How The Farmer’s Dog Conducted a Multi-Year, At-Home Feeding Study

In this article:

• How does The Farmer’s Dog prove that its food is 100% complete and balanced?
• How did the at-home feeding study completed by The Farmer’s Dog work?
• What were the results of the at-home feeding study completed by The Farmer’s Dog?

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This article was originally published in April of 2020, and has been updated.

Every recipe from The Farmer’s Dog is formulated by on-staff, board-certified nutritionists to be 100% complete and balanced—and we’ve gone the extra mile to show that our food gives dogs the nutrition they need to thrive.

We’ve conducted industry-standard AAFCO feeding trials on multiple recipes, showing that our food is nutritionally complete.

Going beyond what’s generally expected of pet food companies, we’ve also partnered with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine on a long-term feeding study in a controlled setting that involved 25% more dogs and testing five times as many blood values as a traditional AAFCO trial—offering even more evidence that our food meets dogs’ dietary needs.

And we’ve also conducted a long-term feeding study in which we fed The Farmer’s Dog to dogs living with families for up to six years. This study was meant to ensure nutritional adequacy and performance beyond a single recipe in a controlled setting, looking at the impact of our entire meal plan in a real-world, in-home setting. Comprehensive blood panels were conducted throughout the study to monitor various health markers, including electrolyte and mineral levels, organ function (e.g., kidney and liver function), and other indicators of general health for all participating dogs—and each dog received a full medical examination from two veterinarians, including a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, showing that they all remained healthy throughout the duration of the study.

Below, we’ll go into more detail on the at-home study.

How our multi-year, at-home feeding study worked

The multi-year feeding study ran from March 2014 to March 2020, during which time the participating dogs were fed The Farmer’s Dog. Dogs in this study received a rotation of our recipes, just as many of our customers’ dogs do. They were pets who lived normal lives at home with their families.

The dogs in our study participated for a minimum of one year, and up to a full six years.

The 10 dogs who participated in our at-home feeding study represented a mix of ages, sizes, and breeds, including purebred dogs like Australian shepherds, Rottweilers, and French bulldogs, and mixed-breed dogs.

In addition to testing the four blood values used in AAFCO trials, we completed a full blood panel for all participating dogs that measured 49 blood values. Each dog also received a full medical examination from Lisa Lippman, DVM and Beth Hamper, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition) that showed they all remained healthy throughout the duration of the study.

The duration of our test showed the long-term impact of our food. By definition, feeding the same thing to a dog over one, two, or six years offers more information than doing so for six months.

The at-home study also took into account real, daily life for a dog. While eating The Farmer’s Dog food exclusively as their daily diet, the dogs also went about their normal lives and received occasional treats—like pet dogs usually do.

The results of our at-home feeding study

The complete bloodwork panels and physical examinations indicated that all participating dogs remained healthy through the entire testing period. These findings support that The Farmer’s Dog foods met all participating dogs’ nutritional requirements, and provided nutrients that were bioavailable.

During the study, dog owners observed decreases in stool volume and defecation events per day (the dogs pooped less frequently, and there was less of it). Both of these observations indicate a diet that has a high digestibility. To validate this hypothesis, two additional studies were conducted at third-party laboratories. These confirmed that The Farmer’s Dog fresh, human-grade recipes are clinically proven to be highly digestible.

If you’re interested in feeding your own dog 100% complete and balanced fresh food, consider signing them up for The Farmer’s Dog.

Are you a veterinary professional? Sign up for our Vet Team Portal to get detailed information about our research, complete nutritional profiles, exclusive discounts, and more.

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