Facebook PixelSundays for Dogs Review - Did My Dog Like This Food? | MSA
My Subscription Addiction
My Subscription Addiction
Our reviewers research, test, and recommend the best subscriptions and products independently; click to learn more about our editorial guidelines. We may receive commissions on purchases made through links on our site.

Sundays for Dogs Review – Did My Dog Like Air-Dried Dog Food?

Megan K.
ByMegan K.Jan 14, 2021 | 30 comments
Sundays for Dogs Review - Did My Dog Like Air-Dried Dog Food?

My Sundays Dog Food Review

Did my dog like this air-dried dog food?

Sundays is a dog food brand that was created by a veterinarian for her pups! It is gently air-dried and has a very clean and super simple ingredient list.

Many of you know I have three dogs, Piper, Charlie, and Tucker. Charlie (pug) and Piper (MinPin) are both well into their senior years, delightfully lazy, and toothless. Meaning they get canned food. Tucker, on the other hand, is a dog in his prime at 6 years old. His needs couldn't be farther from my other pups in nearly everything: food, exercise, mental stimulation, you name it! Charlie and Piper have been doing really well on their normal cans, and Tucker isn't exactly a picky eater. But you can tell that sometimes eating for him is a chore or even that he does it to appease me. When I heard about Sundays I thought this could be a great new food for him to try and maybe it could add a little excitement back to dinnertime.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 30% off your first purchase!
CODE: MSA

About Sundays

The Subscription: Sundays

The Cost: $75 for a single 40 oz bag. $59 per 40 oz bag with 4 month subscription. Larger bags are also avalible.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 30% off your first purchase!
CODE: MSA

The Products: Gentle air-dried dog food with a clean and simple ingredient list.

Ships to: The 48 contiguous states via USPS. Shipping with meal plans is free!

Pros & Cons

The Pros
  • One of the most simple and easy to read ingredient lists I have ever seen for dog food.
  • Lightweight! This air-dried food is great for anyone who can't lift heavy things or who might have other mobility issues.
  • Sundays Air-Dried Food for Dogs Beef Recipe is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO dog food nutrient profiles for all life stages including large breed puppies (over 70 lbs as an adult).
  • Tasty! My dogs were obsessed with this stuff.
The Cons
  • This food is expensive enough that it might be prohibitive for many would-be subscribers.
Is It Worth It?
  • Not for us right now. For Tucker, my 60 lb Standard Poodle, it essentially tripled his per day food costs which we can't afford right now. If you don't have budget constraints and your dogs love this food though, absolutely. I also think if you have a smaller dog who eats less, this becomes much more reasonable in terms of pricing.
I’d Recommend Sundays Food If You
  • Have the budget for this high-end food.
  • Prioritize clean and simple ingredients for your pup.
  • Have a pet that struggles with food sensitivities.

The Sign-Up Process and Feeding Suggestion Quiz

You can just purchase a single box of Sundays dog food or signup for a subscription without giving the brand any info. But if you want to dive deeper, they do have a handy feeding guideline quiz that I can walk you through:

 

My final result was this:

Based on this, Tucker's cost per day for food would be about $9.38 if I bought a 40 oz bag for $75.

Tucker, Standard Poodle, Gentleman

Tucker is a Standard Poodle I found on (rescued from) Craigslist. He is an angel on earth aside from the occasional toilet water bowl situations.

He is 6 years young and really enjoys car rides.

He is also a total outdoors enthusiast.

Sundays VS Tucker's Normal Food

The Blue Buffalo VS Sundays Comparison Tool

Sundays has a feature where you can type in your dog's food (Tucker eats Blue Buffalo dry food) and literally compare it to their offerings. While I learned a lot from this, it kind of just made me feel like a bad dog mom.

First, here is Sundays' ingredient list:

USDA Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Bone, Quinoa, Pumpkin, Wild Salmon Oil, Sunflower Oil, Zucchini, Kale, Flaxseed, Sea Salt, Parsely, Kelp, Chicory Root, Turmeric, Mixed Tocopherols, Ginger, Selenium Yeast, Blueberries, Carrots, Apples, Tomatoes, Shiitake Mushrooms, Broccoli, Oranges, Cranberries, Spinach, Beets, Tart Cherries, Strawberries

Now let's compare:

 

 

It actually had nothing good to say about the food I chose for him, which I think is a stretch. Sure, it's not the absolute best food on the market but it is decent and it isn't like I can afford to feed Tuck steak every single night. I also thought it was weird that there was a giant warning about Blue Buffalo grain-free foods being linked to heart disease since Tucker's food ISN'T grain-free, it just happens to be the same brand.

Other points on this comparison were just confusing. Sure, Sundays is air-dried and Blue Buffalo is "hot exuded under extreme heat and pressure" but this form doesn't explain why one of those is any worse or better than the other. Another thing that stood out was all of the red (which read as "bad" to me ingredients. A lot of these ingredients are things I would never consider as hard negatives, like sweet potatoes, garlic, biotin, and more.

So basically I left this comparison tool feeling extra skeptical and very slightly annoyed.

The Price Difference

So, there is a big price difference between Tucker's Blue Buffalo kibble and Sundays.

A 40 oz bag costs $75 without a subscription. If you sign on for 4 months, the price drops to $59 per 40 oz box.

A $75 40 oz box should last Tucker 8 days according to Sunday's feeding calculator. This breaks down to a cost of about $9.38 a day if you buy a single 40 oz bag. It gets a little more affordable if you sign up for a subscription, landing at $7.38. Tucker's normal cost per day to feed is about $2-$3 per day depending on how big of a bag we buy at a time. This is a big, big difference.

How Sundays is Packaged

 

I thought this packaging was super cute, but it felt like a lot of extra for a single bag of dog food. There was a protective yellow outer bog, an inner box, and inside there was a resealable bag filled with the food.

The Food

So we have already gone over all the reasons Sundays thinks it is better for my dog. Some of these I don't quite agree with but the simple ingredient list does make a strong case for this food, especially if you have a dog with food sensitivities. This food does have more protein (24% vs 30%), more fat (14% vs 20%), and a little less fiber (3% vs 5%).

 

Sundays is an air-dried dog food that weighs very, very little. In fact, it feels so light that I think this could be a great dog food option for someone who has mobility or lifting issues. Sure, that is a very specific statement, but it is a fact of life for a lot of people out there, especially older pet owners. If you want an example of how this might be important, think of how well that featherlight cat litter has done since it was introduced!

The pieces of food remind me a lot of dried jerky except more crumbly. This stuff smells really good and was easy to scoop out and serve. The toughest part was keeping Charlie and Piper out of Tucker's bowl. They are seniors and have no teeth and I was worried they would struggle with these squares. I did end up breaking a few into smaller pieces for them though, so don't feel too badly for them.

Tucker was a fan. In fact, his tail was wagging the entire time his head was shoved in his bowl. He is by no means what I would consider a picky eater, but he does sometimes decline to finish his dinner which makes me wonder if he is bored with his food.

The Verdict

Tucker (and Charlie and Piper) really loved this food but I can't see making a full switch to Sundays. This is largely due to the price difference between his current food and the Sundays food. I could, however, see buying a bag of this every so often as a food supplement or even just as individual treats since the dogs seem to think these squares are treats anyway. A 40 oz box could last a long time when used that way for sure! I loved the simple ingredient list and how I knew what each and every ingredient was on it. If you have a larger budget for dog food (or maybe just smaller dogs..) and a simple and clean ingredient list is your big priority, you and your dog(s) are going to love this.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 30% off your first purchase!
CODE: MSA

 

What did you think of Sundays? Would you try air-dried dog food?

Starting at $59.00
Active Deal
Save 30% off your first purchase!
Use Coupon Code MSA
Subscribe Now

"Sundays unique air-drying method gently dehydrates food low and slow to preserve nutrients and flavor while killing germs. It's the best of raw and home-cooked"

Megan K.
Megan K.
I love natural/vegan beauty products, Korean skincare, unique jewelry, and weird candies from far away places. When I am not waiting for my next exciting box you can find me painting or taking photographs of interesting people. I never leave home without pug hair somewhere on my shirt and a bold lipstick on my smile.

Join the Conversation

Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.

30 comments

Katie

So the difference between high heat cooking and low heat is the nutritional value is cooked out of the food the higher the heat. When the kibble is done cooking they add synthetic nutrients and vitamins and stuff to get back up to standards. Also high heat cooking has been linking to cancer. I know all of this bc I spent the last year researching power foods and cancer bc my soul dog got sick and I was trying anything I could to help him. Anyway.. just wanted to share in case you have not had the chance to learn this since the blog was written. Take care!

Reply ButtonReply

Shirley

I have 2 picky tiny dogs and not having a sample option just doesn’t work. By the time the 2nd order was going to be sent, I knew this wasn’t what my dogs would eat regularly.I tried to cancel the second order but the site wasn’t working properly and by the time I got a response to the only way to communicate to this company,(email), they sent the 2nd order I didn’t want AND WON’T TAKE IT BACK!!!! I HAVE TO DONATE THIS 70$ A BAG FOOD AND PROVE IT, TO GET HALF MY MONEY BACK!!!! MY DOGS won’t eat food that smells like dog vomit except as an occasional snack food and the on again off again makes it incredibly difficult to switch food since they don’t digest with changes very well. I can’t recommend this product or its company

Reply ButtonReply

Ethan

Their food made my dog sick. For all the marketing about quality, it seems shockingly bad.

Also, they have a confusing and sketchy pricing model. It seems like you’re buying a bag of food but it’s actually a starter subscription at 2x the listed price.

Overall bad company. Please go with a reputable food.

Reply ButtonReply

Bill

Worst company to deal with.They don’t know how to run a business. There in over headstakes two months to get a order
.But the take your money on the spot.

Reply ButtonReply

E

WARNING about this company!
Your information will never be deleted even if you request that your account be closed and voided!
Your credit card information will remain on the server forever because that’s what they do.
Try to click on links on their website and you will find most go nowhere.
This is a horrible website and I wouldn’t trust anything that is produced.
Just a WARNING for those who value their information. I have requested that my account be removed and permanently deleted…and “NO” they will not do that. I have requested that my credit card info be removed and they say they cannot do that because another company has the info stored…and, I never authorized that my credit card be saved/stored!

Reply ButtonReply

BradleyG

Can you give them a false or expired number?

Reply ButtonReply

Laurie D

I’ve made my own dogfood from a dog nutritionist’s recipe based on the 2006 National Research Council publication “Nutritional Requirements for Dogs and Cats” (published by the National Academies Press) which is the most up-to-date, scientific source on dog nutrition currently available). I’d say buyer beware on many of these subscription dog foods unless they can show you how they are complying with these guidelines. Does each serving deliver the nutrition requirements dictated by the guidelines? Like other commenters, when I read about Sundays, I felt skeptical because of how they describe other companies’ food as being bad for having “synthetic” additives (vitamins). The Farmer’s Dog is human grade, for example, but the added vitamins are there so they can comply with the national guidelines.

Reply ButtonReply

Ann

I read about this food and ordered a subscription. 12 days later I hadn’t received anything besides a note that vaguely said it may ship in this week and would arrive every 2-3 after. I inquired as to where it was, and the person who answered said it might be another week before it shipped. I can’t rely on this to feed my dog. I canceled before I even started.

Reply ButtonReply

Raj Patel

Curious as to why you calculated the daily food pricing based on the 40 oz box vs the ~ 140 oz?

40 oz = $60…. cost per ounce is $1.5 per ounce

140 oz = $160 …..cost per ounce is $1.14 per ounce

It would get you an entire months worth of food for for approx $5.71 a day. Def more expensive then the food you compared to, but it doesn’t quite have to be $9+ a day as you claimed.

Reply ButtonReply

Sundays is dry dog food. Most of the water is removed. The calories are denser. You will not feed the same amount by volume.
The % fat, protein, carbs can’t be compared directly with wet food.

Reply ButtonReply

Clare

Over the years has been so much controversy about dry kibble food and the mass production of many new dog foods and pet forums seem to have an overwhelming amount of pets with allergies these days coming to the conclusion that these kibble products had been massively produced with lower grade ingredients, but some better ingredients thrown in and many with grains removed; since the days of IAMS and Purina. I have four dogs and two of them have allergies and 1 had hot spots, two of them didn’t another one recently developed hotspots. I did so much research and Eliminating diets and foods trying to find an answer (besides my vet suggesting weekly or monthly costly allergy shots)..frustrated and aggravated I came to the conclusion that these kibbles were mass produced with chicken and wheat and other fillers (which many dogs have built allergies to, including my dogs) and since then I’ve searched for much better quality of food for my dogs and found several good commercial foods that were high-end and my dogs didn’t seem to have allergies as much or hot spots anymore. My take away from it all is that ‘Sunday’s’ dog food or any better grade of human grade dog food even ‘dogs of the earth’ and such can be utilized as toppers broken up even over the foods because just like humans it’s not Always what we’re eating, but what we’re not eating.. I think if one couldn’t afford the Sunday’s it could still be used as a supplement sprinkled over the food or added to a decent dog food (such as solid gold canned food beef, not the chicken, and zignature lamb, etc) which I intend to do.. As I already sprinkle nu-lo raw freeze dried beef organs and Thats what i could do with the Sunday’s.

Reply ButtonReply

Kathy

I just received my first Sunday’s order this afternoon. We have 12 dogs ranging from 8 lbs to 75 lbs. I ordered 144 ounces. Normally we feed Honest Kitchen or Open Farm with a topper from iheartdogs.com and add warm water. I’m always researching products and food because our dogs are family. Honest Kitchen is human grade and actually smells good. Between food and vet costs we wouldn’t be able to feed this food by itself but I thought it would make a healthy topper. For those that have used Sundays, how do you measure out a 1/4 cup (like for my little ones)? With the food being in squares, I would think it would be more difficult to get a true quarter cup. I’m glad I found this site because this is one of the most thorough and honest reviews I’ve seen and would truly help people. Thanks!

Reply ButtonReply

Feed by calrioes needed. Sundays is concentrated calorie food… Water is removed so you can compare volumes.
I feed my dogs by weighing with a scale… After a while you can eyeball it.

Reply ButtonReply

Cissy

Megan,
Check out dog food advisor.com (no spaces) for impartial reviews of major dog food brands with detailed descriptions of nutrients, not just ingredients. They do a good job explaining why some ingredients are less desirable in dog food so you can decide for yourself which food is best for your fur baby. They also have an email list to alert you to dog food recalls.

Thank you for doing these pet food subscription reviews, they are very thorough and helpful! Knowing that your crowd likes it and has no trouble eating it is very important, because taste and ease of chewing, even with some teeth missing, makes a difference. No matter how healthy the food is, if a pet can’t or won’t eat it, it doesn’t do them any good.

Reply ButtonReply

TK

Like another person said, I don’t want to be shamed into buying their food. I’m a new pet owner. My little guy is 3 1/2 months old. This just week he has refused to eat his dry kibble. I have to mix in some wet food to entice him. I’m definitely looking for another brand(currently use Fromm) but I’m not sure this is it. Thanks for the review!

Reply ButtonReply

Craig

Been giving my American Bull Dog this food for about 6 weeks. She LOVES it, and I love the ingredients. While I’m sure that most of the reviews that are negative because of the customer service, I found it to be perfect – no issues and very prompt replies to my questions. While it is very expensive, from my perspective, the food is excellent quality and the nutritional value is great. We’re very happy so far.

Reply ButtonReply

Sherry

So first of all I will 100% agree Tucker is an ANGEL on earth and I hope he gets spoiled daily! Regarding this company – that’s a huge NO for me. Trashing other companies to try and get customers is pretty low and I’m sure they have ‘propaganda’ on EVERY dog food company. Blue Buffalo is a well known, ‘higher end’ dog food brand and there is no reason to trash them. I feed my dog Taste of the Wild grain-free, I’m well aware there was a single study done on the potential link between grain-free and heart disease – I’m also well aware of what a grain diet does to my dog’s digestive system. I won’t even get into the price, but this just seems like a snobby company.

Reply ButtonReply

Boxy Fox

I will read anything that has pictures of your guys’ dogs in them. Tucker and Murray are so great!

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

I am also a super Murray fan 😍

Reply ButtonReply

Elise

Since when are sweet potatoes and peas bad for dogs?? When my parents dog had kidney failure they started home cooking her meals and those were two of the main ingredients they used (based on reccommendation by her vet!)

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

I found that a little confusing too. Our pug Charlie always pukes up peas, but he has a whole weird set of food issues that are totally weird.

Reply ButtonReply

Kate

This is way more expensive than my dog’s fresh raw food from our local pet deli shop, and it’s not even grass fed beef.

Reply ButtonReply

Carol

OMG I love Tucker!

Great review! I knew this was going to be pricey, but wow this is expensive. I didn’t care for the comparison feature that seems designed to guilt customers into purchasing. I bet that it makes it look like you are feeding your dog something bad no matter what food you put in.

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

Tucker is the love of my life. (Don’t tell Will.)

Reply ButtonReply

Chantel

Way way too pricey for me and I spend an ungodly amount on my pets

Reply ButtonReply

jenny

I feel like there’s been this shift over the past decade or so to anthropomorphize our pets and treat them more like our offspring than like pets. In many ways, I think this is great, but in my opinion, I think a pet’s health and longevity has a lot more to do with the preventative care we provide, than with the type of food we feed them. My beloved boxer lived many years past the breed’s 8-10 year average life span, and he ate Iams all his life, but I started preventative cardiac screening and monthly checks for mast cell tumors (cancerous growths which they can be prone to) early in his life, and that is what helped more than anything. I’m glad at least to see that this food has been formulated using AAFCO standards, as there are many boutique brands offering slick advertising with unfounded nutritional value.

Reply ButtonReply

Mary L

Did you feel like 1 1/2 cups a day was enough for him? With the food so light, I would worry about it not being so filling. And maybe it’s just because my dog is fat, but it seems like a small portion!

Reply ButtonReply

BradleyG

Just keep in mind that your brain knows the difference in quality, nutrient-rich diets. You’ll feel the need to eat alot more snack chips than whole fruit or vegetables.

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

For Tuck it seemed about right. He isn’t as active as he could be though. I would consider him “active” compared to a lot of dogs, but lazy when compared to other standard poodles. He also is just very rational when it comes to food in general. If it weren’t for the other dogs, we could just free feed him because he doesn’t overeat ever.

Reply ButtonReply

Resa

That was my thought too! It might taste fantastic but my 3 rambunctious boxers would be very whiney with a total of 1.5 cups a day of food. I would definitely feel a need to supplement their diet. (right or wrong, I just know I would)

Reply ButtonReply