9 Just Food For Dogs Alternatives in 2024: Which Is Better?
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Check out our list of nine awesome Just Food For Dogs alternatives. We break down the nutritional values, selection, and stories behind some of these great brands that have jumped on the human-grade idea. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these companies brings to the table.
A Quick Look at Our Favorites in 2024
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The Honest Kitchen |
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Tylee’s |
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FreshPet |
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The 9 Just Food For Dogs Alternatives Compared
1. The Honest Kitchen Slow Cooked Chicken Stew vs Just Food For Dogs PantryFresh Chicken & White Rice
- Use code HEPPER30 to SAVE 30% on your first order over $30 on thehonestkitchen.com
The Honest Kitchen provides a great selection of human-grade dog (and cat) food. Much like Just Food For Dogs, it started when a concerned pet parent began cooking fresh food for her beloved fur baby. Fast-forward to the present day, and The Honest Kitchen has grown into a company fit to be a household name.
They use excellent ingredients. We’re going to focus on the slow-cooked chicken stew recipe, which gives you a good idea of what goes into the rest of their food products. Chicken is a superior source of protein for your animal, and the recipe is packed with sweet potatoes, spinach, minerals, and a lot of other notable ingredients.
Just Food For Dogs offers a similar product, with various meats listed as the first three ingredients. However, the price is almost double that of Honest Kitchen.
Honest Kitchen offers an outstanding line of human-grade pet food products that make a great Just Food For Dogs alternative to consider.
2. Tylee’s Frozen Dog Food Beef Recipe vs Just Food For Dogs Beef & Russet Potato
Tylee’s is a super premium human-grade dog food company that is Chewy’s own dog food brand. Named for a small dog that the founder of Chewy loved, this brand aims to provide an alternative, affordable option—and the food? Really good, actually.
The recipe we are using to demonstrate the main ingredients uses a great deal of meat for dog food. These are high-quality ingredients, and the list reads more like a recipe for stir-fry intended for humans than dog food! This brand hasn’t had a recall over anything to date and does pretty well in terms of affordability as well.
There isn’t really anything negative to say about Tylee’s, but we’ll still try. When comparing costs to cheaper, traditional, commercial dog foods, the price still comes out on the high end. However, bear in mind that this is a premium quality product. For those looking to provide proper nutrition to their pooch on a budget, it is a great deal and a very practical option.
Tylee’s hasn’t had a recall over anything to date and does pretty good in terms of affordability as well so we think this is a decent alternative.
3. Freshpet Vital Balanced Nutrition Chicken & Whole Grains Recipe Fresh Dog Food vs Just Food For Dogs Chicken & White Rice
If money is not an issue—at all, then this is a great product from a point of view that centers on quality. FreshPet makes great all-natural dog food with all-natural ingredients, but the issue with this brand isn’t the food itself. FreshPet has been around since 2006 and has yet to have a recall despite producing larger batches than some of its competitors.
It’s not the only thing that FreshPet does a little differently. They don’t offer a subscription service—so you need to reorder every time you need dog food, which isn’t a deal-breaker for most people. This is a high-quality, fresh dog food company that caters to those for whom money and convenience take a back seat to providing premium food. When it comes to pup parents—that’s still a lot of us!
4. Nature’s Diet Freeze Dried Raw Dog Food Simply Beef vs Just Food For Dogs Beef & Russet Potato
This is a just-add-water product that uses some great ingredients. Let’s start with the good stuff—This brand doesn’t seem to use any meat meals in their recipes—we didn’t see any when we looked. The ingredients are quite high quality; however, the devil is always in the details. Here’s why:
Nature’s Diet is a unique solution to providing a raw food diet. Rather than refrigerating the raw food, it is freeze-dried. That means it does not need to be refrigerated, but alas, there is a catch. Freeze-dried food can tend to go powdery, and there have been a few reports of this food coming out a little on the soupy side.
Whether this is an issue or not is dependent on the dog—some aren’t picky! There were a couple of online reports of dogs vomiting, though nothing more severe was mentioned. While the food itself remains made of quality ingredients, we can’t help but wonder if it was simply the texture that caused the dogs to become sick.
5. Yumwoof Air Dried Dog Food Fresh Chicken Recipe vs Just Food For Dogs PantryFresh Chicken & White Rice
Yumwoof is all-natural, artisanal dog food. It’s dry food, but rather than the crunchy consistency of kibble, it’s supposed to have a nice chewy consistency. While many dogs are reported to love the food and do well on it, there is also a significant number of reports of dogs refusing it or even getting diarrhea from it. Granted, correlation does not always equal causation, but we’ll take them at their word.
There have also been some reports that the food doesn’t always show up chewy but rather crumbly. Perhaps this is why some dogs have refused to eat it, however, that isn’t always the case. Many dogs reportedly love their Yumwoof perfect kibble artisanal dog food, and while you can’t be all things to all dogs, this is still a quality Just Food For Dogs alternative.
6. Canisource Grand Cru Red Meat Dehydrated Dog Food vs Just Food For Dogs Beef & Russet Potato
Here’s another dehydrated dog food line, this time from Canisource. Their line of dehydrated, high-protein dog food recipes is an excellent source of nutrition for your dog, for the price. The only setback with this line of healthy, high-quality, and inventive recipes, is that you get what you pay for, unfortunately.
An 11-oz bag will set you back about $80 or more, so, it’s a great product if you can afford it. Other than that, the Grand Cru line comes in several recipes that feature a high amount of proper meat content, without by-products or fillers. From the red meat recipe featured here to a surf and turf, it seems like they had not only your pup’s health in mind but their enjoyment as well.
7. Health Extension Holistic Lamb Entree Wet Dog Food vs Just Food For Dogs Lamb Recipe
This brand has been around for some time. They have spent the past 60 years providing quality, sustainable dog food to several generations. Health Extension uses a holistic approach to their dog food, and in their considerable time operating, they have certainly come out with a lot of products.
They have the better part of 100 product lines available on Chewy (approximately 75), including 18 different kinds of canned and fresh dog food. When it comes to quality, they do just about as well as they do in quantity.
The only downside we noticed was that in some of their dry foods, they use meat meals, but often as a second ingredient, so there are still quality meat ingredients present. Health Extension also did fairly well in terms of affordability. It seems over the years, they have developed a great product at a good price.
8. Addiction Steakhouse Beef & Zucchini Dehydrated Dog Food vs Just Food For Dogs Beef & Russet Potato
While we may personally have gone with a different brand name, that has nothing to do with the food. Frankly, Addiction Foods puts out a very decent brand of dehydrated dog food. They use quality, pronounceable ingredients and offer many grain-free recipes that dogs seem to love. Unfortunately, they have had a setback or two.
In 2016 they had to recall hundreds of cases due to high levels of vitamin A and a phosphorus/calcium ratio that was proving problematic. It was voluntarily and transparently recalled, so the company did all that it could correctly at that point, though recalls do still affect consumer trust. You will find brewer’s yeast in some of their recipes, and this can actually interact and reduce the meat content profile of the food. It is, however, a great price, and for just under $30, you can buy a 2-lb box, which is a pretty good deal!
9. Caru Human-Grade, Grain Free Dog Food Real Beef Recipe vs Just Food For Dogs Beef & Russet Potato
This is a very decent dog food producer that has come up with a number of products from its human-grade food production facilities. This is one of several dog food makers on this list that has actually gone through the trouble to apply for and receive a human-grade status from the FDA. Now, while the ingredients are of good, consumable quality, that doesn’t mean they are the most nutritious.
Upon examining the stew’s actual dietary makeup, it was found that it only contained an average amount of protein and less-than-average carbs. So, while it is still edible by human standards, that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily the healthiest kind of dehydrated food available for your dog.
Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Right Just Food For Dogs Alternatives
There are a few important things to look for when selecting the right food for your dog. Looking out for their health, well-being, and overall enjoyment of life is always your first priority as a dedicated and responsible pet parent. With that in mind, there are a few things you should do to ensure that you are buying something that is good for your dog.
Arguably, the most important is to understand your dog’s particular dietary needs. Some dogs do great with grains, some don’t. It’s important to know what your dog may or may not be allergic to. So, if you don’t want to go to the vet (your most reliable, albeit expensive option), you can try and consult the breeder about your dog’s conditions and concerns. Another way to get a feel is to look up breed tendencies. For example, Staffordshire terriers are prone to skin and wheat allergies, so we would go with a grain-free, high-protein diet to start.
Once you’ve got the dog’s needs well understood, you can start to match those with the ingredients on different products. Always try to find another opinion away from the manufacturer’s website or store—the more in-depth the analysis, the better! While some lists of ingredients can appear very healthy, it is a game of chemistry at the end of the day. The presence of certain ingredients can alter or enhance the effectiveness of others. If you don’t know—ask! The internet is a great place to find out the ins and outs of what is safe or not.
Conclusion
When it comes time to pick out a healthy diet for your best bud, human-grade dog food makes sense. We trust in organic brand stories that lead to great products—like The Honest Kitchen, Tylee’s, and Freshpet. While every product on this list has its strengths, the story behind the product and attention to detail that led to their creation lands these three firmly at the top of our list of Just Food For Dogs alternatives.
Featured Image Credit: Just Food for Dogs
