CANIDAE vs Blue Buffalo Dog Food (2023)

CANIDAE vs Blue Buffalo Dog Food

For families on the hunt for a diet of exceptional quality to feed their beloved dogs, both CANIDAE All Stages Multi-Protein and Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free are two powerhouse foods that are sure to deliver.

CANIDAE is a pet food brand manufactured by Ethos Pet Nutrition, a company headquartered in Brownwood, Texas. This high quality pet food manufacturer traces its origins to a small, family-run business that remains true to its roots today.

CANIDAE believes in including only the highest quality ingredients in each of their diets to help promote optimal health and wellness in both dogs and cats. The business was founded in 1996 and now includes a product line known as CANIDAE PURE, grain-free food formulations with a limited ingredients list to address the needs of dogs with allergies or stomach sensitivities.

All of CANIDAE’s foods are free from wheat, corn, and soy, common allergens for many dogs.

Throughout its years in business, CANIDAE has been subject to only one food recall, in 2012.

Blue Buffalo, an American-based company founded in 2000, is a reputable pet food manufacturer committed to the crafting of top quality dog diets based on holistic ingredients. The business was built when its founders sought to create a formulation to address the needs of their Airedale Terrier Blue that was suffering from cancer.

From 2010-2017, Blue Buffalo has undergone six recalls on its product line. There have been none since this time.

Blue Buffalo remains free from corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives, making it among the best choices for dogs with allergies.

CANIDAE Ingredients

A diet designed to meet the nutritional needs of active dogs of all life stages, CANIDAE All Life Stages Multi-Protein packs a powerhouse punch of nutrients to support optimal canine health and wellness. This diet is based on several different meat meals including turkey meal, chicken meal, and lamb meal, all concentrated sources of high quality meat-based proteins. The heavy emphasis on protein ensures this diet contains all of the vital amino acids to promote strong and healthy muscles. 

A grain-inclusive diet, CANIDAE includes several whole grains in its formulation including brown rice, oatmeal, millet, and rice bran. Brown rice contains a healthy portion of dietary fiber and is simple for dogs to process and utilize effectively. Though it provides some staying power and boosts digestion, brown rice offers little nutritional benefit to dogs.

Ground oatmeal has been added to this diet to provide additional dietary fiber as well as important vitamins. The type of oats included in this CANIDAE diet are gluten-free to support good digestion and to make the food more easily palatable for dogs with allergies or stomach sensitivities.

Millet is another gluten-free grain that plays a role in CANIDAE’s overall recipe. Millet is derived from seed grasses. It is rich in dietary fiber and B vitamins to promote fluid digestive processes. It is also considered to be a hypoallergenic food.

Rice bran, an ingredient that is left over after whole grain rice has been milled, is another item that contains excellent helpings of dietary fiber. Its inclusion in this food assists with providing extra fiber as well as servings of both protein, fat, and starch to encourage eating satisfaction. It is believed to be a grain-based carbohydrate of very good quality.

Another food that earns a high position in this CANIDAE product is peas. Though peas are naturally high in dietary fiber, they are also a starch and a protein, meaning that their inclusion in this diet lowers the protein content derived from meat. In addition to this, peas have also been associated with lowered fertility success in breeding dogs.

Canola is the source for healthy fats in this CANIDAE diet. Though canola oil does offer substantial doses of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to support coat and skin health, it may have been derived from rapeseed that has been genetically modified, a significant drawback. Animal fats are the preferred source for essential fatty acids.

Other ingredients worth noting are flaxseed and chelated minerals. Flaxseed, in its ground form, increases the dietary fiber in a diet. It is a natural antinflammatory but is also a protein source, meaning another item in this diet detracts from the total amount of protein that is taken from meat, the optimal source for amino acids.

Chelated minerals, minerals attached to protein strands, have been enriched to ensure good absorption rates and maximum health benefits.

Blue Buffalo Ingredients

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free offers active adult dogs all of the nutrition they need to enjoy their busy lifestyle. Unlike CANIDAE, this diet has been specially formulated to address the needs of adult dogs only.

A well-balanced diet, Blue Buffalo is grain-free and also contains no corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. This earmarks this food as not only a good choice for adult dogs but also dogs that are known to suffer with allergies, poor digestion, or skin and stomach sensitivities.

The basis of this diet is whole deboned chicken which is reinforced through protein-rich chicken meal to provide a powerhouse punch of amino acids. These nutrients are critical to muscle growth and maintenance.

Peas have been included in several different forms in this Blue Buffalo offering. Though peas do contribute dietary fiber, they are also a protein, meaning that not all of the protein content in this food is taken from meat. Peas have also been linked to fertility issues in breeding dogs, making this diet potentially not the best choice for dogs in breeding programs.

Tapioca starch, a gluten-free product taken from the cassava root, provides little in the way of nutritional value in this diet. It is a common filler food that offers little dietary fiber.

‍The healthy fats in this Blue Buffalo diet are taken from fish oil. Fish oil is a plentiful source of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids as well as DHA and linoleic acid. These essential fatty acids assist with coat and skin health and also help to fuel the energy reserves dogs need to thrive.

However, since it is not listed what types of fish are included in this fish oil, it does bring the quality of this ingredient into question.

All Blue Buffalo foods contain LifeSource Bits. LifeSource Bits are a proprietary blend of antioxidants to encourage the development of healthy gut flora, an important boost to good digestion.

Both CANIDAE and Blue Buffalo are excellent quality diets that are well balanced to meet the needs of dogs, However, only CANIDAE is recommended for all life stages. The Blue Buffalo offering has been formulated specifically with adult dogs in mind.

From a nutritional standpoint, CANIDAE rings in at 24 percent protein, 14.5 percent fat, and 4 percent fiber to Blue Buffalo’s 34 percent protein, 15 percent fat, and 6 percent fiber. Though CANIDAE rates itself as a multi-protein diet, it is Blue Buffalo that contains the greater percentage of overall protein content. However, it is important to note that Blue Buffalo contains both peas and flaxseeds, two plant-based protein sources which indicate a smaller proportion of this important nutrient category derived from meat.

The overall nutritional profiles of both foods are equal, making the choice a tie between the two in this category.

Taste is a very important consideration in any food for dogs. After all, if a dog won’t eat its food, it will be impossible for any nutritional benefit to be gained.

CANIDAE has a very dense nutritional profile with many different meat meals included to encourage flavor and eating satisfaction. By comparison, Blue Buffalo focuses primarily on chicken and chicken meal, highly flavorful poultry proteins.

Blue Buffalo has only one disadvantage when it comes to taste: Its inclusion of its antioxidant-rich LIfeSource Bits.  Many dogs do not enjoy the flavor of them, choosing to leave them in their dish.

For the food with the best overall taste, CANIDAE takes top marks.

CANIDAE prioritizes a food formulation intended for dogs of all life stages. However, its emphasis on grains makes it a poor choice for dogs with allergies, skin or stomach sensitivities, or poor digestion. It is best reserved for active dogs in the prime of their lives.

CANIDAE has an extremely high calorie count at 468 calories per cup, meaning it is not a good choice for dogs that are overweight or largely sedentary.

By comparison, Blue Buffalo’s grain-free recipe makes it the ideal choice for dogs with allergies. It is nutrient and calorie-dense, ensuring it is also an excellent selection for adult dogs with moderate to high activity levels.

Neither CANIDAE nor Blue Buffalo attempt to address any specific health conditions through their food formulations. However, Blue Buffalo is well-suited to dogs with allergies, skin or stomach problems, or difficulty with digestion.

Both foods offer exceptional value for a family’s dog food dollar. However, when it comes to price point, CANIDAE reigns supreme. Both foods are high in calories, meaning less food will need to be fed to achieve satiation.

In this category, families can’t go wrong with either CANIDAE or Blue Buffalo.

Both CANIDAE and Blue Buffalo offer everything that active dogs require from their diets. Though CANIDAE has the slight edge over Blue Buffalo when it comes to price and taste, it is Blue Buffalo that earns the top position in this comparison. Blue Buffalo’s well-rounded approach to nutrition and holistic ingredients makes it the preferred selection. It also prioritizes grain-free foods, making it an excellent choice for dogs suffering from allergies, poor digestion, or skin and stomach problems.

In truth, families can’t go wrong with either diet; they are both of exceptional quality.