The dog food you give your dog is very important for many reasons, such as the taste, ingredients, and health benefits. If one of these factors is out of balance your dog may not enjoy eating the food or may enjoy the food but not gain health benefits from it. Many dog foods are made with poor ingredients, many ingredients, or contain common allergens like corn or eggs. My Boston terrier, Nickel, has a sensitive stomach and struggles more with regurgitation due to having Brachycephalic syndrome which many dog breeds are born with. These stipulations, along with wanting to provide her with energy and longevity, caused us to take a look at what dog foods we were feeding her. This led us to trying out Blue Basics Limited Ingredient dog food.
Nickel has a very sensitive stomach and we are very picky with what dog food we give her as a result. Here she is chowing down on Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Dog Food which she enjoys!
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The Creators Behind Blue Basics Dog Food
According to Blue Buffalo, one dog, Blue, inspired his family to create Blue Basics dog food when he was diagnosed with cancer. To provide Blue with the best, his parents created Blue Basics dog food after consulting with many holistic veterinarians. They started the formula off with real meat and looked into many other health problems dogs face while doing their research. After seeing the many allergies and sensitivities out there, Blue’s family created many different lines of dog food and treats to provide more options for pets with health problems. They’ve even expanded their line with cat food. I found this to be a very inspiring story personally. Even though Blue has passed away, his family is hard at work creating health driven food lines for all his furry friends out there.
A closeup of Nickel’s bowl which contains a mix of two flavors of Blue Basics Limited Ingredient dog adult dog food. We mix two flavors together so that every few weeks she has a fresh blend of flavors which keeps her interested.
What Is Left Out Of Blue Basics dog food?
Blue Basics believes in feeding your dog or cat like family and leaving out undesirable ingredients to achieve this. All of their dog foods exclude:
- Chicken or poultry by products – Some of their products include chicken or poultry but it’s always whole meat from the bird rather than a by product. Many other companies save money from using poultry by product, but Blue Basics always starts with quality meat ingredients for their food as they believe this is much healthier for the animal.
- Corn, soy, and wheat – Many dogs have sensitivities or allergies to corn, soy, and wheat so these ingredients are left out of Blue Basics entirely. Corn, soy, and wheat are also incomplete in all amino acids which makes them harder to digest and not as healthy for the animal.
- Artificial colors and added flavors – These are sometimes added to pet food to make it look more appetizing but they are known to have possible negative side effects.
- Preservatives – These have no nutritional value and may have negative side effects as well.
Nickel picking up every last bit of her dog food – she really enjoys the taste of it!
What Are The Limited Ingredients In Blue Basics Dog Food?
Blue Basics includes the six major nutrients that dogs, like humans, require for healthy living. These nutrient groups are:
- Proteins – This is always provided with high quality meat which helps your dog to grow, have energy and maintain their body.
- Fats – This provides the most energy to your dog, helps their coat to be shiny and healthy, helps vitamins absorb properly, and reduces inflammation. Fats are factored into the dog food with fish or vegetable oils (such as flax seed oil).
- Water
- Carbohydrates – Provides additional energy with healthy fats and is rich in fiber which is crucial for digestion.
- Vitamins & Minerals – These are very important for proper digestion, growing, the immune system, and skin and fur health. Vitamin supplements are infused into Blue Basics dog food to keep your pup healthier.
A bonus feature with Blue Basics dog food is their LifeSource bits which are the small dark pieces mixed in with the dog food. When the creators of Blue Basics were researching how to make healthy dog food that fuels longevity, they discovered that many dog food brands mix the vitamins with the rest of the ingredients in their dog food. Mixing these ingredients together meant cooking them together and some vitamins, like Vitamin C, lose up to 75% of potency which is costing your dog the majority of the vitamin’s strength. By keeping the vitamins in separate pieces, the vitamins are able to retain their full strength rather than it being cooked out which will pack the maximum health benefits for your dog.
What Flavors Are Available?
One of Nickel’s favorite flavors of Blue Basics dog food is the turkey and potato flavor. We regularly purchase this flavor for her. Blue Basics dog food comes in a myriad number of flavors including but not limited to: duck and potato, salmon and potato, lamb and potato, and much more! We also use Blue Basics wet dog food to top her dry food when she is being more finicky about eating. These are some of Nickel’s favorite flavors that Blue Basics offers:
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The only thing that can distract Nickel from her tasty dog food is seeing an animal in the backyard. She particularly enjoys chasing squirrels but she got back to her meal soon after I took this photo.
Why I Recommend Blue Basics For A Sensitive Stomach
Nickel, my Boston terrier, has a very sensitive stomach and regurgitates frequently. She is also finicky about the taste of her dog food and will sometimes avoid her food altogether because she’d rather play. After switching to Blue Basics, she has taken more of an interest in her food and seems to have a more settled stomach. When she is being particularly stubborn about eating her food we will top her food with Blue Basics’ wet food to give her a different taste. The wet food smells absolutely terrible (to us humans), but it works every time to get her to eat immediately. We also mix flavors of the Blue Basics dog food. Some weeks she’s eating 25% turkey to 75% salmon and then the following weeks half and half. This keeps it fresh and exciting for her. We find these tricks work great if your dog is picky about their food.
As for a sensitive stomach, Nickel is very picky about her food and we believe this is partially due to her propensity for regurgitating. The Blue Basics dog food seems to help this problem out. This could be due to the specific and limited ingredients in the food. It’s possible Nickel, like many dogs, could be sensitive to corn, wheat, soy, or any of the ingredients that are typically found in dog food. Blue Basics has been working great for Nickel and we appreciate their simple, health oriented approach to making quality dog food!
