Rating: 
Enhance Dog Food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of three stars.
Currently, the Enhance Dog Food product line lists eight kibbles. We found no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these dog foods anywhere on the brand’s website.
- Enhance Adult Formula
- Enhance Puppy Formula
- Enhance Large Breed Adult
- Enhance Large Breed Puppy
- Enhance Endurance Formula
- Enhance Senior Maintenance
- Enhance Professional Athlete
- Enhance Hunter’s Edge Formula
Enhance Dog Food Endurance Formula was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Enhance Endurance Formula
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Chicken meal, brewers rice, ground corn, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of vitamin E), beet pulp, fish meal, flax, brewers dried yeast, salt, potassium chloride, liver digest, choline chloride, lecithin, garlic, vitamin E supplement, zinc oxide, ascorbic acid, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, manganous oxide, biotin, vitamin A acetate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin B12 supplement, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, yucca schidigera extract, copper oxide, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (a source of vitamin K activity), vitamin D3 supplement, potassium iodide, folic acid, sodium selenite
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.9%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.
The second ingredient is brewers rice. Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.
This is a cheap cereal grain by-product and not a quality ingredient.
The third ingredient is corn. Although there’s no way to know for sure, it’s reasonable to assume the corn described here is similar to the kind used to make feed for livestock.
Feed corn can be contaminated with insects, mites and molds.
Many blame corn for chronic canine allergies. But those allergies are probably more a result of what’s in the corn… than the corn itself.
The fourth ingredient is 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. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.
The fifth item is beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient… a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.
Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.
We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most dog foods is entirely acceptable.
Fish meal is another high-protein meat concentrate.
Unfortunately, this particular item is anonymous. The term “fish” does little to properly describe this ingredient. What species? What parts?
Fish meal is commonly made from the by-products of commercial fish operations.
What’s more, the controversial chemical ethoxyquin is frequently used as a preservative in fish meals.
But because it’s usually added to the raw fish before processing, the chemical does not have to be reported to consumers.
We find no public assurances from the company this product is ethoxyquin-free.
Without knowing more, and based upon this fish meal’s location on the list of ingredients, we would expect to find at least a trace of ethoxyquin in this product.
The seventh item mentions flax. Is this raw flax? Or flax seeds? Due to this vague description, it is impossible to judge the quality of this ingredient.
The eighth ingredient lists brewers dried yeast. Although it is a by-product of the beer making process, brewers yeast contains about 45% protein… and is rich in other healthy nutrients.
Liver digest is made from the enzymatic breakdown of liver tissue. Digests are commonly used by pet food manufacturers as flavor enhancers.
Normally, a digest can be considered an acceptable ingredient. However, in this case, the digest is of lower quality… being made from the organ tissue of an unnamed (generic) source species.
Garlic is a controversial item. In rare cases, garlic has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.1
Most of the professional literature we surveyed did not provide any conclusive warnings regarding the use of garlic… especially in small amounts (as it is here).
Although we see no reason to be overly concerned, we do feel it is a mistake to include such controversial ingredients in any dog food product.
Unfortunately, this Enhance dog food also contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Also, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.
We find no evidence of probiotics.
Enhance Dog Food… the Bottom Line
Though not in any way exceptional, the ingredients used to make Enhance Dog Food are certainly better quality than those cheaply made, one and two-star grocery-store brands.
But how much meat-based protein do these dog foods most likely contain?
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 30%, a fat level of 19% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 43%.
Featuring a brand average of 30%, protein numbers range from a low of 24% for the Adult Formula to a high of 33% for the Professional Athlete recipe.
Fat was a moderate 18% for the group… with carbs estimated to be about 44%.
Average protein. Moderate fat. And below-average carbohydrates… when compared to a typical dry dog food.
With no evidence of any plant-based protein enhancers, this is the profile of a kibble containing a respectable amount of meat.
Had it not been for the recipe’s inclusion of cheaper cereal grains, menadione and ethoxyquin, this brand would have qualified for our next higher rating.
Bottom line?
Enhance Dog Food is essentially a grain-based kibble using a fair amount of chicken meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand three stars.
Recommended.
Those looking for a higher-grade kibble from the same company may want to check-out our review of VF Complete Dog Food.
A Final Word
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
- Yamato et al, Heinz Body hemolytic anemia with eccentrocytosis from ingestion of Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) and garlic (Allium sativum) in a dog, Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 41:68-73 (2005) ↩
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
You are too easy on corn! Grains are not a natural foodstuff for dogs. And of all the grains, corn is the least digestible, in all of its forms. Hey, a dog’s digestive track is like, a 1/4 of ours… and WE can barely digest the stuff! This food has two low quality grains between “meal” and “fat” meaning the true bulk of the food is the low quality grains. Feed Grade corn with it’s thick cell walls that a doggy tummy can’t break down and process as usable protein, and a nutrition-free grain fragment of rice. And form a brand that prides itself on nutrition? If corn is a “possible” allergen, AND a grain, why not just avoid it all together? There is no benefit to it’s presence in dog food. The government subsidizes corn so that farms can sell it at a loss and still make a profit, so it is simply one of the cheapest fillers dog food manufacturers can use to keep their food bulked up and their profits high. When I see corn before the fat, the food immediately gets a “do not recommend” label from me. I’ve seen too many dogs that have slowly developed health problems because of corn. Plus, the synth vitamin k in this overpriced junk does less than impress.