Pet parents today are moving away from heavily processed kibble in favor of raw. If you have been researching premium options, you have likely come across two major brands: Get Joy and Maev. Both brands promise human-grade ingredients and better health outcomes, but they take different approaches to convenience, safety, and gut support.

We evaluated both brands on ingredient quality, digestive benefits, and daily usability to determine which option performs best for daily feeding. Read on to find out which brand is our clear winner.

Why Pet Parents Are Switching to Raw

Traditional kibble is often heat-processed, which can strip away delicate nutrients and enzymes. In contrast, Get Joy and Maev focus on minimal processing to keep the nutritional profile as close to nature as possible. The primary goals are to improve skin and coat health, increase energy levels, and, most importantly, provide better digestive support.

What to Look For In a Premium Dog Food

According to veterinary nutrition experts, a truly high-performance diet should do more than just provide calories. Here is what we used as our criteria for this comparison:

• Nutrient Bioavailability: Ingredients should be easy for a dog to digest and absorb.
• Gut Health Support: Because so much of a dog’s immune system is tied to their gut, functional additives (like probiotics and prebiotics) are a major plus.
• Safety & Processing: Look for brands that prioritize pathogen safety without resorting to harsh heat treatments that destroy nutrients.
• Convenience: A premium diet is only sustainable if it fits into your daily routine without constant thawing or complex prep.

The comparison below details how these two brands perform across key categories.

Ingredients & Formulation: Get Joy Wins

Both brands use human-grade, USDA-certified proteins, but their philosophies diverge on the "extras."

Get Joy: Get Joy offers specific protein options, including USDA-sourced beef (along with beef heart, kidney, and liver) or chicken (paired with chicken liver). Beyond its real meat proteins, Get Joy includes a functional gut-health system in every meal. Their Belly Biotics formula contains five live probiotic strains at 3 billion CFU per pound, along with prebiotics and postbiotics. The company uses an FDA-approved method called Competitive Inhibition, which neutralizes pathogens such as Salmonella without high-heat processing that can degrade nutrient value. 

Maev: Maev focuses on a protein-rich raw format containing beef or chicken. They use a human-grade mix of lean protein, raw bone, and produce. While their ingredient list is clear, it does not offer the same targeted probiotic support as Get Joy.

Convenience & Daily Use: Maev Wins

If you are new to raw feeding, the logistics of feeding your dog can be a deal-breaker because traditional raw diets require strict freezer storage, daily overnight thawing in the refrigerator, meticulous cleanup to prevent bacterial cross-contamination, and precise portion measuring. 

Maev: Maev arrives frozen and is formulated to be served directly from the package, though there is an optional quick-thaw method that takes about 10 minutes if your dog prefers their food warmed rather than frozen. 

Get Joy: It comes in a shelf-stable bag that allows you to scoop the dry, freeze-dried pieces directly into the bowl and serve instantly, eliminating the need for freezer storage or overnight thawing. 

Effectiveness: Get Joy Wins

We looked at how these foods impacted energy, coat condition, and digestion over a multi-week feeding period.

🥇Get Joy wins with a comprehensive canine wellness approach. Get Joy's targeted probiotic and prebiotic formulation directly optimizes the gut microbiome, which not only resolves digestive sensitivities but actually enhances overall nutrient utilization, leading to consistently firmer stools and superior whole-body vitality.

🥈 Runner-up: Maev. Maev provides an excellent high-protein boost that suits athletic dogs needing muscle support, and users often notice a shinier coat. However, because it lacks specialized probiotic support, it does not actively resolve underlying digestive issues or optimize gut flora balance.

Scent Profiles: Get Joy Wins

Nobody wants their house smelling like raw meat, and the handling experience differs significantly between these two brands once prep time arrives.

🥇Get Joy wins with a mild scent. Because the food is freeze-dried, it stays dry and low-odor during handling, scooping, and serving, with no pungent raw meat smells lingering in your kitchen.

🥈 Runner-up: Maev. While keeping the food frozen until serving prevents strong odors initially, frozen raw meals naturally begin to emit a stronger, traditional raw-meat scent if you opt to thaw or if it sits in the bowl if not immediately eaten.

Price and Value: Get Joy Wins

Premium dog food is an investment, and both brands cost about the same each month, but the per-ounce breakdown and added inclusions tip the scales.

🥇 The winner: Get Joy. Get Joy costs around $1.66 per ounce for its shelf-stable, freeze-dried formula. It integrates high-potency probiotic supplements directly into the food, avoiding the extra out-of-pocket cost of buying separate daily gut health supplements.

🥈 Runner-up: Maev. Maev is priced around $1.04 to $1.11 per ounce for its frozen raw formula, with the slight price variation depending on the specific protein option you choose—such as beef versus chicken recipes—as well as your subscription tier and bag size. Maev provides a nutrient-dense raw diet supplemented to support key areas, including joint and oral health, but requires separate additions if you want targeted microbiome support. 

Final Verdict 

After thorough research and testing, Get Joy is the clear winner. It delivers a superior, nutrient-dense formulation featuring built-in Belly Biotics and advanced pathogen safety that standard raw formats simply don't match. Our dogs' digestion is noticeably better, their stools are firmer, and they have the vibrant energy they need for everyday vitality.

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