True Friends dog food

Any pet store sells dozens of pet food options. How can you navigate this abundance and choose a high-quality, nutritious diet for your pet? The answer is simple: know all the necessary information about the food, its ingredients, and the manufacturer. Today, we'll help you get to know True Friends dog food better. This domestically produced food is made from Russian ingredients and, according to the manufacturer, can meet all your dog's nutritional needs. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.

Manufacturer of food "True Friends"

The food is manufactured by ProdKontraktInvest, a company known for its other brands, including Night Hunter (cat food) and Puffins (cat and dog food). The company is located in Belaya Kalitva, Rostov Oblast. Since no additional information is provided on the packaging, it appears the production facilities are also located there.

In addition to cat and dog food, the company's product range includes food for rodents and birds, meaning the company covers virtually the entire spectrum of feathered pets.

According to ProdContractInvest itself, True Friends dry dog ​​food is made from high-quality ingredients and meets premium nutrition standards. Furthermore, customers are advised that the meat content is up to 55%, although the word "up to" seems odd: 10% meat in the food is also "up to" 55%. This could be a typo, or perhaps a trick to comply with regulations—a detailed analysis will make everything clear.

True Friends dog food range

The manufacturer offers both dry dog ​​food and canned dog food. The True Friends product line also includes dog treats, but we won't cover them in this article—our primary focus is on the food.

True Friends dry dog ​​food is available in the following range:

• For dogs of all breeds: with chicken meat, as well as with beef, with lamb and rice, and with assorted meats (packages of 1, 3 and 15 kg);
• Diets for adult medium-sized dogs: lamb with rice (3 and 15 kg);
• Food for large breeds – assorted meat (5 and 15 kg);
• For a puppy of any breed – chicken with added rice, as well as lamb with rice (0.8, 1, 3, 15 kg);
• For puppies of large breeds – assorted meat (3 and 15 kg);
• For older dogs over 7 years old – chicken-based food (1.3.15 kg);
• For service dogs and dogs with an active lifestyle – Energy food with increased nutritional value.

There are slightly fewer canned rations:

• Food for all dogs of all breeds: beef, as well as beef with carrots, chicken with veal and carrots, assorted meats (0.4 and 0.85 kg cans);
• For adult small breed dogs: beef, assorted meat, chicken, and veal with lamb (0.1 kg pouches and 0.4 kg cans);
• For puppies of all breeds: rabbit with goose, chicken with liver, and veal with lamb. All these flavors are available as delicate pâtés and as chunks of meat in gravy. Both types of food are packaged in 0.4 kg tins.

That's the entire list of True Friends dog foods currently available. The selection isn't exactly limited, but it's not particularly luxurious either—there are no veterinary diets, no breed-specific diets, and no diets for dogs with allergies.

But it's important to remember that the price of True Friends dog food is quite reasonable, so it's unfair to demand a ton of additional food from the manufacturer for the same price.

Let's find out what these recipes contain and whether they are good enough to be considered premium dog food.

Composition of True Friends dog food

For a more detailed study, we selected the most popular food that is suitable for almost all dogs of any breed – dry food for adult dogs based on chicken.

The first five ingredients on the list, which essentially make up this food, are:

• Chicken meat meal;
• Chicken bone meal;
• Rice;
• Corn;
• Wheat.

Next come the ingredients that are present in the food in specific proportions, but they don't significantly affect the final product's composition. These include chicken fat, pork meal, beet pulp, and flaxseed. Yeast, liver extract, a mineral-vitamin complex, and antioxidants round out the list of nutrients.

Frankly, the ingredients are poor, even for a premium food. But let's take a look at the guaranteed nutrient analysis:

• Proteins – 25%;
• Fats – 12%;
• Moisture – 10%;
• Crude ash – 6.5%;
• Fiber – 3%;
• Calcium – 1.3%;
• Phosphorus – 0.9%.

It's difficult to say anything about these indicators, other than that they are average for a food of this class. For a more complete picture, we can examine each component separately and draw conclusions about its benefits and value.

Squirrels

The protein base listed in the food includes chicken and pork meat meal, as well as chicken bone meal. While all of these ingredients are generally good sources of animal protein, meat and bone meal, for example, is made from the entire poultry carcass, meaning it may contain undesirable elements. It's also worth noting that pork meat meal, a byproduct of the soft tissues of pigs, is not suitable for dogs with allergies, as it can cause severe allergic reactions.

Plant-based ingredients can be another source of protein, as they contain a small percentage of protein. However, it's important to note that plant-based protein is poorly digested by dogs, making its benefits questionable.

Fats

True Friends dry dog ​​food contains chicken fat as its main source of lipids. It also lists flaxseed, which also contains many beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Chicken fat is generally a good source of fat, but it depends on the source: it's typically rendered from the waste after deboning. The degree of purification of the fat is also important—if it's not purified at all, it will contain many unwanted impurities.

Carbohydrates

The food manufacturer omitted the carbohydrate content, but there are quite a lot of them. A simple calculation reveals that carbohydrates account for about 40% of the total, and this is due to the large amount of grains. Three of the top five ingredients are grains. Rice, wheat, and corn are all fillers used to keep the food cheaper. They are practically indigestible by dogs and are added solely to keep the price down. For any food, the presence of such ingredients is a disadvantage.

Additional components

• Beet pulp, a waste product from sugar production, is a source of fiber. It offers no other health benefits.
• Flax seeds – contain a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as a large number of vitamins and minerals.
• Yeast maintains healthy fur and skin. Yeast also aids in digestion and contains a wealth of B vitamins.
• Liver extract is an extract from the liver with a strong, pleasant aroma. It is used as a natural flavoring to increase food intake. However, the ingredients don't indicate which liver was used, how the extract was obtained, and so on. It's impossible to be completely sure of the specific ingredient.
• Antioxidants are beneficial substances that help prevent aging in dogs. However, the vague wording, unknown origin, and small quantity (the last ingredient on the list) negate the nutrient's potential benefits.
• A vitamin and mineral complex is a ready-made supplement designed to provide the necessary levels of beneficial micro- and macroelements.

As can be seen in comparison with other dog foods, True Friends dog food has a simple formula and can only barely qualify as premium. This is supported by the absence of chemical components, flavor enhancers, colorings, and other substances harmful to dogs' health.

Reviews of True Friends dog food

Thanks to their low cost and availability in many stores, the foods in question have a huge consumer base—and many of them feel obliged to share their impressions of using these diets.

We read numerous reviews of True Friends dry dog ​​food and selected the most vivid and emotional ones that most accurately reflect people's feelings about this food.

Lily, the beagle's owner:

"My little rascal isn't a picky eater, but when I bought him True Friends chicken to try, he flatly refused to eat it. I had to rush out and get his usual food—a sad experience. I don't know why he wouldn't eat it."

Oksana, Staffordshire Terrier breeder:

"I wanted to cut down on food costs, so we tried True Friends food. What can I say—the dogs eat it happily, but over time I started noticing their coats were becoming dull and brittle. I asked the vet, and he confirmed my suspicions—they needed more vitamins and minerals, which were lacking in the food. Otherwise, it seems to be a good food."

Sergey, the owner of the mongrel:

"My noble dog, Bob, eats everything—and he really likes True Friends food. He always eats his portion, and would eat more, but I follow the feeding instructions from the package. So far, so good—we've been eating the food for about a year now, no problems."

If you read veterinarian reviews of True Friends dog food, you'll see that they're neutral about these diets—they're not thrilled, and almost all experts recommend switching to a higher-quality food with a higher meat content. They also point out the insufficient vitamin and mineral content—dogs should definitely receive a multivitamin supplement when eating this brand.

Price of feed

After reviewing the prices of this food in several online stores, we calculated the average price for True Friends dog food. The results are as follows:

Dry dog ​​food True Friends:

• 1 kg. – from 99 rubles;
• 3 kg. – from 300 to 350 rubles (depending on taste);
• 5 kg – from 1200 to 1400 rubles.

Canned goods:

• kg pouch – from 18 rubles.
• 0.4 kg jar – from 40 rubles.

As we can see, the food isn't just cheap—it's incredibly affordable. Given the price, it's hard to imagine that it contains high-quality ingredients, as promised on the manufacturer's official website. Remember, the joy of a low price can be overshadowed by veterinary expenses for your pet, as high-quality nutrition is the key to your dog's good health and longevity!

Read also:

• Dog Chow dog food
• Premium dog food
• Dog feeding regimens