Frequently Asked Questions

Raw bone is a necessary component when feeding dogs and cats a species-appropriate diet. Bone provides calcium and phosphorus, among other nutrients. It also firms stool. All of our ground complete meals contain the optimal amounts of bone needed for your dogs and cats.

We recommend feeding raw, edible bone encased in meat at least once a month to help keep teeth clean. The bone amount should be factored into their daily food intake.

Examples of this are chicken pieces like quarters, necks, breasts, thighs and wings. The smaller the pet the smaller the portion they should be fed. Always supervise your pet eating such whole foods, as choking can occur.

Dogs do not chew in a side-to-side motion like humans. Their jaws only move up and down. They crunch and crush the whole food and swallow large chunks at a time. This is normal.

Avoid bare bones and never feed bones known as recreational bones (marrow bones, soup bones, leg bones from heavy animals). These are a very dense bone that develops to withstand an enormous amount of weight. They are inedible and can severely damage teeth.

If you are not comfortable feeding raw meaty bones, we have some great dehydrated treats that will do the same job (Pizzles, Tendons, Duck Feet and Chicken Feet are a few examples that we have available)

No, you do not need to transition to the raw ground slowly. Most dogs can move from kibble or other raw meals to our ground meals without any transitional issues. Senior dogs can sometimes be the exception to that rule.

Mixing kibble with raw in the same meal  can sometimes create digestive issues. We recommend stopping kibble completely and starting on our Beef/chicken or Turkey.

This can occasionally happen.

The first thing we recommend is putting the food down for the dog in a crate. Walk away for 15 minutes. If the dog has not eaten the food put it back in the fridge until the next meal. Repeat the same action. Dogs tend to eat when they realize nothing else is coming. If they know you will provide something different they may be persistently fussy.

If after 2 days the dog is still refusing you can try lightly searing the food to bring out the flavors.

Sometimes adding some bone broth will help to entice them.

Another option to try is to try a different meat mix or single protein. Some dogs are picky with certain meats. Lamb seems to be one that gets refused more than some of the other meats.

The last resort is to transition with a high quality canned food that you know your dog loves and slowly add more raw food and less canned each meal until you have weaned them off the canned.

There are lots of supplements you can add to your dog or cat’s diet to support different health issues or to be proactive before issues arise. Here are a few great options. A good probiotic is an excellent addition. Adding your own green leafy veggies or our powdered options are great. We also recommend adding Omega 3’s either by feeding an oily fish meal once per week. Salmon or Sardines are great options.  Alternatively, Seal oil can be a substitute to boost Omega 3s. Grass fed meat is a great source of Omega 3s but here in Canada you cannot always count on grass fed animals in the winter months. Check out all of our Omega 3 options here.

When deciding what to feed your dogs or cats ask yourself first what a species-appropriate diet might be for these animals. Not sure? Or are you thinking kibble is species appropriate? Let’s look at the science and history behind what they should be eating.

What do we know? Cats and dogs are carnivores. We know that from the sharp, pointed canine teeth they have, their short digestive systems and by studying their close wild ancestors such as wolves and wild cats. We have the science and studies proving that wolves and wild cats eat meat, bone, and organ. They do not cook or have any intermediary steps between killing and eating. They tear into the raw carcass and crunch and swallow organs, meat, and the softer bones of the prey.

Wolves will also bury pieces for later or come back to a kill after a while to eat. If bacteria were an issue wolves would not have developed this evolutionary survival behavior. Cats, on the other hand, require fresh meat/prey. Wolves and wild cats also do not consume corn, rice, and wheat in the wild. There are situations where wolves have scavenged a few plants when prey is scarce to help them survive but this is not to be confused with fulfilling nutritional needs.

Wolves have a very short digestive system and therefore do not break down vegetables and fruits very efficiently. They act more as fillers and go through their bodies without fully breaking down. If they are ground well first they can break them down. There is benefits to feeding veggies if you feed no more than 5-10% and first break them down by steaming or grinding.

Our goal should not be to replace meat proteins with high sugar plant proteins. Kibble has a reputation of doing this to cut costs.  High carb ingredients in dog food can cause many inflammatory reactions and can potentially contribute to cancer cell growth. Grain free kibble can be very high in sugar. Instead of adding grains, they have replaced those fillers with other carbs and some of those bags can be at 30-50% sugar.

So let’s get back to that term “species-appropriate diet”. For optimal health, every single species on Earth is required to eat what that animal’s body was meant to consume. Likewise, every species also requires real, unprocessed food for ideal health benefits. We know through scientific studies on humans that processed food is bad for us.

If you are interested in learning more about the topic we suggest reading these articles:
Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3

We need to look at where this information is coming from.

The FDA has decided to recommend against feeding raw pet food to animals. This is based on the argument that families need to be protected from potential surface bacteria that may be harmful to humans. The problem with this logic is that many families handle/process raw meat in their kitchens every single day. A fair assumption, we think, is that most families are aware of food safety standards.

Your veterinarian may also be against raw feeding. There are a few theories as to why there are so many anti-raw vets out there. The first is that they are not properly trained in animal nutrition. The training they receive from college has been sponsored and pushed by the kibble companies themselves. Considering that, how likely is it that veterinary students are receiving an unbiased education on the nutritional needs of dogs and cats?

The stance that some vets have taken is that pet owners are unable to feed healthy, balanced, and nutritionally-sound meals to their pets without the help of a bag of kibble. We are quite capable of learning how to feed our human family members nutritionally balanced meals but we are unable to learn how to do this with our pets? This is a ridiculous notion that we find insulting.

Lastly, let’s look at the research that has been done over the last 60 – 70 years since we started feeding kibble to our pets. It has been largely funded by the very companies that will gain the most from research pushing their agenda. Dogs and cats are getting sick and dying from eating kibble and canned food that uses denatured meat from sick and tranquilized animals, produced in an industry with little to no regulation. Operations have been allowed to go on this way for far too long. It’s time for people to start advocating for their pets, asking questions of their animal’s food suppliers, and demanding transparency in an industry that has none.

Raw food is digested easily so your pet feels good inside and out. They can’t tell us with words when they are suffering stress from a poor diet. Look at teeth, skin, coat, eyes, and poop. Smell their breath and feel their coat. Is it oily feeling, is there dandruff present, hot spots and rashes on skin, do they seem agitated? Are they overweight and lacking in muscle tone? These are all the uncomfortable signs your dog is experiencing the effects of a poor diet. If you are not feeding a species-appropriate diet it might be time to look at this option. We recommend that if you are not sure about a raw diet that you do a 3-month trial. Sometimes you just need to see it for yourself to understand how diet affects our pets.

If you were to eat cereal, fast food or processed food every meal for years and years, how do you imagine you’d feel? We would probably survive but we would not be healthy. We know from studies that real, unprocessed food is the best possible food we can feed ourselves and the same goes for every single species on this planet.

So don’t let the kibble marketers tell you the opposite to what we know to be facts regarding real versus processed food.

Adult dogs can be fed once a day.

Puppies 6-12 months old should be fed twice a day.

Puppies under 6 months – three times per day.

Raw feeding is quite simple – just remember to feed at least 3 to 4 different proteins per month. This is easy to do with our complete meat mixes and single protein meals.

The guideline is to start off by giving your dog about 2-3 percent of their ideal adult weight and adjust to maintain a healthy weight. Puppies should also receive about 2-3 percent of their ideal ADULT weight.  NOTE:  When puppies go through growth spurts, they will at times require more food.  Increase to maintain a healthy weight.

Depending on the activity level of your dog, you may need to adjust their food amount a little more or a little less.

The best way to tell if you are feeding the right amount is to run your hands over your dog’s ribs. If you can feel the ribs, but they aren’t visible, your dog is at an optimal weight.

Overall, raw feeding is quite easy and there are only a few simple guidelines to follow.

Over time, feeding your dog raw food will get easier and you will start to see the results through a better coat, cleaner teeth, fresher breath and fewer health issues.

Good luck with your dog’s new diet and making the jump from kibble to raw food, you won’t regret it.

The most dangerous pet chew ever created: Rawhide!

We stumbled across this video one day and knew we just had to share it! This video shows the process of how rawhide treats are made, which will leave you shocked and fully aware of the dangers these treats can pose to your pets.