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Disclosure: Watchdog Labs is free to use. When you buy through links on this site, we may earn a commission.
Please be aware that Hill’s is voluntarily recalling some canned dog food due to potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D. More information here.
Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula is a low-priced dog food with good quality. This product has 1 controversial ingredient, but no artificial preservatives, colors and flavors. It has a high amount of carbs, compared to its protein and fat content, with meat and fat from mixed quality sources. Taste of the Wild has a below-average number of dog food recalls and was exceptionally open and transparent when answering our questions.
Read the Full Review BelowLearn what makes a great dog food and get expert advice on how to choose the best food for your dog.
Learn MoreThis dog food review was created by experts who love dogs. Find out more about our team and mission.
About Watchdog LabsThis food has a fair amount of protein fat but is somewhat high in carbs, which is lowering the fat content slightly and making it less nutritionally balanced compared to other dog foods we evaluated. Carbohydrates are cheap so they keep the food’s cost low. They are nutritionally useful to dogs in the right amounts, however, high amounts of carbs can reduce the much-needed meat-based protein and fat content.
To evaluate dog foods, we first calculate out the moisture. This is called the “dry matter basis” and shows you only the solid ingredients in the food. These estimated “dry matter” numbers are different from the food label, but a better way to understand the real nutritional value of the food. We also calculate the carbs. Find out more
Min. Protein 31.11%
Min. Fat 18.89%
Min. Carbs 42.22%
Max. Fiber 5.56%
Max. Ash 7.78%
Max. Moisture 0.00%
Min. Protein: 28.0%
Min Fat: 17.0%
Min Carbs: N/A
Max Fiber: 5.0%
Max Ash: N/A
Max. Moisture: 10.0%
370 Calories per Cup
This product has an average amount of calories. It’s important to understand how many calories you are feeding to prevent under or overfeeding. Average calorie foods like this are typically best for fairly active dogs who need a moderate amount of daily calories. Based on your dog's current weight and activity level you may want to feed more or less than the recommended amount. It's helpful to know that weight loss foods often have fewer than 340 calories per cup, weight maintenance foods typically range from 340-380 calories, and high-activity dog foods are usually over 400 calories.
Grain-Free Dog Foods
This is a grain-free dog food. The FDA is investigating a potential connection between grain-free diets and canine heart disease. There is not enough evidence yet to affect our ratings but we've created an article for you explaining the topic.
Learn MoreBuffalo, Lamb Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Egg Product, Pea Protein, Peas, Potatoes, Canola Oil, Tomato Pomace, Roasted Bison, Roasted Venison, Beef, Flaxseed, Potato Fiber, Natural Flavor, Ocean Fish Meal, Salmon Oil (A Source Of Dha), Salt, Dl-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Raspberries, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried BiFidobacterium Animalis Fermentation Product, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, RiboflAvin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid.
The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 1 controversial ingredient.
Top 5 Ingredients
Dog food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. So when looking at a dog food label, take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They make up about 80% of the total weight.
Controversial Ingredients
Country of Origin
This food is produced in the United States, ensuring high standards for food safety and overall quality. In short, this is a very good thing. We generally recommend dog foods made in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Europe for that reason.
Meat & Fat Quality
Here are the major protein and fat sources in this food, in order of weight: Buffalo, Lamb Meal, Canola Oil, Roasted Bison, Roasted Venison, Beef, Ocean Fish Meal, Salmon Oil (A Source Of DHA). Almost all of them score high marks for transparently labelling which animals and plants they come from. But Ocean Fish Meal misses the mark, because it doesn’t show you which specific fish this is made from, definitely less transparent.
Artificial Preservatives
Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula contains 0 controversial artificial preservatives. It’s good to know that not all artificial preservatives are bad. That’s because they serve an important purpose, which is to prevent food from spoiling. However, we consider 11 artificial preservatives controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.
Artificial Colors
No artificial colors, either. Absolutely excellent!
Artificial Flavors
Last but not least, this product manages to shine by alos not using any artificial flavors. No artificial preservatives, colors or flavors is exactly what you want to look for in dog food. Well done!
Taste of the Wild has a below-average number of dog food recalls.
We love dog food brands that are committed to transparent business practices. If you make quality dog food you should be willing to openly talk about how it’s sourced and produced. That’s why we reached out to pet food companies, asking questions about all their brands and products. Each company had three weeks to reply to our messages.
How Easy Was it to Reach the Company?
Taste of the Wild was exceptionally responsive to our first email. They also responded quickly to the follow-up email sent to clarify a few of their answers. They received a perfect transparency score. Answers to the questions are below.
Does Taste of the Wild have a veterinary nutritionist on staff? If so, who are they?
We use a team approach for veterinary and pet nutrition. The team is comprised of staff members as well as outside consultants. Dr. Alexia Heldman is the staff veterinarian while Dr. Melissa Brookshire and her veterinary team provide regular consultation. In addition, Dr. George Fahey, a prominent nutritionist, provides nutritional consultation on an ongoing basis. Mark Brinkmann has been formulating recipes for Diamond Pet Foods since 1995, and trained under Mark Morris, the founder of Hill's Science Diet.
Who formulates your recipes, and what are their credentials?
See previous answer.
Do you test your products using AAFCO feeding trials? Why, or why not?
We utilize a 3rd party, certified laboratory to make sure our foods are well accepted by the pet, and nutritionally adequate. These tests are non-invasive. The work is conducted by registered technicians and supervised by licensed veterinarians. Finding the right balance is the key, just as it is with many decisions we all face. We hold ourselves accountable to find the proper balance between minimal animal testing, and food safety assurance. All of our diets are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO for either all life stages or maintenance. This statement is printed on each and every bag.
(Follow up email response)
With regard to the AAFCO 6-month feeding trials, we do use them from time to time, but only on a limited basis. We believe that these tests can be overstated in their value. The AAFCO test protocol only requires 8 dogs be in the study, and most research facilities use only beagles. In our view, that protocol by itself does not constitute a robust assurance of nutritional adequacy. In fact, it is possible to pass an AAFCO feeding trial with nutrient values that fall below the AAFCO Nutrient Profile requirements.
We believe strongly in the value of the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles. These profiles were developed by some of the best pet nutritionists and veterinarians in the world and were updated in 2016 to reflect new nutritional information available. These profiles are comprehensive lists of required nutritional values, the span of which includes Amino Acids, Vitamins, Minerals, and Fatty Acids. Validating our adherence to these requirements is the path we use most often to ensure nutritional adequacy. It is our view that meeting and exceeding these requirements assures that our foods are nutritionally adequate for the pets that we are feeding.
This is a wonderfully transparent answer. They articulated a belief we found was shared by other manufacturers.
What country are your products manufactured?
Taste of the Wild, a Diamond Pet Foods brand, is manufactured here in the U.S. in facilities wholly owned by Diamond. We are committed to product safety and quality, and adhere to stringent food safety protocols. We constantly monitor and test our raw materials, production environment, processes and finished products. We've developed a comprehensive food safety system as outlined below.
Can your manufacturing facilities be visited?
Food safety is our #1 priority and it shows in the amount of new business we get from word of mouth—friends and neighbors talking to one another, recommending our foods. Please visit our corporate website, http://diamondpetcompany.com/#facilities/1 for a virtual tour of our facilities to get an inside look at what it takes to create high quality pet food.
(Follow up email response)
Due to safety regulations and to ensure that our quality control protocols are followed, tours of our facility are limited to the virtual tour on our website.
What quality measures do you use to assure consistency and quality?
Here are a few of the ways we ensure quality:
* On-Site Product Testing
* Mycotoxin Control
* Microbial Testing
* Water Purification
* Air Quality Control
* Test and Hold Program
Does Taste of the Wild own its manufacturing facility? If it is another company, what company is it?
Taste of the Wild, a Diamond Pet Foods brand, is manufactured here in the U.S. in facilities wholly owned by Diamond.
Do any parts of your product come from China?
There are ingredients that are critical to our formulations (i.e. folic acid and taurine) that can only be sourced out of China. Our choice is to either include these ingredients or manufacture our foods without them, which would not be in the best interest of your pet, in our view.
Some pet food companies are making “China-Free” claims despite the facts I’ve outlined above. They accomplish this by utilizing a loophole in European law. European laws allow for ingredients purchased outside their continent, then reprocessed in Europe, to be labeled with European origin. We could likewise hide behind that loophole in the law, and tell you what you want to hear, but choose not to for obvious reasons. I’d rather you not feed our foods than to tell you they are China-free, when they are not.
This is another example of Taste of the Wild giving much more complete answers, that include belief statements which we feel is a transparent way of communicating to consumers. While the content or claims could be contested, it is very transparent.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/
https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list
https://petfood.aafco.org/Nutritional-Labeling
https://petfood.aafco.org/Labeling-Labeling-Requirements
https://petfood.aafco.org/Calorie-Content
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047120.htm
http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/banr/miscellaneous/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf
http://www.acvn.org/nutrition-resources/
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/Products/AnimalFoodFeeds/PetFood/ucm2006475.htm
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2011-N-0922-0489
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/safety-loophole-for-chemicals-in-food-report.pdf
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/pubhealth/roc/index-1.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8493816
Linda P Case, MS; Daniel P Carey, DVM; and Diane A Hirakawa, PhD, Canine and Feline Nutrition A Resource for Companion Animal Professionals, Mosby-Year Book, Inc.