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Dog food, explained.
Straightforward, cited guides to freeze-dried raw: how it compares to kibble, how much to feed, what to look for as dogs age, safety, and how to switch. No hype, just what the research and the label actually say.
Freeze-Dried Raw 101
Is Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food Good for Dogs?
For a lot of dogs, yes. Freeze-dried raw is whole, minimally processed food that dogs love, and studies show dogs digest more of it than kibble: 90 to 94% of the protein versus about 82%. It brings real meat and whole vegetables to the bowl. Here is what makes it a strong choice, plus honest notes on cost and handling.
Is Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food Safe?
Raw safety comes down to what the maker does about it, and AlphaPak does a lot. We test our food for bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. We test the equipment it is made on for the same. We also have a vet and a chemical engineer on staff. Freeze-dried raw is still raw, so simple handling at home matters too.
What Is Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food?
Freeze-dried raw dog food is raw meat, organs, and produce with the water taken out at a low temperature. The food is never cooked. What is left is light and keeps in the cupboard. Add water before serving and it comes back close to fresh. It is a way to feed raw without the freezer.
Feeding & Body Condition
How Much Freeze-Dried Raw Should I Feed My Dog?
Feed AlphaPak freeze-dried raw by your dog's weight, using the guide printed on the bag. As a full meal, a dog up to 6 lb eats about a quarter cup a day, a 13 to 18 lb dog about one cup, and a dog over 25 lb about three cups. Fed as a topper over other food, use less. The table below and our Find your recipe quiz give the amount for your dog.
How to Transition Your Dog to Freeze-Dried Raw
Switch your dog to freeze-dried raw gradually, over about 7 to 10 days. Start by mixing a small amount of AlphaPak into your dog's current food, then increase it a little each day while lowering the old food. Going slowly gives your dog's digestion time to adjust. Many owners simply feed it as a topper and never fully switch.
Longevity & Healthy Aging
Best Dog Food for Longevity: What the Research Points To
Want more good years with your dog? A few things really move the needle, and you control them. Keeping your dog lean is the most studied one. Large studies tie a healthy weight to a longer life. Feeding whole, minimally processed food with real vegetables helps too. AlphaPak is built for both.
Best Food for Senior Dogs: What to Look For
Older dogs need three things. Plenty of good protein to hold their muscle. The right calories to stay lean. And a meal they actually want. Freeze-dried raw does all three: high protein from whole meat, easy to measure, and soft and tasty once you add warm water.
Comparisons
Health Conditions
Feeding a Dog With Arthritis: What Actually Helps
The biggest thing food can do for a dog with arthritis is not a supplement. It is keeping them lean. In a lifelong study of Labrador littermates, dogs fed 25% less showed their first hip arthritis at a median age of 12. Their freely-fed siblings showed it at 6. Portion size beats any ingredient.
Itchy Dog? How to Tell If Food Is Actually the Problem
Most itchy dogs do not have a food allergy. Fleas and things in the environment are far more common. Food allergy shows up in roughly 1 to 2% of dogs seen by a vet. Blood, saliva, and hair tests cannot diagnose it. The only reliable way is a strict eight-week diet trial, then feeding the old food again to confirm.
Feeding a Dog With Bladder Stones
The type of stone decides everything, and only your vet can tell you which one it is. Here is the finding that surprises people. In the biggest diet studies, high-protein and high-mineral foods were not the risk. The lowest-mineral, driest foods were. Water is the lever most owners overlook, and it is the one you control.
Feeding a Dog With IBD or Chronic Diarrhea
This is the condition where food does the most work. Around 73% of dogs with long-running gut inflammation turn out to respond to a change of diet. Here is the striking part: the change itself does much of it. In one trial, a fancy hydrolysed diet did no better than a simple one with few ingredients.
Feeding a Dog With a Sensitive Stomach
A dog with ongoing loose stools needs a diagnosis before a new food. Here is the hopeful part: long-running gut trouble in dogs very often gets better with a change of diet. When food is the answer, the change itself does much of the work. How well the food digests, and how few things are in it, matter more than any label.
Dog Won't Eat? What to Do About a Picky Eater
A dog who suddenly stops eating is usually telling you something is wrong. That is a vet visit, not a fussy phase. Real picky eating is more often a habit, built on treats, a bowl left out all day, and food that is not worth walking over for. Cut the extras and keep meals on a schedule.
Feeding a Dog Recovering From Surgery or Illness
Your vet's instructions come first. Some surgeries need a specific diet. After that, the problem is rarely what to feed. It is getting your dog to eat at all. Small, warm, good-smelling meals work better than big ones. If your dog is still refusing food a day after coming home, call your vet.
Feeding a Dog With Bad Teeth or No Teeth
Dogs manage far better without teeth than most owners expect, because a dog's jaw is a hinge that cuts and swallows rather than grinds. Soft or moistened food is what they need. But a sore mouth needs treating, not only a softer meal. Dental pain is real, and dogs are good at hiding it.
Feeding a Large Breed Puppy: Growth, Joints and Calcium
Large breed puppies should grow steadily and stay lean, not grow fast. Overfeeding and excess calcium during growth are linked to joint and bone problems. The single most useful check is whether the bag's AAFCO statement explicitly covers growth of large size dogs. Many foods labelled for all life stages do not.
Grain-Free Dog Food and Heart Disease: What the Evidence Says
The FDA never showed that grain-free food causes heart disease, and it stopped publishing updates in December 2022. Its own data points at peas and lentils, not at the missing grain. Of the reported foods, 93% contained one or the other. The science is still unsettled, and pet food companies fund both sides of it.
How to Help an Underweight Dog Gain Weight
A dog losing weight is telling you something. Worms, sore teeth, gut trouble, and hormone problems can all cause it, so see your vet first. Once they give the all-clear, the fix is more calories from a food your dog loves, added slowly over a few weeks.
How Much to Feed a Dog to Lose Weight
Ask your vet to set the goal. Safe weight loss is slower than most owners expect, and dropping it fast brings its own risks. The real work is simple: measure every meal, count treats in the daily total, and weigh your dog every two weeks.
Senior Dog Won't Eat, or Losing Muscle: What to Do
In an older dog, a fading appetite is usually a symptom, not fussiness. Sore teeth, kidney disease, nausea, and memory changes all show up this way. Muscle loss is the other half of the problem, and it starts earlier than most owners think. Body scans suggest muscle peaks at around six years old.
What to Feed a Diabetic Dog
The low-carb advice you read everywhere comes from cat research. It does not carry over to dogs. In dogs, the evidence points to insoluble fibre and, above all, routine: the same food, the same amount, at the same times, matched to insulin. AlphaPak is not the right fit here, on fibre or on fat.
What to Feed a Dog With Gastroenteritis
Most vets feed small, gentle meals that are easy to digest. Keep the fat low while your dog is still being sick. Feed early rather than starving them for days. Our Chicken recipe suits the recovery stage well, though it runs higher in fat, so it is not the one for the worst days.
What to Feed a Dog With Kidney Disease
The thing that matters most is phosphorus, not protein. That surprises most owners. International guidelines for dogs call for cutting phosphate as the disease moves along. They do not call for cutting protein at any stage. The stage matters enormously, and Stage 1 asks for much less than people expect.
What to Feed a Dog With Liver Disease or High Liver Enzymes
Liver disease is not one illness. The right food depends on which kind your dog has. Copper-related liver disease needs a low-copper diet, and our Chicken recipe is the better fit there, not our Beef. Most liver disease is not copper-driven, though. For those dogs, your vet's diagnosis sets the rules.
What to Feed a Dog With Pancreatitis
A dog with repeat pancreatitis is usually put on a truly low-fat diet. AlphaPak runs about twice the fat of one, so it is not the right fit for that plan. Here is the part worth knowing: the link between fatty food and pancreatitis is weaker than most people think. Raiding the bin is the bigger risk.
Tools & guides
AlphaPak is a food, not a medicine. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Statements about nutrition describe the role of whole-food ingredients in supporting normal health and are not a substitute for veterinary care. Individual results vary.