Dog lovers like me are always on the lookout for healthy and delicious products that pups will enjoy and that will provide them with the nutrition they need. My dog Abby was always a picky eater, so it was hard for me to find nutritious and healthy food that she actually liked.
However, recently I looked into A Pup Above, and they may be exactly what many dog owners are looking for: traceable, human-grade ingredients packed with nutrients and vitamins and an above-average serving of delicious proteins. The results are clear: A Pup Above is a contender for the best fresh dog food service in the nation.
In this review, I’m going to show you how A Pup Above stacks up in terms of Quality, Convenience, and Price so you can decide for yourself if this relatively expensive fresh dog food is the right choice for your favorite fluff ball.
Quality
In terms of quality, I evaluated A Pup Above on its appearance, smell, taste, and ingredients.
Appearance – Visual & Aromatic
Up close, you can see nice chunks of the ingredients for each A Pup Above recipe which include green peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, meat, and grains. Overall, the food does not look as appealing as advertised but still appear fairly palatable.
Smell
All A Pup Above recipes smell like real human food with notes of herbs and spices in them—definitely something that would stimulate a dog’s appetite.
Taste
All recipes are impressively delicious, with the chicken recipe having the least flavor and the beef stew having the most. Hints of herbs and spices are apparent in the food which make the taste more interesting. All of them are made low-sodium and with low complexity in flavor which is good for dogs.
Ingredients
The ingredients for all A Pup Above recipes are pretty straightforward—whole ingredients you would expect with the A Pup Above (APA) nutrient blend (vitamins and minerals to help support your dog’s health, as well as superfoods such as parsley, turmeric, and thyme). They are traceable, and you can see where they came from by typing in the lot code on the back of your dog food packaging on their website.
All ingredients are human-grade and USDA certified, making the food 100% human-grade too. The food components are all ethically-sourced ingredients from farmers that strictly follow animal welfare standards. The vegetables are all grown non-GMO and without the use of pesticides, whereas the meats are all produced without the use of antibiotics and added hormones.
A Pup Above dog food is prepared in a human-grade USDA kitchen in Texas, and all products are made to USDA standards. Board-certified veterinary nutritionists and pet food specialists helped to make sure A Pup Above’s dog food fits a well-balanced diet. Prior to release from their facility, the cooked food is flash-frozen and tested for pathogens.
Try A Pup Above today and SAVE $50 →Convenience
In looking at A Pup Above’s convenience, I evaluated it on its purchasing, shipping, and packaging.
Purchasing
Subscriptions are not required, though they are available. A Pup Above offers up to a 15% discount off the one-time-purchase price. If you choose the subscription-based program, you can save money by signing up for regular delivery periods for every two, four, six, or eight weeks.
All products also have long expiration date (the earliest of mine was 8 months from time of purchase) so you buy in bulk and store them in your fridge.
Shipping
A Pup Above ships to the contiguous 48 states. This means shipment to Alaska and Hawaii is not available as of this writing. Time in transit ranges from 1-3 days, depending on your location. Shipments go out on Monday – Wednesday in the 1-2 day transit times, and Monday – Tuesday for 3 day transit times. The dog food arrives in an insulated box packed on Dry Ice—so it is quite frozen.
Packaging
A Pup Above’s fresh dog food is frozen as individually-packed one-pound patties. All you have to do is defrost the food overnight in the fridge prior to serving, or thaw in room temperature water for 30 minutes. Once defrosted, the food will keep in the fridge for up to 14 days unopened, or up to 7 days once opened.
To help you figure out how much to feed your dog, there’s a feeding chart printed right on the bag.
Price
A Pup Above fresh dog food does come in undeniably more expensive than other brands when you evaluate it on a $/lb basis.
While subscriptions from brands like The Farmer’s Dog, Ollie, and PetPlate come in around $4-7/lb on average, a 3-pound multipack of A Pup Above will give you a similar amount of food for right about $13/lb. Of course, you can knock those prices down by ordering 7lb multipacks and opting for a subscription—but what are you getting for the higher price tag?
Well, for starters, A Pup Above’s recipes are packed with over 40% more protein on average when compared recipes from The Farmer’s Dog, Ollie, and PetPlate. We all know that protein is the most expensive part of a meal, just take a look at grocery store prices for meats compared to vegetables and grains.
But more importantly, the quality you are getting with A Pup Above is undeniably superior to most brands.
Save $50 on your first box →More on A Pup Above’s Recipes
Calorie Content of A Pup Above’s Fresh Food Recipes
| Recipes | kcal/kg | kcal/oz | kcal/patty ME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicka Chicka Bow Wow | 1384 | 39 | 626 |
| Porky’s Luau | 1220 | 35 | 553 |
| Texas Beef Stew | 1461 | 41 | 662 |
| Turkey Pawella | 1543 | 43 | 698 |
source: https://apupabove.com/
Guaranteed Analysis for A Pup Above’s Fresh Food Recipes
| Recipes | Crude Protein (% min) | Crude Fat (% min) | Crude Fiber (% max) | Moisture (% max)` |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicka Chicka Bow Wow | 12.8 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 69.2 |
| Porky’s Luau | 13.6 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 73.4 |
| Texas Beef Stew | 13.8 | 6.9 | 2.0 | 70.3 |
| Turkey Pawella | 13.8 | 7.0 | 2.1 | 68.1 |
source: https://apupabove.com/
Dry Matter Basis of A Pup Above’s Turkey Pawella Recipe
More on What Sets A Pup Above Apart from the Competition
There are two further characteristics of the A Pup Above Dog Food brand that set it apart from other dog food brands.
Cooking Process
First, A Pup Above uses the sous vide cooking method of slow cooking to prepare its recipes. Some food delivery service companies use high temperatures to prepare their food offerings, which can cause the food to shrink in size, become dry, and lose a good portion of the nutrients in the ingredients. In order to prevent this from occurring, A Pup Above uses the sous vide cooking method in which the raw ingredients are vacuum sealed in a plastic bag before being placed in a water bath that is slowly being heated. After the water heats to the right temperature, the temperature is kept steady so that the food can cook thoroughly over time while retaining its moisture and nutritional value. The way that A Pup Above makes dog food meals is like cooking in a slow cooker. Yes, this method requires extra cooking time, but the food tastes great and the meat is tender, so it’s absolutely worth the wait.
Sustainability
Next, A Pup Above is environmentally conscious. The company manufactures dog food in a facility that runs on 100% renewable energy. They focus mainly on eco-consciousness by placing all of their products into sustainable packaging in order to reduce their carbon footprint, and by using products that might otherwise be discarded due to them not being good enough for the supermarket. By using this an unappealing produce, A Pup Above helps to reduce food waste and the negative environmental impacts that result from it while providing our pups with fresh food that is very beneficial for their health.
Also, Pup Above is dedicated to donating a portion of money from each order to the White Buffalo Land Trust Fund which is dedicated to regenerative farming in order to help improve the health of the area’s surrounding soil and water.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is A Pup Above grain-free dog food?
Some of their recipes are grain-free, but there are also recipes that are not. The poultry recipes are considered grain-free, while the beef and pork recipes contain healthy grains.
For dogs that need this kind of diet, A Pup Above ensures that one of their food bundles is grain-free, which is perfect for dogs who need that kind of diet.
How much A Pup Above should I give my dog?
A Pup Above is intended for adult dogs. Nevertheless, you can start giving your pup, even a very picky eater, A Pup Above during their weaning stage if you want to nourish them with real food early on. To know how much your dog eats, AAFCO established adult maintenance guidelines to help dog parents determine feeding schedules and the quantity of dog food enough for daily needs. For a 5-lb dog, two 3-lb bags of A Pup Above is sufficient for three weeks. However, for large dogs weighing 80 lbs, you need to restock four 7-lb bags of A Pup Above every two weeks. A Pup Above also provides a feeding guide for you to use that tells you how much you should feed your pup in each serving based on their current weight.
Can I instantly switch to A Pup Above?
When switching from other dog food brands to A Pup Above, it is recommended to serve your dogs a mixed diet in the first week, with an increasing proportion of A Pup Above and decreasing amount of the old food every two days. This is to help dogs get accustomed to the new taste of A Pup Above.