Wellness Simple Dog Food Review: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Introduction

Based out of Tewksbury, MA, Wellness Pet Food is a subsidiary of Wellpet LLC, which owns several natural dog and cat food lines. The Wellness brand was founded specifically to offer foods made with wholesome, natural ingredients.

There are several different food options in the Wellness brand, and the Simple line is designed to be a limited-ingredient kibble. This makes it a smart choice for dogs with food allergies, or for owners who simply want to monitor every bite of food their dog takes.

At a Glance: The Best Wellness Simple Dog Food Recipes

Wellness Simple Dog Food Reviewed

Who makes Wellness Simple and where is it produced?

Wellness Simple is made by Wellpet LLC, a dog and cat food manufacturer in Tewksbury, MA.

Which Types of Dogs is Wellness Simple Best Suited For?

As this is a limited-ingredient food, it’s perfect for pups that have sensitive stomachs, as it makes it easy to weed out any foods that could potentially cause digestive issues.

Which Types of Dogs Might Do Better with a Different Brand?

There’s not a ton of protein in this kibble, so young or extremely active dogs might need something with a little more muscle support. Consider CRAVE Grain Free High Protein Adult Dry Dog Food instead.

Discussion of the Primary Ingredients

The primary ingredient is deboned turkey, which is a lean meat that’s high in protein. Turkey meal is right after that, so while this food is primarily made of the bird’s breast, it also includes all the other organ meat — which is sensational for your dog.

After that there’s a parade of potatoes and peas. These foods are high on the glycemic index, which means they could cause your pup’s blood sugar to spike. They also don’t contribute much in the way of nutrients past a little bit of fiber. We’d love it if the company replaced them.

There’s ground flaxseed in here as well, which is full of antioxidants and omega fatty acids. This is a fantastic ingredient, but it’s counterbalanced somewhat by the inclusion of canola oil, which is very fattening.

Wellness Simple is a Limited-Ingredient Food

While the ingredients list may seem long and daunting, much of it is made up of the vitamin and mineral pack the manufacturer adds to the food. There are only a handful of actual ingredients inside.

With only a few ingredients to choose from, it’s easy to sidestep any that give your pup digestive issues. As a result, this is an excellent kibble for dogs with food sensitivities.

This Food Omits Most Common Allergens

In keeping with the “good for sensitive dogs” theme, the kibble is free of most ingredients that are known to cause issues in dogs, like wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy, corn, and chicken.

In their place, it uses foods that are equal or superior to those ingredients in nutritional value, but that are easier for dogs to tolerate.

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There’s Less Balance to This Kibble Than Other Wellness Kibbles

The downside to a limited-ingredient food is that, well, the ingredients are limited. That means you can’t really waste one, or you miss an opportunity to give your dog some essential vitamins and minerals.

With only five or six foods to choose from, you simply won’t get as much balance as you would find in foods that have a longer ingredients list.

A Quick Look at Wellness Simple Dog Food

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Recall History

The company recalled its Large Breed Puppy Formula in May 2012 due to possible Salmonella contamination. The contamination occurred in a third-party processing plant, which the company no longer uses.

In October 2012, there was a voluntary recall of the brand’s Small Breed Adult Health Dry Dog Food. This was due to possible moisture contamination, which could increase the rate at which the food spoiled but was not believed to pose a health risk.

Wellness recalled its 95% Beef Topper in March 2017 due to elevated levels of a naturally-occurring beef thyroid hormone. Animals who consumed this food could potentially see minor health issues that would go away over time, but there were no cases of dogs falling ill reported.

Reviews of the 3 Best Wellness Simple Dog Food Recipes

The Wellness Simple line features a variety of recipes, each with a different ingredients list. We took an in-depth look at three of them below:

1. Wellness Simple Natural Limited Ingredient Dry Dog Food Turkey & Potato

A surprising number of dogs have difficulties digesting chicken, so turkey is often used as a substitute. It offers a similar amount of lean protein, except it’s much easier for dogs to handle. This food also has quite a bit of probiotics inside, which should boost the digestive process even more.

The first two ingredients in this are deboned turkey and turkey meal, so your pup will get a double dose of lean, healthy meat. It has 26% protein overall, which is on par with many other foods, but since your dog will likely digest this a little better, he might get more benefit from eating this kibble.

Its primary vegetable is white potatoes, which aren’t bad, per se — they’re just fairly limited, nutritionally speaking. We’d prefer to see something a bit more vitamin-packed (even sweet potatoes would work). Also, white potatoes can give some dogs gas.

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2. Wellness Simple Natural Limited Ingredient Dry Dog Food Lamb & Oatmeal

Like the food above, this kibble starts with lamb and lamb meal, two lean protein sources. Instead of using potatoes, though, this option contains oatmeal, which has more fiber and is excellent for dogs with skin allergies.

In addition to the probiotic pack, the Lamb & Oatmeal formula includes chicory root, which also improves digestion. This food is an excellent choice for any animal with a sensitive stomach, especially those that struggle to process poultry.

However, while lamb is gentle on dogs’ systems, it’s not as protein-packed as chicken, turkey, or beef. As a result, this food is fairly low in that department, so it’s not ideal for active or developing pups.

The kibble itself is also very large and may be hard for little dogs to chew.

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3. Wellness Simple Natural Grain Free Limited Ingredient Dog Food Salmon & Potato

It’s hard to find a healthier food than salmon. It’s extremely lean, filled with omega fatty acids, and it’s excellent for your dog’s skin and coat. There’s a reason why so many high-end foods include salmon oil in their recipes.

There’s ground flaxseed in here as well, which has a well-deserved reputation as a “superfood.” It provides fiber, omega fatty acids, and may even reduce the risk of cancer.

However, like lamb, salmon doesn’t have as much protein as some other meat sources. This food might be better suited for older dogs than up-and-coming pups.

Like the first food on this list, this kibble uses potatoes as the primary vegetable. It’s a healthy food all the same, thanks to the salmon, but we can only shake our heads at the opportunity that was missed here to create a canine superfood.

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What Other Users are Saying

• HerePup – “The food [is] jam-packed with the nutrients you’d want in your dog food.”
• Dog Food Guru – “Utilizing human-grade ingredients, Wellness is considered a premium dog food with no traces of artificial colors, flavors, corn, wheat, soy, or by-products.”
• Amazon – As pet owners, we always double-check with Amazon reviews from buyers before we buy something. You can read these by clicking here.

Conclusion

If you’ve ever had trouble trying to wrap your head around an incredibly long ingredients list, Wellness Simple may be the food you’ve been looking for. It only uses a few ingredients, plus a vitamin pack, so you can easily monitor what’s going in your dog’s stomach.

This makes it an excellent choice for animals with allergies or sensitive dispositions, but you won’t get as much nutritional support as you would from some of the other high-end foods. This may be a trade-off you’re willing to make, especially if you’ve been dealing with messy disasters every time your dog goes outside, but it’s a trade-off that must be made all the same.

Luckily, most of the recipes in the Simple line have all the nutrients most dogs need to be healthy and happy, so you shouldn’t have a malnourished pooch on your hands.