Pinnacle Dog Food

Pinnacle Dog Food Overview

Pinnacle dog food (i.e., Pinnacle Holistic Pet Nutrition) claims to focus on good nutrition in their foods as well as high quality ingredients. They make both kibble and canned foods as well as grain free foods with limited ingredients. They use potatoes and quinoa in some of their foods and they could be especially helpful for dogs with sensitive stomachs. Elsewhere, the company describes itself as “an allergen-free dog and cat food product line.”

Who manufactures Pinnacle?

Pinnacle is manufactured by Breeder’s Choice, in operation since 1947. They use their own facilities to make the dog and cat food, located in Irwindale, California. Breeder’s Choice also manufactures AvoDerm dog foods.

Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which will direct you to our partner sites. If you purchase the pet foods we recommend through those links, we may earn a small commission – at no extra cost to you.

Pinnacle Recalls 2017

Please Read First: If this statement is still here we are actively watching for new recalls. Below you will find a history of recalls. If you would like to know as SOON as we find out about a recalls visit: https://dogfood.guru/dog-food-recalls/ and fill out our Recall Alert form. We will ONLY email this list in the event of an actual recall. Once we stop watching for Recalls I will remove this statement.

We also encourage everyone to bookmark the site for future reference.

Latest Recalls List (From newest to oldest):

• Breeder’s Choice had a small recall of dog biscuits in 2013 and an AvoDerm recall in 2012. Their 2012 recall was later widened to include Pinnacle dog food because of concerns about Salmonella.

Learn how we Monitor for Recalls: https://dogfood.guru/dog-food-recalls/

Pinnacle Coupons

Pinnacle Reviews

Pinnacle dog foods are made for all life stages. The ingredients appear to be of high quality. Most of the kibbles show protein in the guaranteed analysis between 22 and 27 percent, with one food checking in at 42 percent. Fat percentages in the guaranteed analyses look appropriate, with fiber on the low side, but we would have to figure the dry matter basis for each product to know for sure. Carbohydrates in the food look to be rather high.

We do notice that Pinnacle says its foods are “holistic” and uses the term “natural” a lot. This is a tricky area when it comes to dog food or any food these days. The FDA doesn’t really have good definitions of these terms and people have gone to court over what these terms mean in labeling. In January 2014 the FDA announced that it was declining to further define the term “natural” even though GMO ingredients were creating confusion in the marketplace.  Companies can mostly call anything “natural” as long as it’s not an artificial color or something you wouldn’t expect to find in the food. This explains why dog owners see terms like “natural” and “holistic” so much when it comes to pet food labels. These terms don’t mean a lot from a legal perspective.

That’s not to say that Pinnacle doesn’t use “natural” ingredients. Their dog foods and ingredients look very good. But pet owners need to keep reading when they see these terms to see what’s in the food.

Pinnacle produces three kibbles with some grains and three grain free kibbles. However, even their foods with grains avoid the most common grains. They rely on oatmeal and quinoa, for example. Both their foods with grains and their grain free foods use lots of potatoes and/or sweet potatoes – carbs that are easier for some dogs to handle.

Animal sources of protein in the food include chicken, trout, duck, salmon, and turkey. Some dogs might be allergic to chicken but the other meat proteins offered would probably allow many dogs to eat these foods if they had some allergy issues.

Pinnacle does say these foods are “limited ingredient” but again, the meaning of this term seems to vary depending on the pet food company. A veterinarian would probably tell you that a limited ingredient diet has one kind of protein, one fat, and one carb. That’s not usually what you find in most commercial kibbles that claim to be “limited ingredient” diets. Even if you ignore all of the added vitamins and minerals, all of these foods have lots of ingredients besides a single protein, fat, and carb. They might be good foods for dogs with food allergies IF the dog happens to be allergic to some common allergen, but there are plenty of ingredients in the foods that might cause a dog some problems if they have some sensitivities.

We don’t mean to be too hard on Pinnacle because it looks like a very good food. However, like many pet foods today it makes some claims or implies claims about what the food can do that might disappoint some dog owners.

How would you rate Pinnacle?

[gdrts_multi_stars_rating_auto series=”gdsr-dog-food-reviews” style_size=40 style_type=”font” style_font_name=”star”]

Pinnacle Grain Free Salmon & Potato Recipe Review

Pinnacle Grain Free Salmon & Potato Recipe follows the current trend in dog foods toward grain free foods. The first five ingredients in the food are Salmon, Salmon Meal, Potatoes, Peas, and Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols – Source of Vitamin E). On a dry matter basis the food contains 30 percent protein, 15.6 percent fat, 5 percent fiber, and 40.6 percent carbohydrates. The food has 412 calories per cup.

Salmon and salmon meal, the first two ingredients, appear to provide most of the protein in the food. Salmon is a great ingredient for dogs but if the moisture were removed from this ingredient it would weigh much less and be listed lower in the list. However, salmon meal has already had most of the moisture removed. Since it’s condensed, it contains several times as much protein as the salmon. Salmon (and salmon meal) are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acid. They are also good sources of thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6 and phosphorus, and a very good source of vitamin B12 and selenium.

Where can you buy Pinnacle?

Pinnacle dog food is available in many specialty pet food stores such as Petco. You can also purchase it online from Amazon.com, Chewy.com, Petfooddirect.com, Wag.com, and other pet food retailers.