BARF is a great way to feed your dog a far more natural diet than processed kibble, or even wet food for that matter.

It’s not without drawbacks, and I’ll cover the risk with the most impact to health later (which applies to most dog foods, not just Raw & Fresh).

Raw & Fresh dog food works on a delivery service, arriving fresh (not frozen) at your door. That’s if you live in the Eastern states that is, and if you don’t check out brands like Lyka, Frontier Pets and Eureka who do deliver nationally – all of which are very good.

I’m a big fan of raw dog foods such as this. There seem to be many of these companies springing up all over America, and it seems Raw & Fresh have become very popular.

Let’s take a look!

Related: A Guide to BARF

Raw & Fresh dog food review

What the marketing says

I’ll skirt over the marketing with what I consider the key points – the points which may matter to you. I’ll work on the basis you already know the benefits of raw dog food seeing as you’ve come to this review.

• Only human grade produce – I consider this the biggest plus when it comes to a raw/BARF brand, as the standard is so much better than pet grade (trust me on that!)
• Hormone-free, free range, and fresh from the farm – this is far better for your conscience, and more ethical, than buying a dog food made with factory farmed animals.
• All ingredients are sourced within America – which I know will win hearts with many of us. We love to support American businesses, don’t we?

When it comes to the formulas they offer a variety – two are AAFCO compliant, which means “complete and balanced” to cover all the nutrition your dog needs, and these are the Complete Beef and Complete Roo formulas. You may decide to opt for both, because variety is good(!), although the Roo formula might work well for weight management or allergies.

There’s also some more basic formulas (“essentials”) which work well as part of a diet, or perhaps a great way for you to break into full raw feeding, or save you some preparation!

If you have a cat, keep in mind there’s Raw & Fresh cat food as well.

For the sake of the Raw & Fresh dog food review we’ll focus on the Complete Beef formula.

What the ingredients really say

The last raw food review I wrote was The Nosh Project, which serves as an excellent comparison to show why Raw & Fresh is better. You see, with that raw food, also “human grade”, you’ll find there really isn’t much meat in it, which is deceiving.

With Raw & Fresh, however, you’ll find ingredients which really do matter to your dog – beef meat, chicken meat, chicken bones (ground), chicken heart, beef liver, beef kidneys, lamb heart, and beef spleen.

You can see a good visual representation of Raw & Fresh dog food here:

Some of those may sound gruesome to you, but these are where the real nutrition is, the nutrition your dog needs to thrive.

If you have a lot of time on your hands, get hold of the ingredients of one of those scientific vet-endorsed dog foods, and start Googling the names of some of the more minor ingredients after the cereal grains.

Here’s some examples:

• Biotin – Sourced from organ meats, eggs, fish, meat, etc.
• Niacin – Sourced from fish, beef, chicken, turkey, etc.
• Thiamin – Sourced from meat, fish, etc.
• Taurine – Meat, dairy, fish, etc.

Granted, there are alternative sources of these nutrients in grains, vegetables, and other alternatives, but you have to assume your dog will readily digest these better from animal ingredients.

The conclusion you can draw, is most nutrients required in dog food (as stipulated by the AAFCO standards), can naturally be source from animal ingredients – so why not just feed those to your dog?

What else is in Raw & Fresh dog food?

I’ve covered the important of animal ingredients in BARF enough (much more than I planned!), so lets look at the rest of the formula.

Some BARF foods, like Proudi, are all animal, whereas many include other ingredients like vegetables and superfoods. I consider these beneficial to a dog in moderation, which is the case in Raw & Fresh dog foods.

In the Complete Beef formula we find the following, each being a source of vitamins, minerals, omega fatty acids, and fibre – and all should help boost your dog’s immune system, wellbeing, skin and coat health, and hopefully lead to much better health than they would get from a processed kibble:

Vegetables: Spinach, sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, carrot, broccoli.

Superfoods: Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, wheat germ oil, cod liver oil, omega oil.

I realise die-hard raw feeders see these ingredients as non-essentials, but when it comes to a canine diet I see all these as beneficial for all manner of reasons. I estimate carbs to be 2.9% (based on wet values), which isn’t much at all in the way of carbs.

A quick summary

I have to say I really like Raw & Fresh – dog foods and cat foods. I like the company ethics, the fact it’s all human grade, and I wholeheartedly believe a food as good as this will really benefit your dog (or cat).

Being delivered to your door, for most of us busy people, is also a huge benefit. Preparing raw yourself is a huge chore, so why not have it delivered in convenient-sized packets easy to feed to your pet?

Where to buy?

Buy directly from the Raw & Fresh website.

The main problem with BARF

I think my next post will cover the problems with BARF as a feeding style, although it’s a problem with most dog-feeding styles period, is this:

Wet foods do not provide a natural way for a dog to retain good dental health, which wild carnivores achieve from chewing and gnawing flesh and bone of prey.

BARF food contains ground bones, which don’t serve this purpose. Dr Ian Billinghurst, the American pioneer of BARF, knows this, and writes about it, so it’s a shame this oversight remains so unconsidered.

The best suggestion I have is to feed raw meaty bones alongside a BARF diet, but keep in mind if your dog devours too much bone, along with the bone in the BARF, this can cause an excess of calcium – not good.

If your dog chews a bone, but doesn’t actually consume it, then that’s fine. You’ll just need appropriate bones, as chicken necks, wings, and carcass will easily be consumed.

Ingredients

Ingredients of Raw & Fresh dog food (Complete Beef for Dogs formula):

Beef Meat, Chicken Meat, Chicken Cages, Chicken Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Kidneys, Lamb Heart, Spinach, Sweet Potato, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kale, Carrot, Beef Spleen, Sunflower Seeds, Broccoli, Chia Seeds, Wheat Germ Oil, Cod Liver Oil, Omega Oil

Please note: I’ve noticed ingredients may vary, so the above may not be the current ingredients.

Analysis

Typical composition of Raw & Fresh dog food (NOTE: These are from the Beef Essentials formula as the Complete Beef AAFCO formula does not have these figure on the website):

If you’re looking for a really good dog food which ticks a lot of boxes then Open Farm is probably what you’re looking for. It’s really good for a lot of reasons.

It’s not the most expensive, but the ingredients are decent all round with a focus on meat for your meat-loving dog. It’s naturally preserved with a good balance of ingredients which are nutritious for your dog.

Open Farm dog food would make a great base diet, and there’s no reason you can’t add a little variety as well with some of those more expensive “dried raw” foods, or even some fresh foods.

Let’s take a closer look…

What the marketing says

A great thing about the Open Farm dog foods is you can trace all the ingredients within the exact bag you purchase. You simply take the “lot code” printed on the bag and enter it into their website here, and they’ll tell you the farms the ingredients came from.

How cool is that?

Here’s some other benefits of Open Farm pet foods based on the marketing:

• Open Farm use ethically sourced meats, without growth hormones or antibiotics. They have a focus on sourcing meats from ethical farms with better standards of wellfare.
• The fruit and vegetable ingredients are non-GMO, sourced from local farms (local to the manufacturer that is).
• The Open Farm wet foods are made with 100% human grade ingredients, with free-range or certified humane meats.

The transparency of where the ingredients come from is really nice to see, and very welcome in a world where not many pet foods are transparent. What other dog foods tell you where the ingredients come from?

Most other dog foods don’t even tell you what the ingredients really are.

What the ingredients really say

There are two variations of Open Farm dog foods. A grain free range and a grain-based range which will appeal to you if you’re read any fear mongering on the Internet about DCM (a heart condition exploited by pet food companies to convince you to feed grain to your dog).

Both are good, so don’t worry too much. Some grains are beneficial for your dog, with moderation being the most important factor.

You’ll be happy to know all formulas have a decent amount of meat, an excellent amount of protein, and when it comes to the grains we’re talking much more nutritious oats rather than the ambiguous cereal by-product crap you get in supermarket dog foods.

A great way to balance your dog’s diet is with variety, so why not rotate between grain and grain free. Best of both worlds?

Grain free Open Farm dog foods

The Homestead Turkey & Chicken recipe is the most popular in the grain-free range. If your dog doesn’t like chicken, there’s also lamb, salmon, and whitefish formulas as well.

If you need a hypoallergenic dog food then you’ll be pleased to know only the chicken formula contains chicken. You shouldn’t have any concerns with the other ingredients either. So you’re safe.

The turkey formula has a very respectable 30% protein and 14% fat. I estimate carbs to be around 38% which is really good for a dry dog food.

The main ingredients in the turkey formula are humanely raised turkey, humanely raised chicken, ocean whitefish meal, russet potatoes, chickpeas, and field peas. It’s a nice variety, and I much prefer to see a range of ingredients rather than some form of meat and a shed load of grain.

The rest of the ingredients do a lot of talking – coconut oil is great to see, and will benefit your dog’s skin and coat, joint health, immune system, and aid digestion. You’ll also find a range of fruits, veggies, and superfoods like alfalfa, chicory root (acts as a prebiotic), and flaxseed. All these ingredients will boost your dog’s health and wellbeing, and I feel it’s very well thought out in respect to your dog’s nutritional needs.

Grain-based Open Farm dog foods (Ancient Grains)

The only real difference between the Open Farm grain free dog foods and the Ancient Grains range is the potatoes and legumes have been switched out for decent quality grains.

In the Harvest Chicken and Ancient Grains recipe we still have a decent amount of protein and animal fat, but oat features as a main ingredient. Oats are by far one of the best grains for a dog, being low GI and a good source of energy.

Other grains feature, such as millet and quinoa, but again these are far better to see than the ambiguous cereal grains and wheat in other dog foods.

It’s nice to see a decent grain-based dog food which has considered the health benefits to your dog rather than pushing profit margins to the max.

Open Farm Puppy Food

The Open Farm Puppy formula is, like the adult formulas, a very good choice. It’s similar in ingredients to the others in the grain-free range, but with a better emphasis on meat proteins and fats to support your puppy’s essential growth phase.

The wet foods, which I cover below, are also suitable for your puppy, and I recommend adding some of those into the mix as well.

Open Farm wet dog foods (including bone broth!)

The wet foods are fantastic. Very healthy, being formulated with bone broth which is so beneficial for your dog you’ll wonder why you haven’t fed it sooner.

The downside to the wet food is obviously the cost, but it’s a great addition to the dry foods, and you can even poor some on top of your dog’s dinner as a tasty nutrient booster!

It’s great to see the wet food ingredients are 100% human grade, ethically farmed, and free-range. I know of some American companies who use misleading claims like “contains human grade ingredients” which doesn’t mean they all are, only some, and it seems some use pet grade meats regardless of what they tell you.

If you can add some of the Open Farm wet foods to your dog’s diet, then do so! Recommended!

Where to buy

Open Farm pet foods are available from the following retailers:

Ingredients

Ingredients of Open Farm dog food (Homestead Turkey & Chicken Recipe):

Humanely Raised Turkey, Humanely Raised Chicken, Ocean Whitefish Meal, Russet Potatoes, Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), Green Lentils, Field Peas, Coconut Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Ocean Menhaden Fish Meal, Tomato, Apples, Pumpkin, Natural Flavour, Flaxseed, Sun Cured Alfalfa, Carrots, Chicory Root, Salmon Oil, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Calcium Carbonate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, selenium, Yeast, Calcium Iodate, Rosemary Extract, Taurine, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Dicalcium Phosphate.

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Open Farm dog food (Homestead Turkey & Chicken Recipe):