Based in Boulder, CO, I and Love and You is a pet food company that serves canine companions wheat-free and gluten-free meals made without fillers or GMOs. It also aims to be sustainable, partnering with TerraCycle to create fully recyclable packaging. It sounds like the real deal on paper — but is I and Love and You a good choice for your pup?

We give I and Love and You dog food a perfect 5 out of 5 rating. Its ingredient quality and protein and fat percentages are outstanding, especially considering its reasonable pricing. Many of its recipes are better quality and a similar price - if not cheaper - than premium brands like Purina Pro Plan.

Scroll on for our comprehensive I and Love and You dog food review, where we'll closely examine its product ranges, benefits, history, and recalls. 

You'll find over 20 I and Love and You dog food varieties on the market, including canned, dry, freeze-dried raw, and fresh options.

All I and Love and You dog foods are complete and balanced, meeting the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile guidelines for all life stages, adult maintenance, or growth. Toppers and treats are for supplemental feeding only.

Check out the guaranteed analysis on each dog food label for more info.

All I and Love and You dry dog foods list a whole cut of meat as the top ingredient — a sign of top-shelf kibble. Whole meat is followed by two meat meals, which are excellent protein sources, even if they're highly processed.

Grain-inclusive recipes include ground sorghum, oatmeal, and millet as the main grains —all of which are high in fiber and antioxidants.

Grain-free options feature dried garbanzo beans, dried lentils, and dried peas instead. These are quality ingredients but are high in plant-based protein. Plant-based proteins are not complete proteins for dogs as they lack several essential amino acids found in meat. They're sometimes used to inflate protein percentages in dog foods.

Each dry food variety also includes a few natural secondary ingredients, like carrots, sweet potatoes, and/or flaxseed. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A; flaxseeds are one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

I and Love and You dry foods include prebiotics and probiotics to support your pup's digestive tract — another sign that these are high-quality kibbles. 

I and Love and You dry dog foods have above-average protein and near-average fat levels, fueling your pup's day-to-day life without making them pile on the pounds. For example, the Naked Essentials Chicken + Duck recipe contains 33.3% protein and 15.5% fat as dry matter.

I and Love and You Baked & Saucy dog foods are similar to its kibbles but with a unique twist. You can serve them to your pooch as is or add water to create an instant bone broth gravy. Each variety is grain-free.

Both recipes include a whole cut of meat followed by a meat meal as the top ingredients. Further down the list, you'll find the likes of dried peas, dried sweet potato, chicken fat, and tapioca starch. Chicken fat is a beneficial ingredient high in linoleic acid, a key fatty acid. Tapioca starch is a binding agent without much nutritional value.

One key difference between I and Love and You's Baked & Saucy range and its dry foods is the inclusion of ingredients like gelatin and carboxymethylcellulose, which help turn the kibble into wet food when mixed with water. These ingredients are 100% safe for dogs to eat.

I and Love and You Baked & Saucy dog foods are slightly lower in protein and a little higher in fat compared to its dry food options. Baked & Saucy Beef + Sweet Potato contains 31.1% protein and 17.7% fat as dry matter.

I and Love and You wet dog foods are fantastic grain-free canned options. All recipes list a whole cut of meat as the main ingredient, backed up by broth, liver, carrots, and dried egg whites.

Broth helps prevent dehydration, while beef and chicken liver are nutrient-rich organs high in iron, vitamin K, and vitamin A. Dried egg whites provide protein, fatty acids, and nutrients like vitamin B12.

Further down the list, you'll find additives and supplements like dicalcium phosphate, sodium phosphate, and potassium chloride. There are also natural nutrient sources like green beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins.

I and Love and You wet dog foods have excellent protein-to-fat ratios, considering most canned wet foods contain considerably more fat than their dry counterparts. For example, Beef Booyah Stew comprises 41.6% protein and 16.6% fat as dry matter.

I and Love and You produces three freeze-dried raw dog foods, which you can rehydrate slowly with water, letting you control the consistency and portion size. All varieties are complete and balanced meals suitable for adults only.

These recipes are grain-free, with beef, turkey hearts, or chicken topping the ingredient list. The other most common ingredients in each recipe include dried egg product, chickpea flour, and a mix of natural produce like cranberries, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and flaxseed.

Overall, the ingredient quality in these freeze-dried recipes is excellent, with fewer than 15 primary ingredients each (aside from supplemental nutrients).

The protein-to-fat levels in these recipes are pretty great, too. For example, Stir & Boom Raw-Raw Turk Boom Ba contains above-average protein (29.5% as dry matter) and average fat (11.3% as dry matter) compared to other freeze-dried options.

Irresist-A-Bowls are complete and balanced fresh dog foods suitable for adult pups. Both recipes list whole cuts of chicken as the top ingredient — not ideal if your doggo has a poultry allergy.

After chicken, each recipe lists carrots, pumpkin, duck or beef, and peas among the top five ingredients. Both feature fewer than ten primary ingredients, making them a good limited-ingredient option if your pooch has a sensitive stomach.

Irresist-A-Bowls have excellent protein percentages but can be a little high in fat. For example, the Irresist-A-Bowls Chicken & Duck recipe contains 43.4% protein as dry matter but 23.9% fat as dry matter, which is above average. As a result, these varieties aren't the best choice for inactive canines or pups prone to weight gain.

I and Love and You offers nine treat varieties and three meal toppers for you to spoil Scooby with.

I and Love and You design its meal toppers to support your dog's health in different ways, like Top That Shine, which contains ingredients high in fatty acids like flaxseeds and sunflower oil to keep your hound's coat sleek and shiny. Overall, they're top-of-the-line meal toppers, with several cuts of whole meat and broth in the top five ingredients.

I and Love and You has a wide range of dog treats, from dental chews to jerkies to bully sticks. Several recipes, like Beef Ear Chews and Good Golly Beef Gullet Stix, contain a single ingredient, making them a good choice for dogs with food allergies or sensitivities. All I and Love and You dog treats list whole cuts of meat as the top ingredient.

Every I and Love and You dog food variety lists real meat as the top ingredient, including all its kibbles. The use of real meat as the primary ingredient indicates I and Love and You produce superior dog food.

Real meat is beneficial for dogs as it is packed with essential amino acids and nutrients like iron, zinc, and niacin (vitamin B3). It's also minimally processed, making it highly digestible and easy on your canine companion's stomach.

One unique selling point of I and Love and You is none of its grain-inclusive recipes include rice, corn, wheat, or gluten. Many consider these ingredients to be fillers, which offer only modest nutritional value and are basically used to bulk up pet foods.

While the jury's out on whether dogs can have celiac disease, they can almost certainly have a gluten intolerance, and gluten offers few nutritional benefits for your barking buddy.

I and Love and You care about your canine and the environment by using only non-GMO ingredients in its formulas. Some GMO practices can negatively impact the environment. Specific GMO practices involve increased herbicide and pesticide use, which can damage wildlife and limit biodiversity.

The FDA states GMOs don't affect a dog's health and aren't more likely to cause allergic reactions. However, some pet parents and pet food companies are still wary about the long-term consequences of feeding their pups dog foods containing GMOs.

I and Love and You dog foods are very affordable when bought in bulk — surprising, considering it's a premium brand that uses no GMOs or fillers.

At the time of writing, a 40-lb bag of I and Love and You Naked Essentials Grain-Free Chicken and Duck dry dog food costs $98.99 on Chewy, at $2.48 per lb.

By comparison, a 47-lb bag of Purina Pro Plan High Protein Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice dry dog food costs $99.99 on Chewy, which works out to $2.12 per lb.

It's worth mentioning that I and Love and You are of much better quality. This Purina Pro Plan recipe lists rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal, and whole grain corn among the top five ingredients.

The only minor drawback of I and Love and You dog food is that some of its recipes include a couple of low-quality ingredients.

For example, its dry foods contain sodium selenite, which is a cheaper source of selenium and has a fine line for toxicity when manufacturing dog food. We'd prefer to see natural sources of selenium, like chia seeds.

Some kibbles, like the Naked Essentials sub-range, include dried tomato pomace. Tomato pomace is a good fiber source but is seen as a low-quality ingredient as it's a manufacturing by-product.

Many of I and Love and You's grain-free dry dog foods list peas, lentils, and garbanzo beans (chickpeas) among its top ten ingredients. In 2018, the FDA began investigating links between grain-free dog foods high in "peas, lentils, other legume seeds (pulses), and/or potatoes in various forms" and reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

The FDA's investigation is ongoing as of April 2025. An August 2024 update stated that its investigation includes grain-free and grain-inclusive dog foods.

"For most dogs, [grain-free] diets are just fine. They have real benefits for those with grain sensitivities, though this isn't a very common food allergy.

For some dogs, however, grain free diets could be damaging. There's some evidence of an increased risk of heart disease in a subsection of the population fed grain free diets. Researchers are looking into why this is and theorize it may be the increased legume consumption."

— Dr. Linda Simon MVB MRCVS

I and Love and You was not among the brands most frequently mentioned in DCM reports to the FDA. Consult your vet if you have any concerns about feeding your dog a diet high in pulses, legumes, and potatoes.

"I switched my dogs over to this brand. Not only do they adore the flavor and are beyond excited to get fed, but this is the first recipe and brand that I've been able to feed my chihuahua without her gaining weight. Up until now the only things I could feed her without her gaining weight was something very specific for small breeds, even though the amount she gets has always been the same. I've noticed an increase in their energy levels and both of them seem so very happy. I will sing this praises all day long."

"When Blue was a puppy, we struggled to find a food that did not hurt his belly. This one was gentle on his digestive system and he loves it!"

I and Love and You was founded in 2012 in Boulder, Colorado. Marty Grosjean, owner of Boulder's Only Natural Pet Store, teamed up with Brendan Synnott, co-founder of Bear Naked granola and Evol burritos, to create I and Love and You. Synnott invested $3.5 million into I and Love and You to help get the company off the ground.

Grosjean and Synnott were later joined by Chris Bentley, one of the co-founders of pet food supplier Aspen Pet, and Steve Ball, a former Nestlé brand manager.

As of 2025, I and Love and You has raised over $120 million from private equity firms and investment groups, including L Catterton, Winona Capital Management, and Revelry Brands.

I and Love and You's headquarters are located in Boulder, CO. Most of I and Love and You's dog foods are manufactured in the USA; however, its Irresist-A-Bowls are made in Thailand.

There has been one I and Love and You dog food recall as of April 2025.

On July 13th, 2015, I and Love and You recalled nearly 1,300 cases of its Cow-Boom! Strips Beef Gullet dog treats due to potential Salmonella contamination.

On July 14th, 2015, I and Love and You expanded its prior recall to include all Cow-Boom! Strips Beef Gullet dog treats with lot numbers ending 4T1 or 5T1 and with best-by dates in 2016 and 2017.

No illnesses in humans or pets were recorded due to this recall.

Image sourced from Chewy. Copyright "I and love and you".