Jinx Dog Food Review – Are Their Healthy Kibble Legit?

Been dreaming of making your own dog food for your pup - but never actually had the time? Or maybe you actually made (or bought) some fresh dog food, but then ended up losing a lot of money when some of it went bad in the back of your fridge. A new pet food company, Jinx, is trying to bring the fresh food quality to the dried dog food market. Let’s review how much Jinx’s kibbles cost and what nutrition and veterinary science they bring to the doggie bowl. Oh - and we’ll see if dogs will actually eat it!

Jinx was kind enough to send us some free samples so we could write this review.

Wait, kibbles over fresh food?

Ok, we’ll admit it. Fresh food is all the rage these days, with companies like PetPlate, Nom Nom, FreshPet and Ollie dominating the conversation. So why is Jinx coming out with high-end kibbles and not wet food or food that has to be refrigerated?

Of course it’s awesome if you can cook meals for your pets. But wow, does that take time. And even if you purchase a subscription for a meal service like Nom Nom, you still have to make sure you are carefully refrigerating the meals to avoid spoilage. Dried foods like Jinx’s kibbles are just so much easier to store and keep from spoiling.

Kibbles are also a lot cheaper than fresh food. We don’t need to tell you how inexpensive some dried food bags can be at the grocery store - and you can get awesome deals on Amazon sometimes too (check bulk food prices on Amazon here if you want to see how cheap it can be). But it does seem like all the innovation in pet food recently has been focused on expensive fresh meals. And while we may all want the best for our pooches, it doesn’t feel fair that only people with huge checking accounts (or large credit card bills) get to feed their pets high-end nutrition. So the Jinx kibbles are a welcome new idea for the rest of us owners.

Besides the ease of storage and lower-price, dried food does have some health benefits that you can’t get as easily with wet. The biggest is how dried can help your animal’s teeth. That crunching you hear while Fido digs into the bowl is actually good for cleaning his teeth - some studies have shown that this works! We’ll talk more about how Jinx kibbles can help your animal have cleaner and healthier teeth in a bit.

Finally, and very importantly, the best kibble contains the right mix of protein, fiber, carbs and vitamins and minerals that your dog needs to be healthy. High quality dry food has ingredients that you’ll feel proud and safe feeding your pets. Let’s learn more about Jinx’s ingredients.

A review of Jinx dry food nutrition and ingredients

So what’s in Jinx’s dry food? And does it give your dog the nutrients they need to be healthy and happy? In short: yes.

Here’s the longer answer: Jinx meets or exceeds the requirements laid out by The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). AAFCO is an organization that helps federal, state and local officials regulate animal “feed.” They produce a list of nutritional requirements, and regularly review the latest science to update the list to help farmers, vets, animal food manufacturers and pet owners keep their animals healthy.

Plus who make it easy for them to trace their products back to the manufacturer, ingredient supplier, and even the shift the product was made at the manufacturer. They also say that they hold all the finished product at the manufacturer until after they have cleared a lab test to ensure that they are free of pathogens like Salmonella. The ingredient lists, depending on the flavor you pick, include things you can pronounce like “salmon” and “brown rice” and “rosemary extract.”

How much Jinx food do you feed your dog?

Each product comes with specific feeding guidelines, which you can access on their site or on the bag. We looked at the recommended feeding guidelines for the Salmon, Brown Rice and Sweet Potato Kibble; the Chicken, Sweet Potato and Egg Grain-Free Kibble; and the Chicken, Brown Rice and Avocado Dog Kibble Jinx formulas, and they all say the same amount of food based on the size of dog. Make sure to review the instructions on the product that you purchase, and also if you need to help your animal lose weight, talk to your vet about how to modify these feeding guidelines.

Jinx' modern feeding philosophy

Jinx has a pretty interesting philosophy when it comes to your dog’s nutritional needs. In case you are living under a rock, there is a whole people food “movement” toward what our ancestors supposedly ate - mainly revolving around getting humans to eat more protein and less carbs. We’ve certainly been known to enjoy the occasional steak (and ok maybe we slipped a bit to our furry friend too). In contrast to this “caveman diet,” Jinx makes the case that dogs evolved around humans for a very long time - and their ideal diet has been heavily influenced by what the people around them fed them (or dropped on the floor, I guess.)

Jinx says that the modern canine - the one probably sleeping on the couch next to you right now - has the following differences from their wolve cousins:

• Wolves are true carnivores, who only eat meat. Their guts are designed to handle large amounts of meat, cartilage and small bones. Dogs, on the other hand, have stomachs designed to eat leaner meat and some carbs. They need things other than just meat to get their nutritional requirements.
• Wolves are active predators, who have to spend a lot of time expending a high amount of energy hunting. Your pooch, however, probably sleeps half the day. Not a bad life!
• That wolf is going to live for six to eight years - Fido hopefully goes for ten to 14 years. Especially if you feed him right!

Following this philosophy, Jinx rejects the notion that your furry little canine needs to eat 100% mean, 100% protein. They say that’s not healthy, and that’s why they’ve formulated their meals to have a mix of protein, carbs, vegetables and other nutrients to meet or exceed the standards we mention above. 

What do Jinx kibbles cost?

Jinx has a few different dry food / kibble products. Here is what their current kibble line costs:

Jinx’s pricing is definitely a premium to the cheap stuff you’d buy at the grocery store, but it’s less expensive than a lot of the fresh meals like Ollie.

Jinx also offers treats (at the moment, a Chicken and Mango and a Chicken and Sweet Potato) and a chicken bone broth “sauce” that is designed to help your pup’s digestive tract, make picky eaters more likely to enjoy their food and “strengthen bones and teeth.” It’s sold out as we write this review, but check their site if it’s available now. 

The most important review - do dogs like Jinx?

Jinx sent us some of their dry food for our dog to try, so we let our little furry reviewer try it. But first, before we let you know how it went, Jinx does have quite a few reviews written on each product on their site. Dog owners are saying things like, “My picky eater loved the chicken kibble . It is the perfect blend” and “It’s pricier than other brands but it is def worth it! My Coco ate it up so fast.”

The Verdict:  Is Jinx worth it?

So, should you step up and get a premium kibble subscription? It really depends on your circumstance. If your dog is healthy, not overweight and doing fine with what you are currently feeding her, why change - unless you are spending too much time making her meals or already getting expensive kibbles.

But if you are worried that your pet deserves better, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of fresh meals, consider Jinx. They’ve got smaller sized bags that you can start with, and their commitment to nutrition and food-safety is impressive. Oh, and it seems like pups enjoy the food!