Which ‘We Feed Raw’ Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?
We Feed Raw Dog Food earns The Advisor’s top rating of 5 stars.
The We Feed Raw product line includes the 6 frozen, raw dog foods listed below.
Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.
Recipe and Label Analysis
We Feed Raw Lamb Patty Recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.
Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.
Ingredient Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is lamb. Lamb is considered “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered” lamb and associated with skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.1
Lamb is naturally rich in all 10 essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The second ingredient is beef heart. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing to us humans, heart tissue is pure muscle — all meat. It’s naturally rich in quality protein, minerals and complex B vitamins, too.
The third ingredient is beef liver, an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.
The fourth ingredient is beef kidney. This organ is low in fat and rich in protein and essential minerals.
The fifth ingredient includes beef necks. Raw beef neck consists of muscle meat and bone and contains optimal levels of both protein and natural calcium.
The sixth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.
However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
The seventh ingredient is calcium carbonate, likely used here as a dietary mineral supplement.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.
With 2 notable exceptions…
First, this recipe contains sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.
And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.
Nutrient Analysis
Based on its ingredients alone, We Feed Raw looks like an above-average raw dog food.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 46%, a fat level of 31% and estimated carbohydrates of about 15%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 44% and a mean fat level of 33%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 15% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 74%.
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical raw dog food.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this still looks like the profile of a raw dog food containing a significant amount of meat.
However, with 55% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 33% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for pets on a low-fat diet.
Our Rating of We Feed Raw Dog Food
We Feed Raw is a grain-free raw dog food using a significant amount of named meats and organs as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
We Feed Raw Dog Food Recall History
The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to We Feed Raw through May.
No recalls noted.
You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.
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