Food Friday: Real Meat Beef Dog Food

Real Meat Dog Food is an air-dried food made from beef, bones, and organs. It is produced in New Zealand from free-range grass-fed cows, and has all the nutritional awesomeness of raw meat, without the need for refrigeration or raw food handling precautions.

I found another air-dried dog food! I would be madly in love with this food if I hadn't found Ziwi Peak first. I was aware of Real Meat's jerky treats, and this is basically a giant bag of those. Only instead of just treats, it's actual dog food so I don't have to feel bad if all of Brisbane's calories come from training treats.

The Company

Real Meat's most widely available product is probably their 95% meat jerky treats. These are great for training, and available in several different proteins for dogs with allergies. They have lamb, and venison jerky treats, as well as the more common chicken and beef. They also make some really cute dog food seasonings made from several different meats. I've never seen these in a store before, but they all have chicken in them so I wouldn't be buying them anyway. 

Brisbane is allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs, so I appreciate that most of Real Meat's products are made with a single protein source. They don't feel the need to cram chicken or eggs into every recipe. I like that this company is family-owned, and their website says they put their investment into making really good food rather than advertising and marketing. It's a pretty incredible food, and a bit less expensive than Ziwi Peak.

The Food

Real Meat originally made three varieties of their food: beef, lamb, and chicken. Each is made from just that protein source, with a little parsley, rosemary, pumpkin, and vitamins. They have recently added a turkey food, and a turkey and venison food; both of these also contain ground beef bone. I really appreciate that their packaging and website aren't plastered with statements about nature, dogs being wolves, or their diet in the hypothetical wild. The food stands on its own, it doesn't need a bunch of hype. What little hype there is can be found in small print.

This is a pretty amazing food. Naturally Brisbane loves it, as Brisbane loves all things edible. Sisci also enjoys it. Ru...likes it, but it consistently makes him reverse sneeze. It's weird. Usually spicy food that does that to him. Dog Food Advisor gives all the Real Meat recipes five out of five stars.  

The Price

Real Meat Beef dog food is really, seriously dense. At 724 calories per cup, it's the most calorically dense food I've encountered after Ziwi Peak. This is great for 6-lb Ru, who needs to fit a ton of calories into his tiny body. Not so great for 40-lb Brisbane, who needs the same amount of calories as Ru and is the most efficient dog on the planet. A 2-lb bag of Real Meat beef cost around $24 and provides 4250 calories, so $0.56 per 100 calories. If I was to feed Brisbane only this food, it would cost me well under a dollar per day. Were I to use the company's recommendations, it would cost closer to $5 a day.

It's cheaper than Ziwi Peak, but Real Meat air-dried dog food just doesn't work as well for training treats. The food is made in much bigger chunks, so I have to break them up into much smaller pieces before I can use them. The dogs also just aren't quite as nuts for the Real Meat. I guess it's not stinky enough.