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What's actually in Gather Endless Valley?
We pulled the current panel from gatherpetfood.com (verified 2026-05-16). The first five ingredients are organic peas, organic barley, organic oats, lentils, and organic sunflower oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols). Potatoes, quinoa, organic flaxseed, primary dried yeast, and calcium carbonate round out the top ten.
This is the only adult dog kibble in our catalog with no animal-derived ingredients on the panel. The protein lead comes from legumes — organic peas at #1, lentils at #4 — supplemented by quinoa at #7 (the one plant ingredient that's a true complete-amino-acid source). Organic barley and organic oats supply the whole-grain carbohydrate base. Organic flaxseed and organic sunflower oil supply the fat fraction along with plant-based omega-3 ALA and omega-6 linoleic acid. Shop on Amazon →
Why the v15 rubric scores this C/59
The KibbleIQ dry rubric v15 is calibrated for the standard pet food market: omnivore formulations led by named animal proteins. It rewards whole muscle meat first, animal protein meals second, and penalizes formulations that lean heavily on legume protein concentrates — the structural pattern the FDA flagged in its 2018–2024 grain-free DCM investigation. Gather is intentionally legume-led by design (it has to be — vegan), so the rubric's protein-deficit penalty applies maximally.
The rubric is also blind to several Gather strengths it doesn't currently weight: USDA Organic certification on the top of the panel, the explicit synthetic amino-acid backstop (DL-methionine, L-lysine, L-carnitine, taurine — all four are added), and the AAFCO Maintenance certification. A properly read Gather panel is not a poor formulation; it's a competent formulation in a category the v15 rubric isn't designed to evaluate.
This is the same gap our cross-format rubric v1.0 was built for. A future v16 or specialty plant-based rubric would likely produce a different grade. For now, treat the 59 as “rubric C, panel context B” — with the vet decision sitting above both.
The good stuff
The plant inputs are unusually high-quality. Organic peas, organic barley, organic oats, organic flaxseed, and organic sunflower oil mean the entire top of the panel is grown without synthetic pesticides, glyphosate residue, or GMO inputs. Few competitor formulas (vegan or omnivore) clear this organic-certification bar across so many ingredients.
Quinoa at #7 is a meaningful inclusion. It's one of the very few plant ingredients that delivers a complete amino acid profile in a single source — lysine, methionine, tryptophan, and the rest. Most legumes are limiting in methionine and cysteine; quinoa fills several of those gaps naturally without requiring synthetic supplementation.
The synthetic amino-acid panel is the most thoughtfully constructed part of the formula. Taurine is added (cardiac support — arguably more important in a plant-based formula than in animal-protein-led formulas, given the FDA DCM concerns about legume-heavy diets). DL-methionine is added (the limiting amino acid in legumes). L-lysine is added (often a borderline-deficient amino acid in plant proteins). L-carnitine is added (fat metabolism and lean muscle support, normally supplied by animal tissue).
Flaxseed contributes plant ALA omega-3. Sunflower oil contributes omega-6 linoleic acid. Berries (blueberries, cranberries) and carrots supply whole-food micronutrients. Choline chloride, dicalcium phosphate, and chelated minerals (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate) round out the supplement panel. Mixed tocopherols and dried rosemary handle natural preservation — no BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin.
The not-so-good stuff
The legume stack is structurally heavy — organic peas at #1, lentils at #4, and the protein contribution from primary dried yeast deeper down. This is the same pattern the FDA's 2018–2024 DCM investigation flagged, with the caveat that the FDA's signal was strongest in legume-led grain-free formulas, and Gather is technically grain-inclusive (it includes barley and oats). Still, for DCM-predisposed breeds (Dobermans, Goldens, Cocker Spaniels), the rubric's flag and the FDA context combine into a real consideration.
The plant ALA omega-3 from flaxseed has to be converted to EPA and DHA before dogs can use it for the eicosanoid and brain-health pathways that the marine omega-3s feed directly. The conversion rate is inefficient — estimates range from 1% to 10% depending on the source. Animal-protein-led formulas with fish meal or salmon oil deliver EPA/DHA without that conversion bottleneck. Algae-derived algae oil is the one plant source that would supply ready-made EPA/DHA — Gather doesn't currently include it.
Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol, plant-derived) is used instead of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol, animal-derived). Dogs convert D2 less efficiently than D3 — the dosage on the panel accounts for this, but in long-term feeding the efficiency gap is a low-probability formulation risk worth monitoring with periodic blood-work.
Plant-based dog diets carry meaningfully higher formulation-error risk than omnivore diets. The synthetic amino-acid backstop has to be correct in amount and proportion every single batch — an error that would barely register on an animal-protein-led diet can produce a deficiency on a plant-based diet within weeks. For an owner committed to plant-based feeding, this is a brand-trust-and-formulation-discipline question. Petcurean (Gather's parent company) has a respectable formulation track record, but no historical safety record substitutes for ongoing vet supervision.
How it compares
Gather Endless Valley is in a category of its own in our catalog — the only fully plant-based adult dog formula we've reviewed. The closest stylistic comp on the rubric is any legume-forward omnivore formula. Against an organic, plant-included, named-animal-protein-led peer like Castor & Pollux Organix (A/90), Gather scores 31 points lower — almost entirely on the animal-protein dimension. Castor & Pollux delivers the organic-certified credentials Gather shares, plus the named animal protein lead that v15 rewards heavily.
For the specific question “is feeding my dog a vegan diet a good idea?”, the right reference is veterinary nutrition guidance, not the KibbleIQ rubric. We've assembled the existing veterinary-literature consensus in our deeper review at vegan and vegetarian pet food adequacy. The short version: dogs can theoretically thrive on a properly formulated plant-based diet, but the formulation-margin-of-error is narrower than for animal-protein-led diets, and the long-term outcome research base is thinner than ideal.
Within the small population of commercially available vegan dog foods (V-dog, Wild Earth, Halo Vegan, Bramble), Gather is a defensible pick. The Petcurean formulation team has been in business since 1999 with a clean recall record, the synthetic amino-acid panel is comprehensive, and the organic ingredient sourcing on the plant inputs is the strongest in the segment.
The bottom line
Gather Endless Valley Vegan earns a C grade (59/100) under the KibbleIQ v15 rubric — a score that reflects the rubric's omnivore calibration as much as it reflects the formula itself. The ingredient panel is competent and thoughtfully constructed for a vegan formulation: organic plant inputs, quinoa for complete amino acid coverage, a full synthetic amino-acid backstop (taurine, methionine, lysine, carnitine), chelated minerals, and natural preservation. The structural ceiling is the legume-led protein lead, the plant-only ALA omega-3 source (no algae-derived EPA/DHA), and the narrower formulation-margin-of-error that any vegan dog diet entails. Decide on vegan feeding with your vet, not with our rubric — and if the decision lands on yes, Gather is one of the better choices in the segment. Shop on Amazon →