Rating: 
Acana Dog Food Grain-Free receives the Advisor’s highest rating of five stars.
Currently, the Acana Dog Food Grain-Free product line includes three dry kibbles… designed for all breeds at all life stages.1
- Acana Wild Prairie Dog Food
- Acana Pacifica Dog Food
- Acana Grasslands Dog Food
Acana Grasslands Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Acana Grasslands
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Boneless lamb, lamb meal, salmon meal, herring meal, russet potato, peas, chicken fat (naturally preserved with vitamin E), sweet potato, boneless walleye, sun-cured alfalfa, natural lamb flavor, boneless duck, whole eggs, pumpkin, spinach, turnip greens, tomatoes, carrots, apples, organic kelp, cranberries, blueberries, juniper berries, black currants, chicory root, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, lavender flowers, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, zinc proteinate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, iron proteinate, vitamin B6, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, selenium, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.9%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this food is lamb. Raw lamb contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just 20% of its original weight.
That’s what makes uncooked lamb a much smaller contributor to the overall protein content of a dry dog food than lamb meal… the next item on the list.
The second ingredient is lamb meal. Because it is considered a meat concentrate, lamb meal contains nearly 300% more protein than even fresh lamb.
The third and fourth ingredients include salmon meal and herring meal… two more high quality meat “concentrates”.
The fifth ingredient is russet potato. Sometimes referred to as an Idaho potato, this is the most common type of potato grown in the United States. Assuming they are whole, potatoes are a good source of digestible carbohydrates and other healthy nutrients.
The sixth ingredient includes peas. Peas are considered a quality source of carbohydrates… and (like all legumes) are loaded with natural fiber, too.
The seventh ingredient lists chicken fat. Chicken fat is obtained from rendering chicken… a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.
Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid… an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life.
In keeping with its promise to include 60 percent animal ingredients and 40 percent fruits and vegetables2, Acana goes on to add the following quality items…
- Sweet potato
- Walleye (a regional fish)
- Alfalfa
- Duck
- Whole eggs
- Pumpkin
- Spinach
- Turnip greens
- Tomatoes
- Carrots
- Apple
This Acana product also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to proteins. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are generally found in better quality dog foods.
Acana Grain-Free Dog Food… the Bottom Line
Acana Grain-Free is another top-drawer dog food manufactured by Reinhard Muhlenfeld’s Champion Petfoods of Alberta, Canada.
So, how does Acana Grain-Free stack-up against Orijen Dog Food… Champion’s other premium brand?
The dashboard reports a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 20% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 36%.
Compared to Orijen, Acana Grain-Free reads about eight percent lower in protein.
But considering its top-quality ingredients… and its total lack of any Red Flag items… the lower protein is certainly not enough to deter us from awarding this well-designed dog food a solid five stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
Some Final Thoughts
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult your veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself?
Please feel free to share your comments below.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a 7-1/2 year old Maltese who had been fed Purina DRM
Blue Bag for approx 7 years. She was healthy with no problems. Then I got a wonderful little Yorkie. Her breeder was feeding Acana Grasslands. I continued feeding her that brand and decided to give that food to my Maltese. They did well for five months. Then I purchased a new bag and within a week my Yorkie developed SEVERE stomach problems and my Maltese developed stomach problems as well although not as severe. It is now two months later and these problems have not been resolved. Many vet visits and medication and prescription diets and my dogs are still having problems. This is not a food I will ever give my dogs again and I wonder if there was something wrong with the food.
I think this is important for you to know.
Hi Marilyn… sorry to hear about your unfortunate story. As you know, in many ways, dogs are a lot like us humans. Many do poorly with certain foods while others thrive on the very same products. Thanks for taking the time to share your disappointing experience with our readers.
In discussing the ingredients, you left out salmon meal which is listed as the third ingredient, THEN herring meal, potatoes, etc.
Hi Mark… Oops! Thanks for calling this to my attention. I’ve now fixed the problem. Your support is sincerely appreciated.
Acana has been a lifesaver. One Dog would eat anything and the other is super picky. On top of being picky she is allergic to EVERY GRAIN. She gets dry skin that flakes and her hair gets grimy. I was feeding them Wellness but they both had diarreha that wouldn’t go away for months. I tried the Origen first but the one that will eat anything, of course didn’t like that one. We switched to the Acana Grasslands and they both like it. Poop is finally normal for both, skin and coat look great on them both. The only issue is finding it. Its about a 15 minute drive to the store that carries it, but after 3 years of looking for a QUALITY dog food that meets all of our requirements is well worth it. I totally recommend it.
Started my 6 month old westie on Pacifica last week coming off of solid gold. He absolutly loves the food!!! Digesting it very well also.
i have 2 Belgian Malinois, active in agility and obedience — this food is the absolute best! i rotate between the different proteins and it works quite well for my dogs!
highly recommended!
Terri, How often do you change food?
15 minutes is a long drive to go get dog food? Wow and here I was thinking my 35 minute drive to get my dog food was far! LOL
I HAVE BEEN A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT THE USE OF HERBS SUCH AS ROSEMARY EXTRACT AND LAVENDER,IN PREMIUM FOODS AND THE POSSIBLE LINK TO SEIZURES .IF YOU AGREE WITH THIS WHAT WOULD BE A QUALITY FOOD THAT HAS LITTLE TO NO HERBS THANK YOU
Hi Bill… I have never seen any scientific studies or reports linking rosemary extract with seizures in dogs. I’ve only found mention of a relationship in humans prone to epileptic seizures in the first place… and then, only rarely.
When we brought Layla, our 80 pound Golden mix rescue home, she was itchy all over. It seemed she couldn’t walk five steps before she had to stop and furiously scratch at herself. A thorough examination showed she was completely flea free, so I strongly suspected it had to be a skin allergy. She had been on one of the Purina brands of food before coming to us. After some exhaustive research, I decided that for her overall health, the Acana line would be the food for her and boy was I right! She has been on the Wild Prairie version for three weeks now and every day the itching got less and less until I noticed today that she hasn’t scratched at all for two days! Her coat is getting fuller and more lusterous too, and I notice her energy level and attention span seem much improved. I am thrilled with this food and will never feed her anything else!
I forgot to mention that Layla came to us thin and SUPER picky about eating. She is the least food-driven dog I have ever had. Before switching to Acana, I had to doctor her food up with some low sodium beef broth mixed with water to make a gravy, add finely chopped up bits of very tasty treats and even sprinkle a tiny bit of cat food on top just to get her to nibble at her food. With the Acana, she looks forward to mealtime and eats every morsel eagerly without having to add a thing to her bowl. I just can’t say enough good things about this food and how much it has helped our Layla. Thanks!!
My dog Emma has seasonal allergies as well as food allergies. I had her on California Natural food for about a year. She was on the Fish/potato one, since I figured it would have less wheat and grain. And it was a good dog food. But Emma was also needing Benadryl almost daily. I spoke with a lady at OK Feed in Tucson AZ and she recommended Orijen Dog foods, since they are grain free. I started her with the Acana Pacifica and since then Emma has had very few allergy flareups and I have stopped giving her Benadryl. The product is great.And now Emma is drug free:)
Hi. It was nice reading these experiences. The Wild Prairie was recommended to me many months ago. I have three Pembroke Welsh Corgis. One who was diagnised with IBD as a pup, whose almost 11 yrs, one who is 13 years old is becomming food sensative, and the other 11 yrs old who does good with almost anything. Changing from Wellness was so easy. They didn’t have any stomach issues. Even my IBD Corgi has no problems with this food. My 13 yr. old has been doing great on it, but recently starting having the “runs”. So I have switched him to another grain-free Limited Ingredient Food, but I still LOVE the Acana.