Honest Kitchen dog food?
 

Does anyone or has anyone ever used this food? It looks very good and maybe even like it is acompany that could be trusted. I am seriously thinking about giving them a try.

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/company/index.shtml

Both of mine are picky eaters...even my golden. I'm hoping they will like it.

Kim

I'll let ya know next week ;)

I looked on thier store locator and I think there is a place here in town that sells it. I think I might try and find them and at least go in and get enough to sample. Things are often more expensive here than they need to be so I will probably end up buying it on the internet but don't want to wait a week or more before getting them situated. I really hop they like it!

Kim

Sure sounds good. Maybe contact them and ask for a sample?

The shipping via Fed-X Ground (from California where they are located) to NY (me) was only $10.00 - IMO that wasn't bad.

Product = $55.00 + $10.00 (Shipping)

I would call the store first to make sure they have it. There also was a store 2 mile from me that was listed as stocking, but they only had the one that had no meat protein in it, so I decided to just buy it online ;)

I don't know yet what the shipping to me will be but I can't do ground as I am in Alaska so need to have everything pretty much shipped via USPS priority. I wonder how much higher that would be? Hmmm, off to call that store now and see what they have.

Kim

I went through the whole 'order process' online and before they ask you for your credit card info, you can select what shipping method and it gives you the shipping cost - this way you can just get an idea before actually making the purchse ;)

I just drove into town and got several sample packs. I will try them tonight and maybe tomorrow morning and if they like it I'll buy it there, it was actually a couple of bucks cheaper than on the site.

I'll let you know how they like it! They are really picky so if they like it it should be good! ;)

Kim

stirring up the pet food industry
 

Everything looks good about the food to me.All natural human grade ingredients:) .The only thing I am concerned about is that the food will be soft.I don't know if I want to trade one problem for another by dealing with bad teeth because they are on soft food. What are your thoughts about that?

I think as long as you take care of the teeth by brushing them, they should be okay. I know yorkies are predisposed to having bad teeth, but if you take care of their teeth, I see no reason why they can't eat soft food. I mean, we eat soft food all the time and we don't have rotten teeth :)

I have also been wondering about this food. I may want to try giving it to Emma after she finishes her bag of Canidae. This is a raw diet, so I would probably get the kind without any meat in it, and add my own cooked chicken. Not sure yet...

Kim,
I am really excited to see how your little ones like it? And how you like it?

I ordered the Force (Chicken) and Verve (Beef) - tracking says I get it on the 5th. But I also like Yorkieluv idea to get the one without meat and add you own ;)

Very exciting! :D :D :D

...don't forget to update us...:p

Toto loves it!!
 

:thumbup: Toto has been eating the Force for a long, long time!! She loves it! We tried samples of all of it and settled on her fave. I add a little minced chicken, a teaspoon of english peas and a little chicken broth [homemade with no spices and fat strained off]. I make all this in bulk and use my "Food Saver" to freeze it in small packets so I always have it on hand. All I have to do is rehydrate the Force with warm water, add the chicken, peas & broth and she gobbles it up!! Our vet examined all the ingredients before we gave it to her and gave it :thumbup: :thumbup: !! :p

WOW - So maybe you can answer a question I have:
Is all the ingredients, including the meat that they use Raw (uncooked)???
:confused: :confused: :confused:

Okay, I'm losing it...I meant to say Merrick's in my last post, not Canidae... Oops!
bettyanne, thanks for the review! I'm glad to see that someone has fed it and had a wonderful experience. Is the meat in their food raw?

Yea! Glad to see someone who has been using it!

I would like to get samples of some of the other flavors. I only got the Force yesterday. My two are so finicky that even now that I am cooking for them they always love when I cook something new and they gobble it up but the next morning it just isn't good enough and they stick thier nose up at it. So, I mixed the Force with some of the chicken, brown rice and veggie mix I had mixed up for them. At first they tried to eat the chicken and rice but then they did both eat it all.

I am planning on sticking to this with some of my own cooking to suppliment because I just can't feel good about feeding a dry food again due to the things I have read about that goes into them. I figure if they aren't wild about it I will find a way to searve it that will make them like it.

I got a booklet from the store yesterday about too which seems to have alittle more info than the site. Let's see if I can remember what it said...I'll get it and check for sure later. But as far as the meat being raw it says that it is however, it has been heated to like 170 (don't quote me yet on the temp) to kill any bad things in it. It said something about it having to be heated to a certain temp to follow the guidlines set by the FDA regulating thier plant. So it was supposed to be high enough to kill things but low enough to still be considered raw.

I'll let you all know how they did on it after today.

Kim

Great! I am so happy!

TJ and Roxy are eating Raw right now - Nature's Variety Raw Frozen - They LOVE it!!! But I am just torn about it. So many conflicting reports about Raw that I just can't seem to feel 100% comfortable about it and then on top of that, I just don't trust 'dog food plants'. The Honest Kitchen appeals to me b/c of the FDA regulations and that it says it is all human grade food, which much be true if it is reg. by the FDA.

Well, we'll see next week if my 2 like it as well! :rolleyes:

I'm thinking of working HK into the food rotation.;)

I am doing the NV raw medallions--but have been putting them from freezer to microwave for 1 1/2 min on half power--which is prob the equivalent of what HK is doing with their "raw" meats.

Actually Milo prefers it a bit warm too.

TLC - myteddybear - yorkieluv ... That's the way I understand the process ... it's dehydrated at such a low temp that it's still considered "raw". The reason it's "re-hydrated" with "warm" water is, boiling water will kill the "good stuff" that's in it. You can add all kinds of stuff to it ... Toto just happens to love the chicken and english peas! ;)

Thanks!

For everyone that was wondering how it went over with my two...

I got samples of the Force and gave it to them for dinner Friday night. Just mixed with water and over a little of thier regular chicken and rice. They did not like it and tried to pick trough and eatonly the chicken and rice.

Hmmmmm, what now? I am bound and determined to feed this because it is human food grade and regulated well. After all I have read recently and learned about the true ingriedients of most (yes, even higher end ones) dog foods I have come to the conclusion that I would never feed it to them again. YUCK!

So...I went back to the store and got more samples. This time the Verve. This time I mixed the Verve with some homemade chicken broth and a little bit of spinnach put that mixture over thier regular chicken and rice with a few tiny pieces of chicken on top. They loved it! Both ate it up.

This morning I tried the Force again. This time mixed with water that I boiled ground turkey in. Put it over thier chicken and rice with a few pieces of steamed sweet potato, alittle ground turkey and a few pees on top. One of them ate it up and the other still would not touch it.

Tonight I'm going to give the Verve again and if they both still love it than it looks like the Verve is definately a winner over the Force and that's the one we will get.

Eventually I will try some of the others but my local store only carries those 2 so those were the only samples she had.

Kim

I'm glad to hear these reviews. I've been tempted in the past to try it, but they didn't have a puppy sample or version (I think) so i thought I would hold off until my 2 were no longer in the puppy stage.

Honest Kitchen
 

Hi, actually, BettyAnne got me interested in Force by Honest Kitchen. I feed it to all my dogs and my fosters and have been for more than a year. I haven' t had one who doesn't love it. It doesn't contain wheat, which is the cause of so many allergies. It's considered a raw diet because it's dehydrated at very low temperatures. I've taken the label list of ingredients to my vet and he said it looked like a perfect food to him, just to add a little protein. I mix it with kibble after I hydrate it, so it's not completely soft, and either boiled chicken, cottage cheese or scrambled egg. I do have to tell you to use it carefully at the start. You cannot just change diets! It has to be re-hydrated, try starting with a teaspoon rehydrated Force (probably 1/4 teaspoon dry) and increase the amount over the next several days until you've reached the amount they need. I had a very bad experience with one little one because I switched over to quickly. It may seem expensive, but it makes a lot of food and in the long run is well worth it! Another think I love for my yorkies is a product called Little bitty buddy biscuits. They're made of sweet potato, again, no grain! And they are so tiny, just the right size for our babies. :animal-pa

Wow! I am totally interested in trying this for my picky little Mojo (he also has a sensitive tummy)....My question....if you make up several batches and freeze it, can you freeze it all (the chicken, peas, etc)? --I couldn't tell if after it was frozen and rehydrated, if that was when the other stuff was added or if I could add it all and freeze it. Wow! This sounds soooo good and something that I know I would love to try!!! Even the biscuits/treats!! Yay! I am going to the site now to look up if there are in stores in my area (which there is more than likely not).....

Honest Kitchen Food, Nutro Products
 

Hi,
Just to ease my own mind I've contacted both companies because I use their products. They have both assured me that we will not see them on a recall. Honest Kitchen produces human grade food, all ingredients are grown in the US. They are also inspected by the USDA and the FDA. Nutro makes Innova. They use no wheat. They only use ricegrown in the US. The only ingredient they import is lamb from New Zealand. I hope this helps. It sure made me feel better. Especially after reading that these recalled products can kill within a matter of days....... or can take years to kill a pet slowly! I know we all want to use healthy foods for our pets. Let's all get more involved with these companies that import ingredients from 3rd world countries. I want to see them do well, but not at the expense of the lives of our pets.

A question for all of you using HK products - why do you need to add more meat to it (unless you are using the vegetarian version) - the protein content is just as high as other kibble? Also, do you rehydrate just enough for each meal you are feeding? And, if I'm already home cooking for mine (boiled chicken, brown rice, sweet potato and veggies) do I still need to switch over slowly - particularly if I use the chicken formula??

The protein content of Force is 21%. You don't have to add anything to it. It's a personal decision. I think you can make it and keep it for a day or so. I rehydrate it just before I use it. Even though you are cooking for them now, I would add it slowly. The fact that you are introducing a new food may very well upset a stomach. But that's just my opinion. Better safe, than sorry.

I got my 'goods' today!!! The Fed-X guy scared the crap out of me this morning. He came just before I had to go to work.

I decided to try the Verve (beef) for their PM meal. I made 1/4 cup (mixture) with 1/4 cup of warm water. Mixed it up and let it sit for about 15 mins. Then I split it on 2 plates and made little round balls out of them. I did sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top too, b/c I just had a feeling they weren't going to touch it.

Roxy - my piggy - ate it all up in a flash! TJ - my bugger - well he ate approx. 3/4 of what was on his plate. 'Piggy' ate the rest! Then about 2 hours later they both ate about 10 pieces of Canidae - which cracks me up - if you only knew the last time I saw them eat and enjoy whole pieces of dry kibble :p (almost 2 years ago hahahaaha)

I still don't know what my plan is with all this food :confused:

I have Nature's Variety Raw Frozen - which they love!
I have Canidae Dry Food - which they seem to enjoy too!
I have the Honest Kitchen - which I can see them liking too - but I may need to entice them to eat it.

I guess over the next week, I will figure out how to work this all. I already thought about giving them 1 medalion of NV in the AM for breakfast. Before I leave for work, they get 1/2 sardine and 3 steamed green beans. During the day, I will leave out approx. 10 pieces of Canidae kibble for them to play with or eat. For dinner, I will give them each 1/8 of a cup of the Honest Kitchen. And for a late night snack - they like to contiue to play with and maybe eat a piece or two of the Canidae! WOW, this seems crazy :eek:

..I don't know, this is going to be interesting...

Thanks for the review TLC :) I'm still kinda scared about the fact that the meat is dehydrated at temperatures of only 120 degrees. I was reading on another website about temps that meats should reach, and it said the danger zone that bacteria will most likely grow is between 40 and 140 degrees...And that poultry meats should reach 160-165 degrees. But what I read had to do with cooking meats, not dehydrating them. I'm not sure if that's something completely different. I will call the company tomorrow and ask.
I really want to feed this to Emma, but I think I'll do the vegetarian one and add my own meat...

I've been feeding raw meaty bones and the Natures Variety frozen raw. I don't add anything to the NV, just the thawed out patties or medallions.

The thing about raw food and the thing about the bacteria, is that the dogs don't have the same digestive system that we do. The raw food moves through their digestive system faster than the dry kibble. Because the raw moves faster, they don't have the risk of getting sick from the bacteria that would make us sick. Some people cook their food, but then they aren't getting all the benefit of the vitiams and minerals, because they are killed by the cooking. If you are going to cook the food, then you need to add back in the vit & min's. It is a vicious cycle.

Alot of people are grossed out by giving the dogs raw food, and I was put off by it in the begining, but after doing tons of research, I've decided that it is better for my dog than feeding the dry food. By giving the bones, you get the cleaning of the teeth and the natural enzymes in the raw, also clean the teeth. When I first started this, Chloe's teeth were starting to have plaque built up on them, but now after 6 months, her teeth are pearly white.

Also, since switching, we don't have a sick dog all the time. She actually would throw up every day and night before I switched to the raw. I'm also using the freeze dried NV, for when we travel, which makes it easier. I'm going to check out this other Brand and see how it compares to what I'm using now.

Just like we all have different tastes in food, I guess the dogs do to. All I know is with all the food recall stuff going on. I'm happy that I don't have to worry about what she is eating. Whatever way you feed your dog, you have to do what you are comfortable with. There isn't any right or wrong way. ;)

JMHO....
Julie