This post is sponsored by Wellness and the BlogPawsTM Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share the availability of Wellness Products at PetSmart including Wellness® Complete Health™ Line and Wellness® Core® Line, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Neither Wellness nor PetSmart is responsible for the content of this article.

My dogs are a part of our family. Like children, they entertain us, provide unconditional love, and annoy the heck out of us when they misbehave. But unlike children, they’ll never grow up and move away! Unfortunately, dogs age so darn quickly, and we have them for such a short time, so it’s our job to love and care for them.

When you only weigh 6-pounds and your legs are 3

When you only weigh 6-pounds and your legs are 3″ tall, everyday activity like climbing the stairs in the backyard can be overwhelming. But being healthy helps!

Part of the responsibility of having a dog is taking care of her health. To be sure you can catch an illness early, it’s important to know the Five Signs of Wellness. It was knowing these signs that alerted us to a serious illness in our 6-pound Maltese, Gracie.

Five Signs of Wellness for Dogs & How Food Factors In

  1. Skin & Coat: A dull coat, dry skin, and hair loss can all be signals of serious underlying diseases. To support your dog’s skin, coat, and health, her food should contain essential vitamins, minerals, and guaranteed levels of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
  2. Energy: A change in your dog’s energy level can sometimes be the first sign of illness. Give your dog a healthy start by feeding her a balanced blend of high-quality proteins, select fats, and grain-free carbohydrates to help stay healthy and thrive.
  3. Digestive Health: Vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea are serious for dogs, especially small pups like Gracie. Keeping track of your dog’s stool isn’t fun, but recognizing any change from normal is important to report to your Vet. You can help keep her digestive system in shape by feeding a food with a combination of healthy fiber, probiotics, and chicory root extract.
  4. Eyes, Teeth & Gums: Your pet’s eyes should be clear and brights. Discharge, dryness, dullness, etc., means it’s time to give the Vet a call. But feeding a pet food with a guaranteed level of Vitamin A can help. As for gums and teeth, you’ll need to know what they look like normally. That’s because dogs can have pale pink to dark salmon gums, and it’s a chance in color that can denote illness. Swelling and bright red or pink can mean inflamed gums. Pale pink or white gums can signal fever and disease. To support healthy teeth and gums, your pet’s food should include calcium and phosphorous
  5. Immunity: Want to help ward off illness by keeping your dog’s immunity level boosted? Feed your dog a diet rich in antioxidants, like fruits and vegetables in addition to nutritional supplements like Vitamin E.

Wellness Complete and Wellness Core Pet Food

wellness-logoWhile it may seem overwhelming to include all of these wellness-boosters in your pet’s diet, it really isn’t. That’s because Wellness recently expanded their Complete Health Line to add new grain-free options! It joins their complete line of Wellness Products which provide all of the nutrients and supplements your dog needs to stay well. Wellness uses natural ingredients with super nutrients for better nutrition for your dog. Their wholesome food includes both pre and probiotics. They create their pet foods through conscious ingredient sourcing using only the highest quality standards. While the new line is grain-free and that’s a great option for many pets, our little Gracie has Protein-losing Enteropathy (PLE). She was diagnosed a year ago, and because of it, I’ve become much more educated in how and what to feed her and her “sister” Jewel (a 10-year-old Pomeranian).

I’ll share more about Gracie and PLE soon, but in the meantime, I want to take you along with me on my recent shopping trip to PetSmart to select a new food for her. As part of her PLE treatment, we have to change her source of protein every 6 -12 months. She’s been on a limited ingredient diet (LID) with kangaroo as the protein source since she was diagnosed and she was eating chicken when she became sick, so we needed to move her to a food that was not poultry or kangaroo (I’m thankful to be moving past kangaroo because it’s not easy to find).

 My recent shopping trip to PetSmart to select a new food for our 6-year-old Maltese with PLE - #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

My recent shopping trip to PetSmart to select a new food for our 6-year-old Maltese with PLE

After researching the Wellness Core and Wellness Complete ingredients online, I settled on their Wild Game variety. But when I got to my local PetSmart, I realized the 22-pound bag contained more food than Gracie could consume in years – it was huge, and she only eats 1/4 cup of food a day!

My six-pound Maltese vs. 22 pounds of Wellness Wild Game food = not a good match, so I had to keep shopping for another alternative. #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

My six-pound Maltese vs. 22 pounds of Wellness Wild Game Food = not a good match, so I had to keep shopping for another alternative.

Unfortunately, my PetSmart was sold out of the small bag of Wellness Wild Game and although a friendly and helpful employee did check to see if they had it in stock somewhere else in the store or back waiting to be restocked, sadly they didn’t. He even offered to call another store, but of course, I needed it on the spot because Gracie has only enough of her alligator food to use in the transition to her new food and I didn’t want to buy another bag of food she wouldn’t be able to eat.

This friendly PetSmart employee provided great service during my recent shopping trip. #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

This friendly PetSmart employee provided excellent service during my recent shopping trip

I started looking through the display and quickly found it was divided by Core and Complete which made shopping easier. I knew I couldn’t use Core, so that whittled down the number of bags. I started reading through the ingredients on the Wellness food bags looking for the right formula for Gracie.

Wellness provides complete nutritional information and ingredients on every bag. #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness provides complete nutritional information and ingredients on every bag.

I immediately decided against the wet food options as we’d tried several over the years and she’s not a fan. Though after thinking about it later, I think I’ll go back and check out the varieties again. She may like the Chunky Centers version (if I can find one that fits her diet).

Wellness Core Chunky Centers Dog Food #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Core Chunky Centers Dog Food

Wellness Core Canned Dog Food #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Core Canned Dog Food

Wellness Core Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Core Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food

I also passed by the grain-free options because she needs a food lower in protein (I know, that seems counterintuitive, but it’s what she needs) and after reading the labels, the varieties with grains included had lower levels of protein. I also passed on anything that had chicken as an ingredient (though my final choice does have chicken fat in it – the Wellness LID food may be an option for her in the future).

Wellness Complete Health Dog Food #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Complete Health Dog Food

Wellness Small Breed Complete Health Dog Food #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Small Breed Complete Health Dog Food

You’ll notice the Wellness Complete Health line also includes foods formulated for Adult, Puppy, Senior, Small Breeds, and Healthy Weight in addition to varieties like Lamb & Barley, Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal, Chicken & Salmon, Deboned Turkey & Brown Rice, Whitefish & Sweet Potato, and more.

I finally chose Wellness Complete Adult Lamb & Barley Recipe. Its protein is Lamb, and although it also includes fish meal which means a dual protein which isn’t ideal for a PLE dog, it just means that fish can’t be her next protein and I’m OK with that. I’ll likely switch to the Wild Game version or Wellnesses LID on her next food rotation. It also includes chicken fat, again, not great for her, but I’m assuming it’s a small enough amount that it’ll be okay.

Wellness Core Lamb Dog Food ingredients #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Wellness Core Lamb Dog Food Ingredients

Because our little girl loves treats, I did pick up a few options for her. One is meat-free, and the other has lamb as the protein, so both fit into her dietary requirements.

Our little Maltese loves treat! These Wellness Crunch Well-Bars and Petite Treats both fit into her dietary requirements. #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Our little Maltese loves treat! These Wellness Crunch Well-Bars and Petite Treats both fit into her dietary requirements.

I checked out with Gracie’s new food plus an adorable pink collar with a tiny bell. It looks cute on her and helps me locate her if I accidently lock her into a room because I didn’t realize she was following me. She’s a silent little ninja that’s never far away.

Buying Wellness Dog Food at PetSmart - #WellnessPet @wellnesspetfood @PetSmart #ad

Buying Wellness Dog Food at PetSmart

Five Signs of Wellness for Dogs & How Food Factors In

Gracie will be trying out her new Wellness food (and treats), and we’ll be sharing her journey. Does your dog need some nutritional help too? Try out Wellness so you can see the benefits of real pet health and well-being for yourself with their balanced blends of high-quality proteins, select fats, and nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables plus both grain and grain-free varieties. How would your pup benefit from Wellness? Visit PetSmart to check out the extensive Wellness lineup in order to pick the right food for your dog.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wellness. The opinions and text are all mine.