Freeze-dried, dehydrated or kibble dog food: what's the difference?

Walk down our dog food aisle and you'll find three kinds of food sold in a bag: kibble, dehydrated food and freeze-dried raw. On the shelf they look alike. They are made differently, served differently and priced differently, and the right one depends on your dog, your budget and your kitchen.

How each one is made

Kibble

Kibble is cooked. The ingredients are mixed into a dough, cooked under heat and pressure in a machine called an extruder, cut into pieces and dried. Most kibble is about 10 percent water, so it keeps for months in a sealed bag.

Dehydrated food

Dehydrated food is dried slowly with warm air. Recipes usually start from whole meat, vegetables and fruit, and the low heat keeps the food closer to those ingredients than kibble. Some brands keep the temperature low enough to call their food "dehydrated raw"; others cook it gently before drying. The package tells you which kind you're buying.

Freeze-dried raw

Freeze-dried food starts as frozen raw food. The water is removed in a vacuum chamber while the food is still frozen, so the meat is never cooked. The pieces come out light and crumbly and keep their original shape.

Side by side

Water matters

All three foods have had most of their water taken out. Dogs on kibble drink more to make up for it. When you add water to dehydrated or freeze-dried food, that water counts toward your dog's daily intake. Whatever you feed, keep a bowl of fresh water out all day.

Freeze-dried raw is still raw

Freeze-drying removes water but doesn't cook the meat, so freeze-dried food can carry the same bacteria as frozen raw. Wash your hands and the bowl after feeding. Some brands treat their food with high-pressure processing (HPP) to reduce bacteria, and say so on the bag. Our raw feeding guide has more on safe handling.

You can mix them

You don't have to pick one. Many of our customers feed kibble as the base and add a handful of freeze-dried raw or a scoop of rehydrated food on top. It's an easy way to give a picky eater something new. If you add a topper, feed a little less kibble so the total amount of food stays the same.

How to choose

• On a budget: a complete and balanced kibble with a named meat as the first ingredient.
• Want raw, but no freezer space: freeze-dried raw.
• Want less processed food and don't mind adding water: dehydrated.
• Picky eater: keep the current food and try a freeze-dried topper.
• Puppy, senior or a health condition: ask your vet before changing foods.

Whichever you choose, switch over 7 to 10 days by mixing the new food into the old.

At our store

For kibble we carry Acana, Orijen, Farmina N&D, Carna4, Oven-Baked Tradition, Boreal, Open Farm and Fromm. Our dehydrated foods are Smack, Hurraw and Canisource Grand Cru, and our freeze-dried foods include Open Farm, Primal, Rawbble, Woof and Nutrience SubZero.

• Hurraw Chicken Dehydrated Raw Dog Food 2.5kg
• Smack Very Berry Chicken 250g
• Grand Cru Red Meat Dog Food 2kg
• Rawbble Freeze Dried Dog Food - Beef Recipe 340g
• Primal FREEZE-DRIED NUGGETS BEEF14oz/397g
• Woof Freeze Dried Dog Food Lamb 280g

• Dog dry food
• Dehydrated dog food
• Freeze-dried dog food

Questions we hear often

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