10 Best Holistic Dog Foods in 2022 — Reviews & Top Picks

As a dog owner, you are likely committed to making sure that your furry family member’s life is a long, happy, and healthy one. Providing attention, consistent training, and even discipline are all essential aspects of properly caring for a dog throughout their life. Feeding your dog well is one important aspect that you can’t afford to overlook.

If your pup is eating low-quality food from the lowest price options at the grocery store, chances are that they will end up facing health problems when they get older. These can cost you time and money that could have better been used for camping trips with your pooch or new dog toys. Choosing a quality holistic food for your dog is an excellent way to support their health as they age.

However, not all foods that are labeled holistic really hold up to the meaning. Many companies include the label simply as a marketing tactic.¹ So, we’ve put together a list of reviews that highlight what we think are the best holistic dog foods on the market. This reviews list should help narrow your choices and allow you to maintain peace of mind when choosing a holistic food for your dog.

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A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2022

The 10 Best Holistic Dog Foods

1. Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast Dry Dog Food — Best Overall

Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast dog food is everything that your pooch could want when it comes to flavor and all that you expect when it comes to maintaining great health. Bison meal is featured as the first ingredient to ensure plenty of protein consumption for strong bones and a healthy heart. Next up are peas and eggs, both of which are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals to support healthy growth, vision, and respiratory fitness. Flaxseed is included to provide essential amino fatty acids that work to keep your dog’s skin and hair in optimal condition.

This food also features an assortment of fruits and vegetables, including apples, spinach, carrots, cranberries, and blueberries, to make sure that your pooch gets all the antioxidants they need daily to stave off illnesses. Thanks to bison being the number-one ingredient, dogs young and old seem to love the flavor and never turn down a meal. The only problem is that the kibble sizes may be a bit too large and hard for young puppies to easily eat and digest. Pups who are a few months old shouldn’t have a problem, though.

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2. Annamaet Original Adult Formula Dry Dog Food — Best Value

We believe that this naturally preserved option is the best holistic dog food for the money because it’s made of high-quality ingredients, it’s affordable, and dogs seem to love every bite. We didn’t choose this as our first choice simply because it doesn’t include quite as many fruits and vegetables as the Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast does. You won’t find any fillers like wheat or corn in the ingredients list, though. Instead, your dog will enjoy ingredients such as real chicken, brown rice, millet, and oats.

Beets, apples, and flaxseed help round out the nutritional elements of this well-balanced dog food. Annemaet Original Adult dog food is infused with L-Carnitine to support lean muscles and optimal cognitive health. Algae are also included as a natural supplemental source of DHA and EPA fatty acids. This is a no-frills food that’s tasty and supportive of optimal health. What more could a dog parent ask for? This food is designed specifically for older dogs, but it can be eaten at any life stage without adverse effects.

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3. Earthborn Holistic Puppy Vantage Dry Dog Food — Best for Puppies

This is a puppy version of the adult dog food that we featured as our number-one pick here on our reviews list, with a few key differences. First and foremost, this formula’s kibble pieces are much smaller than the adult formula, which makes it easy for younger dogs to chew and properly digest. Earthborn Holistic Puppy Vantage food is grain-free and filled with protein-rich chicken and whitefish.

The whitefish offers an abundance of essential omega fatty acids, while the chicken provides vitamins and minerals that every puppy needs to grow strong and healthy. In addition to high-quality protein, this puppy formula contains plenty of whole food ingredients that support a healthy immune system, such as peas, cranberries, and carrots.

Many supplements are also included to make sure that your pup (no matter their breed and size) gets all the vitamin D, calcium, iron, and manganese that they need. But your pooch shouldn’t eat this food forever. After about 12 months of age, they should be transitioned to an adult food. If you’re looking for a lifelong formula, choose an adult blend to start or go with one that’s been developed for all life stages.

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4. Holistic Select Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

Holistic Select Grain-Free dog food is made for the budget-conscious in mind without sacrificing the nutrition and health of your pooch. It’s formulated for all stages of life, from puppies to seniors. It can even sustain the health of pregnant and lactating dogs. The first ingredients on the list are salmon, anchovies, and sardines, all of which are rich sources of protein and essential fats. Potatoes and peas offer up a big dose of carbohydrates for clean energy to fuel your dog’s day.

Whole fruits like pumpkin and papaya are included in the blend for a strong immune system and a healthy heart. This food features naturally occurring microorganisms that your dog would ingest in the wild to keep their digestive tracts on track. The one problem we found with this food is that is doesn’t seem as appealing to pooches as many of the other options on our reviews list.

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5. Halo Holistic Adult Dry Dog Food

Made of whole chicken and chicken liver, Halo Holistic Adult dog food is designed to ensure that dogs of all breeds get plenty of high-quality protein throughout their lives. Caged-free chickens that have been sustainably raised make up the bulk of this high-quality commercial dog food. The chicken is served up in its whole form, not rendered into meal.

The liver is added to provide an abundance of minerals that are easy to digest. Halo Holistic dog food features a proprietary blend of supplements called DreamCoat that are designed to keep your pooch’s skin and fur soft and supple. It’s made to digest easily and most dogs like the taste. However, the kibbles are hard and crisp, which can make it tough for younger and older dogs to readily enjoy.

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6. Solid Gold Leaping Waters Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

A single source of protein is used in this blend, which is an awesome feature for those dealing with a dog that has serious digestion issues. Featuring salmon and chickpeas as the main ingredients, Solid Gold Leaping Waters dog food is grain-free and full of goodness. It features a blend of natural probiotics to help keep the gut clean and working well.

Absolutely no gluten is involved in this formulation, which is a great thing for sensitive bellies because it tends to be a culprit for side effects such as constipation and foul-smelling feces. You won’t find any artificial ingredients or fillers either. This is a formula that focuses on protein and essential nutrients. But on the downside, this isn’t the best option for highly active dogs because it doesn’t contain much carbohydrate energy.

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7. Dr. Gary’s Best Breed Holistic German Dry Dog Food

This food is made with specifically large and giant breeds in mind. It’s formulated with tons of proteins and supplements to meet the needs of large breed dogs that have larger bone structures to support. Dr. Gary’s Best Breed Holistic German dry dog food isn’t just for German Shepherds, though. Any large breed, whether Rottweiler, Doberman Pinscher, or mixed, can benefit from the chicken, brown rice, egg, and beet concoction offered here.

Dogs that regularly participate in agility training or other similarly challenging activities are sure to appreciate Dr. Gary’s dog food as they grow older. Formulated to support proper joint and tissue function, this food is also easy to digest, but it relies more on supplements rather than whole foods to provide dogs with the nutrition they need.

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8. Addiction Zen Holistic Vegetarian Formula Dry Dog Food

If you’ve ever wondered whether dogs can be vegetarians, wonder no more! Addiction Zen Holistic Vegetarian dog food proves that dogs can thrive without eating animal flesh. All-natural ingredients like rice and kelp make up the bulk of this high-quality vegetarian dog food option. While many dog foods use processed soy products as fillers, this food features quality soya that’s minimally processed and full of nutrition.

Minimally processed soy products, such as edamame, tempeh, and organic tofu, offer up a healthy dose of protein, vitamins, folic acid, and amino acids that are essential for good health. Soya is easy to digest too. But there are certain health concerns about soy, so if you are worried, the whole meat protein options on this list should give you the peace of mind you’re looking for.

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9. Canine Caviar Limited Ingredient Diet Holistic Entrée Dry Dog Food

Made for all life stages, Canine Caviar Limited Ingredient Holistic Entrée is designed to make digestion easy on your pooch, like many other options on our reviews list today. Chicken, chicken fat, and millet are the star ingredients in this formula. The chicken provides plenty of protein for dogs to maintain their strong bodies, and there’s enough carbohydrate energy to keep up with the demands of an active “teenage” dog.

Peppermint is added for extra minerals and better smelling breath, which is something all dog owners can appreciate. The only downside is that you won’t find important ingredients like fish, fish oil, or flaxseed, which are all rich sources of important omega fatty acids.

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10. Earthborn Holistic Unrefined Dry Dog Food

Earthborn is a company that’s worth checking out, but this food isn’t as uniquely targeted to certain dog sizes, digestive needs, and other specifics.

However, this food does include ingredients meant to optimize your dog’s health, such as alfalfa, flaxseed, and sun-dried kelp. According to dogs, though, this isn’t the best tasting commercial food on the market. Also, the kibble pieces are super crispy, which makes the chance of chipping a tooth a bigger reality for older dogs.

Buyer’s Guide: Selecting the Best Holistic Dog Food

Figuring out what kind of food to buy your dog can feel stressful and overwhelming. How can you know exactly what ingredients your dog needs? Luckily, the process of choosing a high-quality food for your dog doesn’t have to be complicated or frustrating. Here are a few things that you can do to make the shopping process easier on yourself:

Visit Your Veterinarian

The most important thing that you can do is visit your veterinarian to get blood tests for your pooch. These tests will show your vet exactly what nutrients are abundant and which are lacking in your dog’s system, so you can figure out what ingredients should be in the food that they will be expected to eat long term. Your vet can also use the results that they get from tests and consider your dog’s overall health condition to recommend a few high-quality dog foods for your furry family member.

Test Your Dog’s Taste Buds

What kind of quality protein will your dog like the most? The only way to find out is to ask them. You can do this by feeding your dog a bite of beef (steak, ground, etc.), chicken, fish, and pork to find out which they prefer the most. If your dog seems to favor one particular protein, chances are that they will most enjoy a food that features that protein as the main ingredient.

If your dog doesn’t seem to favor any protein over another, you can consider yourself lucky and make a choice based on your own interests. If you aren’t dealing with a picky dog, try something that features a mixture of proteins or that most resembles the diet that your family follows at home

Find Out What Others Think

Find out whether any of your friends or family members have had any experience with the holistic dog food that you’re thinking about investing in. If they have, they can provide you with invaluable insight that will let you know what to expect if you were to feed the same food to your own dog.

Also, take the time to read customer reviews to get an idea of what your dog might think about a food you’re considering. Ignore the shipping complaints and other issues that don’t really have to do with the food, and focus on what folks have to say about the food itself. How do the dogs like the food, and how has their health been affected, if at all? The answers to these questions can help you easily determine which food would be the best fit for your pooch.

Conclusion

We love all the choices on our reviews list, but each is quite different. Therefore, one may meet your dog’s needs better than another. We highly recommend our first choice — Earthborn Holistic Great Plains — for any dog breed, age, or size. We also love Annamaet Original dog food as a budget option.

 What do you think of our top 10 picks for the best holistic dog foods? What does the term holistic mean to you when it comes to feeding your dog? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so give us a shoutout in our comments section below!

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Featured Image Credit By: 279photo Studio, Shutterstock