Freeze Dried Dog Food

Freeze Dried Dog Food

Freeze dried dog food is raw food with the water taken out at low temperature rather than cooked out with heat, which is what separates it from kibble. It arrives shelf-stable and light, you add water back at feeding time, and the result is closer to a raw diet than anything else you can keep in a cupboard. For anyone who wants to feed raw but has no freezer space — or travels, or takes the dog camping — that trade is the whole appeal.

Read the water ratio on the pack and use it. Under-rehydrating is the most common mistake, and it matters because the food is designed to be fed with that water back in. Warm water works faster than cold and brings the smell out, which helps with a hesitant dog.

The second thing to expect is volume. Freeze dried food is dense, so the daily amount looks alarmingly small next to a kibble scoop — measure by the feeding guide rather than by eye, because carrying an old scoop across is how dogs get overfed on this category. It is also expensive per kilogram, which is why plenty of owners use it as a topper over a complete dry food rather than the whole diet. Check the label before you do the reverse: some products here are complete diets and others, particularly the boosters and toppers, are complementary and are not meant to be fed alone. Change food across a week rather than in a single day.

• Freeze dried cat food and boosters
• Air dried dog food
• Freeze dried dog treats
• All dry dog food
• K9 Natural, Kiwi Kitchens, The New Zealand Natural, ZIWI