Highest-protein dog foods, on a dry-matter basis

Edition updated 2026-07-27

Ranking by the label's as-fed percentage would put every kibble above every fresh food, which is an artefact of water, not protein. This ranks by dry-matter protein instead. Foods whose manufacturer publishes no protein figure are excluded rather than assumed to be zero.

The order is one number the manufacturer published, sorted high to low. It is not a score, not a shortlist and not a recommendation: no row here is endorsed over any other, and a food's position tells you what its label says, not whether it suits your dog.

How to read a protein ranking

The sorted column is crude protein on a dry-matter basis — the guaranteed analysis figure with the water taken back out, DM% = as-fed ÷ (100 − moisture) × 100. Moisture across this database runs from 5% to 84%, so ranking the printed as-fed percentages would mostly rank water and would put every kibble above every fresh recipe for reasons that have nothing to do with protein.

It is still a label number, with a label's limits. A guaranteed analysis states a minimum, so what is in the bag is at or above the figure printed, by a margin nobody discloses. Nothing in a published protein percentage describes protein quality, digestibility or amino acid profile, and none of that can be recovered from the percentage.

10 of the 203 formulas in the database publish no protein figure at all, so they are absent from the table rather than parked at the bottom of it: a value nobody published is not a zero, and we name every manufacturer that withholds one. 31 of the 40 rows share their value with at least one other row, and ties are broken alphabetically, which means the order inside a tie carries no information. The table stops at 40 rows; the other 153 eligible formulas are in the full index.

What the order does not mean: that the food at the top is better than the food at the bottom, or that more protein is better for a dog. Sorting the same 40 rows by protein per 1,000 kcal — the basis AAFCO's own profiles use — reshuffles them, because a calorie-dense food delivers its percentage in a smaller portion; that column is in the table so you can see it happen. How much protein a particular dog should eat depends on age, condition and kidney and liver function, and that is a veterinary question rather than a sorting question.

Edition updated 2026-07-27 · Methodology