Dehydrated dog food is not too much unlike your typical dry dog biscuits, but is actually the healthier option. Growing steadily in popularity, dehydrated food for your dog is becoming the go-to choice for dog owners looking for healthier alternatives than your average dog food.
It’s also handy to note that because all of the moisture is removed through the cooking process, the best-dehydrated dog food usually has a nice long shelf life! Which is great if you only want to use it as a topper for your dog’s normal dry food!
Additionally, it’s super-duper easy to prepare, you just add warm water and stir – and, voila! A healthy, nutritional, filling, and palatable meal for your pup. If you’re curious about where to start with feeding your dog dehydrated dog food, take a look at this list we’ve prepared of the best options currently on the market.
The Best Dehydrated Dog Foods
Your pooch won’t lose out on variety with all of the different flavours offered by Spot Farms!
They understand that just like us humans, dogs have their flavour preferences, and that’s why they made the choice to offer a great range of foods that will appeal to pretty much any pups taste. They also use real meat instead of an animal meal.
Key Features
- Flavours: Grain-Free Beef, Chicken, Duck, Turkey & Pork
- Size Options: 1.25lbs, 3.5lb, 8lb
- Why We Recommend: If you have a dog with stomach issues, grain-free dog food is the way to go.
You know how some dog food companies will use artificial colours on their dog biscuits? Well now you do, in fact – that’s how they make you think that the brown is the meat whilst the green and reds are the vegetables!
Well, that is most certainly not the case with Spot Farms food, as there is nothing artificial about it, they use human-grade ingredients, so you could even share a bowl with your pup – though we don’t recommend it!
All of Spot Farms dehydrated food is grain-free and made with probiotics to aid in digestion. As well as being very compact, and very easy to store (taking up approximately 25% the space that normal dog food would), making it especially good for those living in small homes.
You can also buy it in different bag sizes, perfect for if you feed it as the topper to a homemade diet and therefore need as much food to last you the month.
Pros
- Made with human-grade ingredients.
- Contains no artificial anything.
- Available in numerous flavours.
- Grain-free.
- No animal-meal
Cons
- Can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
- Not all dogs will enjoy the flavours.
- Consistency can be a bit soupy.
2. The Honest Kitchen
The Honest Kitchen is one of the most popular brands for dehydrated dog food for a reason, it has been recommended by those from within the veterinary field for its more than adequate nutritional value, especially when dogs genuinely can and do suffer from poor diets.
Key Features
- Flavours: Cage-Free Turkey, Free Range Chicken, Ranch Raised Beef, Wild Caught Fish – plus they offer a Puppy Kit in each of these flavours.
- Size Options: 1.75 ozs, 2lb, 4lb, 10lb
- Why We Recommend: Can be used as a whole food or nutritious topper.
Their food is handmade and minimally processed with completely natural ingredients, which is perfect not only for dogs with sensitive stomachs but all dogs in general as a good diet can prevent illnesses and help treat ongoing ones.
With four different meat flavour choices for your dog – turkey, chicken, beef, and fish – The Honest Kitchen offers not just real meat, but organically produced meat to boot! Free range chicken, cage-free turkeys, ‘ranch-raised’ beef, as well as ‘wild-caught’ fish.
This means that the protein content is higher than other dog foods, with the meat being higher quality, all with a healthy amount of carbohydrates and fewer calories than other foods too! And if there was any worry about the quality of your dog’s food, there’s no need to be concerned!
The Honest Kitchen’s food is held up to the same standards the FDA sets for human food. There are also multiple sizes of bags available to buy for your dog to last them however long you need, and with the food being super compact, a 10 lb bag will make up 40 lb once hydrated!
And with such a long shelf life, you won’t need to worry about running out straight away! Customers always comment on the nice smell too – that’s a nice bonus to giving your dog a healthy diet!
Pros
- Using human-grade ingredients, in a human-grade kitchen!
- Only cage-free meat is in this food.
- Available in multiple flavours.
- Multiple bag sizes available.
- Completely natural ingredients.
Cons
- The soft, liquid-rich consistency can cause diarrhea in some dogs.
- Incredibly fussy eaters may be put off by the “green porridge” appearance.
- Some shipments arrive with very close expiration dates.
3. Dogs for the Earth
Dogs For The Earth offer a few different flavours for your beloved fluffy friend to enjoy, including Chicken, Elk, and Beef.
Key Features
- Flavours: Beggin’ For Beef, Cha Cha Chicken Salad, Everybody Loves Elk
- Size Options: 10 biscuits
- Why We Recommend: Great for little chunks who need to watch what they eat.
Their “Beggin’ For Beef” food is made with the ‘leanest beef as well as fresh fruit, herbs, and vegetables – all of which help to make up the perfect blend of ingredients for a healthy diet to keep your furry friend happy!
This healthy as can be dog food also helps to get rid of toxins in your dog’s system, so say goodbye to those tear-stained faces – as, did you know, with the right nutrients – this can help clean up your pup’s eyes!
Unlike many large dog food companies that have warehouses filled to the brim, ready to go out as soon as an order is placed – Dog’s For The Earth make each batch fresh as soon as you place your order – just one of the plus sides you can enjoy when buying from a small company!
We can’t talk about this food without giving a shout out to the snazzy design of the packaging – that dog wearing sunglasses and a cape – genius. I mean, sure – our first priority is the ingredients, but we all love to buy with our eyes, and finding a product that would look great in your home is a big selling point.
OK, back to the important stuff – everything about this food is organic and humane. Farm fresh meats with no chemicals, additive, preservatives, gluten, grain, corn, and even soy. Making it great for fussy eaters and those pups with sensitive stomachs!
Pros
- 100% organic.
- Gluten-free.
- Free from corn and soy.
- Meats sourced from ecologically sustainable sources.
- Helps to eliminate itchy skin, tear stains, and stomach issues.
Cons
- The pack sizes are incredibly small.
- Shipment time can be lengthy.
4. Dapper Dog Cuisine
Made with 100% real and natural ingredients including chicken or turkey (depending on which one you order), potato, carrots, green beans, celery, and spinach! Feeding your dog this rather dapper food means that they will be on the path to a superior, healthy, and balanced diet.
Key Features
- Flavours: Dehydrated Chicken, Dehydrated Turkey
- Size Options: 5lbs
- Why We Recommend: It’s full to the brim with vitamins so will help keep your dog in tip-top condition!
You’ll also be pleased to hear that you’ll no longer need to add any vitamin or mineral supplements to your dog’s food, as the Dapper Dog team have already added those to the recipe, making for a food that provides your dog with everything they need to live a happy and healthy life!
Dapper Dog Cuisine not only provides your dog with a diet loaded with vitamins they’ve also perfected their recipes, making them super duper tasty and especially palatable to the fussiest of pooches!
Utilizing completely natural and highly nutritious ingredients, this could be the perfect food for giving your tail-wagging best friend the best diet possible!
Pros
- Gluten-free, chemical-free, and corn-free!
- Made in the US by a family-owned company.
- Great consistency for those with dental problems.
- Using only human-grade ingredients.
- Quick and easy to prepare – just add water!
- Contains 30% protein.
- Masses of fibre.
Cons
- There are also fewer choices with what flavour you want to feed your dog.
- Not that many sizes of bag available, only two in fact.
- Consistency might not be liked by all dogs.
5. Smack Pet Organic
If your dog has any kind of allergies, this food could be the perfect one for them! Also, how neat is it that you don’t even have to rehydrate if you don’t want to? As this food is suitable to feed as is, or when mixed with warm water to rehydrate.
Key Features
- Flavours: Caribbean Salmon Fusion, Chunky Chicken, Rockin’ Rockfish, and Very Berry Chicken
- Size Options: 2lbs
- Why We Recommend: Completely natural and contains nothing artificial.
Every dog is different, and some might not like that typical oatmeal texture usually accompanying dehydrated foods so this can be a great alternative if you want to give them the nutrients they need in one dish without putting them off with the liquid-like texture!
Or, if you’re looking to slowly get your dog used to a rehydrated meal, you can start by feeding dry, then add an additional tablespoon of water every other day until they will eat this fully moistened – a great trick for dogs that aren’t drinking enough!
All of Smack Pet food products contain some of the world’s ‘best organic whole superfood ingredients’ which not only taste great to your dog but also provide them with all the nutrients they need for a healthy diet!
There are no GMOs, gluten, grains, or any preservatives or artificial colours and flavours. Plus, did we mention that it’s all handmade!
Pros
- Gluten-free.
- Feed as is, or add water.
- Raw food.
- Available in four groovy flavours.
Cons
- The taste might not go down well with all dogs.
- Texture can be soupy when rehydrated.
Bottom Line
All of these products are brilliant in their own way, but when it comes down to it, we recommend The Honest Kitchen – while their products may seem fairly similar to the others, the quality of ingredients used is second to none.
They provide the biggest range in the different meats they offer in their food, and even offer a puppy range – and we all know, a really important part of puppy development is giving them the best diet possible!
They also offer different sized sacks of food, which is great if you’re feeding more than one dog or only using the food as a nutritional topper for your normal dog biscuits. They also aim to be as humane as possible in their meat production and only get products from farmers they trust – how great is that?
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Nadia
Nadia is passionate about all things dog related and is one of the leading writers at Dog Struggles. Her attention to detail and expertise means you can rest assured knowing her product recommendations & reviews are the best of the best.
