# Thinking of Switching Food



## kbritt (Sep 25, 2017)

Hi All! I’m thinking of changing my Havs’ diet. They are currently on fresh food (Nom nom). What is best for these guys? My Patrick (4 years) is a big boy at 22lbs. Kevin (1yr) is 15lbs.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

kbritt said:


> My Patrick (4 years) is a big boy at 22lbs.


You say big boy? This Patrick is more like 222 pounds! Both Ricky (7 y.o. and 15 lbs.) and I eat Honest Kitchen to keep the pounds off ! 👀 We are both big boned for our respective species. 🤭


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

kbritt said:


> Hi All! I’m thinking of changing my Havs’ diet. They are currently on fresh food (Nom nom). What is best for these guys? My Patrick (4 years) is a big boy at 22lbs. Kevin (1yr) is 15lbs.


Tell us a little more about why you're thinking of changing. In terms of "what's best" - you'll get many different answers here re: what each of us think is best for our pups - and we're probably all right . My personal advice on "what's best" is to figure out what your budget is, what your lifestyle is (in terms of raw, freeze dried raw, canned, kibble, etc.) and then see what good quality foods fit.

For example, Perry's been on Fromm kibble and Stella & Chewy freeze dried (breakfast and dinner, respectively). When we got back to the US I switched him to Honest Kitchen because I think it's a good quality food and it's more compact than the S&C patties (important since when we travel and live outside the US I bring his food with me), but I wasn't totally happy with how much his poop increased on HK  so I switched back to S&C. Others love and stick with HK because they like how their pup is on it. And there are probably dozens of other combos here.


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## BoosDad (Mar 8, 2020)

In the past, Boo ate both Stella and Chewy freeze dried patties and Ziwi Peak air dried venison dinner. I think both are great choices, if you do not want to continue with home cooked. However, Stella and Chewy is probably a better choice, if you are concerned about weight gain.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

BoosDad said:


> In the past, Boo ate both Stella and Chewy freeze dried patties and Ziwi Peak air dried venison dinner. I think both are great choices, if you do not want to continue with home cooked. However, Stella and Chewy is probably a better choice, if you are concerned about weight gain.


I do find it really easy to regulate Perry's weight with the combo of S&C and Fromm kibble... at 11 pounds he gets 2 S&C patties for dinner and 1/4 cup of kibble for breakfast... depending on the number of treats he's getting or exercise (or lack thereof) I up or down his kibble a bit to manage his weight.


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## LWalks (Feb 7, 2021)

For those feeding the S&C patties, I have a clarifying question…. Is freeze dried still considered raw, or is it safer? I ask because we’re considering therapy work, and some of the therapy certifying orgs won’t allow you to feed raw bc of risk of shedding salmonella. We’re not doing this yet, but would ideally find something and stick with it if it’s good, so would like to avoid restrictions.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

LWalks said:


> For those feeling the S&C patties, I have a clarifying question…. Is freeze dried still considered raw, or is it safer? I ask because we’re considering therapy work, and some of the therapy certifying orgs won’t allow you to feed raw bc of risk of shedding salmonella. We’re not doing this yet, but would ideally find something and stick with it if it’s good, so would like to avoid restrictions.


hmmm that's an interesting question. The package does say "freeze dried raw" but no idea what that means in terms of potential salmonella - if the freeze drying process affected that or if it was exactly the same as raw. I'd ask the certification organization to see what they think - if it's the same as raw raw.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kbritt said:


> Hi All! I’m thinking of changing my Havs’ diet. They are currently on fresh food (Nom nom). What is best for these guys? My Patrick (4 years) is a big boy at 22lbs. Kevin (1yr) is 15lbs.


I guess the first question would need to be why are you thinking of changing? It is really necessary to know what you DON'T like about your current food before ANY recommendation for a change is more than just shouting out names of other people's favorites.

No food is responsible for making a dog overweight, if that is, indeed, a concern. (You didn't SAY that it is... 22 lbs WOULD be a VERY large Havanese, but they do exist!) As with people, that is simply a matter of too MUCH food. Which is ALWAYS controllable by the human.

I feed Nom Nom too, and have been really happy with it. I feed all recipes except beef, since that one contained peas, and I avoid legumes in my dog's diets. (less of a problem if you do not have growing or breeding dogs which is probably not an issue for you) Since I WAS concerned with hitting a specific calorie goal rather than just using their on line suggestions for the amount of food to serve, I called them before signing up. They were great! We worked out the exact serving size for them to send me to feed my dogs in the evening, and I feed my preferred kibble in the morning. (my choice) so I can always fine-tune their weight on that end. I love that they have a board certified veterinary nutritionist on staff. That is something that MOST dog food companies DON'T have. As a result, I feel quite confident in the nutritional value of their food, and my dogs go CRAZY over it.

I did have one order go astray, in the beginning, which caused me to have to feed my dogs something else for a couple of days while they replaced that order. But I had a bag of Stella and Chewy's on hand, and no one starved or complained. They suggested, and what I did was order one extra week of food to have on had for just such an emergency. You don't get an extra week's worth every month. It's just a one time order. Then you just rotate that food through too, so your "extra" is always a fresh "week's worth". The ONLY adjustment I've had to make is that the food DOES take up the full bottom drawer of my side-by-side freezer... I guess people with big dogs must have to buy a separate freezer for their dog food!!!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Last week I started The Farmers Dog trial. Scout and Truffles really liked the turkey. Last night I opened the beef packet. it seems they prefer the turkey. Next time I'll just order the turkey and chicken. I thought it would makes things a lot easier if they tolerated and liked it. We'll see how it goes...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Heather's said:


> Last week I started The Farmers Dog trial. Scout and Truffles really liked the turkey. Last night I opened the beef packet. it seems they prefer the turkey. Next time I'll just order the turkey and chicken. I thought it would makes things a lot easier if they tolerated and liked it. We'll see how it goes...


It was really a toss-up when I chose between The Farmer’s Dog and Nom Nom. They both looked very good. I think Nom Nom was SLIGHTLY less expensive, and with four… that tipped me in that direction! All the fresh/frozen companies have quite attractive low priced options for trying them before you commit completely.

Interesting that your dogs didn’t care for the beef. I’m not buying the beef Nom Nom for other reasons, but I had someone else tell me that THEIR dogs didn’t like the Nom Nom beef recipe either!


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

LWalks said:


> For those feeding the S&C patties, I have a clarifying question…. Is freeze dried still considered raw, or is it safer? I ask because we’re considering therapy work, and some of the therapy certifying orgs won’t allow you to feed raw bc of risk of shedding salmonella. We’re not doing this yet, but would ideally find something and stick with it if it’s good, so would like to avoid restrictions.


My understanding is that the freeze drying process does not kill salmonella or listeria and is basically the same as raw. HPP (high pressure pasteurization) is used on some raw food to kill pathogens. More and more companies are using HPP. Some people do not want to feed HPP food but others do. You have to research the specific food. It is not always obvious if they use HPP. Some use it on poultry products only. Perhaps some of the freeze dried products undergo HPP also…not sure.

As far as pathogens in dog food here is a recent article. Raw is not necessarily less safe per this article. Dogs eat poop and lick their butts so as far as being a service dog this risk is always present. And whether feeding raw meat to a dog or human family, safe handling practices are important.









What Do 10 Years of Recalls Tell Us?


Kibble was the #1 style recalled, pathogenic bacteria was the #1 cause. But the most starting statistic confirms the FDA fails pet owners.




truthaboutpetfood.com


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## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> I guess the first question would need to be why are you thinking of changing? It is really necessary to know what you DON'T like about your current food before ANY recommendation for a change is more than just shouting out names of other people's favorites.
> 
> No food is responsible for making a dog overweight, if that is, indeed, a concern. (You didn't SAY that it is... 22 lbs WOULD be a VERY large Havanese, but they do exist!) As with people, that is simply a matter of too MUCH food. Which is ALWAYS controllable by the human.
> 
> ...


I have a separate chest freezer for my two small dogs! Chest freezers are cheap and inexpensive to run and food keeps better because it is not constantly defrosting. I like to stock up o food when it is on sale too so a chest freezer is a must for me. We have a large, medium and two small chest freezers. However, we hunt and butcher our own meat too so need freezer storage. Food in a chest freezer keeps much longer. I only use the refrigerator freezer for food I will use more quickly. Vacuum packaging also helps food to stay fresher longer, even in a freezer that defrosts.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout sniffs the beef awhile before eating. Truffles sniffs the beef and lays down in front of her dish for quite awhile before she starts to eat. They both gobbled up the turkey recipe. I hesitated ordering because the beef, pork and chicken recipes all include liver. 🤮


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Heather's said:


> Scout sniffs the beef awhile before eating. Truffles sniffs the beef and lays down in front of her dish for quite awhile before she starts to eat. They both gobbled up the turkey recipe. I hesitated ordering because the beef, pork and chicken recipes all include liver. 🤮


There is no liver in any of the Nom Nom recipes, but there is fish oil, which is why Kodi can't eat any of them.  I have,'t found ANY of the fresh/frozen foods that are suitable for him.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

krandall said:


> There is no liver in any of the Nom Nom recipes, but there is fish oil, which is why Kodi can't eat any of them.  I have,'t found ANY of the fresh/frozen foods that are suitable for him.


This is the first time I've heard about Nom Nom. It probably would have been my first choice knowing the recipe does not contain liver. Fish oil doesn't isn't a problem. If the Farmer's Dog doesn't work out I will try Nom Nom. I must say it is very convenient and time saving having the frozen packets.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Heather's said:


> This is the first time I've heard about Nom Nom. It probably would have been my first choice knowing the recipe does not contain liver. Fish oil doesn't isn't a problem. If the Farmer's Dog doesn't work out I will try Nom Nom. I must say it is very convenient and time saving having the frozen packets.


Fish oil isn’t normally a problem. It just one more thing that Kodi is allergic to! LOL!


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