Orijen Six Fish Dog Food Review: Has Corporate Ownership Ruined a Once-Great Food?
Is Orijen Dog Food Good for Your Adult or Senior Dog?
Orijen dog food has long been marketed as a premium, biologically appropriate option for dogs — especially those eating dry dog food, but whose owners want something “closer to raw.”
But in recent years, many dog parents have noticed something troubling:
Dogs refusing food they once loved
Digestive upset
Ingredient labels not matching the website
A slow drift toward cheaper fillers
Today, we’re reviewing Orijen Six Fish Dog Food — and more importantly, we’re asking a bigger question:
Is Orijen still the same food it used to be… or has corporate ownership changed everything?
Let’s break it down.
Quick Summary: Our Verdict on Orijen Six Fish
🐾 Overall Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆ (1.5 / 5 paws)
🐾 Best Feature: Whole fish ingredients
🐾 Biggest Concerns:
Excessive legumes & starches
Pea protein & DCM concerns*
Formula changes after corporate buyout
Label transparency issues
What Is Orijen Six Fish Dog Food?
Orijen Six Fish is a dry kibble formula built around multiple fish proteins, including:
Whole Atlantic mackerel
Whole Atlantic herring
Whole flounder
Whole Acadian redfish
Whole monkfish
Whole silver hake
On paper, that sounds impressive — and historically, it was.
Orijen was originally produced by Champion Petfoods, alongside its sister brand Acana, and earned a reputation for:
High animal protein
Low grains
Better sourcing transparency than most kibble brands
Unfortunately, that reputation is now under serious scrutiny.
🚨 The Biggest Problem: Too Many Unnecessary Carbohydrates
Let’s address the first major red flag.
Dogs, Especially Adults and Seniors, Do NOT Need These Carbs
Even though Orijen Six Fish advertises ~18.5% carbohydrates, the source of those carbs matters far more than the number.
This food is packed with:
❌ Red lentils
❌ Peas
❌ Chickpeas
❌ Lentil fibre
❌ Pinto beans
❌ Pea starch
❌ Whole peas (again… and again)
Adult dogs — and especially senior dogs — have no biological requirement for these ingredients.
By the way, notice that peas appear three times, yet they are listed individually.
Why?
Because this allows dog food companies to avoid being forced to say, 'this food is X-% peas.' They engage in ingredient splitting.
This means they take something like peas, and split it into different categories.
Peas that are cut in half are PEAS.
The sugar from peas is extracted and called PEA STARCH.
Peas that AREN'T cut are... yeah, WHOLE PEAS
You see the same with red lentils, lentil fibre, and often yellow lentils are included as well.
Why Peas & Lentils Are a Serious Concern
🧬 Pea Protein & Heart Disease (DCM)
Over the past several years, veterinary cardiologists and researchers have raised concerns about legume-heavy dog foods, especially those high in pea protein.
Studies and FDA investigations have linked diets rich in peas and lentils to an increased risk of diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) — a potentially fatal heart condition in dogs.
While the science is still evolving, here’s what we do know:
Legumes can interfere with taurine metabolism
They displace animal protein in kibble formulas
They are often used to artificially inflate protein percentages
👉 In plain English: they’re cheap fillers that look good on labels but may harm dogs long-term.
Now, we can debate how serious the risk of DCM is when peas are involved in commercial dog food.
However, I'll leave you with my personal philosophy... if these peas give a 1% chance of sudden death in my dogs, will I take it?
Obviously not.
“But the Carb Percentage Is Low…”
This is where marketing gets clever.
Yes — 18.5% carbs is lower than many kibbles. Most of the dry food weighing down the shelves of pet stores across the world are loaded with 33 - 48% carbs.
But ask yourself:
Why include any unnecessary carbs at all in a premium food?
If Orijen truly wanted a safer, dog-appropriate carb source, they could have used:
✅ Spinach
✅ Squash
✅ Pumpkin
Instead, they chose the cheapest bulk ingredients available — legumes and peas.
Which leads us to the bigger issue…
The Turning Point: Orijen Is Now Owned by Mars
In 2023, Champion Petfoods (Orijen & Acana) was acquired by Mars — one of the largest pet food conglomerates in the world.
Mars also owns brands like:
Pedigree
Royal Canin
Iams
Eukanuba
Cesar
This matters. A lot.
Why Corporate Buyouts Change Dog Food (Almost Every Time)
When small or mid-sized pet food companies are acquired by massive corporations, patterns tend to repeat:
🐾 Ingredient sourcing quietly changes
🐾 More plant protein replaces animal protein
🐾 Cheaper suppliers are used
🐾 Profit margins take priority over formulation integrity
Mars is a publicly massive corporation. Their legal responsibility is not dog health — it’s shareholder profit.
Label Confusion & Formula Changes: A Huge Red Flag 🚩
Since early 2023, dog parents have reported something deeply concerning:
The ingredient list on the bag does not match what’s listed on Orijen’s website.
How is that even allowed?
The 6-Month Rule (Most Dog Parents Don’t Know This)
By law, pet food companies are allowed up to six months in North America, (in Europe, there is no specific time period, instead the As Soon As Practical rule, which is rather meaningless) to update public ingredient disclosures after changing a formula.
That means:
Your dog’s food can change overnight
You may never notice unless you specifically search the ingredients list periodically
You could unknowingly feed a completely different product for months
For dogs with sensitive digestion, heart concerns, cancer, CKD, liver problems, or senior dogs — this is dangerous.
“Six Whole Fish” — The One Real Positive
To be fair, Orijen Six Fish still includes whole fish ingredients, which provide:
🐟 High-quality animal protein
🐟 Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA)
🐟 Better amino acid diversity than meat meals
However…
The question is no longer what’s listed — it’s what will still be there six months from now.
With Mars controlling sourcing and manufacturing, corner-cutting becomes more likely over time.
Is Orijen Still Worth Feeding?
Our Honest Answer: Probably Not
If you:
Have a senior dog
Are managing heart health, cancer, inflammation, or other serious issues
Care about ingredient transparency
There are now better, more honest options available.
Orijen used to be one of them. That’s the real disappointment.
Better Alternatives (If You Can’t Home Cook)
🐾 Foods with simpler ingredient panels
🐾 Minimal legumes
🐾 Transparent sourcing
🐾 Stable ownership
(We review several of these in detail on the site — no affiliate pressure, just honest analysis.)
Check out: Steve's Real Food Freeze Dried Raw
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
❓ Is Orijen Six Fish grain-free?
Yes — but grain-free does not automatically mean healthy. Legumes can be just as problematic.
❓ Did Mars change Orijen’s formula?
While Mars hasn’t publicly announced major changes, customer reviews and label discrepancies strongly suggest formulation shifts.
❓ Is Orijen bad for all dogs?
Not necessarily — but for senior dogs or dogs with health concerns, the risks outweigh the benefits.
❓ Are peas really that dangerous?
They’re not toxic — but chronic exposure, especially in legume-heavy diets, is where concerns arise.
❓ Is homemade food better?
In most cases, yes — when properly balanced. Even partially home-cooked diets can dramatically improve health markers. Click Here to learn how to make fast, easy, economical healthy homemade dog food
Final Thoughts: Trust Is Hard to Rebuild
Orijen built its reputation on trust, transparency, and quality.
Corporate ownership has a way of eroding all three.
Any time we review foods like Orijen or Acana, we get hate mail and angry comments.
Good.
We're not here to appease anyone who ignores the evidence and stays with a dog food that is not great for their dogs.
We're not here to make friends, we're here to help dogs... and hopefully make friends with them and their parents 🐶
If your dog had been doing well on Orijen — pay close attention to:
Energy levels
Stool quality
Appetite changes
Coat condition
And if you’re starting fresh?
There are better options today than Orijen Six Fish.
🐾 Your dog deserves consistency, transparency, and real nutrition — not corporate shortcuts.
About Us
****
Most commercial dog food can age your dog prematurely.
Doesn't your dog deserve better?
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🐶 Long Live Your Senior Dog is dedicated to helping you help your adult or senior dog live longer, healthier, happier, and stronger.
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