Why Veterinarians Love The Farmer’s Dog

In this article:

• Is The Farmer’s Dog formulated by on-staff, board-certified nutritionists?
• Is The Farmer’s Dog AAFCO complete and balanced?
• Does The Farmer’s Dog meet WSAVA guidelines?
• Is The Farmer’s Dog human-grade?
• How is The Farmer’s Dog cooked?
• Does The Farmer’s Dog have low fat options?
• Does The Farmer’s Dog have grain-inclusive recipes?
• Does The Farmer’s Dog conduct peer-reviewed research?
• Is The Farmer’s Dog food digestible? 
• Is The Farmer’s Dog food palatable?
• Does The Farmer’s Dog help dogs lose weight?

We know how important it is that your veterinarian approves of the food you feed your dog. It was a veterinarian’s advice that helped launch our company, and we remain dedicated to helping vet professionals promote pet health with safe, balanced nutrition. Science and dogs’ wellbeing are at the core of everything we do; here are details about why thousands of veterinarians trust and recommend our real, human-grade food, and even feed it to their own dogs. 

The Farmer’s Dog food is always formulated by on-staff, board-certified nutritionists.

Every recipe from The Farmer’s Dog is developed by our on-staff, board-certified nutritionists. These experts are part of a very small group of scientists trained to know exactly what dogs need to stay healthy. Vets recommend The Farmer’s Dog every day for their patients because they know that it was created by trustworthy specialists.

The Farmer’s Dog is 100% AAFCO complete and balanced.

All foods from The Farmer’s Dog are 100% nutritionally complete and balanced. That means they contain all the vitamins and minerals a dog needs to stay healthy (complete) in the proper amounts and ratios (balanced). Check the label to make sure a food is complete and balanced for your dog’s particular life stage, or for dogs in all stages of life—puppies have different needs from adult dogs. The Farmer’s Dog offers recipes that are suitable for puppies through seniors.

The complete and balanced designation comes from the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and can be validated in two ways: formulation and feeding trials.

If a bag of dog food says it’s “formulated to meet the nutritional levels” of an intended life stage, like puppyhood or adulthood, that means the diet meets AAFCO’s guidelines. If the bag says “Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures,” that means the dog food went through a standard AAFCO adult maintenance feeding trial.

Multiple recipes from The Farmer’s Dog have gone through AAFCO feeding trials, and we’ve also gone further to prove that our food provides the nutrition that dogs need through a long-term feeding study with the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine.

The Farmer’s Dog meets or exceeds WSAVA guidelines.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) offers guidelines on helping veterinarians and pet owners select food as part of their mission to raise the standards of small animal veterinary care around the world. These guidelines focus on evaluating each company in relation to their nutritional expertise, food safety and quality control practices, and nutrition research. 

Our human-grade foods and manufacturing processes meet or exceed WSAVA’s guidelines for selecting pet foods, so vets can feel confident recommending The Farmer’s Dog to their clients. 

The Farmer’s Dog is raising the bar on pet-food standards.

The Farmer’s Dog food is human-grade. Unlike “ancestral,” “premium,” and other marketing terms that are essentially meaningless, “human-grade” is defined by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Guidelines govern its use on pet-food labels, specifying that “every ingredient and the resulting product must be stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner that is consistent and compliant with 21 CFR part 117 (FDA rules governing human-food production) and those applicable federal human food laws as required by ingredient, process and/or facility type.”

In plain language, this means that human-grade dog food must meet the same standards as food for humans.

The Farmer’s Dog food is gently cooked.

Our fresh food is gently cooked—never raw. This eliminates harmful pathogens and retains nutrients.

The Farmer’s Dog offers a low fat recipe.

We offer a low fat recipe for dogs with certain medical conditions who need to be on a fat-restricted diet. It’s available via a veterinarian’s recommendation.

The Farmer’s Dog offers grain-free and grain-inclusive recipes.

The Farmer’s Dog offers recipes with and without grains, giving veterinarians more options to recommend to their clients based on each patient’s unique needs. 

The Farmer’s Dog publishes original, peer-reviewed research.

We conduct original research to advance the field of veterinary nutrition. 

In October 2025, we partnered with Cornell University to publish a first-of-its-kind paper assessing how a fresh food impacted metabolic processes in senior dogs. The study found that feeding dogs food from The Farmer’s Dog can meaningfully support healthier aging—reinforcing that minimally processed food has the potential to enhance metabolic function and overall health.

In November 2025, we published a study looking at how fresh food affects hydration in dogs. It found that dogs eating fresh, human-grade food take in more water than those eating dry kibble, and that a fresh diet may benefit urinary health.

Our rigorous research helps to advance the field of veterinary medicine, and gives vets more evidence to factor into their decisions every day.

The Farmer’s Dog food is highly digestible. 

Our research has clinically proven that our food is highly digestible, meaning that dogs can easily absorb the nutrients they need from it.

The Farmer’s Dog food is highly palatable.

Our food is clinically shown to be highly palatable (meaning that dogs love to eat it). This is important because even the most nutritious food is only useful if a dog will actually eat it. Vets can turn to us if they’re dealing with a picky eater, and know that they’ll get all the nutrients they need.

The Farmer’s Dog helps dogs reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Vets know that one of the best ways to keep your best friend healthy in the long term is to keep them at a healthy weight and lean body condition. Research shows that lean dogs can live up to 2.5 years longer than those who are overweight.

Working with our on-staff, board-certified nutritionists, we tell dog owners exactly how much and how often to feed their dogs, helping them reach and maintain a healthy weight. And we make it easy for dog owners to adjust portions as their dogs’ needs change, so they can achieve an ideal body condition at all stages of life.

Veterinarians love The Farmer’s Dog because our company and food are built on decades of veterinary expertise. And that’s also why The Farmer’s Dog food is a safe, healthy way to feed your dog.