Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet (Pouch)

Rating:

Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet dog food earns the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet product line includes two pouched dog foods.

However, since we’re unable to locate AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these dog foods on the company’s website, it’s impossible for us to report specific life stage recommendations for these recipes.

The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review:

• Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Chicken, Carrots, Broccoli and Rice
• Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Chicken, Carrots, Green Beans and Rice

Gracie’s Gourmet Chicken, Carrots, Broccoli and Rice was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food includes chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.¹

Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient lists broccoli. Broccoli is a healthy green vegetable and a member of the kale family. It’s notably rich in vitamin C and fiber and numerous other nutrients.

Like other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli is believed to provide potent anti-cancer benefits.

The third item mentions carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The fourth ingredient is rice. Is this whole grain rice, brown rice or white rice? Since the word “rice” doesn’t tell us much, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The fifth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

The sixth ingredient is corn starch, a starchy powder extracted from the endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy.

Corn starch isn’t a true red flag item. Yet we’ve highlighted here for those wishing to avoid corn-based ingredients.

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 one notable exceptions…

We note the minerals 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.

Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Three Dog Bakery Gracie Gourmet Dog Food looks like an above-average wet 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 36%, a fat level of 27% and estimated carbohydrates of about 28%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 36% and a mean fat level of 27%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 28% for the overall product line.

Below-average protein. Above-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

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

However, it’s unfortunate the company chose to not use chelated minerals in these recipes. For with just a little more meat and the inclusion of these more biologically available minerals, we would have been compelled to award this line a higher rating.

Bottom line?

Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Dog Food is a meat-based wet product using a moderate amount of chicken as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Recommended.

Those looking for a good kibble from the same company may wish to visit our review of Three Dog Bakery Bake to Basics dog food.

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

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Notes and Updates

01/30/2011 Original review
11/04/2012 Last Update