INNOVA DOG FOOD
Innova brand dog food is manufactured and marketed by Natura Pet Products. Natura Pet Products was first founded in 1992, by Peter Atkins, Ann Rademakers and John Rademakers. These three individuals founded the company because they wanted to produce a pet food that didn't contain dangerously unhealthy ingredients. In addition to producing Innova brand pet food, Natura Pet Products also produces Innova Evo, California Natural, HealthWise, Mother Nature Natural Dog Biscuits and Karma Organic Dog Food. As of right now, none of the Innova dog food formulas are currently being affected by the FDA pet food recall. Because of the recall, however, Natura Pet Products has made many changes to its quality control testing as a preventive measure.
INNOVA DOG FOOD REVIEW
Innova's dog food formulas are based off the same food pyramid used for human consumption. This means that there are ingredients from the five pyramid groups: grain, vegetables, dairy, fruit and meat. All of the Innova dry dog food formulas are subjected to a controlled cooking method, which is marketed as being able to preserve more of the nutrients in each ingredient than conventional pet food cooking methods. All of the Innova formulas are free from artificial colors, chemical additives or chemical preservatives. The price range for Innova's dog food formulas can vary, though may be as much as $62 for a large 30 lb bag.
INNOVA DOG FOOD FORMULAS
- Innova Adult Dry Dog Food Large Bites Dog Food
- Innova Adult Dry Dog Food Small Bites Dog Food
- Innova Adult Dry Dog Food - Red Meat Large Bites
- Innova Adult Dry Dog Food - Red Meat Small Bites
- Innova Low Fat Adult Dry Dog Food
- Innova Senior Dry Dog Food
- Innova Senior Dry Dog Food Plus
- Innova Dry Puppy Food
- Innova Large Breed Adult Dry Dog Food
- Innova Large Breed Senior Dry Dog Food
- Innova Large Breed Puppy Dry Puppy Food
INNOVA CONSUMER RATINGS
Most customer reviews of Innova brand dry dog food formulas are positive. The ingredients in the formulas are very easy to understand, with high quality protein being the first ingredient in most every formula. Though Innova's general formulas may not attract dog owners looking to go grain-free, they still seem to be popular among many dog owners. Innova also seems to be highly recommended by dog owners, with many citing that they were referred to Innova dog food formulas by a friend or fellow dog owner.
However, there were a few negative reviews about Innova brand pet food. While some dogs seemed to have health problems that may not have been directly related to anything in the food (such as urinary tract problems), some dogs did seem to develop loose stools with Innova. Other symptoms that some dog owners experienced was diarrhea and excessive gas. It seemed that these digestive issues were most common in small breed dogs, who tend to have very sensitive digestive systems. Large breed dogs did not seem to have any problems with Innova brand dog food.
46 Responses to “INNOVA DOG FOOD”
We’ve been feeding our 3 mini poodles Inova Small Bites for 2 years now and only recently had an issue with horrible gas and diarrhea. We thought it was the Inova biscuits, but after being off biscuits for a week, we still have issues. One of the dogs also has developed an allergy that the vet can’t pinpoint. Thanks for sharing this because I’ve been looking for a week online and couldn’t find anything negative about this dog food. Guess we’ll be shopping for something else as we’ve tried them all listed above. Very frustrating.
Here are 2 companies that dont test on animals and both can be easily purchased at Pet Valu (Canada and US)AND amazing products…since I switched to grain free, both my cats and my dogs are much healthier and my cats allergies have cleared up…just sayin..
Nature Variety
Natural Balance
Bought Innova dog biscuits because I ran out of her Cloud Star and Drs Foster and Smith fish and sweet potato. Yikes, diah in 2 days. My dog is a healthy 2 yr old shepherd. Tomorrow, the vet!!!
I had trouble with Innova a few years ago on another dog. Should have learned and any company bought by Proctor and Gamble –ugh
NEVER AGAIN with any Innova product
I have been a Innova user for a lil over ten years and would like to say ,
from my min pin who is two and several athletic dogs of the terrier family,
Innova has raised all my dogs from pups to adults with no health issuses
or illnesses…plenty of happy pups , shiny coats and alert eyes…but I’m looking
for a slight healthier product NOW….please read your lables ….
I have had my Lab on innova puppy large breed food and want to switch to innova large breed, since it’s in the same brand, would it be ok to switch without weaning over tithe new food? The worker at te pet store said it should be fine because it contains the same ingredients…Need some help on deciding. Seeing if others switched without weening over. Thanks
I recently transitioned my dog from Blue Buffalo to Innova because I found a website that rated Innova over Blue Buffalo and since they are about the same price (when they are on sale) I figured why not try it? I slowly mixed in the Innova for my Bluetick Coonhound mix, but have noticed he is having loose stool which has not been a problem for him since I took him off Iams (what a terrible food!). Now that I know P&G bought Innova, I will probably throw out the rest of the bag and keep him on the Blue Buffalo since he has never had any problem with it. My cats are on Blue Buffalo dry and Innova wet food, but I might be switching them to a different wet food due to the stories I have seen on this site. Thanks!
Thanks for all the research. Sorry to hear the negative effects your pups have endured. Was going to try both dry and wet Innova but will stick with Paul Newman’s brand unless people have heard negative things about that brand.
Now I understand what killed my Blue Heeler, who was in perfect health before eating from a new bag of Innova last April. He had always been on Innova from the time he was a pup, and since I had not heard about P & G buying out Innova products, I didn’t suspect the dog food. At first, he started vomiting, and wouldn’t eat or drink. After spending over $2500.00 trying to keep him alive, and find out what was causing his sickness, I lost him anyway. I only wish I had known about this before, and wish I could have been privey to this information, because I would have stopped buying the Innova. Dusty Blue was the best of all the Cattle dogs I ever had, and he should not have had to go through the distress and pain that he endured. A curse on you, Proctor & Gamble.
We tried Innova after being told it was better than Blue Buffalo; and one dog was fine with it, but the other dog (30 lb. mutts) started having explosive diarrhea and vomiting. We went back to Blue. And I suppose we will stay with Blue.
Was looking into issues w/ the Innova Large Breed Puppy food as my almost 2-year old Golden Retriever, Macho, has stopped eating it as of this week. He’s always had a sensitive stomach, but he’s never not eaten his food. He flat out refuses it. At first I thought it wasn’t feeling well but he gobbles down treats and still eats the scoopful of yogurt I give him in the morning so I know he’s hungry. Lately he’s been farting a lot, too. He’s never really done that before so clearly it’s not agreeing with his digestive system. He also recently scratched up the top of his head causing bleeding and scabbing.
I thought I really liked Innova, but looks like I’ll be on the hunt for something new. Bummer. Poor pups.
All three of my dogs became ill with severe diarrhea after eating California Natural Lamb and Rice Small Bites this month. They required prescriptions from the vet and a special diet to recover. When the first one regained his health, I fed him the California Natural again (not knowing that was the cause of their diarrhea) and he became ill with severe diarrhea again. I started researching the internet today to find if others are having the same issues, and low and behold I find that P&G bought Natura. I will never trust or buy this brand again.
I have temporarily switched them to Nature’s Variety Raw Venison and they’re doing well. I’m going to try Honest Kitchen and also Monica Segal’s K9 Kitchen book, which has complete balanced nutrition homecooked and raw recipes for dogs.
We recently tried Innovia for our Lab/Blue Healer. The first night he had runny stools in the middle of the night. Actually pooped in his kennel. He had only had a few bites, maybe 8 to 10 pieces of kibble. Didn’t believe that little bit of food would cause that much of a problem. Happened again the second night. Returning this product to the store.
Innova has given both of my dogs diarrhea. I am done with Proctor and Gamble/Natura.
I forgot to mention that I tried my Golden on a can of the wet Innova dog food about a month ago, assuming that it had to be completely different from the dry Innova Puppy kibble she’d had diarrhea on. Well, that was a mistake! Just 1/4 of a can gave her diarrhea again and her stools prior to that had been perfect, firm formed stools from eating Now!Adult Grain Free or Pinnacle Duck and Potato. My husband and I tossed the can of Innova and we just won’t try it again – there’s something in their formulation that causes diarrhea/loose stools. It’s too bad really because on the face of it, their food looks like it has wholesome ingredients.
I’ve been crazy with worry, we’ve had our St. Bernards on Inova, since we got them, Sir Rocko & Lady Blaze Vanhelsing, he’s 3 she’s 1 1/2. We always bought high end dog food. Reciently, the last 6 to 8 months, they’ve had all the usual problems with stooles etc. But they’ve beem itching and biting themselves, like crazy, to the point of bloody. I constantly am telling them to stop. Given them lots of baths & other medications for (bugs) or what ever I can think of that might be causing their problems. I reciently started thinking dog food has to be the problem, possible glucosime.??? Or what ever may be in it. So I’ve considered a brand called “Wellness”…but at the time, I thought I’d be able to finish off the “Inova” and gradually make the switch, but now after reading everything, I realize the product has been the problem all along… “I SHOCKED” and my dogs are far from being healed…needless to say I’m pissed off about this company & brand.
My Golden Retriever also got terrible loose stools which progressed to mucuosy diarrhea when she was on Innova Puppy dry kibble last year. She had been eating it for 4 months and the vet tested her for everything under the sun and all we came up with was “this food does not agree with her for some reason so let’s switch her to something else!”
Well, like many vets, he put her Science Diet for dogs with sensitive digestive systems, which did firm up her stool instantly, but I didn’t like the ingredients. After 3 weeks and a consultation with a nutritionist at a local holistic pet store, we put her on Pinnacle Duck and Potato and she thrived on that for the next 3 months, beautiful coat, nice firm regular stools. He also recommended a Canadian holistic pet food company like Origen called Petcurean which makes wonderful grain free (Now! line) and also healthy grain (Go!) foods for cats and dogs. She is on the Now! Adult grain free and has been thriving on it for the past 6 months. I plan to alternate her with Pinnacle and Now! since she does great on both.
Good luck! Check out Petcurean’s and Pinnacle’s websites and I think you’ll be pleased.
I have been feeding Large Breed Puppy and Large Breed Adult to my Labradors for over a year and a half. I noticed my once fast eating young lab, would not want to eat his food, would go without eating, or just pick at it. The grass eating has been on and off. Bouts of diarreha on and off also. Looks like we are going to have to switch too. I just bought two new bags also….he had explosive diarreha after training a while ago. I will be taking him to the vet in the morning. Something is definitely different. Stools have not been like this before. Worried and looking for a new food…in Texas!
People, most dry dog food contains things your dog should not consum such as corn, grain, wheat, Vitamin K, “meal” like chicken or beef meal which is the organs, cartilage, and bones all crushed up. They shouldn’t eat this. Ask yourself what wild dogs ate before dog food companies were around.
I make my Shepherd homemade dog food with nothing but high quality ingredients!
My dog has severe allergies and was on science diet Z/D and I switched her to Karma about 2 months. She was doing really well on Karma, no itching, etc, and now has developed diarrhea. My question is there a diet I could make for her that would be organic and help with the allergies? I really felt that the organic diet helped her allergies, but now with the diarrhea, I would like to try something else. She was always starving when we had her on the Z/D diet. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Hi Lucy, My Aunt and Uncle had a Golden Retriever with severe skin allergies. They made him a mixture of ground beef, rice, cottage cheese, and pineapple, not sure of how much of each. He lived to be 15.
P&G purchased Innova in 2010 and I have noticed my big dog has loose/wet stools, diarrhia at times. Not eating his food as he did before. He use to gobble down his food in the am and pm. Not now.
Before he could wait until we got to dirt or grass to go #2 now he does it on the sidewalk because he cannot hold it. He never had this problem until recently.
He should not be going through this. Obviously the food formula has changed.
Anyone have a better quality dog food and hopefully affordable?
I have a 6-month old miniature schnauzer. I ran out of Purina One puppy kibbles but I could not find it anywhere. I got him a sample pack of Innova puppy kibbles. He finished it with no problem, so I bought him a regular pack of Innova puppy food from Petsmart in May. I always keep half of his meal with Nature Variety. He was fine the first few days then got recurring diarrhea all the sudden. I was suspecting of bacteria infection from him eating grass or mud…
It seems like other dog owners had similar issue in April / May 2011 timeframe… It’s good to know that. I will stop feeding him Innova.
Thanks for sharing your comments!
Wow…I’ve been feeding my older dog innova for 10 years…always been a great food and never an issue until the last few months. I didn’t think it had anything to do with the food as it’s always been fine. We recently added a 4 month old puppy who has been eating Innova Puppy food. They’ve both been having diarea issues. A vet friend has told me she’s been seeing an increase in dogs coming in with these symptoms and happen to be fed Innova as well…I will be switching today once I find what’s best to go with. I’ve been very surprised to see all the negative posts around Innova as it was a great food. Too bad they sold out…
Anyone know of safe dog food also containing chondroitin and glucosamine? Innova has a lot of that but finding out about their recall I am hesitant about buying them and most importantly with my dog having diarrhia.
He has had this problem on and off for the 2 months so is this because of my feeding him Innova? Also, I know dogs eat their food right away when you give it to them. I have noticed also over the past 2-3 months that when I feed him Innova dry food he does not eat it right away.(Before he couldn’t wait). He waits until evening when I put in wet food, white rice (because of the loose stools)and maybe some chicken, veggies I am having.
I do not know what else to do….any ideas????
I also had been feeding my dog Nutro Senior and someone said that Nutro was on the recall list. I changed and bought Innova which I have been using for about the past 2 years. My dog has been recently having loose stools. I recently found out Innova was bought out by Proctor & Gamble and no notification from Innova this was going on.
Dog food companies have to be held accountable for any changes (dog food ingredients, company buy out, changes in ingredients, where the product will be manufactured!
We pet owners need accountability!
My dog was eating Nutro Adult Lamb & Rice just fine, but I wanted to switch her to a “higher quality” dog food, so I got her the small bag of Innova Adult (green bag). She wolfed down every meal of the first small bag (15lb). I picked up the second bag of food a few weeks ago, and quickly started to notice that her stools were loose, and she was breaking my arm off trying to eat grass on our walks (the grass in our back yard is not up to her standards). I thought it might just be a phase, but it never got better. She soon stopped eating the food with the same vigor, leaving whole meals in the bowl, only seeming to eat it when she was really hungry. She also started vomiting at night. I’ve been reading comments on many different boards, and it seems like there may be some sort of issue with the food, because other people are saying the same thing. I’m putting my dog back to her old food for now. It might not be as high quality, but at least she didn’t have loose stools and vomiting. Too bad I have 1/2 a bag of food left!
Hi Wesley, I have experienced the exact same problem. I have fed my two adult Puggles Nutro Lamb and Rice Adult dog food and after reading blogs warning about Nutro I decided to switch. I started with Call of the Wild and all three of my dogs, puppy included experienced liquid stools that were mucousy and bloody. I had thier stool checked and it was all clear no paracites or worms. I feed them all for two weeks chicken, rice and green beans then reintroduced the nutro. Now I am trying Innova and the diarreah has started again in my pup. Ahhhh, I am going back to Nutro and am going to stop messing with their food.
Wow! I have been feeding my dogs a mix of Innova and Before Grain for years… Cause of reading all this I found out that P&G bought Innova out. Bummer…
I will be switching to all “Before Grain”.
We have a 11 yrs old German Shepherd-and have always had him on Innova Dog food. Lately having reoccurring bouts of diarrhea-noticing it after buying new bags of dog food. Like after eating-running right through his system having major diarrhea-we took the new bag of dog food back to the purchasing store-trading it for a new smaller bag-seemed to be better. Once again after buying another new bag of dog food we experienced the same thing right away again with diarrhea. We had thought maybe he was getting old until my sons 5 yrs old experiencing the same thing as he has his dog on the same food getting it at the same place. We have even noticing lately the inconsistency of the color of the dog food being darker-then lighter. Evidently there is inconsistency with the recipe. Finding out the company was bought out and probably changed the recipe. We have also noticed dry coat and itchy skin causing open soars. So we have changed our dog food to “natural balance” duck and potato and immediately his diarrhea has stopped and he feels wonderful, completely happy and content. I wish I would have know this sooner and not put him through his misery.
Angie,
I am trying to switch over my Corgi pup from TOTW to Innova. However have been having loose stools/diarrhea the whole time. At first I thought it was due to her spaying, now it seems that it might be due to the Innova, since after feeding chicken & rice her stools were instantly hard. Thanks for posting this, I am going to switch out to some other product or brand!
Hi Angie!
We had been feeding Innova to our dogs for years without any problem. In the last month, all three dogs have had on-and-off explosive diarrhea. As soon as one of our dog has stomach problem, we usually switch them to rice/potatoes and boiled chicken/hamburg. They would get better and we would go back to their normal Innova diet, but the diarrhea kept reoccurring. They were all treated for worms and parasites but nothing stopped the diarrhea. Finally we started to suspect Innova and our vet agreed the food could very well be the source of our problems. We stopped all kibbles and fed potatoes and boiled hamburg for a whole week to help settle their stomach. As soon as we started to introduce Innova back again, the diarrhea starts again. We are now in the process of finding a new food. And we also noticed the lack of consistency in the color of the kibbles in the last few months.
I would not go near a company that supports cruelty to animal’s.. There is no need for it… Orijen is by far the No. 1 rated food on the market..
I have been feeding Innova Dog Food since the day I brought my puppy home back when the melamine scare in pet foods was all over the news. Little Franky is happy and so am I!
I purchased a Brittany for tournament hunting, I began to feed him Innova from the day I brought him home! He was about 1 year.
One thing people need to consider when going to innova is the fact that they are eating a very natural balanced dog food! Unlike what most people have fed thier dogs! Some dogs will take time to adjust to a healthy product fron one that cantains many fillers! This is what I did.
The first month I added about a half cup of rice to the dry kibble and then added a little warm water to the food and mixed well! This actually stopped the soft and runny stool. I now add 1/3 can of Innova canned to the dry food and mix well. I have had no problems since then!
My dog spends a lot of time in the field and I highly ressommend Innova
Feed Nature’s Variety. It’s the best food on the market by far!! A little pricey but completely worth every penny!!
I’ve been feeding Innova (made by Natura Pet, a company I trusted) to our dogs for over 15 years (two Dobermans and two Labs). The first Dobe lived to an active 10 years old and the two Labs are 12 and are pretty active as well. The new Dobe is now three (got him at one) and he has tons of energy and a great coat. I attribute part of that (all dogs) to feeding the best quality dog food I could find.
BUT – I was saddened and dismayed to discover that Proctor and Gamble (P&G) recently purchased Natura Pet (which makes Innova, California Natural and others). Based on P&G’s track record with pet foods (IAMS and Eukanuba) and human medications (and that they do animal testing), I’ve decided, for the health of my dogs, to switch to another brand of dog food that I feel I can depend on.
I would caution anyone feeding their dogs Natura Pet foods (or thinking about it) to do your Internet research on P&G’s activities (I was appalled by what I found) and make your own informed decision on what you will feed your companion animals.
Which food did you switch to? Help! I just switched dog food from Blue Mountain because of the recall and previously was feeding my dog Solid Gold Holistic and Hunden Flocken. I stopped the Solid Gold because my dog was waking up in the middle of the night shaking and her stomach was upset. She stopped doing that after I switched her food to the Blue Mountain but NOW they have a recall on her food…I am searching the internet and am getting very frustrated. I am considering making food for her at least I would know what I am feeding her! She is a 10 year old lab mix. Mostly lab but has doberman and golden setter. She is the sweetest dog ever, everybody loves her because she is just always so happy! How did you find out that P& G bought out INNOV8? Well any info you might have regarding dog food suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you. Audrey
The store that I shop at will not be carrying Innova anymore because they cannot be sure of the quality now since P&G took over.
The place where I buy my natural dog food stoped carrying Innova as soon as she found out that it had been bought out by Proctor & Gamble.
Personally I have switched my dog to Acana, it shows you where all the ingredients come from in Canada which is nice. Plus the variety is nice there is even an option for “All breed all ages” which is nice cause I hated having puppy food and adult food for a year when I got a puppy. My dogs are currently on the Acana Grasslands formula.
They were previously on Solid Gold Wolf King and Wolf Cub for the puppy the stools were horribly huge like they didn’t absorb anything I see a huge difference with the other food. Pluse on the solid gold it was like they were always hungry which they don’t act like that now.
I wouldn’t trust anything from P&G either I even avoid all the household products which is so horribly hard.
Acana and Orijen’s are good food, but the protein levels are too high for small dogs (ex: Chihuahua or a Pug). My friend’s Pug ended up having a liver shunt after switching from Innova Adult to Orijen. My Chihuahua/Rat Terrier Mix is on Innova Adult and she gets real stinky gas and sometimes soft stools too.
I know this is an old post, but I have been trying to find the recall you refer to on Blue Mountain dog food, and can’t find it. Is Blue Mountain made by Blue Buffalo? I can find recalls regarding Blue Buffalo…
Thank you for any clarification.
Innova is by far one of the best quality foods on the mkraet.I’m with everyone in that I’m not sure why it is so much more expensive unless shipping it from the USA really bumps the price up that much.I did a quick conversion and a $37US bag of food should only cost about $47AU.I would hunt around and see if you can find it cheaper (try not to buy from vet offices as they most often charge more).HOwever, if you can’t find it cheaper and cannot afford the $80 a month, try looking at other foods with similar ingredients Merrick, Solid Gold, Fromm, Canidae, Evolve, **** Van Pattens, etc. I’m not sure if these are sold in Australia but their websites should have a store locator.Good luck and cudos to you for looking into high quality foods.
i also changed, fed “innova” from 2006 until sept 2011, during 2011 i noticed my dog’s coat was no longer shiny and smooth, really rough and standing on end….switched to “wellness” and not long afterwards her hair was shiny and smooth again, so IMO something seems to have changed since P&G came onto the scene.
After doing a bit of my own research I decided to switch from Science Diet ( something recommended by my vet) to the innova puppy formula. Reading the article “The Science Diet Scam” I knew Science Diet wasn’t any good, the only one good thing I can say is it gave my pup firm stools. After switching to Innova, my pup (who is a beagle) had a shinier coat and more energy but his stools are horrificly wet. It’s ridiculous ! At first I thought it was just because we had switched his food over too fast for his stomach to handle but it’s been a month and a half of picking up extremely wet stools ! I guess I’m switching to raw !
I’ve been feeding my golden retriever Innova since I brought him home. We started with the Large Breed Puppy Formula and are now changing over to the Large Breed Adult formula. I also bought a bag of the Red Meat Adult to mix in for a varied protein source.
His coat is beautiful, bright eyes, lots of energy and clean ears. He’s the picture of health.