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Ingredient file // Animal protein

Dehydrated Herring

Concentrated fish protein, not an omega-3 supplement

Dehydrated herring is whole herring cooked and dried into a concentrated fish protein, much like fish meal. It gives a dog well-digested protein and some marine fat, but no label or study shows how much omega-3 it supplies.

Role in the food Supporting nutrient
What it is
Whole herring cooked and dried into a protein-rich fish ingredient, a close relative of fish meal.
Made from
Whole herring: flesh, bone and cartilage
Main job
Concentrated fish protein
Typical amount
Not published
Watch for
Rancid fish fat in old or warm-stored bags
Not the same as
Herring oil or whole herring

Straight answer

Is Dehydrated Herring safe for dogs?

Count it as fish protein, not fish oil

Dehydrated herring has had its water cooked out, so it carries more protein than its place on the list suggests, unlike whole or raw herring, which is mostly water. Treat it as a good protein. If you want omega-3s for joints or skin, look for a declared EPA and DHA figure or add fish oil.

Why it is in the food
Concentrated fish protein

Our read // In our catalog

In 1 of every 356 foods we track

Share of foods that list it

<1%

9 of the 3,204 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 3 brands. All dry dog food.

Each square is 1% of the catalog

Where it sits on the label

Median position 8. In the top five of 1 food, so it is usually a supporting ingredient.

Top five List position, heaviest first

Above the salt

100%

Almost always listed before the salt, so there is more of it than a pinch.

Price per lb

Foods with it $5.08
All foods $3.25

Median of the cheapest bag price across 8 priced foods, 56% above the catalog. The price is the food's, not the ingredient's.

Who leans on it

56%

of the foods that list it are from Orijen. 3 brands use it in total.

What it is

How it is made

Herring is one of the small oily fish caught in bulk for meal and oil. Cooking and drying turn the catch into a stable protein, part of a fish meal trade of 5 to 6 million tonnes a year.1,9

  1. 01 // Source Whole herring Small pelagic fish caught for meal and oil, alongside anchovy, menhaden, sardine and capelin.
  2. 02 // Process Cooked Cooking sets the protein and frees water and oil from the flesh.
  3. 03 // Process Oil partly removed Fish meal is pressed into a solid cake and a liquid. How much oil a dehydrated herring keeps is not published.
  4. 04 // Process Dried and milled The cake is dried and ground. Antioxidants and cool, dry storage keep the remaining fat from going rancid.
  5. 05 // Output Dehydrated herring A dry fish protein of flesh, bone and cartilage with the water cooked out, by its maker's own description.

What is in it

Composition, dry matter

75

% protein

Average protein, dry basis, for fish meal of this grade. No lab publishes figures for dehydrated herring by name, so this is the nearest benchmark.

Crude protein 57.4-81%2
Crude fat 2.5-15.3%2
Ash 6-33.8%2
Calcium 0.9-81.9 g/kg2
Phosphorus 14.5-50.9 g/kg2

Bone share drives the spread: ash runs from 6 to 34% of dry matter. Oil removal matters too. Raw herring is about 12% fat as eaten, and pressing takes part of it out.1,2,3

Why it is in the bag

Real fish protein, backing up the main meat

  1. Main nutrition
  2. Supporting nutrient
  3. Does a job
  4. Mostly filler

Dehydrated herring is fish with the water cooked out, so it adds real protein: fish meal of this grade averages about 75% protein on a dry basis. In ORIJEN Original, for example, it is declared at 4%, listed after fresh chicken, turkey and other dried meats, so it is one of several protein sources, not the base. Labels list by weight, so a dried ingredient likely carries more protein than its rank suggests. Its omega-3 share is not published.2,11,12

  1. 01

    Protein without the water

    Raw herring is about 71% water. Dried, the same fish becomes a protein ingredient averaging about 75% protein on a dry basis in fish meal of this grade.2,3

  2. 02

    High protein quality

    In a 12-dog trial the fish meal diet digested better than poultry or lamb meal diets, and lab and rooster tests put fish meal lysine near 90% digestible.4,5

  3. 03

    Marine fat and bone minerals

    Raw herring carries about 0.7 g EPA and 0.9 g DHA per 100 g. The bone left in adds calcium and phosphorus.3,9

  4. 04

    A bulk commodity

    Herring is one of the small pelagic fish caught specifically for meal and oil, and world fish meal output holds at about 5 to 6 million tonnes a year.1

How much Brands do not publish amounts; the closest dog test fed 10% salmon meal with crushed bones, and dogs ate it as readily as a chicken diet.5

Our read // The claims

What the evidence supports

Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.

  1. Brands say

    Dried fish is a highly digestible protein

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    In a 12-dog trial, protein digestibility at the end of the small intestine was 87.0% on a fish meal diet, 80.2% for poultry meal and 71.5% for lamb meal. The trial was small, and it tested fish meal, not herring.4,5

  2. Owners say

    Fish is safe for dogs with food allergies

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    Fish caused reactions in 5 of 297 dogs with proven food allergy, against 102 for beef. The low count may partly reflect how rarely dogs were fed fish. Fish is a less common allergen, not a safe one.6

  3. Brands say

    Gently dehydrated fish keeps more nutrition than meal

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    No study compares dehydrated herring with herring meal. In a rooster assay, rendered chicken meal digested worse than raw or steamed chicken, so heat matters, but the maker's own FAQ says dried fish is made by cooking.9,10

  4. Critics say

    Fish in dog food carries dangerous mercury

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    FDA testing put herring at 0.078 ppm mercury on average, against 0.350 ppm for canned albacore tuna and 0.995 ppm for swordfish. Herring sits among the low-mercury fish, and the scare does not fit it.7

Straight answers

What owners ask

  1. Q01

    Is it just filler?

    No

    It is concentrated fish. Fish meals of this grade average about 75% protein on a dry basis, and fish meal digested better than poultry meal in a small dog trial. Filler would have no nutritional job.2,4

  2. Q02

    Is dehydrated herring just herring meal?

    Close to it

    Both are herring cooked and dried. Orijen's maker says its dried fish is flesh, bone and cartilage with the water removed by cooking, which is how fish meal is made too. The gentler-heat story is unproven.1,9

  3. Q03

    Why is whole herring listed higher?

    Water weight

    Labels list ingredients from most to least by weight. Whole herring is about 71% water and dehydrated herring has had most of it cooked out, so the wet fish can outrank the dried one while supplying less protein.3,11

  4. Q04

    Is raw herring risky for dogs?

    Raw, yes

    Some raw fish carry thiaminase, an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1, and mink and foxes fed lots of raw fish developed deficiency. Cooking inactivates it, so dried herring in kibble is not the concern.8

Who uses it

Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps

Top brands, by foods that list it

  1. Orijen 5 / 25
  2. K9 Natural 2 / 8
  3. Farmina 2 / 6

Foods that list it / all the brand's recipes we track.

Amazon best sellers that list it

  1. #53 Orijen Original Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

Rank on Amazon's dog food best seller list, checked October 2026.

Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it

  1. Dehydrated Chicken 67%
  2. Chicken 56%
  3. Chicken Fat 44%
  4. Turkey 44%
  5. Chicken Giblets 33%
  6. Liver 33%
  7. Whole Herring 33%
  8. Dehydrated Salmon 22%
  9. Mixed Tocopherols 22%
  10. Fava Beans 22%
  11. Oat Groats 22%
  12. Millet 22%

On the shelf

Foods that list Dehydrated Herring

9 foods in our catalog list it, highest on the label first.

K9 Natural Baked & Coated Grass-Fed Red Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodK9 NaturalK9 Natural Baked & Coated Grass-Fed Red Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 5 on the labelK9 Natural Baked & Coated Cage-Free Poultry Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodK9 NaturalK9 Natural Baked & Coated Cage-Free Poultry Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 6 on the labelFarmina Vet Life Obesity canine Dry Dog FoodFarminaFarmina Vet Life Obesity canine Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 6 on the labelFarmina Vet Life Diabetic Canine Dry Dog FoodFarminaFarmina Vet Life Diabetic Canine Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 8 on the labelOrijen Original Small Breed Puppy With WholePrey Nutrition Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodOrijenOrijen Original Small Breed Puppy With WholePrey Nutrition Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 8 on the labelOrijen Six Fish Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodOrijenOrijen Six Fish Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 8 on the label
Show 3 more
Orijen Original Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodOrijenOrijen Original Grain-Free Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 12 on the labelOrijen Amazing Grains, Fit & Trim Dry Dog FoodOrijenOrijen Amazing Grains, Fit & Trim Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 12 on the labelOrijen Amazing Grains, Puppy Large Dry Dog FoodOrijenOrijen Amazing Grains, Puppy Large Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 13 on the label

Sources

What we read

Checked October 1, 2026.

  1. 1 Fish meal Feedipedia (INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ, FAO), 2026 // Database
  2. 2 Fish meal, type 70 protein Feedipedia (INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ, FAO), 2026 // Database
  3. 3 Herring, raw Matvaretabellen, Norwegian Food Composition Table (Norwegian Food Safety Authority), n.d. // Government
  4. 4 Protein and amino acid bioavailability of extruded dog food with protein meals of different quality using growing mink (Neovison vison) as a model Journal of Animal Science (abstract via Europe PMC), 2016 // Journal
  5. 5 Fish meals, fish components, and fish protein hydrolysates as potential ingredients in pet foods Journal of Animal Science (abstract via Europe PMC), 2006 // Journal
  6. 6 Critically appraised topic on adverse food reactions of companion animals (2): common food allergen sources in dogs and cats BMC Veterinary Research, 2016 // Journal
  7. 7 Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish (1990-2012) U.S. Food and Drug Administration, n.d. // Government
  8. 8 Thiaminases Cornell University Department of Animal Science, Plants Poisonous to Livestock, 2018 // University
  9. 9 Frequently Asked Questions Dog & Cat Food ORIJEN (Champion Petfoods), n.d. // Industry
  10. 10 Chemical composition, true nutrient digestibility, and true metabolizable energy of chicken-based ingredients differing by processing method using the precision-fed cecectomized rooster assay Journal of Animal Science (abstract via Europe PMC), 2019 // Journal
  11. 11 What's in the Ingredients List? AAFCO, n.d. // Regulator
  12. 12 ORIJEN Original Dog Food Pets Corner (retailer listing of the ORIJEN label), 2026 // Industry
An ingredient on its own tells you very little. What matters is how much of it there is and where it sits in the list. That is why we weigh the top five rather than reacting to any single name further down. Back to the wiki

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