A Detailed Review On Simply Nourish Dog Food

Simply Nourish Dog Food

Simply Nourish dog food, a product produced and sold by a company named PetSmart, is the dog food brand that's going to be under the microscope in today's article.

Is it as good as they say it is? Or is it bad? Let's find out.

But first, let's have a look at some of the most popular dog food formulas and varieties produced by Simply Nourish dog (along with a popular treat option at the end).

Update: As of this edit and writing, Amazon only carries a couple of Simply Nourish dog food products. When more are made available, we'll edit this section again. For now, here's a list of our top 5 alternative choices you can pick up from Amazon.com.

Top 5 Simply Nourish Dog Food Alternatives (Updated For 2019)

PRODUCT

DETAILS

RATING

Taste of the Wild Canine Formula-resize
  • With bison and venison 
  • Roasted meat flavors
  • Energy for active dogs
Wellness CORE Natural Grain Free
  • Deboned turkey and chicken meal
  • Balanced adult nutrition
  • Contains antioxidants and glucosamine
Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Dry Adult Dog Food
  • Duck meat for healthy muscle growth
  • Contains a balance of nutrients
  • Promotes strong bones and teeth
Orijen-Original-Grain-Free-Dry-Dog-Food
  • Fresh chicken and turkey meat
  • Grain-free
  • Great for picky eaters
Diamond Naturals Dry Food
  • Superior taste from real beef
  • Enriched with Vitamin E and selenium
  • Contains prebiotics and probiotics

*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 or Chewy.com where you can find out more information about the products, such as current prices and customer reviews.

Simply Nourish Company Claims

In this subsection, we'll be going over some of the most important selling-point claims that PetSmart make in regards to their Simply Nourish dog food line, which we will be investigating for ourselves and letting you know what results we found in this article.

So, first off, let's see what PetSmart have to say about their product.

With Simply Nourish dog food, PetSmart pride themselves in taking a simplistic approach to producing dog food, whereby they take pride in using simple yet very nutritious ingredients in their food formula.

This way, PetSmart claim to be able to only use natural ingredients in the dog food they produce, meaning that your pooch will stay as far away as possible from all the harmful additives that other dog food producers include in their products.

This is quite the selling point that PetSmart focus on with this brand, which is only very logical considering the many dog food brands nowadays that take a very unnatural approach to their composition, and the "heat" they're increasingly getting from pet owners by the day.

Also, and since they include only natural ingredients in their dog food that gives canines all the nutrients and minerals they need (as if they were eating a completely natural diet in the wild), PetSmart assure their customers that no useless filler is included in their Simply Nourish dog food line either, as there's no need to.

Now, how true these claims are exactly, we'll see in the following sections below...

Simply Nourish Dog Food Formulas

Dog treat

Simply Nourish offers pet owners an impressive wide variety of formulas to choose from (more than 15 dry dog foods as of this writing), coming in forms of both dry  and wet (canned) dog food.

This is a very good benefit for the consumer to be able to choose from a variety of formulas and not be stuck with just a few.

Besides dry and wet dog food, you can also find a wide variety of Simply Nourish dog treats.

If you were to head over to somewhere like Amazon.com or even a PetSmart store near you and check out the varieties that the Simply Nourish brand has to offer, you'll quickly find out that there's no shortage of options for what you're looking for.

You can find something no matter what size your dog is (small breed or large breed), what age bracket and life stage they are in (puppy or senior), whether or not they have specific health conditions that need to be catered to (sensitive stomachs for example), etc ..

There are options and formulas for every canine alike.

It always takes us by surprise whenever we're reviewing a dog food brand and notice that they only manufacture food for large breed dogs and don't do the same for small breed dogs.

This is a very annoying occurrence for customers that want to feed their different dogs the same brand of food and also the dog food company leaving money on the table.

But, oh well, this is not business 101 class so let's move on.

Simply Nourish Dog Food Review

Whole Foods

As you will be noticing in the specific dog food formula review subsection below, the ingredients list is full of whole foods (such as whole meat, whole fruits and whole vegetables), something which is always an excellent thing to see.

Fruits And Vegetable Use - The Good & The Bad

Did you know that the fruits and vegetables that PetSmart uses in their Simply Nourish dog food formulas and varieties are also directly sourced to them from farms so they can use them in their most natural form?

However, and with that being said, the fruits and vegetables that PetSmart uses in their Simply Nourish dog food formulas are known to be frozen fruits and vegetables, a practice which a large part of the community doesn't prefer as much as they do the inclusion of fresh fruits and vegetables that have just been harvested.

Directly harvesting the fruits and vegetables that are going to be used in dog food products and immediately sending them to production labs is a practice that more premium dog food brands out there that charge more money for their products, and you never know when we start to see this practice being implemented in Simply Nourish dog food products.

Either way, this isn't a very big deal, we just thought we'd put this out there for you to know about.

Great For Allergies

Bulldog in Fall

Feeding dogs dog food that's made from natural and wholesome ingredients is becoming more and more of a recommended practice by experts in the field, especially with the rise of different allergies that dogs are suffering from nowadays, much of which are caused by a low quality diet made up of low quality, highly processed and unnatural dog food.

So, if your dog suffers from some sort of food allergy or skin allergy, giving them a dog food brand such as Simply Nourish to eat instead of something else that's much more artificial and processed is a very good start to a positive change.

Excellent Protein Sources

Moreover, we can also tell from the ingredients list below that Simply Nourish dog food formulas contain very high-quality and natural sources of protein, a factor which is probably one of the most important criteria when judging any dog food.

Simply Nourishâ„¢ Small Breed Adult Dog Food - Natural, Chicken & Brown Rice

For the purpose of this article on Simply Nourish dog food, we're going to be reviewing one of their most popular formulas as a sample, the Simply Nourishâ„¢ Small Breed Adult Dog Food - Natural, Chicken & Brown Rice formula.

To start off this section, let's have a look at the ingredients list first.

List of ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin), Oatmeal, Brown Rice, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Dried Chicory Root, Dried Carrots, Dried Spinach, Dried Sweet Potatoes, Dried Pumpkin, Dried Blueberries, Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-Polyphosphate (Source of Ascorbic Acid), Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Selenite), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride.

Chicken & Chicken Meal

The first item on the list of ingredients we notice above is Chicken, which is one of the best sources of proteins and one of the best meats you can ever feed your dog.

Followed by chicken meal, which is also a tremendous source of high quality protein, it's very apparent from the start that this is one high protein-quality dog food.

Oatmeal & Brown Rice

Ingredient number 3 on the list we have above is oatmeal. Now, despite the fact that we would have liked to see 3 primary sources of protein in the first 3 ingredient spots, 2 primary sources of protein followed by such an excellent whole grain and an excellent source of complex carbohydrates is also completely fine.

If you've read any other dog food review articles we have put up on this website, you'll know by now that high quality carbohydrate sources such as oatmeal are always a pleasure to see in abundant amounts in dog food, which is exactly the case here.

Right after oatmeal on the ingredients list comes brown rice, also one of the best complex carbohydrate sources you can ever find in dog food. And, given the fact that it's ingredient #4 on the list, this means that it's found in prominent amounts as well, which is a very good thing.

Canola Oil - A Minor Controversy

However, we did find a controversial ingredient in the #5 spot on the list, and that's canola oil.

Many in the dog owner's community deem it as something dogs should not be consuming, due to arguments that it's genetically modified oil and not natural oil.

And as we all know, anything that has been genetically modified even to the slightest extent should not be consumed by dogs at all.

While canola oil is high in Omega 3 essential fatty acids that help your dog maintain a very high quality and shiny coat, as well as improve your dog's joint health, some Simply Nourish dog food formulas have canola oil listed higher than positions we'd like to see on the ingredients list.

Instead of seeing canola oil being high up there on the ingredients list in position #5, we would much have preferred to see something like fish oil instead.

Tomato Pomace - Another Minor Controversy

Right after canola oil comes an ingredient called tomato pomace, which again is the subject of much controversy in the dog owner's community.

Much of the controversy surrounding tomato pomace is due to the fact that it's widely considered to be nothing but useless, cheap filler that dog food manufacturers like to include in their products to beef them up and decrease production costs.

However, the good thing here is that tomato pomace isn't in a prominent position on the list of ingredients, meaning that not enough amounts of it are present in this dog food to cause much worry.

Had tomato pomace been in any of the top 3 positions (which is the case when it comes to many other dog food brands that are very low quality), then that would be a valid reason for worry.

Flaxseed

We were also very delighted to find that flaxseed made its way on the ingredients list, albeit not in a prominent position as well, but flaxseed is always a very welcome addition to dog food because of its high levels in Omega-3 essential fatty acids.

Conclusion On Simply Nourish Dog Food

In conclusion, Simply Nourish dog food is one of the better dog food brands being sold on the market today, especially when you take a look at the all-natural list of ingredients their different formulas have.

While not the best of the best dog food brands just yet, Simply Nourish dog food may just get there someday real soon, especially with a few improvements here and there - they don't have a long road ahead.

20 COMMENTS

  1. I won’t be purchasing simply nourish can dog food any more. You changed your ingredients for the worse and the guarantee analysis shows it. I spent around $200.00 a month on this dog good. Unhappy past customer.

  2. I bought a 30 lb. bag of Simply Nourish two days ago only to find the entire inside of the bag infested with maggots. It was the most disgusting thing ever. Don’t ever buy Simply Nourish dog food!

  3. Your move to a larger can work poor quality ingredients will impact everyone. Do not buy the 13oz can. It’s full of poor product and is not liked by either dog. Why change? You lost a loyal customer here.

  4. Same here. My dog has been eating the grain and gluten free Simply Nourish 10.05 oz cans of wet food for years and years. He is going on 18yrs old now and is in great shape. He loved the SN food and it always kept him healthy and his coat shiny and he has tons of energy. No allergies and the ingredients were very basic. Always hard to find at PetSmart but there was always enough. They changed the formula ad made the cans bigger. My dog could not handle it and it made him really sick. What a crock. Without saying anything to anybody they just took the old stuff off the market. I have told them “Thanks for nothing” and I will be looking elsewhere for all my pet needs now. Blue Buffalo did pretty good for replacing SN brand. They have the grain and gluten free also in wet food.

  5. my 1 dog and one that comes to play with him have been eating SN grain and gluten free 10.5 oz for years they absolutely loved the food until the formula was changed WTF was that all about . when the new formula was given i set the bowls down for the dogs to eat it one dog went over tasted it and suddenly pushed the bowl about 5 feet away underneath the sofa the 2nd one tasted it and started barking at me and walked away . Couldn’t blame them the new formula looks like it suuuucks !!! anyways gotta look for something new. I’m going to try blue buffalo like mentioned above .

  6. I have been feeding my basset hounds the Simply Nourish 10.5 ounce wet canned food for many years. They all loved it and are very healthy. What the heck with the new recipe and larger can? I like the old recipes because you could actually identify the ingredients! Real chicken, salmon, beef, veggies that you could see! No pressed mystery ingredients into highly processed cubes ! You have lost this customer. I am sourcing a new wet food and took all the cans back to the store except the one I opened. Incredibly disappointed…

  7. Bad move to change the make-up of the can food. It has some kind of unidentifiable gray squares in it. Also the rice is mush instead of actually looking like rice with shredded chicken. Looking for an alternative to Simply Nourish food. Any suggestions????

  8. This was the only commercial dog food that both of my doxies could eat. We searched for a long time for a food that my boy’s sensitive stomach could handle (dry: adult – small breed). We were pleased with the break downs/reviews that we found online and they seemed to do well over the last four years with it. This last bag caused 3 of the four dogs that are currently at our house to throw up. I was thinking that it couldn’t possibly be the Simply Nourish and that perhaps our dogs had gotten into the other dogs’ (we are long term dogsitting) food. We switched everyone to homemade chicken, rice and veggies for two days. Today I fed our doxies the SN food and our girl (the non sensitive dog) immediately threw up 3 times in a row. I am heading to Pet Smart now. I’m unsure if we have a bad lot or they changed their dry food recipe as well. I’m not happy at all and considering researching making my dogs’ food long term.

    • Ok, this is exactly what I was looking for…. We’ve just run into this problem. It was so crazy that we finally found a food all of our dogs could eat and handle. Then my sensitive boy started getting ill just this past week and all 3 of the dogs have been on it for at least a year. We took him to the vet because he was throwing up food from that morning before he even got dinner… Then he just wouldn’t stop vomiting. After switching him to a bland diet, he stopped vomiting and was able to pass things again. By this time, I was sure it was the food… But now I’m completely uncomfortable today as the dog who is NEVER sick just got sick and it was the food that came up. (I usually think she’s gotten into something, but it was definitely straight food at least 3 times)….

      Needless to say, we’re going to Petsmart to have a conversation and find some different food and take this stuff back. I have no idea if it’s a bad lot or if it’s just a different recipe or just straight up not tolerated anymore….

  9. Honestly it sounds like you guys already had sick dogs to begin with. My dogs love it and it’s great for them I have a Rottie and a pitbull. I feed them the dry kibble all the wet crap canned stuff is trash in any brand.

  10. My dog is 4 years old, and until 1 year ago we fed him SN. He suddenly became very ill, vomiting and diarrhea. We took him to the vet, who put him on a sensitive stomach, limited ingredient food. He’s been fine ever since. The other dog food is very expensive and wanted to try to gradually switch him back to the limited ingredient SN. However, after reading this article I’m concerned about doing that. I don’t want to spend on a whole bag only to have to go through the hassle of returning it for a refund. We had a really hard time getting Petsmart to take back and refund the large bag we had purchased. It was a good brand for our dog, is there a sample size I can purchase, we were really happy with it.

  11. I started feeding our dogs the original version of the canned 10.5 oz of Chicken and Rice Stew a number of years ago simply because it was the only food the toy poodle would eat. The change of formula and can size I can understand due to rising costs and competition, but result is very disappointing. I can buy cans of soup with better consistency for far less money that the dogs would probably prefer and would probably get more nourishment. I still use this particular flavor, but have had to augment it by adding another brand of stew to fill their tummys. As I am writing this, I realize how stupid this is. Guess I will have to search for a better choice which is not an easy task.

  12. Fromm….highly highly recommend purchasing Fromm dog food to everyone. No recalls, been around for 70 years, my mini eskimo refusee all Blue, Nutro, Wellness, Science but loves Fromm! Can be purchased http://www.gofromm.com or go to http://www.fromm.com and itll show you the stores in yoyr area to purchase directly by hand. The ingredients are top knotch and very affordable.

  13. Just had a horrific experience with Simply Nourish Freeze Dried Chicken dog treats. My small Poodle was eating as he began to gag but he was CHOCKING.,..on a chicken bone!!! He became overwhelmed as I tried to reach in and pull it out. I have the Bone and only a number to call but you can bet I will be come Monday morning. Thank God I dislodged it but you can well imagine what I went through putting my fingers in a terrible frightened dig. Not good,!!!!?

  14. I have 3 Chihuahuas When I started off with Simply Nourish Chicken in rice Canned They always loved it I never had problem And cans were smaller , then all of sudden They changed and bigger cans and Big Chuncks of ????who knows in it Those chunks made 1/2 a can They would not Eat I kept on taking chunks out And Started adding a lil White rice They Can’t and won’t eat the new stuff Now they took and changed to The Same chicken and rice with big chunks and now Brown rice Again I’ve wasted more time and money trying to Get my dogs to eat right They never had medical problems before now all three been so much vets my bill huge They losing weight Now They Just need the original Simply Nourish Chicken and rice no chunks in it get back to original recipe ,, Please Petsmart Give us our little cans Original White rice/ chicken smaller cans and no chunks I my dogs all three thrower up last time I went To petsmart and bought the last case and 1/2 in Mississippi Petsmart , My 3 dogs thrived up for 3 days What I am going to do IDK They so Hooked On Their original Simply Nourish White rice And Chicken No Bunch Chunks in it And I am almost resorting to cooking it my self !!!!

  15. Very disappointed to find no reviews or ratings about the canned SN dog foods — just a few comments here and there. We never feed our dog dry “food.” Canned premium food, hard-boiled eggs, and raw beef bones keep our 85# baby happy and healthy. Also have not been able to find information about where the SN foods are manufactured and sourced. If the label does not clearly state that it’s made/sourced in USA, Canada, or New Zealand we do not buy it; we do not want to feed who-knows-what from China to our dog. Is this food from China?

  16. I am looking at a Simply Nourish can label. It clearly says: “Distributed by /par: Simply Nourish Pet Food Company 19601 N. 27ty Ave, Phoenix AZ USA 85027,” and then below that is an American flag in in large letters: “MADE IN USE with domestic and imported ingredients.” I don’t know if this helps, but there you are.
    I recently opened a can and it was not filled as far as other previous cans had been. I intend to send a picture of this freshly-opened can to them to see what they say. (It is sure neat in these modern times to always have a good camera handy wherever you are.)

  17. Ive been buying simply nourish large breed chicken and rice for over 4 years. No problems. Im on my second bag of the new bag look and my dogs are none stop throwing up and have diarrhea. I see nothing on SN about this but 4 others at work are having the same results with this new look bag of SN? Getting no response from Petsmart???

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