Blessings and great info, so hills science diet for sensitive stomach and skin is not a good dog food and what about canidae salmon and sweet potatoes dog food God Bless
Hi Rachel! I SO much appreciate your great efforts, especially under threats from ovvious companies trying to silence the honest cryer like you and Dr J. Morgan with the recent ugliness of a certain pet food brand. Please continue the fight! Id like to ask if you would please do a review on "The Honest Kitchen" products. My little 3.5 year old Westie has a sensitive stomach and cant have pork products or it comes back up. We have good luck with the honest kitchen beef clusters and add probiotic powder with Ollie dried clusters mixed in. I would love to see your opinion on Honest Kitchen. Thank you again!
on instagram you claim instinct is good to feed your dog recently and this video is a year ago, saying that you would recommend instinct ? are you being paid by instinct to say otherwise now ? why the change ? im confused
Dog food was invented during WWII due to rationing. My dog refused to eat dog food. I had tried two kinds of kibble, one canned and even fresh pet. I now make her food. I include a protein ( beef, chicken, pork, salmon, tuna, eggs) and a veggie. She loves broccoli, sweet potato, spinach, potato. Not crazy about green beans, carrots or peas, but I keep trying. I also cook a batch of rice and put some in if needed. She is healthy with a good appetite. Feeding her this way has made me eat healthier as we most often eat the same food. The vet has pronounced her “ perfect” and the groomer just commented on the great condition of her coat and skin. She does not like fruit but I keep trying. After learning what is in some commercial dog food, I am glad my dog does not eat it. I buy meat on sale and can it myself or I share with her.The fish is usually commercially canned unless I’m having wild caught. I buy most of the veggies frozen. Hope this helps some people ( and dogs!).
@@ambrosia1917 I buy deer antlers for her to chew. Elk antlers are harder so deer is better. You could also give egg shells with scrambled eggs. I just got a shipment of antlers online. Much cheaper than in pet stores. I have also sourced them from local hunters. They last a very long time, so while it may seem pricey at first, it’s really not bad. They are a good source of vitamins and minerals.
@@priyamorin2461 I agree! I boil giblets, chop them up for her. When I have liver, I share. In the wild, the alpha wolf gets the organ meat, so it must be really good for dogs.
Bc it attracts more clicks. It’s still one of the more decent brands imo. So according to this video, the knock on honest kitchen is its unknown beef source and ingredient splitting of potato and sweet potato. Other brands have done a lot worse. I do notice my dog having a lot more stool when eating honest kitchen…likely due to the higher potato/sweet potato starch content in their foods.
The first one she shat on was $60 for 4 lbs. That's $15/lb. I can't afford to feed myself that well, and she thinks that's awful for your dog. If you're not insanely wealthy, don't waste your time on this video
Hi Rachel I know that you briefly went over Instinct's ingredients. However I see on the raw meals recipes, not the kibble, that salt isn't an ingredient. Do you recommend the raw meals?
Many years ago i adopted a GSD at the age of 4,5 yrs.old. Some times she itched a little but not much.. Until she got her annual flu shot..that were the start of a nightmare. I had to visit the vet every other day to get help - for over a month.. sadly we do not do titer test in Norway and her body could not take it anymore.. she she got all itchy so i took her back to the vet -She got a shampoo and some oil to use on the outside and were told to use Hills sensitive ( that the vet sol offcourse) .. only 2 days in and she got worse cause she reacted badly to the food. Then the vet told me to swap to an even more super sensitive food.. Still Hills. My dog got super sick..TRIGGER WARNING: She itched her ears bloody, her body got open sores but the worst: she suddenly got open holes around her rectum that poured out feeces + green and yellow puss.. She looked like she was "breaking down". like a rotten piece of meat.. I stopped the food and we got her on a very expensive medication that were used on humans that have had a new liver or lung.. etc + a fungus medication that worked wonders mixed with the other. Then i had to cook food for her.. When we got it under control i took her straight to a fantastic Homeopath and after a few months she was cured.. I never vaxxed her again and i kept her aon a low single protein food.. She lived for 7 more years . Itch free..
I like how you don’t shame people for what food brand they use. My dog has a lot of allergies and I’m just giving him Harrington’s which isn’t the best but it’s what works for him best. I’d love to feed him the best of the best but I just don’t have the money for that and again he does fine on Harrington’s.
Thank you for this comment, & all you do for your dog! Shaming doesn’t help, so I try to share what I’ve learned for others to explore. So happy you’re here ❤
I completely understand, i just got my pup, (before i got him he was gonna be teddy, but he’s a little minx and i love finnegan from these videos, so i ended up naming him after fin, so he’s finnegan) anyway, m not well at the moment and cant afford really expensive food, he has pedigree puppy food and some kibble, hes fussy too, but i can get him to eat these and i use good treats, he likes tails cold pressed duck
My dog eats honest kitchen due to the convenience. I’ve also felt like the potato content is pretty high. Do you know if there are other dehydrated foods that use less or no potatoes? I’ve looks at freeze dried raw but it was pretty pricey compared to THK.
I feed a small amount of Honest Kitchen clusters along with fresh salmon, green beans, carrots, pumpkin and blueberries. I also make my own bone broth jelly as a topper. My 3 kids are happy and healthy!
Totally agree with the points made in this video! I honestly wish more people knew the difference between dog “feed” and dog “food”. Once again, this channel never disappoints to upload such interesting videos!!!
I have a question/video request. So what’s your opinion on heartworm medicine? I’ve done some research and a lot of the vet described medicines have questionable ingredients and in the past some of the heartworm protection pill brands have made my dogs sick or very tired. I’ve been trying to find a holistic or healthier option, but it appears that there are none or very few. I don’t want to make my dogs sick/weaken their immune system with the medicine but then I don’t want them to get heartworms if it’s as bad as they tell us. Currently I’ve been spraying my dogs with a natural flea/tick/mosquito repellent and cutting the heartworm pill medicine that doesn’t give my dogs problems in half since the weight range is a huge difference.
Yes! Please do this. I currently don't protect my dog from heartworm for this reason and I know it's not a good idea. Would like your ideas @Rachel Fusaro !
I personally used Only Natural Pet’s wholistic heartworm preventative and it worked. Also, Heartguart is just ivermectin, which I feel safe with for my puppy.
My dog is currently having liver issues apparently because of the high amount of protein added in her dry food. I had no idea this could be an issue because all that i've heard is that the more protein the better. I hear about other ingredients that need to be avoided such as corn and soy but if high protein content is so bad why are none of the pet nutritionist on youtube talking about it? My vet recommends a dry food percentage of protein NO higher than 16-20% specially for dogs that are not as active because higher amounts can cause liver issues. What do you know about this? Can you elaborate and help us understand a bit more ? People are just following recommendations and trying to buy "the best quality dry food" for their pets but are not aware of issues like this. If you happen to respond, thank you.
Before I watch this all…does she provide alternatives that won’t give my dog endless digestion issues including diarrhea or just list of all the reasons these foods are bad?
I love this & all your vids - so informational and no-nonsense! Raw feeder here, but I have a question I can’t seem to answer: why do so many pets live so long on the garbage grocery store bags of food? For example, someone I know keeps a huge bag of kibble in their garage and their large breed dogs are 16 & 14 and as healthy as can be expected at those ages. My sister even feeds her pets whatever is on sale at the market and she’s got longevity with all her dogs and cats. Meanwhile, mine are on human grade food, natural supplements, minimally vaccinated, zero chemicals on the grass and in their triple-filtered water. I have different breeds ranging from boxers to frenchies to pit mixes and haven’t gotten 10 years out of them no matter how hard and how much we spend on their care. I’m not giving up, but just curious what your opinion is? My vet just says it’s luck, but there’s got to be more to it. Thanks for considering this question - I’m open to hearing and learning!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this comment. The answer is likely very simple: genetics & environment (epigenetics). According to research, diet only impacts ~30-40% of our dog's health and lifespan... Meaning, nutrition can't solve or prevent everything. That said, diet is one of the only things we CAN influence pretty easily, which is why there's a ton of focus on it. It's more about setting our dogs up for success, giving them the best chance to live and THRIVE as long as possible. We had kibble fed dogs growing up, and I often wonder how much longer (and better) they could've lived had they had a fresh food diet. You are doing a great job!
A couple years ago, I was feeding our dog Honest Kitchen. After a couple months on it, she had a bloody diarrhea .....next thing we knew,we were taking her to an emergency vet & she had to stay overnight. She was dehydrated, had pancreatitis & some other issues ! I contacted Honest Kitchen & they were very nice....they took a look at their food & didn't think there was anything that should have caused those problems.....but.....I haven't fed her any of their products ever since. I lost confidence in them. We don't know for sure what brought on such scary problems..... That experience was traumatic for Scout & us ! It happened in 2020. She was taken into the emergency clinic by a tech . We weren't allowed to go in because of covid scare. Scout was in there by herself, no clue what was going on. We went to get her the instant the clinic called the next day. When we got home, it was obvious how GLAD Scout was to be home !!
Which product did you feed? I think they might've changed the recipe or something because my dog was not able to eat the dehydrated food anymore after an episode of gastroenteritis and I can't feed her too much of the clusters dry food or she will poop so much. I honestly think most of the food is plant-based. it's a shame because you would think it's a food with simple ingredients
@@mijumaru97 When I read your response & saw your dog had gastroenteritis, I HAD to be sure to reply! Our dog ( female), Scout, had pancreatitis, gastroenteritis, & was dehydrated! I had been feeding her the Honest Kitchen dehydrated food that comes in boxes. We had the beef & turkey whole grain complete meals. Yeah, I agree w/ you. It IS a shame. It appears to be such a simple, good food.. but ,boy, Scout & your dog had a bad reaction to it .
Hi Rachel, I am interested in feeding cooked fresh food to my dog (not raw) but I struggle to find information online, and my vet says I HAVE to feed kibble (" any kibble is fine" ... *Sigh*) ... Would you have any pointers on where I can find information?
Yes yes! starting tomorrow I am doing a live book chat on the book: The Forever Dog here on TH-cam. That book is packed full of resources for you! I also have more resources here: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro Thanks I'll keep an eye out for your live and I will also get the book :) I did check out your website a few weeks ago but unfortunately as I live in Asia, it's hard to find all these brands, so my idea is to make all her food myself... Maybe I should check out the ingredients used by the brands you recommend and take that as a framework ? Right now she's still young and really healthy but I'm afraid that there's something I don't or that I'm not giving her and she's have health issues in the future...
This is great information but seriously what dry food is good quality? I have my 35 lb dog on farmers dog only as a topper & it costs $125 every 4 weeks! I can't afford this. The other fresh foods were the same if not more expensive. I want my dog to eat healthy but how can anyone really do that?
I just spent literally an hour & a half at Petco trying to figure out what food to buy. Talk about overwhelming. Saw Instinct Raw & Vital I think. Glad I didn’t go with the former. Ended up going with Honest Kitchen kibble. It’s double the price of Pro Plan but it seemed to be the best price for the quality. Well, price depends on the protein you choose. If I could afford it, I’d go for their dehydrated food or Vital.
I always recommend ORIJEN, ACANA , or nutroscience sub zero, dog foods ! (I’m Canadian , so not sure whats selling in America!) . Otherwise research a RAW diet, and start ASAP !
Thanks for exposing Instinct brand! I am getting a new puppy in a few days and I had bought a bag of this. I am going to take it back and get Carna4 and then slowly begin my raw pet food journey by adding 20% raw whole foods that you recommend and going from there. I appreciate you so much!
I use Honest Kitchen since it first came out (their dehydrated powder foods) but eventually I noticed that the box of powder had more and more DRIED APPLE PEELS, THE SKIN ONLY, there would be small cubes of apple meat yes but a whole bunch of just the skin. I didn’t that was very “honest” my dog hates those skins and I eventually stopped using it. Recently I noticed they have these wet food and toppers and they do look quite good. However, every single flavour has some sort of herbs/ spices which is very unnecessary. The food is filled with strong herb that can be seen everywhere in sauce. Its even too strong for myself, I don’t feel comfortable with so much sage, thyme, cinnamon for a dog though they might be considered safe. Why can’t they just remove them?
So my dog has been told by our vet that he needs to be on a hydrolyzed protein diet. I had been feeding him raw food for several months but since he was a puppy he's been sick maybe once a month or so (more now that we've gone to kibble). But basically I'm just trying to do anything to get him better so to make things easier, we switched to a hydrolyzed protein kibble so we could be on the same page as our vet. But I have noticed a big difference in terms of energy and such (def more lazy now!). Lol so after all that explanation, I'm just wondering if there's a kibble you would recommend for a small dog who gets sick often or might be allergic to certain meats (we're currently going to do this kibble for two months and if he doesn't get better then we move on to solve a different issue). I'm honestly so excited to get him back on raw meat, he would eat it right away compared to the kibble that he just nibbles at.
hii what's ur opinion on acana? i've been doing my best to research food brands for my brand-new 12 week old puppy and i settled on acana (specifically the puppy line) do u think i made a good choice? my vet recommended hill's science diet and purina pro but i was weary of that bc i heard those brands weren't the greatest... i think maybe she's just being sponsored by those big brands lol
Compared to a purina, I personally would feed acana. Unfortunately, though, theyve just been acquired by Mars (is billion dollar candy company) so please be very careful about ingredient changes. The foods I MUCH prefer are here: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
Hills and purina aren't sponsoring any vets the honest truth is just that those foods are perfectly fine and give your dog all the nutrients necessary . No offense to the girl making this video but she hasn't been to vet school and taken dog nutrition classes so her opinion isn't really worth much especially considering that she's linking her own website as a resource. All of the research has shown that no other brands are marginally better than hills or purina and my source is my vet school textbooks and nutrition courses. Every vet recommends those because the research shows that hills and purina are safe options that work for most dogs (with exceptions for special needs obviously). Please listen to your vet and not random people on the internet!
@@maggie4491 As we all know that she hasn't been to a vet school (as she says), I don't think there is anyone here to hear her opinions as a vet, but as a pet parent who cares about dog's health and is passionate about them being fed healthy food. For me, Hill's Pet & Purina brands' food ingredients lists speak themselves - I would not feed their food to my dog...
The nutrition classes in vet school are really minimal and certainly do not go in depth… the speakers who come to vet schools are the very reps of big companies like Hills Science diet, Purina etc…so there is a big conflict of interest. There are many good vets who have researched and published books on optimal nutrition for our pets. I can recommend one whose advice I have followed for years regarding pet nutrition : Dr Karen Becker DVM, my oldest dog dog who just passed away at 20 years of age never had one sick day in her life. We followed Dr Becker’s nutrition guidelines that you can find in her book:” Dr Becker’s real food for healthy dogs and cats” All our dogs love what they eat!
Hello Rachel, I just adopted a 3 month puppy, he’s half Maltese and Shitzu. I really want to feed him a very healthy diet, but don’t know what’s the best dry food and raw food to feed him, please can you advise me???
My cats have always on Hill's and they are all healthy. My dog is also on Hill's because he will have all kinds of issues if I switch to another brand.
Hey, You’ve recommended grain free kibble, as an RVT grain free kibble specifically Peas, lentils, sweet potato Can potentially be causing Dilated cardiomyopathy, it hasn’t been proven yet but it is causing awareness veterinarians and veterinary professionals are warning against them. What are your thoughts on grain free kibble?
@@pn3363 my dog hasn't had any issues with digestion, she is just so freaking picky that some days she refuses to eat. If I were to give in and feed her the awful food I used to feed her, she would devour it in seconds. I sure don't understand dogs smh lol!
@@RachelFusaro hooray! I'm so happy I finally made a good choice for her food. Her previous vet never asked about the brand of food I was feeding her, and I didn't think about it much to be honest. She's always been picky so when found food she would eat I was just happy she was finally eating everyday. Then when her vet moved I had to take her to a new vet. She asked about Grace's food and when she told me how bad it was for her I was devastated. #1 because I had been basically feeding her poison, and #2 I now had to start looking for a food she would eat again. She won't eat the beef recipe from Farmers Dog at all, but she does eat the turkey and the pork. She's allergic to chicken so no go on the chicken. I just wanted your opinion on that brand. I still wonder if it's bad that some days she refuses to eat. I guess she knows if she's hungry, but I just want what's best for her. Anyway, Thank you so much for replying to my comment, and for the link! You're amazing! Love to you and your pups! 🐕🐶🐕🐶🐕
My 11-year-old Cockachon has arthritis in the spine and joint pain. He is on medication, and his vet recommended Hills Metabolic Mobility because it includes Glucosamine Hydrochloride and controls his weight. We have a new pup, and I am interested in Carna4 for him. Ideally, I would love to switch the older dog over too, but I'm worried it may not be the right choice for him, and he will revert. Any ideas?
Hi Rachel, loved how informative this video was 💚. But what’s your opinion in Royal canin Yorkshire terrier. I have a 7 month old puppy and my vet recommended it but I want to also hear from you. Please and thank you
What's your take on the Simply Nourish Small Breed Shreds? Do you recommend them for dogs? I'm trying to give my dog the best food for what I can afford.
I personally found that my dogs do well with Hill's as a base. It has the correct guarenteed analysis and vitamin content, and, although it does contain some fillers, it's way better than a lot of other kibble brands at a good price. If you don't want to spend a ton of money on dog food, Hill's is good, but keep in mind that you should supplement with extra meat and fresh veggies to bump up the protein content a bit and to also give them some variety. Personally, I mix Hill's with Spot & Tango and it's worked out great. I add flaxseed, pumpkin, and debittered nutritional yeast to the dry food too, but that's optional. People always say Orijen is a good dog food but I found out that the fat content is 42% (compared to the 25% or less a dog should have). That's way too much- in addition to that, they hide the fat content and guarenteed analysis in general on their website so I had to turn to google and pull up a photo of the bag. I think it's irresponsible at best, but it would be a great dog food without all the added oils and fatty foods.
I fed Hills off and on for quite a while, but like you, never on its own. I always added fresh food, prepackaged raw, quality canned etc. For people on a budget Hill’s is more affordable and definitely better in quality/research than a lot of other crap out there. I think the problem is when people feed the heavily processed stuff as their ONLY food. Lots of us humans eat processed foods regularly and are totally fine as long as we are also eating fresh and healthier foods as well. But a human who ONLY eats processed food tends to eventually start to have health problems. I think it’s the same deal with pets. Ppl shouldn’t feel guilty about needing to feed pets processed food if that’s what they can afford. They can always add more things to the diet to boost the nutrient content :)
Orijen does not have 42% fat, pls don't post wrong info. The puppy has 20-21% fat, and the adult has 15-18%. Fat is not a problem per se, carb is more a problem. Just like in humans excess carb will turn to fat,
@@treasuretrovel3816 They do not beef up proteins by adding legumes. Pls research food in general esp. dog food. Orjien has 12% legumes. Legumes are actually more carb than protein e.g.100g of lentils have 68g of carbs, and 29g of protein. The legumes in Orijen are just a carbohydrate source, in this case, the carb is from legumes instead of grain, the alternative in some grain-free are tubers e.g. sweet potato, potato. If you have high meat content your protein will go up Examples of brands with high protein are Akela (UK), Orijen (Canada), purizon 80:20 (German), and a lot of freeze-dried or air-dried raw dog food have 38-44% protein. This is because these foods have at least 80% meat, more meat = more protein. Orijen does not have high legumes as I said it is around 12%, because the meat is 85% it's impossible to have high legumes. Now food that contains low meat content using legumes as a carbohydrate source instead of grains will have high legumes. The truth is dogs are predominantly carnivores, they do not need a lot of legumes/grains/tubers, or carbs, and what they need is meat. Hills and royal canin are not great. But they have their place my dog was on the gastrointestinal royal canin (which is an animal by-product and rice) for a short while and it worked, but I don't believe they should be fed as regular food for healthy dogs, with all those grains and animal by-products. I can't predict what Mars will do in the future, but for now, the ingredients are the same for us in Europe as the Orijen sold in Europe are made in Canada. Dogs can handle high protein, that's what they do in the wild! The food you suggested seems good although nature's logic is a more moderate carb foof, so I think it has less meat, the Nutra is low carb I think it follows the 80:20. It has a similar nutritional profile as the topper for my kibble (nature's variety freeze dry raw complete).
@@treasuretrovel3816 In Europe ingredients of most dog food is written in percentages as we get the orijen made in canada you can see the ingredients list and it’s listed on the Canadian website as well. orijen follows the prey model 80:20, but orijen is 85% meat and 12% legumes approximately. There other similar brands in Europe Akela uk and Purizon Germany all these will have high protein as it’s meat mainly. In fact the two brands above do not use legumes at all, they use potatoes and sweet potatoes, but still high protein as ingredients I feed my dog half kibble in the morning I use only prey model type. I have used orijen and use Akela now and I use freeze dried raw as the other evening food.
I feed my dog the Instinct raw frozen lamb and vegetable formula that’s shaped like a kibble. My dog likes it, and I’m about to get the other meaty varieties.
Please let us know your review on Solid Gold, we currently feed Sunday Sunrise kibble. Also, we feed Steve's raw food. Love to hear from you on these and any others maybe in another video. Thank you!
You mentioned corn and peas are bad for dogs. Are frozen peas and corn included because i sometimes top my dog's meal with frozen mix of carrots, peas and corn. I just boil them before i feed it to her. I'm from the Philippines so most of the brands you feature are not available here. I usually just cycle 3 kibble brands that work and then top it with home cooked meat and veggies.
I feed my yorkie hill science n have for 3 yrs because a vet told me when I brought him from shelter not to feed grain free without explanation do you have advice on putting my yorkie on a diet he's 4lbs overweight thanks ahead of time even if you can't
I go to honest kitchen now and then bc their price is pretty decent for the volume of food. However I’ve noticed my dog gets tired of it pretty quickly. I agree that their treats are great though! I love their “meaty bits” as training treats. They aren’t single ingredient but one of the better low cal treats I’ve found as far as sugar content and palatability.
As a dog parent it is extremely frustrating looking for a great quality food . I was on the fence about honest kitchen clusters and sundays for dogs but then you find people that say its not good. Well what is good lol pls share lol dang
I switched my 78-80 lb 7 year old Boxer Staffordshire Terrier from a Petsmart brand because my vet said I shouldn't be doing Grain-free does more damage than good. My sweet girl gained so much weight during that switched I'm part to blame because I wasn't able to run her due to fall accident right before Covid. Last year I cut her down to being feed 2 1/2 cups a day she lost some weight. But after learning from Rachel and doing a carb and calorie intake calculation it was so high. Three months I been feeding her Raw Boost Real Chicken Recipe Healthy Weight Raw + Kibble (Grain-free) I thought it was the best alternative with less than half the carb count and affordable. I even do meal toppers so she's getting lots veggies and fiber along vitamins. But after this video I'm lost in what to feed her. My 15 week old Jack Russell Terrier is on Open Farm Puppy she loves that food. Not keen on pork ingredient though. I would love to switch my sweet 7 year old to Open but the price is expensive for such a big girl. Any suggestion on what you feed your fur babies that may help with weight loss?
Although not for everyone, however, I always make my dog’s food from scratch. Raw chicken mince mixed with frozen vegetables like broccoli, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and/or peas or corn. All depends on what I have in the freezer. I then mix in a tin of sardines in oil or mackerel. I only add rice if I have any left over from dinner as I try to keep her grain free. I sometimes add cooked sweet potato or roasted pumpkin, depending on the price. As treats I give her fruit like apple, mango (frozen mostly) some berries or pear. Unfortunately banana makes her vomit so no more bananas. Cut up carrots can also sometimes be a treat as she loves the crunch. Keeps her teeth clean as well. As for kibble, she only gets that occasionally and I only buy grain free. All kibble is processed so just like humans, too much processed food is not healthy when consumed too often.
can you please give me some advice on a dog food that will help my dog lose weight besides hills science diet weight managment my vet claims it will help my dog lose weight i take her on walks when i can she,s 9 years old.
HI, can you advise whether you mean ALL of the brand's line or just certain ones/with exception to? For example, Honest Kitchen Fish and Turkey appears to only use sweet potatoes (even though their carb count still appears high). And what about Merrick's Canned Food line, which seems to have not only different tiers, but different ingredients with each line. For example they have a regular dinner line that has over 12 different flavors/ingredients, then within that, there is a 96% meat line, and limited ingredient line. Another line is their Backcountry line, which also has a regular line and a 96% meat line.
This video was specifically for the foods i showed - not necessarily the entire line. Great question! That said... my general remarks around sourcing, how it's processed (ie extruded), synthetics and ingredient splitting appears in many or most of the foods for each brand. I listed my preferred brands here, so you can compare! www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro Thank you! That list is very helpful and many are harder to find/get. On that note, do you have videos for say foods that are similar. Like Ziwi Peaks vs Only Natural Pet vs Zeal vs Kiwi Kitchen (all gently air dried jerky style). I ask because if someone is use to Honest Kitchen, and for them to change to any of the listed, would be very different - to my understanding Honest Kitchen isn't "raw". That being said, what led me to this video was in search of an HK alternative. My pup has Leaky Gut, (which probably caused her Addison's and Meningitis) and going raw wouldn't help, so what I feed her has to be gently cooked so she can absorb the nutrients. My own diet isn't as strict so it's really hard for me to make her a real food diet daily. "My dog eats better than me" is such an understatement right now. Ideally, I was hoping to find something, where I can get her the daily fresh proteins, and have a mixer for all her other requirements sans the carbs. Or an Ollie type or canned food type that doesn't have a ton of hidden carbs that I can have around for emergency days that I can't make her food. (As I wrote that I just saw Raised Right on your list which is what I need - but now I need to find freezer space). My reservation on Ziwi (air dried or canned) is that the calories from fat vs from protein can send a non farm dog into a whole host of other problems! Sorry for the long reply, but your videos are very helpful and I wanted to get your insight!
I dunno if/how often you check these. I've been watching your videos awhile but, I have a new pup and have been feeding science died for his breed region and price point. What would you recommend in place of for a yorkie at a similar price range ($20-30 for a month supply). I'm on a fixed income but want a healthy diet for my puppy. i did a lot of research before i got him but didn't think of checking the company tree of owners
Rachel I see that Honest Kitchen on their site has a sourcing map, and a list of standard code, could you make a dedicated video on honest kitchen and explain why this brand was on your list in this video or even a update.
Thanks for liking! Anothet video idea, I trained my goldendoodle extensively. Now at 2 years old he is becoming possessive and terriotorial when playing with my sisters dog. He was neutered at 8 months. Help!
I tried Verus recently and my dog stayed hungry. I noticed the first 3 ingredients were brown rice, sorghum and oat groats. I was a little disappointed
In the UK, all ingredients used for pet food has to be fit for human consumption. The premium brands of kibble/dry dog food in the uk are actually highly recommended.
While this is true a lot of kibbles are still cooked at high temperatures with the nutrition artificially added back in. Not true of all kibble in the U.K but worth considering
@@rosee2188 I agree still not ideal food but there are more high-quality kibbles in the UK compared to the US. AKela, Eden, Wolfworthy, and Essential Foods all use 80% meat/organs. I believe these are cooked at 85-90 instead of 120. Orijen from Canada is 85% meat/organ as well, also available in the UK. I believe a lot of freeze-dried raw in the US are high quality, although only three brands of freeze-dried raw in the UK and v. expensive.
I thought I was doing great feeding my dog's Merrick raw coated with freeze dried pieces. I am so confused on what to feed my dogs. Raw foods are not an option.
On Instinct, what I do not understand is you show the Raw Freeze Dried and scroll to the ingredients and they look great, for a ready made convenient food that is. But, then you bring up a clearly terrible ingredient list just after. Which one are you basing your opinion on? I am a raw feeder, have been for years. Curiousity had me looking around a little. Thank You
I absolutely love bark box. I had it for nearly 2 years. I have a super chewer. I don’t get it anymore because financial issues not because of them. Give bark box a try. Omg. So amazing.
I just discovered a brand called four leaf rover and i bought a bone broth powder from them. Can you do a video on these small companies? I also discovered a brand called king lou and they have dehydrated chicken feet and other healthy snacks for dogs.
Your info is always so helpful! We adopted an English Cream Golden Retriever who came eating a prescription from Science Diet. 😢 We tried to transition her over 5 weeks to a raw diet, but it made her very ill. I'd love to get her on something else. Is there a comparable option?
Just watched this video. I feel that is contradicts with one of your TH-cam shorts. You gave a thumbs up to the Instinct Raw and now your saying you wouldn't recommend it. That's confusing.
Hey👋 I'm pretty new to the healthy dog food game and I've really gotten interested in air dried/ freeze dried dog foods. It's pretty expensive from what I've seen(I have 2 dogs to feed) I've been intrigued by earth animal, macanna, grandma lucys and sojos. They seen the most budget friendly but I would like to hear some opinions! Thanks! 😊
OK, I'm at the Nestle manufacture part of the video and I never buy anything from Nestle since I heard the scandal with water a few years ago. Can't stand injustice. And Science diet? Never ever wanted to buy that in 30 years of having dogs by myself (meaning, not my parents buying the food) so low quality but so high priced food (I guess the price makes people think it's a good brand) Thank you Rachel!
I been feeding my puppy since one of the Petco rep recommended it but he’s barely eating. Even got him the wet food and he’ll go for that a bit more but lately not so much.
Very informative, my 4 corgis were raised on Bl Buff with a mixture of boiled chicken cut up and we added a small portion as a topper along with 1 Tbl spoon of bone broth. Still great info on this site Thanks!!
Thank you for being here 😍
⭐ Dog Food List: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
⭐ GIFT GUIDE! bit.ly/dogmomgiftguide
Blessings and great info, so hills science diet for sensitive stomach and skin is not a good dog food and what about canidae salmon and sweet potatoes dog food God Bless
Or you could just post you list😂 I don’t want to sing up
What do you think about zignature
Hi Rachel! I SO much appreciate your great efforts, especially under threats from ovvious companies trying to silence the honest cryer like you and Dr J. Morgan with the recent ugliness of a certain pet food brand. Please continue the fight! Id like to ask if you would please do a review on "The Honest Kitchen" products. My little 3.5 year old Westie has a sensitive stomach and cant have pork products or it comes back up. We have good luck with the honest kitchen beef clusters and add probiotic powder with Ollie dried clusters mixed in. I would love to see your opinion on Honest Kitchen. Thank you again!
on instagram you claim instinct is good to feed your dog recently and this video is a year ago, saying that you would recommend instinct ? are you being paid by instinct to say otherwise now ? why the change ? im confused
She's just making content. Too many holes in her " research " for this to be a real analysis.
Dog food was invented during WWII due to rationing. My dog refused to eat dog food. I had tried two kinds of kibble, one canned and even fresh pet. I now make her food. I include a protein ( beef, chicken, pork, salmon, tuna, eggs) and a veggie. She loves broccoli, sweet potato, spinach, potato. Not crazy about green beans, carrots or peas, but I keep trying. I also cook a batch of rice and put some in if needed. She is healthy with a good appetite. Feeding her this way has made me eat healthier as we most often eat the same food. The vet has pronounced her “ perfect” and the groomer just commented on the great condition of her coat and skin. She does not like fruit but I keep trying. After learning what is in some commercial dog food, I am glad my dog does not eat it. I buy meat on sale and can it myself or I share with her.The fish is usually commercially canned unless I’m having wild caught. I buy most of the veggies frozen. Hope this helps some people ( and dogs!).
what do you do for calcium?
@@ambrosia1917 I buy deer antlers for her to chew. Elk antlers are harder so deer is better. You could also give egg shells with scrambled eggs. I just got a shipment of antlers online. Much cheaper than in pet stores. I have also sourced them from local hunters. They last a very long time, so while it may seem pricey at first, it’s really not bad. They are a good source of vitamins and minerals.
Sardines are also a good source of calcium.
I heard important to add a small amount of liver (5% of the meal) heart and other organs from time to time. Liver is the multivitamin. :)
@@priyamorin2461 I agree! I boil giblets, chop them up for her. When I have liver, I share. In the wild, the alpha wolf gets the organ meat, so it must be really good for dogs.
Why was the honest kitchen included?
Seems like a valid question.
@@jpan7071they have synthetic vitamins and also, they do fluff up their food with a lot of filler
Yes when she’s recommended it herself
Bc it attracts more clicks. It’s still one of the more decent brands imo. So according to this video, the knock on honest kitchen is its unknown beef source and ingredient splitting of potato and sweet potato. Other brands have done a lot worse. I do notice my dog having a lot more stool when eating honest kitchen…likely due to the higher potato/sweet potato starch content in their foods.
The first one she shat on was $60 for 4 lbs. That's $15/lb. I can't afford to feed myself that well, and she thinks that's awful for your dog. If you're not insanely wealthy, don't waste your time on this video
Hi Rachel I know that you briefly went over Instinct's ingredients. However I see on the raw meals recipes, not the kibble, that salt isn't an ingredient. Do you recommend the raw meals?
Many years ago i adopted a GSD at the age of 4,5 yrs.old. Some times she itched a little but not much.. Until she got her annual flu shot..that were the start of a nightmare. I had to visit the vet every other day to get help - for over a month..
sadly we do not do titer test in Norway and her body could not take it anymore.. she she got all itchy so i took her back to the vet -She got a shampoo and some oil to use on the outside and were told to use Hills sensitive ( that the vet sol offcourse) .. only 2 days in and she got worse cause she reacted badly to the food. Then the vet told me to swap to an even more super sensitive food.. Still Hills. My dog got super sick..TRIGGER WARNING: She itched her ears bloody, her body got open sores but the worst: she suddenly got open holes around her rectum that poured out feeces + green and yellow puss.. She looked like she was "breaking down". like a rotten piece of meat.. I stopped the food and we got her on a very expensive medication that were used on humans that have had a new liver or lung.. etc + a fungus medication that worked wonders mixed with the other. Then i had to cook food for her.. When we got it under control i took her straight to a fantastic Homeopath and after a few months she was cured.. I never vaxxed her again and i kept her aon a low single protein food.. She lived for 7 more years . Itch free..
I wonder if your dog is like humans with vaccines. Might have an allergy to something in it and in the food
@@crow4972 Sounds plausible.
I like how you don’t shame people for what food brand they use. My dog has a lot of allergies and I’m just giving him Harrington’s which isn’t the best but it’s what works for him best. I’d love to feed him the best of the best but I just don’t have the money for that and again he does fine on Harrington’s.
Thank you for this comment, & all you do for your dog! Shaming doesn’t help, so I try to share what I’ve learned for others to explore. So happy you’re here ❤
My dog is just super picky. We tried many brands but she only likes IAMS lamb flavor she's so weird with food
I completely understand, i just got my pup, (before i got him he was gonna be teddy, but he’s a little minx and i love finnegan from these videos, so i ended up naming him after fin, so he’s finnegan) anyway, m not well at the moment and cant afford really expensive food, he has pedigree puppy food and some kibble, hes fussy too, but i can get him to eat these and i use good treats, he likes tails cold pressed duck
My dog eats honest kitchen due to the convenience. I’ve also felt like the potato content is pretty high. Do you know if there are other dehydrated foods that use less or no potatoes? I’ve looks at freeze dried raw but it was pretty pricey compared to THK.
Their dehydrated beef and salmon recipe has no potatoes, lentils, peas, or chickpeas
What are your thoughts on honest kitchen base mixes?
I feed a small amount of Honest Kitchen clusters along with fresh salmon, green beans, carrots, pumpkin and blueberries. I also make my own bone broth jelly as a topper. My 3 kids are happy and healthy!
Can you please recommend me for cat too I adopt my fist kitten please can you help me?
Thank You
Keep spreading the word!
Right back at you love! ❤❤
It's fine.
Totally agree with the points made in this video! I honestly wish more people knew the difference between dog “feed” and dog “food”. Once again, this channel never disappoints to upload such interesting videos!!!
😂 except the hypocritical statements
I have a question/video request. So what’s your opinion on heartworm medicine? I’ve done some research and a lot of the vet described medicines have questionable ingredients and in the past some of the heartworm protection pill brands have made my dogs sick or very tired. I’ve been trying to find a holistic or healthier option, but it appears that there are none or very few. I don’t want to make my dogs sick/weaken their immune system with the medicine but then I don’t want them to get heartworms if it’s as bad as they tell us. Currently I’ve been spraying my dogs with a natural flea/tick/mosquito repellent and cutting the heartworm pill medicine that doesn’t give my dogs problems in half since the weight range is a huge difference.
Yes! Please do this. I currently don't protect my dog from heartworm for this reason and I know it's not a good idea. Would like your ideas @Rachel Fusaro !
I personally used Only Natural Pet’s wholistic heartworm preventative and it worked. Also, Heartguart is just ivermectin, which I feel safe with for my puppy.
Why do most vets recommend Hills Science Diet ??🤔
Bc they make money off of it !
@@lilbebegirlxx that's absolutely not true
I listened to my vet and feed Hill's to all of my cats and dogs. Zero issue.
Awesome information thank you so much for your knowledge about pet food!! Keep these videos coming!!
Needed this! Thanks for the support, means more than you know ❤
My dog is currently having liver issues apparently because of the high amount of protein added in her dry food. I had no idea this could be an issue because all that i've heard is that the more protein the better. I hear about other ingredients that need to be avoided such as corn and soy but if high protein content is so bad why are none of the pet nutritionist on youtube talking about it? My vet recommends a dry food percentage of protein NO higher than 16-20% specially for dogs that are not as active because higher amounts can cause liver issues.
What do you know about this? Can you elaborate and help us understand a bit more ? People are just following recommendations and trying to buy "the best quality dry food" for their pets but are not aware of issues like this.
If you happen to respond, thank you.
I've been giving Instinct freeze dried toppers as treats to my dogs. I was impressed by the ingredient list and that it said freeze dried...
Before I watch this all…does she provide alternatives that won’t give my dog endless digestion issues including diarrhea or just list of all the reasons these foods are bad?
I'll help you out! I give pros and cons, and I do share my favorite foods (you can see them here!) www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
Hey Rachel! Thanks for another great video! What are your thoughts on tiki dog food brand?
I havent dug into them. yet, adding to me list! And thank you
I love this & all your vids - so informational and no-nonsense! Raw feeder here, but I have a question I can’t seem to answer: why do so many pets live so long on the garbage grocery store bags of food? For example, someone I know keeps a huge bag of kibble in their garage and their large breed dogs are 16 & 14 and as healthy as can be expected at those ages. My sister even feeds her pets whatever is on sale at the market and she’s got longevity with all her dogs and cats. Meanwhile, mine are on human grade food, natural supplements, minimally vaccinated, zero chemicals on the grass and in their triple-filtered water. I have different breeds ranging from boxers to frenchies to pit mixes and haven’t gotten 10 years out of them no matter how hard and how much we spend on their care. I’m not giving up, but just curious what your opinion is? My vet just says it’s luck, but there’s got to be more to it. Thanks for considering this question - I’m open to hearing and learning!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this comment. The answer is likely very simple: genetics & environment (epigenetics). According to research, diet only impacts ~30-40% of our dog's health and lifespan... Meaning, nutrition can't solve or prevent everything. That said, diet is one of the only things we CAN influence pretty easily, which is why there's a ton of focus on it. It's more about setting our dogs up for success, giving them the best chance to live and THRIVE as long as possible. We had kibble fed dogs growing up, and I often wonder how much longer (and better) they could've lived had they had a fresh food diet. You are doing a great job!
Thank you BOTH 🎉
I noticed all the long lived dogs I know seem to have a good mood most of the time.
Thank you for this!!
A couple years ago, I was feeding our dog Honest Kitchen. After a couple months on it, she had a bloody diarrhea .....next thing we knew,we were taking her to an emergency vet & she had to stay overnight. She was dehydrated, had pancreatitis & some other issues !
I contacted Honest Kitchen & they were very nice....they took a look at their food & didn't think there was anything that should have caused those problems.....but.....I haven't fed her any of their products ever since. I lost confidence in them. We don't know for sure what brought on such scary problems.....
That experience was traumatic for Scout & us ! It happened in 2020. She was taken into the emergency clinic by a tech . We weren't allowed to go in because of covid scare. Scout was in there by herself, no clue what was going on.
We went to get her the instant the clinic called the next day. When we got home, it was obvious how GLAD Scout was to be home !!
Which product did you feed? I think they might've changed the recipe or something because my dog was not able to eat the dehydrated food anymore after an episode of gastroenteritis and I can't feed her too much of the clusters dry food or she will poop so much. I honestly think most of the food is plant-based.
it's a shame because you would think it's a food with simple ingredients
@@mijumaru97 When I read your response & saw your dog had gastroenteritis, I HAD to be sure to reply! Our dog ( female), Scout, had pancreatitis, gastroenteritis, & was dehydrated! I had been feeding her the Honest Kitchen dehydrated food that comes in boxes. We had the beef & turkey whole grain complete meals.
Yeah, I agree w/ you. It IS a shame. It appears to be such a simple, good food.. but ,boy, Scout & your dog had a bad reaction to it .
Hi Rachel, I am interested in feeding cooked fresh food to my dog (not raw) but I struggle to find information online, and my vet says I HAVE to feed kibble (" any kibble is fine" ... *Sigh*) ... Would you have any pointers on where I can find information?
Yes yes! starting tomorrow I am doing a live book chat on the book: The Forever Dog here on TH-cam. That book is packed full of resources for you! I also have more resources here: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro Thanks I'll keep an eye out for your live and I will also get the book :)
I did check out your website a few weeks ago but unfortunately as I live in Asia, it's hard to find all these brands, so my idea is to make all her food myself... Maybe I should check out the ingredients used by the brands you recommend and take that as a framework ?
Right now she's still young and really healthy but I'm afraid that there's something I don't or that I'm not giving her and she's have health issues in the future...
This is great information but seriously what dry food is good quality? I have my 35 lb dog on farmers dog only as a topper & it costs $125 every 4 weeks! I can't afford this. The other fresh foods were the same if not more expensive. I want my dog to eat healthy but how can anyone really do that?
I use Primal Butcher Blend as a topper, much more cost effective, and my lil pup loves it.
I recommend researching making your own. I know some people way over complicate it but it doesn’t have to be that difficult.
Ollie is cheaper and less of the fillers.
I just spent literally an hour & a half at Petco trying to figure out what food to buy. Talk about overwhelming.
Saw Instinct Raw & Vital I think. Glad I didn’t go with the former.
Ended up going with Honest Kitchen kibble. It’s double the price of Pro Plan but it seemed to be the best price for the quality. Well, price depends on the protein you choose.
If I could afford it, I’d go for their dehydrated food or Vital.
I always recommend ORIJEN, ACANA , or nutroscience sub zero, dog foods ! (I’m Canadian , so not sure whats selling in America!) . Otherwise research a RAW diet, and start ASAP !
Thanks for exposing Instinct brand! I am getting a new puppy in a few days and I had bought a bag of this. I am going to take it back and get Carna4 and then slowly begin my raw pet food journey by adding 20% raw whole foods that you recommend and going from there. I appreciate you so much!
I use Honest Kitchen since it first came out (their dehydrated powder foods) but eventually I noticed that the box of powder had more and more DRIED APPLE PEELS, THE SKIN ONLY, there would be small cubes of apple meat yes but a whole bunch of just the skin. I didn’t that was very “honest” my dog hates those skins and I eventually stopped using it. Recently I noticed they have these wet food and toppers and they do look quite good. However, every single flavour has some sort of herbs/ spices which is very unnecessary. The food is filled with strong herb that can be seen everywhere in sauce. Its even too strong for myself, I don’t feel comfortable with so much sage, thyme, cinnamon for a dog though they might be considered safe. Why can’t they just remove them?
How is the “poop”when you feed raw food diet ?
Hello Rachel!!! What do you think about the brand Fromm? I would love your feedback☺️
yessss that is on my next one!!! thank you love!
So my dog has been told by our vet that he needs to be on a hydrolyzed protein diet. I had been feeding him raw food for several months but since he was a puppy he's been sick maybe once a month or so (more now that we've gone to kibble). But basically I'm just trying to do anything to get him better so to make things easier, we switched to a hydrolyzed protein kibble so we could be on the same page as our vet. But I have noticed a big difference in terms of energy and such (def more lazy now!). Lol so after all that explanation, I'm just wondering if there's a kibble you would recommend for a small dog who gets sick often or might be allergic to certain meats (we're currently going to do this kibble for two months and if he doesn't get better then we move on to solve a different issue). I'm honestly so excited to get him back on raw meat, he would eat it right away compared to the kibble that he just nibbles at.
So would the honest kitchen be a better option than the kibble that I’m feeding my dog now?
i’d love for you to make a video about dog supplements and what you feed such as joint support etc.
yes will do! Here are some for you: th-cam.com/video/36p-AORECOs/w-d-xo.html
hii what's ur opinion on acana?
i've been doing my best to research food brands for my brand-new 12 week old puppy and i settled on acana (specifically the puppy line) do u think i made a good choice? my vet recommended hill's science diet and purina pro but i was weary of that bc i heard those brands weren't the greatest... i think maybe she's just being sponsored by those big brands lol
Compared to a purina, I personally would feed acana. Unfortunately, though, theyve just been acquired by Mars (is billion dollar candy company) so please be very careful about ingredient changes. The foods I MUCH prefer are here: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro thanks for replying :) it’s a good thing i didn’t invest into acana products too much. i’ll check out ur food list
Hills and purina aren't sponsoring any vets the honest truth is just that those foods are perfectly fine and give your dog all the nutrients necessary . No offense to the girl making this video but she hasn't been to vet school and taken dog nutrition classes so her opinion isn't really worth much especially considering that she's linking her own website as a resource. All of the research has shown that no other brands are marginally better than hills or purina and my source is my vet school textbooks and nutrition courses. Every vet recommends those because the research shows that hills and purina are safe options that work for most dogs (with exceptions for special needs obviously). Please listen to your vet and not random people on the internet!
@@maggie4491 As we all know that she hasn't been to a vet school (as she says), I don't think there is anyone here to hear her opinions as a vet, but as a pet parent who cares about dog's health and is passionate about them being fed healthy food. For me, Hill's Pet & Purina brands' food ingredients lists speak themselves - I would not feed their food to my dog...
The nutrition classes in vet school are really minimal and certainly do not go in depth… the speakers who come to vet schools are the very reps of big companies like Hills Science diet, Purina etc…so there is a big conflict of interest. There are many good vets who have researched and published books on optimal nutrition for our pets. I can recommend one whose advice I have followed for years regarding pet nutrition : Dr Karen Becker DVM, my oldest dog dog who just passed away at 20 years of age never had one sick day in her life. We followed Dr Becker’s nutrition guidelines that you can find in her book:” Dr Becker’s real food for healthy dogs and cats”
All our dogs love what they eat!
Thank you for sharing!
appreciate you!
I give my chihuahua hills now im scared they have allergies what do you suggest from petco ?
Hey! I’d love to know where the collars your dogs are wearing are from. They look really cool!
dog plus bone!
Hello Rachel, I just adopted a 3 month puppy, he’s half Maltese and Shitzu. I really want to feed him a very healthy diet, but don’t know what’s the best dry food and raw food to feed him, please can you advise me???
Ooooo a preview of the Bark Box coming our way! :D
Hehe 😍😍😍 SUCH A GOOD ONE!
Have been feeding my dog raw diet since he was 3 months old
What are your thoughts on Grandma Lucy brand
My baby is 11 and I have always fed her hills kibble and wet mixed. She has never had a health issue. I do the senior food now. I trust my vet
My cats have always on Hill's and they are all healthy. My dog is also on Hill's because he will have all kinds of issues if I switch to another brand.
Hey, You’ve recommended grain free kibble, as an RVT grain free kibble specifically Peas, lentils, sweet potato Can potentially be causing Dilated cardiomyopathy, it hasn’t been proven yet but it is causing awareness veterinarians and veterinary professionals are warning against them. What are your thoughts on grain free kibble?
Thanks for sharing! Very informative
Any thoughts about "The Farmers Dog" brand? Just curious... Thank you for your insight!
I tried this for my wired hair chihuahua and it gave her constant diarrhea. I followed all the instructions and she had continous issues.
@@pn3363 my dog hasn't had any issues with digestion, she is just so freaking picky that some days she refuses to eat. If I were to give in and feed her the awful food I used to feed her, she would devour it in seconds. I sure don't understand dogs smh lol!
I love it!! i talk about it here for you www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro hooray! I'm so happy I finally made a good choice for her food. Her previous vet never asked about the brand of food I was feeding her, and I didn't think about it much to be honest. She's always been picky so when found food she would eat I was just happy she was finally eating everyday. Then when her vet moved I had to take her to a new vet. She asked about Grace's food and when she told me how bad it was for her I was devastated. #1 because I had been basically feeding her poison, and #2 I now had to start looking for a food she would eat again. She won't eat the beef recipe from Farmers Dog at all, but she does eat the turkey and the pork. She's allergic to chicken so no go on the chicken. I just wanted your opinion on that brand. I still wonder if it's bad that some days she refuses to eat. I guess she knows if she's hungry, but I just want what's best for her. Anyway, Thank you so much for replying to my comment, and for the link! You're amazing! Love to you and your pups! 🐕🐶🐕🐶🐕
I understand you don’t like Instinct’s kibble, but what about their frozen raw food?
For a frozen raw, still not my favorite tbh... these are my preferred raws: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter (it's free!)
My 11-year-old Cockachon has arthritis in the spine and joint pain. He is on medication, and his vet recommended Hills Metabolic Mobility because it includes Glucosamine Hydrochloride and controls his weight. We have a new pup, and I am interested in Carna4 for him. Ideally, I would love to switch the older dog over too, but I'm worried it may not be the right choice for him, and he will revert. Any ideas?
Hi Rachel, loved how informative this video was 💚. But what’s your opinion in Royal canin Yorkshire terrier. I have a 7 month old puppy and my vet recommended it but I want to also hear from you. Please and thank you
Thank you!! 🙏 Unfortunately it’s one of my least favorite brands 😔 These are my favorite kibbles: www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro thanks for answering, I’ll change soon as possible her kibble.
Can you do a review of Farmina and the pros and cons of using grain free kibble please
What's your take on the Simply Nourish Small Breed Shreds? Do you recommend them for dogs? I'm trying to give my dog the best food for what I can afford.
I personally found that my dogs do well with Hill's as a base. It has the correct guarenteed analysis and vitamin content, and, although it does contain some fillers, it's way better than a lot of other kibble brands at a good price. If you don't want to spend a ton of money on dog food, Hill's is good, but keep in mind that you should supplement with extra meat and fresh veggies to bump up the protein content a bit and to also give them some variety. Personally, I mix Hill's with Spot & Tango and it's worked out great. I add flaxseed, pumpkin, and debittered nutritional yeast to the dry food too, but that's optional.
People always say Orijen is a good dog food but I found out that the fat content is 42% (compared to the 25% or less a dog should have). That's way too much- in addition to that, they hide the fat content and guarenteed analysis in general on their website so I had to turn to google and pull up a photo of the bag. I think it's irresponsible at best, but it would be a great dog food without all the added oils and fatty foods.
I fed Hills off and on for quite a while, but like you, never on its own. I always added fresh food, prepackaged raw, quality canned etc. For people on a budget Hill’s is more affordable and definitely better in quality/research than a lot of other crap out there. I think the problem is when people feed the heavily processed stuff as their ONLY food. Lots of us humans eat processed foods regularly and are totally fine as long as we are also eating fresh and healthier foods as well. But a human who ONLY eats processed food tends to eventually start to have health problems. I think it’s the same deal with pets. Ppl shouldn’t feel guilty about needing to feed pets processed food if that’s what they can afford. They can always add more things to the diet to boost the nutrient content :)
Orijen does not have 42% fat, pls don't post wrong info. The puppy has 20-21% fat, and the adult has 15-18%. Fat is not a problem per se, carb is more a problem. Just like in humans excess carb will turn to fat,
@@treasuretrovel3816 They do not beef up proteins by adding legumes. Pls research food in general esp. dog food. Orjien has 12% legumes. Legumes are actually more carb than protein e.g.100g of lentils have 68g of carbs, and 29g of protein. The legumes in Orijen are just a carbohydrate source, in this case, the carb is from legumes instead of grain, the alternative in some grain-free are tubers e.g. sweet potato, potato.
If you have high meat content your protein will go up Examples of brands with high protein are Akela (UK), Orijen (Canada), purizon 80:20 (German), and a lot of freeze-dried or air-dried raw dog food have 38-44% protein. This is because these foods have at least 80% meat, more meat = more protein. Orijen does not have high legumes as I said it is around 12%, because the meat is 85% it's impossible to have high legumes. Now food that contains low meat content using legumes as a carbohydrate source instead of grains will have high legumes. The truth is dogs are predominantly carnivores, they do not need a lot of legumes/grains/tubers, or carbs, and what they need is meat.
Hills and royal canin are not great. But they have their place my dog was on the gastrointestinal royal canin (which is an animal by-product and rice) for a short while and it worked, but I don't believe they should be fed as regular food for healthy dogs, with all those grains and animal by-products.
I can't predict what Mars will do in the future, but for now, the ingredients are the same for us in Europe as the Orijen sold in Europe are made in Canada.
Dogs can handle high protein, that's what they do in the wild!
The food you suggested seems good although nature's logic is a more moderate carb foof, so I think it has less meat, the Nutra is low carb I think it follows the 80:20. It has a similar nutritional profile as the topper for my kibble (nature's variety freeze dry raw complete).
@@treasuretrovel3816 In Europe ingredients of most dog food is written in percentages as we get the orijen made in canada you can see the ingredients list and it’s listed on the Canadian website as well. orijen follows the prey model 80:20, but orijen is 85% meat and 12% legumes approximately.
There other similar brands in Europe Akela uk and Purizon Germany all these will have high protein as it’s meat mainly. In fact the two brands above do not use legumes at all, they use potatoes and sweet potatoes, but still high protein as ingredients
I feed my dog half kibble in the morning I use only prey model type. I have used orijen and use Akela now and I use freeze dried raw as the other evening food.
Would love to see a review on the Four Leaf Rover meal mixer. I'm interested in that and adding gently cooked meat.
Is this for the kibble only for instinct? I feed my dog the patties
I feed my dog the Instinct raw frozen lamb and vegetable formula that’s shaped like a kibble. My dog likes it, and I’m about to get the other meaty varieties.
For instinct, are you talking about the kibble OR Raw Freeze Dried food?
Please let us know your review on Solid Gold, we currently feed Sunday Sunrise kibble. Also, we feed Steve's raw food. Love to hear from you on these and any others maybe in another video. Thank you!
You mentioned corn and peas are bad for dogs. Are frozen peas and corn included because i sometimes top my dog's meal with frozen mix of carrots, peas and corn. I just boil them before i feed it to her. I'm from the Philippines so most of the brands you feature are not available here. I usually just cycle 3 kibble brands that work and then top it with home cooked meat and veggies.
My dog hasn’t had any sickness episodes since she was switched to mostly eating Hills.
I feed my yorkie hill science n have for 3 yrs because a vet told me when I brought him from shelter not to feed grain free without explanation do you have advice on putting my yorkie on a diet he's 4lbs overweight thanks ahead of time even if you can't
I go to honest kitchen now and then bc their price is pretty decent for the volume of food. However I’ve noticed my dog gets tired of it pretty quickly. I agree that their treats are great though! I love their “meaty bits” as training treats. They aren’t single ingredient but one of the better low cal treats I’ve found as far as sugar content and palatability.
As a dog parent it is extremely frustrating looking for a great quality food . I was on the fence about honest kitchen clusters and sundays for dogs but then you find people that say its not good. Well what is good lol pls share lol dang
Ik is you don’t recommend Merrick dry food but what about wet food?
I switched my 78-80 lb 7 year old Boxer Staffordshire Terrier from a Petsmart brand because my vet said I shouldn't be doing Grain-free does more damage than good. My sweet girl gained so much weight during that switched I'm part to blame because I wasn't able to run her due to fall accident right before Covid. Last year I cut her down to being feed 2 1/2 cups a day she lost some weight. But after learning from Rachel and doing a carb and calorie intake calculation it was so high. Three months I been feeding her Raw Boost Real Chicken Recipe Healthy Weight Raw + Kibble (Grain-free) I thought it was the best alternative with less than half the carb count and affordable. I even do meal toppers so she's getting lots veggies and fiber along vitamins. But after this video I'm lost in what to feed her. My 15 week old Jack Russell Terrier is on Open Farm Puppy she loves that food. Not keen on pork ingredient though. I would love to switch my sweet 7 year old to Open but the price is expensive for such a big girl. Any suggestion on what you feed your fur babies that may help with weight loss?
Although not for everyone, however, I always make my dog’s food from scratch. Raw chicken mince mixed with frozen vegetables like broccoli, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and/or peas or corn. All depends on what I have in the freezer. I then mix in a tin of sardines in oil or mackerel. I only add rice if I have any left over from dinner as I try to keep her grain free. I sometimes add cooked sweet potato or roasted pumpkin, depending on the price. As treats I give her fruit like apple, mango (frozen mostly) some berries or pear. Unfortunately banana makes her vomit so no more bananas. Cut up carrots can also sometimes be a treat as she loves the crunch. Keeps her teeth clean as well. As for kibble, she only gets that occasionally and I only buy grain free. All kibble is processed so just like humans, too much processed food is not healthy when consumed too often.
You may want to switch to sardines in water… even if it says olive oil, it’s likely rancid seed oil n not good for anybody.
any opinions on Natural Balance limited ingredients?
can you please give me some advice on a dog food that will help my dog lose weight besides hills science diet weight managment my vet claims it will help my dog lose weight i take her on walks when i can she,s 9 years old.
HI, can you advise whether you mean ALL of the brand's line or just certain ones/with exception to? For example, Honest Kitchen Fish and Turkey appears to only use sweet potatoes (even though their carb count still appears high). And what about Merrick's Canned Food line, which seems to have not only different tiers, but different ingredients with each line. For example they have a regular dinner line that has over 12 different flavors/ingredients, then within that, there is a 96% meat line, and limited ingredient line. Another line is their Backcountry line, which also has a regular line and a 96% meat line.
This video was specifically for the foods i showed - not necessarily the entire line. Great question! That said... my general remarks around sourcing, how it's processed (ie extruded), synthetics and ingredient splitting appears in many or most of the foods for each brand. I listed my preferred brands here, so you can compare! www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter
@@RachelFusaro Thank you! That list is very helpful and many are harder to find/get. On that note, do you have videos for say foods that are similar. Like Ziwi Peaks vs Only Natural Pet vs Zeal vs Kiwi Kitchen (all gently air dried jerky style). I ask because if someone is use to Honest Kitchen, and for them to change to any of the listed, would be very different - to my understanding Honest Kitchen isn't "raw". That being said, what led me to this video was in search of an HK alternative. My pup has Leaky Gut, (which probably caused her Addison's and Meningitis) and going raw wouldn't help, so what I feed her has to be gently cooked so she can absorb the nutrients. My own diet isn't as strict so it's really hard for me to make her a real food diet daily. "My dog eats better than me" is such an understatement right now. Ideally, I was hoping to find something, where I can get her the daily fresh proteins, and have a mixer for all her other requirements sans the carbs. Or an Ollie type or canned food type that doesn't have a ton of hidden carbs that I can have around for emergency days that I can't make her food. (As I wrote that I just saw Raised Right on your list which is what I need - but now I need to find freezer space). My reservation on Ziwi (air dried or canned) is that the calories from fat vs from protein can send a non farm dog into a whole host of other problems! Sorry for the long reply, but your videos are very helpful and I wanted to get your insight!
I love Honest Kitchen and nothing you said seemed to be a deal breaker. I love your videos.
What are your thought on farmina?
Adding to my list to review! Good idea
I dunno if/how often you check these. I've been watching your videos awhile but, I have a new pup and have been feeding science died for his breed region and price point. What would you recommend in place of for a yorkie at a similar price range ($20-30 for a month supply). I'm on a fixed income but want a healthy diet for my puppy. i did a lot of research before i got him but didn't think of checking the company tree of owners
What about FROMM 4Star kibble? I would love to see your review on it.
Rachel I see that Honest Kitchen on their site has a sourcing map, and a list of standard code, could you make a dedicated video on honest kitchen and explain why this brand was on your list in this video or even a update.
I couldnt find anything on HOW they source, grass fed/pasture etc. Did you see that? If it's there I'd LOVE to do an update!!
@@RachelFusaro very valid. I wish more companies would be more open like open farm.
Can you review Dr. Marty's and Sundays dog food? Debating switching from the former to the latter.
Thanks for liking! Anothet video idea, I trained my goldendoodle extensively. Now at 2 years old he is becoming possessive and terriotorial when playing with my sisters dog. He was neutered at 8 months. Help!
I tried Verus recently and my dog stayed hungry. I noticed the first 3 ingredients were brown rice, sorghum and oat groats. I was a little disappointed
In the UK, all ingredients used for pet food has to be fit for human consumption. The premium brands of kibble/dry dog food in the uk are actually highly recommended.
While this is true a lot of kibbles are still cooked at high temperatures with the nutrition artificially added back in. Not true of all kibble in the U.K but worth considering
@@rosee2188 I agree still not ideal food but there are more high-quality kibbles in the UK compared to the US.
AKela, Eden, Wolfworthy, and Essential Foods all use 80% meat/organs. I believe these are cooked at 85-90 instead of 120. Orijen from Canada is 85% meat/organ as well, also available in the UK. I believe a lot of freeze-dried raw in the US are high quality, although only three brands of freeze-dried raw in the UK and v. expensive.
My boy looooves the honest kitchen fish chews!
I thought I was doing great feeding my dog's Merrick raw coated with freeze dried pieces. I am so confused on what to feed my dogs. Raw foods are not an option.
My wired hair chihuahua can only eat Nutro........what are your thoughts on Nutro?
It is made just like all other cereal-type kibble found at the big box stores.
On Instinct, what I do not understand is you show the Raw Freeze Dried and scroll to the ingredients and they look great, for a ready made convenient food that is. But, then you bring up a clearly terrible ingredient list just after. Which one are you basing your opinion on? I am a raw feeder, have been for years. Curiousity had me looking around a little. Thank You
I have the same problem with parrot pellets.
Blessings and great info once again RR, what about canasta salmone and sweet potato, that’s what I give my dogo. What you think God Bless
thank you! will review
@@RachelFusaro your quite welcome and thank you much
Blessings and any word yet or info about Canidae salmon and sweet potato dog food
I'll have to resubscribe to barkbox! I was not happy with their treats, but we loved their toys.
Is Merrick's bone broth any good?
Do you have any info for cat food?
i shared one here i like (www.rachelfusaro.com/dogbetter) and also look into the two crazy cat ladies!
@@RachelFusaro this link doesn’t work
I absolutely love bark box. I had it for nearly 2 years. I have a super chewer. I don’t get it anymore because financial issues not because of them. Give bark box a try. Omg. So amazing.
Hi Rachel, how about Go solution dog food?
Adding to my list to review!
the safest thing is to make your own food. Its super simple to do and you can trust that you know what is going into it.
No offense to Rachel but I will listen to Dr.Becker only.
She reviewed this food with Rodney and they both approve of Honest Kitchen.
I just discovered a brand called four leaf rover and i bought a bone broth powder from them. Can you do a video on these small companies? I also discovered a brand called king lou and they have dehydrated chicken feet and other healthy snacks for dogs.
Oh amazing! Yes I’d love to look into them!
What do you think of Grandma Lucy brand?
Your info is always so helpful! We adopted an English Cream Golden Retriever who came eating a prescription from Science Diet. 😢 We tried to transition her over 5 weeks to a raw diet, but it made her very ill. I'd love to get her on something else. Is there a comparable option?
What is your opinion on Holistic Health Extension for dogs?
Just watched this video. I feel that is contradicts with one of your TH-cam shorts. You gave a thumbs up to the Instinct Raw and now your saying you wouldn't recommend it. That's confusing.
What about Diamond Naturals?
Adding to my list to review!
I would love to see you do a review on Dr. Harvey's line of foods.
on it!!
Hey👋 I'm pretty new to the healthy dog food game and I've really gotten interested in air dried/ freeze dried dog foods. It's pretty expensive from what I've seen(I have 2 dogs to feed) I've been intrigued by earth animal, macanna, grandma lucys and sojos. They seen the most budget friendly but I would like to hear some opinions! Thanks! 😊
OK, I'm at the Nestle manufacture part of the video and I never buy anything from Nestle since I heard the scandal with water a few years ago. Can't stand injustice.
And Science diet? Never ever wanted to buy that in 30 years of having dogs by myself (meaning, not my parents buying the food) so low quality but so high priced food (I guess the price makes people think it's a good brand)
Thank you Rachel!
Thank you for sharing!! I appreciate your input here!
Thoughts on Fromm Gold?
I been feeding my puppy since one of the Petco rep recommended it but he’s barely eating. Even got him the wet food and he’ll go for that a bit more but lately not so much.
Very informative, my 4 corgis were raised on Bl Buff with a mixture of boiled chicken cut up and we added a small portion as a topper along with 1 Tbl spoon of bone broth.
Still great info on this site
Thanks!!