Which dehydrated would you prefer...

Toller_08

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I am trying to figure out what to feed Dance while we go to BC. I think the friend we're staying with will be weirded out by her eating raw meat, so I think I want to take some dehydrated raw instead. I don't want to feed her kibble as her breath is horrid on kibble, plus I don't like the idea of a lump of kibble sitting in her gut while she's running and swimming and playing. She has a lot more endurance/better energy on raw and I think kibble makes her feel a little yucky. Plus, I'm worried that her mystery upset tummy that used to occur often and hasn't at all since I switched her to exclusively raw might return.

I'm trying to decide between NRG Maxim and the grain free Honest Kitchen products. I can get NRG at work but we don't carry Honest Kitchen so I don't know much about it. Here are the ingredients for both:

NRG Maxim said:
Free range chicken (or beef or buffalo), squash, carrots, pumpkin, eggs, liver, grapefruit, wheat germ, broccoli, cranberries, papaya, garlic, goat milk yogurt, flax seed, salmon fillet, apples, cider vinegar, limes, kelp, blueberries, eggshell, coconut oil.
and The Honest Kitchen comes in different formulas, but here is one I was looking at:

Honest Kitchen Force said:
Dehydrated free-range chicken, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, alfalfa, organic kelp, honey, pumpkin, green beans, cabbage, bananas, papayas, basil, garlic, rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.
Neither one is perfect, but I just can't decide. I suck at picking dog food for my own dogs, haha. I compare way too much. Which would you rather give your dog? Also, for those that feed Honest Kitchen, is there a formula you like best? I know the zeal definitely won't work as for some reason, Dance hates fish. But all of the others I am sure she will eat. She loves food and aside from fish I've never seen her turn anything down.

I also have the option of Ziwipeak if I decide not to go with either of the above. But it seems very rich for a lot of dogs. Either way, I'll feed whatever I get her for a week before we leave just to make sure she's going to be ok. Definitely don't want a sick dog on holidays.
 

Southpaw

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#2
I have never heard of NRG Maxim but it looks like it has yummy stuff lol. I couldn't tell you which one is "better" but definitely neither of them are bad.... plus, since it's only short-term and getting the NRG would be more convenient, I'd just go that route and as long as it doesn't cause her any digestive issues, I'd say you're good to go :)
 

Bailey08

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Did you look at the protein percentages? I'd probably go with the higher protein, if there's a difference. Otherwise, assuming NRG is a reputable brand (I don't know anything about it), I'd pick the one that's easier to get. :)

Fwiw, my Bailey, who has IBD (mostly under control at this point), does fine on Ziwipeak's venison varieties. We avoid lamb bc he doesn't do well with higher fat.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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It might be worth it to ask the friend first because she may actually be ok with it. When Spy goes to my grandparents to be babysat later this summer, I will send his raw but will portion it and put each meal in it's own separate baggy to make it super super easy for them. Basically they don't even have to handle it, they just dump the contents of the baggy into a bowl and let it sit out for a but to thaw before serving.

Spy is like Dance, lots of weird tummy issues until an exclusively raw diet. Since he had so many issues (like Dance) I really wanted him to stick with what's working rather than invite all the issues to come back again.

Obviously if she says no that understandable but it never hurts to ask :)

Also... YOU ARE COMING TO BC?!?!?! Come visit me and Spy :D
 

Toller_08

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Thanks guys! I might pick up a bag of NRG at work on Monday and see how it goes. I could get my boss to order me the Honest Kitchen, but neither seems better or worse than the other so might as well go with what I can get easily.

But I like Tucker&Me's suggestion of just asking our friend how she would feel about raw food. She's not really a squeamish person. I just worry that maybe she'll think she can catch salmonella or something from Dance. I didn't want to ask as I thought it would be a weird question, but that's probably the best solution. I'd rather not play with her diet too much if I don't have to.

Stella and Chewy???
We don't have that brand here I don't think. The only dehydrated or freeze dried raws I've seen are Honest Kitchen, NRG (Canadian brand), K9 Natural and Ziwipeak.

Also... YOU ARE COMING TO BC?!?!?! Come visit me and Spy :D
We are! But we'll be in the Kelowna/Vernon area and don't have time this year to head out to the Vancouver area unfortunately. Otherwise I would have loved to meet you! But our week out there is pretty packed already. Maybe next year? I want to come out that way at some point anyway to see Spring again and meet her new people. I'd wanted to do that this year but I couldn't convince my mom and grandma to go that far this time.
 

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#7
Izzie didn't like either of them. And with NRG i found a lot of clients' dogs would get explosive rear ends from it or at the very least massive poops. So if you can i'd switch her on to it while you're still at home to make sure she'll handle it okay (or even eat it).

Izzie and I are headed to BC too, but on wednesday haha. I'm bringing chicken necks and some red dog blue kat raw for her, she only eats 1/4lb per day so it's not much to bring. I thought about changing her to dehydrated or acana for the trip but meh.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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But I like Tucker&Me's suggestion of just asking our friend how she would feel about raw food. She's not really a squeamish person. I just worry that maybe she'll think she can catch salmonella or something from Dance. I didn't want to ask as I thought it would be a weird question, but that's probably the best solution. I'd rather not play with her diet too much if I don't have to.
Yeah it never hurts to ask her how she feels about a raw diet :) Especially if you aren't gone that long. Also, it might be preferable dealing with raw over something like explosive butt :eek: If you do switch her to something, switch her before going and send some canned pumpkin in case she has the runs.


We are! But we'll be in the Kelowna/Vernon area and don't have time this year to head out to the Vancouver area unfortunately. Otherwise I would have loved to meet you! But our week out there is pretty packed already. Maybe next year? I want to come out that way at some point anyway to see Spring again and meet her new people. I'd wanted to do that this year but I couldn't convince my mom and grandma to go that far this time.
Oh shoot, well when/if you do head out give me a heads up and we can totally meet up :D
 

~Tucker&Me~

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Izzie and I are headed to BC too, but on wednesday haha. I'm bringing chicken necks and some red dog blue kat raw for her, she only eats 1/4lb per day so it's not much to bring. I thought about changing her to dehydrated or acana for the trip but meh.
We sell Red Dog at my store if you need more :) And if you are in the Vancouver area let me know! It'd be awesome to meet you and Izzie. Are you heading out for an agility trial?
 
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#10
I have yet to have a dog that liked Honest Kitchen. I've tried a few different ones of their stuff and I couldn't get Traveler, Hannah or garbage dump, plastic eating Kaylee to finish a bowl of it or eat it more than a day or two. And that was with a lot of dressing up.

Whatever you decide I would try to see if Dance likes it before you buy a big thing of it or expect her to eat it
 

MandyPug

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#11
We sell Red Dog at my store if you need more :) And if you are in the Vancouver area let me know! It'd be awesome to meet you and Izzie. Are you heading out for an agility trial?
We're (me, izzie, my instructor, kaleb and gyp) headed out there for the Flat Coated Retriever National Speciality in Abbotsford. We'll be at the speciality on the thurs/fri then hanging out walking around van on sat then heading home on sunday i think.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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We're (me, izzie, my instructor, kaleb and gyp) headed out there for the Flat Coated Retriever National Speciality in Abbotsford. We'll be at the speciality on the thurs/fri then hanging out walking around van on sat then heading home on sunday i think.
Cool, I'm going to pm you :)
 

Toller_08

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Oh shoot, well when/if you do head out give me a heads up and we can totally meet up :D

For sure! It would be so great to meet you and Spy one day. :)

I have yet to have a dog that liked Honest Kitchen. I've tried a few different ones of their stuff and I couldn't get Traveler, Hannah or garbage dump, plastic eating Kaylee to finish a bowl of it or eat it more than a day or two. And that was with a lot of dressing up.

Whatever you decide I would try to see if Dance likes it before you buy a big thing of it or expect her to eat it
That's good to know! If I do decide to go the dehydrated route then I will definitely try her on it before we go. Both to see if she likes it and to make sure that if it does make her explode or something, that that happens at home and not while we're away. That would be a disaster.

Upon further thinking I have a feeling she might not even like the texture. She doesn't like squishy, warm things like oatmeal or rice usually. And that's probably the same sort of texture as the dehydrated stuff will be once I add water to it. So we'll see.
 

Shai

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All three of my dogs eat Honest Kitchen without hesitation, even though Kim especially can be texture-finicky. Mira too, to a lesser extent. Webster eats anything that even remotely resembles food so he's not really a good benchmark lol.

And fwiw it's on sale this month...20% off everything I think.

Haven't tried other dehydrated so can't say. I usually use either kibble or HK when traveling, if I can't bring raw for some reason.
 

Southpaw

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#15
The only dehydrated raw I've tried is Sojos and my dogs, and cat when he's being naughty, inhale it and get so super excited when I make it. They are not picky in the first place, but this stuff is like crack to them compared to kibble.

Juno gets a little looser from it, but I think it's just because I can't figure out how much Sojos she should get if she's already had a kibble meal that day. So I probably am too generous.
 
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All three of my dogs eat Honest Kitchen without hesitation, even though Kim especially can be texture-finicky. Mira too, to a lesser extent. Webster eats anything that even remotely resembles food so he's not really a good benchmark lol.
I just don't get it! I bought so much of it and even won a couple boxes for free and I can't get mine to eat it! And these are dogs that eat ground veggie cupcakes with no hesitation. And Kaylee is like Web in the sense that if it's there she'll eat it and she wouldn't even finish a bowl. Would have shipped her off to the vet if she hadn't been trying to get into the garbage with the bowl of HK right there.
 

Shai

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I just don't get it! I bought so much of it and even won a couple boxes for free and I can't get mine to eat it! And these are dogs that eat ground veggie cupcakes with no hesitation. And Kaylee is like Web in the sense that if it's there she'll eat it and she wouldn't even finish a bowl. Would have shipped her off to the vet if she hadn't been trying to get into the garbage with the bowl of HK right there.
Did you try mixing it with ground meat?
 

Shai

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Yep! Or egg or yogurt or peanut butter or freezing it.
Only one thing left to do: Mix some up for Mira when we visit and she will demonstrate how to eat it for Traveler and Didgie lol
 

ihartgonzo

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I have yet to have a dog that liked Honest Kitchen. I've tried a few different ones of their stuff and I couldn't get Traveler, Hannah or garbage dump, plastic eating Kaylee to finish a bowl of it or eat it more than a day or two. And that was with a lot of dressing up.
AGREED!
Fozzie stopped eating THK after a week... like, wouldn't eat it with a WHOLE CAN of 100% meat Evangers mixed in with a tiny bit of it. Needless to say, they have a horrible return policy, and I lost $80. Fozzie will eat anything!!! Whole tomatoes... pickles... etc

Get like 10 samples of it first. I noticed that he had little pieces of dried vegetables in his poop, and huge poops, which I hated.
 

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