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I had been feeding my dogs a high end/mail order kibble and often supplemented it with whole foods, quality joint care, etc., but I always wanted to take them off the kibble and cook for them. I always worried I wouldn't be able to provide a balanced meal. Preference is the perfect solution for me. I use it as the base and rotate the proteins. I started feeding it six months ago and have seen tremendous results. In the past six months, my 7 year old 105 lb. dog dropped down to 94, per the vet's wishes, and my 12 yr. old 17.5 lb dog dropped to her former weight of 15.5 lbs. In both cases, they have far more volume of food than they had before, it takes them longer to eat it, and they absolutely love their meals. While they used to let their kibble sit out for hours before eating it, they are now excited for each meal, and I really enjoy providing such delicious and varied meals.
I initially called the company to get recommended portions. Now that they are at their ideal weights, I've found I need to feed more than their suggested amounts for active dogs to maintain their weight. (My dogs are much more active than the typical family dog.) Other things I've noticed: my large dog used to drink excessively after exercise and suffered from incontinence 2-4 hours afterward as a result. She also had several UTIs and the occasional ear infection over the years. She hasn't had one episode of incontinence after switching to Honest Kitchen, and she has not had any infections. While incontinence was never a problem with the smaller dog, I've noticed she stays hydrated on HK and doesn't drink excessively anymore either. Although I've always included supplements for digestion, coat, joints, etc., their coats have never looked better. Additionally, one dog tended to strain a little while going to the bathroom and the other had looser stools and had excessive flatulence. The consistency of each dog's stools is now appropriate, and I can't remember the last time either one has passed gas.
Since I cook the protein, it helps me to prepare a bit in advance. My health food store usually has a deal on some protein for $1.99-2.99/lb (mostly poultry). I cook their protein for the month and measure into each dog's daily portion before freezing. I rotate the frozen food into the refrigerator so it can defrost without additional cooking. I heat the water and add it to the Preference/protein, which takes the chill out of the protein, too. And since I was initially concerned about having them lose weight, I got into the habit of pre-measuring their daily portion of Preference and visually dividing that amount between their two meals.
In addition to Preference + protein, I feed salmon oil, as HK recommends, enzymes, a probiotic, and occasionally, joint care.
I couldn't be happier about switching to this product. I was highly motivated to make a dietary change, enjoy cooking in general, and am perfectly willing to go through these extra steps for my dogs. My dogs are in fantastic shape and got there without feeling deprived because of portion control. They love meal time, and they are digesting their food so much better. They are the picture of good health.
I've also fed Zeal, and the dogs love that food as well and have had no problem switching back and forth between that and Preference. I'll use that when someone else is watching them or if I need a quicker option.
While the extra cost is a consideration for many (I stocked up during their 20% off anniversary sale in July), I feel so lucky to have found such a fantastic food for my pets. I appreciate the company's ethics: a dedication to organic foods where possible, free-range/cage free poultry, and no foods sourced in China. I wholeheartedly recommend it for all the reasons I've included above.
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I feed my dog a raw diet and despite what "the experts" say about dogs not needing veggies/fruits in their diet I was worried that she was missing key nutrients. This premix is a thousand times easier (no to mention cheaper) than making my own (or adding a half dozen supplements) and it seems to have most of the nutrients I was worried my dog wasn't getting.
That being said my dog hates the stuff... She won't go near it unless I mix it with a scoop of yogurt and some pumpkin and thoroughly mix it together with ground up chicken or turkey. Any that isn't well mixed in gets left in the bowl. It also gave her really bad gas the first ~2 weeks she was eating it but that seems to have subsided... Hope this helps!
Buy The Honest Kitchen Preference Grain-Free Dehydrated Dog Food Now
Preference is an incomplete dog diet that is made complete by adding meat. Preference is added with equal parts water and allowed to rehydrate for 5 to ten minutes. Then you mix in meat an whatever else you feed your dog. I usually mix it with a ground dog food from the butcher that contains ground beef, liver and heart. I also throw in a couple of raw eggs and fish oil. The dogs absolutely love it! I've been feeding a raw diet for several years, and this product is a great supplement. The chelated nutrients in Preference are more readily available for absorption in the digestive system, something that is hard to find in the vast majority of dog diets. I don't feed Preference every day. I make large batches, freeze in single serving sizes, and thaw them out for two meals per week.
I also use Urban Wolf Dog Food Mixer 3 lb Bag, which is also an excellent product. But what I love about Honest Kitchen is that they make their foods from human grade ingredients, most of which are sourced in the US. After the scare with Chinese gluten poisoning so many pets a few years ago, I am careful about where my dogs' food comes from. Note that many of the chicken/duck jerky treats are from China!
Please note that this stuff STINKS while it's rehydrating -I think it's the kelp or the alfalfa. Once I add the meat, and it smells fine -unless I add sardines! I highly recommend using this product or a product like it if you're feeding a raw or otherwise grain-free diet. Your dogs will thank you.
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I was a bit surprised by the previous review, the reviewer obviously didn't do their research. We highly recommend this product we settled on this one after we lost two beloved dogs to the Chinese poison in dog food incident a few years ago. We did our research and found this to be the best available.
This is a very healthy base to which you add protein. Our two Aussies are thriving on this it has been their main meal for over a year, and they are strong, active, and healthy due in part to the food we give them (we eat organic and healthy, and our dogs do too). It does smell like alfalfa, but even the most cursory examination reveals a great variety of good, organic foods.
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Our dog--10 yr old female min Schnauzer--had been fed Innova dry since she was a puppy. We were also bad about feeding her things she should eat--like pistachio nuts which she loved...she had pretty painful attacks of pancreatitis and was in the ER overnight several times once for several days...so we finally decided to look for low fat food.
Found Healthy Kitchen's Preference at a gourmet dog/cat food store several miles from our house---this offers the best way to us of serving a low-fat balanced diet in convenient fashion...We feed her !/4 cup of Preference with some no-fat cottage cheese, quinoa or brown rice, and cooked chicken or turkey--sometimes sardines in water if I find them on sale.
Beef that is lean enough or some other lean meat like venison is just too expensive...
but we rotate the chicken/ground turkey.
She was so picky toward the end of her Innova period that it would sit in her bowl unless we added inducements...
Now she wakes us up if we sleep too late--wanting her breakfast...plus she has lost some weight which is good thing...
she had good energy, rarely licks her feet, and doesn't drink lots of extra water...and best of all -NO pancreatitis as long as we don't succumb to giving her extras that cause problems...
We tried the Zeal before we needed to take her to the kennel once and she just didn't care for it--too loose and think she didn't like the smell...
So now I premix the wet part of a meal in a zip lock bag in right portion and take measuring cup and dry food for them to rehydrate...they have big kitchen and think lot of their clients have "special" food requirements...
Anyway--our dog is actually eating more volume a day than before but is healthier...
She hasn't been to vet since we started this food so will be interested to see what he notices...
