Does anybody know if Fresh Start or Thrive dog food is as good as feeding dogs the barf way? It is a mix of freeze dried  raw meat (chicken,lamb,duck,tripe,liver) plus freeze dried veggies along with a bit of bran. You just have to add water to it,also the dog does not need to eat alot of it because is supposed to be easier for the dog to access the nutrients.

Fresh Start - the ingredients are: Poultry, lamb, tripe, bran, maize, liver, carrots, peas, natural plant-based antioxidants.

Thrive - the ingredients are:Fresh meat (chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, tripe, liver)45%, wheat biscuit 30% vegetables (sweetcorn, carrots, and peas) 17% bran 6%, natural plant-based antioxidants 2%

No commercial food will be as good as raw simply because it cannot contain the variety that you can provide personally and it contains a pre determined level of food stuffs that may be superfluous to or below your pet's individual needs.

Most raw feeders will not include cereals in the diet as they are considered not species appropriate; bran is merely a filler and maize can be a problem for some dogs.  Having said that I have seen a lot worse diets; although  it does not specify quantities in the first food.

Obviously Thrive contains wheat biscuits which may be a problem as well as the bran; 30% of vegetables is, IMHO, a rather high percentage plus the three specified are HIGH IN SUGAR.  Again I have seen a lot worse.

Not sure if that helps any.

For a "complete" food I think Fresh start is one of the best, however what concerns me is the microscopic quanitities you are supposed to feed.  My dogs would shrivel up if fed on their recommendation!
Dawn.