Natura's Innova Puppy dry food is one of the best, if not the best, dry dog food brands on the market today. And I’ll explain why by not only sharing my experience w/ this product, but by also listing the ingredients found in Innova Puppy which makes it a superior product.
After adopting my 10-week Husky/Shepherd puppy from a rescue org., I only wanted to feed him the best possible food out there. I didn't want to invest in canned foods which are high in moisture (more water than food) and are messy to prepare and clean up. And I didn't want to invest in BARF/Raw meat recipes because of the potential dangers that I've found while researching this diet (http://www.secondchanceranch.org/rawmeat.html). So, I had only one choice remaining: dry dog/puppy food. Premium dry food brands are cost-effective (when you evaluate the amount of food and cost per feeding), yet still provides the proper nutrition that a growing puppy needs to be healthy and happy.
So, which brand is the best? It's hard to tell because some dogs have allergies to certain ingredients which can limit their food choices. Some dog foods contain high proteins and fats (which some dog owners believe is most important) while other dry foods are more well-balanced in all major food groups (which other dog owners believe is most important). And some dogs are just picky eaters, no matter how healthy the dry food is. With all these variables in mind, how does one choose a dog food brand? This is how I found Innova Puppy.
I did a "taste test challenge" on the top three dog/puppy dry food brands I could find on the net (others would disagree w/ the brands I chose, but the brands listed here are, in my opinion (IMO), based on the ingredients I've researched from many grocery store brands, premium pet/feed store brands and premium independent distributor brands). I chose to compare Innova Puppy, Bil-Jac & Flint River Ranch (FRR). I put an equal amount in each identical bowl and I let my puppy be the "salesperson". He sniffed at all three and surprisingly, he ate equal amounts from all three bowls. I repeated this test several times w/ the same results. So much for finding out which my puppy prefers eating the most. Here's what Innova Puppy dry food contained...
(NOTE: All ingredients are tested by a third party to ensure they are free from BHA / BHT & Ethoxyquin. In addition, there are 50 other tests that are done to ensure quality control on every batch made! Innova (manufactured by Natura Pet Products) also certifies that all meats are human-grade quality and are free of preservatives, pesticides, and hormones in accordance w/ FDA and USDA standards.)
MY EXPERIENCE (Cont...):
So, what does this all mean? It means that Innova Puppy has the most well-balanced, nutritious ingredients I've ever seen! I thought to myself "ingredients such as apples and carrots in a dog food? That's weird". So, I called and spoke to a young lady at their customer service # (800) 532-7261 and she informed me that by adding whole fruits and vegetables, as well as other ingredients and vitamins/minerals, it provides a "complete" nutrition from all major food groups. It made sense to me.
But how will my puppy like the taste? I thought this healthy puppy food wouldn't be too tasty for my puppy. But I was proven wrong. After slowly changing him over from Pedigree Puppy (what the rescue org. was feeding him) to a 50/50 mix of FRR & Innova to an exclusive diet of Innova Puppy only, I've noticed an increased amount of energy in my puppy, a softer coat and he has a smaller stool (which means he's absorbing more nutrients while eating less amounts compared to economy store brands). This is more healthier for the puppy and even though the initial cost seems higher in price, the amount that I feed is less cups per day vs. economy brands (such as Pedigree Puppy).
Innova Puppy is available in 6.6 lb., 16.5 lb. and 33 lb. packages. It's a small, triangular shape w/ a hole in the middle. It doesn't feel greasy and it doesn't have a strong odor. It's small enough for a puppy to eat comfortably and Angelo seems to really likes the taste because he eats it all at every feeding. He doesn't show any allergic reactions to any of the many healthy ingredients in Innova Puppy. And according to Natura's website, the vitamins/minerals included are all in proper ratios and no additional vitamin supplements are necessary (this info. is found in Naturapet.com's FAQ).
"Dietitians use the term to mean kilocalorie in measuring the calorific, heating, or metabolizing value of foods. Thus, the calories on pet food labels are in fact kilocalories, with the kilo- prefix omitted." (Quoted from Naturapet.com.)
The following are ingredients found in the two other premium brands I mentioned that are NOT recommended or used in Innova Puppy food...
FLINT RIVER RANCH (Ingredients NOT Recommended):
Wheat Flour - Whenever flour is part of an ingredient's name, the grain has been processed and some (or all) of the nutritional value has been lost. Frequently these flour ingredients are simply the leftover dust from processing human food ingredients.
Natura avoids all processed grains, relying instead on only whole grains for complete carbohydrate nutrition. In addition, wheat and wheat by-products can cause allergic reactions in some animals.
Poultry Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid) - Poultry fat is a byproduct of meat processing. The origin of the contributing animals is never known; the source can be any fowl (turkey, chicken, geese, buzzard, etc.) and the resulting oil is very low in linoleic acid -- an essential fatty acid that is important for skin and coat health. Natura uses high quality chicken fat which has the highest levels of linoleic acid.
Ground Wheat - Ground wheat is a good quality source of carbohydrates. Because it includes the entire wheat kernel, it contributes additional protein, wheat oil, bran, and vitamins and minerals to the diet. This is in contrast to the fractionated wheat ingredients used by some manufacturers such as wheat bran, wheat flour or wheat middlings, which are leeched of much of their nutritional value.
The downside to any wheat ingredient is that wheat is a common allergen for animals. Because of this, wheat is not included in Natura products.
Dried Whole Egg - Dried eggs are USDA-inspected whole eggs, without the shell, in a dehydrated form.
Instead of highly processed dried eggs, Natura uses only human grade whole eggs.
Fish Meal - Fish meal is made from unspecified types of fish. While fish meal can be a good source of essential fatty acids and is very palatable for cats, the ambiguous nature of this ingredient puts it on our unapproved ingredient list.
Brewers Dried Yeast - Although brewer's yeast is a good source of Vitamin B, it is a potential allergen for some animals and is not included in Natura foods.
Dried Kelp - Dried kelp is seaweed from the families Laminariacae and Fucaeae which has been dried.
Kelp is added to pet foods primarily as a source of iodine, but it can be very high in salt and potassium. Natura does not add kelp or other salty ingredients to any of its foods.
Salt - Most pet food ingredients contain enough sodium to meet a dog or cat's nutritional needs. The sodium in the Natura products comes only from the natural ingredients, with no added salt or sodium products as flavor enhancers.
BIL-JAC (Ingredients NOT Recommended):
Corn - Corn meal is the entire corn kernel, finely ground.
Although corn is a good quality source of carbohydrates, it is a common cause of food allergies in pets and is not used in Natura products.
Chicken By-Product Meal - Chicken byproduct meal consists of the dry, ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Chicken byproduct meal is an inconsistent ingredient because of the multiple organs used, their constantly changing proportions, and their questionable nutritional value. Chicken byproduct meal is much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal, which Natura uses and which is considered the single best source of protein.
Fresh Chicken Liver - Chicken liver is used primarily to enhance the flavor of pet foods. Natura does not use liver because the liver filters toxins from the blood and can potentially contain a disproportionate amount of these poisons.
The meat flavors of Natura's dogs foods come from only select human-grade cuts of meat, and no organ tissues are used.
Brewers Dried Yeast - Yeast is a good source of Vitamin B. However, Natura does not use yeast in any of our products because of the potential for allergic sensitivities in many animals.
Cane Molasses - Cane molasses is a by-product of the manufacture of sucrose from sugar cane. It must contain not less than 43% total sugars expressed as invert.
Natura adds no sugar to our formulas. Any sugar in our foods is derived from the 'natural' fruits and vegetables in them.
Salt - Most pet food ingredients contain enough sodium to meet a dog or cat's nutritional needs. The sodium in the Natura products comes only from the natural ingredients, with no added salt or sodium products as flavor enhancers.
(I got all this info. from Natura's Ingredient Wizard under the heading "Ingredients We Never Use". http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=ingr-wiz)
Update: My two dogs Angelo (Husky/Shepherd) and Derek (Husky/Wolf) are all grown up now, so it's pretty obvious I don't feed them the dry puppy food anymore. Instead, I've stuck w/ the Innova brand and have been feeding them the dry adult food version. To add some variety in their daily meals, I even bought some of Innova's canned food and mix a little bit of it in their dry dog food. It's been working out great and I recommend that whenever our pets get a little picky at times during their meals.
Update #2: My two dogs are nearly 5 & 6 years old. Both have been raised mostly on Innova Puppy and Innova Adult dry dog food. Recently, I've been creative and given them small amounts of California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato and Lamb Meal & Rice dry food (about 10% of each flavor; both are Natura Pet products like Innova) mixed w/ Innova Adult dry food in every meal just for variety sake. This way, they're not only getting major sources of Turkey and Chicken from Innova, but other meat variety like lamb and herring, too.
Also, I posted this in my comment area and thought I'd share it here, too. Here's a few links that I found to be helpful because they list a variety of brands and have given them ratings via points and/or letter grades. Of course, Innova was one of the top brands on each of the links. Check them out and see for yourself...
After extensive internet research on dog/puppy dry food from various sources (commercial/grocery stores, pet/feed stores & independent/online distributors), I've found Innova Puppy to be superior in ingredients and nutrition over the other premium competitors. Thank you for reading this long review.
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Innova Puppy Formula Dry Dog Food has been designed to supply highly digestible ingredients and important micronutrients needed to satisfy the urgent ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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