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.
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: veal is young beef, and green tripe comes from cattle, so both count as beef.
Single-protein minces, such as Beef Mince, are the easiest 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.
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. Then check your freezer. Our 10 kg cartons of mince are about 30 × 20 × 15 cm. Our guide to raw dog food delivery in NZ explains how ours works, and the 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 |
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.
More guides
Raw dog food vs kibble in NZ: the cost per day
Cost per day for the same 20 kg dog, from budget kibble to small-pack raw, and how to keep raw feeding affordable.
Read the guide →
Novel proteins for dogs: goat, horse, venison and alpaca
What counts as a novel protein, which ones we sell, and how to build a diet without beef or chicken.
Read the guide →
How to switch your dog to raw food
A one-to-two week plan for moving your dog onto raw food, starting with a single protein.
Read the guide →