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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog foods? (28 replies)
Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog foods? by Nans gsd on 18 April 2011 - 22:47 |
| How have your dogs done on this food? |
by Ruger1 on 19 April 2011 - 01:34 |
Bump...I am interested in the responses too...: ) |
Ruger1 by Asja on 19 April 2011 - 01:50 |
| I've fed Honest Kitchen Force and Embark. It's good food, I fed it for a few years and my dogs liked it. I also added fresh meat or other things on top. Honest Kitchen foods are primarily chicken and turkey, at least the grain-free varieties, although they may have added more varieties. Once I emailed their website with a few questions and the owner of the company replied promptly, so bonus points for that. However, I switched to Addiction dehydrated raw, only because my dog obviously prefers beef and lamb to chicken and turkey. The past year or so I've been buying Addiction beef or lamb, and my dog just loves it. If you are on the east coast, I can tell you the cheapest place I've found to buy it. But I'm only feeding one dog now instead of three. One of my older dogs loved chicken, so anything with chicken in it was good with him, so he really liked Honest Kitchen. Forgot to mention, all dogs I've had have absolutely loved Honest Kitchen Ice Pups. It's a dehydrated powder to mix with water, either warm water for a doggy soup, or freeze it for a summer ice snack. Great stuff! Try it. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/ice-pups/ |
by Jenni78 on 19 April 2011 - 03:00 |
| Only downside is price. I used to add it to both kibble and raw. I like Embark the best. |
Jenni78 by ShelleyR on 19 April 2011 - 16:13 |
| I'd try it, but its out of my budget for now. |
ShelleyR by Ruger1 on 19 April 2011 - 17:03 |
jenni... You mix it with kibble??...I wanted to do that but was concerned about the different digestion times. Is it different with dehydrated ???.... I am debating between Honest Kitchen = dehydrated or Artisan/ Grandma Lucy's = freeze dried *** I want to have the option of mixing with kibble....Any thoughts?? |
by Ruger1 on 20 April 2011 - 03:49 |
| FYI...: ) I did a little research on the difference between dehydrated and freeze dried food... If I understand it correctly , freeze dried (Artisan/Grandma Lucy) is NOT RAW... dehydrated (Honest Kitchen) IS RAW..... |
by Asja on 20 April 2011 - 13:09 |
| I've never tried the freeze-dried foods, so I can't comment. Honest Kitchen and Addiction are dehydrated raw foods, and when rehydrated, look like mush. A tip here, they rehydrate better with warm water. You could buy a small box to try it. Try Embark or Force. |
by flygirl55 on 20 April 2011 - 13:17 |
| I've used Honest Kitchen in the past- I loved the way the dogs did on it. I started using it because I have an EPI dog and needed to do the special diet. I didn't have access to a commerically prepared frozen raw diet, so I went to that. It was great. I wound feeding it everyone. Now it's too expensive. It's too bad because I would love to put everyone back on it, and not bother with the kibble - I've been have issues lately with some of the "high-end" stuff(not agreeing with the digestion or the dogs just not liking it). I NEVER had that problem with HK. Oh, one other thing-I was, at one point, working with a group that was putting together packages to send over the war zones for the K9s and their handlers. Honest Kitchen DONATED a boatload of cookies that we were able to send-Kudos to them... |
flygirl55 by FlashBang on 20 April 2011 - 17:16 |
| I ordered a sample of HK for my dogs to take with us when we go backpacking. They're both on raw diets, and we've given them grain-free kibble when we went out backpacking, but as some of you outdoorspeople know, every little lbs. counts, and carrying quality kibble around takes up space and weight. I'm *hoping* the HK with the [dehydrated] meat in it will help with room and weight but also provide the caloric intake required for multi-day backpacking trips. |
FlashBang by lhczth on 21 April 2011 - 20:33 |
| I used the Embark when I took Vala to Germany. I am a raw feeder and needed something easy to travel with and I didn't want to buy kibble. She did OK on it even though she didn't understand why she was being fed slop. Lisa |
by Freddy on 22 April 2011 - 14:21 |
| I started feeding thrive about 8 months ago because my dogs weren't doing well on Canidae. Both had dry coats and my male (16 months old at the time) wasn't putting on weight no matter how much I fed him. I also switched to nature's domain from costco and feed 50/50. He has muscled up (partly due to getting through adolescense) and his coat literally shines. I can't tell you how many people ask what I feed when they see him at trials and other events. My cost for food for two adult GSDs is about $100 a month. $62 for thrive, about $30 for ND plus tax. I don't think I could feed Orijen for that and two dogs. I rehydrate for 15 minutes with warm water and mix the kibble in. My female never had much enthusiasm about eating and now she camps out by her dish as it is rehydrating, and jumps and barks, begging for her food. In my 15 years of GSD ownership, I've never had a dog respond so well to a food change. |
by ziegenfarm on 22 April 2011 - 15:13 |
yikes!!!! none of my suppliers carry addiction, so i was curious and found it on k9 cuisine. the dehydrated foods run $95 - $98 for an 8lb pkg. that is just awful! and the protein content isn't very high either. i've got a dehydrator that i would put to work before i would spend that kind of money.  pjp i just checked prices of honest kitchen on petfooddirect: zeal is $108 for 10lb box (35% protein) force is $77 (21% protein) and verve $57.50 (21% protein) 10# box makes approx. 40# food. pretty darned expensive. added: sojos grainfree mix is $50 for 8 lbs and doesn't even contain any meat....its all fruit and veggies. you have to add meat. geez, i think its a crime what some of these companies charge! |
ziegenfarm by Freddy on 22 April 2011 - 16:00 |
| Try doggiefood.com Their prices seem to be very reasonable. |
by Freddy on 22 April 2011 - 16:20 |
| Thrive is 26% protein, not grain free but the grain is quinoa. Google it and you will find it is high in protein, gluten free, and supposedly a perfect nutritional source. Has dehydrated chicken as well. A box is $64 including shipping for a box that makes 40 pounds of food. That is less than a lot of premium foods out there. |
by Jenni78 on 22 April 2011 - 17:38 |
| Quinoa is, I believe, one of the only foods on the planet w/so few known allergies to it. Tapioca is really low on the allergen totem pole, but I don't think hardly anything is allergic or intolerant of quinoa, from what I have gathered. I haven't used that particular THK; it didn't exist when I fed it, but I liked Force and Embark. Prowl is great for cats if you can get them to eat it. |
by Jaclyn4238 on 22 April 2011 - 17:52 |
| How do you use this stuff? Or measure it out? Just add water and serve or do you have to add anything. |
by Ruger1 on 22 April 2011 - 17:52 |
I like the idea of ...Preference...by Honest Kitchen... I can add my own meat and not have to worry about the Calcium and Phosphorus ratios.... This was the write up on the Preference.... Preference is suggested for use with added raw meat, meaty bones or cooked meat of your preference (never cooked bones), as a base for a home made diet. It’s ideal for dogs who are sensitive to more popular meats. Therefore, more exotic meats, fish or alternative protein sources may be used as required.Preference is intended for supplemental feeding only, and has not been developed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles or provide a complete and balanced diet when fed alone.This diet contains a custom vitamin-mineral premix with balanced calcium: phosphorus ratios, which are vital for the maintenance of healthy cells, bones and blood. |
by Nans gsd on 23 April 2011 - 02:37 |
| Yes Ruger1; that is the one I am using now. just add warm water soak for 10 or so minutes and add meat; I am using ground meat as I am trying this for an old dog that does not want to eat and he is doing great eating it with ground meat; turkey, this AM ground organ meat; tomorrow ground pork. So far so good. I like the idea of being able to add what I want also with the benefit of vit/minerals already added. I am using raw meat but you can slightly cook meat if you want then add. So far so good. We will see. Nan |
by Samba on 23 April 2011 - 03:17 |
| I have fed the Embarq and often with kibble. I don't put much truck in the digestion time theory. We get the Embarq hydrated up and the dogs are mad for it, pacing and barking. Haven't fed it as a sole food though. |
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