When it comes to choosing food for your dog, it can be confusing and difficult to choose between brands. We all want the best for our dogs, but it’s not uncommon to unintentionally select a food that isn’t appropriate for your dog. To help make things less confusing for you, we’ve put together a comparison of two popular dog food brands. Victor and Blue Buffalo are both high-quality, premium dog food brands, and we want to make it easier for you to understand where they are different and in what ways they’re similar so you can ensure you’re choosing the perfect food to meet your dog’s needs.

A Sneak Peek at the Winner: Victor

Victor is the overall better dog food among these two companies. Their science-based approach to providing healthy nutrition for dogs can ensure your dog’s nutritional needs are met, no matter their specific needs. They also offer more consumer-friendly pricing for their products, as well as bulk bag options for most of their recipes. When it comes down to it, you’re more likely to find food to meet your dog’s needs and provide them with appropriate nutrition with Victor.

About Victor

Victor Basics

Victor is a brand that offers a variety of food lines to ensure you’re choosing the right diet for your dog’s needs. Their focus is typically on working and active dogs, but they also offer food for seniors and low-activity dogs. All of Victor’s foods are produced in their facility in Texas, so you can feel good about where your dog’s food is coming from. Each of their diets are centered around VPRO, a supplemental blend of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, prebiotics, and other ingredients that help ensure each recipe meets specific dietary needs.

Marketing

Victor backs their recipes with science and doesn’t overly rely on marketing tactics to convince people to buy their foods. This is evident when you see their somewhat old-fashioned and plain food labels. While this may not make them stand out on store shelves, it is a good sign to see a company putting its efforts toward developing nutritious recipes instead of investing in expensive and flashy marketing. Most of their foods do retail for a premium price, though, and they consider themselves to be a premium pet food company.

How Are They Different?

Marketing aside, what really sets Victor apart is their willingness to maintain a focus on nutrition above all else. While they do offer grain-free diets, most of their recipes are not grain-free offerings. They also limit the use of legumes in their dog foods. Grain-free diets and the presence of legumes in dog food have both been linked to heart disease in dogs. Most vets recommend avoiding grain-free diets or diets containing legumes, especially if they are in the first four ingredients on the ingredient list.

About Blue Buffalo

Blue Buffalo Basics

Blue Buffalo quickly garnered attention when they came onto the scene due to their highly nutritious food offerings. They offer a variety of food lines, focusing on everything from high-energy dogs to seniors and puppies. The company’s goal was to help everyone feed their pets as if they were feeding a family member, avoiding low-quality fillers and proteins in their foods. They only use whole meats in each of their recipes, and they offer a variety of proteins.

Marketing

Although Blue Buffalo’s primary goal is to offer high-quality foods, they rely heavily on marketing tactics, like flashy packaging. They were one of the earliest companies to jump on the grain-free dog food trend, and unfortunately, they are one of a few specific brands that have been linked to dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs, according to the FDA. As is often seen with brands that invest a lot of money into marketing, these foods are at a premium price and are generally more expensive than Victor foods.

How Are They Different?

Blue Buffalo was one of the first companies to begin putting visible bits of nutrients in their dry foods through their LifeSource Bits. These tiny kibbles are made to contain higher levels of added vitamins and minerals than the rest of the food, ensuring your dog’s nutritional needs are fully met with their food. For some people, it can be very comforting to see your dog eating specially designed pieces of food that are formulated to ensure your dog’s nutritional needs are met.

3 Most Popular Victor Dog Food Recipes

1. Victor Hi-Pro Plus

The Victor Hi-Pro Plus recipe is one of the most popular Victor recipes and for a good reason. This food is formulated to be appropriate for all life stages of active dogs, including puppies and pregnant and nursing dogs. It’s also appropriate for working dogs, thanks to its caloric density, high protein content, and moderate fat content.

It does contain chicken proteins, which can be irritating to dogs with food sensitivities, but this food is built for function. It provides dogs with the energy needed to run, play, or work for hours, and it can help prevent weight loss due to activity. It contains sorghum and is free of legumes, making this a good option for avoiding legumes and grain-free diets.

It’s available in multiple bag sizes up to 50 pounds, making this one of the more budget-friendly options for feeding large dogs.

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2. Victor Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula

The Victor Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula is a great basic dog food option. It contains grains, thanks to the presence of brown rice, and it’s free of legumes. This food is formulated for adult dogs with normal activity levels but may not be appropriate for puppies, seniors, and low activity dogs.

This recipe is free of chicken proteins, so it may be appropriate for dogs with food sensitivities. It’s a nutrient-dense food with moderate protein and fat content. It will provide your dog with healthy levels of energy without leading to weight gain when fed as directed.

This is one of the most affordable Victor recipes, and it comes in bags up to 40 pounds.

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3. Victor Select Yukon River Canine Recipe Dry Dog Food

If you have a dog that needs a grain-free diet for a veterinary-recommended reason, the Victor Select Yukon River Canine Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food may be what you’re looking for. This food is free of chicken protein and other common protein allergens, using salmon and menhaden fish for proteins instead. This food does contain garbanzo beans, which are a legume.

This nutrient-dense food is high in protein and contains moderate fat content, making it suitable for active and working dogs. It meets or exceeds the AAFCO recommendations for dog food for all sizes of adult dogs, but it may not be suitable for puppies and seniors.

This is one of the more expensive Victor recipes, so expect a premium price tag on this one.

3 Most Popular Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recipes

1. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult

The Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken & Brown Rice food is a great basic dog food. It contains high-quality protein from chicken, as well as grain from brown rice, barley, and oats. This food is formulated for adult dogs with normal activity levels but may not be suitable for active dogs.

This is a nutrient-dense food containing moderate protein and fat contents. It’s a good source of glucosamine to support your dog’s joints. It contains LifeSource Bits, which are nutrient-enhanced kibbles that help ensure your dog’s nutritional needs are met.

For a basic food, this food does retail for a premium price, but it is available in multiple bag sizes up to 34 pounds.

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2. Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe Turkey Meatloaf Dinner

The Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe Turkey Meatloaf Dinner is a tasty wet food option for your dog if that’s their preference. This food contains barley, brown rice, and oatmeal, so it isn’t grain-free. It’s free of chicken proteins, but it does contain peas, a legume, as the fifth ingredient.

This food contains moderate protein and fat, making it a good option for adult dogs with normal activity levels. The soft texture and flavor make this food highly palatable, even for picky dogs. It does work out to a premium price if fed as the primary food source, though.

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3. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon Recipe

The Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon Recipe is a grain-free food option for dogs that need it. However, it is not only grain-free, but it contains legumes and chicken proteins, making this a poor option for dogs with food sensitivities. It does contain multiple protein sources, though, and is made to be palatable.

This food is high in protein and contains moderate fat, making it a good option for dogs with normal activity levels. It’s more calorie-dense than most Blue Buffalo foods, so it may work well for active dogs as well.

This food retails for a premium price and is only available in bags up to 24 pounds, making it one of the least affordable options Blue Buffalo offers.

Recall History of Victor and Blue Buffalo

Victor Dog Food has no recall history of their products.

Blue Buffalo, however, had a few recalls of their dog food over the past 15 years.

Victor vs Blue Buffalo Comparison

Taste

Victor and Blue Buffalo are both foods that many people report their dogs finding to be highly palatable. More people seem to report their picky eaters going for Victor foods, though. Some people do say that their dogs will eat around the Blue Buffalo LifeSource Bits, so these may be less palatable than the normal kibble within the dry foods.

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Nutritional Value

While both foods are nutrient-dense options, Victor offers more options that contain grains than Blue Buffalo does. They also offer a wider variety of foods that are formulated for active and working dogs, while Blue Buffalo is primarily focused on pet dogs with normal activity levels. Both offer a variety of moderate and high protein and fat recipe foods.

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Price

When it comes to price, both brands tend to creep up into premium price territory. However, Victor almost always beats Blue Buffalo when it comes to pound-for-pound pricing. They also have multiple foods that are available in 40-pound and 50-pound bags, while Blue Buffalo’s weight options are more limited. This makes Victor a better option when feeding large or multiple dogs.

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Selection

Victor’s selection is far better than Blue Buffalo’s because their focus is on working dogs, but they also offer a variety of diets for dogs with other nutritional needs as well. Blue Buffalo does offer multiple food lines and recipes, but many of them are either formulated for dogs with normal activity levels or they have crossover ingredients. This means that it can be difficult to find a recipe that lacks a specific protein, like chicken, if your dog has a food sensitivity.

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Overall

Victor is overall the better food option for most dogs. The company puts their focus less on marketing and more on developing science-backed recipes that enhance the health of dogs with a variety of needs. They also make their foods with slightly more consumer-friendly pricing than Blue Buffalo does, although both foods can be pricey at times.

Conclusion

Victor is the clear winner between these two dog food brands. Although their packaging may not be eye-catching, this food is backed by science to provide your dog with adequate and appropriate nutrition. Not only is Victor a great brand for people with working dogs, but also for dogs with normal activity levels, seniors, puppies, and more. Victor has more affordable pricing with bulk bag options available on some of their recipes, which is something that Blue Buffalo generally lacks, with very few exceptions.

See Also:

• Is Blue Buffalo Made in the USA? What You Need To Know
• Victor Dog Food vs Diamond: Pros, Cons & What to Choose