Commercially Prepared Raw Dog Food
A Closer Look at Commercially Prepared Raw Dog Food.
Are you feeding a commercially prepared RAW food that already has the meat within? It is still very important that you take a close look at the ingredients & evaluate your total costs!
I've evaluated freeze-dried foods with clients a number of times now and I keep finding reasons why I'd want to stick with my Volhard.
What You Need to Know When Buying Prepackaged Raw Dog Food
Freeze-dried Beef Recipes raw diets often use a lot of heart muscle meat and liver. Freeze Dried Chicken Recipes often uses Chicken Necks and Hearts (Remember we say the ingredients listed first are the single largest ingredient. We also then start to see things like crushed bone or ground bone… which is going to count for a good part of your protein as well and is a lot like bone meal. The point — it’s not the same as ground hamburger or other better cuts of muscle meat. You’re getting cheaper cuts of meat and mixtures of meat products. Sure your pet would eat these parts also if they were eating a full prey model (ie the whole squirrel), but they’d also get the rest of the meat too and more true muscle meat.
Next, we often see the 2nd ingredient as liver -- typically we don't want more than 10% Offal in the diet and only 5% Liver. (Read that as 5% Liver and 5% other organs) They don’t always break this down on the ingredients list — but as a 2nd ingredient on the list, I’m guessing it’s more than 5%.
We have to assume that these manufacturers are also looking at cost-cutting opportunities in the selections of meat. Exactly how much "human-grade" is within.
These foods can be a good option overall and are definitely better than the kibble products we typically see. Both Freeze-Dried and Dehydrated foods begin with whole-real raw foods and simply extract out the moisture or flash freeze the ingredients. Both would require adding warm moisture before serving to your pet. Some frozen versions of RAW will retain moisture levels so that all you have to do is thaw — and warm (We generally do not want to feed your pet a cold food. Warming it up is more appealing and more like eating a natural diet)
Many of these vendors will offer protein varieties. That’s a good thing, and you should consider rotating your protein sources regularly and being sure that there is adequate variety in the veggie sources as well.
Remember that red meats can tax the waste management system, and it is a good idea to do fish days or dairy days, even fasting if appropriate. Don't get in a rut with your protein sources. Based on my studies and experience — I don’t recommend the surf & turf meals. In order to truly give the kidneys and digestive system a break from red meat — stand-alone fish days make sense.
We want to choose proteins that support your individual dog’s health, allergies, and behavior in general. It’s important to take a look at the 5 Element Theories and consider the proteins, even the veggies and fruits as to whether they are neutral, warming or cooling especially if you have dogs with aggression, anxiety, allergies, over-arousal, fear, lack of motivation, etc The point — protein choice matters for the individual.
Also, be sure you fully understand what the marketing words they are using me20an:
"with added...."
"Enhanced with...."
"Fortified with...."
are these minimum levels or optimal
Are any synthetic Vitamins and Minerals Added or are they whole-food sources
Exactly WHAT is human grade in the ingredients
Exactly WHAT is organic in the ingredients — (I saw high end food say 20% organic ingredients — which ones?)
Read the label and ask questions.
Commercially prepared foods may be less cost-effective overall. Remember how many people are making money off the food chain, including your retailer. You also need to evaluate what will you still need to add to the recipe or supplement list?
Do you need to add:
Digestive Enzymes?
Probiotics
Parasite Control
Other??? In other words what’s NOT in the recipe?
Call me to compare with Volhard or take a look around the Volhard site.
Also, compare the value and benefit of adding your own choice of meat, rotating as needed and throughout the week, and the ability to buy in bulk from local butchers, in bulk, or in sales. Even your veggies if you’re looking at a diet like AM/PM will be seasonal fresh veggies you can get locally at the farmer’s market or your own garden!
Take a close look, do the math, compare the details.
Some of my reasons for choosing Volhard over other diets or home-prepared:
Fresh Protein I choose. I choose the type, the fat amount, the source of fat, and I know the meat is not pieces and parts.
I can rotate meat choices within my week to give the digestive system some relief from processing so much red muscle meat (think about those kidneys!)
If I have a dog that doesn’t tolerate raw well, has special needs around lightly cooked proteins or needs some help during the transition — we can control that.
I also don't have to add digestive enzymes, probiotics, or Vitamins and Minerals, Parasite Control, etc -- it's all in there at optimal levels for most pets (some of our aging or unwell pets may need something extra! Among many other things that keep my dogs (and yours) healthy.
Nutritionally optimized!
No ingredient sourcing required.
No math to do with each modification to the recipe
Convenient & Easy to Make.
Volhard Food Is:
Whole Food Sources
Made in the USA in Human Grade facilities
Every batch of food is tested 3 times for quality control for bacteria, molds, fungi, salmonella, and E.Coli
Clinically tested for over 30 years on pets - including annual blood work, thyroid, urine and fecal analyses). Can your food say that?
Non GMO
Preservative Free
Human Grade Ingredients ONLY from US Growers. I wouldn’t like the taste, but I could eat my dog’s food.
Bonus:
Plus you get me as your consultant — and we all have access directly to Volhard for dialogue and resources.
We can customize and tweak any of the 4 diet mixes for the individual needs of the animal whether we are trying to solve allergies, aging, ailments, or other unique needs.
Volhard also makes great supplements to support your dog.
Call me to switch. Questions about the products happily answered.