Most people want to feed their loved pets well. Growing up in the supermarket business, I have seen major changes in the pet food industry. Pets were often fed table scraps and leftovers up until the early 1900's. Throughout history, archeologists have discovered the diet of pet dogs closely resembled that of humans. In the 1950's, Purina began the extrusion process, where dog food was mixed and cooked in a liquid form and then extruded into kibble form and baked and dried. Busy families enjoyed the convenience of a dry, easy to feed and relatively economical food for their pets. Television ads convinced them that this was the healthiest way to feed their dogs a balanced diet. The dry dog food business was booming and at our supermarket we would sell 100"s of 25 lb bags of dried dog food, for about $5 a bag. Canned or wet dog food was also booming and feeding table scraps was becoming a thing of the past in most homes. Next, we saw a shift towards "super premium" dry kibble has major companies tried to move away from the $5 bag of kibble. We also saw the 25 Lb bag go to 18Lbs as the great packaging shrink took hold! The only problem was, the "super premium" food really wasn't much different than the original kibble. One of the the next phases was grain free. People believed many of the allergies in our pets were due to the grains present in modern day kibble. Grain free was everywhere and many customers made the switch. Raw diets were also gaining in popularity since many people believed dogs were carnivores and raw chicken/meats were the best way to provide needed nutrition. Then, in 2019, fresh refrigerated dog food made it to our small town grocery store shelves. I remember my father's shock (he is 88) when he saw us install the cooler for fresh dog food. We were surprised at the steady growth of this fresh ultra pasteurized dog food. We tried the fresh dog food on our own picky eating poodle and she loved it. The biggest problem for our family was the look and smell of the food. While they claim the food is made using all fresh ingredients, the are hardly present in their original form. We began our quest to make a better fresh dog food. I studied every dog diet, from raw to grain free, consulted veterinarians, read research reports and cookbooks. To be honest, it confused the heck out of me. How could people disagree so much on what was good for dogs? We decided to settle on a very basic formula, Our food would be made with 50% fresh meat and of that 20% would be organ meat because organ meats including liver and gizzards are good for dogs. 25% of our food would be high quality brown rice, and the other 25% would be a mixture of fresh vegetables and wild Maine blueberries. We chose every ingredient based on their nutrient value and to create a balanced diet. We started feeding it to our three dogs and saw changes start to happen. Our oldest dog's transformation was amazing. Cosmo went from near death to an overall healthy 14 year old dog. Hot spots went away, breathing improved, and arthritis improved. Our two poodles both had eye allergies causing excessive goopy eyes and those have
gone away. Cosmo has lost needed pounds and Honey and Hazel have gained a few needed pounds. Have we found the perfect diet? I hesitate to say that because I know some will say our food is lacking in something dogs need. But I will say along with our veterinarian, we have created a darn good food loaded with active nutrients and great quality proteins. We know Honey & Hazel food has worked wonders for our dogs. We encourage you to talk to your vet and as always we welcome your feedback as we all work towards the "perfect" diet for our loved pets.