Skip to content
In The Kibble
My dogs
The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.

Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Natural Choice Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice Swap Remove 02 Natural Choice Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice 31.1% 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice 24.4% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6%
02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice 41% 37.0% as fed Best in this row 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice 49% 44.5% as fed 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% as fed 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 0.0% as fed
03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. The count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice 2 of 5 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice None 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice None 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None
Starch, As Fed Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice 37.0% 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice 44.5% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice 386 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice 341 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice $2.92 13 lb bag, Amazon 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice $2.67 30 lb bag, PetSmart 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
Cost / 1,000 Kcal Lower Is Cheaper To Feed What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice $1.74 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice $1.62 Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Chicken & Brown Rice Chicken, chicken meal, brewers rice, whole grain barley, whole grain brown rice 02 Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Lamb & Brown Rice Lamb, Lamb Meal, Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen White Fish (Pollock), Turkey Neck, Turkey Gizzard, Beef Liver, Broccoli

Add A Food

The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.

Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.

Keep In The Know,
Know What's In The Bowl

The In the Kibble newsletter. Useful emails for dog owners: what we find inside dog food, how to feed well, and a heads-up when a food is recalled.
DOUBLE OPT-IN // ONE CLICK TO STOP // NEVER SHARED