Have you noticed the sheer amount of new pet food companies that have popped up recently?
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​I have definitely noticed. And most of them have promises of "fresh, human-grade ingredients" and perfect formulation that will result in stellar health for your dog.
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​It is wonderful that more people are recognizing how unhealthy even expensive brands of kibble are and are ditching it in favor of better alternatives. I would agree that most of these new companies have better alternatives to kibble.
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​But are they perfect? Hardly.
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​Here are a few reasons why I will never buy commercial foods for my dogs.

Whether freeze-dried, ground with the bones, or "lightly cooked," all of these are still methods of processing that are not needed.

Freeze dried requires water to rehydrate it - whether that be mixing the food with water, or giving the dog access to plenty of water after eating. There is no really good reason to suck the water out of the food, unless you are research biologist living in the wildlands with your dogs and don't have access to a place to store or prepare food for your dog.
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​Ground with bones is good in that dogs need to eat bones along with the meat to get necessary calcium. However, ground bones are not really doing their teeth and jaws much good - they get a good teeth cleaning along with a jaw workout when allowed to chew through a whole meaty bone on their own. They don't get these benefits with ground meat and bones and will still end up with the same dental problems that plague the kibble fed dogs.
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​Lightly cooked is still cooked, and it still removes nutrients from the meat. Wolves don't cook their food; dogs don't need it cooked either. Not enough time has passed evolutionarily to change the dog's digestive system substantially from that of their wolf ancestors.

Like it or not, raw is the way to go for your dog. For you? No. But for your dog, yes!

If you have spent any time researching dog foods for your dog and doing cost comparisons, I am sure you've come to the same conclusion - commercial fresh food options for your dog are hella expensive!! 
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​Scrolling through the comments on all of the fresh food Facebook ads, I see so many complaining about cost. If you have one tiny dog, feeding this way is not too bad.
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​If you have 5 large dogs, feeding commercial fresh foods is nearly impossible. 
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​If you think about it, it makes sense. The companies have to source fresh, high quality ingredients, then they process, package and ship it. Not to mention licensing and permitting requirements to sell it. So in order to make a profit, they have to charge an arm and a leg for it!

In an effort to create a "balanced diet," these fresh food companies put a lot of different things into their formulations - things like sweet potatoes, fruits and veggies. In theory, that sounds great - they are getting a wide variety of foods that are very good for us humans.
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​But dogs don't need blueberries, potatoes and carrots in their food. In fact, unless it is pureed, their digestive system won't even break those things down. You may notice them coming out in their poop, unchanged from the way they went in!
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​Dogs are considered "facultative carnivores" according to the scientific community. This means that they can survive without meat being the mainstay of their diet, but they cannot THRIVE on a plant-based diet. 
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​The reason for this is that most breeds (except for a few of the more ancient ones) do not have enough of a certain digestive enzyme that breaks down the cell walls of plant matter. Therefore, they need us to help them break it down (which is why we need to puree fruits and vegetables for them).
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​It is perfectly fine to give your dog foods he enjoys in whole form as treats. My boy Ripple LOVES broccoli stems, Brussels sprouts, and most fruits. Just know that your dog is not getting much nutrition from those things in their whole form.
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​So why pay a fortune for a food that contains filler ingredients your dog can't even use? They might be healthier fillers than what kibble contains, but they are fillers nonetheless.