Freeze-Dried Raw Simply Venison Dinner Patties Dog Food, 25-oz bag
Graded by The Sniff System
Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Raw Simply Venison Dinner Patties Dog Food is a freeze-dried raw food with venison as its primary protein.
This food offers good protein quality from venison, providing solid amino acid coverage. It also includes quality fat sources, like named fats and marine oil, which are good for EPA and DHA. The carbohydrate sources are also high quality and provide fermentable fiber.
Nothing concerning in the deck.
Good fit for dogs whose owners want a freeze-dried raw diet with venison. Nothing serious working against it.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
Good fit for adult Golden Retrievers and similar active sporting breeds navigating diet-associated DCM concerns. Venison anchors position 1, with zero pulses in the top 15, plus venison liver at position 2 (a natural taurine precursor). In its 2022 update on diet-associated DCM, the FDA identified Golden Retrievers as the most reported breed, with 121 cases out of 1,382 total canine reports (8.8%) received between January 1, 2014, and November 1, 2022 (FDA, 2022) .
Looking at this for adult Golden Retrievers or Golden Retrievers with diet-associated DCM concerns ? We are building dedicated pages for these combinations.
Auto-matched from this product's measurements (ingredients, life stage, calorie density) to a breed archetype. Not a substitute for vet input on your specific dog.
Research informing this analysis
MethodologyThe Sniff System grades this product against 3 cited studies relevant to its profile. Each link opens the original source.
- FDA, 2022cardiac · epidemiology · breed predisposition· cited in 5 claims
- FDA, 2019diet composition· cited in 2 claims
- NRC, 2006nutrient bioavailability
Every claim on Sniff traces to a source. If you find a citation that's wrong, outdated, or misapplied, tell us.
Sniff scored this formula 69/100, landing in B-tier territory. The biggest contributor was protein quality (+16 points): Reasonable protein quality. venison delivers solid amino acid coverage. Also adding to the lift: fat quality (+12). Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source). The 6-point gap to A-tier sits mostly in protein quality (16 of 27 possible). Full protein quality requires named-species named-cut proteins in the top of the deck (e.g., "deboned chicken" rather than "chicken meal" or "poultry meal").
Reasonable protein quality. venison delivers solid amino acid coverage.
Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source).
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
No negative drivers crossed our reporting threshold.
- Lowest crude fiber in Stella & Chewy's's lineup (5.3% DMB)
- Top quartile for overall Sniff Score in grain-free freeze-dried foods (69/100)
- Bottom quartile for DMB protein in Stella & Chewy's's lineup (37.9%)
Computed against the rest of our catalog. Percentiles refresh on each catalog update.
Similar dog foods worth considering
Three lenses on products with formulation profiles similar to this one.
Stella & Chewy's Remarkable Red Meat Recipe Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food, 14-oz bag
Scores 4 points higher with a similar formulation profile.
Stella's Super Beef Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food, 25-oz bag
$30.71/lb vs your seed's $49.35/lb (38% less) at a comparable score.
Surfaced from a vector similarity search across 3,491 scored dog foods. How this works.
Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.
- 1protein animalvenison
Real meat, lean and gamey. Used as a novel protein for dogs with sensitivities.
Position 1: primary protein source. After cooking removes water, this may drop in proportional weight, but it anchors the recipe.
- 2venison liver
Position 2. Named organ meat this high is a strong build choice. Concentrated source of taurine, glutamine, and B-vitamins.
- 3venison spleen
Position 3. Named organ meat this high is a strong build choice. Concentrated source of taurine, glutamine, and B-vitamins.
- 4coconut flour
- 5fatsunflower oil
Common plant oil. Useful in moderation for omega-6, though too much skews the omega ratio against the dog's favor.
Position 5: secondary fat. Often where marine oils sit when present alongside a primary land-animal fat.
- 6pumpkin seed
Real seed. Source of magnesium, zinc, and traditionally used as a mild dewormer (the evidence is folkloric, not clinical).
- 7fruitcranberries
Often added with a urinary-tract-support marketing angle. Real cranberry compounds help in concentrate form, but kibble doses are small.
Position 7: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 8vegetablespinach
Leafy green. Some iron, vitamin K, and fiber. The dose in kibble is small but it's real food.
Position 8: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 9vegetablebroccoli
Real vegetable. Adds fiber and some antioxidants. Fine in the small amounts used in kibble.
Position 9: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 10beets
Whole beets, not to be confused with beet pulp. Real vegetable, fiber and antioxidants.
- 11vegetablecarrots
Real vegetable. Fiber, beta-carotene, and a small amount of antioxidant value.
Position 11: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 12squash
Real vegetable. Fiber, vitamin A, gentle on the stomach. Similar nutrition role to sweet potato.
- 13fruitblueberries
Antioxidants, real. But the amount in any kibble is too small to do much. Mostly marketing.
Position 13: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 14fenugreek seed
Herb seed. Trace inclusion, mostly for flavor and label appeal.
- 15mineralpotassium chloride
Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.
- 16supplementdried kelp
Natural source of iodine and trace minerals. A common premium-brand inclusion.
- 17sodium phosphate
Mineral source and preservative. Standard inclusion at small doses.
- 18preservative naturaltocopherols
- 19supplementcholine chloride
Essential nutrient for liver and brain function. Standard inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 20mineralsalt
Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.
- 21fatsalmon oil
Pure omega-3s. The thing skin-and-coat formulas are usually built around.
- 22dried pediococcus acidilactici fermentation product
- 23probioticdried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product
A probiotic strain. Whether the dose is high enough to actually colonize is debated, but it's a real beneficial bacterium.
- 24dried bifidobacterium longum fermentation product
- 25probioticdried bacillus coagulans fermentation product
Probiotic strain. More heat-stable than lactobacillus, which means more of it likely survives kibble processing.
Showing first 25 of 42. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
19 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.