Leaps & Bounds Dog Food Review

WebsiteLeaps & Bounds
Country of OriginAustralia
Available fromPetbarn

Leaps & Bounds is exclusive to Petbarn, so essentially a home brand (or phantom brand). It’s manufactured by Australian Pet Brands in Dubbo.

Marketed as 100% Natural, whatever that means, it comes across as a bog standard kibble. If you shop at Petbarn you can definitely do better, so refer to this list of all their dog foods + ratings.

If you still think Leaps & Bounds is right for your dog, or right for your budget, then read on – only by understanding what a dog food is made from can you find ways to make it work for you.

Leaps & Bounds review

I want you to ignore meat as the first ingredient in Leaps & Bounds, as good as it sounds. You can expect the first three ingredients to be a big part of the formula.

Let’s take a look at Leaps & Bounds Adult Lamb with Rice and Rosemary, but consider the other formulas same same but different.

In no particular order, the first ingredients are vegetable protein from soya, cereals (wheat and rice), and meat meal as a combination of lamb, poultry, and beef (regardless of the meat stated on the front of the bag).

It doesn’t take much to realise the meat (1/3) doesn’t sound as significant as the grains and vegetable protein (2/3). The protein in the food is mediocre at 24%, which is a mix of meat and vegetable protein (meat protein is more digestible for your dog).

Leaps & Bounds Dog Food Review

With a low amount of fat at 10%, which isn’t guaranteed and could even be less, we’re looking at a product likely 50% or more in unnecessary carbohydrates. I view dogs as carnivores more than omnivores, based on their instincts and biology, which means those carbs aren’t necessary.

Pet food companies love you to think a dog food is full of meat, but what they love more is making it as cheap as possible for the best profit. Cereal grains are great for profit, which is why they’re used.

Leaps & Bounds Dog Food Review

Chicken fat as the forth ingredient is fine, and everything after that will be a small percentage of the food. It’s really just those four ingredients which make up most of the product.

There isn’t much to say about the remaining ingredients. They’re mostly standard requirements of fibre, vitamins, and minerals.

It’s nice to see fish oil, but it’s two steps down from salt which should be 1%. So not much fish oil then? Or linseed (good for joints), or chicory root inulin as a prebiotic (for better digestion).

When it comes to kelp meal as the second to last ingredient, are we talking about a speck?

Overall Leaps & Bounds comes across as a fairly average dog food. That’s probably being generous, so let’s say a fairly average home brand. Not your best option at Petbarn, so have a look around and if you can pay a little more money – may pay dividends later in the health and wellbeing of your dog.

If you can’t stretch to more, you could look at adding some fresh meat, offal, and raw meaty bones to give your dog some variety.

Where to buy Leaps & Bounds

You can buy Leaps & Bounds directly from Petbarn (or click and collect).

Ingredients

Ingredients of Leaps & Bounds dog food (Leaps & Bounds Adult Lamb with Rice and Rosemary):

Meat meal (lamb, poultry and beef), wholegrain cereals (wheat, rice), vegetable protein (soya bean), chicken fat, beet pulp (prebiotic dietary fibre), salt, linseed, fish oil (containing omega 3 fatty acids), minerals (including potassium zinc, iron, copper, manganese, iodine, selenium), chicory root inulin (prebiotic), vitamins (including E, B3, B5, B2, B6, B1, B9, B12, A, D3), choline chloride, yucca extract, rosemary, garlic, kelp meal, natural antioxidants.

Typical Analysis

Leaps & Bounds uses a Typical Analysis not a Guaranteed Analysis. This means the values listed below may not be in your favour.

Typical Analysis of Leaps & Bounds dog food (Leaps & Bounds Adult Lamb with Rice and Rosemary):

Protein24%
Fat10%
Crude Fibre2.5%
Carbohydrates *Estimated 48%
* May be estimated. Read how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food.

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6 Total Score
Leaps & Bounds Dog Food Review

As a home brand of Petbarn and City Farmers you shouldn't expect too much with this dog food. Cereal grains are a main ingredient which can be problematic for many dogs. Ingredients such as this keep costs down, which may make the food affordable to you, but won't be ideal for your dog.

CONS
  • Wheat as an allergenic grain

60 Comments
  1. Well when you have a dog who is allergic to legumes, lentils, fish and chicken this food is a good alternative, Grain free diets are not always the best and grains are not always the source of allergy’s.
    Dogs can be allergic to anything in any food like any of the proteins, grains or in my dogs case the legumes and lentils.
    Trying to find a dry food without any of these unnecessary fillers of legumes and lentils is very hard as nearly all dry foods contain one lentil or one legume.
    My dog developes hotspots all over his body if even eats any food with these in them.
    So how about company’s start making at least some foods that don’t contain any traces of lentils or legumes.
    So dogs like mine that are highly allergic to lentils and legumes can at least have a dry food without having the risk of a allergic reaction / episode.

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) May 7, 2023 at 5:57 pm

      Hi Maryann,

      I don’t hear about legumes/lentils/fish sensitives that often, and when it comes to hypoallergenic diets these are actually common ingredients for that reason!

      When it comes to grains it’s best to avoid wheat and ambiguous cereal grains/by-products (also usually wheat), but oats, brown rice, and barley are hypoallergenic. For a dog there should always be an emphasis on animal ingredients as well, which is sadly less common than it should be as this keeps profit margins down.

      To avoid both excessive grains or excessive legumes, in terms of pet food products, means the higher end meat-focused foods, particularly air/freeze dried, BARF, or raw food diets.

      • What product can i use as a replacement for the disgusting new Chicken for Small Breeds with Leaps and Bounds. Its full of disgusting fillers and is so sticky. I do not want to put this crap in my dogs diet. I want real meat product.

  2. Hi what do you think of the leaps and bounds for active dogs? Both the protien and the fat is higher and the first 4 ingreidents are as listed:
    Meat meals, wholegrain cereals, chicken fat.
    I’m 18 and only work casual so can’t afford the good food brands, I used to feed Bonnie for Active dogs but I think it’s been discontinued, I can’t find it anywhere

    • You can supplement your dogs diet with meat as a topper. Go and see what meat is for sale at the supermarket. My dog doesn’t eat all of his meat raw. But I gently cook it in the microwave. You can also add chicken hearts which are so good for them and usually pretty cheap. If you can get to a market, things like chicken feet are great to add. Give the hearts and the chicken feet raw though. Also adding tinned sardines is a great to their food. And they are cheap and enhance the kibble

  3. I purchased the chicken, white fish for my healthy kelpie. Once I had it home and opened I noticed that one of the ingredients was ‘Garlic’ garlic is dangerous too dogs as it’s part of the onion family. I thought it was obviously a very small amount. I slowly introduce it into my dogs diet. Over 3/4weeks. I fed her breakfast she was happy playful her normal self but whilst at work she took a turn. She was vomiting, couldn’t even hold water down. Extremely lethargic, would hardly move had to be carried for her wee walks.
    She was taken to the vets, tested for poisoning, test were coming back clear. While at the vets she vomited again, this time it had a pinkish colour. Up to here it had been clear.
    She was given medication to stop the vomiting. The next day she wouldn’t eat, still extremely lethargic. When she tried to poo it was explosive. Was like she had a hose inside her. Was pure liquid, with a horrendous smell.
    She was taken straight to her normal vets where test for poisoning run again. We spoke about changes in her diet. I explained the slow change to this brand. Mentioned it contained garlic.
    This food caused my girl to be sick. Spoke to the pet barn where it was purchased they didn’t believe it had garlic in it, so showed them the bag. They were shocked.
    Will never buy this brand again. Watching my healthy girl go to struggling to move was an eye opener to be 100% sure to read and check everything on packets and also to stick to another brand

  4. I started buying this brand since CityFarmers became Petbarn. Both of my dogs never got sick and seemed to like the different flavours. I never gave them human food as I believed they were eating good, budget food though, in comparison with Purina and other supermarket brands. Last week, Feb 20th, I lost my apparently healthy 8 year old Border Collie to severe pancreatitis and liver nodules. My 9 year old Husky had a health check, as they were having the same brand, and her bloods showed what it could be the beginning of an unhealthy pancreas. I will never buy this brand again.

    • Hi Diana
      I am sorry to hear about your fur babies. Our 7 year old dog has been having leaps and bounds for a few months now after been on Ivory Coat for a few years. Do you believe that there is an ingredient in this food that can make our dogs very ill?
      Our dog has become very ill she has a tumour in her intestine which has been bleeding slowly making her anaemic and she requires another blood transfusion and surgery

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) March 1, 2022 at 6:46 pm

      Hi Diana, I’m very sorry to hear about this. Leaps & Bounds is manufactured by the same company as Ivory Coat and Woolworths Baxters, both with many similar reports over the past years. There is a new website from Australian Pet Owners Group designed to log issues such as yours, so I strongly urge you to write a report here.

      • Leaps and bounds are made by pet barn exclusive to them nothing to do with ivory coat

      • Leaps and bounds are not from the same company as Ivory coat. Ivory coat is from real pet food company in NSW and this is not the same company as Leaps and bounds. Leaps and bounds only has one brand and the company that ivory coat is from has about 10 brands that are sold in pet stores and in supermarkets. You need to get your information right as you could damage a business name without having your facts right!!!!

        • Pet Food Reviews (Australia) June 1, 2022 at 6:55 pm

          Hi Fran, can you clarify who manufacturers Leaps & Bounds? Is it not Australian Pet Brands?

      • Thank you. I have lodged an APOG report. I’ll be checking your reviews and different diet alternatives.

  5. So looking at the first ingredient the labelling “Chicken with Rice” should be “Mixed meat (any one or more of lamb, poultry and beef) with Rice”?

  6. I purchased the Lamb & Rosemary 15kilo bag. Couldn’t work out why my dogs stools looked like full of sand. Change brand of biscuits and it stops.

  7. Not happy with the bagging of the product woke up this morning and the big bag I brought is full of ants. Looking at the bag it is full of little holes not good at all. Now my laundry is full of ants you need to rethink ur packaging.

    • Hi, take back the bag of Leaps & Bounds bag of kibble to Pet Barn & get another bag & tell Pet Barn they will notify Leaps & Bounds, & say you have had other brand kibbles sit where the Leaps & Bounds sat & have never had a ant problem before…..
      Always keep kibble in a cool dry spot in house, I buy those big plastic storage containers from Woolworths, Big W, Kmart, cost about $8, they have 4 small black plastic wheels bottom of plactic container & have plastic lid with coloured lock handles, I open the kibble bag & put about 2 kg of new kibble in a cleaned air tight plastic container, that stays in the kitchen & the rest of the kibble stays in original kibble bag, I sticky tape kibble bag to make it air tight & put a big plastic bag over the kibble bag then I put sealed kibble bag in one of those plastic storage containers in my cool bedroom…
      Kibble only has 2 week life as soon as it’s opened… the oils start to go rancid as soon as the oxygen/air gets to the kibble…..

  8. Hi. I’ve noticed that Leaps and Bounds now have a grain free option. It would be great to see a review on this 😀

    • Hi Kelsy, here’s a preliminary review. I need to confirm the guaranteed analysis as it isn’t on their website. https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-dog-food/leaps-bounds-grain-free/

      • Thank you, this is very helpful. It’s a pity the food isn’t better, I was really hoping it was going to be much better than their food with grain.

        • It was unlikely it was going to be better think Supercoat grain free, it doesn’t have grains anymore but the ingredients are virtually the same, but the price is higher.

          To be able to create a grain free better food isn’t cheap, the price would go up exponentially and out of a lot of people’s budgets. I personally am not a fan of these types of foods but I feel their better like this then say something like Pedigree or any other crap foods from Mars and Purina, even grain free Supercoat is better in my opinion then it’s grain counterpart.

          But that doesn’t simply mean there’s a difference with using corn or tapioca both are high GI and something pets or even us don’t need. Not long term everyday food items at least.

        • Hi what are you feeding at the moment? how much money can you afford a month for pet food?

    • Hi, the Grain free Kangaroo & Vegetables looks OK better then the Leaps & Bounds with grains… When I go to Pet Barn again I’ll read the ingredient list to the Kangaroo Grain free formula & take a photo of the ingredient list, when I looked online Leaps & Bounds do not have the ingredients to their foods on line..

  9. Hi, I went to Pet Barn today as we do when Patch is bored, he loves shopping, loves all the toys….
    I was looking around for any new dog foods then I saw “Leaps & Bounds” Grain Free, Kangaroo & Veggies 28%-protein 14%-fat, not bad if your on a budget there was also Senior Beef & Vegetables but it wasn’t grain free, it was low in fat & low in protein, it’s a shame cause as dogs get older they need a better diet…
    Leaps & Bound Senior has the same ingredients as the Supermarket senior dry dog foods, If looking for a really good Senior dry kibble look at “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior it’s grain free….My Pet Warehouse sell it or there’s “Holistic Select” Senior Chicken & Rice, it isn’t grain free but doesn’t have any barley like most grain kibbles have these days…

    • Haha Patch goes shopping when he’s bored that’s so cool!

      I hear ya on the senior diets, the info is out there that they need better diets as they get older not worse, this whole restricted protein and fat just because a dog is old is getting old, raw no matter the dog is always fed the same ingredients and thrives throughout his old age, unlike kibble fed old dogs who not only look old but act old.

      Totally unnecessary.

  10. My dogs love this food but to be fair my dogs would thrive on old shoes if given the choice!

  11. Gave this to both my dogs for dinner for the first time only to wake up in the morning with then having extreme itching and redness. Don’t waste your money…

    • Hi, your dogs might be sensitive to one of the crappy ingredients like the wheat, or it has 3 different proteins, take kibble back to Pet Shop & ask for a refund or can you change to another brand of kibble, read ingredients on next kibble & make sure it doesn’t have same ingredients as the Leaps & Bounds has, if your brought from Pet Barn all their foods are Money Back Guaranteed, another kibble around that price range is Black Hawk or pay a bit extra & get “Holistic Select” Adult/puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardine meal grain free formula or the Holistic Select, Rabbit & Lamb grain free….

    • Very likely a grain allergy. Wheat is the #1 cause of allergies in dogs, specifically because the grain often contains mites.

    • That’s usually what wheat and soy do, although it could very well be an allergy to any number of the ingredients not just those 2.

      In terms of ingredients and the price for it, I like that there’s other options out there for people on budgets, I’d prefer them feed this than something like Pedigree that’s for sure.

  12. We brought this from Petbarn because they were sold out of our usual food. Unfortunately it gave our husky explosive diarrhea and bad gas. I wasn’t sure if it was the sudden switch or the food quality (though she has been switched between brands suddenly in the past with no problem). Our cat also managed to get into the cupboard and was munching on this food and resulted in the same problems even though he didn’t eat much of it. That cat will eat anything and everything but this is the first thing to ever give him diarrhea.

    • Hi all Pet Barn foods are money back Guaranteed so take it back, Pet Barn are always out of most their kibbles, it’s shocking, they are suppose to get delivery every Thursday but I’ve been back on the Friday & still no kibble a few people have been whinging about the Newcastle branch.. I shop online now… Go on Pet Barns F/B page & post what happen they will post back saying to return the Leaps & Bounds… Have a look at “Holistic Select” Adult/Puppy Sardines, Anchovy & Sardines Grain Free it’s for digestive health, my boy has IBD & does nice firm poos on the “Holistic Select” & “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb has limited ingredients, go online & purchase his food, I have found Pet Circle to be the cheapest online pet store & if it’s the first time your placing an order with Pet Circle you get $10 off when a friend gives you their Custom invite Code & they also get $10 off their next order…my code is REF 31PR you can use, you can also pick auto delivery, you’ll receive an Email 1 week before the delivery is due asking do you still want this delivery or want to add to the order, you can pick to be delivered every 1 week, 2 week, 3 weeks 4 weeks etc… & can change if the bag of kibble is still 1/2 full…
      Find 2 premium quality kibbles he does well on & start rotating between the 2 kibbles this way you’ll strengthen his stomach & immune system cause he’s eating different ingredients & if something is ever wrong with one of the batch of kibbles he’s only on it for how long it takes to run out then he’s eating the other brand kibble you start introducing when the old kibble is nilly finished, start introducing the new kibble just for a couple of days till he’s use to both brands & make sure he’s getting a different protein, I feed the Holistic Select which is fish & the Taste Of The Wild is lamb so he’s getting a variety..

  13. Hi Tarsh, the staff are trained to recommend it at City Farmers as it’s actually their home brand.

  14. In the ingredients list it says garlic. I’m pretty sure that dogs aren’t allowed garlic same as onion. I was going to buy the food but not if it has garlic in it

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) June 29, 2016 at 11:43 am

      Hi Shelly, a dog would need to eat many cloves or garlic to suffer any ill effects. Trace amounts of garlic in a food are considered beneficial, not harmful.

      • Please show your evidence for the claim that low doses are beneficial. From my research, there is only ever harm done at any dose. Even if the dogs aren’t symptomatic, there is still subclinical damage done. Garlic has proven benefit in humans, but not dogs.

        • Garlic in small doses repel fleas…Pumkin seeds stop your dog getting worms….
          There’s heaps of healthy foods you can feed instead of applying worm & flea products that are full of awful chemicals… Raw Almonds are high in omega 3 give 3 almonds a day a treat & watch your dogs coat shine….
          Follow “Rodney Habib” on his Face Book page or on “Planet Paws” & you’ll learn so much, if your dog has cancer, no point poisoning them with chemo therapy, change their diet, stop feeding carbs & sugar in dogs diet. So stop feeding all kibbles & start feeding a healthy whole foods home made diet high in omega 3 foods…. Rodney Habib has heaps of info on videos..

        • I found several websites stating that low doses are beneficial, finding out which websites tell the truth and which ones lie or use outdated information on the other hand is tricky.

          A person on dog food advisor who raw feeds her dogs has been giving them garlic for over 30 years and she has yet to have any problems with it.

          I on the other hand don’t trust any dosage higher than the last ingredient, because at the end of the day you never know and is it really worth putting your dog at risk? to me no it’s not, as loss is not something I deal with very well.

          The really cheap foods with both garlic and onion extracts or oils are super dangerous in my opinion more so for the onion than the garlic though, I’m not sure why they think they need to add onion to the food, but than most times the entire ingredient list could do with a replacement.

        • I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said 🙂

          Websites can be hard to judge as to their validity. That’s why I only trust peer reviewed journal articles. I’ve seen many websites claim that garlic is beneficial, anti-inflammatory, protects against cancer, etc, but none have shown any real evidence for such claims. They instead rely on either anecdotes or assume that human research results can be applied to dogs.

          Anecdotal evidence (eg. “A friend did it and their dog’s fine”) is statistically irrelevant. I know of people who’ve smoked two packs a day for most of their lives, doesn’t mean smoking isn’t harmful.

          And foods that list garlic and onion are so dangerous and I don’t understand how there aren’t guidelines to prevent it. It just perpetuates misinformation and tricks unsuspecting pet owner into thinking it’s okay.

          End of the day, as you said, why take the risk? There’s proven harm and no proven benefit.

  15. Hi, I bought a bag if this Las week and both my dogs refuse to eat it. They usually eat anything. One is part lab so really really eats anything! Would there be something in there (or not in there) that makes it unpalatable for them? I can make them eat it by saoaking it in warm beef stock but for the last two days they have had very soft stools after eating this food and I am worried that if I encourage them to eat it I will end up with two sick dogs. Or should I buy some applaws or Blackhawk and mix them together to use up the Leaps & Bounds?

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) June 29, 2016 at 11:45 am

      Hi Penny, loose stools are common when introducing a new food. This will normally subside after a couple of weeks, but if it doesn’t it could be an intolerance or digestive issue, or an issue with the quality of the food.

  16. The price just dropped even more! Probably just a promo sale or something, it really doesn’t say just says save $21 on the max kilo, no other info.

    Because I could of sworn it started out at $60 for 15 kilos, this puts it at a very good place now for a lot of people.

  17. I just want a dog food that is actually beneficial to my dogs health not just full of fillers! And as for the “premium” brand dog foods they are just as bad if not worst then some of the cheaper brands.

    • Buy BlackHawk dog food then

    • Jessica, I would choose a food from the “Best Dry Dog Foods” list. I have personally used both Black Hawk Fish & Potato and Stay Loyal and am very happy with both of them. There was a marked improvement in their condition after about one month. We have an 8 year old Bull Arab on Black Hawk and two 9 year old Beagles on Stay Loyal.

  18. Compared to the many 15kg bags of dog food that I have seen prices for this one is very cheap, it’s going to be real good value for a lot people and it’s not even that bad, not like the ideal balance I was just looking at for $132 for a 9.52 I think bag which was crazy.

    Going to check the rest of the foods on petbarn (the prices and ingredients only)(I’m an ingredients list warrior for real), it’s to be honest really really fun.

    • If you are an ingredients warrior, then pls read the ingredient panels of the food on offer. This is a cheap as product, with cheap ingredients. Can’t even identify the first protein source. You get what you pay for, as with anything else. This is not good value, it’s just cheap and nasty. You’d be better with super coat or pedigree or optimum and same price, much better quality. Many, many more foods I’d prefer with better quality, but even within the cheaper range this is definitely not one I would recommend.

    • Have a look at “Eagle Pack” at Pet Barn, it’s made by Wellpet who makes Wellness Complete, Wellness Simple & Wellness Core & Holistic Select, Eagle Pack isn’t as expensive as Wellness Formulas & Holistic Select, Eagle Pack has good ingredients then that’s about it, Pet Barn doesn’t sell any Australian Holistic Foods only American …..

      • Petbarn sells Black Hawk, which is an Australian-made “Holistic” food, though Holistic is a catch-all term with no exact meaning. It has fairly decent ingredients, and for $112 for a 20 kilo bag, it’s worthwhile. The fish recipe’s wonderful, and the grain free is as well, both worth giving a try.

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) May 30, 2016 at 9:09 am

      They’re targeting people who feed Supercoat. That makes this an improvement for those on a similar budget who can’t afford other foods.

  19. Leaps and Bounds is an in house brand for Greencross (Petbarn (AUS wide), City Farmers (WA & QLD))

    So they are just making a home brand like what you will see in a Coles or woollies. There will be little research on it, other than increasing the margin.

    The staff will be trained to push it & many of these staff members will be trusted by the long standing customers, the staff that have been around for awhile are highly educated and will know where the food stands, but won’t have a choice.

    • We have no obligation to push it outside of the fact that it’s better quality than Supercoat and Optimum. I’ve seen far too many dogs suffer on both products, and though Leaps & Bounds is only a minor step above them, it’s better for the dogs. The vague, terrible ingredients on the two competitors make me sick to my stomach, and I’ll do everything in my power to get dogs off of them, even if the owner refuses to budge on the price.

    • I’m sorry Peter but you are misinformed. Staff are not forced to push the food in fact staff are told to sell premium and super premium foods over leaps and bounds as this food is just competing with supercoat optimum and lower quality foods

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