I see the ads on TV about this FreshPet dog food.

they claimed its made from real meat and veggies and they don't use preservatives

I want to know if any of you ever try this dog food and please let me know how do you think in terms of quality.

and also do you think this food is as good as raw diet food?

I haven't used it, but if you look at their website, you can read that they cook the food, and pasteurize it. So that already makes it not as good as raw since cooking destroys some of the nutrition. The ingredients also say chicken broth (not sure if that will have sodium in it) and 'natural flavors'. I'm sure it's better than some of the kibbles out there, but with the cost factor, I'd still choose raw.

 Quote: Daniel Fernando

I see the ads on TV about this FreshPet dog food.

they claimed its made from real meat and veggies and they don't use preservatives

I want to know if any of you ever try this dog food and please let me know how do you think in terms of quality.

and also do you think this food is as good as raw diet food?

No, I don't, but I think it's much better than a careless or random raw diet.

So I agree with Lori, and have additional thoughts: If the owner isn't into making a raw diet varied and balanced, and I know that some just are not, then I would consider it to be an alternative option, like THK with RMB add-ins (a step up from cooked Freshpet, IMO).

I would put un-canned but cooked food (basically meaning cooked but not cooked to the degree that canning cooks food) like Freshpet on a level higher than kibble, if we start with a level playing field of good ingredients.

For me, kibble in general is at the bottom of the ladder.

However, within each category (raw, dehydrated, cooked, canned, kibble) there are always individual entries that are better, even much better, than the lower entries on the next higher overall type. (I.e., the worst balanced kibble is better by far than a boneless meat raw diet, and the best kibbles are better than a poor-quality canned.)

One thing that might enter your decision process is that cooked and canned and frozen and dehydrated foods do not have the potential to be dangerous when combined with raw that kibble does. All but kibble are digested similarly.

You've already received some very comprehensive information and advice from Lori and Connie, so I'm chiming in not as any kind of nutrition expert but just as someone who has tried this food.

It's been a while, and when I used it, they had a variety that was like little nuggets, and I would cut them in half and use them as special training rewards. I can tell you the dogs loved it. From a human point of view, I found it to have an appealing appearance, odor and texture (unlike some of the pre-made raw patties I have tried).

So for folks who cannot or do not wish to feed raw, or who do not feed raw 100 percent of the time, I think these nutritonally complete FreshPet foods would be a quality alternative. I would probably still be using it in my rotation, but it's been hard to find in my area, and, yes, it is on the expensive side.

Its cooked and it still has some grain in it. But compared to many other commercial foods its not too bad. I know someone who maintained her Sm Fox Terriers on it and when she was strict with the amount they looked pretty good, no nasty ears allergies or stools. They really liked it too. I buy it sometimes when my dog looks kind of ribby to keep weight on him. I've found that supplementing pure fat works better (like the iditarod mushers do).

 Quote: cheri grissom

... It's been a while, and when I used it, they had a variety that was like little nuggets, and I would cut them in half and use them as special training rewards.

Can you tell me more about that? I recall from when I bought it to "test drive" that that the one I got had a light gravy on the pieces of meat and vegetable. Is there something else that is drier (I mean, usable in a bait bag)?

Maybe we are not all talking about the same product line ... ?

PS

http://freshpet.com/brand/freshpet-select/

I meant the little tubs called "Homestyle," near the bottom.

Connie, I can't tell from the picture what the Homestyle really looks like since the container is opaque and there is no other picture of it, but what I remember using was closer to this, the Roasted Meals:

http://freshpet.com/product/freshpetselectroastedchickendog/

Scroll down and note the picture of the bowl. It looked very similar to this but did not have the loose pieces of carrot and whatever the white stuff is. It was just the nuggets and the veggies were all incorporated into them. There was no gravy of any kind.

I should say that, when I was using it, it's not something I would just put into a bait bag without having it in a plastic baggie first. It was moist and would leave a bit of a mess on your hands and would be subject to "smooshing" if it was compressed, but like I said, I saved it for special occasions.

Ah, gotcha; that's very different. The "Homestyle" definitely had a light gravy, not just moistness of the pieces.

This stuff looks perfect for when my lil' Cairn goes to my in-laws to stay for a few days if we are travelling. They are perplexed by raw and I suspect that she ends up eating table scraps and sharing my FIL's dinner with him This might be a good answer.