There’s a trend taking the canine world by storm, and that’s fresh dog food. These meals use natural ingredients and avoid overcooking to create food that looks more like that consumed by humans.

The Open Farm Gently Cooked range is a prime example. Among the human-grade ingredients are real meat, vegetables and oils.

These are all only gently cooked and the final product is shipped frozen for parents to thaw at home.

Why go to all this fuss? Well, proponents believe the less intensive cooking method retains more of the nutritional goodness and makes for a more digestible meal.

Many parents witness a difference in their pet’s appearance and demeanor once they start on fresh dog food.

And it gets the thumbs-up from Dr Jeremiah, pet nutrition expert and one of Wag!’s veterinary consultants.

“Open Farm dog food is formulated with high-quality ingredients and does not contain any artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors,” she says. 

“The company also prioritizes the use of ethically sourced and humanely raised ingredients.”

Border Collies were originally bred to herd sheep in tough conditions and while they’re more likely to be a family pet these days, there are still some Border Collies out there putting in an honest day’s work.

If you’re the parent of such a dog, you need to take this into consideration when picking a dog food recipe. Acana Highest Protein is a top choice.

As the name suggests, this is a formulation with 35% crude protein and better yet, this comes from real meat or fish — in all four of the recipes, this is true of the first three ingredients.

Your dog is sure to appreciate the freeze-dried meat or fish coating, as well.

As well as this, there’s a wealth of vegetables and fruit for fiber and vitamins, plus a complete absence of artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

This is why we believe Acana Highest Protein is the best dog food for Border Collies who spend their days helping out on the farm.

While there are dog foods designed for all life stages that will be suitable for puppies to eat, there are also lots of recipes specifically formulated for young canines.

Our pick of the bunch has to be Merrick Puppy Plate. These two recipes each contain 96% beef or poultry, with the remaining space filled up by vegetables, vitamins and minerals — this includes DHA to aid with healthy cognitive development.

Dr Georgia Jeremiah is also a fan. “Merrick products are made with high-quality, whole food ingredients, and they use no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors,” she says.

An obvious candidate for the best dog food for Border Collie puppies, then.

Just as puppies have specific nutritional requirements, it’s the same for senior canines, too.

This is not only because they’ll be moving around considerably less, but there are usually new health priorities, such as creaking joints.

A whopping 85% of the recipe is animal-sourced ingredients, which makes for a huge 38% crude protein — ideal for muscle repair and energy levels. 

This figure isn’t inflated by meals and byproducts, however. The first five ingredients are real poultry or fish, while there are dehydrated equivalents further down the list, too.

If you’re after the best dog food for Border Collie dogs in their twilight years, Orijen Senior is a superb option.

Dr. Georgia Jeremiah says, “Canidae dog food is made with high-quality animal protein sources, providing essential amino acids, and is free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, which can trigger allergies,” she says.

The Texas-based company makes both dry and wet food, but we’ve chosen the latter variety for this list — not only are these formulas heavy on meat and organs, but they’re calorie-dense to fill up active Border Collies.

We’ll concede that many of our picks for the best dog food for Border Collies are a little more expensive than a lot of other products on the market — that’s because they’re protein-heavy, which is costlier to manufacture than recipes full of carbs and filler ingredients.

That being said, there are good dog foods for Border Collies that are a little kinder on parents’ finances. American Journey is Chewy’s own brand of pet food that manages to find the right balance between quality and price. 

The Protein and Grains range features crude protein levels of 25%, which is derived from real meat or fish as the first listed ingredients. 

In addition to this, there are fibrous grains to ease with digestion and energy levels, plus antioxidant-rich vegetables and no artificial flavors, preservatives or colors.

And the price? Well, we found this to be as low as $1.79/lb when bought in bulk, which is a lot cheaper than some of our other options.