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!
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.
#1 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.
It’s 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’ve fed Meals for Mutts before, then LifeWise was formulated by the same guy. The benefit of LifeWise over Meals for Mutts is it’s made by a smaller, more independent manufacturer.
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
#2 Petzyo
Petzyo are one of a few Australian made & owned “B2C” dog food brands, which means you order directly from them rather than through a retailer as a middle man.
The benefit of this is cutting out the cost of the retailer (which can be as much as 40% mark up!), which means a better quality product for a more affordable price to you.
Feedback has shown Petzyo dog food to be really good, and if you read the full review you’ll see why it’s a great Aussie option for your dog!
If you’re looking for a really decent dry dog food which won’t break the bank, then I think this would be a really good choice.
Even better, for a limited time you can get 10% off your first order with the coupon code PETREVIEW!
Pros:
- High quality ingredients which will really benefit your dog!
- Affordable price!
#3 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!
Pros:
- Decent ingredients.
- 50% of profits donated to help save rescue dogs.
Where to buy?
#4 Meals for Mutts
You’ve probably already heard of Meals for Mutts as it’s one of the most talked about Australian dog foods. You can tell it’s proper Australian with the “Bacon & Eggs” recipe (which is really pork and eggs).
It’s a decent and relatively affordable brand, especially with the bigger bag sizes, and consumer feedback has been mostly positive.
Price range it’s similar to Black Hawk, but Meals for Mutts seems to be the more reliable of the two, and also seems to work well for dogs with allergies.
- Decent affordable brand.
- Grain free.
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!
#1 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!
You can buy Frontier Pets direct from their website here, and I highly recommend trying a bag!
#2 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!).
#3 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, give it a try with a limited offer of $30 off your first order (with coupon code PFR30)! * $60 minimum spend.
#4 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!
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: