Are you looking for value in your dry dog food? If so, look no further than Amazon. Their private-label products, produced under the brand name Wag, are relative newcomers to the pet food market.
Wag’s dry dog foods are available in a variety of flavors:
- Lamb & Lentil – Formulated for All Life Stages including growth of large size dogs (70 lb. or more as an adult)
- Turkey & Lentil – Formulated for Adult Maintenance
- Salmon & Lentil – Formulated for All Life Stages including growth of large size dogs (70 lb. or more as an adult)
- Beef & Lentil Recipe with Wild Boar – Formulated for Adult Maintenance
- Chicken & Lentil (Puppy) – Formulated for All Life Stages including growth of large size dogs (70 lb. or more as an adult)
Dr. Coates’ Score for Wag’s Dry Dog Foods
None of the Wag recipes include added grain, corn, and wheat or artificial colors, flavors, or chemical preservatives. On an as-fed basis, the Chicken & Lentil Puppy food provides 36% protein, while the other foods come in at 35% protein. These Wag diets contain significantly more protein than do most dog and puppy foods.
Looking at the Wag labels, the first two ingredients are always the meat listed in the product’s name, followed by the associated meat meal—Lamb and Lamb Meal, Turkey and Turkey Meal, Salmon and Salmon Meal, Beef and Beef Meal, and Chicken and Chicken Meal. Next come the lentils, followed by pea protein and peas (peas and then pea protein in the case of the Chicken & Lentil Puppy Food).
These first five ingredients are all significant sources of protein, which explains Wag’s high protein levels. Plant-based proteins tend to be a little harder to digest than meats, but dogs should still be able to make use of most of the protein in Wag dry dog foods. To avoid upsetting your pet’s stomach, however, I would follow Amazon’s recommendation to transition gradually to these foods.
While this is all crucial information, it doesn’t mean much if your dog doesn’t want to eat the food you buy. Looking for an excuse to visit Kenobi, a friend’s 10-week-old Labrador Retriever, I ordered a bag of Wag Chicken & Lentil Puppy. Despite being a somewhat shy puppy who doesn’t (as of yet) leap into new adventures, Kenobi gave his new food a quick sniff and promptly ate it all.
That said, I do still have a couple of questions about Wag dry dog food. With possible links being found between certain dog foods (many of which are grain-free and contain lentils and peas) and the development of serious heart disease in some dogs who eat them, I hoped to get more information.
Namely, about whether veterinary nutritionists were involved in Wag’s formulation and which supplier the company uses to manufacture their dry dog food. After initially responding to emails, Amazon did not provide answers to these questions.
Now is a particularly great time to try out any of Wag’s products, given that they’re currently offering a generous 40% off for any first time purchases.
Taking everything into consideration, I came to a rating of 4 out of 5 for Wag dry dog foods. In large part, this is because these foods are significantly cheaper than other similar high-protein dog and puppy diets. Pet parents seem to agree, with over three thousand of them giving Wag dog foods an average rating of 4.1 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com.
- See Also: FirstMate Dog Food Review
