Does Your Dog Need a Food Change?

But I noticed a difference when my dog reached 10 months old.  He seemed more hungry.  He begged for snacks between meals to tie him over until the next feeding time.  Because of his age, I didn’t want to make a food change.

My dog, Syre, was a few weeks away from his 1st birthday, and it was time to make a change.  He was starting to look round and puffy from months of kibble consumption. He was hungry between meals even though he ate twice daily.

Kibble contains a lot of carbohydrates, fillers, and preservatives.  These substances create an imbalance in your dog’s diet.  The empty calories leads to overeating, weight gain, and water retention.  It creates the “round” look and lack of satiety that I noticed in Syre.

Our first switch was from kibble to raw beef dog food.  Although supplemented for dogs, something didn’t agree with Syre.  He only tried it a few times but each serving made him vomit soon after eating.

I decided that a lightly cooked food would be better for Syre’s sensitive stomach. There are several companies that make lightly cooked dog food.  But I decided to try Open Farm gently cooked grass-fed beef recipe.  It comes frozen in small packages.  All you do is thaw and serve.

The main ingredients of Open Farm Gently Cooked Beef are:

• Grass-fed beef - a lean protein high in antioxidants, vitamins, and conjugated linoleic acid
• Carrots - a good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants
• Kale - contains high amounts of vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese
• Beef liver - a great source of vitamin A, folic acid, iron, and zinc
• Zucchini - high in vitamin C, potassium and magnesium
• Butternut squash - high in fiber, and vitamins A, C, E, as well as B vitamins
• Pumpkin - high in fiber, beta carotene, and vitamin A
• Flaxseed - good source of fiber and omega 3’s
• Vitamins/Supplements

Our food trial lasted for 3 weeks.  Within a few days, I could notice a difference.  Syre’s fur was becoming shinier.  His stools were less frequent, reducing from 4 to 2 bowel movements a day.  His stools were dark, almost a dark green color, due to the kale in his food.  He looked leaner, like he had lost some baby fat.  And he wasn’t begging between meals.

Syre’s before and after pictures don’t show much of a difference.  But I noticed he weighed more after his 3 week trial on Open Farm.  How could that be?

If he shed fat and gained muscle?  Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be one reason.  And if he isn’t done growing, he could have gained some weight due to genetics.

What do we like?

It is reassuring to see that my dog is getting whole food because I can see the fresh veggies.  Also, the small bag sizes make it easy to use.  Thaw what you need, and keep the rest in the freezer for later.

Syre also seems happier and is very excited at dinner time!  He usually barks at me if I am not fast enough with getting his meal prepared.  He has always loved food but his excitement for meal time with Open Farm has been unmeasurable.  He loves meal time even more than he did before.  Syre gives it 2 paws up!