| Country of origin | Canada |
| Available from | Pet Circle |
If you’re looking for a really good dog food which ticks a lot of boxes then Open Farm is probably what you’re looking for. It’s really good for a lot of reasons.
It’s not the most expensive, but the ingredients are decent all round with a focus on meat for your meat-loving dog. It’s naturally preserved with a good balance of ingredients which are nutritious for your dog.
Open Farm dog food would make a great base diet, and there’s no reason you can’t add a little variety as well with some of those more expensive “dried raw” foods, or even some fresh foods.
Let’s take a closer look…
What the marketing says
A great thing about the Open Farm dog foods is you can trace all the ingredients within the exact bag you purchase. You simply take the “lot code” printed on the bag and enter it into their website here, and they’ll tell you the farms the ingredients came from.
How cool is that?
Here’s some other benefits of Open Farm pet foods based on the marketing:
- Open Farm use ethically sourced meats, without growth hormones or antibiotics. They have a focus on sourcing meats from ethical farms with better standards of wellfare.
- The fruit and vegetable ingredients are non-GMO, sourced from local farms (local to the manufacturer that is).
- The Open Farm wet foods are made with 100% human grade ingredients, with free-range or certified humane meats.
The transparency of where the ingredients come from is really nice to see, and very welcome in a world where not many pet foods are transparent. What other dog foods tell you where the ingredients come from?
Most other dog foods don’t even tell you what the ingredients really are.
What the ingredients really say
There are two variations of Open Farm dog foods. A grain free range and a grain-based range which will appeal to you if you’re read any fear mongering on the Internet about DCM (a heart condition exploited by pet food companies to convince you to feed grain to your dog).
Both are good, so don’t worry too much. Some grains are beneficial for your dog, with moderation being the most important factor.
You’ll be happy to know all formulas have a decent amount of meat, an excellent amount of protein, and when it comes to the grains we’re talking much more nutritious oats rather than the ambiguous cereal by-product crap you get in supermarket dog foods.
A great way to balance your dog’s diet is with variety, so why not rotate between grain and grain free. Best of both worlds?
Grain free Open Farm dog foods
The Homestead Turkey & Chicken recipe is the most popular in the grain-free range. If your dog doesn’t like chicken, there’s also lamb, salmon, and whitefish formulas as well.
If you need a hypoallergenic dog food then you’ll be pleased to know only the chicken formula contains chicken. You shouldn’t have any concerns with the other ingredients either. So you’re safe.
The turkey formula has a very respectable 30% protein and 14% fat. I estimate carbs to be around 38% which is really good for a dry dog food.
The main ingredients in the turkey formula are humanely raised turkey, humanely raised chicken, ocean whitefish meal, russet potatoes, chickpeas, and field peas. It’s a nice variety, and I much prefer to see a range of ingredients rather than some form of meat and a shed load of grain.
The rest of the ingredients do a lot of talking – coconut oil is great to see, and will benefit your dog’s skin and coat, joint health, immune system, and aid digestion. You’ll also find a range of fruits, veggies, and superfoods like alfalfa, chicory root (acts as a prebiotic), and flaxseed. All these ingredients will boost your dog’s health and wellbeing, and I feel it’s very well thought out in respect to your dog’s nutritional needs.
Grain-based Open Farm dog foods (Ancient Grains)
The only real difference between the Open Farm grain free dog foods and the Ancient Grains range is the potatoes and legumes have been switched out for decent quality grains.
In the Harvest Chicken and Ancient Grains recipe we still have a decent amount of protein and animal fat, but oat features as a main ingredient. Oats are by far one of the best grains for a dog, being low GI and a good source of energy.
Other grains feature, such as millet and quinoa, but again these are far better to see than the ambiguous cereal grains and wheat in other dog foods.
It’s nice to see a decent grain-based dog food which has considered the health benefits to your dog rather than pushing profit margins to the max.
Open Farm Puppy Food
The Open Farm Puppy formula is, like the adult formulas, a very good choice. It’s similar in ingredients to the others in the grain-free range, but with a better emphasis on meat proteins and fats to support your puppy’s essential growth phase.
The wet foods, which I cover below, are also suitable for your puppy, and I recommend adding some of those into the mix as well.
Open Farm wet dog foods (including bone broth!)
The wet foods are fantastic. Very healthy, being formulated with bone broth which is so beneficial for your dog you’ll wonder why you haven’t fed it sooner.
The downside to the wet food is obviously the cost, but it’s a great addition to the dry foods, and you can even poor some on top of your dog’s dinner as a tasty nutrient booster!
It’s great to see the wet food ingredients are 100% human grade, ethically farmed, and free-range. I know of some Australian companies who use misleading claims like “contains human grade ingredients” which doesn’t mean they all are, only some, and it seems some use pet grade meats regardless of what they tell you.
If you can add some of the Open Farm wet foods to your dog’s diet, then do so! Recommended!
Where to buy
Open Farm pet foods are available from the following retailers:
Ingredients
Ingredients of Open Farm dog food (Homestead Turkey & Chicken Recipe):
Humanely Raised Turkey, Humanely Raised Chicken, Ocean Whitefish Meal, Russet Potatoes, Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), Green Lentils, Field Peas, Coconut Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Ocean Menhaden Fish Meal, Tomato, Apples, Pumpkin, Natural Flavour, Flaxseed, Sun Cured Alfalfa, Carrots, Chicory Root, Salmon Oil, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Calcium Carbonate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, selenium, Yeast, Calcium Iodate, Rosemary Extract, Taurine, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Dicalcium Phosphate.
Guaranteed Analysis
The guaranteed analysis of Open Farm dog food (Homestead Turkey & Chicken Recipe):
| Protein | 30% (min) |
| Fat | 14% (min) |
| Crude Fibre | 4.5% (max) |
| Carbohydrates | Estimated 38% |
I’ve tried both the “OPEN FARM Grain Free Pasture Raised Lamb Dry Dog Food” and “OPEN FARM Grain Free Farmers Table Pork Root Vegetable Dry Dog Food” with my 2 Rottweilers. Both caused illness in both dogs – lethargy, vomiting and bloody diarrhea – similar to the effects Ivory Coat has which you (thankfully) no longer recommend.
I’ll be dumping/donating the other 2 bags and going back to something more reliable.
Hi Dan, given the severity these symptoms I strongly urge you to log a report on the APOG website – https://www.apog.com.au/recall-issue-log/open-farm/
I would also recommend you contact Open Farm and report the issues, and I wouldn’t recommend donating the other bags – can you return them and stipulate how sick your dogs have been? I hope your dogs have now fully recovered?
You’re a nut if you believe in marketing BS
Did I miss where the ingredients come from? United States based or any ingredients from China?
Further to my previous question, Open Farm has wet food available. Would that be a good choice?
Cheers Ann
I don’t see why not!
Thank you so very much for the information you provide. Such a lot of work. I have a 15 month old Cavoodle. He is a really lovely dog. I have been feeding him Ziwi peak wet chicken and Meals for Mutts dry food. He had a couple of times when he vomited bile in the mornings and the vet said he may have an allergy to chicken. I now have him on Prime100 Salmon roll and Orijen fish dry food. Unfortunately Ziwi peak only have lamb, beef or chicken in the wet food. I wondered if fish would be better for him if he has a sensitive stomach. I could be totally wrong on that though. I tried the lyka food but he didn’t like it. I’m just not sure what to do. I’d really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you again so much for all your information. If you get this message twice I apologise as my iPad has been playing funny things lately. Cheers Ann
Hi Ann, I find vets also say “chicken allergy” by default, but it’s well worth finding out the true cause. There’s some information on the hypoallergenic dog food page which may help. I find it’s best to add as much variety as possible rather than settling for a fish formula, although part of the diet is great.
Thank you for the great article, ethically sourced meat really is the deal breaker for me, planning to raise my german shepherd with Open farm & Orijen. Hoping for the best results.
We have bought this 4 times via Pet circle (chicken and turkey grain free and the ancient grain versions of chicken and also Lamb ) for our German shorthaired pointer,not one issue with digestibility ,stools were consistent and his coat has remained glossy and soft as it was when we fed him Taste of the wild as we rotate these two for him . You’re paying a price with premium kibbles but we have been lucky enough to grab them most times when 10% off ,we mix with beef or kangaroo mince most meals. We purchase the 10kg bags but they’re aren’t resealable, not a deal breaker as the kibble is super fresh smelling,never broken ,no dust and worth every penny!