Abound Dog Food Review 2023: An Insightful Look into This Kroger Brand

You might or might not have heard of Abound Dog Food. After all, it’s not as mainstream as Purina or Royal Canin. But it has a steady stream of loyal followers so we thought we’d take a look if it’s a good dog food brand that we can recommend to other pet owners like us.

What we’ve found is highly encouraging. Our Abound Dog Food review is a result of painstaking research into this brand. We’ve taken into account the formulation of each recipe, the manufacturing process, and most important of all, the reviews of pet parents whose pups have tried this brand.

About Abound Dog Food Brand

Abound Dog Food is manufactured by the Kroger Company, an American retail company operating supermarkets and department stores throughout the US.

You can only purchase Abound dog food in-person from the company’s grocery outlets, although you can buy them online through retail platforms like Amazon.

It was introduced back in 2014 as a premium line of pet food that Kroger spent close to two years perfecting before releasing into the market. 

Since cats and dogs are just as susceptible to allergies as humans, this pet food brand was designed to remove as much of the common allergens as possible. You won’t find wheat, soy, or corn fillers in any Abound product. 

The Abound dog food brand currently has about 11 recipes (wet and dry foods) available and a variety of treats for dogs and cats.

According to Kroger representatives, all Abound dog food formulas are manufactured right here in the United States, with ingredients sourced locally too.

1. Abound Small Breed Beef & Sweet Potato Recipe
2. Abound Superfood Blend Salmon, Egg & Pumpkin
3. Abound Lamb & Brown Rice Recipe
4. Abound Chicken & Vegetable Stew with Brown Rice
5. Abound Duck, Pea & Blueberry Jerky Bites

 

Abound Dog Food Reviews

1. Abound Small Breed Beef & Sweet Potato Recipe

Food rating: 4/5

First 5 ingredients: Deboned Beef, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Garbanzo Beans

Guaranteed Analysis:

Mimicking a dog’s natural and ancestral diet, this Abound grain-free dog food recipe contains a good amount of quality proteins and easy-to-digest carbohydrates.

It’s a crunchy kibble that’s made specifically to provide all the nutritional needs of a small breed pup who tends to burn through calories and energy fast.

While the food does have some sweet potatoes and legumes in it, these in no way overwhelm the various proteins in the formulation. It’s still heavily meat-based, with protein providing most of your pup’s fuel needs.

To keep the nutrition as naturally-sourced as possible, the trademarked brand included carrots, spinach, kale, and cranberries to name a few, to balance out the ingredients better. 

Several pet owners are happy with the food for being easy on sensitive tummies. Some have reported that there are no more incidences of diarrhea or stomach upsets. More are satisfied that their pups like the taste.

2. Abound Superfood Blend Salmon, Egg & Pumpkin

Food rating: 3/5

First 5 ingredients: Salmon, Brewers Rice, Barley, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal

Guaranteed Analysis:

This natural dog food contains a healthy food blend of salmon (a fatty fish that’s filled with healthy fats and omegas), egg, and pumpkin for a delicious and nutritious feast that dogs inherently crave.

The salmon is protein-filled and the egg provides additional support for building and maintaining strong muscles, not to mention providing your pup with long-lasting fuel to last him throughout the day. The pumpkin, meanwhile, promotes good digestion for your dog and keeps his vision sharp.

Because it’s a superfood blend, you can find plenty of added vitamins, minerals, and trace elements in the formula with guaranteed levels for each. Though the food uses grains, there is no corn, wheat, or soy product in it.

Several customers are happy that their dogs are eating this dog food up. It’s quite healthy food, based on the formulation and ingredients, and so far it’s been helping drive itching away from some pups. However, there are also some reports that a couple of dogs threw up after being fed a cup of this dog food. 

3. Abound Lamb & Brown Rice Recipe

Food rating: 4/5

First 5 ingredients: Deboned Lamb, Oat Meal, Whole Ground Barley, Turkey Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice

Guaranteed Analysis:

This Abound pet food formula mixes crave-worthy red meat with wholesome whole grains to give your pets a protein-rich meal that will sustain active dogs the whole day. It’s specifically designed to meet the nutrient profiles for all life stages of canines.

Lamb is of course the number one ingredient, but it’s helped along by turkey meal to ensure that protein levels remain high. The turkey also adds an interesting flavor to what would otherwise be a simple red meat diet. 

There are a number of meat meals in this recipe, which makes the food more protein-rich but also makes it not that ideal for sensitive dogs.

For example, aside from deboned lamb and turkey meal, the formulation also contains menhaden fish meal and chicken meal. 

Dogs are reported to gobble the food up readily, even the finicky ones. Customers are happy to note that the food contains only high quality ingredients and does not include any animal byproduct meal. The food uses only natural flavor and no artificial preservatives or taste.

4. Abound Chicken & Vegetable Stew with Brown Rice

Food rating: 4/5

First 5 ingredients: Chicken Broth, Chicken, Chicken Liver, Peas, Carrots

Guaranteed Analysis:

Abound Chicken & Vegetable Stew with Brown Rice recipe is a wet dog food option for dogs who crave a little more moisture and more meaty goodness in their diet. It uses a single animal protein source to provide all of your pet’s fuel and energy needs.

The dog food formulation uses a combination of muscle meat and organ meat to bring your pup a nutritious feast that’s high on palatability.

The carbohydrates are supplied by the peas and brown rice in the food. Blueberries supply much of the naturally-occurring antioxidants while the rest come from supplements.

Although the food contains brown rice, it does not have any corn, wheat, or soy product in it. There are also no byproducts nor artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.

A few customers gave this food a global rating of 4.1 out of 5. We like the single-animal protein source formulation of the food, while dogs are all about the taste.

However, there has been a report where the food supposedly made one pet very sick. It’s not from a verified buyer, though, so we’re taking the complaint with a grain of salt. 

5. Abound Grain-Free Duck, Pea & Blueberry Jerky Bites

Food rating: 3.5/5

First 5 ingredients: Duck, Pea Flour, Chickpeas, Chicken Meal, Cane Molasses

Guaranteed Analysis:

Even as a treat, Abound makes sure to fill this dry food with as much high-quality protein as possible. Fresh duck is the main ingredient in this snack, and it’s further supported by the inclusion of chicken meal.

The treats use simple carbohydrates that are easy on your dog’s digestive tract. There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Instead, the food relies on mixed tocopherols (forms of vitamin E) as a natural way of keeping the treats fresh longer.

These treats are a hit with many dogs, and they have a great smell too. They make for excellent training treats or rewards for good behavior.

However, these contain cane molasses, which are sugar, so we can’t give it a higher score. Plus points, though, for being all-natural and containing no animal byproduct meal.

Abound Dog Food Recipes

Wet Dog Foods

• Grain Free Turkey & Sweet Potato in Gravy
• Grain Free Chicken & Vegetable Cuts in Gravy
• Grain Free Beef & Vegetable Cuts in Gravy
• Chicken Dinner with Vegetables Pate Puppy
• Chicken & Vegetable Stew with Brown Rice Recipe in Gravy

Dry Dog Foods

• Superfood Blend Salmon, Egg & Pumpkin
• Small Breed Beef & Sweet Potato
• Salmon & Sweet Potato
• Chicken & Brown Rice
• Chicken & Brown Rice Puppy
• Lamb & Brown Rice
• Grain Free HIgh Protein Duck, Sweet Potato & Venison

Treats

• Grain-Free Lamb, Chickpea & Squash Jerky Bites
• Grain-Free Duck, Pea & Blueberry Jerky Bites
• Grain-Free Turkey, Pea & Cranberry Jerky Bites
• Grain-Free Plaque Busters
• Grain-Free Limited Ingredient Small Dog Dental Chews

Dog Food Recalls?

Yes. Abound has had two recalls in its history, both of which occurred in 2018. The first recall affected four and fourteen-pound bags of Abound Chicken & Brown Rice. The dog food brand recalled its dry dog food products in November 2018 from a Harris Teeter located in Matthews, North Carolina due to the presence of dangerously high levels of vitamin D.

The second recall happened in December of the same year when the FDA recalled four-pound bags of Abound Chicken & Brown Rice dog food from a single Kroger location in Louisville, Kentucky. Again, for having seriously high levels of vitamin D. 

Abound Products Review Summary

Based on the formulation and customer reviews, Abound Dog Food receives a mid-grade rating from us. While some recipes are indeed top-notch (like the Small Breed Beef & Potato recipe) with plenty of quality proteins and all-natural ingredients to recommend them, some (like the Superfood Blend one) can only be described as so-so. 

The quality is not as consistent as we’d like across formulations. There are times when the brand does not hold back, and other times when it seems it is trying to save a bit here and there by sprinkling some formulations with cheaper ingredients.

We can’t deny that our own dog loves the taste. Flavor is something that makes Abound dog food a consistent winner if taste was the only basis for reviewing this pet food.  But we have to take into account everything from the formulation to customer experience too. 

Not much else is known about Abound dog food other than what little the Kroger company doles out about it. There is no website specifically for Abound dog foods, so we don’t know exactly where the foods are made other than they are made here in the US.

The average score the Abound pet food brand receives in dog food reviews is between 3.5 to 4. We’d have to say that our average score for it is also the same. 

There are plenty of other brands that provide better information when it comes to their pet food products, a more transparent manufacturing and sourcing process, and better ingredients.

So bottom-line. Do we recommend it? Yes. Do we think Abound dog food is a good choice? Again, yes. This pet food brand is fine to give to canines.

It has a nice variety of grain-inclusive and grain-free dog food formulations to choose from in wet and dry varieties. It doesn’t rank as one of the best dog foods out there, but it’s a good choice if you are looking for quality but inexpensive dog food.