For most healthy adult dogs, Big Country Raw wins on portion flexibility and freezer-friendly formats, Red Dog Blue Kat wins on whole-food produce and supplement density, and Raw Performance wins for dogs that do poorly on ground bone. The deciding factor is almost always bone content, not protein.
All three are Canadian-made frozen raw lines, and all three sit in our raw dog food collection. Where they part ways is how calcium gets into the recipe — ground bone versus a boneless base with added mineral sources — and that single decision changes stool firmness, transition speed, and how many grams your dog eats per day. Below we break down the numbers we actually use on the shop floor when someone slides a puzzled look across the freezer door.
Bone-to-meat ratio: the number that separates these three brands
Prey-model and BARF feeding guidelines target roughly 10–15% edible bone by weight in a complete raw diet, with organ meat around 10% (half of that secreting organ such as liver) and the balance muscle meat plus, in BARF-style recipes, 10–20% produce. Big Country Raw and Red Dog Blue Kat both offer bone-in complete blends in that range; Raw Performance is built primarily around boneless formulations with calcium supplied by added mineral and whole-food sources.
Why that matters more than the protein panel: bone is where calcium and phosphorus come from, and AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance set a calcium minimum of 1.25 g per 1,000 kcal with a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio between roughly 1:1 and 2:1. Too little bone and a home-rotated raw diet drifts calcium-deficient. Too much and you get chalky, crumbly, hard-to-pass stool — the single most common raw-feeding complaint we hear at the counter.
How much bone is in each brand's blends?
Bone-in complete blends from Big Country Raw and Red Dog Blue Kat generally land in the 8–15% ground-bone range, depending on the protein and recipe. Raw Performance's complete diets are largely boneless with supplemental calcium. Recipes are reformulated periodically, so always read the current ingredient list and guaranteed analysis on the package you're buying.
Our nutrition experts at the North York store use a simple triage question: what does your dog's stool look like on their current food? Loose and frequent, and a bone-in blend often firms things up within a week. Hard, dry, straining, or a history of anal gland trouble, and a boneless base like Raw Performance's tends to be the kinder starting point.
Calorie density and how much raw food to feed a dog by weight
Adult dogs typically eat 2–3% of body weight in frozen raw per day, split across two meals. A 50 lb (22.7 kg) dog eats roughly 1–1.5 lb daily; a 15 lb dog eats about 4.8–7.2 oz. Most frozen raw runs 1.3–1.8 kcal per gram as fed, so a 1 lb portion delivers roughly 590–815 kcal.
That kcal spread is driven by fat content, not brand prestige. Higher-fat proteins — pork, lamb, duck, and anything with a generous fat trim — push toward the top of the range, so a 30 kg dog on a rich lamb blend may need noticeably fewer grams than the same dog on a lean turkey or rabbit blend. Because raw is roughly 65–72% moisture, as-fed protein content of 13–16% translates to something near 45–55% on a dry-matter basis, which is why raw-fed dogs often need fewer grams than owners expect.
Practical starting points we give customers:
- Lean, low-activity adult — start at 2% of body weight and reassess body condition in 14 days.
- Average adult, two walks a day — 2.5% is the usual landing spot.
- Working, sport, or hard-keeping dog — 3% or slightly above, often on a higher-fat blend.
- Puppies — 5–8% of current body weight daily for young pups, tapering toward adult percentages by 10–12 months, always on a growth-appropriate formula.
- Treats — keep them under 10% of daily calories; our freeze-dried dog treats make that easy to budget since a single 1 g piece is only a few kcal.
Ingredient quality: produce, organ meat and functional add-ins
Red Dog Blue Kat leans hardest into whole-food inclusions — vegetables, fruit, seeds, and functional ingredients built into complete blends. Big Country Raw offers the broadest format and protein range, including single-protein Pure-style options useful for elimination trials. Raw Performance formulates around boneless bases with vegetable and supplement blends worked into the recipe.
Where quality assessment gets concrete is the organ ratio and the presence of omega-3 sources. Ruminant liver and kidney are dense in vitamin A, copper, and B vitamins; fish, fish oil, or seed inclusions bring EPA and DHA that muscle meat alone can't supply. If a blend doesn't list a marine omega-3 source, we typically suggest adding one from our dog health and wellness range — omega-3 and omega-6 balance matters as much for coat and joint comfort as any glucosamine dose.
Safe handling deserves a line here too. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine recommends thawing raw pet food in the refrigerator, washing bowls and prep surfaces after every meal, and not leaving thawed raw out at room temperature. Guidance on this hasn't loosened heading into 2026, and households with infants or immunocompromised members should discuss raw feeding with their veterinarian first. Digestibility research on raw-fed dogs indexed through NCBI/PubMed in 2024 continues to show high protein digestibility but confirms handling hygiene as the real risk variable.
Life-stage fit: puppies, adults and seniors
All three brands offer blends suitable for adult maintenance, and each has options appropriate for growth — but puppy suitability comes down to whether the specific blend is formulated to meet AAFCO growth requirements, including the tighter calcium ceiling for large-breed puppies. Verify the life-stage statement on the bag, not the brand as a whole.
Large-breed puppies are where mistakes get expensive. Growth formulas for dogs expected to exceed 70 lb should keep calcium below 4.5 g per 1,000 kcal, and the American Kennel Club has long flagged over-supplementation of calcium during growth as a skeletal-development risk. When a customer comes in with a four-month-old Bernese or shepherd, we won't sell them a high-bone blend without walking through portioning first.
Seniors go the other direction. Lower activity, sometimes reduced kidney function, and often dental changes mean smaller-diameter grinds, moderate fat content, and joint support with glucosamine become the priority. A boneless base plus a controlled calcium source can be gentler on an older dog with sluggish motility. For dogs with diagnosed kidney, pancreatic, or liver disease, work with your veterinarian — the CVMA is a good starting point for finding one — before switching to raw at all.
Cost per day: what actually drives the number
Frozen raw cost per day is a function of three things: grams fed daily, format size, and protein choice. A 30 lb dog at 2.5% eats about 340 g per day, or roughly 10.4 kg per month — so buying in larger cases and bulk tubs rather than small patty packs is the biggest single lever on your monthly spend, usually a bigger effect than which of these three brands you pick.
The second lever is protein. Chicken and turkey blends sit at the value end across all three lines; beef and pork are mid-tier; lamb, duck, rabbit, and novel proteins sit at the top. Rotating between a value protein and a premium one — a practice that also broadens amino acid and micronutrient exposure — is how most of our long-term raw customers keep costs predictable. Some also mix, using frozen raw for one meal and freeze-dried dog food for the other, which helps in a downtown condo where freezer space is measured in inches, not litres.
Visit us at 1111A Finch Ave W, Unit 2, North York, ON M3J 2P7 — we're open 7 AM to 11 PM daily, and delivery is available across the GTA through apps like Uber Eats. Our price match guarantee covers the raw freezer too, so bring us a current advertised price.
Honest fit warnings: when to skip each brand
No raw line suits every dog. These are the three scenarios where we steer customers away from each brand rather than toward it.
Skip Big Country Raw if your dog has a history of constipation, impacted anal glands, or bone-related stool problems and you need a genuinely boneless complete diet — check labels carefully rather than assuming, and consider a boneless-first brand instead.
Skip Red Dog Blue Kat if you're running a strict elimination trial. Multi-ingredient whole-food blends with produce, seeds, and functional add-ins are excellent for general nutrition but make it much harder to isolate a single trigger. A single-protein, minimal-inclusion blend is the better diagnostic tool.
Skip Raw Performance if your dog needs the mechanical benefit of ground bone for stool formation, or if you specifically want prey-model ratios with bone as the calcium source. Some dogs simply produce better stool on bone-in blends.
Skip all three if your dog is immunosuppressed, on chemotherapy, or lives with a medically vulnerable person. Cooked and gently processed options from our premium pet food selection deliver similar ingredient quality without raw-handling risk.
Side-by-side recap
| Feature | Big Country Raw | Red Dog Blue Kat | Raw Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Format flexibility and protein rotation | Whole-food produce and functional inclusions | Dogs sensitive to ground bone |
| Bone approach | Bone-in complete blends plus boneless options | Bone-in complete blends and base mixes | Primarily boneless with supplemental calcium |
| Typical as-fed protein | 13–16% | 13–16% | 13–16% |
| Calorie density (as fed) | ~1.3–1.8 kcal/g | ~1.3–1.8 kcal/g | ~1.3–1.8 kcal/g |
| Elimination-trial friendly | Yes, via single-protein blends | Less so — multi-ingredient | Depends on formula |
| Made in Canada | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | $$ | $$$ | $$$ |
| Available at Ashario | Shop Big Country Raw | Shop Red Dog Blue Kat | Shop Raw Performance |
Shop the Brands Mentioned in This Article
Find Big Country Raw, Red Dog Blue Kat, and other premium pet supplies in-store or Browse raw dog food online →.
Questions we get at the freezer door
How do I switch between these brands without upsetting my dog's stomach?
Transition over 7–10 days by replacing 25% of the old food every two to three days. If stool loosens, hold at the current ratio for two extra days rather than pushing forward. Adding a probiotics and prebiotics supplement during the switch helps many dogs; our dog health supplements page covers the options.
Can I mix frozen raw with kibble in the same bowl?
Yes — the old claim that raw and kibble digest at incompatible rates isn't supported by evidence, and plenty of dogs do well on split feeding. Feed raw at one meal and dry at the other if you want to be conservative, and count total daily kcal from both so you don't overshoot. Pet owners tell us this hybrid approach is what makes raw affordable long term.
How much boneless raw does my dog need compared to bone-in?
Roughly the same volume by weight — 2–3% of body weight — but a boneless complete diet must supply calcium from another source to hit that 1.25 g per 1,000 kcal minimum. Never build a long-term boneless diet from plain muscle meat alone; use a complete formula or a veterinarian-guided supplement plan.
Still deciding? Our team has walked hundreds of GTA dog owners through this exact choice — from Downsview Park regulars to apartment beagles with tiny freezers. Bring your dog's weight and current food to the store, or contact our team, and we'll run the gram math with you. You can also browse more feeding guides on our dog blog or see other Canadian-made pet products we stock.
Quick summary: Choose bone-in blends from Big Country Raw or Red Dog Blue Kat if your dog's stool is loose and you want prey-model calcium; choose boneless Raw Performance if your dog struggles with ground bone. Feed 2–3% of body weight daily at roughly 1.3–1.8 kcal per gram, and control cost by buying larger formats and rotating value proteins. Consult your veterinarian before starting raw with a puppy, senior, or medically fragile dog.
