and most of all to end the suffering of cows/chicken/fish.”

Guaranteed analysis:

• Protein (min): 31.0%
• Fat (min): 10.5%
• Fiber (max): 5.0%
• Moisture (max): 10.0%

Nutritional Info
Ingredients: Dried Yeast, Chickpeas, Oats, Peas, Pea Protein, Potato Protein, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Sweet Potato, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product, Flaxseed Meal, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Flavor, Marine Microalgae, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Salt, Inulin (from chicory root), Fructooligosaccharide, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Mixed Tocopherols (preservative), Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, L-Carnitine, Blueberries, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Spinach, Wheat Germ, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D2 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Rosemary Extract.

Caloric Content

3557 kcal/kg 333 kcal/cup

Unlike cats, dogs are not obligate carnivores, meaning that they can and do source nutrition from non-meat sources. Wild Earth’s dry food range uses this fact to develop a recipe that prioritizes ingredients like chickpeas, oats, peas, and potato, as well as a significant amount of AAFCO-approved nutritional yeast.

Note: Wild Earth sources these ingredients from a variety of countries outside of the US, including Asia.

All of these ingredients are legitimate sources of protein and contain things like essential amino acids that are traditionally associated with animal products. This means that Wild Earth is able to rival industry average levels of fat and fiber, and greatly exceed the protein content found in most dog foods.

However, it’s highly debatable whether plant proteins offer the same benefits as whole meats when consumed over the long term, which are generally considered to offer a more bioavailable, richer source of nutrition.

Given that a large part of the argument for meatless dog food is to avoid questionable or contaminated animal products, it’s important that Wild Earth’s product range is not affected by any recalls or quality concerns.

As such, the FDA has no recall record for Wild Earth dog food, which is a promising sign for the brand’s quality control measures.

In other words, by using a low-risk ingredient list, Wild Earth meets their own objectives of providing a highly consistent option for owners.