The FurFresh Dog Food Review: Tested & Evaluated 2024

Are you searching for freeze-dried dog food? Today's FurFresh Dog food review is for you. We’ve tested this brand and compared it to our top-rated dog foods. Here’s what you need to know:

Related: The Best Dog Food Australia.
Related: How To Choose The Right Dog Food?
Related: How Is Australia’s Dog Food Industry Regulated?
Related: What is AAFCO? The Association of American Feed Control Officials.
Related: What Is the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA)?
Related: AAFCO vs PFIAA: Dog Food Standards Comparison Australia.
Related: Understanding Guaranteed Analysis Levels in Dog Food.
Related: Real Meat vs Meat Meal.

Australia's FurFresh Dog Food Review

Taste 5/5

Our three testers loved this food and licked their bowls clean. If you’ve been following our reviews, this is common with freeze-dried dog food. This type of food is just more appetising to our pups!

Just like with Petzyo (our top-rated dog food), all our testers enjoyed their meal and were actively wanting more.

Another good point was the texture. Since the meat is diced instead of minced, dogs are forced to slow down. I’m personally always struggling to get one of my dogs to eat slower, so having freeze-dried food that needs to be chewed is a welcome change.

This brand was a home-run in the taste category, so we’re giving it 4 out of 5.

Ingredients 4/5

All ingredients in these recipes are human-grade and minimally processed, which is great to see. As a reminder, the Australian pet industry is highly unregulated and some pet-grade ingredients have been deemed dangerous for dogs [1] so human-grade is a relief.

These recipes are both grain-free and quite low in carbs, fairly similar to one of our fave best-rated foods such as Ziwi Peak. However, unlike Ziwi Peak, this isn’t a fully raw diet: the vegetables are blanched (AKA lightly cooked) to improve digestion and imitate prey diets.

Although FurFresh creators defend the inclusion of blanched veggies, we couldn’t detect any significant change with our three testers. Our dogs loved the food, but fully raw food isn’t harsh on their GI tracts either.

From a composition point of view, these recipes are basically 50% to 80% protein, as seen in the ingredient list: the first two ingredients are the bulk of the food and fully animal-based, followed by two or three veggies and some extra goodies (chia, spirulina).

We’re giving this brand 4 out of 5 in this category because of the good protein choice, raw ingredients, and the carb-to-protein ratio.

Protein content 5/5

FurFresh excels in the protein department. All three daily diet recipes feature a main protein (chicken, beef or salmon), completed with offal. Also known as innards or organ meats, these add key micronutrients that are essential to long-term health [2]. It also replicates a “prey diet”, since if your dog were to hunt, they would eat a combination of muscle meat and internal organs.

From a consumer perspective, we also appreciated the inclusion of both the dried and rehydrated nutritional analysis. As we’ve mentioned before, calculating nutritional values in wet dog food to compare with traditional dry dog food is a bit of a hassle. We appreciate the ease of use, and it’s clear FurFresh is a high-protein dog food. In the dried matter analysis, it features 36% crude protein in the chicken recipe, and a minimum 28% in both the salmon and beef recipes. This is well above official AAFCO recommendations for both adult dogs and puppies [3].

All proteins are Australian-sourced, which is great to see. Overall, we’re loving the variety and the quality of the included proteins, so we’re giving this brand 5 out of 5 in this category.

Additives 4/5

These recipes are fairly streamlined, but they still manage to add in some nice extras:

We liked what we saw in these recipes, and our testers were delighted with the food. We’re giving this brand 4 out of 5 in this category.

Variety 3/5

At the time of writing, FurFresh offers three main recipes for daily food, and plenty of extras (broth and supplements) to round up your dog’s diet.

Overall, we’d say the three main proteins featured in these recipes are enough for most people. Both the chicken and salmon recipes are single-protein, while the beef features a mix of beef and chicken.

There’s also some variety beyond the main proteins, which is unusual for most freeze-dried foods. The salmon recipe is the fattiest at 14% crude fat, while the chicken features a whopping 8% more protein than the other two.

If you’re after single-protein, this brand has a full line of single-protein raw treats to choose from.

It would’ve been nice to see other protein options (such as kangaroo), but the limited range is understandable. We’re giving this brand 3 out of 5.

Price 3/5

As most freeze-dried dog foods, this brand is on the more expensive side. It’s one of the higher end foods available in Petbarn, and this price shows it. However, the price is similar to other high-quality brands like Ziwi Peak, so it might already be in your budget.

However, we understand not every household can afford a fully raw diet for their dog, which is why we’re taking off 2 stars.

Do Not Buy if…

This is a great option for many dogs, but it might not be the right choice if you:

Final Verdict

This is a high-quality food that we’d happily feed our pack. If it’s within your budget, give it a try!

References

1. “How is the pet food industry regulated in Australia?”. August 12, 2019. RSPCA Australia. Retrieved August 25, 2023. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/how-is-the-pet-food-industry-regulated-in-australia/
2. “What is The Difference Between, Offal, Viscera and Organ Meats?” Dog Nutrition Naturally. Retrieved August 25, 2023. https://www.dog-nutrition-naturally.com/offal.html
3. “AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles”. Association of American Feed Control Officials. Retrieved August 25, 2023. https://www.aafco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Model_Bills_and_Regulations_Agenda_Midyear_2015_Final_Attachment_A.__Proposed_revisions_to_AAFCO_Nutrient_Profiles_PFC_Final_070214.pdf