Sundays for Dogs Review: Air-Dried, Vet-Formulated - and the AAFCO Line You Should Check

This is the most useful thing in this review and it applies to every dog food you will ever buy. Every complete dog food carries an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement. It appears in small print and comes in two forms: "Formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for [life stage]." This means the recipe was calculated on paper to meet nutrient minimums. No dog was fed it. It is the cheaper and far more common route. "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that [product] provides complete and balanced nutrition for [life stage]." This means the food was actually fed to dogs in a controlled trial, with defined criteria on weight, blood work and condition. It is more expensive to do and it is a meaningfully stronger claim. Why the difference matters. A formulation can meet every nutrient minimum on a spreadsheet and still have bioavailability problems — nutrients present but not absorbable. A feeding trial tests whether dogs actually thrive on it. So: find the AAFCO statement on any food you are considering and read which version it is. Ask the company directly if you cannot find it. A brand that has done feeding trials will tell you immediately. The other things worth reading on a label: The life stage. "Growth" or "all life stages" is required for puppies, and large-breed puppies specifically need a food formulated for large-breed growth — excess calcium during growth is genuinely associated with developmental orthopaedic disease. This is one of the few dog food issues with real, non-controversial evidence behind it. "Complete and balanced" versus "for intermittent or supplemental feeding only." The second means it is a topper, not a diet, and feeding it exclusively causes deficiencies. The ingredient list is ordered by weight before cooking, which is why "fresh chicken" can appear first while contributing less than a later-listed meal after moisture is removed. Ingredient splitting — listing several forms of the same thing separately — moves each further down the list. "Human-grade" is a legally meaningful term, unlike most marketing language: to use it, every ingredient must be edible for humans and the food must be made in a facility licensed for human food production. Sundays' use of it is therefore a substantive claim rather than a slogan. And on the taste test. A 39–0 preference result is a palatability finding, not a nutrition one. Dogs prefer what tastes good, which correlates with fat and palatants rather than with health. It is a legitimate marketing claim about acceptance — and acceptance genuinely matters, because a food your dog refuses is not a good food for your dog. Just do not read it as evidence of nutritional superiority.

The format debate generates more heat than evidence, so here is the honest position on each. Kibble. Extruded at high temperature and pressure. Cheap, shelf-stable, convenient, and — this is the part people forget — the format on which the overwhelming majority of long-lived dogs have been raised. The criticisms are processing temperature and palatability, both real and both modest. Frozen fresh. Gently cooked and frozen. Genuinely minimally processed, and genuinely expensive — because you are shipping and storing water, which is Sundays' central pricing argument and it is a fair one. Freezer space is the practical constraint. Air-dried. Slowly dried at low temperatures, removing moisture without high-heat extrusion. Shelf-stable, no refrigeration, nutrient retention better than extrusion, and far lighter to ship than frozen. This is a legitimate middle ground and the argument for it is sound. Raw. We would not recommend it, and the reason is not ideological: FDA and CDC have both raised concerns about pathogen risk in raw pet food — Salmonella and Listeria — to the dog and to the humans handling it, particularly in households with young children, elderly or immunocompromised members. Several veterinary bodies advise against it. Now the grain-free question, which needs stating carefully. In 2018 FDA announced an investigation into a possible association between certain diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) — specifically diets high in peas, lentils, other legume seeds and potatoes, frequently marketed as grain-free. The investigation examined hundreds of reported cases. What is accurate to say: an association was reported and investigated; causation has not been established, the mechanism is not understood, and FDA has not issued a recall or a definitive finding. What is not accurate: that grain-free food causes heart disease, or that it has been cleared. The practical guidance most veterinary cardiologists give: unless your dog has a diagnosed grain allergy — which is uncommon — there is no benefit to grain-free, and if you feed a legume-heavy diet, it is worth discussing with your vet. Grain allergy in dogs is far rarer than the marketing implies; protein sources are the more common allergens. And a genuinely useful signal when choosing any brand: does it employ a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, and does it own its manufacturing? Those two questions separate serious pet food companies from marketing companies, and any brand should answer both. Sundays states it is vet founded, operated and formulated — ask specifically whether that includes a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (DACVN or equivalent), which is a more specific credential than "a vet".

On price. The company's claim of being up to 55% cheaper than frozen fresh is structurally credible — frozen fresh food is mostly water, and shipping and storing water is expensive. Air-dried removes that cost. It remains substantially more expensive than kibble, which is the honest comparison most buyers are actually making. Work out cost per day, not price per bag. Air-dried food is fed in far smaller volumes than kibble because the moisture is gone — so a small, expensive-looking bag lasts much longer than it appears. Use the feeding guide for your dog's weight and divide. This is the only fair comparison and almost nobody makes it. The terms are good: a 14-day money-back guarantee, free shipping, cancel anytime and 30% off a first box. The guarantee matters more in pet food than most categories, because you are buying for someone who cannot tell you in advance whether they will eat it — and refusal is a real outcome. Switching food: do it slowly. This is the most common cause of "my dog reacted badly to that food". Transition over 7 to 10 days, mixing an increasing proportion of new into old — roughly 25% new for two to three days, then 50%, then 75%, then all. Longer for sensitive dogs — two weeks or more. Some loose stool during transition is common and usually settles. Stop and call your vet for persistent vomiting, blood in stool, lethargy, or diarrhoea lasting more than a day or two. Storage and handling: Air-dried food is shelf-stable but not immortal. Reseal properly, store cool and dry, and use within the stated window after opening — fats go rancid, and rancid fat is both unpalatable and not good for them. Wash the bowl daily. Dog bowls are among the most bacterially contaminated items in a household and are almost never cleaned properly. Measure with a scale rather than a scoop if weight management matters. Canine obesity is the most common preventable health problem in dogs and reduces lifespan measurably. Overfeeding a premium food is still overfeeding. Two things worth discussing with your vet before switching to any premium diet: Whether your dog needs a therapeutic diet. Kidney disease, urinary stones, food-responsive enteropathy, pancreatitis and severe allergies are managed with veterinary therapeutic diets, and a premium retail food — however good — is not a substitute. Body condition score, which is a better guide than the number on the scale and which your vet can teach you in two minutes.

What is Sundays for Dogs? Vet-founded, vet-formulated air-dried dog food using human-grade ingredients, shelf-stable and served without refrigeration, with a 14-day money-back guarantee, free shipping and 30% off a first box. What does "human-grade" mean? It is legally meaningful: every ingredient must be edible for humans and the food must be made in a facility licensed for human food production. It is not a marketing slogan. What is the AAFCO statement and why does it matter? Every complete dog food carries one. "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures" means the food was fed to dogs in a controlled trial; "formulated to meet" means it was calculated on paper. The first is a stronger claim. Is air-dried better than kibble? It avoids high-heat extrusion and retains nutrients better, and it is shelf-stable and lighter to ship than frozen fresh. It is also more expensive than kibble. It is a legitimate middle ground rather than a transformation. Is it cheaper than fresh frozen? Structurally, yes — frozen fresh food is mostly water and shipping water is expensive. Compare on cost per day rather than price per bag. Should I feed grain-free? Unless your dog has a diagnosed grain allergy, which is uncommon, there is no established benefit. FDA investigated a possible association between legume-heavy diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy; causation is not established. Discuss with your vet. How do I switch foods? Gradually over 7 to 10 days, longer for sensitive dogs. Abrupt switching is the most common cause of digestive upset blamed on the food. What about raw food? FDA and CDC have raised pathogen concerns — Salmonella and Listeria — for both dogs and the people handling it. Several veterinary bodies advise against it. What should I ask any pet food brand? Whether it employs a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and whether it owns its manufacturing. Those two questions separate serious pet food companies from marketing companies. Does my dog need a therapeutic diet instead? Kidney disease, urinary stones, pancreatitis and severe allergies are managed with veterinary therapeutic diets, which premium retail food does not replace. Ask your vet.