What Everyone Must Know About Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food?

Just like how we care for ourselves, our special fur babies thrive when they follow a healthy active lifestyle and nutritious diet. As a pet parent, you can experiment a bit (but be cautious of what your dog can eat), so you can understand what works for them. The quality of what you feed your pet matters.

Let’s look at the current state of the pet food.

Freeze-dried dog food is one of the fastest-growing segments of the pet food market today. Although dry dog food remains to dominate in the market with 57% of the sales, NielsenIQ looked at several of the specialty formats and reported that dehydrated dog food sales in 2020 grew by 10.7% over 2019 sales and totaled $239.9 million.

NielsenIQ also shows interest from pet owners in feeding multiple formats to their pets. They found that dog owners tend to lean toward dry food and treats, while cat owners skew toward dry and wet foods with fewer tendencies for treats. However, roughly 33% of dog and cat households purchase all three formats and feed their pets a combination of dry food, wet food, and treats. This highlights freeze-dried serves both in one formula.

What is Freeze-Drying?

When you freeze dry dog food, it’s considered a low-temperature dehydration process. You freeze the food (typically whole ingredients, not meal) and lower the pressure of the food as you do. Before the food solidifies as frozen, ice and moisture are sucked out in a multi-step drying process.

Free-dry processing is a common type of water removal process that is used to preserve whole foods (meats, fruits, and vegetables). It is a three-step process where a formulated food is first frozen and then exposed to vacuum pressure as the temperature increases slightly. The process causes the frozen water in the food to sublimate, which means that it turns from ice to vapor in one step. Of all the food processing methods used to make pet foods, freeze-drying provides for the lowest amount of moisture in the food – on average, less than 5%. This lower moisture content allows safe, shelf-stable storage. Simply adding water rehydrates the food for consumption and frankly, humans have been doing this for generations to keep foods shelf-stable during critical times in history.

It’s important to note, though, that all dehydrated dog food is not freeze-dried dog food. Sometimes, dehydrated dog food has the moisture removed with a warm air process instead of a freezing-drying process that uses lower temperatures to remove most of the moisture. 

The gentle freezing-drying process preserves more of the nutritional content and results in less loss in essential nutrients in the food while causing less damage to the food’s proteins. Freeze-dried food provides more nutrition in every bite to support your dog’s overall health and well-being. Further, our freeze-dried recipes contain prebiotic fiber and probiotics that support healthy digestion.

The freeze-drying process preserves the tastes of the ingredients. For more of those fussy eaters particularly, freeze dried dog food are a great way to ensure they get the nutrition they’re supposed to be getting because they scarf it up. Some dog parents use freeze-dried dog foods as full meals in those situations. Don’t be afraid to offer your dog variety and nutritional content boosts; give them something new like McLovin’s freeze-dried dog food toppers.

Freeze-dried dog food provides minimally processed nutrition for dogs which appeals to pet parents seeking an alternative to plain kibble. Excelling in taste, freeze-dried dog food can be used as a full meal for fussy eaters, or as a tasty topper for all dogs to add an element of variety to their meals.

The McLovin Promise

At McLovin’s Pet, we’re on a mission to redefine standards for freeze-dried raw and healthy pet food. Our foods are sourced from high-quality ingredients by farmers, ranchers, and fishermen we know and trust. We hold them to the highest standards for ethics and safety.

Our foods are sourced with the best ingredients and natural freeze-drying techniques which are the most nutritional preserving methods from beginning to end by farmers, ranchers, and fishermen we know and trust in the USA, Canada, and New Zealand. We hold them to the highest standards of ethics and safety.
You will need to align on what the standards of ethics and safety are for the suppliers. Third-party audits, second-party audits, specific certifications, etc…

How We Do It

Pure Protein + Responsible Sourcing = True quality- manufacturing procedures are some of the most stringent in the industry. Reco a change: Real Protein and Fresh Fruits and Vegetables + Responsible Sourcing and Quality Manufacturing Processes = Quality Nutrition

Let’s Unlock the Benefits!

Freeze-Dried For a Yummy Boost

Freeze-drying is the PAWrfect way to gently lock in all the original goodness, flavors, and nourishing qualities of fresh chicken meat, fruits, and veggies. Leave chemical additives out of your puppy dog food bowl for good.

No Artificial Nasties

By excluding synthetic colors or gluten/cereals from our pure dog food, we offer excellent dietary value. Approved by picky eaters. Gentle to sensitive tummies. Trusted by pet parents and nutritionists.

81% High-Quality Meat

We based our species-appropriate recipe for dogs on a single-source animal protein. Unlike most freeze-dried dog treats on the market, our meal mix for dogs boasts a massive 81% concentration of chicken, bones & organs.

100% Natural Ingredients

For a nutritionally complete doggie meal, 19% of our deliriously chewylicious chicken bites are comprised of sustainably-harvested vegetables and fruits, jam-packed with nature’s finest vitamins and minerals.

Essential for Growth

Wholesome hand-picked ingredients deliver an abundance of naturally-derived nutrients that dogs love to bits. Promotes a lustrous fur coat, supple skin, while contributing to your little companion’s gut and eye health.

Easy-peasy to Store ‘N’ Serve

The best part about our meatylicious chicken and pumpkin chunks? They’re so simple to just Store, Pour, Serve. Puppers can savor them straight out of the re-sealable pack or hydrated with water.

Precautions for Happy Tummies

At feeding time, McLovin’s products must always be raw. Never cook, microwave, or heat them. Hydrate using cool or warm (never hot) water. Our mindfully suggested food to water ratio is 1 to 2. High Paws!

Long Shelf Life 

Freeze-dried food is usually good for at least a year … and some keep up to 5. Look for the sell-by date on the package.  But once you open it and let the air in, you’ll need to use it within a month, in most cases. 

Convenience

The longer shelf life that doesn’t need a freezer makes it just as convenient as kibble.  All you have to do is scoop and serve. Another tip, you can travel with it, making it a bit easier to pack as it’s super light and easier than filling up a cooler that might spoil. 

If you give your dog freeze dried dog food, you’re giving them the benefits of a raw diet but without having to worry about preparing fresh meat (or the bacteria that may accompany raw foods) each day.

For many pet parents, freeze-dried dog food is convenient, full of nutrition and full of taste dogs will love. It’s an option that allows shelf stability but the benefits of raw food at the same time. Try it out and see what your dog thinks of freeze-dried dog food. We bet they will give you a high-paw or two!