A Pup Above was founded by Ruth and Javier Marriott in Austin, TX, in 2018, when it was known as Grocery Pup. They began with an online service and now distribute to retailers throughout the US.
A Pup Above produces 2 lines of dog food. They have a line of gently cooked dog food and a line of gently dried dog food featuring 8 recipes in total. Their foods are made by a third party manufacturer in Texas that has a USDA certified facility that follows the same safety and quality standards as the human food industry.
For our A Pup Above dog food reviews, we’ll look at the food ingredient quality and safety for each line of food. Our dog food reviews are based on these criteria.
A Pup Above Dry Cubies Review
Score: 6/10
Package Ingredients for Chicka Pupatouille Adult Dry Dog Food Recipe: Chicken, chicken heart, sweet potato, barley, oat, carrot, cauliflower, eggs, pork plasma, flaxseed, cranberry, salmon oil, salt, cultured dried skim milk, thyme, parsley, minerals [calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, magnesium oxide], vitamins [vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid]
Using our evaluation criteria, A Pup Above Dry Cubies is considered a moderate risk dog food.
Ingredient Quality
Here are our ingredient quality concerns.
High In Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates in this line average 36% as calculated, which is excessive for a dry dog food. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate but starch is required for extrusion in dry foods like these. Excessive carbohydrate is often an indicator of lower quality foods used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.
Excessive Added Vitamins and Minerals: Based on our criteria, this line loses ingredient quality points for added vitamins and minerals, meaning more than 5 vitamins and 5 minerals. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Ideally, these nutrients should come from whole food sources. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from vitamin premixes. The company states that vitamins and minerals are less than 2% of their recipes. However, our criteria are based on number of vitamins and minerals, not percentage by weight.
Ingredient Safety
Many pet food ingredients are unsafe or are grown using unsafe chemicals. There were a couple of concerns with A Pup Above Dry line:
Moderately Processed: This food loses an ingredient safety point as a dried food, dried at a temperature of 190F using their “Nutridry” process). Heat can cause a loss in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and phytonutrients. Minimal or no processing is preferred.
High Pesticide/Herbicide Foods In The Top 5 Ingredients: These recipes contain foods in the top 5 ingredients that are known to carry a large pesticide/herbicide residue. Unless organic, when crops are spray-dried with Roundup, it leaves them with more glyphosate/herbicide residue than other crops, even genetically modified ones. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria and has been linked to cancer and other diseases.
Benefits
Here is a noteworthy benefit of these foods:
No GMO Ingredients: This is a non-GMO verified line, which is good to see. There are limited safety studies on genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops although they are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils, require increased pesticide risk and may be involved in bee die-off.
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
A Pup Above Fresh Review
Score: 8/10
Package Ingredients for Texas Beef Stew Adult Fresh Dog Food Recipe: Beef, beef liver, russet potatoes, tomatoes, beef bone broth, carrots, green peas, safflower oil, turmeric, thyme, parsley, minerals [dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, magnesium oxide, zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite], vitamins [vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement].
Using our evaluation criteria, A Pup Above Dry Fresh is considered a low risk dog food.
Ingredient Quality
Here are our ingredient quality concerns.
High In Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates in this line average 23% as calculated on a dry matter basis, which is high for a lightly cooked dog food. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate but starch is required for extrusion in dry foods like these. Excessive carbohydrates are an indicator of low quality foods as they are used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.
Excessive Added Minerals: When minerals come from whole food sources, they include the full spectrum of cofactors, which makes them safe and bioavailable. While a couple of added minerals are acceptable, five or more implies the food is of poor nutritional value. The company states that added minerals are less than 2% of their recipes. However, our criteria are based on number of minerals, not percentage by weight.
Contains Seed Oil: Some of these recipes contain safflower oil, which is a highly processed and inflammatory oil. It’s an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils.
Ingredient Safety
Many pet food ingredients are unsafe or are grown using unsafe chemicals. Here are our concerns with A Pup Above Fresh Dog Food line:
Moderately Processed: This food loses an ingredient safety point as a cooked food (using a sous vide method at a 160F temperature). Even when cooking is gentle, heat can cause a loss in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and phytonutrients. Minimal or no processing is preferred.
Rice: The use of rice in several recipes costs ingredient safety points because of potential arsenic contamination. Arsenic contamination is a significant concern with rice since it naturally absorbs arsenic which can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues.
Benefits
Here is a noteworthy benefit of these foods:
No GMO Ingredients: This is a non-GMO verified line, which is good to see. There are limited safety studies on genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops although they are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils, require increased pesticide risk and may be involved in bee die-off.
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Is A Pup Above A Good Dog Food?
A Pup Above has very few concerns but there are a few that should be noted.
With a score of 8/10, the cooked food line is considered a low risk food. It loses points for having higher carbohydrates and more than 5 added minerals.
The dry foods have a lower score of 6/10 and are considered moderate risk according to our criteria. This is due to higher carbohydrate content, added vitamins and minerals.
The company states that its produce is grown without pesticides. However barley, oats, lentils and peas in the recipes appear to be conventionally grown and those are crops known for high pesticide/herbicide residues.
A Pup Above is quite committed to offering human grade dog food, which until earlier in 2023, wasn’t a recognized term by AAFCO. AAFCO is the regulatory body that establishes guidelines for the pet food industry. Under new AAFCO guidelines, all facilities involved with processing human grade pet food products must be registered as both an FDA (not USDA) food facility and an FDA feed facility, as the FDA regulates pet food production and labeling. Additionally, companies using the “human grade” label must have documentation showing that every ingredient within the entire product and process is human grade.
A Pup Above provides a detailed nutritional profile of each of its 8 recipes. Customers can also download safety test results, but this information isn’t accessible unless you have the product in hand to use the code on the label.
It’s also worth noting that A Pup Above is one of a few dog food manufacturers that has provided the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods on their nutritional profiles (although it’s not in the Guaranteed Analysis). This is is worth noting, as AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.
Other Concerns
There is one concern to be aware of when evaluating the safety and quality of dog food. It doesn’t affect the score but it’s worth noting.
Does Not State Farmed Vs Wild Caught Fish: These foods don’t specify whether the salmon oil it uses is from farmed or wild caught fish. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance.
A Pup Above DOG FOOD RECALLS
A Pup Above has had no dog food recalls.
Evaluation Criteria
We evaluate and score dog foods based on two criteria:
Are the Ingredients High Quality?
Here are some common low quality ingredients or markers we look for:
- Is there excessive carbohydrate content, which can cause gut imbalances?
- Does the food contain unnamed proteins, which are low quality?
- Does the food use cellulose (wood pulp) as a source of fiber instead of real food?
- Are there excessive vitamins and minerals added in place of real food nutrition?
- Are there excessive added amino acids or plant proteins instead of expensive meat protein?
- Does the food contain inflammatory processed seed oils?
How Safe Are the Ingredients?
Many ingredients come from unhealthy, inflammatory sources or are full of pesticides so we look for:
- How processed is the food?
- Does the food contain known genetically modified foods?
- Does the food contain ingredients known to be high in pesticides?
- Does the food contain natural flavor, which are often MSG or animal digest?
- Does the food contain rice, which is high in arsenic?
Each food is objectively evaluated by these criteria and a score is assigned using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally has partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to make sure dog owners have unbiased, objective criteria to help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
