The Farmer’s Dog and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Partner for a Long-Term Feeding Study

Key points:

• The Farmer’s Dog conducted a unique long-term feeding study at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, reinforcing that our food meets dogs’ long-term nutritional needs.
  
• The study lasted for one year, and involved ten dogs eating The Farmer’s Dog as their primary diet. The study lasted longer, involved more dogs, and collected more health data than a standard AAFCO feeding trial.
  
• All ten dogs completed the study in good health, and a Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® oversaw the study.

Every recipe from The Farmer’s Dog is developed by our team of on-staff, board-certified nutritionists, and the health of the dogs who eat our food is our top priority.

Starting in August of 2023, we partnered with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine on a long-term feeding study. The study provided more proof than ever of what we already knew: Our pre-portioned, fresh, human-grade food provides dogs with all the nutrition they need to thrive. Here are the details.

What AAFCO trials measure, and what they don’t

Dog people may be familiar with AAFCO, or the Association of American Feed Control Officials, from seeing its name on food labels. It’s a private, voluntary-membership organization that deals with animal-feed rules, including those for pet food. States base their regulations on AAFCO’s standards for the nutritional adequacy of pet food.

All of our foods are formulated to be complete and balanced according to AAFCO standards. And one of the main ways companies demonstrate that their foods are complete and balanced is through a standard AAFCO trial. This type of trial involves at least eight dogs, each at least one year of age; only six need to complete it. The dog food being tested must keep six out of the eight dogs healthy for six months. Dogs must not lose more than 15% of their initial body weight, and the averages of four blood values (hemoglobin, packed cell volume, serum alkaline phosphatase, and serum albumin) must fall within acceptable levels. The test fails if dogs show signs of nutritional deficiency or toxicity.

These trials can reveal valuable information about a dog food, but they have their limitations. We set out to conduct a study with more dogs, over a longer period of time, and collecting more data, in order to further reinforce that our food provides optimal long-term nutrition.

Our study

Our study involved ten adult dogs, who were fed The Farmer’s Dog within a controlled setting at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In the same setting, a control group of dogs continued to eat their previous complete and balanced dry dog food.

These dogs, and the study as a whole, were overseen by Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionists® Dr. Joe Wakshlag, DACVIM (Nutrition) and Dr. John Loftus, DACVIM (Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nutrition). All dogs had their weight and body conditions routinely checked. We also adjusted their daily calorie intakes to maintain body weight and ideal body condition. Extended blood-chemistry panels and CBC were performed at the start of the study, and at the one-, three-, six-, and 12-month marks. Furthermore, fasting triglycerides and thyroid hormone were assessed at the one-year mark. All of this goes well beyond the required four AAFCO blood markers listed above.

Complete physical exams of all dogs were performed before the study and at the one-year mark. Dr. Wakshlag then further reviewed and assessed all of these results.

Dr. Wakshlag affirmed that all dogs remained healthy—there were no signs of nutritional inadequacies or deficiencies in The Farmer’s Dog food used for the study.

Alongside our previous long-term (five-plus-year) at-home feeding studies and evaluations, this extended, enhanced feeding trial provides additional evidence that The Farmer’s Dog food is nutritionally complete and a good choice for daily feeding.