Under the spotlight in today’s article is 4Health Dog Food, a product owned by Tractor Supply Company, which just happens to have been founded all the way back in 1938.
Now you might be asking yourself “hey, what does Tractor in the name have anything to do with dog food?”. Well, Tractor Supply Company started out in the tractor parts industry!
Since then, they have dramatically grown out the industries they operate in, where they now operate in spaces such as agriculture, home improvement and as of 2010, the pet food industry.
Tractor Supply Company try to emphasize as much as possible in their advertisements about 4Health Dog Food that this is one of the more affordable premium pet foods available out there on the market (with food choices available for your dog as well as for your cat, in both dry food options as well as wet food options), while you’re receiving the same value you would when you pay top dollar for other, more expensive pet food brands.
Tractor Supply Company claim that you’ll be paying 20% less when you go with their dog food than if you were to go with other, competing dog food brands on the market, and they use this claim as a cornerstone in their marketing and branding.
However, just how true is that in practical terms? How much more value will you be getting out of this dog food that’s having you pay less than if you were to go with a different dog food manufacturer and brand altogether and pay a bit more?
This is what we’re going to be discussing in this article today.
Only Available In Store - What To Do?
Since 4Health Dog Food is only available in store, this may not be feasible for you if you were looking for something you can grab online for a fraction of the time.
If that’s what you were looking for, here are what we think are the 5 best alternative dog food brands you can go with that are available on Amazon, since 4Health dog food is not.
Top 5 4health Dog Food Alternatives You Can Buy Online (Updated For 2017):
Top Pick: Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food, Hi Prairie Canine Formula
Pick #2: Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
Pick #3: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Dry Dog
Pick #4: Orijen Adult Dog Food
Pick #5: Diamond Naturals Dry Food For Adult Dogs
*Note: The links in the table above, as well as several links in the remainder of the article below, will take you to over to Amazon.com where you can find out more information about the products, such as current prices and customer reviews.
Table Of Contents
Who Makes 4health Dog Food?
4Health dog food is a private label brand owned by the Tractor Supply Company and manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc.
Tractor Supply Company, with headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, is a family owned business that operates in the pet food industry, with manufacturing plants located and operating in the following states:
- Meta, Missouri
- Lathrop, California
- Gaston, South Carolina
Diamond Pet Foods was founded in the year 1970, and is headquartered in Meta, Missouri.
A Quick Look At 4 Health Dog Food
Considering that 4 Health Dog Food is a private label brand for Tractor Supply Company and it’s not sold by online retailers the way other competitor dog food brands are, it can be a bit difficult for you to gather enough information about 4Health dog food to make an informed buying decision.
However, we’ve done our best to scour Tractor Supply Company’s official website as well as many other sources to help you make the best informed buying decision you can when it comes to 4Health dog food and let you know everything you have to know about it.
Here are the products 4Health Dog Food has available as of this writing:
Dry Dog Foods:
- Grain Free Whitefish & Potato Formula For Adult Dogs
- Grain Free Beef & Potato Formula For Adult Dogs
- Grain Free Turkey & Potato Formula For Adult Dogs
- Salmon & Potato Formula For Adult Dogs
- Large Breed Formula For Adult Dogs
- Chicken & Rice Formula For Adult Dogs
- Puppy Formula
- Lamb & Rice Formula For Adult Dogs
- Mature Adult Formula
- Performance Formula
- Small Bites Formula For Adult Dogs
- Healthy Weight Formula For Adult Dogs
- 4health Grain Free Pork & Potato Dog Food
- 4health Grain Free Duck & Potato Dog Food
- 4health Healthy Weight Dog Food
- 4health Grain Free Turkey & Potato Dog Food
- 4health Grain Free Whitefish
Canned Dog Foods:
- Beef & Vegetable Stew
- Salmon & Potato
- Chicken & Vegetable Stew
- Chicken & Rice Formula
- Lamb & Rice Formula
- Turkey & Sweet Potato Stew
On their website, Tractor Supply Company’s state that their 4Health dog food brand meets all the criteria that other premium dog food brands have checked: having fresh meat as the first ingredient on the list, providing the optimal macro-nutrient mix of protein, fat and carbohydrates for different dogs in different life stages (29%, 17% and 46% respectively), not having any artificial additives or preservatives and being free from useless filler such as wheat, soy and corn.
Also, one of the things 4Health dog food takes pride in most is their grain-free dog food varieties, as they believe that grain free diets resemble the closest diet any dog should be eating, as that’s how they were born to eat in the wild.
Tractor Supply Company state on their section about 4Health dog food on their website that dogs don’t have the necessary enzymes to properly digest grains, which ultimately leads to a whole host of digestive problems and allergies in dogs that eat these grains.
Tractor Supply Company state that if you stick to a grain-free diet with your dog, you’ll notice the health benefits your dog will start to enjoy in no time, as well as save up on costs due to the fact that your dog won’t be needing to eat as much dog food as when they were eating options that contained useless grains.
However, Tractor Supply Company warn that when transitioning your dog to eating grain-free dog food, you should do so slowly and gradually.
This is because if your dog transitions from eating a dog food that contains grains to eating a grain-free dog food all of a sudden, then their digestive systems won’t be able to properly cope with the sudden change, and problems such as loose stool and/or diarrhea will start to pop up.
However, many dog owners out there believe that the manufacturer of 4Health dog food, Diamond Pet Foods, doesn’t exactly have the best of reputations when it comes to manufacturing dog food.
Many people claim that the ingredients they import from other countries are of lower quality than the industry standard set by other premium dog foods out there.
Four Health Dog Food Chicken and Rice Adult Dry Dog Food Review
In this section, we’ll be talking about the 4Health Chicken and Rice Adult formula dog food option in particular.
First off, let’s start by going over the list of ingredients this dog food has to offer.
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, millet, brewers rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried plain beet pulp, natural chicken flavor, flaxseed, fish meal, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, Yucca schidigera extract, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid
Given that the #1 ingredient on the list of this dog food is chicken, this is both a good and a “not-so-good” thing.
It’s good because chicken is one of the best sources of protein you can find in dog food products, and it’s not-so-good because raw chicken is made up of around 80% water and loses most of its weight after cooking because the water will be long gone by then.
However, this is made up for by the fact that the #2 ingredient on the list is chicken meal, given the fact that chicken meal contains about 300% more protein than fresh, raw chicken that occupies the #1 spot on the ingredients list.
This dog food also contains some decent sources of essential fatty acids, such as chicken fat (an excellent source of Omega-6 essential fatty acids because of its high concentration of linoleic acid) and flaxseed (an excellent source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids).
Some controversial ingredients are involved, such as:
- Barley, seeing as it’s a grain that arguably barely benefits dogs from a nutritional standpoint.
- Brewers rice, which is also a grain known to cause some allergies in certain dogs and offers little nutritional value to dogs as well
- Beet pulp, which always stirs some controversy when it’s included in dog food because of its widespread reputation as being nothing but useless filler. However, beet pulp isn’t included in large amounts in this dog food, and if included in small amounts we believe it can actually be a bit beneficial to your dog.
4 Health Dog Food Recalls
If you’re reading this section for the first time, please note that we’re always actively monitoring for any potential future recalls that 4Health dog food might go through, in which case we will definitely come back and edit this section as soon as that happens.
For now, here’s a list of the recalls 4Health dog food has encountered ever since it first hit the market.
2012
Back in 2012, Diamond Pet Foods recalled all 4Health dry pet food brands that were manufactured in its facility in Gaston, South Carolina due to the possibility of salmonella contamination.
2013
In 2013, the 4health All Life Stages Cat Formula (5 lbs and 18 lbs bags with the product dode #NGF0802) were recalled due to the discovery that these cat foods had way lower levels of thiamine than required in cat food.
Where Can I Buy 4Health Dog Food?
Seeing as 4Health dog food is a private label brand for Tractor Supply Company, the only way you can get your hands on a bag for your dog/pup is from one of their own stores.
Since being next to a Tractor Supply retail store isn’t exactly reality for everyone out there, and not everyone prefers to shop from the manufacturer’s website as opposed to their favorite retailer’s online website, we know this answer isn’t suitable for everyone.
And even if it were so, not everyone likes to shop from local retail stores. Especially when it comes to dog food, buying from places like Amazon.com is much more favorable for alot of people out there.
If that doesn’t fit your profile, then you’re more than able to visit Tractor Supply Company’s website and order one of 4Health dog foods over there, or visit one of their local stores and get your hands on a bag from there. Take a look at this store locator from their website for some help.
However, if you’d prefer to do your business from somewhere like Amazon.com (we always like to get all our dog food from there), then you’re much better off going with an option like Taste Of The Wild dog food.
Again, here’s a look at our top 5 choices for the best alternative dog food brands you can go with if you would prefer doing business on Amazon rather than having to buy 4Health Dog Food in one of their exclusive stores.
Top 5 4health Dog Food Alternatives You Can Buy Online (Updated For 2017):
Top Pick: Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food, Hi Prairie Canine Formula
Pick #2: Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free Dry Dog Food
Pick #3: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Dry Dog
Pick #4: Orijen Adult Dog Food
Pick #5: Diamond Naturals Dry Food For Adult Dogs
Conclusion On 4Health Dog Food
All in all, we’d say that 4Health dog food is a good choice to go with, although not the best option you could go with in our opinion.
However, for some of you reading this and no matter what we say about 4Health dog food, you’ll stick to your beliefs that it’s a low-quality dog food because you can’t get yourself to trust Diamond Pet Foods given their not-so-healthy reputation.
Im surprised you did not include in your article the history of Diamond Pet Foods.
i think including their past history with pet food should have been included so the consumer
can have the complete picture of this company. Diamond is the company making and processing
the food.
im feeding my dog 4health salmon oceanfish and potato dry dog food and she is real sick she might not get better
please leave a follow up on your dogs outcome and if you or your vet feels that this food is to blame. I am just another pet owner that feeds 4health to his best friend. Hoping your dog gets to feeling better..
My dogs are on 4Health grain free. They are healthy but extremely gassy.
We tried the lamb and rice formula for our chocolate lab and the gas was horrible. All of the time and would clear the room. I felt bad because he looked so sad. He is 5 and ate his food very quickly. We switched to the whitefish and potato adult formula and he has normal gas. His coat and skin are awesome and overall very healthy. He acts like a puppy again and his skin allergies are gone!!! Bottom line. It’s a great brand but try one that works best for your furry friend.
Mine are extremely gassy
We started our 16 month old Great Pyrenees on 4Health Turkey for large breed dogs after he started showing signs of a grain allergy…itchy scaly skin, some loss of hair and a gradual weight loss. Oh, and lets not forget the loose stools. After lots of research and finding out what was readily available in our area, I decided to go with 4Health and I’m glad I did.
Oliver was put on 4Health on 1/04/17 and as of today, 1/23/17 I can honestly say that all of the issues he was having have cleared up. Oliver’s skin is a soft pink again and there is absolutely no flaking what-so-ever…his coat is in good condition, he’s actually put on some weight and his stools are now firm. I’m so glad that he is no longer in discomfort from all of the itchiness and scratching that led to some very irritated and raw skin.
Like I said above, I’m glad I found 4Health for Oliver…now he’s one happy pup and at our recent vet appointment, our vet says he’s healthy and looks great.
At one time in their furry lives all my girls (3) were fed a low end dog food. I was so utterly ignorant of the differences in quality between brands. I discovered my error when I began researching why my beautiful little Yorkie/Pom mix was exhibiting signs of what might be a grain allergy. I found to my dismay that they really didn’t like the food. They preferred one of the low end brands instead.
After switching back and forth and trying some other brands I came back to 4health, which I guess they just had to get used to because they seem to like it fine now.
There is a site that gives a grade from 1-5 for not only each brand of dog food, but also different products within that brand. Some of 4health’s products score as low as 3 I believe or at least 3.5 while others score a perfect 5. I tend to go with the latter.
Contrary to what this article states, I find 4health to be substantially lower in cost than “Taste of the Wild” with many of the products going at .99 a can. Not bad for a premium dog food.
My Service Dog ( British Lab ) has been on 4 Health salmon & Potato her whole life — Healthy and shine like a new dime