uk best dog food brands

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 16, 2024

Contributions sourced from

Discover The Best Dog Food for Your Pooch

Key Things to Look for

Before you purchase your dog food, there are a few things that you should keep an eye out for when doing your research.

Age. Make sure the dog food is right for your dogs age. This is important because it will contain different nutrients, calories, and ingredients that cater to a specific age group.

For example, puppies need more nutrients than adults, and their food is usually higher in calories because they are growing. Similarly, an elderly dog will have a different balance of nutrients and fewer calories.

Size. The size of your dog is more important than you might think, and this is both in relation to the contents of the dog food and the size of the kibble.

Food that is made for small breeds tends to have smaller chunks of kibble to make it easier for them to eat, just as the food for larger breeds is bigger so that they can eat it safely. There are also some minor nutritional differences.

Activity Level. Is your dog a couch potato, or are you two trekking for miles each day? The more active your dog, the more calories they need to stay in shape.

Food that has a little more fat and calories will keep them healthy. Dogs that dont do a lot will need less fat and calories to help them avoid becoming overweight.

Nutritional Needs. Just like people, different dogs have different needs. It could be that they have a sensitive stomach, allergies, or need a food that is grain free. There are plenty of foods on the market that are suited to a range of dietary requirements, so they arent hard to find.

Top Dog Food Brands

There are so many fantastic dog food brands out there making excellent dog food, and there are some that are more highly regarded than others. Heres a quick look at the best dog food brands, as chosen by dog owners across the country:

Lilys Kitchen
Harringtons
Hills
Royal Canin
Forthglade
Canagan
Chappie
James Wellbeloved
Eukanuba
Skinners
Wagg
Orijen

Best Dog Foods UK (In Order)

Best Dog Food In The UK

Looking for information on UK dog food brands, but all your searches are returning products from the United States or North America?

Well look no further, weve analyzed and reviewed a huge swathe of dog food products that are available or produced in the United Kingdom and chosen out some of the best.

UK Dog Food Vs. The Rest Of The World

UK dog food is very comparable to other western countries such as the United States and Canada. Many of the large international dog food brands have had a solid footprint in the UK for decades including Purina, Royal Canin, and Hills.

However, while these large international brands may be staples, the UK has many other brands that are leaps and bounds above their global counterparts.

This shows that UK consumers crave high-quality and nutritious food for their dogs and are not willing to settle for low-quality food.

In regards to regulation, the UK has similar protections in place to ensure that dog food contains minimum proportions of nutrients like protein and fat. This is critical to ensure that dogs are not malnourished from an inappropriate diet.

Some other countries do not have these regulations or standards in place and many pet food recipes contain little to no meat ingredients.

Also, the UK, like the United States and Canada, ensures that pet food packaging must contain information on what ingredients are included, in what proportions they are present, and the nutritional values that the recipe can provide.

Below is an example of the information that many UK pet food brands display.

This information is critical and ensures that all pet food is transparent and consumers are not being misled.

How We Chose The Best Dog Food

Dog Food quality is a complicated discussion, but we try to stay consistent with our choices.

Factor such as ingredient quality, nutritional ratios (Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Omega Fatty Acids), Recall History, Animal Testing, Price, and Country of Origin all play a part.

If you would like to learn more or better understand our logic, we recommend you check out our Dog Food Guide for more information.

If youd like to see all of the dog food brands we have reviewed, head on over to our Brand Review Page.

Best Dog Food In the UK

Eden Fish Cuisine Review

Eden is one of the most popular premium pet food brands in the United Kingdom, and their dry food range comes in three distinct flavors.

While all three of these recipe types offer relatively similar nutrition, the fish variety comes out on top because of the high levels of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids it contains.

It contains a whopping 3.1% of these Omega 3 Fatty Acids. In most other dog food formulas, a level above 1% would be considered high, so the level in this particular recipe is monumental.

It is also worth pointing out that formulas that do not focus on fish have as little as 0.4%, which further reinforces how impressive this is.

This high level of the Omega Fatty Acids is thanks to the large portion of fish ingredients present. This portion of fish ingredients includes Salmon, Herring, Trout, and more. These fish ingredients also provide a satisfactory proportion of protein, which is a critical component of a dogs diet.

The formula is rounded off with a moderate portion of Sweet Potatoes, which provide carbohydrates and fiber. The remaining ingredients are in tiny proportions and are likely included to provide vitamins and minerals.

If youd like to learn more about Eden, check out our full review of the brand here.

Canagan Highland Feast Review

Canagan is one of the most expensive brands in the United Kingdom, and this is due to the extremely high-quality ingredients they use in their recipes. Despite their high cost, they are growing in popularity and have a large group of faithful supporters.

If youd like to read more on why Canagan has gained such popularity, check out our Canagan Review Page.

While all of Canagans dry dog food recipes are very enticing, weve decided to highlight their Highland Feast recipe.

The recipes primary ingredients are a mix of poultry ingredients, including Duck, Turkey, Chicken, and Pheasant. Also, it also contains a small portion of fish ingredients such as Salmon and Herring.

This combination provides an extremely satisfactory proportion of fish-based protein and fat, which is perfect for a dogs diet.

Besides, many dogs may enjoy the flavor and taste of this recipe as they may not previously experience eating game meats like Duck and Pheasant.

The formula doesnt just contain poultry and fish and also has a moderate portion of Sweet Potatoes, Tapioca, Chickpeas, and Lentils. These combine to provide a modest portion of carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

Paleo Ridge Pork & Apple Review

Paleo Ridge is a raw dog food brand and one of the leaders in the niche. They take things a lot further than some of their competitors and also sell raw products that resemble mince and intact organs. While this may be offputting to humans, many dogs will enjoy this tremendously.

However, weve chosen to highlight one of their more traditional recipes Pork & Apple. This raw food comes in 500g trays, as you can see above. You can choose to split this food up for several days while keeping it refrigerated.

The recipe uses an extensive range of Pork ingredients, including some that are very rarely seen outside of Paleo Ridge.

Examples include Pork Lung and Pork Pancreas. These ingredients provide an excellent proportion of protein and fat and are sure to give a unique flavor.

As the name gives away, there is also a small portion of Apple present along with some other fruit and vegetable ingredients such as Kale, Broccoli, and Blackberries. These provide a small portion of carbohydrates and fiber.

Millies Wolfheart Salmon & Veg Review

Millies Wolfheart is another well-known player in the United Kingdom and has a much more extensive product range than some of its competitors.

While Millies Wolfhearts range has increased dramatically, Salmon & Veg was their first high meat recipe, and it is still one of their best.

It includes a considerable portion of Fresh Salmon and Dried Salmon. This mix of Salmon ingredients provides a significantly above average proportion of protein and fat.

In addition, this huge portion of Salmon provides an excellent level of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids at a whopping 4.6%, which is one of the highest weve ever seen in any recipe worldwide.

The recipe is rounded out with a mix of White Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and Tapioca. Many pet owners will not be familiar with Tapioca but is very popular in other parts of the world.

You can read more about Tapioca here. These Starch ingredients provide a modest portion of carbohydrates and some dietary fiber.

If youd like to learn more about Millies Wolfheart, head on over to our review of the brand here.

Carnilove Fresh Chicken And Rabbit Review

Carnilove has been in operation for over twenty years and is a reliable brand to place your trust in. They are best known for their use of less conventional meat ingredients like Reindeer and Ostrich.

While not quite as exotic as the ingredients listed above, the above recipe makes use of Rabbit, which is quite a unique inclusion in the United Kingdom.

This rabbit portion is not just for show and makes up 20% of the recipe. When combined with the portion of Chicken and Duck present, the overall portion of meat ingredients is over 70%.

If you want to learn more about the use of Rabbit in dog food, we recommend you check out ourBest Dog Foods With Rabbit article.

The recipe also uses small portions of Pumpkin, Chickpeas, and Peas to provide a modest proportion of carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

Pumpkin is a regular addition to some premium pet food brands and is excellent at regulating digestion and providing beneficial micronutrients.

Akela Wholeprey British Beef Review

While Akela Wholeprey sells high-quality traditional dry and wet dog food, which are very comparable to others highlighted in this article, what makes them unique are their raw frozen recipes. This food, once defrosted, can be eaten by itself or combined with dry or wet food.

Over 85% of Akela Wholepreys Raw Frozen recipes contents are meat, and in the case of the above British Beef recipe, this meat content is made up of multiple Beef ingredients. This mix includes Beef With Bone, Beef Liver, and Beef Kidney.

This huge portion of Beef provides an immense portion of animal-based protein and fat, which combine to provide excellent nutrition.

The organ meat ingredients like Liver and Kidney can provide vitamins and minerals that traditional meat cuts lack as well as seriously enhance the flavor of the food.

There are some other minor ingredients present, but all of these are in minimal quantities. Examples include Butternut Squash, Spinach, and Carrots. These provide a small portion of carbohydrates, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.

Nutriment Laverstoke Wild Venison With Duck & Beef Review

Nutriment is another big player in the raw dog food market in the United Kingdom. Similar to Paleo Ridge, Nutriment offer a broad range of raw recipes, including some with a heavy focus on organ meat and some with no plant-matter at all.

Venison is considered to be one of the most expensive and sought-after ingredients in dog food, and Nutriment has an excellent recipe that utilizes it. 50% of its content is made of Venison meat, and the rest is a combination of Duck and Beef ingredients.

Without any plant-matter, it will come as no surprise that this recipe provides excellent nutrition, with extremely high proportions of protein and fat.

However, given its high cost and generous nutrition, it may be wise to combine the food with another source.

Orijen is one of the most popular and famous names in the premium pet food industry worldwide. Its formulas are known to contain a large variety of high-quality meat and fish ingredients in extraordinarily high proportions. This variety of meat and fish can include 10+ ingredients in a single formula.

Orijens recipes vary depending on which country you purchase them from, and the recipes can vary in name and ingredients from their American cousins.

However, there is significant variation in their offerings with recipes that use poultry, red meat, fish, and game meat. This variety ensures there is always a recipe that appeals to every dog.

If you want to see Orijens full product range and our thoughts on the brand, we recommend you read our Orijen Brand Review Page.

OrijensOriginal Formulais a safe bet and contains a range of meat and fish ingredients, including Chicken, Turkey, Flounder, Eggs, among others. These ingredients are combined with vegetables such as Peas, Beans, Pumpkin, and Squash.

All of these ingredients combine to provide a very satisfactory proportion of protein, fat, and carbohydrates that is ideally suited to the vast majority of dogs.

Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Lamb For Dogs

Ziwi Peak produces a fantastic quality air-dried dog food range and is one of the leaders in this niche market. The brand is based in New Zealand, but it sells its products worldwide.

Given its New Zeland origins, it will come as no surprise that Lamb features prominently. However, for those who arent big Lamb fans, they do have some non-Lamb recipes, including a recently launched Chicken recipe.

The most notable advantage of air-dried dog food is that it consists entirely of meat and has no significant vegetable, grain, or fruit ingredients.

By eliminating these plant-based ingredients, you can reduce the risk of your dog experiencing allergies or sensitivities to plant-based material, which is a common issue.

The other core advantage of air-dried dog food is that it can provide fantastic nutrition. Thanks to a lack of plant-based material, the portion of protein and fat is immense and more than sufficient for dogs of all activity levels.

The rather distinct disadvantage of Air Dried Dog Food is that it is costly and, therefore, might not a realistic solution to the majority of dog owners.

If you are determined to make air-dried food viable, you could consider feeding your dog a mixture of Air Dried Dog Food and fresh ingredients.

This approach could be a lot more realistic in cost. Ingredients such as fresh fruit and vegetables are ideal to combine with a diet of air-dried dog food.