Chicken & Salmon Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Patties for Puppies
Graded by The Sniff System
Stella & Chewy's Chicken & Salmon Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Patties for Puppies is a freeze-dried raw food with chicken and salmon as primary proteins.
This food offers good protein quality, with chicken providing solid amino acid coverage. It also includes quality carbohydrate sources that provide fermentable fiber. The inclusion of named fish like salmon and organ meats such as chicken liver and gizzard adds diverse, high-bioavailability protein.
Nothing concerning in the deck.
Good fit for puppies, particularly those whose owners prefer a raw diet.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
Strong fit for adult Golden Retrievers and similar active sporting breeds navigating diet-associated DCM concerns. Chicken anchors position 1, with zero pulses in the top 15, plus chicken liver at position 3 (a natural taurine precursor) and salmon with ground bone at position 2. 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 If you find a citation that's wrong, outdated, or misapplied, tell us.
Solid grade. 68/100 (B) reflects the structural fit of this formula against The Sniff System's eight scoring components. Protein quality did the heavy lifting (+19.5 points): Reasonable protein quality. chicken delivers solid amino acid coverage. The supporting beat: carbohydrate quality (+12 points). Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber. What's keeping it out of A-tier: fat-quality declaration (7 of 16 possible). Full fat-quality declaration requires a named-species animal fat (e.g., chicken fat, salmon oil) plus a marine oil with declared EPA/DHA milligram content.
Reasonable protein quality. chicken delivers solid amino acid coverage.
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
Includes egg, named fish, or organ meat for diverse high-bioavailability protein.
No negative drivers crossed our reporting threshold.
- Lowest crude fiber in Stella & Chewy's's lineup (5.3% DMB)
- Top quartile for DMB protein in Stella & Chewy's's lineup (50.5%)
- Top quartile for overall Sniff Score in grain-free freeze-dried foods (68/100)
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 5 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 $43.61/lb (30% 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 animalchicken
Real meat. Primary protein source, with the amino acid profile dogs actually evolved to eat.
Position 1: primary protein source. After cooking removes water, this may drop in proportional weight, but it anchors the recipe.
- 2salmon with ground bone
Position 2: co-primary protein. Two named animal proteins in the top 2 is a strong protein build.
- 3protein animalchicken liver
Organ meat. Dense in protein, iron, vitamin A, and the B vitamins. Among the most nutrient-rich ingredients a dog can eat.
Position 3. Named organ meat this high is a strong build choice. Concentrated source of taurine, glutamine, and B-vitamins.
- 4protein animalchicken gizzard
Position 4: significant protein contributor. Adds amino-acid diversity to the top of the deck.
- 5pumpkin seed
Real seed. Source of magnesium, zinc, and traditionally used as a mild dewormer (the evidence is folkloric, not clinical).
- 6fruitcranberries
Often added with a urinary-tract-support marketing angle. Real cranberry compounds help in concentrate form, but kibble doses are small.
Position 6: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 7vegetablespinach
Leafy green. Some iron, vitamin K, and fiber. The dose in kibble is small but it's real food.
Position 7: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 8vegetablebroccoli
Real vegetable. Adds fiber and some antioxidants. Fine in the small amounts used in kibble.
Position 8: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 9beets
Whole beets, not to be confused with beet pulp. Real vegetable, fiber and antioxidants.
- 10vegetablecarrots
Real vegetable. Fiber, beta-carotene, and a small amount of antioxidant value.
Position 10: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 11squash
Real vegetable. Fiber, vitamin A, gentle on the stomach. Similar nutrition role to sweet potato.
- 12fruitblueberries
Antioxidants, real. But the amount in any kibble is too small to do much. Mostly marketing.
Position 12: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 13chia seed
Plant source of omega-3 and fiber. Like flaxseed, useful in trace amounts.
- 14green mussel
Mussel from New Zealand. Natural source of glucosamine and omega-3s. Common in joint-support formulas.
- 15chicken cartilage
Position 15: trace protein. Likely there for amino-acid diversity or label appeal more than nutritional weight.
- 16mineralpotassium chloride
Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.
- 17supplementdried kelp
Natural source of iodine and trace minerals. A common premium-brand inclusion.
- 18sodium phosphate
Mineral source and preservative. Standard inclusion at small doses.
- 19preservative naturalmixed tocopherols
Natural vitamin E used to keep fats from going rancid. The good kind of preservative. See why →
- 20supplementcholine chloride
Essential nutrient for liver and brain function. Standard inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 21supplementl-carnitine
Amino acid derivative that helps the body convert fat into energy. Common in weight-management formulas.
- 22supplementturmeric
Spice with anti-inflammatory compounds. Real research in humans, but the dose in kibble is small. Mostly there for label appeal.
- 23mineralsea salt
Same as salt. Required at small doses for normal physiology.
- 24dried pediococcus acidilactici fermentation product
- 25probioticdried 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.
Showing first 25 of 40. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
21 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.