Pure Life Dog Food Review

WebsitePure Life Pet Foods
Country of originAustralia

Pure Life is an Australian brand with a little twist when it comes to kibble – instead of baking the meat in with the biscuits they add them later as more nutritionally complete freeze-dried pieces.

In our Pure Life dog food review we’ll see how this independent Aussie brand stacks up against others, so read on…

Pure Life dog food review

What the marketing says

Pure Life dog food review - freeze-dried meat and kibble

If you’re aware of Balanced Life Enhanced you’ll likely see a similarity to Pure Life. In fact, they’re more similar than you may realise as both are made by Aussie manufacturer Hypro. There are a few slight differences though, with Pure Life being 1% more protein (tick), 1% more fat (tick), and freeze-dried meat rather than air-dried meat (tick). The term “pipped to the post” comes to mind.

The marketing on the Pure Life pet food website makes a number of claims, the first being “Australia’s first complete meal”. I was a bit baffled by this so asked them what they meant, and it simply means a kibble plus freeze-dried meat as an Australian first. They claim the food is high protein which it is (but we’ll speak about that more later), 96% Australian ingredients, grain-free, allergy friendly, with superfood goodness and 100% transparent ingredients.

Let’s take a look at Pure Life Adult Chicken dog food ingredients and analysis to see if these statements hold true…

What the labelling really says

Pure Life Dog Food Review

Chicken meal & freeze-dried meat as the first ingredient is a definite plus point. I’m a big advocated for freeze-dried as it retains all nutrition from the meat rather than baking it at high-temps into a kibble. The protein of 33% is very respectable for a dry dog food, but it’s important to note this isn’t entirely from the meat. Fat of 14% is reasonable, and combined with the high protein ensures a low carbohydrate percentage which is another plus point.

Putting the meat pieces aside the kibble is mostly a mixture of faba beans, chickpeas, and pea protein. These aren’t bad ingredients compared to the cereal grains or excessive potato we find in other kibbles, but we have to note the food as a whole is legume-based rather than meat-based.

Vitamins and minerals appear to be a premix, so I imagine we’re in the 4% of ingredients which are sourced from overseas. It would be interesting to know where these are sourced (100% transparency right?)

The remainder of the ingredients are all small amounts but serve to benefit the immune system and overall health. We have a mix of superfoods, various oils (from fish, coconut, and emu), yoghurt powder (for pre and probiotics), and turmeric as a nice anticarcinogenic addition. Good stuff.

Pure Life Dog Food Review

Overall, apart from the ratio of legumes to meat, it’s hard to fault. You could always combine such a food with a mixture of fresh raw meat ingredients and meaty bones to really round it off.

Where to buy Pure Life dog food

Ingredients of Pure Life dog food

Ingredients of Pure Life Australian Chicken for Adult Dogs dog food as of June 2021:

Chicken Meal & Freeze Dried Meat, Faba Beans, Chickpeas, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat with Mixed Tocopherols & Rosemary Extract, Chicken Gravy, Potato Starch, Vitamins & Minerals (including Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Copper, Manganese, Zinc, Iodine, Selenium, Vitamins A, C, D3, E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, Choline), Beet Pulp, Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Flax Seed Oil, Chicory Extract, Fish Oil, Coconut Oil, Egg Powder, Taurine, DL Methionine, Yucca Extract, Emu Oil, Carrot, Yoghurt Powder, Spinach Powder, Broccoli Powder, Kale Powder, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Apple, Tomato Powder, Chia Seed, Kelp Powder, Sweet Potato Powder, Turmeric, Almond Flour, Parsley, Sumac, Green Tea, Blueberry Extract, Cranberry Extract

Guaranteed analysis of Pure Life dog food

Guaranteed analysis of Pure Life Australian Chicken for Adult Dogs dog food as of June 2021:

Protein(min) 33%
Fat(min) 14%
Crude Fibre(max) 3.5%
Carbohydrates *(max) 32% (listed on label)
* May be estimated. Read how to calculate carbohydrates in a pet food.

Calling Aussie pet lovers – join the mailing list!

8.2 Total Score
Kibble + Freeze-Dried Meat = Better than Kibble

PROS
  • Freeze-dried meat
  • High protein / low carbs
  • Good ingredients all round

Tags:

7 Comments
  1. I have recently brought 3x bags of the kangaroo mix Purelife (dry dog food) & the freeze dry pieces when crumbled feel like fur? This is in all 3 bags. Is this normal? Should I stop feeding this to my dogs?

  2. Pure Life has a dry cat food now at PetBarn. Wondering if you think it rates similarly to the dog food?

    Noticed a reviewer here say it increased thirst in their dog…not sure my cats need that…they already drink/play in water a lot. They eat mainly Black Hawk but are much less interested in the kibble which they used to love

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) November 28, 2022 at 6:35 pm

      Hi Freya, I’ll try and review Pure Life for cats shortly. Although it’s good to hear your cats drink (as not many cats do!), it crossed my mind maybe the Black Hawk is the reason they have such a thirst?

  3. I bought this at Petbarn (they recommended this as completely natural, healthy). My little dog likes it and ate it, however, he started drinking copious amounts of water (and I mean copious). I stopped feeding it to him and his drinking went back to normal.

    I’m not sure which ingredient in this product would cause this?

    • This is interesting to read. I just purchased a bag from Pet Barn as I’m looking for cheaper alternative to Ziwi Peak and my pomeranian did eat it finished off his bowl of water within 45 minutes after. His lucky to drink a whole bowl across the entire day. Came here and saw your review and now know it’s probably not coincidence.

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) July 15, 2022 at 5:17 pm

      Hi Kylie, it’s definitely an indicator that the food probably isn’t working the best for your dog. As for which ingredient it’s hard to say as various ingredients (or varying qualities of ingredients) can trigger thirst. Sometimes with a new food a dog won’t eat as much of it which can also trigger them to drink more water to suppress hunger.

  4. I got this kibble cause I figured why not as it was in Habitat and I was buying a 17 piece haul. I also really wanted to see if they’d like it.

    At first yeah, but the kibble is very dense it’s rock hard and Basil and Andzia lost interest pretty much day 2. Not only that but they appeared un well after eating it.

    I stopped for about a week and than put it in their trays again but it’s gone uneaten for the last couple days. Basil loved the chicken pieces and has now stopped eating them as well.

    I think maybe I should ask for a refund, I said I wouldn’t care about it, but $30 is always $30 that can be spent elsewhere, like for a months supply of their air dried. No I won’t be doing that as they say you would need to send it back at your own expense.

    Too bad really this had the makings to be a really good food that I could switch to from Cherish to rotate kibbles. As this one also has coconut oil.

Leave a reply

Pet Food Reviews (Australia)
Logo
Shopping cart