Matilda and Cow were thrilled to try Dr. Marty™ Nature’s Blend dog food – and I’m pretty excited to introduce a premium food option that meets the high standards of our personal food rotation.
If you’re looking to upgrade your dog’s diet, you and your dog are going to love Nature’s Blend too.
Sometimes I hear about dogs who turn their nose up at “healthy food,” and their owners have to compromise and offer them a subpar brand just to get them to eat.
Freeze-dried foods like Nature’s Blend are an excellent solution to this – dogs are attracted to the flavors released when you add warm water.
You can even add freeze-dried food to your dog’s existing diet to get her excited about her meals.
If you’ve ever tried freeze-dried liver treats (most dogs go nuts for those!) this food has a very similar, meaty smell that’s mild to us, but wildly delicious to most dogs.
What Exactly IS Dr. Marty Nature’s Blend Freeze-Dried Food?
Nature’s Blend consists of freeze-dried pellets that you rehydrate with warm water before serving.
Just like astronaut food, it is lightweight and condensed, all of the moisture removed to make it easy to transport and store without freezing or refrigeration.
Is Freeze-Dried Food RAW?
Dr. Marty Nature’s Blend is described as “raw,” on the packaging and on their website.
As a raw feeder, this gave me pause at first. Is freeze-dried food really raw?
The more I learned about their freeze-drying process, the more I understood why you could call it raw.
Nature’s Blend starts with raw turkey, beef, salmon, duck, and other whole-food nutrient sources like sweet potatoes, eggs, carrots, cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
Ingredients: Turkey, Beef, Salmon, Duck, Flax, Beef Liver, Turkey Hearts, Turkey Liver, Sweet Potato, Eggs, Pea Flour, Carrots, Apples, Blueberries, Cranberries, Pumpkin Seeds, Spinach, Ginger, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols.
The food is then frozen, the pressure is dropped, and the ice is removed through sublimation – all of the moisture goes from solid to gas, skipping the liquid state. Through the entire process, the food never reaches 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the end, you get these condensed pellets that expand when you add water. In just 3-5 minutes, your dog’s meal is ready to eat.
It’s ALIVE!
High temperatures used to process most dogs foods kill off naturally occurring, digestion-aiding enzymes and nutrients.
That’s why raw feeders like me do not cook during food prep. Freeze drying is another way to keep those enzymes and nutrients intact.
Speaking of nutrients, you’ll notice from the ingredient panel that there are no artificial sources vitamins or minerals. Nature’s Blend is complete and balanced and meets AAFCO standards by only including foods that contribute to your dog’s daily nutritional needs. There are absolutely no ingredients added as fillers.
So, your dog is getting most of the benefits of a raw diet, without the freezing and thawing.
Once you add water, the food “comes back to life,” and it’s essentially raw. Some of the live bacteria and digestion-aiding enzymes from the meat do survive the freeze-drying process, and they are revived when you prepare the food.
This is why you need to treat freeze-dried food as raw when it’s rehydrated, and why it’s so similar to fresh foods in benefits, yet so much more convenient.
What Makes Dr. Marty Nature’s Blend Different From Other Freeze-Dried Foods
Dr. Marty Nature’s Blend contains no chicken or chicken fat. Chicken is one of the most common food intolerances affecting dogs like my Cow, so it’s great when we’re able to find a food with limited ingredients and absolutely no chicken.
It’s ideal to use multiple protein sources in your dog’s diet to make sure she’s getting a range of nutritional benefits. Nature’s Blend contains Turkey, beef, duck and salmon, so you don’t have to worry about rotating proteins.
I’m also happy that it comes in pellet form. Powdery, pulverized food mixes tend to turn into a soggy sludge that my dogs won’t touch.
Best of all, Dr. Marty sponsors Freedom Service Dogs Of America, an organization that rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to be service dogs for people of all ages, including children and veterans with disabilities. Talk about a second chance!
Who I Would Recommend This Food For
If you’re feeding a raw diet, but you sometimes run out of food or forget to thaw, you can keep Nature’s Blend in your cabinet for a long time – as long as it is stored properly and not exposed to moisture. Then, you can whip up a meal in five minutes.
If you’re feeding kibble, and do not have the freeze space or budget for raw or can’t feed an exclusively freeze-dried diet, replacing even one meal per week can make a difference in your dog’s longevity. You can also crush it and mix it into your dog’s kibble to help pique her appetite.
You can even use this food as treats. It can be fed dry, right out of the bag.
Nature’s Blend is appropriate for dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds. You should ask your veterinarian before making dietary changes if your dog has a chronic health condition.
Try Dr. Marty Nature’s Blend Freeze-Dried Food Today!
Dr. Marty stands behind their food with a 90-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Your dog is probably going to love this food and thrive on it – but if she doesn’t, there’s no risk in giving it a try.
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She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.
Sounds like a great food! I’m not familiar with this brand, it’s not available where I live, but when I brought my dog to Canada with me this summer I was in search of a new food since his is not sold there. I found a canned brand I liked, but also discovered freeze dried which I crumbled on top. He absolutely loved it!!
It looks like an interesting food! I feed raw but do like to keep up with what healthy commercial foods are available for times when I need a back up food. This one would probably work well for my younger dog, as long as he’d eat it (he’s super picky), but sadly my older boy can’t eat poultry of any kind or eggs.
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I have never heard about that brand and it looks like a food I should actually keep in my emergency bag as it needs just water. I am going to check more into it so thanks for sharing.
I have always wondered about freeze drying raw food and how it works and is it still raw. Thanks for explaining so well! This food sounds great. Love that it includes salmon, which is Ruby’s favorite!
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Freeze dried is the best for travel. It’s light weighted unlike other dog food you can actually fly with a sealed bag of it. We don’t use this brand (we use a Canadiana product) but I may look into it! Always good to have options. I prefer the patty to the pellets personally though. And I look for bone and high organ meat content since I use it as a supplement to fresh meat.
I’ve been hearing a lot about Dr. Marty’s food lately. One of my co-workers even told me about it, and she wants to try it with her pets. I’m always on the lookout for healthy food, so maybe I’ll ask her for a little to see if my girls like it.
This sounds like a great food. Thank you for clarifying what freeze-dried food really is. I’ve given Buffy freeze-dried treats and she loves them. I really like that this company supports Freedom Service Dogs.
Freeze dried raw food is so great – and convenient, we totally get it! We saw Dr. Marty’s in the pet food store this weekend – so will definitely pick it up next time we run out.This one sounds very nutritious and in a flavor that the pup’s will enjoy!
Freeze dried food is something our cats are oddly wary off. No idea what because the foods that are dried this way are usually the top quality and super tasty brands.
I will look out for it here.
I have never heard of Dr Marty Nature’s Blend! We feed a primarily raw diet and often sub in freeze dried raw as well. I love the convenience of freeze dried food, especially when camping and traveling. So much easier than toting around a big cooler and worrying about keeping it frozen. I’ll definitely check this brand out.
I do love the ingredients list. Seems there is mostly protein and a very moderate amount of carbs. Awesome.
I’ve given Truffle and Brulee freeze-dried treats and they love them, especially chicken and salmon. I haven’t had as much luck with the freeze-dried pellets that are hydrated.
It is always good to find food for your dogs that you feel good about feeding them!
This seems like it would a great food to have on hand when you travel or have to evacuate since it won’t weigh as much as regular food.
My dogs tried another brand of dehydrated food, but it was very mushy. They liked it well enough, but Nelly’s beard was always getting food in it.
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That looks like a great food option. Freeze dried makes raw so convenient when traveling. And I always have to have something for those days when I forget to thaw the meat in time to make dinner.
This sounds very good! Sometimes a couple of my Huskies can be picky eaters, and I’m thinking this would be a great, enticing topper! Thanks for the great review.
I found a canned brand I liked, but also discovered freeze dried which I crumbled on top. He absolutely loved it!! I haven’t had as much luck with the freeze-dried pellets that are hydrated.Thanks for the reviws.
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My 6 1/2 pound Chihuahua that is eight years old had a very bad case of pancreatitis one month ago and I was told that pancreatitis is chronic so I was given a prescription diet by hills ID low-fat . It’s most important that I know that this food is low in fat . I’m hoping you could help me with this I also wrote to Dr. Marty’s support line on an email and I also sent this information to her emergency vet that put her on the prescription off at Hills ID
Hi Joyce, did you hear back after your email? Sorry I’m getting back to your comment so late, I just now found it buried under this review.
This is what it says on Dr. Marty’s website: This is what it says on Dr. Marty’s website: You should always follow the instructions of your veterinarian, especially when your dog has dietary restrictions. If you think your dog would benefit from eating Nature’s Blend, take a bag into your next appointment. The ingredients list is short and simple, so you can easily talk with your vet about how your dog can benefit from eating this food.
Great post! Thanks for clearing things up 😉
I ordered on line & my 8-year old mini Dachshund likes it but does not like to wait for 5 minutes water rehydration. The above post says, the chunks can be fed, as are, without re-hydration, but I have been afraid that would be harmful to my dog’s internal fluid levels.
How much do you give a small dog. Daschound Breed. Also, how long will the bag last.
Bags has directions on how to hydrate &volume to serve based on dog’s weight.
BEWARE OF THIS DR. MARTY’S NATURAL FOOD. I TOOK HIS LINE OF BS HOOK/ LINE AND SINKER. WHAT HE DOESN’T TELL YOU IS THAT THIS CAN BE VERY VERY HARMFUL TO OLDER DOGS WHICH A LOT OF DOGS UP IN AGE HAVE KIDNEY DISEASE. THIS FOOD CAN AND WILL LITERALLY THROW THE DOGS KIDNEYS INTO FAILURE AND CAN KILL YOUR DOG. LUCKILY WE CAUGHT IT IN TIME FOR OUR 14 YEAR OLD YORKIE, BUT HAD WE WAITED ANOTHER DAY HE WOULD OF BEEN GONE. OF COURSE, NO WARNINGS WHATSOEVER BY DR. MARTY WHO TALKS A FULL LINE OF BS. BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE. NEEDLESS TO SAY I NOW HAVE A $1200 VET FEE TO PAY DUE TO THIS FOOD.
Hi Pete, older dogs can have kidney disease for a long time without showing any symptoms.
Kidney disease is super common, it’s happening to 1 in 10 dogs, and Dr Marty’s is a relatively new food, so I’m skeptical that your dog wouldn’t have developed kidney disease on a different diet, unfortunately. I’m sorry to hear it, of course.
For healthy dogs, high protein diets don’t cause kidney disease.
If you take your older dog to the vet for 2x yearly bloodwork, you can catch kidney disease in time for your vet to recommend a low protein diet, though even this approach is controversial – it’s shown to help ease symptoms in later stages, but does not actually cure kidney disease.
I’d really get a second opinion because changing foods is not going to be enough to help your pup live longer. Beyond that, I don’t have much advice to give you – other than, see a vet who won’t just blame whatever food your dog happened to be on.
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So I understand Dr Marty’s dog food did not cause my dogs kidney issues, what I was saying is this food is very high in protein which is hard for kidneys to secrete the ammonia out of in older small dogs! I was also saying there in NO WARNING or anything said about this anywhere which is misleading.
Yeah, I definitely understand why you’re upset. I want to add to that, though, the typical high-carb, low animal protein commercial foods have been contributing to epidemics in canine obesity, diabetes and dental disease, so unfortunately it’s up to us to research foods and make the best choices we can, as no food is perfect for every dog. So sorry your dog got sick.
Can’t find how many servings in 1 bag!
Does this food manufacturer use the HPP kill step? I have 4 older tiny chihuahuas and worry about the raw factor.
My Chihuahua has no teeth, will this food be soft enough for him to eat?
I would definitely think so, especially if you give it plenty of time to soak. Sometimes I like to make a batch for 1-2 days worth and keep it in the fridge.
Is there any variation of Dr. Marty’s for senior dogs with low protein?
Is there any good alternative to Nature’s Blend?
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Our mini Aussie shepherd has been on this food for a month now and loves it. We notice her stools are quite small ..frequent enough but am concerned so have added 1 tsp coconut oil to her feed once a day. Anyone else notice changes in their dogs.
Hey! Thanks for your review! I find it really useful!
well that is a good listen about nature food 😀
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Hi I have two mini Yorkies and both of them suffer from pancreatitis and I use the prescribed food for sensitive stomach. They’re 12 and 11 years old. Is this food would be good for my dogs ? Thanks
This is what it says on Dr. Marty’s website: You should always follow the instructions of your veterinarian, especially when your dog has dietary restrictions. If you think your dog would benefit from eating Nature’s Blend, take a bag into your next appointment. The ingredients list is short and simple, so you can easily talk with your vet about how your dog can benefit from eating this food.