The 10 Best Premium Dog Foods in 2025: Vet-Approved

This content was reviewed and fact-checked by veterinarian Dr. Aukse Caraite, DVM.

As a devoted dog owner, I’ve always been keenly aware of the impact of diet on our canine companions’ health and happiness. That’s why I’ve turned my focus towards premium dog food. This isn’t just about fancy labels or higher prices; it’s about what’s inside the bag – the quality of ingredients and the nutritional balance tailored to our dogs’ specific needs. In this article, I want to share my insights into how premium dog food can profoundly benefit our dogs, including our recommendations for the best premium dog foods we personally hand-test.

Best Premium Dog Foods — At A Glance

The Research
Jump to: Full Reviews | Additional Info

What Is Premium Dog Food?

Premium dog food refers to pet food often marketed as being higher quality than standard dog food. The term “premium” isn’t officially regulated, meaning it must meet no specific standard to earn this label. Typically, premium dog foods claim to use higher-quality ingredients and have more rigorous manufacturing processes. They may include human-grade meats as the primary protein source, but they should have no fillers, artificial colors, or preservatives. However, the definition can vary between manufacturers, and the term ‘premium’ is primarily driven by marketing strategies.

Why Dog Parents Feed Their Dogs Premium Food?

Dog parents often opt for premium dog food due to concerns about the quality of ingredients in traditional kibble. Feed-grade ingredients, typically used in conventional dog foods, may be harmful and not meet the same stringent quality and safety standards that human-grade dog food brands follow. Similarly, owners who view their dogs as part of the family are more likely to invest in high-quality, premium dog foods, seeking out healthier products to ensure their pets get the best nutrition to avoid health issues and vet bills down the road. A survey revealed that 50.5% of pet parents purchase premium pet food to ensure their pets feel like family. These trends lead to a greater demand for premium dog foods. The worldwide premium pet food market is expected to grow to $59.2 billion, a 69% growth from 2017.

Characteristics to Look For In Premium Dog Food

The Reviews
Jump to: The Research | Additional Info

Best Premium Dog Foods

Here are the best premium dog foods of this year.

Best Overall Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Turkey, chicken, beef & pork

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: The Farmer’s Dog wins our best overall premium dog food brand because the quality of their food is outstanding. They have tested their food on humans, which speaks volumes about the quality and taste of their recipes. Your dog’s meals are gently cooked from scratch, ensuring all nutritional integrity is retained — this means that your dog gets the healthiest and most nutritious meal with every serving. The Farmer’s Dog recipes are ready-to-serve and come in biodegradable pouches and eco-friendly packaging delivered to your doorstep.

What sets it apart from competitors: The Farmer’s Dog offers an extensive dog profile and diet customization to meet your dog’s dietary needs, calorie intake, age, size, preferences, health issues (i.e., allergies, cancer, and obesity), and more.

Key Features

My Video Review Experience

Get 50% OFF your first The Farmer’s Dog order with Canine Bible’s link.

Best Dry Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Turkey, beef, salmon & chicken

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: For all ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: The Honest Kitchen is the pioneer brand of premium dog food, which was born to help as many pets as possible get on the road to good health. The Honest Kitchen whole food cluster recipes are roasted and dehydrated to preserve nutrients and flavor and maximize nutritional integrity. The Honest Kitchen is a superfood-powered kibble with functional ingredients supporting and boosting gut, skin, coat, immunity, heart, weight management, and more.

What sets it apart from competitors: Their preparation methods and facilities meet safety standards 7x those of feed-grade. Their food is made in a facility that produces human-grade and premium food.

Key Features

My Personal Experience

We’ve tried countless dog dry dog foods, but nothing compares to The Honest Kitchen Whole Food Clusters. Our dog used to be lethargic and uninterested in traditional kibble, he ssemed to have grown tired \of it. But, now he eagerly awaits feeding time and finishes every last bite. It’s heartwarming to see him so happy and thriving! We mix the clusters with fresh food sometimes and he loves both.

– Canine Bible, Product Testing Team

Get 40% OFF your order with code 40CANINE — Just use this link to get started.

Best Wet Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, and more

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: JustFoodForDogs (JFFD) offers a wide selection of premium dog food recipes. However, their Pantry Fresh wet food recipes are the best in this category. PantryFresh combines fresh premium ingredients, convenience, and a mouth-watering taste. They come in eight flavors and have wet and sticky textures that dogs crave.

What sets it apart from competitors: Meals are ready-to-eat out of the box and are shelf-stable for up to two years. Once opened, the product needs to be refrigerated.

Key Features

Best Premium Dog Food For Puppies

Recipes: Turkey, beef, chicken and more

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: Adult and puppies

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: Pet food company Raised Right has a century-old farming and ranching heritage and brings farm-fresh ingredients to its recipes. Raised Right puppy recipes are great for starting to wean your puppy into adult food. They have balanced calcium and phosphorus levels, perfect for healthy bone growth in puppies. It’s filled with healthy fats and carbs that are higher than all other recipes to support the energy requirements of growing puppies. Based on this review, once your puppy reaches one year, you can start feeding them their adult recipes or another brand of your choice.

What sets it apart from competitors: Raised Right doesn’t use unnecessary high-carb fillers like potato, rice, oats, yam, squash, pasta, barley, parsnips, corn, or wheat. Their recipes also have roughly double the amount of protein than other human-grade brands.

Key Features

My Video Review Experience

Best Premium Grain-Free Dog Food

Recipes: 9 flavors

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: Does your dog suffer from grain allergies or intolerances? If so, Open Farm’s grain-free dry dog formula is your best bet. We picked it because they skip the grain, corn, soy, and wheat in favor of science-backed superfoods like non-GMO pumpkin, apples, leafy greens, and coconut oil for a balanced and complete diet that provides antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to support your dog’s nutritional needs. Open Farm grain-free recipes are specifically designed for dogs with grain sensitivities.

What sets it apart from competitors: Open Farm grain-free recipes are made with premium nutrient-rich ingredients, cold-pressed into bite-sized clusters, roasted, and dehydrated to maintain whole foods’ nutrients, aroma, and taste.

Key Features

My Personal Experience

The ingredients in this dog food are impressive, and contrary to other reviews, I find the scent to be quite typical of standard kibble. My two dogs loved it, making a smooth transition from another brand within a day. Though it’s on the pricier side, it’s delicious. It can be used as treats during training sessions due to theri small size. The ingredients are of high quality and have never caused tummy issues. Even my picky eaters clean their plates every time…

– Canine Bible, Product Testing Team

My Video Review Experience

Best Premium Freeze-Dried Dog Food

Recipes: Turkey, surf & turf, chicken and beef

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: Open Farm Freeze-Dried Dog Food uses gently freeze-dried 95% meat, organs, and bones to provide easy-to-feed pure raw nutrition with the convenience of kibble and the benefits of a raw diet for dogs.

What sets it apart from competitors: It’s made with humanly raised premium meats free from antibiotics, hormone, and steroids. Each ingredient preserves most of its nutritional profile due to the freeze-drying process.

Key Features

My Video Review Experience

Best Premium Dog Food For Senior

Recipes: Over 20+ recipes

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: For all ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we picked and recommended it: JustFoodForDogs (JFFD) offers a wide selection of premium dog food recipes. However, their senior food recipes are the best in this category. PantryFresh combines fresh, gently cooked ingredients, convenience, and a mouth-watering taste.

What sets it apart from competitors: Recipes are designed to support healthy aging and staying healthy and active in their golden years.

Key Features

Best Premium Raw Dog Food

Recipes: Beef. turkey, lamb, chicken, venison & duck

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade

Why we recommended it: We Feed Raw is recognized as the best premium raw dog food, offering personalized meal plans tailored to your dog’s age, breed, ideal weight, and activity level, with the option to indicate allergies or preferences. Their recipes are expertly formulated by a Ph.D. animal nutritionist, boasting over 30 years of experience in raw feeding and animal nutrition. Their food undergoes High-Pressure Processing (HPP) to ensure safety and nutrient preservation. This all-natural technology uses ultra-high water pressure to eliminate food-borne pathogens like Listeria, E. Coli, and Salmonella, without compromising the food’s nutritional value.

What sets it apart from competitors: We Feed Raw stands out because it offers premium raw dog food in bulk. This lets dog owners save a lot of money while helping to reduce their carbon footprint. Another unique factor of this food is that it includes a high-quality vitamin and mineral premix for an added boost of nutrition.

Key Features

My Video Review Experience

Get 25% OFF with the code CB25 at checkout. Just use this link to get started.

Best Dehydrated Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Turkey, beef, salmon & chicken

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: Adult and puppy

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Human-grade, ethically sourced 

Why we recommended it: The Honest Kitchen premium dehydrated dog food takes first place in this category. Instead of boring chunks of kibble or smelly old pâté, this food is made with dehydrated, human-grade ingredients. Add warm water and wait three minutes for a tasty, homemade meal you and your pets will love.

What sets it apart from competitors: Made using real, whole food ingredients, like free-range chicken, that are gently dehydrated to maintain nutrients and taste.

Key Features

My Personal Experience

Who knew that pouring water into The Honest Kitchen’s dehydrated mix would feel like a mini cooking show? And the best part? Our dog, sits there, eyes wide, licking his chops in anticipation. It’s not just food; it’s an experience we both look forward to. I love watching our pup do a little ‘dinner dance’ every time I rehydrate his meal, I’m a believer. It’s like I’m whipping up a gourmet dish for him, and judging by his wagging tail, he seems to think so too!

– Canine Bible, Product Testing Team

Best Air-Dried Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Beef, chicken, lamb & venison

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: All ages

Manufactured: New Zealand

Ingredients: Free-range meat and wild-caught seafood

Why we recommended it: ZIWI was chosen for its high-quality, air-dried formula, which provides a nutrient-rich diet crafted to be biologically appropriate. They contain unmatched, authentic inclusions and a variety of highly digestible meat, organs, fish, green mussels, and bone. All recipes are boosted with a proprietary blend of cold-washed green tripe or poultry heart, whole New Zealand green mussels, and organic kelp. They provide vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support the brain, skin, and coat health.

What sets it apart from competitors: The brand uses free-range and grass-fed animal protein and seafood sources from New Zealand, ensuring no hormones or antibiotics are in the meat. They follow strict animal welfare guidelines.

Key Features

Best Plant-Based Premium Dog Food

Recipes: Chick’n Kabob, roast, and rotisserie

Nutrition: AAFCO

Life stage: Adult and senior

Manufactured: USA

Ingredients: Vegan

Why we recommended it: Wild Earth wins our pick for best plant-based premium dog food. They’ve developed the cleanest vegan dog protein that is vet-approved and made from cruelty-free, sustainably sourced ingredients for healthier pets and the planet. A survey by the company revealed that 86% of 3,000 customers reported a positive health benefit for their dog after switching. These included increased energy, less itching, improved coat, better digestive health, improved joint health, and much more.

What sets it apart from competitors: The industry’s first dog food that uses yeast protein as the main ingredient, which is dense with nutrients and contains all the amino acids dogs need and more protein than any meat product. By weight, yeast is 45-49% protein, whereas beef is only 24%-26%.

Key Features

Additional Information
Jump to: The Research | Full Reviews 

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

The switch to premium dog food was driven by love and a desire to provide the best possible care. In my experience, the difference has been noticeable. I’ve seen improvements in their energy levels, coat health, and overall well-being, which fills me with immense satisfaction.

This journey into the world of premium dog food isn’t just about feeding our pets; it’s about enriching their lives and, in turn, our own. Every scoop of food is a testament to the bond we share with our dogs, a bond that is nurtured with every meal. As fellow dog lovers, I encourage you to consider the impact a high-quality diet can have on your pet’s life. It’s a choice that can bring about positive changes, and one that our loyal companions undeniably deserve.

---

Like It? Subscribe & Share!

* indicates required

First Name *

Email Address *

Dog Breed

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

Sources

Canine Bible uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process and product review methodology to learn more about how we fact-check, test products, and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.