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You can find detailed information about Kirkland, a private label brand made for Costco by Diamond Pet Foods, Inc., in our main review of Kirkland Dog Food. There you will also find information about how the food is made, recalls, and their quality control measures. This review will provide some information about the main ingredients, additional ingredients that stand out, the guaranteed analysis, and any special concerns.
Kirkland has a very good reputation with dog breeders and dog show exhibitors, especially in areas served by Costco, and many people say they have been feeding the food for years with good results. Kirkland’s grain free line of foods is called Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain. Kirkland’s food is designed to compete with premium dog foods at a lower cost. They contain no corn, soy, or wheat; and they have no animal digest, by-products, or artificial preservatives. These are some of the reasons they have been popular with dog breeders and exhibitors, especially people who own multiple dogs. They are able to feed what seems like a good quality food at a lower cost which is an important consideration when you have multiple dogs.
Special Note About Kirkland Dog Food
Note that there is currently some customer confusion over Kirkland’s canned dog foods. Different Costco stores seem to have different versions of the foods – either the chicken and rice formula, the chicken and beef with vegetables formula, chicken and lamb with rice, or the lamb and rice formula. There are also some cans labeled as “cuts in gravy.” Some of the cans are 14 ounces and some of them are 13.2 ounces. There may also be smaller cans. Some of the foods are being made for Costco by Simmons Pet Food and some of the foods are being made by American Nutrition. As far as we can tell, all of these canned foods have similar ingredients and guaranteed analyses. We hope that Costco will do something to make the situation less confusing for their customers. It would also be helpful if they would create a web site with information for the food since it is so popular.
Ingredients In Kirkland Signature Super Premium Chicken, Rice & Vegetables Puppy Formula
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, egg product, cracked pearled barley, dried beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and vitamin E), potatoes, fish meal, flaxseed, natural flavor, brewers dried yeast, salmon oil (a source of DHA), millet, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, carrots, peas, kelp, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, dried chicory root, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, 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 D supplement, folic acid
Ingredients Overview
The first five ingredients in this food are: Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, egg product, and cracked pearled barley. These ingredients show excellent sources of animal protein in chicken (usually whole chicken) and chicken meal, as well as egg product. Brown rice and barley are a good mix of carbohydrates.
According to the company this food is recommended for puppies up to 1 year old of all sizes. Since this is an “all life stages” food, it’s also recommended for pregnant and nursing dogs. According to the company, the food contains fresh chicken, multiple whole grains, and fruits and vegetables that make the food nutritious and give puppies a good start in life.
The food appears to have all these ingredients and we see no reason to question that the food is nutritious or healthy for puppies. You should note that Kirkland uses no corn, wheat, or soy in their foods.
Top 5 Ingredients Breakdown
Chicken is the first ingredient and chicken meal is the second ingredient. Together, this indicates that the food contains a lot of good quality chicken protein. Chicken is about 80 percent protein and it’s a good source of Vitamin B6 and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Niacin and Selenium. Chicken meal is a condensed form of chicken with most of the moisture removed so it contains several times as much protein as whole chicken.
The third ingredient is whole grain brown rice. Brown rice is often used in dog foods, especially as a change from corn. From a dog food viewpoint, rice is a cereal grain. Brown rice is higher in fiber than white rice, and less processed. It can also be a little more irritating to the stomach than white rice. It’s a simple carbohydrate that can give dogs quick energy. Used in conjunction with more complex carbs in a dog food, brown rice is a good ingredient.
The fourth ingredient is egg product. The AAFCO definition for egg product is: “Product obtained from egg graders, egg breakers, and/or hatchery operations that is dehydrated, handled as liquid or frozen. These shall be labeled as per USDA regulations governing eggs and egg products (9CFR, Part 59). This product shall be free of shells or other non-egg materials except in such amounts which might occur unavoidably in good processing practices, and contain a maximum ash content of 6% on a dry matter basis.” Eggs are often a good way for dog food companies to add more protein to a dog food. They are easy for dogs to digest and the nutrients are easily available to the dog.
The fifth ingredient is cracked pearled barley. Cracked pearled barley has been polished to remove part of its hull and bran; and make it easier to digest. Keep in mind that the more it’s processed, the more nutrients it loses, even if it makes it easier to digest. It has a moderate amount of starch that can be slowly digested, along with soluble fiber. It features about 7 percent protein, 3 percent fat, and 90 percent carbohydrates.
Overall, these ingredients seem to meet some of the company’s claims about the food. They provide good meat protein with chicken and chicken meal, as well as eggs. The carbohydrate sources should not be a problem for most puppies. Even if your puppy has any food intolerances, they don’t usually begin to show until a puppy is 5-6 months of age. However, if you are opposed to grains on principle, you will need to look for another food. It should be noted that this food has fewer grains and carbs than many other puppy kibbles.
Additional Ingredients of Interest
The food also contains chicken fat which is a good, named fat source in dog food. It’s also a good source of Omega-6 fatty acid.
The food also contains dried beet pulp. There are some misconceptions about beet pulp, probably because of the name. Dried beet pulp is a natural, fermentable source of fiber. It is a wonderful addition to dog food to help move fecal matter along in the intestines. It also acts as a pre-biotic to help good bacteria grow in the gut.
Natural flavor added is often monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is also added to human foods. It is usually a less desirable ingredient but we can’t be sure what it is in this case.
The food also contains fish meal. Fish meal is a desirable protein source in a dog food. It’s usually made from some of the white fish species or Menhaden, and can vary depending on the season. AAFCO defines fish meal this way: “the clean, dried, ground tissue of un-decomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.” High quality fish meal usually contains between 60% and 72% crude protein by weight. It is also an excellent source of essential fatty acids. Diamond, the maker of Kirkland, says they use ethoxyquin-free fish meal.
The food also contains flaxseed. Flaxseed is a good source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid but it’s also a phytoestrogen and it can cause hormonal problems for dogs, especially for unspayed female dogs. If you are a dog breeder, you should be careful about feeding a food with heavy concentrations of this ingredient to a puppy.
You will also find brewers dried yeast. Brewers dried yeast – not to be confused with other kinds of yeast – is a by-product of the brewing industry. But it’s also a healthy supplement rich in B vitamins and with lots of high quality protein. The guaranteed analysis for brewers dried yeast can show about 35 percent protein, .10 percent crude fat, and 5.0 percent crude fiber. It can be beneficial for a dog’s skin and coat.
The food also contains salmon oil as a source of the essential fatty acid DHA. DHA, one of the omega-3 fatty acids, is important for brain development, among other things. It’s also good for your dog’s skin and coat. It’s a very good ingredient in a puppy food.
The ingredients include kelp, which is a good source of trace minerals. And it has dried skim milk which is a good source of protein. Cranberry powder is an antioxidant and preservative. Rosemary extract also acts as a preservative Dried chicory root is a source of inulin which is a prebiotic. Chicory root contains about 20 percent inulin before drying.
The food also contains chelated minerals. Amino acids are bonded to the minerals making them easier to digest. Chelated minerals are more expensive fore dog food manufacturers to use so their presence in a food is often a sign of a better dog food.
We also note that the food includes folic acid (vitamin B9 or folate). We’re not aware of how the addition of folic acid might benefit growing puppies. However, we have read research recommending the addition of folic acid in the diet of pregnant female dogs in order to avoid having newborns with cleft palates and harelips. Since this is an all life stages food and it can be fed to pregnant female dogs, we like the addition of this vitamin in the food.
According to the guaranteed analysis for the food, it contains a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 1.2 : 1.0 which is within the government’s recommended guidelines for puppies. The protein and fat percentages, on a dry matter basis, are above the recommended guidelines. The food has modest amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as the omega-3 fatty acid DHA for brain development.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein ….. 28% Minimum
Crude Fat ….. 17% Minimum
Crude Fiber ….. 3% Maximum
Moisture ….. 10% Maximum
Calcium ….. 1.2% Minimum
Phosphorus ….. 1.0% Minimum
Zinc ….. 225 mg/kg Minimum
Selenium ….. 0.4 mg/kg Minimum
Vitamin ….. E 250 IU/kg Minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids ….. 3.0% Minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids ….. 0.5% Minimum
DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) ….. 0.05% Minimum
* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profile.
Calories Content
366 calories per 8 oz cup
Nutritional Adequacy Statement
Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Kirkland Signature® Puppy Chicken, Rice & Vegetables Formula provides complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages.
Dry Matter Basis
On a dry matter basis, this food contains 31.1 percent protein and 18.9 percent fat. These percentages are well above the government recommended percentages for puppies. Fiber makes up 3.3 percent of the food which is on the low side. The food contains 37.8 percent carbohydrates which is lower than many foods.
Summary
We really like this food for puppies. We like the animal protein sources, the low carbs, and the protein and fat percentages. The ingredients look very good. Recommended.
Kirkland Signature Puppy Chicken, Rice and Vegetables Formula has received our above average rating of 4 ½ paws, making this a high quality puppy food.
We originally started our boxer puppy on ACTR1UM holistic puppy food as the breeder used. It has really good ingredients for the price. But our puppy started losing little patches of hair all over. The vet said that is usually a food allergy, so we switched to Kirkland Signature Puppy food since it was our second choice based on nutrition/value. His patches grew back in. So later on we got a small bag of ACRT1UM again just to see if it was the culprit. Yup, within a week of eating it again, the patches reappeared. So we are now using Kirkland Signature exclusively for our 11 month old boxer and he is healthy and happy with great firm poops and a shiny healthy coat and has way too much energy. And he loves it.
I personally think ACTR1UM is still a good food as others have had great success with it. I just think my specific pup has an allergy to something specific in it. But I highly recommend Kirkland Signature Puppy food.
We have 2 adult dogs on Kirkland grain free doing fine.Our new golden puppy bypasses his puppy food and runs over to devours their.Is that OK?