Review of Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Dog Food Pouches

Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet product line includes the 2 pouched dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Gracie’s Gourmet Chicken, Broccoli, Rice & Carrot was selected to represent both products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is 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 is 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 anti-cancer benefits.

The next 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 fourth ingredient includes carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The fifth ingredient is rice protein concentrate. Rice protein is made by removing the starchy part of the grain and leaving the protein.

Even though it contains over 70% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like rice gluten can significantly boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that can’t be ignored when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The next ingredient is tricalcium phosphate, a beneficial source of calcium and phosphorus. In addition, this additive is used in canned foods as an emulsifier — an agent designed to disperse a food’s fats more evenly in water.

The seventh 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.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

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 Three Dog Bakery product.

With 2 notable exceptions…

First, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.

And lastly, this recipe contains sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Dog Food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 23% and estimated carbohydrates of about 33%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 36% and a mean fat level of 23%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 33% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 63%.

Which means this Three Dog Bakery product line contains…

Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the rice protein concentrate and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

Our Rating of Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet Pouched Dog Food

Three Dog Bakery Gracie’s Gourmet is a grain-inclusive wet dog food using a moderate amount of named meat as its dominant source of animal protein, thus receiving 4 stars.

Highly recommended.

Has Three Dog Bakery Dog Food Been Recalled?

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 related to Three Dog Bakery.

No recalls noted

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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