CaniSource Dog Food (Dehydrated)

by Mike Sagman
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Rating: ★★★★☆

CaniSource Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest rating of four stars.

The CaniSource product line lists one dehydrated dog food. The recipe meets AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.

Canisource

Dehydrated Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 29% | Fat = 17% | Carbs = 45%

Ingredients: Fresh pork and beef, white rice, whole barley, rolled oats, fresh apples, fresh carrots, fresh eggs, ground flax seeds, herbs mix, garlic, vitamins & minerals (calcium, phosphorous, sodium, chloride, magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin E, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxin, folic acid, choline)

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.3%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

Estimated Nutrient Content
MethodProteinFatCarbs
Guaranteed Analysis27%16%NA
Dry Matter Basis29%17%45%
Calorie Weighted Basis25%36%39%

The first item in this dog food is pork and beef. Although this is a quality item, raw pork and beef contain about 80% water. During processing, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After dehydration, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

Which brings us to white rice… the second and (more likely) the dominant ingredient in this dog food.

White rice is a less nutritious form of rice in which the grain’s healthier outer layer has been removed.

The third ingredient lists barley. Barley is a starchy carbohydrate supplying fiber and other healthy nutrients. Unlike grains with a higher glycemic index (like rice), barley can help support stable blood sugar levels in dogs.

The fourth ingredient includes oats. Oats are rich in B-vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

The fifth ingredient mentions apples… a nutrient-rich, fiber-rich fruit.

The sixth ingredient includes carrots. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The seventh ingredient includes eggs… a desirable addition. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The eighth ingredient is ground flax… one of the best plant-based sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Flax meal is particularly rich in soluble fiber.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With three notable exceptions…

First, garlic can be a controversial item. Although the majority of experts favor the ingredient for its numerous health benefits, garlic (in rare cases) has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.1

However, the limited professional literature we surveyed provided no definitive warnings regarding the use of garlic… especially in small amounts (as it is here).

Next, we find no mention of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

CaniSource Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, CaniSource Dog Food looks to be an above-average product.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 29%, a fat level of 17% and estimated carbohydrates of about 45%.

Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Free of any plant-based protein boosters, this looks like the profile of a dry dog food containing a moderate amount of meat.

Compared to the high-heat extrusion equipment used to make kibble, it’s appropriate to acknowledge this company’s low-temperature dehydration process.

CaniSource claims this method tends to preserve “all of the original nutrients” of the recipe’s ingredients.

Bottom line?

CaniSource Dog Food is a grain-based dehydrated product using a moderate amount of beef as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand four stars.

Highly recommended.

Special Alert

Rice ingredients can sometimes contain arsenic. Until the US FDA establishes safe upper levels for arsenic content, pet owners may wish to limit the total amount of rice fed in a dog's daily diet.

A Final Word

The descriptions and analyses expressed in this and every article on this website represent the views and opinions of the author.

Although it's our goal to ensure all the information on this website is correct, we cannot guarantee its completeness or its accuracy; nor can we commit to ensuring all the material is kept up-to-date on a daily basis.

Each review is offered in good faith and has been designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food.

However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in specific health benefits for your pet.

For a better understanding of how we analyze each product, please read our article, "The Problem with Dog Food Reviews".

Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt, consult a qualified veterinary professional for help.

In closing, we do not accept money, gifts or samples from pet food companies in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of our reviews or ratings.

To learn how we support the cost of operating this website, please visit our public Disclosure and Disclaimer page.

Have an opinion about this dog food? Or maybe the review itself? Please know we welcome your comments.

Notes and Updates

01/14/2011 Original review
04/03/2011 Reclassified from dry to raw dog food
07/04/2011 Beef changed to pork and beef
09/16/2012 Last Update

  1. Yamato et al, Heinz Body hemolytic anemia with eccentrocytosis from ingestion of Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum) and garlic (Allium sativum) in a dog, Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 41:68-73 (2005) ↩
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  • LB

     hi Brad   i have a 8 month old boxer and he’s been on CaniSource now for about 3 weeks….was on taste of the wild but he inhaled it and he was pooping 5-6 times daily…..he is now going 2-3 times but his stool is dark and soft, sometimes very running which of course makes it hard to pick up but other then that he seems to be doing fine on it, at least with this food he chews but if the poop department doesn’t change soon I’ll have to look at something else and this product is expensive over $100 for the big box……I have been a raw feeder in the past but for some reason my husband would prefer I didn’t feed that way with this guy :-(   but I’m working on it. 

  • http://www.dfwpugs.com/ sandy

    If the worms look like white rice then it may well be tapeworms which normally get expelled in segments.  They can grow quite long so he probably has a bunch more in his system.  My dogs like to go do #2 after eating so it could be that he has stool and worms close to his anus after eating or just a coincidence as patty said or it could also be an anal gland issue.  Does he spin around on his bum too?

  • Pattyvaughn

    Those are probably tapeworms.  They get them from chewing at a flea and ingesting it.  The scratching after eating could be a coincidence or it could be that something in the food is bothering him.

  • Yorkie Simba

    My dog had little white worms in his poo and is scratching his anus on carpets.  Could this have happen because of Canisource?  After verification, Taenia worms are cause by pork.  He scratches his anus soon after eating this food.

  • Hound Dog Mom

    hounddogmom12(at symbol)ymail.com

  • Hafnas

    HDM, how can i get to email you in person. Thanks.

  • Toxed2loss

    Cooking also kills the rickessetta bacteria that inhabit the parasite. It’s the Bactria that cause the disease. Here’s a link from Oregon Veterinary Medical Association.

    From http://oregonvma.org/care-health/salmon-poisoning-disease
    …
    Diagnosis & Treatment
    If you know your dog has ingested raw fish and it exhibits any of the symptoms listed above, notify your veterinarian immediately. If identified in time, salmon poisoning disease is treatable. A helpful part of the diagnosis is telling your veterinarian that your dog ate raw fish. If your dog roams, raids trash cans, or you are unsure of what it has eaten for any reason, be sure to mention this to your veterinarian, especially if your dog is exhibiting any of the symptoms.

    The disease is diagnosed with analysis of a fecal sample to detect the parasite’s eggs or by detecting the bacteria through a needle sample from a swollen lymph node. Treatment involves administration of an antibiotic to kill the bacteria and a dewormer to kill the parasite. If a dog is vomiting at the time of evaluation, it may need to be hospitalized for IV fluid administration. Many dogs respond to treatment quickly, showing improvement in just a few days. Once recovered, many dogs have a permanent immunity to the disease.

    Prevention
    The best treatment is prevention.

    Control what your dog eats while on fishing trips.
    Leash your dog at the beach or river so that you can monitor its activities.
    Wrap garbage, especially fish entrails, and dispose in well-secured cans.
    Don’t feed raw fish to your dog. Cook fish thoroughly or deep-freeze it for a minimum of 2 weeks to destroy the parasite before feeding it to your dog.”

  • Jess

    Hummm, salmon caught here in my state of Washington and in the North Pacific sometimes contain a parasite that can be very harmful to dogs, but not as toxic to humans, even though we can get sick from them. I have seen them 1st hand, gross white little things that you can hardly see.

  • Eve’sHumanMom

    Parasites in the fish.  According to this article, freezing to minus twenty will kill them:  http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/raw-fish-and-parasites/

    while the salmon parasites don’t affect humans there are others that do.For example, anisakis, which is why, for instance, the mackerel for ”saba-zushi” is pickled in vinegar.

  • hounddogmom12

    Marie,

    Certain types of fish (generally from the Pacific or Cascade Mountain region) can cause something called Salmon Poisoning. It only affects dogs/wolves and is fatal (if not treated quickly). It does not affect people (sushi) or cats or other wild animals that feed on raw fish, like bears. So when feeding raw it’s important to know where your fish came from. Although if you feed a commercial raw and aren’t using raw fish you caught yourself or bought from a market you can trust that it has been frozen in such a way to kill the parasite.

    http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/salmon.aspx

  • Marie

    Also, the phrase “grains must always be cooked” implies your raw diet…isn’t quite so raw….

  • Marie

    Pork I can understand, but why not raw fish? I eat raw fish all the time.

  • Shawna

    I agree with Hounddogmom12 and someperson11111…  The article linked has some inaccurate statements…  That is disappointing to see.

    “In other words, the lower the level of your dog’s physical activity, the less raw meat they should be fed.”  This is the worst of the inaccurate statements I saw..  And supposedly, this is “What the experts agree on”..  Not ANY of the experts I follow believe that ;-) ..

    Dr. Karen Becker DVM and raw feeder/advocate says “Our recipes for dogs are based on 75 percent meat/organs/bone and 25 percent vegetables/fruits. For cats it’s 88 percent meat/organs/bone and 12 percent veggies. We’ve found these ratios work well for most healthy pets.”   http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/09/01/serious-mistake-with-pets-raw-food.aspx

    And here’s the second REALLY inaccurate statement in the article….  “Carbohydrates should be the second largest part of your raw natural dog food diet next to protein, and grains are a great source. They also include important vitamins and minerals.

    The best grains are cornmeal, oatmeal, millet and bulgur. And remember – grains should always be cooked!” 

    MOST, but certainly not all, raw feeders do not include grains in the diet at all..  Especially not cornmeal…

    From Dr. Becker
    “Dogs and cats both have a nutritional need for meat, bones, and vegetables.

    They do not have a need for carbohydrates or grains. In fact, in the ancestral diet, grains and seeds were not consumed unless they were pre-digested by their prey….

    But there’s more. Our pets’ bodies are just not designed to cope with large quantities of carbohydrates. “  http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/real-food-for-healthy-dogs-and-cats-cookbook.aspx

  • someperson11111

    Bichonlovers,

    your article in link contains some inaccurate remarks.  (like, inactive dogs shouldn’t be fed raw). Still, it is great you ARE investigating raw! YES!

    Here is a better link to learn about raw feeding:
    http://www.rawlearning.com/

  • hounddogmom12

    bichonlovers,

    First of all, only certain fish contain parasites. Second of all, the parasites that can potentially be found in raw fish and raw pork can be killed by freezing the meat for two weeks. I’m not familiar with CaniSource, but I’m familiar with several types of dehydrated so called “raw” foods and they aren’t technically raw – any parasites that could potentially exist are eliminated in the dehydrating process. Also, any commercial dog food company that sells raw food will be well aware of the potential parasites present in fish and pork and freeze their meats at appropriate temperatures for at least two weeks before sale. Hope that answers your question.

  • bichonlovers

    I have a question. Is the pork heated and cooked to prevent this next statement?

    Important: NEVER feed your dog raw fish or raw pork.
    Raw fish can contain flukes, a parasite that specifically infests the liver in mammals.
    Raw pork can contain trichinosis (also called trichinellosis or trichiniasis), which is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm called Trichinella spiralis (commonly called the trichina worm).
    Trichinosis can be embedded in pig muscle tissue through cysts, and cooking the pork until the internal temperature reaches 170° F (76.7° C) will kill any present.
    Pork is not commonly found in dog food anyway, except to add fat and flavor to the recipe (bacon, ham, etc.). With so many of our domestic dogs prone to pancreatitis, diabetes, hypothyroidism, they tend to have a more difficult time with pork even when it’s cooked.

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  • hounddogmom12

    Guest,

    Dogs that need to lose weight don’t really need a special food, actually I would advise avoiding any foods labeled as “weight-loss” or “low fat” as these foods general have less meat and more filler (carbohydrates). Overweight dogs should have high protein, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate food just like any other dog – they just need to eat less and exercise more. This food is rated 4 stars, so yes it’s a good food. Any food rated 4 or 5 stars on this site is going to be a great food. What I would recommend doing is look at the feeding guidelines on the package for your dogs weight and replace about 10% of that with vegetables. For example if the bag says your dog should eat 5 cups a day, feed him 4 1/2 cups + 1/2 c. vegetables. The vegetables are high in fiber so they will help him feel full without adding a lot of calories. Also try to increase his activity level if at all possible. Hope that helps!

  • guest

    is this food suitable to feed my dog that needs to lose about a lb and is it a decent food
    thanks

  • Hana

    We switched to this brand after our little mini daschaund was having seizures. Found out it was from the Rosemary most manufactures put in the food as a preservative. Rosemary is a neurotoxin even for humans. They just looooove this food and cant wait till I fill up the dog dish! We also get from a local organic chicken farmer chicken hearts and necks for the RAW part of their diet. Also when we can, we get wild game liver and hearts from the hunters. I noticed as soon as we switched brands, the dogs were happy, bouncy and their coats were shinier. Same price as the vet food but much better quality!

  • Brad

    My dog seems to like the food but has a dark and soft stool. She has been on this food for 1 1/2 months. This brand was  recommended to us by our vet. Has anyone else had this problem?

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  • Kim

    My dog absolutely LOVED this food until they added the Pork, now she won’t touch it and I’m having trouble finding good food she will eat. I can only assume they added Pork because it was cheaper than Beef, if not then I have no idea why they would have messed with a good thing.

  • sandy

    You know that this food has rice, barley and oats – and you said your dog is allergic to grains.  There are other grain free dehydrated/freeze dried foods to chose from.

  • Christine_peters

    We just switched our Great Dane female over to Canisource. She is responding very well.  She has allergies to all poultry, duck and grain.  The raw diet was something we had tried but the expense in getting it downtown Toronto was insane. It would have cost us $800 – $900 / month to feed her.  I love her but I need my car…lol.  So far no allergy symptoms, no adverse bowel situations, no vomiting and best of all…it doesn’t smell like dead bum when you open it!  Only been trying for 1 week now so I will update as time goes on.

  • Christinepeters

    I’m pretty sure it’s normal.  It’s the iron in the food.  Happened to our Great Dane to.

  • Strider’s Family

    I have been itching to write a Review for years but rarely has there been anything positive within the “Consumer Machine” fitting that description or important enough, in my world anyway, until recently.
    I will endeavour to make a long story short. I know from a neighbourhood full of canine owners and an equal amount of friends who own dogs, that a large majority have, at some point, shared a similar dilemma to ours and for similar reasons…. what to feed their suffering pet. My wife and I have agonized over this since shortly after picking up our pooch last Christmas, an 8 week old blue merle male Aussie and did I mention…. ADORABLE!!! Both in looks and temperament.
    I am not going to comment on products purchased leading up to this Review so let’s just leave it at… we tried many top brands, both grain and grain-free and of various protein levels and ingredients. As smart as he is and almost knowing better than we… our pup was quickly sticking his nose up to them and refusing to eat until he was too hungry not to. Stupid people, he must have thought. Nothing however, could tame the symptoms our dog continued to struggle with, (Loose stools; mucus around the eyes; itching; a once very soft and shiny coat becoming brittle; losing tufts of hair, irritable; lethargic; sore hind knees and back (lower spine) and, frequent flatulence and bad breath.) again, until recently.
    Our Vet(s) seemed baffled. I’ll leave it at that and just say that they are no longer our Vet(s), so we continued to research ourselves. Not once in numerous costly visits did they ever mention “allergies”. ‘Raw’ seemed the way to go but we are both active and travel frequently (with our pup) so we desperately needed a fitting alternative.
    I had come across a Product months ago, claiming a unique processing formula and containing ingredients that could quite possibly help resolve our pup’s issues however, there were very few reviews, a 4 star rating and, even a suppliers of the Product seemed wary and offered alternative remedies. Not a glowing resume it seemed.
    Things were getting worst on the home-front so the research continued and again the ‘Product of Review’ came into question. Desperate, we sent an email to the manufacturer seeking advice and within days, the owners themselves replied…. impressive. A week later we were treated to something we had not seen since his wee puppy days, a joyous dance full of hopping and spinning for his meal(s).
    End of Week 1 – drastically improved stools and continuing to get better and smaller. Lethargy and Irritableness – gone. Reduced itching and hair loss and improving steadily. Only occasional eye mucus. His fur is as soft and shiny as it was when he was 3 months old and this happened within 4 days. Bad breath and nasty flatulence – gone. Revitalized energy level and what seems to be – less joint irritation, hopefully!!!
    It’s been a month now – we are still treated to a celebratory ritual of delight at each meal. All the above mentioned issues have improved tremendously or have completely vanished. Equally impressive is how the staining and the plague build-up on his teeth hasdisappeared and been completely replaced by sparkling white ones.
    Thank You is not enough CANISOURCE
    Vancouver Island, BC

  • bonnie

    hello, i have a 4 month old newfie puppy who from birth has been eating canisource and nrg dehyrated food and been doing very well on both both are quit expensive since my newf is eating 6 cups a day. I figure you are what you eat and in the long run I hope for a very healthy dog. Few vet bills Iam very happy with both and iam glad to see people are now really lookin into what they are feeding their pets :)

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Rachel… You ask, “How could a raw diet that has 70% meat (very similar to a lot of the 5 star rated raw diets) be degraded just because the moisture is removed?”

    Before you can accurately compare the nutrient content of any food, it’s critical to first understand the importance of mathematically removing 100% of the water from every product. Doing that allows two or more foods with radically different moisture contents to be fairly compared.

    This standard concept is known as dry matter basis.

    There is a link to an article explaining dry matter basis on every one of the 500+ reviews on this website.

    As I mention in this review, “raw pork and beef contain about 80% water. During processing, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight. So, after dehydration, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.”

    Based upon the company’s own reported protein content, CaniSource does not contain enough meat based protein in the finished product to qualify this line as a 5-star food. The finished product is a grain-based dog food.

  • Rachel

    Quick thing to point out about the calories/cup with CaniSource is that the actual weight of a cup of CaniSource is less than a cup of another type of extruded dry food (take a cup of CaniSource and a cup of an extruded kibble and weigh the difference – you’ll see that CaniSource is about 1/3 – 1/2 less mass).

    My 45 lbs dog eats CaniSource and gets 1 1/2 cup per day and she’s at the perfect weight. We don’t give her treats regularly either so you can see you don’t have to give a lot. Some dogs will have higher metabolisms and will require more food than others though so it’s a good idea to monitor your dog’s weight whenever feeding a new food. If they gain weight, reduce the amount fed and if they lose weight (unless they need to!) then increase the amount fed. It’s important to mention that recommended feeding guidelines are simply that – recommendations.

    Also, the meat content in the food is 70% – 15% grains, and about 15% fruits and vegetables. This is according to the manufacturer and is printed on the front of the box (contains 70% meat). This is very similar to the make-up of a lot of raw diets as well so to say that once the moisture is removed the meat percentage is way less than the grains is not an accurate statement either as all the ingredients are in their raw state – the vegetables and fruits all have their moisture as well when put in the recipe. Granted, the rice, oats, & barley are dry, but we’re only talking 15% of the recipe. So to degrade this diet, saying contains more grains than meat is incorrect. This is not processed like standard kibble. How could a raw diet that has 70% meat (very similar to a lot of the 5 star rated raw diets) be degraded just because the moisture is removed? I guess I’m not following that logic…

  • Matt

    Hi Sandy. I do have access to Honest Kitchen but it is only through the people that I bought the Canisource from. Unfortunately when I returned the box I had just bought from there a couple days prior un opened seal still intact they did not treat me very well. It is unfortunate because prior to this I really liked this small specialty store but I got a whole tone of attitude from them.

    So I have go elsewhere and have decided to give Orijen Regional Red a go. So far so good. No vomiting and not runny poops. If this works out well then I will be more than happy with it.

  • sandy

    Honest Kitchen Thrive and Love formulas have over 500 calories per cup. It is also dehydrated raw. I’m not sure how the price compares to Canisource.

  • Mat

    I have had my Kerry Blue on Cannisource for about 1.5 months now. He went on after having some digestion issues. He was on the Vet supplied Royal Cannin sensitive stomach formula and he lost about 4 lbs on that. We switched him to the Canisource and followed their feeding guidelines for his optimal size. He continued to lose weight. Part of this was that since they didn’t have kcal / cup listed on the packaging only kcal / kg listed I just trusted that their portions were adequate and the explained decrease in portion size could be attributed to the low temperature process that was raved about by the people selling the food. My Kerry Blue continued to lose weight and became concerned about this so first thing I checked was that he was actually getting his calorie count from their recommended feeding. For a 38lb dog they recommend 1.3 cups per day. Problem is that they only have aprox 420 kcal/cup (contacted the manufacturer) which is a pretty standard calorie count per cup. So for a dog that should be having aprox 1000 kcal per day he was being way underfed. In speaking with my vet we have decided to increase my dogs food intake up to 1500 kcal / day which works out to 3.5 cups of canisource. Now I don’t mind spending money on my dogs food but I can’t however justify paying more for my dogs food bill per month than I do for my own. For a 10 kg box being over $100 I think my money is spent best elsewhere.

    I am not saying this is a bad food. I like the idea of it. Just be cautious about using their feeding guidelines and how they claim “you don’t have to feed as much”. The calorie count is no different than most premium dogs foods.

  • Rick

    After years of trying to find a food that my 11 year old English Springer Spaniel would actually eat, I tried Canisource at the recommendation of a specialty shop owner. Kellie my dog is very active as she is a hunting dog, and she was always having trouble keeping her weight on, despite feeding her constantly. Kellie loves the food and eats it completely. She is 35 lbs and give her 3 cups a day which she eats readily. She is now putting on weight as the vet told me she is under weight. I am going to stick with this food until my dog tells me different. Her stools are smaller and less frequent. I am interested to see if the claim that the food will help prevent grass burns, as Kellie likes to use the whole yard.

  • CaniSource w/o Pork

    This stuff was great until they added pork. No need for it. I urge CaniSource to take it out. It’s making my dog’s digestion bad.

  • Frances

    Hello Kimberly,
    I was just getting ready to run out and buy a big box of Cani-Source. My dog tried a sample size last year and loved it, and we’ve been buying it off and on since. His stools are actually an ochre-colour (medium yellow/tan colour) when he eats it. on his vet food it’s a mahogany colour (a medium bown)
    He eats less of it than his regular ‘vet’ approved food. maybe about 2/3 of the amount. He also did not like Fromm very much. I supplement his dog food with small amounts of plain chicken for treats…he’s about 10 lbs, so the chicken would amount to less than 3 tbs a day.
    My dog is a a real meat-eater and tends to shun veggies. In the past i”ve made my own wet dog food. Using a Vita-Mix blender I combine cooked chicken, rice, boiled carrots, raw apple. I pack it into a square container, and cut it into daily portion squares usually used as treats. I think a good way to judge if the diet is good, is by the appearance of the stools, the vitality of your pet and the general ‘happiness’ and demeanor of your little friend. Yes, do not overfeed your dog!!

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Kimberly… Your dog’s apparent increase in appetite can be the fact the food is simply more palatable to her. Or that she needs to eat more food to compensate for less energy (calories) in the new food. In any case, it is important not to overfeed or underfeed your pet. So, if you see her weight increasing or decreasing with the new food, I’d suggest you adjust and regulate the serving size. Hope this helps.

  • Kimberly

    Hi.. I have switched my dog to the CaniSource after she took a real liking to it at Woofstock. It is quite expensive and I was surprised to see it had such a low rating as dehydrated is suppose to be better than dried. The one thing that concerned me after the switch was that her stool turned black. I’m not sure if it is because the food is darker than what I was feeding her before (Fromm grainfree surf and turf) or if she has some sort of allergy or problem with the food. I plan to try switching her back to see if that fixes the problem, however I was wondering if it was normal for dogfood to have a strong effect on a dogs stool? Other than that.. I find that my dog eats more and more happily than she did on the Fromm. She went from 1 bowl of Fromm every day or two from a constantly filled dog dish to eating the whole bowl full in the morning when I put it out and begging for more in the evening when I come home. Is the increase in her appetite a good thing or does this indicate that the food is not well balanced? She does not appear to be gaining weight despite the double quantity of food she is eating. I’m a little nervous of this dog food over all despite loving the idea of a food re-hydrated with water. I’m interested to hear what other people have experienced.

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Ron… On a quick glance, it looks like there has been a minor change in the recipe and a slight increase in protein content. I’ll try to update the review soon. Thanks for the tip.

  • Ron

    I’m a bit surprised the fiber is not higher, with Oats, apples, and carrots in it. One point I do like is that is doesn’t have potato in it, which I think is being overly used in the grain free foods and may carry its own set of problems.

  • Ron

    Mike,
    I just checked out their website and it looks as if they have added pork to the ingredients, maybe to up the protein%.
    http://www.canisource.com/CANISOURCE/english/ingredients.htm

  • http://www.tromhelp.com Colleen K. Peltomaa

    Fed CaniSource to my dog when I lived in Canada and wish I could get it here in Connecticut. It is very similar in concept to what the North American Indians called “Pemmican”. I agree the garlic is something that can be left out.

    Confession: since it is labeled “fit for human consumption”, and being a meat eating “O” blood type, I too occasionally munched on it and found it intrinsically satisfying, and my dog got more interested in eating it when he saw me eating it too :-)

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Hi Geoffrey… I respectfully must disagree with the company’s explanation that “quantity of meat (beef) is still in much higher quantity than the grains in the food”. That may be true before the food is processed. However, the company’s own reported protein content does not confirm this claim. The ingredient list (and the manufacturer’s recipe) is reported prior to cooking. The protein content is posted on the label and represents the after cooking protein content. This is called the “as fed” basis. And on that basis, the grain-based carbohydrates appear to be the primary component in this dog food.

  • Geoffrey Farella

    Hi folks. I used the info you provided in your review here and asked the folks at Canisource to comment about the concerns that were brought up. I thought i would post their response below for you.

    1. Even dehydrated, the quantity of meat (beef) is still in much higher quantity than the grains in the food. You wouldn’t get 27% proteins in the food if it was otherwise. Some companies can cheat the protein test by adding corn in the food, but since we don’t, you can feel secure that it is indeed a meat based food, and not a grain based one. In fact, grains only account for 15% of the total recipe. In our particular case, the argument about the dehydrated meat being lower down the list in incorrect. Another way to validate this is by looking at the quantity of stools your dog makes. Frequency is normally down to once a day with CaniSource instead of two-three times a day with other foods. In fact, stools are the same as with raw food, which everyone would agree has more meat than grain.

    2. People are correct in saying that white rice is less nutritious than brown rice. However, one important detail that is not mentioned is that dogs lack the enzymes necessary to get the extra nutrients found in the outside layer of brown rice. Using brown rice is better marketing wise because people assume it’s better for their dog since it is better for humans. The downside to using it in dog food is that the dog’s digestive system will work overtime to process the extra fibers, hence putting extra strain on the digestive system for nothing since the dog is not able to get those extra nutrients. This is a perfect example of human food marketing being incorrectly applied to dog food.

    3. It is also correct that we don’t add probiotics in the food. The reason is quite simple: we don’t need to. We have researched the idea quite extensively when we created the food, and finally decided against using them for a few reasons. For starters, all the foods with probiotics were tested and found to have no probiotics left alive in the kibble by the time they went to the lab. Probiotics have a very limited lifespan and do not last. Quantities used would have to be very significant, and you would have a best before date of only three months. Second, even if used in proper quantities, the benefits at the end of the day are insignificant for our food. CaniSource is already one of the easiest food to digest for dogs. The fact that all ingredients are certified for human consumption and that we dehydrate at a very low temperature means that our food is nutrient rich, and does not contain fillers. This means dogs only eat 50% of what they would eat of another food. The major advantage is that the digestive system is not overtasked by fillers, and can concentrate on getting the nutrients. The carrots we use are also rich in natural probiotics. So in the end, there is no reason on a nutritional stand point to add any. The only advantage of putting probiotics in CaniSource would be for marketing reasons, but we don’t work that way.

    4. Most of the minerals are chelated. However, this is not very significant once again with CaniSource since we add very little vitamins and minerals. In fact, the list is the shortest of the foods I have seen on the market, and the quantities we put in are very minute. We could skip vitamins and minerals altogether and it would take a few years before any deficiency would appear in dogs. Since we use certified human grade ingredients, and preserve the nutrients by dehydrating the food at very low temperature, there’s very little need to add vitamins and minerals.

    If you have a good basic food, made with fresh ingredients, then you don’t need to add a whole bunch of extras to it to try to make it look good. Our approach has always been to try to get as close as possible to cooking fresh for your dog every day. In fact, our food is nothing more than dehydrated raw, except that you have the reassurance that 100% of the ingredients are certified for human consumption. And as of writing this, I have yet to see another food company in North America put that in writing.

  • http://DogFoodAdvisor.com Mike Sagman

    Jonathan… In the interest of fairness, an appropriate suggestion, for sure. So, I’ve now added a similar narrative to each of my Bil Jac reviews. Thanks.

  • Jonathan

    “Compared to the high-heat extrusion equipment used to make kibble, it’s appropriate to acknowledge this company’s low-temperature dehydration process.”

    Hey, you should add something like that statement to Bil-Jac, too. Then people can’t act like you aren’t aware that their food is baked…