Dog-owners are increasingly passionate about which dog food they feed their four-legged friends. People get pretty heated about it – it’s all over Facebook. For some it’s about ethics, so dog food has got to be organic and animal welfare-friendly. For the kibble-averse, it’s about raw food, carefully weighed out hunks of meat and bone, something akin to what we might imagine dogs would ‘naturally’ eat. There are plenty who enjoy the idea of different meals created especially for their furry friends – with breakfast and light snacks all catered for – and there are those that read the small print, all the better to make an informed choice about the fillers/preservatives/sugars/salts that go into their dog’s food (there’s an interesting article on American website Reviews.com about this).
What does Teddy eat? His small Schnauzer stomach is madly sensitive – anything too fatty or rich is a no go area, as our trips to the vet will testify. So while I love the idea of feeding him delicious bones or bowls of something specially prepared, I’m afraid it’s not on his agenda. Only dull, allergy-friendly kibble.
I feel the guilt (about Teddy’s variety-free option, and ironically, about the safe stodge I feed him) and I’m always on the lookout for alternatives, introducing them very slowly, to see if Teddy’s tolerance changes. My latest find: Pure Pet Food. I like the idea behind it almost as much as I like the straightforward video The Pure Pet Food Story put up on YouTube by Mat and Dan, the young founders. At their human-grade food facility in Yorkshire they gently dehydrate natural, human-grade ingredients to preserve them and then pack them into neat recipe boxes. You add warm water to the dry mix that is scooped out of the packet. Easy. They don’t use fillers, grain, wheat or gluten. They don’t use battery farmed or cage-reared animals for their meat and are able to track all sources to fully-regulated farms.
It’s a natural diet that takes the idea of raw food and makes it a whole lot more convenient (no defrosting, chopping or weighing required). It’s also good quality, although perhaps not so gnaw-able. I love the message, and I do love the lack of mess. How I wish it suited Teddy. Unfortunately, despite a very slow introduction, this dog’s super-sensitive tum says ‘not right now’. However since Teddy can now stomach a tiny sausage tidbit, whereas two years ago it would have sent him to the vet, I have hope. Give it some time, and we’ll try again.
