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Elevate canned dog food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Elevate product line includes 5 canned dog foods.

Each recipe below includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

• Elevate Acadia Recipe [A]
• Elevate Yosemite Recipe [A]
• Elevate Bighorn Recipe (3.5 stars) [A]
• Elevate Grand Teton Recipe (4.5 stars) [A]
• Elevate Smokey Mountain Recipe (3.5 stars) [A]

Elevate Acadia Recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.²

Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The third ingredient includes carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The next two ingredients are turkey and duck. Poultry is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey”.³

Poultry is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The sixth ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The seventh ingredient includes peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The eighth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With three notable exceptions…

First, we find brewers yeast, which can be a controversial item. Although it’s a by-product of the beer making process, this ingredient is rich in minerals and other healthy nutrients.

Fans believe yeast repels fleas and supports the immune system.

Critics argue yeast ingredients can be linked to allergies. This may be true, but (like all allergies) only if your particular dog is allergic to the yeast itself.

In addition, a vocal minority insists yeast can increase the risk of developing the life-threatening condition known as bloat. However, this is a claim we’ve not been able to scientifically verify.

In any case, unless your dog is specifically allergic to it, yeast can still be considered a nutritious additive.

What’s more noteworthy here is that brewers yeast contains about 48% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

Next, we note the use of dried seaweed meal, a product made from a family of brown algae known as Fucaceae (Rockweed). Although it does contain a number of healthy nutrients, seaweed meal is primarily used as a source of inexpensive carbohydrates (about 60% dry matter).

This item is only rarely used to make pet food and is more typically found in feeds for cattle, horses, hogs, hens and sheep.

And lastly, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

Elevate Canned Dog Food Review

Judging by its ingredients alone, Elevate looks like an above-average wet dog food.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 39%, a fat level of 23% and estimated carbohydrates of about 31%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 40% and a mean fat level of 26%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 27% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 64%.

Near-average protein. Above-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas, flaxseed and brewers yeast, this looks like the profile of a wet dog food containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Elevate is a grain-free canned dog food using a moderate amount of named meats as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.

Highly recommended.

Elevate Dog Food
Recall History

The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to this Elevate product line. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.

Notes and Updates