Amy and Rod Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com, their GSD Buster and Shar-Pei Ty, travel the United States and Canada (in their new Winnebago – soon), visiting and cataloging pet-friendly… everything! From pet-friendly hotels and campgrounds, to dog parks and pet friendly restaurants.
As you’ll read below, Amy and Rod had been feeding Buster and Ty a kibbled dog food, but for a variety of reasons wanted to switch them over to a raw diet. Unfortunately feeding a raw diet when you’re on the road 3/4 of the time isn’t very easy to do, nor is it very practical – but I remembered seeing a product online somewhere that would allow them to easily and conveniently feed Buster and Ty a raw diet while on the road. After a quick Google search, I sent them a link and …, I’ll let Rod explain the rest.
by Rod Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com
My wife and I have two dogs: Ty, a 40 pound 5 year old Shar Pei, and Buster, a 70 pound 2 ½ year old German Shepherd. Until a few weeks ago, both dogs had only ever eaten kibble. Both dogs started their lives with us on Wellness Simple (rice and venison). No problems – Ty and Buster woofed down the chow. Then, a shortage of farm-raised venison caused Wellness to discontinue this food.
We did some research and switched to Core Wellness … a week or so before we embarked on a 4,000 mile road trip. While Ty seemed fine with the change, Buster reacted like he was on caffeine. The last thing we needed was an energetic 70 pound puppy being even more rambunctious! So in the middle of our road trip we switched again – this time to a venison and sweet potato product from Natural Balance. Calm was restored.
Our decision to give Ty and Buster dry food was a matter of (1) not thinking we were doing them any harm by feeding them high quality kibble, (2) not realizing there was any other alternative other than canned food, which we did want to avoid, and (3) the convenience factor dictated by our travel schedule that puts us on the road for weeks at a time with the boys.
About a year ago, we made a conscious effort to eliminate most processed foods from our diet. So this year we figured why not do the same for the dogs. When we looked to make a fresh start, we faced a mind-boggling amount of information and opinions on the pros and cons of dog food choices. We read about raw food diets on the blogs of ThePhillyDog, DoggyBytes, and others. Vegetarian and vegan diets were promoted on other blogs. Our heads were hurting!
Based on a recommendation from DoggyBytes, we investigated The Honest Kitchen. Holy Grail … found! We were drawn to THK’s product for these reasons: It’s a raw food diet … with minimal processing … using human grade ingredients … and every batch is tasted by humans as part of quality control. The tipping point was the fact that the food is dehydrated, which makes it easy for us to store and serve at home and on the road.
THK offers six types of dog food, one kind of cat food, treats, and supplements. We chose to feed our boys Force. It’s grain-, wheat-, and gluten free. Force’s ingredients are free-range chicken, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, alfalfa, organic kelp, honey, zucchini, green beans, cabbage, bananas, papayas, basil, garlic, rosemary, vitamins and minerals – not a single ingredient that you can’t pronounce. THK does not use by-products, fillers, artificial colorings, or preservatives. Its USDA meats are hormone and antibiotic free. Fruits and vegetables are certified non-GMO, and grains are certified organic and fair trade.
The food comes in a 10 pound box. Hydrated, one cup of food weighs one pound. There are 43 cups in the box, so we’re getting 43 pounds of dog food from one box.
The cost is $76 per box. Interestingly, the Philadelphia pet boutique where we purchased our first box charged the same amount as a box from the THK web site. However, THK offers a bulk discount and free shipping on purchases over $600. So when our first box of food was running low, we ordered eight boxes with a “street value” of $608 and paid about $485. The order was placed on a Monday, and we received the food via UPS ground on Thursday. At this pricing, the cost works out to a palatable $7 per day for both dogs.
Mealtime is a wonderfully different experience for Ty and Buster. While our dogs never really suffered from a lack of appetite, they ate because they were hungry, not because they loved kibble. Now they eat because they are hungry and because they LOVE the food.
If I were to show you a picture of the clean dog bowls before food is added and a picture of the bowls just after feeding, you would be hard pressed to see the difference (umm … clean as a hound’s tooth?!). Ty and Buster lick the bowls THAT clean. We throw in some occasional raw meaty bones during the week, and we really feel we are providing a balanced diet. In the few weeks the dogs have been on Force, we’ve also noticed shinier coats and cleaner teeth.
We also like patronizing THK because it’s a small business, not a division of a conglomerate. THK is committed to protecting and preserving the environment. Food is packaged in a combination of USA-made, recyclable, biodegradable and recycled paper supplied by a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. The box is printed with vegetable-based inks.
So, if you’re planning a trip or vacation and want to include your pet (cuz their family too right?), you’ll HAVE to check out GoPetFriendly.com. Be sure to subscribe to their Blog “Take Paws” too, so you can stay current with all the shenanigans from Buster and Ty while they’re on the road.
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