I am back and trialling a new complete and balanced pre-made raw dog food, balanced for All Life Stages- Sadie's Select.
Sadie's Select is a small business currently operating out of Houston, Texas. This pet food company was founded by a loving dog dad trying to provide his mini bull terrier, Sadie, with the absolute best. After researching her breed and becoming aware of possible food allergies, Sadie's parents trialled countless "high quality" dog food brands, but those foods would all contribute to more fur loss and bad skin reactions.
After researching raw food diets for pets, Sadie's parents turned to their trusted veterinarian about a diet switch and embarked on their new journey. A few short years later, Sadie's parents continued to learn more about the commercial pet food industry and felt compelled to create a healthy alternative to standard kibble, using real, high quality ingredients.
Pet parents can choose from their variety of NRC & AAFCO balanced, All Life Stages, Complete and Balanced lines, that are suitable for adult dogs and puppies. Yes, you read that correctly. Sadie's Select offers premade raw food recipes for dogs and puppies, that are balanced to the National Research Council's feeding guidelines.
Sadie's Select also offers a Cat Blend and other raw food blends for dogs, that require some supplementation to make them complete and balanced- which can be a great option for adult dogs and adult cats whose meals are balanced over time. They also currently stock a few extras like raw kefir, raw goat milk cheese bites/raw cow milk cheese bites, air-dried and freeze-dried treats, and some seafood.
In between meal preps, I figured this was the perfect time for my adult dogs to test a new balanced raw pre-made food!
Throughout the week, both of my dogs were able to try Sadie's Select- Goku's Complete Duck Recipe & Sadie's Complete Chicken Recipe for dogs (at the end of this post you can find more information on ingredient breakdowns, price etc...).
Historically, my eldest dog, Nolo, is the picky eater in this family. But when it comes to premade grinds, I have found that Nolo tends to inhale just about anything, while his younger brother, Bo, who is usually my garbage disposal dog, is not the biggest fan of thawed ground items (so I've learned). With Mr. Beignet, I find that offering the pre-made raw food partially or completely frozen is a much more pleasant experience for him, and he is more likely to finish all of his ground food when I offer it frozen.
Seeing as this was now the 3rd balanced pre-made raw dog food they would be trying, I figured I knew exactly what to expect when it came to my dog's stool colour and consistency.
To my surprise, my dogs' stool was absolute perfection on their Sadie's Select grinds, right off the bat! This was shocking to me because I have come to expect a day or two of some funky poo situations, which can be completely normal when introducing a new pre-made food to your pets (especially if you normally feed DIY meals). But when eating their Goku's Complete Duck & Sadie's Complete Chicken Recipes, my dogs' stool remained almost identical to their stool when I feed their balanced DIY raw food recipes. Stool remained small, dry, and firm, with only a slight variation in colour between both recipes (for photos, check out my instagram "Poo" highlight).
When you first receive your pouches of raw food from Sadie's Select, you will notice that each pouch or bag has been flattened and sealed. In my opinion, this makes for the most convenient storage because you can easily stack your pet's raw food in the freezer or refrigerator without taking up a ton of space.
As you can see in the photos above, I was able to easily stack some of my Goku's Complete Duck & Sadie's Complete Chicken Recipes on a freezer shelf and I could even sit them comfortably in my freezer door. For me, this makes Sadie's Select the perfect emergency pre-made dog food option for me to have on hand because I know I can easily store them in my freezer, and still have lots of room to store prepped meals and meat.
When it comes time to thaw your pre-made food, simply remove a pouch from your freezer and set it on a plate or in a bowl, in your refrigerator overnight. I found this to be the perfect amount of time to have the grinds thaw enough to easily portion it for my dogs. Setting the pouch on a plate or in a bowl to thaw is also a good idea in case the pouch has a slit you do not notice, or was not sealed properly- this will prevent myoglobin from spilling onto your shelves.
When it came to figuring out how much of each grind to feed, I based the amount I fed on the kilocalorie information provided on each package. Sadie's Select lists this information, along with a guaranteed analysis, and general feeding recommendation on their website and on their packaging (but I generally do not follow brand feeding recommendations since I prefer to meet my dog's usual daily caloric intake).
For example, in a 16oz bag of their Goku's Complete Duck (Complete and Balanced for All Life Stages) grind, Sadie's Select states this blend is 1279.2 kcal per kilogram or 580.75 kcal per cup. Since each pouch or bag of food is portioned by the pound, which is 16oz or 453.592g (454g), that would mean a 16oz bag of Goku's Complete Duck would be roughly 580.23kcal.
Right now, Nolo weighs 30-33lbs and Bobo weighs 28-30lbs. They both consume around 1200kcal a day. When I meal prep for my dogs, I usually prep meals that range from 850kcal - 1000kcal because I use a balanced air dried raw dog food for training. This makes up the difference in calories. So when feeding pre-made foods, like the Sadie's Select Complete and Balanced grinds, I did the same thing; the difference in calories was made up during their training sessions.
For those of you with pets whose daily caloric intake is much lower than my dogs', this could end up being a cost effective option for you if meal prepping is something you have no time for.
In terms of the quality, Sadie's Select in another brand where I am able to recognise the whole food ingredients listed on the packaging when I open up a pouch to feed my dogs. They also use whole food sources in all of their grinds, which is something worth noting for pet parents who prefer whole food additions over synthetic vitamins (I am personally unbothered by the use of synthetic vitamins in a balanced formula, when used appropriately).
Sadie's Select currently sources all of their human-grade meat and produce from local Texan farmers, and frequently updates their website with relevant sourcing information. If you live in the state of Texas, they also share which pet boutiques currently stock their items, and which farmer's markets they attend, in case you prefer to do pick-ups directly from the company!
Overall, I am extremely happy with the quality of Sadie's Select complete and balanced line of raw pre-made dog food, and both of my dogs did very well on them! Because I have no plans of abandoning my DIY recipes and meal prepping since it is the most cost effective option for me at this time, Sadie's is another brand I would gladly add to my "balanced premade rotation" for emergencies.
If you have been in search of a healthy, balanced pre-made raw food for adult dogs or puppies that is not high fat, uses whole foods, and is balanced following NRC guidelines, then you may want to check out Sadie's Select!
Update: August 21st, 2022
Sadie's Select has created a coupon code that I can share.
Use code: "Nolo10" for a discount off all Sadie's Select items
Sadie's Select
GOKU'S COMPLETE DUCK Dog Food
$8.80/package (16oz / 454g)
Whole Ducks
Wild Caught Sardines
Swiss Chard
Duck Liver
Duck Heart
Beef Spleen
Oysters
Blue Mussels
Kale
Parsley
Duck Skin
Organic Strawberries
Pasture Raised Duck Eggs
Chia Seeds
Kelp Powder
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS (as fed)
Crude Protein (min.): 14.57%
Crude Fat (min.): 8.35%
Crude Fiber (max.): 0.5%
Moisture (max.): 72.58%
CALORIE CONTENT
36.26kcal per ounce
Sadie's Select
SADIE'S COMPLETE CHICKEN Dog Food
$6.00/package (16oz / 454g)
Chicken Leg QuartersWild Caught SalmonPasture Raised Chicken EggsOrganic BroccoliBlue MusselsChicken HeartBeef LiverBeef SpleenWild Caught OystersSpinachCilantroBlueberriesChia SeedsKelp Powder
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS (as fed)Crude Protein (min.): 13.81%Crude Fat (min.): 5.97%Crude Fiber (max.): 0.5%Moisture (max.): 75.05%
CALORIE CONTENT31.59kcal per ounce
Chicken Leg Quarters
Wild Caught Salmon
Pasture Raised Chicken Eggs
Organic Broccoli
Blue Mussels
Chicken Heart
Beef Liver
Beef Spleen
Wild Caught Oysters
Spinach
Cilantro
Blueberries
Chia Seeds
Kelp Powder
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS (as fed)
Crude Protein (min.): 13.81%
Crude Fat (min.): 5.97%
Crude Fiber (max.): 0.5%
Moisture (max.): 75.05%
CALORIE CONTENT
31.59kcal per ounce
Sadie's Select
MAX'S MASH UP Dog Food
$7.65/package (16oz / 454g)
Chicken Leg QuartersDuck GizzardWild Caught SalmonBeef SpleenBeef LiverBeef BrisketWild Caught OystersWild Caught Blue MusselsCeleryBrussels SproutsKaleBlackberriesBlueberriesChia SeedsKelp Powder
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS (as fed)Crude Protein (min.): 14.31%Crude Fat (min.): 7.41%Crude Fiber (max.): 0.5%Moisture (max.): 75.42%
CALORIE CONTENT33.176kcal per ounce
Chicken Leg Quarters
Duck Gizzard
Wild Caught Salmon
Beef Spleen
Beef Liver
Beef Brisket
Wild Caught Oysters
Wild Caught Blue Mussels
Celery
Brussels Sprouts
Kale
Blackberries
Blueberries
Chia Seeds
Kelp Powder
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I hope me sharing my experience feeding Sadie's Select is helpful to some of you!
I am not currently affiliated with Sadie's Select.
I am not a Sadie's Select ambassador and I was not paid or offered anything in exchange to share my experience.
I am only sharing my opinions and how my dogs did on their balanced recipes because I get questions on social media asking which balanced pre-mades I would recommend. Since I typically feed DIY raw recipes I formulate and prep, it felt appropriate to share my experience.
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