My friend Hamza has a two year old Golden Retriever called Ziggy. Ziggy is the kind of dog who has entered every room he’s ever been in at full speed and greeted every person in it like a long lost friend.
He is extremely good company. He is also, as of six months ago, eating Orijen.
Hamza switched Ziggy to Orijen after reading extensively in Golden Retriever owner communities that it was the best food money could buy. He pays around $7.40 per pound for it, approximately $110 for a 25 lb bag, and goes through roughly one bag every three weeks. When he told me this, he also told me he’d never actually had anyone explain to him what he was buying for that money beyond ‘it’s biologically appropriate and has whole prey ingredients.’
He asked me if I thought it was worth it. I gave him the honest answer, which was that I didn’t know yet,
but I’d find out. Then I spent two weeks going through Orijen’s ingredient lists, guaranteed analysis
numbers, independent reviews, the Mars acquisition question, and the DCM research because
Hamza deserved a proper answer, not a quick opinion.
Standard transparency note: I’m Raza, owner of BreedAndBowl, not a vet. No financial relationship with Orijen or any competitor brand. No affiliate links in this article. Just the honest research.
Raza’s standard disclaimer: This is independent ingredient analysis and research, not veterinary advice. If your dog has specific dietary needs, speak to your vet. This review is one dog food researcher’s honest assessment of whether the Orijen premium is justified.
What Orijen Actually Is?
Orijen is made by Champion Petfoods, a Canadian company that built a strong reputation over decades as an independent, premium pet food manufacturer with a ‘biologically appropriate’ philosophy. The idea behind Orijen is feeding dogs a diet that mirrors what their wild ancestors ate, very high in animal protein, low in carbohydrates, with a wide variety of protein sources, including whole prey ingredients like liver, kidney, and cartilage.
The thing I want to flag upfront, because I think it’s relevant, and most reviews don’t mention it prominently enough, Champion Petfoods was acquired by Mars Petcare in February 2023. Mars is the largest pet food company in the world, also owning Royal Canin, Pedigree, Whiskas, and Iams. The acquisition raised questions in independent pet communities about whether Orijen’s formulas and standards would change under corporate ownership.
Based on the most current independent analysis I found, including Dog Food Advisor’s monitoring and Dogs Naturally Magazine’s 2023 comparison of pre- and post-acquisition ingredients, the guaranteed analysis for the Original Dry formulas did not change. The ingredient lists have remained largely consistent. This is reassuring, though it’s worth continuing to check labels when buying, as acquisitions can lead to gradual formula drift over time.
US products are manufactured at Orijen’s DogStar Kitchen in Auburn, Kentucky. Some Canadian and
European products are still made in Morinville, Alberta. All formulas are AAFCO compliant, and most
meet the nutrient profile for all life stages.
The Ingredient Analysis: What ‘Biologically Appropriate’ Actually Means
I focused my ingredient analysis on Orijen Original, the flagship formula, and cross referenced it
with the Large Breed formula. Here’s what I found:
What’s genuinely impressive
The protein variety is unlike anything else at this price point or below it. Orijen Original leads with deboned chicken, then turkey, then whole flounder, then whole mackerel, then chicken liver, with five named animal proteins in the top five ingredients. No vague ‘poultry’ or ‘meat and bone meal.’ Real, named, whole food proteins. This is not common in mainstream dog food, and it’s genuinely impressive as an ingredient commitment.
The inclusion of organ meats, chicken liver, turkey liver, and turkey kidney provides naturally occurring vitamins and minerals that many conventional formulas add synthetically. Organ meats are nutrient-dense in ways that muscle meat alone isn’t, and including them reflects a genuine ‘whole prey’ philosophy rather than just naming it.
Freeze dry coating on the kibble preserves the nutritional integrity of the raw ingredients better than standard high heat processing. This is a real manufacturing distinction, not just marketing. Whole fruits and vegetables, such as collard greens, pumpkin, butternut squash, cranberries, apples, and pears, provide natural antioxidants and phytonutrients. After writing my high fiber dog foods article, I noticed the pumpkin immediately has genuine soluble fiber from a whole food source.
What’s worth being honest about
Orijen’s original formulas are grain-free, with legumes, lentils, peas, and chickpeas as the primary carbohydrate sources. As I noted in both my NutriSource review and my fiber article, the ongoing FDA DCM investigation includes high-legume diets. This doesn’t mean Orijen is unsafe, the research is still inconclusive, but it’s a real consideration that I’d want Hamza to be aware of before committing
Ziggy to this formula long-term.
The fat content is high, 18% minimum on Original. For weight prone breeds like Labs or Goldens who aren’t highly active, that’s worth knowing. The Large Breed formula is lower in fat, which is the appropriate version for Labs and Goldens at moderate activity levels. Ziggy is active. Hamza runs him twice daily, so the fat content is less of a concern for him specifically.
The DCM Question: What I Found and How to Think
About It
I want to address this directly because I think it’s the most important unresolved question in Orijen’s story, and every review that glosses over it is doing the reader a disservice.
In 2018, the FDA opened an investigation into reports of a possible connection between certain dog foods and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a serious heart condition. The investigation initially focused on grain free diets, but subsequent statements from the FDA clarified that it includes both grain free and grain inclusive varieties with high legume content.
Orijen’s formulas contain significant legume content lentils, peas, and chickpeas feature prominently in most of their recipes. This places them squarely within the population of foods the FDA investigation has been examining.
What I found in my research on the current state of this: the investigation remains open and inconclusive as of 2026. No definitive causal link has been established between specific foods and DCM. The American Veterinary Medical Association and Board Certified Veterinary Cardiologists are still studying the data. Some researchers believe taurine bioavailability may be a factor; others point to dietary fiber interactions; the mechanistic pathway remains unclear.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON DCM RESEARCH: The FDA investigation into grain free and
high legume diets and DCM remains open and inconclusive. No specific brand has
been found definitively responsible. This is an area of active research. If you are
feeding Orijen to a large breed dog, particularly breeds with known cardiac
considerations, this is worth raising with your vet at your next annual check-up. It
is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to be informed.
My honest position: the DCM research is the main reason I would not recommend Orijen as a default first recommendation for the four breeds on BreedAndBowl. The ingredient quality is genuinely high. But when the science is still developing, and there are excellent formulas available without the legume question, Royal Canin, Purina Pro Plan, NutriSource grain inclusive, I’d rather recommend those for most dogs until the picture is clearer.
The Four-Breed Honest Take
Golden Retrievers: Hamza and Ziggy’s situation
For Ziggy, specifically, a highly active, young adult with no digestive sensitivity, and Hamza already paying the premium and happy with the results, I don’t have a strong reason to tell him to switch. Ziggy is thriving on it. His coat is excellent, his weight is appropriate for his activity level, and Hamza says his energy is consistently high. The 38% protein makes sense for a Golden running twice daily.
What I did tell Hamza: be aware of the DCM research, mention it to his vet, and watch for any cardiac screening recommendations as Ziggy gets older. Goldens already have breed level cardiac monitoring recommendations, the DCM consideration adds a reason to keep up with those.
Labrador Retrievers: the weight consideration
For Labs, Orijen Original’s 18% fat is too high for most family Labs who aren’t working or running several kilometres daily. The Large Breed formula with lower fat is more appropriate. But the bigger issue for Labs is cost. A Lab eating Orijen Large Breed at their required daily portions is an expensive commitment. And the weight management formulas I covered in my Lab weight control guide address the POMC gene satiety problem more directly than Orijen’s high protein approach does. For most Labs, I’d not recommend Orijen over a dedicated weight management formula.
German Shepherds: the sensitive stomach question
GSDs are known for digestive sensitivity, something I covered in my Royal Canin GSD review. Orijen’s richness very high protein, high fat, dense nutrient profile, can cause digestive discomfort in sensitive dogs if not introduced very slowly. The recommendation I found consistently is a 7 to 14 day transition minimum for Orijen, longer than standard. For a GSD with established digestive sensitivity, Orijen’s richness is a risk that the Royal Canin GSD formula or NutriSource Large Breed doesn’t carry.
French Bulldogs: Six Fish is the most interesting option
For Frenchies with poultry sensitivities, which Churro doesn’t have, but many Frenchies do, Orijen Six Fish is a genuinely interesting option. A single protein family (fish), very high quality, multiple species providing natural EPA and DHA. The grain-free legume question applies here too. But for a Frenchie who’s tried multiple poultry formulas without success, Six Fish is worth knowing about.
The Price Question — Is Orijen Actually Worth It?
This is the question Hamza actually asked me, and I want to answer it directly rather than burying the answer in caveats.
At $7.40 per pound, Orijen costs approximately 4x what Purina Pro Plan costs and approximately 2.5x what Royal Canin GSD Adult costs per pound. For a large breed dog, eating the volumes required, that premium compounds into a meaningful monthly difference, potentially $80–100 more per month than a quality mainstream formula.
What does that premium buy? Genuinely: higher protein content, wider variety of named protein sources, whole prey organ meats, whole food fruits and vegetables, freeze dry coating for nutrient preservation, and no corn, wheat, or soy. These are real ingredient differences, not marketing differences.
What doesn’t it buy? Breed specific formulation Royal Canin does that better for GSD specific or
Lab-specific needs. Guaranteed glucosamine levels: Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin both guarantee these numbers; Orijen lists glucosamine as an ingredient without guaranteeing the amount. And it doesn’t buy peace of mind on the DCM question, which the grain-inclusive formulas provide more cleanly.
My Honest Final Verdict
Here’s what I told Hamza. Orijen is genuinely one of the best-formulated dry dog foods I’ve researched in terms of raw ingredient quality. The protein variety, the whole prey philosophy, the named organ meats, the freeze-dry coating, these are real differentiators, and the ingredient commitment is authentic.
But ‘best ingredient quality’ and ‘best choice for your dog’ are not always the same answer. For Ziggy, specifically active, young, healthy, with no sensitivities, Orijen is working, and I have no compelling reason to tell Hamza to switch. The DCM consideration is worth monitoring and worth mentioning to his vet, but it’s not a reason to panic about a food the dog is thriving on.
For a Lab dealing with weight management, a GSD with a sensitive stomach, or a dog owner on a budget who wants excellent nutrition, the mainstream formulas I recommend on BreedAndBowl do the job at a fraction of the cost without the DCM legume question hanging over them.
Orijen is impressive. It’s not for every dog or every budget. And the $7.40 per pound is buying something real, but understanding what that something is, and whether your specific dog needs it, is