Raw food diets often improve a dog's health and well-being.

Choosing a dog food for your pet is an important decision. Many people are turning to raw food diets, also known as BARF diets (biologically appropriate raw food) when it comes to feeding their dogs. Raw food diets are great for dogs that experience chronic or repetitive illness such as allergies, skin problems, ear infections, anal gland blockages and excessive dental tartar among other conditions. Introducing fresh, natural foods can greatly improve your dog's health and well being.

Some people are reluctant to begin raw feeding because of two reasons: they believe home preparation is difficult and time consuming or they believe frozen pre-made raw food is expensive and costly to ship. Fortunately, there is a new option for those who want to feed raw but have been holding back. Dehydrated raw food is a new concept that offers convenience and affordability.

PupLife.com is pleased to offer the complete line of dehydrated raw dog foods from The Honest Kitchen. Verve, Force, and Embark are made with Certified Organic Ingredients and are produced at an FDA approved, human food producing facility. Verve is a beef and grain base. Force is a grain-free chicken and vegetable base. Embark is a high protein, grain-free turkey and vegetable base well suited for puppies and pregnant or nursing bitches. Bursting with flavor, all blends are nutritionally balanced, exceeding AAFCO nutrient profiles and can be prepared quickly and simply, with minimal fuss and effort.  

What makes dehydrated raw food so special? The most obvious visual element is that each ingredient is clearly identifiable to the naked eye. The food resembles muesli in its dehydrated form - a colorful 'medley' of real, recognizable ingredients. The vibrant pigments in the raw ingredients remain intact through a gentle dehydration process. These pigments, which give vegetables, fruits and other foods such as eggs, their bright colors, are potent phytonutrients (antioxidants) and are becoming more and more widely understood for their ability to quench free radicals, build a strong, healthy immune system and combat disease.

Dehydration is one of the oldest methods of preservation and works by removing only the water, not the nutrients from food. Dried raw foods are highly nutritious, easy to prepare and lightweight enough to ship. The best part is that dehydration does not destroy or kill vital food enzymes as can occur with foods that are frozen or cooked at very high temperatures. This type of minimally processed can result in dramatic benefits after just a few weeks of feeding - brighter eyes, better skin and coat quality, higher energy levels, and reduced incidence of chronic food-allergy related problems such as itching, scratching, food chewing and debris build-up in the ears.

Switching To Raw Dog Food Diets

Dehydrated raw foods can be fed alone, or as an accompaniment to a home-prepared or frozen pre-made raw diet. Because dehydrated raw food is considerably different from conventionally processed kibble, your dog should be given sufficient time to adjust.  

For dogs already consuming some raw food, any of the blends, Verve, Force, and Embark can be rehydrated and mixed directly into the raw ingredients. For dogs transitioning from dry dog food or canned dog food, gradually begin adding rehydrated raw food in 10% increments over a ten day period. On the first day, you would feed your dog 90% old food, 10% rehydrated raw food. By the tenth day, you should be able to completely remove the old food. This length of time allows your dog's natural intestinal flora a chance to get accustomed to the new diet and become efficient at digesting the rehydrated raw food.

Most dogs will enjoy additional cooked meat or raw meat and bones (never, never give your dog cooked bones) added to their food should you choose.   However, because Verve, Force and Embark are completely nutritionally balanced supplementation is not necessary.

Something to Gnaw On
Recreational raw bones are an excellent treat for dogs. Raw beef marrow bones (femurs) will delight most dogs and help maintain clean, white teeth.  

Meaty raw bones, such as chicken necks and wings tips (only raw, please!) are also good. They can be consumed and easily digested by dogs and can help form harder, more compact stools. These should be introduced to your dog in small quantities and fed only when you are able to supervise.

Cooked bones should never be fed to dogs. The molecular structure is altered when bones are cooked and they cannot be properly processed by the body.   They can splinter and break causing potentially serious health risks to your dog.

A raw dog food diet can be easy to prepare, especially with the new line of dehydrated raw foods from Honest Kitchen. If administered properly, your dog will love the taste, and you could see marked improvement in your dog's health and well being.