Rating: 
Darwin’s Natural Selections Dog Food earns the Advisor’s highest rating of 5 stars.
The Darwin’s Natural Selections product line lists five raw frozen dog foods… each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Beef and Vegetable
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Duck and Vegetable
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Turkey and Vegetable
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Chicken and Vegetable
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Buffalo and Vegetable
All five of the Natural Selections products include free-range meats and organic vegetables.
Darwin’s Natural Selections Turkey and Vegetable dog food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Darwin's Natural Selections Duck and Vegetable
Raw Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Ground duck meat (including bone), duck gizzards, duck hearts, duck livers, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, celery, romaine, parsley, apple cider vinegar (vegetables may vary based on seasonality), organic kelp meal, organic ground flax seed, sea salt, inulin (extract of chicory), zinc, copper and iron amino acid chelates, vitamin E
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.3%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 12% | 5% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 52% | 22% | 18% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 42% | 43% | 15% |
The first ingredient in this dog food lists duck. Duck is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of duck”.1
Duck is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life. In addition, this particular item is inclusive of bone, which is, of course, an excellent source of natural calcium.
The second ingredient includes duck gizzard. The gizzard is a low-fat, meaty organ found in the digestive tract of birds and assists by grinding up a consumed food. This item is a favored delicacy to a dog.
It’s also considered a nutritious addition, too.
The third ingredient is duck heart. Heart tissue is pure muscle (all meat). It’s naturally rich in quality protein, minerals and complex B vitamins, too.
The fourth ingredient is duck liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal. So long as it’s not over-weighted in a dog food, duck liver is a beneficial component.
The fifth item lists carrot. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.
The list goes on to include a number of other vegetables.
But since the company mentions “vegetables may vary based on seasonality”, we elected to exclude these items from this report.
However, we do note two important additions…
First, chicory is naturally rich in a substance known as inulin… a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and found in certain roots and tubers.
Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.
And lastly, this food also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
Darwin’s Natural Selections Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Since this product contains many organic ingredients, we feel compelled to accord this line favored status as we consider its final rating.
That’s because organic ingredients are produced under remarkably strict government standards… standards which greatly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.
Judging by its ingredients alone, Darwin’s Natural Selections looks to be an outstanding raw frozen dog food.
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 52%, a fat level of 22% and estimated carbohydrates of about 18%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 53% and a mean fat level of 24%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 15% for the overall product line.
Above-average protein. Near-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical raw dog food.
What’s more, unlike so many other raw or wet products, Darwin’s Natural Selections appears to have a relatively ideal (not excessive) amount of natural fat.
Free of any plant-based protein boosters, this is obviously the profile of a dog food containing an abundance of quality meat.
For those looking to mimic a dog’s natural ancestral diet, Darwin’s makes an excellent choice.
Bottom line?
Darwin’s Natural Selections is a meat-based raw frozen dog food using an abundance of beef, buffalo or poultry as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
For even more raw diet suggestions, be sure to visit the Advisor’s Recommended Raw Dog Foods summary page.
A Final Word
This review is 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 analyzed this product, please be sure to 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 veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
02/04/2011 Original review
09/14/2011 Updated – added Buffalo recipe
02/04/2011 Last Update
- Adapted by the Dog Food Advisor from the official definition for chicken published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2008 Edition ↩
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.