It can be overwhelming to choose food for your dog, especially when it comes to a raw diet. Raw diets are all the rage, so many companies are getting on board with raw foods. However, that doesn’t mean that all companies are offering balanced, high-quality raw diets.
To help guide you in choosing a high-quality raw diet for your dog, we’ve put together reviews of the 9 best options. To make things even better, you can have these foods delivered right to your front door. This ensures you won’t run out of dog food, forcing you to attempt to supplement your dog’s raw diet while you wait for a food order to come in.
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The 10 Best Raw Dog Food Delivery Services
1. WeFeedRaw – Best Overall
Main ingredients: | Beef, chicken, venison, lamb, turkey, duck |
Protein content: | Varies |
Fat content: | Varies |
Calories: | Varies |
WeFeedRaw is the best overall raw dog food delivery company. This company offers recipes with six protein bases, and it allows you to build your feeding schedule based on your dog’s specific dietary needs. This food is shipped frozen and is cold-pressure packed for maximum safe feeding.
All of the WeFeedRaw recipes are free of fillers, preservatives, and artificial colors and flavors. The recipes were formulated by a PhD animal nutritionist to meet or exceed all AAFCO nutrition standards, and they are veterinarian approved.
This is a subscription-based plan that ensures you never run out of dog food, but it does retail for a more premium price than the average dog food.
2. Sojos Complete Raw Made Easy Lamb Recipe – Best Value
Main ingredients: | Beef, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Whole Egg, Cabbage, Flax Seeds, Cranberries, Celery, Beef Liver |
Protein content: | 25% |
Fat content: | 14% |
Calories: | 362/cup |
This freeze-dried dog food is the best value for the money among the other top choices. The product is shelf-stable and results in much more dog food when mixed with water. Dogs reportedly love the taste and will enjoy munching on this kibble. It’s a great alternative to dog food as it’s fresh, raw, and less expensive than feeding your dog a raw food diet. It’s a nutritious option with no additives for a complete meal healthy for your pup. If purchased through Chewy, you can set up an auto-ship option to ensure you never run out of dog food.
This recipe is crafted for adult dogs and grain-free for dogs who have been put on a special diet by a veterinarian. You should check the ingredients for any possible food allergies your dog may have. A few negative reactions to this brand of dog food were that it gives dogs smelly gas, and there are some dogs who don’t like the taste.
3. Stella & Chewy’s Dinner Patties – Premium Choice
Main ingredients: | Chicken |
Protein content: | 48% |
Fat content: | 28% |
Calories: | 50 kcal/patty |
Stella & Chewy’s Dinner Patties are the premium choice for raw dog food delivery. This food can be auto-shipped through Chewy, and it’s made with high-quality protein sources from chicken muscle and organ meat. It also contains probiotics to support healthy digestion and to make the transition over to this food easier.
The single-source protein recipe makes this food a good option for dogs with food sensitivities. Since this food is in patty form, you can keep it frozen and only remove the number of patties you need for a meal for your dog.
This is a grain-free diet, so you should discuss this with your vet before transitioning your dog to it. This food retails for a premium price.
4. Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Raw Food – Best for Puppies
Main ingredients: | Chicken, duck, turkey, beef, lamb |
Protein content: | Varies |
Fat content: | Varies |
Calories: | Varies |
When it comes to feeding puppies a raw diet, the best option is Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Raw Food. This company offers a calculator that allows you to get food recommendations based on the age, size, and needs of your dog, making it ideal for puppies. They also offer specialized diets for dogs with kidney disease, liver disease, cancer, and joint and musculoskeletal problems, although you should always discuss this with your vet before transitioning your dog. They offer nutrition resources for veterinarians on their website, making it easier for your vet to discuss this food with you.
These foods are minimally processed and made with ethically sourced ingredients. They offer multiple meal plan options, including a budget-friendly meal plan to help with tighter budgets. This is a subscription-based meal plan that can be updated or changed anytime your puppy grows or develops different nutritional needs. Most of the diets offered by this company are grain-free diets, though, so make sure to read the ingredients and discuss this with your vet.
5. Instinct Frozen Raw Bites
Main ingredients: | Beef |
Protein content: | 12% |
Fat content: | 8% |
Calories: | 183 kcal/cup |
The Instinct Frozen Raw Bites are the other great raw dog food delivery option. If purchased through Chewy, you can set up an auto-ship option to ensure you never run out of dog food. It’s shipped frozen with dry ice to ensure it stays frozen throughout shipping.
This food is a grain-free food, which is not ideal for all dogs, so make sure to discuss this with your veterinarian before starting your dog on it. It is made without artificial colors and preservatives, though, and includes nutrient-dense ingredients like beef, beef liver, beef kidney, carrots, and sweet potatoes. The small size of the bites is ideal for dogs of any size.
6. Sundays Food for Dogs
Main ingredients: | Beef |
Protein content: | 35% |
Fat content: | 20% |
Calories: | 550 kcal/cup |
Sundays Food for Dogs is an extremely nutrient-dense dog food that is slow-dried to maintain nutrients while allowing you to keep it on the counter or in a cabinet instead of taking up space in your fridge or freezer. Due to its nutrient density, you will likely feed your dog around half the amount of this food as you would most other foods. It’s high in protein and contains quinoa, as well as being free of legumes. The jerky-like texture is highly palatable, even for picky dogs, and it’s a limited ingredient diet, making it suitable for dogs with food sensitivities.
It contains pumpkin and ginger to support sensitive stomachs, and it’s a good source of glucosamine, chondroitin, omega fatty acids, and antioxidants. It can be purchased as a subscription or as a one-time purchase.
Although you’ll feed less of this food to your dog, it does still retail for a premium price. Since you’ll be feeding less of it to your dog, your dog may require an adjustment period until they feel satisfied with the amount of food they’re getting per day.
7. Nulo Freestyle Freeze-Dried Raw
Main ingredients: | Beef |
Protein content: | 42% |
Fat content: | 28% |
Calories: | 195 kcal/cup |
The Nulo Freestyle Freeze-Dried Raw dog food is a good option if you’re hesitant to handle raw food, although you should still handle it with care and wash your hands after handling it. Since it’s freeze-dried, it carries a lower risk of pathogen transmission than most wet raw foods do.
It contains nutrient-dense ingredients like beef, beef heart, beef liver, beef kidney, broccoli, and sweet potato. It also contains probiotics for digestive health and is a good source of omega-fatty acids. This is a grain-free diet, so discuss this with your vet before switching. It’s a high-protein diet that is good for active and working dogs. This is a premium-priced dog food, but the bite-sized pieces make this a good option for dogs of all sizes.
8. Primal Freeze-Dried Nuggets
Main ingredients: | Beef |
Protein content: | 34% |
Fat content: | 36% |
Calories: | 144 kcal/oz |
The Primal Freeze-Dried Nuggets are a nutrient-dense food option for your dog, but they are higher in fat than most other raw diets. It contains nutritious ingredients like beef hearts, beef liver, carrots, squash, and quinoa. Although quinoa is a seed, it is classified as a whole grain and is a good source of protein and fiber.
This food is a good source of protein and omega fatty acids, and it’s formulated with sustainably sourced ingredients. It’s free of synthetic vitamins, using whole foods to meet your dog’s nutritional needs instead. This food should be reconstituted before feeding, which may be inconvenient for some people. It’s also recommended to break the nuggets into smaller pieces before feeding. This is a premium-priced raw food.
9. Tender & True Freeze-Dried Raw
Main ingredients: | Chicken, turkey |
Protein content: | 38% |
Fat content: | 37% |
Calories: | 144 kcal/oz |
The Tender & True Freeze-Dried Raw food is a high-protein raw food that features organic chicken, organic turkey, and organic chicken liver as the first three ingredients. It’s also high in fat, though, making it not ideal for all dogs. It contains other high-quality ingredients, like organic eggs, organic sweet potatoes, and organic apples. Although it’s nutritionally sound as a primary food source, this food can also be used as a food topper to entice picky eaters.
This is a grain-free diet, so make sure to discuss this diet with your vet. It’s bite-sized pieces, making it ideal for small dogs, but this food is not cost-effective or recommended for dogs over 30 pounds as their primary food source.
10. BJ’s Raw Pet Food
Main ingredients: | Turkey, beef, chicken, rabbit, veal |
Protein content: | Varies |
Fat content: | Varies |
Calories: | Varies |
BJ’s Raw Pet Food is a good option for dogs with food sensitivities and picky eaters due to the number of recipes this company has available. This food is shipped frozen in an insulated package to maintain its temperature during shipping. It’s packed in spill-proof containers that are easy to store in your fridge or freezer. It’s available in a variety of package sizes, and they offer one-time purchase and subscription purchase options.
The pricing breakdown on this company’s website makes pricing expectations easy, and they offer a feeding calculator that makes it easy to determine how much food you’ll need for your dog. These are all grain-free diets, so make sure to discuss this with your vet. Most of the recipes are also free of non-meat ingredients, like fruits and vegetables.
Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose The Best Raw Dog Food Delivery Service
Special Considerations with Raw Diets
Generally, veterinarians don’t recommend raw diets due to the risks associated with raw foods, especially raw meats. Raw food should be sourced and handled carefully, following sanitary procedures and good hygiene. It’s essential that you properly clean all food surfaces, including your dog’s bowl, and wash your hands well before and after handling raw food. This also applies to air-dried and freeze-dried diets.
If you are planning to transition your dog to a raw diet, it’s best to have a discussion with your vet beforehand to discuss your reasons for transitioning your dog. Make the transition very slowly incorporating the raw food gradually into the dog’s daily diet. This will help you ensure you give the dog’s digestive system the opportunity to adapt.
Your vet will be able to help point you in the right direction for choosing a properly balanced raw diet for your dog, or they’ll be able to help you get in touch with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist who can help you ensure your dog’s diet is balanced. Balancing a raw diet on your own is extremely difficult and risky, so commercially available raw food diets are often a better option.
Lastly, please consider that raw diets are not recommended for dogs suffering from kidney disease nor for dogs or owners with a weak or suppressed immune system. Keep in mind that you and your vet both want what’s best for your dog.
Conclusion
These reviews are meant to help you find a starting point in choosing a raw diet for your dog, but always talk to your vet before transitioning your dog to a raw diet, especially if your dog is a puppy, senior, or has medical conditions.
The best overall raw food delivery is WeFeedRaw, which offers six different protein bases and offers nutrient-dense foods. The more budget-friendly option is the Sojos Complete Raw Made Easy, which is natural and easy to feed. Stella & Chewy’s Dinner Patties are a great option that comes with a more premium price tag.
For puppies, Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Raw Food offers nutritionally sound options. If you’re looking for a vet-approved diet, try the Instinct Frozen Raw Bites, which is delivered frozen right to your doorstep.
Featured Image Credit: Alejandro rodriguez, Shutterstock
Quoted from Various Sources
Published for: WATPFC
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