Burns dog food (Burns Pet Health Inc.) was established in the USA 10 years ago. They are a small, privately owned pet food company, based in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Burns' whole focus and philosophy is on natural pet products, and their dog food recipes contain all natural holistic dog food ingredients. They are also featured in the Whole Dog Journal's list of approved dog foods.
Burns Pet Health Inc's founders and owners are George Burns and Debi Brockway. George Burns also owns Burns Pet Nutrition (Scotland) Ltd, and Land Of Holistic Pets in the United Kingdom. His pet food products have been awarded ‘Holistic Certification’ by the British Association of Holistic Nutrition and Medicine (BAHNM).
The company's dog food manufacturer is CJ Foods located in Kansas.
Being such a small company, and not available in supermarkets or large retail outlets, their dog foods are made in frequent, smaller batches. Thus, eliminating long periods of warehousing.
The Burns Pet Health representative we spoke with, assured us that every ingredient was sourced within the USA.
Additionally, the Burns dog food brand contains human grade dog food ingredients, and are rich in vitamins and chelated minerals. They are free of hormones and antibiotics, artificial chemical preservatives, additives, and by-products.
They also use no wheat, corn, soy, beef or pork in any of their dog food recipes. These limited dog food ingredients may be a good option if you're considering an allergy free dog food.
Their products are tested for different dog food allergies by four independent laboratories. In addition, CJ Foods utilizes two separate labs, where they do micro testing for dog food contamination.
This brand is notably a high carbohydrate and low protein dog food.
Each of Burns dog food recipes appear to have a very high grain content. Brown rice appears first on the list, with oats also listed prior to the first fat source.
The product names "Brown Rice and X for Dogs" indicates that the product contains between 25% - 95% of the named meat ingredient. See here for how to read between the lines of dog food product names.
Based upon the brown rice ingredient appearing first on the dog food ingredients label, plus oats appearing before the named fat, plus the low protein percentage listed in their guaranteed analysis, one might conclude that the product comprises closer to 25% meat content. This was confirmed by the Burns dog food representative.
Burns Mini Bites has the highest protein percentage (22%), with two named meat meal ingredients listed prior to the fat source. However, brown rice is also the first listed ingredient.
We discussed the list of ingredients with the Burns representative, who told us they could easily have "manipulated the ingredient list" to make the named meat the first ingredient, but they deliberately choose not to engage in this misleading practice. This is in reference to the practice of "ingredient splitting" and other unethical tactics employed by many dog food manufacturers. See their website for more info.
Regarding the low protein content, Burns is not a believer in the high protein dog food theory. They support the theory that high protein is not well absorbed, and can lead to canine kidney disease.
Burns Dog Food Ratings
The editors of Dog Food Scoop were hoping to be able to rate this holistic dog food highly, due to the overall use of high quality ingredients, and the company's seeming dedication to providing a top quality dog food.
Our conclusion is that, although we would feel very comfortable feeding this brand to our own healthy dogs, we personally would feel the need to supplement this dog food with extra protein.
On the other hand, however, we believe Burns dog food could be a very flavorful and viable renal dog food option if you're exploring a low protein dog food (for example, for dogs suffering from canine kidney disease).
We have rated the Burns Dog Food brand as follows:
As a natural holistic dog food diet for healthy animals - 3 scoops.
As a renal dog food diet or a low protein dog food option for specific dog illnesses - 5 scoops.
Burns Dog Food - Ingredients and Guaranteed Analysis
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As a renal dog food diet or a low protein dog food option for specific dog illnesses - 5 scoops.