Essence Limited Ingredient Recipe Landfowl Recipe Dry Dog Food, 21-lb bag

(NOTE: Chewy appears to not let me make separate paragraphs, so apologies for the one huge paragraph; also, I am using this same review for the Essence LIR Ranch flavor.) So, first of all, do be aware that there is regular Essence and Essence LIR (Limited Ingredient Recipe). Interestingly, despite the same brand name, they are almost two completely different dog foods! The regular Essence line has several different animal proteins in each formula, which is great, BUT, it also has three different types of legumes. Why is this a problem? There was research released a few years ago that grain-free dog foods MAY lead to Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), a pretty bad heart condition, and the main culprits that were originally suspected were peas and other legumes like chickpeas and beans. And then there was a recent news story (August 2021) which announced the findings of studies that were conducted since those initial reports and it confirmed that, in particular, PEAS are the main problem. It's the feeding of food containing peas, day in and day out, that is likely what MAY develop into a health problem. I have decided to go the safe route with my dog and not feed him food with any legumes — and that ain’t easy because the vast majority of grain-free dog foods somehow still use legumes and sometimes in abundance. But if you then decide to feed your dog grain-inclusive foods (a lot of them use the term “ancient grains”) I have found that most of them use WAY too many different grains within one formula — it’s like going way too much in the other direction. And, I might add, it was not fair of the media to castigate ALL grain-free dog foods — it should be just the ones with legumes. There are a few, and I mean a very few, grain-free foods on the market that do not use peas or other legumes. And that brings me to: Essence Limited Ingredient Recipe (LIR). Not to be overly dramatic but, in terms of dog kibble, this food is like a dream come true. First of all, it starts with two fresh animal proteins followed by the same two proteins in meal form (which is a GOOD thing because the concentrated meals pack more protein — with the fresh meats, the water has to be removed in order to make the kibble and so the actual amount of meat is instantly decreased). The food also has but ONE grain and it’s one of the very best you can give your dog: Quinoa. Read up on quinoa and you’ll see (and, technically, it's a seed). And then there's just ONE fruit/vegetable to go along with the quinoa: pumpkin. This is one of the best fruits/vegetables you can feed your dog, very helpful with digestion, and packed with so much nutrition. The rest of the ingredients consists of one animal fat (chicken in the Landfowl and pork in the Ranch) followed by vitamins. That's it! Essence does not contain probiotics because the company has found it reduces shelf life. It is suggested you add the probiotics of your choice if you wish your dog to have that, and I think that's actually better because there are so many great probiotic dog supplements out there and this gives you more freedom of choice of what to give your dog. My dog has done SO well on the Essence LIR Ranch (Lamb + Pork) and Landfowl (Chicken + Turkey) formulas. He absolutely loves both of these flavors, never leaves a stray piece, and his ‘output,’ if you will, which had been very problematic in the past, has been terrific on this food. I like to buy the 4lb bags and switch them back and forth to both keep the food as fresh as possible as well as to keep things interesting for him. My suggestion would be, for the first time, spend the money and get a 4lb bag of each flavor and see if your dog prefers one over the other or, hopefully, they're good with both, like my dog is. Then, if you want to save and get one or both of the larger sizes, great. BTW, the Essence LIR line has a third flavor, Ocean (Whitefish + Herring), but I don't use that as I have decided to stop feeding my dog any fish kibble. Why? Mercury! Even though they might be using a low-mercury fish, as whitefish and herring are, there’s still mercury in it, and with the repeated feeding of fish kibble every single day, that mercury builds up. I used to feed my dog several fish kibbles (Wellness Core Ocean and Venture Pollock) and since have realized that’s probably not a good idea (I'm thinking the potential for cancer here). I only feed him fresh, low-mercury fish, 2x’s a week mixed in with the kibble (the other meals I feed him are mixed in with fresh roasted chicken). So, with the limited ingredients of Essence LIR, and those ingredients being, in my opinion, superior to not only the majority of other grain-free kibble but MOST kibble overall, I couldn't recommend it more. See, not all grain-free food is the same!

Kibble size is good and smells scrumptious, lol! I have 5 bulldogs, and even my extremely picky girl will eat it willingly. I like the higher protein and fat, and limited, simple ingredients. Not to mention meats/meals being the first four ingredients. Appears to be a high quality food! :-)

Our dog’s countless food allergies cause her yeast ear infections and diarrhea, so it’s easy to tell when a food is causing a reaction. Since switching to Essence LIR, our pup’s ears have been clear and her poops have been solid (FINALLY!!) Fewer ingredients mean less “extra stuff” that make battling allergies difficult. It’s hard to find a LIR that is still high protein and grain-inclusive, and this ticks all the boxes! I do wish the kibbles were bigger for my large breed dog, but hydrating with bone broth/water prevents inhalation (she clearly loves the flavor!) A couple tips: if your dog needs probiotics, you’ll need to supplement, and be sure to check the feeding recommendations. The calories per cup are a little high, and the bag recommends fewer cups than we were used to feeding. Rehydrating bulks up the volume!

My dog loves this food,hard to find a food not loaded with legumes or potatoes. Thrilled that Chewy now stocks it, my dog is a Japanese Chin and has no problem with the size of the kibble.