Australian dog foods (and my best recommendations!)

Us Aussies like to buy Australian. That’s probably why you’re here, reading this, looking for a good Australian dog food?

Actually, it always surprises me how many people ask for recommendations for a dog food, then state it must be Australian.

We have literally dozens of dog foods here in Australia, but you may be surprised to know most of them come from the same few manufacturers.

Many of these dog foods claim to be “Australian”, when in reality the manufacturer is owned by foreign investment. So technically they aren’t really fully Australian.

Below I’ll make some great recommendations for dog foods which are not only Australian Made AND Australian Owned, but with ingredients good for your dog as well!

Please note I have split the recommended Australian dog foods into two categories – recommended dry dog foods (i.e. kibble/biscuits), and recommended high-end dog foods which are more expensive but should be more natural and nutritious for your dog.

If you can’t afford to feed your dog like a king or queen (like most of us!), a good option might be to pick as “base diet” from the dry dog food recommendations, and supplement in part with one of the more expensive options from the “high-end” section!

Recommended Australian dry dog foods

The below dry dog foods are all Australian Made AND Australian Owned.

I’ve checked various sources for consumer feedback, combined with feedback I’ve received over the years, and feel confident recommending the following Australian dog foods.

They’re also a good standard in terms of ingredients, nutrition, and analysis.

In no particular order, here are some recommended Australian dry dog foods:

Petzyo

Petzyo is a 100% Aussie made and owned brand of dog food available on subscription, delivered to your door. If that kind of convenience suits you, I feel Petzyo could be a very good choice as an affordable yet premium Australian dog food.

I’ve had really good feedback for Petzyo. I’ve also found over the years they have continued to improve, push the boundaries, and gain a great deal of consumer loyalty. Human-grade BARF has been a welcome addition to the range, so check that out too.

Petzyo cut out the retailer as the middle-man as this means they can produce a quality dog food and sell it to you for a good price. This means you won’t find it in the shops, but it’s easy enough to order from their website (and if you use this link and coupon code PETREVIEW you’ll get 10% off your first order).

Read the full Petzyo dry dog food review.

Instinctive Bite

If you don’t want to be tied into a subscription model and would prefer to buy your dog food online, then I think you’ll love Instinctive Bite.

As a dry dog food it’s very affordable compared to similar brands both Australian and imported, and feedback from Aussie pet owners is consistently good.

Instinctive Bite is a brand available only from Pet Circle. As a retailer I find they continue to be the most competitive on price, and the great news for you is they offer a further 20% off with their auto delivery option – that makes Instinctive Bite very well priced indeed.

Read the full Instinctive Bite review.

Pros:

• Surprisingly decent ingredients considering the price per kilo.
• A good base diet for your dog!

Where to buy?

LifeWise

LifeWise dog food is probably the most expensive on this list, but it’s a brand I have a lot of faith in. On many occasions I’ve spoken with the owner Bill, and his knowledge and care is second to none.

LifeWise is formulated with a mix of ingredients including meat, legumes, and potatoes. It’s not the highest protein, and it doesn’t contain as much meat as others, but it’s a really nice mix of quality ingredients.

If you were a fan of Meals for Mutts previously, you’ll be happy to know Bill who owns LifeWise was the nutritionist behind the original and very successful Meals for Mutts formulas.

Pros:

• I’ve found the brand trustworthy.
• High quality ingredients appropriate for your dog.
• Good mix of ingredients, so a balance of nutrients.
• Great consumer feedback.
• Has shown to work well for allergy prone dogs.

Where to buy

Savour Life

Last but not least of the recommended Australian dry dog foods – SavourLife.

It’s a decent formula which is grain and gluten free, and a good mix of ingredients. What you’ll love most about this brand is they donate 50% of the profits to help save rescue dogs. A worthy cause!

As of mid-2024, it looks as if SunRice (or CopRice as the product manufacturer) will likely acquire the SavourLife brand of pet food.

Pros:

• Decent ingredients.
• 50% of profits donated to help save rescue dogs.

Where to buy?

Really high-end Australian dog foods!

So far we’ve covered some of the best Australian dry dog foods, which are great for convenience and an affordable base diet.

We have some excellent Australian dog food companies who really push the boundaries, offering us dog owners a diet which is fresher and more nutritious.

You’ve probably seen Frontier Pets and Lyka crop up a fair bit on this website as two of my favourite Australian dog foods, but did you know we have an excellent ZIWI Peak rival Eureka which really shows how good a dog food can be?

The following Australian dog foods are absolutely fantastic, so if you want your dog to be super healthy then you really can’t go wrong with any of these Aussie options!

Frontier Pets

Frontier Pets has deservedly grown a very loyal following since Diana who created the brand featured on Shark Tank.

Since then they’ve gone from strength to strength with their “freeze dried raw” dog food. This makes it so easy for us dog owners to feed a raw diet without any of the hassle! Great nutrition, better than any dry food, and great for your dog!

I’ve visited the Frontier Pets factory and met the team – they have such a great vibe, and they’re doing things right. If you want proof, check out the positive feedback from so many consumers!

Special offer: 15% off Frontier Pets with this link (or coupon code PETFOODREVIEWS15)

You can buy Frontier Pets direct from their website here, and I highly recommend trying a bag!

Lyka

Another top Australian dog food is Lyka. It’s not a dry food, and it’s not a convenience food either – it’s fresh, slightly cooked meals (“bowls”) delivered right to your door.

Basically Lyka takes all the effort out of preparing excellent meals for your dog!

It’s been wonderful seeing how much the company has grown over the past few years, but what’s even more wonderful is seeing the astounding feedback from consumers.

Worth trying!

You can buy Lyka direct from their website here (with 20% off your first order if you use this link!).

Eureka

I love this dog food!

If you’ve heard of ZIWI Peak, one of the best dog foods sold all over the world, then Eureka is the Australian made & owned rival. It’s as good as, if not better than ZIWI Peak!

Eureka is an air-dried raw dog food, which offers you a really convenient way to feed your dog “raw” without having to deal with yucky organs and getting the balance right.

The benefits of such a dog food really shine when you consider the process of making regular kibble, which involves high temperature cooking processes which kill nutrients and enzymes.

Enzymes are what keep your dog healthy and youthful, and along with the right ingredients and nutrition should offer your dog a great quality of life for many years to come.

Eureka dog food does just that. They also keep it pure and natural – other similar air-dried dog foods add sweeteners like glycerin to entice your dog into lapping it up and convincing you you’re feeding a great product. Our dogs don’t need sweeteners, they just need good, health, nutrition.

Read the full Eureka dog food review or better yet, take advantage of the Welcome Pack offer – When you subscribe to a minimum 1.8kg bag they’ll give you, for free, a Gut Helper (valued $32.90), Goat Horn treat (valued $11.90), and a Eureka silicone collapsible Scoop with clip ($9.99).

Balanced Life

I’ll tell you two good reasons why Balanced Life is a good dog food. The first is pretty obvious, the second is one of the much less obvious ways I can tell a food is putting your dog’s health before profit.

The first is how much meat is in a dog food. Not just mince or meal (which can often be carcass), but organs, tripe, and bone. You’ll find them all in Balanced Life, and they openly state 80% meat, organs, oils to 20% vegetables, fruits, and other ingredients.

The second is the use of chelated minerals. You don’t see them used that often as they cost more to include, but they’re better for your dog as they’re more easy to absorb. Seeing chelated minerals in a dog food is a great sign it’s been formulated for the health of your dog rather than saving a few cents on a cheaper alternative.

Being air-dried it’s also really convenient. All you do is add water and let it soak for a bit before feeding. Easy!

What about Black Hawk & Meals for Mutts?

I’ll mention Black Hawk and Meals for Mutts briefly as these have shown to be the most popular Australian dry dog foods.

In previous years these two brands have made the list of best Australian dog foods, but for a few reasons they have not made the list for 2024.

Meals for Mutts has suffered a few setbacks of late due to changes in manufacturer, including an unfortunate recall due to quality issues during 2023. Many Australians continue to feed Meals for Mutts and have been unaffected, but I feel at this time I am unable to recommend Meals for Mutts until issues have settled.

Black Hawk pet food remains decent in terms of ingredients and analysis, but consumer feedback continues to suggest digestive issues affecting some dogs. Feel free to read consumer comments on any of the Black Hawk dog or cat food reviews for more information.

If you have been feeding Black Hawk or Meals for Mutts dog foods without issue, there may not be any reason to be concerned, and may not have any reason to switch brands.

BARF Patties (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food)

You’ll find BARF patties in the freezer section of most pet stores these days. I know we like the convenience of having dog food delivered to our door which isn’t usually an option with frozen foods, but I believe Petbarn offer same day delivery.

We have a few really decent Australian made & owned BARF dog foods – Big Dog is one of the longest standing raw patties, and along with Proudi can be found in most pet shops.

Aussie deliver-straight-to-your-door company Petzyo have a great range of human-grade single protein patties available here (and you should be able to get 10% off your first order with the code PETREVIEW)!

Related: Best raw dog foods.

How can a dog food brand claim to be Australian Made / Australian Owned when they’re not?

There’s a loophole which allows a dog food company to state they’re both Australian Made and Australian Owned, when it might not be 100% true.

The reason for this is most Australian dog foods are made by a separate manufacturer. Most of the time we don’t even realise this.

It’s common practice and not necessarily a bad thing – the manufacturer will make the dog food to order, and the company who owns the brand will do the rest of the work, like sales, marketing, customer relations, social media, and so forth.

But what this means is the company who own the brand can claim to be Australian Owned, because they are, and they can claim the food is Australian Made, because it’s manufactured in Australia.

But that doesn’t mean the manufacturer is Australian Owned.

Australian & New Zealand dog foods

Here’s a list of brands which hail from Australia or New Zealand, regardless of whether the manufacturer is foreign owned. After all, they’re still made here (or NZ), by Aussie locals: