To choose a raw dog food in New Zealand, check where the meat comes from, exactly which animals are in it, whether it includes bone and organ or is muscle meat only, how it’s packed, and what it costs per day rather than per kilo. Then check that it’s delivered to your area and fits your freezer.
Raw dog food labels can look alike until you know what to look for. These are the questions worth asking of any raw food, ours included. Still deciding whether raw suits your dog? Our guide to whether raw food is good for dogs covers what owners like about it.
1. Where does the meat come from?
Look for a clear answer on the label or website. “New Zealand meat” tells you more than “premium meat”. Ours is made from 100% New Zealand meat, bone and organ.
2. Which animals are in it?
A good label names every animal, not just the main one. This matters most if your dog can’t have a particular meat, because chicken turns up in a lot of foods even when it isn’t on the front. Watch for the hidden ones too: green tripe comes from adult cattle, so it counts as beef.
Single-protein minces, such as Beef Mince, are easy to read. Blends are handy but need a closer look. Our guide to novel proteins explains why some owners want meats their dog hasn’t eaten before.
Check for grain as well. All of our food is free of grain, as our guide to grain free dog food explains.
3. Is there bone and organ in it?
Most raw feeders aim for the 80/10/10 rule of thumb: about 80% muscle meat, 10% raw bone and 10% organ. Some products already include bone or organ, and some are muscle meat that you’ll need to add to. Neither is wrong, but you need to know which you’re buying.
- A mince of muscle meat only needs bone and organ added, for example with a balancer like Balance Mix, mixed one part to two.
- A blend that lists offal already has some organ in it.
- Chicken minced with the bone, like our Chicken Mince, brings some of the bone part with it.
Our guide to raw feeding terms explains offal, organ and raw meaty bones in plain English.
4. Is it raw, or a cooked roll?
Most dog roll in New Zealand is cooked, often with cereal and preservatives added. That’s a different food from raw. If the label mentions cooking, cereal or preservatives, it isn’t raw. Our guide to dog roll versus raw mince has the details.
5. How is it made and packed?
- Made to order or from stock. Ours is made the week after you order.
- Portions. A 10 kg slab is hard to use. Food cut into blocks lets you thaw a couple of days’ worth at a time.
- How it arrives. Ours arrives chilled and goes straight in the freezer.
6. What does it cost per day?
Price per kilo is misleading on its own, because raw food holds much more water than kibble and a raw-fed dog eats more grams. Work out the daily cost for your dog’s weight instead. Our raw versus kibble cost guide does the sums for dogs of different sizes, and buying in bulk cartons usually works out far cheaper per day than small pet-store packs.
7. Will it reach you, and will it fit?
Check that the supplier delivers to your area, how often, and what the delivery fee is per order (Feed Raw delivers across Auckland and the Waikato). Then check your freezer. Our 10 kg cartons of mince are about 36 × 27 × 18 cm. Our delivery page explains how our raw dog food delivery works, and its address checker tells you your delivery day.
A quick checklist
| Check | What you want to see |
|---|---|
| Origin | A clear country of origin for the meat |
| Ingredients | Every animal named, with offal spelled out |
| Bone and organ | Clear whether it’s included or needs adding |
| Raw or cooked | Raw, with nothing cooked, cereal or preservative in it |
| Packing | Portions you can thaw a few days at a time |
| Cost | Worked out per day for your dog’s weight |
| Delivery | Your area, a set day, and a freezer that fits it |
How our food answers each check
Here’s the same checklist filled in for our range, so you can compare like for like:
| Check | Feed Raw |
|---|---|
| Origin | 100% New Zealand meat, made to order in the Waikato |
| Ingredients | Every meat named on each product page, with a free-from list. Green tripe counts as beef, and veal is listed on its own; tick both Beef and Veal to leave out everything from cattle |
| Bone and organ | Single-protein minces are the meat part; Chicken Mince has bone minced through; most mixes have offal; Balance Mix adds organ and tripe to plain mince |
| Raw or cooked | All raw, with no grain, fillers or preservatives |
| Packing | 10 kg cartons; mixes and minces in blocks of about 500 g in a liner; bones packed in together; rolls 1.8 kg, ten to a carton |
| Cost | About $3.40 to $4.10 a day for a 20 kg dog, from $6.90 a kilo |
| Delivery | $5 an order whatever the weight, delivered chilled across Auckland and the Waikato by our own team |
You can read about Feed Raw, where our food is made and who delivers it, and our promise sets out what we commit to.
A first order that keeps it simple
Once you’ve chosen, start small and simple: one single-protein mince for the switch, then bones and organ once your dog is settled. For a 20 kg dog that’s a 10 kg box of Chicken Mince to start, about three weeks of food, and a carton of beef or veal bones or a box of Balance Mix with the next order. You can buy raw dog food online from our full range, sorted by type.
Most of our customers already fed raw before they came to us, and we don’t expect any issues with your first box. If something isn’t right, get in touch within 14 days of delivery and a normal person will sort it out with you. That’s for your first order with us, once per household.
Common questions
Is a blend or a single protein better?
Neither. Blends are easy because the mixing is done for you. Single proteins make it easy to see what suits your dog, which is why we suggest one simple protein when switching to raw.
How much will my dog need?
Most adult dogs eat about 2 to 3% of their body weight a day. The feed calculator works it out for your dog and suggests products and how many cartons to order.
What should I look for in raw dog food in NZ?
A clear country of origin, every meat named, whether bone and organ are included, raw rather than cooked, blocks you can thaw a few days at a time, a cost per day you’re happy with, and delivery to your area.
Can I filter by what my dog can’t have?
Yes. Tick the meats in the allergen filter in our shop and anything that contains them is greyed out. Veal is listed on its own, so for a dog off beef, tick Veal as well as Beef. The calculator has the same option.
How fresh is it when it arrives?
It’s made the week after you order and arrives chilled, ready to go straight into the freezer.
Do I have to sign up to a subscription?
No. You can order one box at a time, or set an order to repeat every 1 to 8 weeks and change or pause it in My Account before the weekly cut-off.
More guides
Is raw food good for dogs? What owners like
What owners like about raw feeding, how to get set up, and an easy way to try it.
Raw feeding for beginners: the terms explained
BARF, prey model, 80/10/10, raw meaty bones and offal: the raw feeding terms you keep seeing, in plain English.
Grain free dog food: is a raw diet grain free?
Why raw food is grain free by nature, what grain free means on a label, and switching from grain free kibble.