American Journey Dog Food Review: Recalls, Pros, and Cons

Introduction

If you’re looking for American Journey dog food at your local supermarket or pet supply store, you’re looking in the wrong place. This brand of dry dog food is owned by Chewy, the popular online pet supply retailer, and is sold almost exclusively through the company’s website.

Since Chewy cuts out the middleman, the company is able to produce and sell its own products at a competitive price. Despite containing high-quality ingredients, these formulas are often significantly less expensive than the competition. Combined with the ability to give customers set-it-and-forget-it automatic pet food shipments, American Journey is certainly one of the most convenient pet food brands around.

Overall, these products are a great option for dogs requiring both grain-free and grain-inclusive diets. However, there are limitations on whether this brand is truly the best option for your canine companions.

At a Glance: The Best American Journey Dog Food Recipes

The American Journey dog food line includes dozens of different formulas, which can all be found on the Chewy website. However, to get you started on the right track, here are a few of the brand’s best formulas according to our research:

American Journey Dog Food Reviewed

There are many reasons that modern pet owners are turning to Chewy over traditional retailers. Not only is ordering pet supplies online more convenient than hauling giant bags of kibble from the store, but Chewy often offers better deals than its brick-and-mortar competitors.

But you shouldn’t switch your dog over to a new food just because of the convenience factor, especially since Chewy also sells many other dry dog food brands. So, is American Journey dog food worth giving a chance?

Who Makes American Journey and Where Is It Produced?

As mentioned, the brand is owned by Chewy, Inc. All products are manufactured in the United States, with the use of both local and imported ingredients.

At this time, it is unclear who oversees the manufacture of American Journey products. While it’s known that American Journey products are produced in a third-party factory, no information is publicly available regarding who owns and operates these facilities.

Chewy itself was recently bought by PetSmart. As a result, some varieties of American Journey dog food can be found on the PetSmart website and in a handful of stores.

Which Types of Dogs Is American Journey Best Suited For?

While it would be easy for American Journey to limit its range of formulas, especially since it’s almost exclusively sold online, the brand actually offers an impressive variety. Although American Journey’s dry food formulas are its most popular offering, the brand also includes wet food and a variety of treats.

When it comes to American Journey dry food recipes, there are currently four different lines: Grain-Free, Limited Ingredient, Brown Rice, and High-Protein. Within these product lines, you’ll also find formulas specifically designed for weight management, puppies, large breeds, and senior dogs.

American Journey wet food currently comes in Grain-Free and Limited Ingredient formulas, though the selection is still extremely limited compared to the brand’s dry food line.

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

The most notable gap in American Journey’s dog food catalog is a lack of small breed-specific formulas. Although many owners have no issue feeding their small and toy breeds traditional dog food, these formulas often aren’t ideal.

If you’re looking for a high-quality small breed dog food, then some better options might be the Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Small Breed Dog Food or the Nutro Wholesome Essentials Small Bites Dry Dog Food.

A Quick Look at American Journey Dog Food

Calorie Breakdown:

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American Journey Dog Food Recall History

Currently, there have been no recalls of American Journey brand products. Since American Journey is a very young brand, having only been started in 2017, its lack of recalls isn’t surprising.

Since no information is available on the company’s third-party manufacturer, there is no way of knowing if other products made by this factory have ever been recalled.

Reviews of the 3 Best American Journey Dog Food Recipes

While you can find the complete range of American Journey dog food products on Chewy.com, let’s take a closer look at three of the best-selling formulas:

1. American Journey Healthy Weight Grain-Free Dry Dog Food (Salmon & Sweet Potato)

The American Journey Healthy Weight Grain-Free Dry Dog Food is one of the most popular formulas offered by the brand, combining lower calories with increased fiber to encourage healthy weight loss and maintenance. It also contains L-carnitine, which is a popular supplement for improved metabolic health.

This particular formula is fortified with glucosamine and chondroitin, both of which help support healthy joints. While all dogs can benefit from these nutrients, they’re especially important for large and giant breeds.

The first ingredient of the Salmon & Sweet Potato recipe is real salmon, followed by turkey meal and chicken meal. The minimum nutritional breakdown of this recipe includes 30% protein, 9% fat, 9% fiber, and 10% moisture. The real salmon and chicken meal give this dry dog food a flavor most dogs will enjoy.

Since this formula is only sold on Chewy.com, you won’t find many third-party customer reviews. However, you can still see what other owners have to say by reading the Chewy.com reviews.

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2. American Journey Grain-Free Dry Dog Food (Chicken & Sweet Potato)

If your dog requires a grain-free diet without restricted calories, the American journey Grain-Free Dry Dog Food is another popular formula. This formula replaces traditional carbohydrate sources like wheat and corn with sweet potatoes, peas, and other dog-approved vegetables. It also includes a variety of omega fatty acids, including DHA, and antioxidants.

The Chicken & Sweet Potato flavor features deboned chicken as the top ingredient, followed by chicken meal and turkey meal. Even with the amount of turkey and chicken meal, this particular recipe includes a minimum of 34% protein, 15% fat, 5% fiber, and 10% moisture.

In addition to checking out Chewy customer reviews, the PetSmart website also features consumer reviews for this product.

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3. American Journey Protein First Recipe Dry Dog Food (Salmon & Brown Rice)

Generally, grain-inclusive food is better for the average dog than a grain-free formula. The American Journey Protein First Recipe Dry Dog Food utilizes healthy whole grains while keeping the protein content as high as possible. While grains serve as the primary carbohydrate source, this food still contains a variety of vegetables and fruit like carrots, blueberries, and cranberries.

The Salmon & Brown Rice recipe features deboned salmon as the top ingredient, followed by menhaden fish meal and brown rice. Regarding the nutritional breakdown, you’ll find a minimum of 25% protein, 15% fat, 6% fiber, and 10% moisture.

Since this particular formula is available from Chewy.com and PetSmart, we encourage you to read customer reviews from both websites.

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What Other Reviewers Are Saying About American Journey Dog Food

As with any new dry dog food brand, the launch of American Journey by Chewy piqued the interest of countless professional reviewers and fellow dog owners. Here’s what other sources think about the brand:

Pet Food Reviewer: “The nutrition offered by American Journey’s dry dog food products varies but is generally above average. […] This nutrition is especially impressive when you consider the price point of American Journey which is significantly lower than many of its competitors.”

Dog Food Guide: “We are happy to recommend the high protein grain free foods but we have some reservations about the other formulas.”

DogFoodAdvisor: “Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas, chickpeas, pea protein and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a dry product containing a significant amount of meat.”

Conclusion

The American Journey brand is Chewy’s first foray into manufacturing and selling an in-house line of products. Because of the company’s structure, this also means that this dog food is notably less expensive than its competitors, while still using high-quality ingredients within its formulas.

But if you’re considering making the switch to this brand just for the convenience of home delivery, it’s important to keep in mind that most pet food brands are available on Chewy.com. Even if your dog’s current food is slightly more expensive than American Journey, you’re probably better off sticking to what’s tried and true. We hope that you gained some insight from our American Journey Dog Food Review.

Do you use Chewy (or another pet food delivery service)? Share your experiences in the comments below!