Orijen Freeze-Dried Dog Food from Chewy.com | Product Review

We like Orijen dog treats, so when Chewy.com asked if we'd like to try Orijen Adult Freeze-Dried Dog Food, we quickly agreed with the understanding that we would use this as a topper for our dogs' regular food.

We like that Orijen pet food is made in Canada with regional ingredients that are sustainably raised, human grade, and fresh.

In fact, their freeze dried foods are made from fresh, raw ingredients.  The food is then flash frozen and freeze-dried to preserve freshness.  According to Orijen, this offers all the benefits of a raw diet.  

According to the Chewy.com web site:

Orijen Adult Freeze-Dried Dog Food is loaded with meat ingredients (90%), including a Biologically Appropriate symphony of cage-free chicken, turkey and nest-laid eggs from local farms, plus wild-caught herring and flounder from North Vancouver Island — all delivered to Orijen's kitchen fresh, where they’re flash frozen and gently freeze-dried to lock in their goodness and taste. Brimming with goodness to nourish your dog completely, Orijen Adult Freeze-Dried Dog Food features poultry and fish in authentic Whole Prey ratios, including richly nourishing liver and heart, marrow and cartilage which supply essential vitamins and minerals in natural form, dramatically reducing the need for synthetic ingredients in Orijen foods

Key Benefits

• Freeze-dried to lock in flavor and nutritional value
• Made without preservatives
• Balanced meal perfect for daily feeding
• High-protein, low-carbohydrate formula

Chewy.com sent us a bag of Orijen Adult Freeze Dried Dog food.   Inside the ziplock bag we found 12 little "cakes" of food to re-hydrate.  The food smells good - a bit like alfalfa.

To feed, you need to crumble the number of "cakes" into a portion of hot water to re-hydrate.  This procedure reminds me of those boxed amaryllis bulbs available around the Christmas holidays.  You know the ones where you need to "create" the potting soil from a dehydrating "cake."

At any rate, with a ration of 1/4 cup of hot water to each cake, this procedure takes about 5 minutes.  It's safe to say that Jeffie, Rudy and Rosie thought it smelled fantastic and were pretty eager to try it. 

Orijen Adult Dog Freeze-Dried Dog Food Ingredients:

Chicken (ground with bone)*, turkey (ground with bone)*, whole herring*, chicken liver*, chicken heart*, whole eggs*, spinach greens*, pea fiber, turkey liver*, turkey heart*, whole flounder*, ground sunflower seeds, Red Delicious apples*, Bartlett pears*, Red Heart plums*, Tilton apricots*, pumpkin*, Butternut Squash*, Imperator carrots*, cranberries*, blackberries*, blueberries*, kelp*, mixed tocopherols, chicory root, dandelion root, summer savory, peppermint leaf*, ginger root*, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate. * DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen.

You might need a magnifying glass to read the instruction for preparing this food.  Instructions are on the side in very fine print.  (Or maybe I just need new glasses!)   And here come's the only less-than-pro remark I have to say about this food.

Our pack includes two 90-some pound dogs and a 70 pound still-growing puppy.   

A 6 oz bag of Orijen Adult Dog Freeze-Dried food contains 12 medallions (which I'm calling "cakes).  

Recommended Usage

Using the table below as an initial guide, feed approximately 4% of your dog’s weight in reconstituted food daily. Feel free to supplement with the occasional raw meaty bone. WEIGHT OF DOG MEDALLIONS PER DAY 2 kg / 4 ½ lb 1 ½ 3kg / 6 ½ lb 2 5 kg / 11 lb 3 7 kg / 15 ½ lb 3 ¾ 11 kg / 24 lb 5 ¼ 15 kg / 33 lb 6 ½

For your dog to enjoy ORIJEN’s amazing fresh food flavors to the fullest, rehydrate orijen freeze dried foods by adding 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) (60ml) of warm water per medallion, wait 2-3 minutes and serve. HAVE A LARGER DOG? For each 5kgs/11lbs of additional body weight feed 1 1/2 additional medallions daily PUPPIES AND PREGNANT DOGS? PUPPIES: up to 50% grown feed twice adult amount, 50-75% grown feed 1½ times the adult amount, and 75-100% grown feed 1¼ times the adult amount. GESTATION: add ½ extra medallion per 5kgs of mothers body weight per day. Lactation: feed free choice. LEFTOVERS In the unlikely event of leftovers, we recommend refrigerating them immediately and discarding any leftovers older than three days.

Using that guide, it would take 15 1/2 medallions (cakes) to feed just Jeffie each day.   

In fact, to feed all three of my dogs would be 38 per day - just over 3 bags.   The cost of a 6 oz bag is $12.99 at Chewy.com. $38.97 per day.  Cost would prohibitive for many pet owners.

That said, if you had a small or very small dog, this would be a convenient and less costly way to feed your dog a diet similar to the popular raw diet.

All three of our dogs truly loved this food.  I think it is worthy noting that this food received the Dog Food Advisor's second highest rating of 4.5 stars.  

I'm pleased to recommend  Orijen Adult Freeze-Dried Dog Food.  I like the healthy ingredients and that this food is made by a Canadian company I trust.  Plus, I received it from Chewy.com, a company I love for their superior customer service, super fast home delivery, and wide selection of pet food and supplies.

* We received one bag of Orijen Adult Freeze-Dried Dog Food from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review of the product and service.  We received no other compensation - financial or otherwise.

We're joining the Tasty Tuesday blog hop today.  This is a blog hop that celebrates good food, sponsored by Sugar the Golden Retriever and Kols Notes.  

Talking Dogs is the official blog of For Love of a Dog Jewelry.