Q & A on Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Dog Food

Leerburg Questions & Answers
on Honest Kitchen

Dehydrated Dog Food

The following are some common questions about the Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Dog Food that we sell. Check out some of the various foods that we offer and the prices.

Question:

How long does a 10 lb box of food last an average dog, and how much does it cost to feed?

Answer:

One bag will last a 30 lb dog about 6 weeks. This equates to a feeding cost of about $1.65 per day.

Question:

Why do Honest Kitchen diets cost a little more than regular pet food?

Answer:

Honest Kitchen foods are made with 100% human edible ingrediencts, and produced in a human food factory. Human edible ingredients are superior quality than animal / feed grade ingredients, and cost more. Dehydration is a more expensive process than canning or extrusion.

Question:

How can I make the food more ecomomical to feed?

Answer:

If you are on a budget, you can feed our food as a complement to a raw diet. This helps stretch the food over a longer period of time.

QUESTION:

I am interested in Honest Kitchen for my 16 lb Poodle rescue. He is constantly itching even though I feed raw.(beef, chicken and soon deer) I add fish oil and Vitamin C to his diet as well. Which product do you recommend? Also, do I need to add bones to this or is it sufficient without them in nutrition?

Thank you so much for your help.

Lorelei

ANSWER:

I would recommend Force or Embark, they are grain free and for dogs with itchy skin I feel grain free is the way to go.

You can add meat or meaty bones to the Honest Kitchen products or feed as a stand alone diet.

If you are adding fish oil I would make sure to also add vitamin E, 100 IU should be enough for a small dog. Be aware that something environmental may be causing his itching (pollen, chemicals in the lawn, laundry products, flea and tick topicals, etc….) it’s not always diet.

QUESTION:

Hello, my name is Rebekah and I have recently purchased Embark for my 5 month old Shih Tzu named Simon. He's about 15-17 lb. right now. I'm transitioning him slowly from Eukanuba dry food and he is doing very well, very little stomach upset, but I'm afraid I'm feeding him too much. Right now I'm giving him about 1/4 cup of Embark, 1/4 dry Eukanuba and some kind of meat (chicken wing, liver, or whatever) with it. Is this too much?

How can I start transitioning less dry food? Also, if I give him an egg, should meat be included also? I'll be boarding my dog in a couple of weeks and would like to make it as easy as possible on the lady watching the dog. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Rebekah

ANSWER:

If you want to get him off of the kibble, and he’s doing ok then I would just quit adding Eukanuba and go to straight HK and meat. For puppies, you feed according to body condition and with a full coated breed you need to feel the dog’s ribs every day. The amounts on the package are guidelines, I can’t tell you without seeing your dog how much is too much. You want to easily be able to feel the ribs. you can give him an egg plus meat if you wish….have you read our Q &A page on feeding a raw diet?

For boarding it may be easier to just have them feed Embark only, it’s completely balanced nutritionally by itself.

QUESTION:

I have just one other question regarding the raw diet.

As I mentioned in my other email to you, my 18 month old mainly likes seeing chicken in her bowl. Sometimes when I put red meat in the bowl she doesn't eat all that much of it whereas when its chicken she eats it all.

Because of this I thought I might try HK just to make sure she got all the important stuff to keep her healthy and add the chicken to the HK.

Am I right to think like this or is chicken every night of the week ok if that's what she likes.

In any case my HK along with the rest of my order arrived today and tonight she was given the new meal. She ate every last drop in the bowl and she can be a bit finneky so I was impressed. Must be good stuff :)

If keeping HK in the diet is recommended then I will certainly do as you suggested and switch between the 3 types.

Thanks again for your help and everything you do to help the rest of us get all this good information.

Sincerely

Chris

ANSWER:

Glad to hear she likes the HK. Many dogs that are picky really love the stuff. J I feel that you should be feeding HK in conjunction with chicken. A chicken only raw diet it deficient of nutrients over the long haul.

I would still add other types of meat, even just a small amount. If chicken is her favorite that’s ok to feed it along with HK as the foundation of her meals but I would still suggest you add some red meat a few times a week also. Maybe small “meatballs” of hamburger plopped in the bowl? Have you ever given her sardines or ground pork? I would experiment a little bit and see if you can get her to eat a little “new” stuff..even if it’s only an ounce or two.

QUESTION:

I just got the tub of embark. I followed the instructions (or so I thought) and the ending mixture was soupy. Did I use too much water?

I was also hoping to get some of your ideas on recipes or ways of mixing embark with raw food

Thank

Tim

ANSWER:

If it’s too soupy for your liking then just add less water. I also add the water and let it soak all day, then feed our house dogs at our suppertime. I then mix up a bowl and let it sit overnight for the next morning feeding..

As far as recipes, I just add extra meat and RMBs…. I add chicken necks/backs, leg quarters, ground beef, pork or turkey, canned mackerel, raw eggs, sardines, venison, etc…. I don’t typically add any extra veggies, there are plenty of those in there. According to package directions, you can feed up to ½ and ½ Embark and raw.

QUESTION:

I am sorry to bother you, but I really enjoyed your articles on raw feeding on your website and I was wondering if you would share some of your experiences with me. I am the proud owner of three Australian Shepherds that all are fed raw and have been since they came into my life. Recently I purchased the youngest of the three from a holistic breeder, who is very knowledgeable and ethical. The puppy was raised raw and of course is very healthy, but within the past week he has become a bit "wristy" and has lost some bone mass in his front. The breeder has recommended switching him to a holistic kibble until 4 to 6 months. She says that her mentor who has bred Aussies for thirty years and is a HOF kennel always feeds a fully kibble diet until 6 months because on the raw diet they always seem to have week pasterns. I would rather stick to the raw diet so I began doing more research which brought me to your website. I was wondering if you have noticed the same trend in your Malinois? My concern is that this is just a growth spurt and that there is no need to switch. I also think that possibly these breeders have always switched to kibble when they first see this problem arise in fear of loosing a great dog and just automatically switch without seeing it through. This puppy is now almost 10 weeks and had a fabulous front at 8 weeks. I am hoping for him to be a successful show dog as well as performance and possibly the beginnings of a very healthy and sound line of Aussies ,so I feel a lot rides on how I handle this issue. I would really appreciate your advice and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Christi

ANSWER:

The last thing I would do when faced with something like this is switch to kibble. I feel that it’s probably a growth spurt, since the pup was fine 2 weeks ago. Keep in mind that I haven’t had anything like this crop up in my Malinois before, but if it was MY pup I would stick with a species appropriate diet. I can’t see how switching to kibble will change the outcome for the better, if you know what I mean. It may make the pup grow differently but at what cost?

As long as you are feeding a species appropriate diet, with lots of raw meaty bones and a variety of proteins I think that’s the best you can do for your pup and your prospective breeding program.

QUESTION:

I have been purchasing the honest dog food, "Embark." My last order was 10lbs. My 5 mos. old puppy loves it but I have a concern which brings me to a question I hope you can help me with. Is it normal for the dog to have anywhere from 3-5 bowel movements a day? These are not small, but very healthy so I wonder if she is getting the nutrition from the food before she passes it. She has no gas or anything, just what I have mentioned. Sometimes I do add ground turkey as you mentioned previously. I also give her added bananas and cottage cheese but not all the time.

Thanks for your help,

Karen

ANSWER:

You might try re-hydrating the food for longer periods of time. For example, add water and let the food soak overnight for the morning feeding. I soak a bowl full of Honest Kitchen in the morning for the evening feedings here at Leerburg. Sometimes this helps the dogs digest a bit more of the food. I would not add more veggies or fruit, but meat protein whenever possible.

QUESTION:

I am new to the raw diet and I am planning on doing more research. Please could you let me know if it would me OK for me to mix The Honest Kitchen with his kibble and if so how long can I do this. We are also on a tight budget and not sure if we can afford to just feed raw.

ANSWER:

It shouldn’t hurt your dog to mix them together, especially when first introducing the HK food.

I would rather have you feed Honest Kitchen and add some raw beef, chicken or turkey to that for one meal. I think if you look for sale items in the meat department, you would be able to feed HK and stretch it for a longer period of time by adding inexpensive cuts of meat. It would certainly be a healthier alternative for your dog, if you can manage it. Sometimes if you talk to the manager at your local grocery meat department, they can tell you when they do mark downs on meat that is coming to the end of it’s “sell by” date. It’s perfectly ok to feed dogs meat that is a few days past it’s sellable date or you can freeze it for later use.

Adding HK to kibble is better than just feeding kibble though, but wouldn’t be my first choice in feeding.

QUESTION:

Just a quick question ..............please give me examples of what you add to the Honest Kitchen. I have 5 GSD's; am feeding Back To Basics to which I add some chicken at the evening meal, but am thinking of switching. Four of my dogs are adults & I have a puppy coming this month. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Elayne

ANSWER:

I add anything that I would feed my dogs as part of a raw diet.

Chicken leg quarters, necks, backs, venison, pork, beef, lamb, goat, rabbit, fish, turkey etc… I don’t add veggies or fruit, there is plenty in the Honest Kitchen already. I also add yogurt or cottage cheese once in a while.

QUESTION:

I know my inquiry is probably one of hundreds because of the recent scare. I had a friend who lost a dog just last week with terrible vomiting, lethargy (signs of kidney failure). I have two dogs, a Gordon Setter and a Chihuahua, both under 2 years of age. I either want to make their food until this mess is settled (if it ever is) or try a good organic food. Please tell me, is your food or any of it parts connected with Menu? If not, can you give me some of the particular on where it is produced. If I decide of this food, I can email you later to decide which one and things to add.

Thanking you in advance,
Jill

ANSWER:

Our food is not made with the unnecessary ingredients that processed commercial food is. It’s made of whole ingredients dehydrated. That’s it!

The food is made by Honest Kitchen. This food is made in a USDA human grade facility in California. If we had any doubts about the quality of this, we wouldn’t feed it to our own dogs OR sell it.

QUESTION:

I was very interested in the fact that you are offering dehydrated Chicken based food for dogs. I have been feeding raw for about 8 years and the only time it presents a problem for me is when we are camping so the idea of being able to purchase chicken dehydrated for camping sounds great but I have a question about it.

My understanding is that when dehydrating raw meats a large amount of bacteria is generated due to the low heat of the dehydrators and leaving the meat in the dehydrator for extended time does not generate enough heat to kill it off. Therefore I am very interested in any comments you may have on that and the process of dehydrating this product.

How long is expire date on the product?

Thanks for any info you may be able to provide.

Carol

ANSWER:

I don’t worry about bacteria, dogs eat all manner of bacteria infested things (road kill, deer poop, etc) they lick their own behinds too! If you already feed raw, I would think you wouldn’t have a bit of concern about the bacteria as a healthy dog will have no problems with it. I don’t know that I can answer the question about the bacteria load (if there is one) in the Honest Kitchen products as we don’t manufacture it here.

The shelf life of the HK products are 12 months (before rehydration)

QUESTION:

I have a German Shepherd female 3 years old that some where around 2 years old developed food allergies. According to the lab work from Bio-Medical Labs she is allergic to:

Chicken
Beef
Peanut
Corn
Carrots
Oats
Beets
Rice
Border line on Pork

She is currently eating Royal Canine Duck & Potato dry food or can. I buy ground Turkey breast and barley cook it, also can salmon, and or course she is limited on most treats. Treats I give duck & potato, real meat venison, fish, and lamb.

In reading it looks like she could only try the Vegetables, fruit,& herbs. One of them was fine until it said carrots and according to her chart she is highly allergic to carrots. What is listed as the ingredients is it correct? No hidden ingredients not mentioned.

Would you have any more suggestions on food that I can feed and eliminate her symptoms. She has been on this now for 8 weeks but is still scratching, biting, ear infection after another about to drive me crazy especially when she starts scratching in the middle of the night.

She does have some tree, grass, insect, and is allergic to pyrethrums. All the grasses are in Florida & Mid West. Were in TN.

Thanks for any advice or help.

Janet

ANSWER:

My advice would be to get ALL grains out of your dogs diet. Even if the allergy testing only indicates a few grains, my experience is that NO dog needs grains in any form. This includes dog biscuits and treats. Read the article we have on feeding a raw diet.

If you would like to try the Honest Kitchen foods, I would recommend the Force or Embark Formulas. They are both grain free. There are no hidden ingredients in the Honest Kitchen products.

I would also recommend the book The Allergy Solution for Dogs. Do not vaccinate your dog any more, regardless of what your vet tells you. This will only cause more problems for your dog in the long run. Read the article we have on vaccinosis.

QUESTION:

I was just wanting to know on your web site it says for up to 70# 2 3/4 dry cups
the bag of embark says up to 4 1/2 cups we have a American bulldog that is 6 months old and weights 65# what do you suggest for the amount I now we will adjust we've been feeding the 4 1/2 cups his weight is fine it just seems like a lot?

Also we have a 10 year old English Bulldog he likes it much better with dry kibble mixed in is it ok to just keep mixing his food that way?

Thank You
John

ANSWER:

I feed my dogs according to how they look and act, not according to a label. I would use the label directions as a guideline and go from there. (it sounds like you are already doing that)

Personally, I would be using 50% HK Embark and 50% raw meat or meaty bones (like raw chicken leg quarters or thighs). It’s actually better for your dogs and will cut down the expense of the Embark.

I would do the same for your older dog, I would mix the Embark with meat instead of kibble. I don’t have a very high opinion of kibble.

You should read our article on feeding a raw diet.

QUESTION:

My 55 lb. (was 65 lbs. but shed 10 lbs in 2 months) Labrador Retriever on the Raw Meaty Bones diet since October and she loves it! I currently live in Southern California and will be relocating to Hutto, Texas in February 2007 to attend The Triple Crown Dog Academy. I will be driving there with my dog and staying for the 12-week program. I want to keep her on the raw diet but have no idea how I can bring 3 months worth of frozen raw meaty bones with me during the drive. I don't know if I can even find any chicken/turkey necks out there in Hutto, Texas. So that's why I'm considering feeding her Honest Kitchen.

Now that I'm feeding her raw meaty bones, I've been buying the Salmon Oil and Vitamin E capsules from Leerburg.com but if Honest Kitchen does not require supplementation, then I wouldn't have to stock up for Texas. What do you recommend for extras if needed? Can I feed only Honest Kitchen for the whole 3 months there? Or should I assume that the local markets there will carry raw meaty bones?

Thank you for your time.

Joan

ANSWER:

You can feed Honest Kitchen alone, but what I would do (especially for a big dog) is to add meat as about 50% of her diet. I wouldn’t worry about using necks/backs, you can use chicken leg quarters. You should be able to find those everywhere! On days you are traveling, feed the HK alone and you don’t need to worry about keeping things cold on the road.

I add Salmon Oil and Vitamin E to my dogs diets, no matter what I am feeding.

QUESTION:

I have recently began feeding raw. The forum on leerburg helped me get past a lot of my worries and helped me get started. I still wonder if I'm giving enough variety and if I'm balanced over time enough. I wanted to to this myself without the aid of a store bought food, but feel it would be best right now to do just that until I know more. I don't want to fail at this by giving store bought food, but I also don't want to malnourish my dog. Would you still consider Honest Kitchen to be good enough if used long term? I'll still be giving RMB's and additional meat everyday. Also, all the books I've gotten about raw don't talk much about extra muscle meat. I thought the RMB's were balanced in meat:bone, so how is the extra meat not throwing that off. I've re-read several times, but sometimes I'm slow and very possibly could have missed it every time. Thank you for yours and Ed's time and resources. Ya'll are a great help to everyone who chooses to do better for their dogs.

ANSWER:

The Honest Kitchen is certainly good enough to use long term. We use it almost every day here with our own dogs. I think that if you feed RMBs and meat AND HK you will cover all your bases. Rotate the types of meat.

RMBs vary so much in meat content, I don’t know that it’s possible to actually cover that in a book. A chicken back has almost no meat, a chicken leg quarter has lots of meat. We use chicken leg quarters a lot, but when we use necks and backs, we add extra meat. I don’t know that it’s possible to add too much meat, as long as you are feeding the RMBs regularly. If I feed my own dogs too much meat, their stools get a little bit too soft. After feeding like this for over a dozen years, I just throw things together most days with out a lot of forethought. You could try to think of it in terms of a prey animal (i.e. rabbit) there is much more meat than bone on a whole bunny or chicken. I am not big on percentages or ratios, I just use my common sense. (which may or may not be so good some days) LOL

Question:

Greetings,

I wrote to you a few days ago and I wanted to first say thanks for the quick reply. I have another question in regards to feeding a raw diet; I have been doing lots of research and discussing the information with my husband. He hates the idea of feeding the dog a raw diet, I have brought the subject up from the point of view as how the dog would eat that way if in the wild, be he keeps telling me that she is a dog and just feed her dry dog food. I also spoke with my vet (the only English speaking vet in the local area; I live in Germany) and he told me that the bacteria in raw food could kill my puppy and suggested that I stay away from raw food. I saw that your web site sell "Honest Kitchen" is this okay to feed her as is without adding other raw ingredients, I have convinced my husband to try it out but he has put his foot down on feeding her raw chicken, beef, liver or any other raw part of an animal.
Please let me know as I want what is best for my dog without causing too much turmoil in the home. I would appreciate any advise or suggestion you might have.

Kind Regards,
TSgt Kimberly

Answer:

You vet is completely wrong about the bacteria issue. If you read the info I sent you, you would find that comment as one of the most common scare tactics that new people are told. That is just ridiculous.

You can certainly feed Honest Kitchen without adding any extras, but it's much more nutritious and cost effective to add raw ingredients. I can help you with the diet part of this problem, but unless you can convince your husband otherwise it appears that Honest Kitchen is your solution.

Cindy

Question:

Hi Cindy,

Thanks so much for your great site... I was wondering if you know how much flax is in say one cup of force?

Thanks, Jan

Answer:

The mixture is about 9% flax.

Question:

Hello Cindy,

I just ordered several items from Leerburg and now I've decided to get your raw diet foods. My 4 yr. old German Shepherd just had a scary attack of bloat symptoms which stopped after I gave her Mylanta Gas and she ate a lot of grass. She is on "Life's Abundance" dry kibble-all my five dogs and 3 cats - can you add the food to my order? If you could guide me to get started (I read the site but not sure which to go with) I would give them raw meat and vegetables, yogurt like I do now in addition. Well, the raw meat I'm not sure of how much, what kind? I do cooked now. Any help would be appreciated. I have 2 Shepherds-70lbs. 1 yrs old, 4 yr. old, 3 little dogs under 10 lbs. - 3 cats 10 lbs.

Thanks,
Annette

Answer:

I will have one of the office staff call to find out which formula you want to add to your order.

I would probably recommend Force or Embark as they are the grain free varieties. I have had good results with both of those.

If you use the dehydrated foods, you don’t need to add veggies, there are plenty of those in there already.

If you read the FAQ section on Honest Kitchen, and the web pages about feeding dogs on our site you will find the answers you are looking for.

Read this article on feeding a raw diet http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm . It’s a work in progress but there is a lot of good information there.

I would also recommend these books, Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats and Raw Dog Food.

You can also go to our Feeding Dogs Page for a list of articles and books that will be helpful to you.

I hope this helps!

Question:

Wish I had discovered this site long ago.

I've got a 10 year lab. Allergies galore. We've tried all kinds of diets. Lamb is very bad. Yep, I said lamb. We were using Wellness with whitefish--which seemed to help a lot. But Trixie developed bladder stones from it.

Now she is on a vegetarian diet which I supplement with ground beef and egg. I do cook the ground beef and egg though. Trixie seems happier. However, if I go away I'm not sure the kennel will be eager to do what I do. (I love my kennel. They've been really patient with Trixie)

Would Honest kitchen be a good choice to try for my Trixie?

Her allergies--official ones---lamb, grass, bee and spider bites (swells up), dirt (good thing we've got a huge deck).

Her skin itches so bad she's caused bald spots on her legs. We've spent hundreds of dollars on vet visits, steroids, sprays, foods and anything else that might comfort her.

My other dog a sheltie has absolutely no problems.

Linda

Answer:

I would recommend either the Force or Embark formulas of the Honest Kitchen.
Grains tend to be one of the main offenders in allergies, and both of these foods are grain free.

I hope this helps.

Question:

I am strongly considering switching my 4 dogs to this food (Thrive). Right now I am feeding 3 different types from Science Diet( Growth, Light, and Senior). I had previously fed Flint River but switched due to the cost. I was looking at the options for my dogs and I think the Thrive would be the best bet. I have a 3 yr GSD, 13 yr Golden, 19 yr Golden and 16 mo Golden. I would love to have just one food to handle but want the correct food also for their needs. My older golden has a history of skin allergies and my adult Golden has hip dysplasia and cataracts. Please advise. Based on the your feeding suggestions could you also tell me how long a 4lb bag would last? Thanks so much for any help you can give me!

Starr
Weston, WV

Answer:

For any dogs with allergy histories, I recommend the 2 grain free formulas, Force or Embark. If your dogs tolerate grain, then Thrive would be fine also.

http://www.leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm#feeding here is the feeding guideline, with a 4 pound bag making 16 to 17 cups of fresh food.

A 4 pound bag isn’t going to last very long if you are feeding this exclusively to 4 big dogs.

Question:

I have a GSD that has dry itchy skin and is scratching a lot. I used a special shampoo from the vet which others have asked you questions about and it did not help. Which kind of Honest Kitchen would you recommend? I was looking at Thrive and did not know if that would help with the dry skin and scratching I described below in the email I sent you yesterday or if I should use a different one of the Honest Kitchen types of foods. I was looking at the Red barn meat rolls product for using as treats would you recommend this with the raw diet. I don’t want to start the raw diet and then feed the crappy commercial biscuits or other products for treats. Also is there any other supplement that will need to be done with the diet if I use the Honest Kitchen food?

Thank you for all of your help,

Joe

Answer:

I would use one of the grain free formulas if your dog is scratching. Embark or Force, either one.

I would also use Salmon Oil and Vitamin E, this will help with the dry skin and itching and we give both of these supplements daily to our dogs here.

We use the Red Barn rolls for treats and training, and we also really like these Soft Treats Actually all the treats we sell are suitable for use with a quality diet, we won’t sell anything we don’t believe is the best!

I hope this helps.

Question:

Cindy,

I was wondering if you have heard of EVO from Innova it is grain free and how it compares to Honest Kitchen. From there website they don’t recommend feeding EVO to large breed dogs under 2 because it is low in carbs. Is this true with honest kitchen? I have a GSD that is 21 months old and I am looking for a grain free food. Have you ever had any problems with E coli from the raw diet, lately it seems that there has been a lot of e coli recalls?

Thank you for your time,
Joe

Answer:

Hi Joe,

I have heard of EVO. As far as kibble goes, it’s ok. I just can’t recommend processed pellets for feeding any dog though. I don’t believe in it at all.

Honest Kitchen really can’t compare to kibble, because it’s dehydrated as opposed to being processed at high temperatures. Honest Kitchen is for all life stages, I would recommend Embark or Force if you want to go grain free.

No problems with bacteria. Think about the things dogs eat and lick! They have a much different digestive system than we do and can handle bacteria that would make us sick. If you want to know the truth though, most kibble is loaded with bacteria as well. It’s just not an issue for a healthy dog. If you read my Q and A on Feeding a Raw Diet, you will find a lot of useful information.

I hope this helps

Question:

I have been reading profusely on your forums and books about feeding raw and or dog food that does not have grain. I have a GS that is 15 mo old and I have been feeding him the Royal Canine, GS formula. He looks okay , but has developed an itching problem, perhaps associated with allergies. I read that feeding raw helps with this as well as pano- which he had a bout with last summer. The only place where I can find some of the natural kibble meat based dog foods in my area only carries, Innova & Natures Variety by Prairie. So I spoke with the lady that owns the store and bred GS at one time. She recommended the Innova as she felt the Natures Variety all meat diet was one that would create a problem with fast growth, resulting in future problems. So she recommends the Innova which has some grain- but is more natural and better quality. So now I'm confused. I looked at the ingredients of the Innova vs my Royal Canine - I cant make a judgment as I don't understand all this - but the Royal canine has the Omega -3 and a variety of things in it in addition that are things a dog should have as supplement to a diet of the Innova. The amounts of the ingredients vary too. Should I just do the raw feed diet you all have designed because I don't understand what is the best food. I would need a kibble for travel though. Help. And thank you.

Stephanie

Question:

Hi Cindy...I have a new 11 week old goldendoodle that came from sixth day ranch (they recommend you on their website) I would like to use the honest kitchen food but need some help on what kind and how much and can I mix it with the grain free evo kibble he is eating now???? Any advice would be great...

Thank-you,
Robin

Answer:

I would recommend the Embark Formula of Honest kitchen.

Here are the feeding guidelines for the Honest Kitchen products. You can mix it with kibble, but I would probably feed it separately if I were going to continue feeding both types of food.

Question:

Hi Cindy,

Thank you for such an informative site. I have been feeding my GSD about a pound of natures variety raw diet for breakfast. I feed her 1 1/2 cups HK force for dinner along with some raw beef or chicken....sometimes about 3 hours after she eats her HK dinner she will start to whine and want outside where she quickly eats lots of grass. After about 20-30 minutes she is just fine and wants to play. She has been on this HK for about 6 months now (the natures variety for 3 years) and didn't have a problem until recently. She does like the HK and tends to eat it fast. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jan

Answer:

I would try adding some yogurt or kefir to her food, and see if that helps. You could also let the HK ‘soak’ for a longer period of time before feeding.

Question:

Hi Cindy,

My name is Chris & I would like to gradually switch our 8 & 1/2 year old dogs to this diet. Hobie is a male border collie/shepherd mix & Molly is an Australian Shepherd. Both dogs currently are eating Canidae chicken & rice ( canned) & Molly eats California Naturals lamb & rice kibble as well.

About a year ago we added Hill's RX Diet "WD" to Hobie's meals, as he seemed to have recurrent problems with diarrhea ( unless I added loads of rice to his food & I was afraid he wasn't getting the proper nutrients)

Do you have a suggestion on which of the Honest kitchen foods we should try for the dogs ( especially Hobie)? Also, would it hurt to add some rice or other grain to help prevent the bowel problems?

Thanks so much for your help!

Chris

PS I have found all the Leerburg videos,DVD's & products so helpful!! Also, the free articles & advice on your website are GREAT! Please tell Mr. Frawley THANKS from us :)

Answer:

In my experience, the bowel upsets are sometimes caused because of grain intolerances. Most grain is incredibly hard on a dogs digestive system and organs, especially processed grains like you find in kibble.

Honest Kitchen also has a fairly new formula called Thrive that has organic quinoa. This is supposed to be easy on dogs with sensitive stomachs.

If you need to add something for fiber, I would recommend canned pumpkin (plain pure pumpkin, not the pie filling) usually about ¼ cup or a tad more per meal. I wouldn’t add rice.

For Hobie, I might also suggest a digestive enzyme to help him get more out of his food. This may help with the diarrhea as well. http://www.leerburg.com/55.htm I would probably recommend this supplement for both dogs during the diet switch.

Thanks for the kind words, I will pass them along to Ed. We appreciate your business.

Question:

Hi Cindy,

I have a 14 week old Black Russian Terrier. I have her currently on Innova Large Breed Puppy food and would like to transition her to Honest Kitchen. I have a couple of questions and concerns. As an owner of a Giant breed I am obsessed with worrying about calcium rates, and calories and I don't understand it all that well. With giant breeds and I am sure with your GSDs, these are concerns along with a multitude of other things like "no stairs, no over exercising and etc." I am considering Honest Kitchen because I would like to go grain free and was hoping that you could recommend one of them and if I should limit my BRTs RMBs because of excess calcium. She was 33lbs at 13 weeks and will top out around 100lbs. Also, what supplements would you recommend for this breed and does the supplementation change as the dog grows older. Lastly - I know that priobiotics are great for the transition, but should I stop them once she has adjusted? I purchased and read the book you sell on your site about natural nutrition for dogs and cats, but still had these questions.

Thank you for your help,
Julie

Answer:

For a growing pup I would recommend Embark, and I also interchange with Force (which is also grain free) I wouldn’t worry too much about cutting back RMBs, as the calcium in ‘real’ food is easily handled by the body. I have raised countless puppies on a raw diet, without issue. You can make yourself crazy if you try to figure out calcium ratios and things like that.

Balance over time is the key, and we feed a variety of foods to all our dogs here and have for many years. Kibble companies and vets try to scare us into thinking we can’t feed our dogs unless some scientists give us the correctly balanced foods. I would bet you have never given a thought to your own calcium/phosphorus ratios! I know I haven’t!

I would also recommend the book Raw Dog Food, it’s really well done.

For a dog making a switch, I would recommend digestive enzymes (many people get these confused with probiotics.) Probiotics are also good during a switch or any kind of stress or after a round of antibiotics.

I hope this helps.

Question:

Hi Cindy,

I had a couple of questions in regards to The Honest Kitchen. I have two little maltipoos- 5 and 7 lbs. I recently started them on the Force diet and mix in a little kibble with it (they seem to like some crunch in there). I have noticed that they have far more frequent bowel movements since being on this food. 4-5 a day. Is this normal and what does this mean? Are they not absorbing the nutrients in the food? Will this go away? I was curious as to what you might recommend for this.

Also, because I work I soak their morning food overnight and their dinner during the morning before I go to work. Is it okay to serve it to them cold? They seem to still really like it that way as well.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Tiffany

Answer:

I am glad you are soaking the food overnight, I was going to suggest that. It should be fine to feed it cold, as long as they don’t mind.
:-)

As for the frequent BMs, it may just be a matter of them adjusting to it completely. I might recommend adding a digestive enzyme to their meals for a short time (a few weeks) to see if that doesn’t help. You may also be overfeeding if the BMs are that frequent.

Here is a link to the enzyme I recommend http://www.leerburg.com/55.htm For dog that small you could divide one capsule between the two of them at each meal.

Cindy

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