Is Answers Pet Food or Steve's Real Food better for dogs?

Effectively tied at A/90 vs A/90 on the v15 rubric. Both have fermented-dairy lineage in their brand philosophy. Answers Pet Food leads with deeper fermentation (four named Lactobacillus strains in kefir + whey + butter), beef-based recipe with five named organ meats + cod liver, and frozen-raw format. Steve’s Real Food leads with raw goat’s milk inclusion, supplemental taurine + eggshell membrane, freeze-dried shelf-stable convenience, and chicken-based recipe. Pick on protein, format, and whether you want kefir-fermented cow dairy (Answers) or raw goat’s milk (Steve’s).

Does Steve's Real Food include taurine?

Yes — Steve’s Real Food Freeze-Dried Chicken Nuggets explicitly includes supplemental taurine in the ingredient panel. Taurine is an amino acid that’s essential for cardiac function, eye health, and bile-acid conjugation in dogs. Most dogs synthesize taurine endogenously from methionine and cysteine, but some breeds (Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Newfoundlands, Doberman Pinschers, Boxers) have higher dietary taurine needs due to DCM (Dilated Cardiomyopathy) risk. Supplemental taurine in raw recipes is uncommon — many raw brands assume the organ meat supplies sufficient taurine precursors. For owners specifically managing DCM-risk-breed feeding, Steve’s supplemental taurine is structurally meaningful. Answers Pet Food does not include supplemental taurine.

Answers Pet Food vs Steve's Real Food: Which Is Better for Your Dog?

Q: What's the difference between cow kefir and raw goat's milk?

Cow kefir (in Answers) is a fully-fermented dairy product where most lactose has been converted to lactic acid by Lactobacillus bacteria during the fermentation process — typically very low residual lactose. Raw goat’s milk (in Steve’s) is unfermented milk from goats with smaller fat globules than cow milk (more digestible), naturally higher prebiotic oligosaccharide content, and a different protein profile (more A2 beta-casein vs A1 in cow milk). Some dogs that don’t tolerate cow dairy do tolerate goat’s milk because of the protein-structure difference; some dogs tolerate fermented dairy (kefir) but not fresh dairy because of the lactose conversion. For dairy-sensitive dogs, the protein-structure difference and fermentation status are the two key variables.

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The short answer: Effectively tied at A/90 vs A/90 on the v15 rubric. Both are A-tier raw recipes with fermented-dairy lineage in the brand’s formulation philosophy. Answers Pet Food leads with whole-prey-model beef in frozen-raw format with a uniquely deep raw-fermented-dairy layer (whey + butter + kefir with four named Lactobacillus strains). Steve’s Real Food leads with chicken in freeze-dried format with raw goat’s milk inclusion at primary position, plus supplemental taurine and eggshell membrane. Pick on protein (beef vs chicken), format (frozen vs freeze-dried), and dairy specifics (cow kefir vs raw goat’s milk).

The scores

Answers Pet Food Detailed Beef Formula: A (90/100) — Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Kidney, Ground Beef Bone.

Steve's Real Food Freeze-Dried Raw Chicken Nuggets: A (90/100) — Ground Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards, Broccoli.

How the ingredients compare

The top-five ingredients reveal the formulation split between these two products:

Answers: Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Kidney, Ground Beef Bone

Steve's Real Food: Ground Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards, Broccoli

Both products earn effectively the same v15 score, but the ingredient lineups tell different stories about how they got there — that is where the actual pick decision lives.

Where Answers pulls ahead

Four named Lactobacillus strains in kefir + whey + butter (deeper fermentation): Answers includes a more fermentation-deep dairy layer than Steve’s — explicitly four named strains in kefir (L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, L. lactis), plus whey and butter. Steve’s includes raw goat’s milk at #9 but the fermentation specification is less prominent in the ingredient labeling. For owners specifically prioritizing the deepest fermentation specification across multiple dairy formats (kefir + whey + butter), Answers is structurally specialized. Shop on Amazon →

Five named organ meats + cod liver: Answers includes beef + beef heart + beef liver + beef kidney + ground beef bone in positions #1-#5 plus cod liver at #9 (for marine vitamin D + natural EPA + DHA). Steve’s includes ground chicken + ground chicken bone + chicken livers + chicken gizzards in positions #1-#4 (four chicken-derived top positions) but doesn’t include cod liver or as deep an organ-variety stack. For owners specifically prioritizing maximum organ-meat density across multiple organ types and direct marine vitamin D, Answers is structurally meaningful.

Frozen-raw format retains maximum nutritional intactness: Answers is frozen raw — no sublimation step. Steve’s Real Food freeze-dried nuggets go through sublimation drying, which preserves substantially more structure than kibble or air-drying but is one process step removed from purely frozen raw. For owners specifically prioritizing maximum nutritional preservation, frozen raw sits one rung higher on the format-preservation hierarchy.

Where Steve's Real Food holds its own

Raw goat’s milk + supplemental taurine + eggshell membrane: Steve’s includes raw goat’s milk at #9 — structurally distinct from cow kefir in Answers. Goat’s milk has smaller fat globules than cow milk (easier digestibility for lactose-sensitive dogs), naturally higher prebiotic oligosaccharide content, and a different protein profile (more A2 beta-casein vs A1 in cow milk). Steve’s also includes supplemental taurine (uncommon in raw recipes — useful for cardiac support and DCM-risk-breed feeding) and eggshell membrane (natural source of glycosaminoglycans for joint cartilage support). Answers doesn’t include any of these three structurally-distinct supplements. Shop on Amazon →

Freeze-dried format flexibility (shelf-stable, no freezer required): Steve’s freeze-dried nuggets are shelf-stable — rehydrate in 1-2 minutes with warm water, no freezer storage, no thaw time. For owners without freezer space, traveling households, or multi-location feeding, freeze-dried convenience is the structural advantage. Answers requires freezer storage and 24-48 hour thaw protocols.

Chicken-based recipe for owners avoiding beef: Steve’s Real Food Chicken Recipe uses chicken as the primary protein — appropriate for dogs with confirmed beef sensitivity or owners following multi-protein rotation diets that include chicken. Answers Detailed Beef Formula is beef-based. For owners specifically wanting chicken-based raw recipe with raw goat’s milk inclusion, Steve’s is the structural pick.

The bottom line

Effectively tied at A/90 vs A/90 — the pick comes down to protein, format, and dairy specifics. Pick Answers Pet Food for the deepest fermentation layer (four named Lactobacillus strains in kefir + whey + butter), beef-based whole-prey-model recipe with five named organ meats + cod liver, and frozen-raw maximum nutritional preservation. Pick Steve’s Real Food for raw goat’s milk inclusion (smaller fat globules + A2 protein for lactose-sensitive dogs), supplemental taurine + eggshell membrane (structurally distinct supplementation), freeze-dried shelf-stable convenience without freezer storage, and chicken-based recipe for beef-sensitive dogs.