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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 Taste of the Wild Ancient Wetlands Canine Swap Remove 02 Taste of the Wild Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 Weruva Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine 35.6% 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 35.6% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6% 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 64.0% Best in this row
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 Ancient Wetlands Canine 34% 31.0% as fed 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 33% 30.0% as fed Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 0.0% as fed 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 6% 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 Ancient Wetlands Canine 3 of 5 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine None 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 1 None in the last 3 years 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free None Best in this row
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 Ancient Wetlands Canine 31.0% 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 30.0% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine 425 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine 422 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine $2.11 28 lb bag, Amazon 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine $2.86 14 lb bag, Amazon 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free -- 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 Ancient Wetlands Canine $1.24 Best in this row 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine $1.69 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Ancient Wetlands Canine Duck, duck meal, chicken meal, grain sorghum, millet 02 Appalachian Valley Small Breed Canine Venison, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, peas, lentils 03 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 04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free Chicken (Boneless, Skinless Breast), Chicken Broth, Pumpkin, Carrot, Pea

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.

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