How do I transition my dog to The Honest Kitchen Diets?
Generally for a healthy dog, we recommend to substitute ¼ of
the total amount of your dog’s present food with the new food choice,
and continue to increase by ¼ every 3 days until your dog is
completely on The Honest Kitchen Diet. In about 10 days your dog should
be completely on our wholesome diet. Many dogs can transition more swiftly
and a few may take a little longer to make the switch.
What do The Honest Kitchen diets look like once hydrated?
All three of the diets have a texture resembling muesli or ‘loose
mixes’ after hydration, with some colorful pieces of recognizable
fruits, veggies, and grains (for Verve). All three diets have a very
pleasant aroma.
What’s so great about dehydrated food?
The dehydration process removes only the water from the food, while
leaving the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients intact.
The Honest Kitchen’s dehydrated foods provide your dog with many
of the benefits of a fresh home-prepared diet, made much more convenient.
Processed dry kibble and canned foods are cooked at such high temperatures
the food becomes denatured and many important nutrients are no lost.
A good clue to this is a very long list of vitamins and minerals in
the ingredients panel – it shows what the manufacturer had to add
to make the food nutritionally balanced.
Are the meats in The Honest Kitchen diets raw?
All the ingredients in our diets are guaranteed human edible. The meats
are dehydrated at a low enough temperature to maintain many of the nutrients,
but the dehydration process takes place at a high enough temperature
to kill any pathogenic bacteria that may be present in raw meats. Our
meats are the exact same ingredients used in dehydrated and frozen human
foods.
Additional raw meats may be mixed in with our foods if desired. All
the other ingredients are dehydrated at very low temperatures (below
104 degrees) and are therefore still considered raw.
Do the Honest Kitchen diets contain bone?
The Honest Kitchen diets do not contain any bone. All of our diets
contain ONLY Human Grade ingredients, bones are not in high demand for
human foods, so they are not a readily available. Our meats are 100%
pure, USDA muscle meats only.
Will adding in meats and raw bones affect the Calcium : Phosphorus
ratio in my dog’s diet?
The Calcium : Phosphorous ratio in our foods is balanced with the vitamin
premix, containing human grade tri-calcium phosphate, and is set at
a ratio that allows for additional meat and raw bones to be mixed in
without throwing off the ratio. As a general guideline, we recommend
about ½ cup of meat or RAW meaty bones (chicken backs or necks)
to 1 cup of dry-measured Honest Kitchen diet. NEVER COOKED BONE!!
What is the shelf life on The Honest Kitchen Diets?
All of The Honest Kitchen products have about 12 month’s shelf
life prior to hydration. Once re-hydrated, any leftovers should be treated
like raw foods and refrigerated or discarded.
What are the standards for the ingredients in your products?
All of the ingredients in our products are of US origin, and everything
is USDA inspected, human edible. Our products are processed in a plant
that only accepts human grade ingredients onto their premises, therefore
all of our ingredients must meet these standards.
All the meats used in The Honest Kitchen diets are antibiotic and hormone-free.
All the fruits and vegetables are certified GMO-free.
Our flax, barley, oats, and rye are all Certified Organic.
How many meals will I get out of a 10 lb bucket of the Honest Kitchen?
Dependent on which diet you choose, your dog’s size, age and activity
level and whether you plan on adding in any meats, or fruits and veggies,
a 10 lb bucket of Verve will make about 40 lbs of re-hydrated food,
while a 10 lb bucket of Embark and Force will make approximately 43
lbs of food.
What constitutes one cup of food?
Our label feeding recommendations are based on 1 cup (8 oz by volume
or 4 oz by weight). 1 cup of dehydrated food will make approximately
1 lb (or a little over two cups) of food once re-hydrated.
Are the feeding guideline recommendations based on dry measure?
Yes, the recommendations for measuring out your dog’s meal are
based on dehydrated measure.
I feed my pet twice daily, are the feeding guidelines the total daily amount
or per meal?
At the Honest Kitchen we do suggest feeding your pet twice daily, and
the feeding guidelines are designed for the total calorie intake for
one day. The feeding guideline amount should be split into two meals.
Can I prepare the food in advance and how long will the food stay fresh
once prepared?
Yes, you can prepare a day or two of feedings in advance, though the
food should be refrigerated once hydrated. The food will keep in the
fridge for up to 48 hours. If you wish to prepare more then two days
you may prepare the food and freeze the diet. Many people like to freeze
it in individual portions, especially if someone else will be caring
for their dog for a few days.
Which diet is best for my dog?
The Honest Kitchen has 3 diets available, as well as 3 supplements,
and our highly sought-after Smooches Cookies.
The diet best for your dog is dependent on age, activity, and if you
are content with his or her present weight. You may contact us to help
in determining the best diet for your pets’ specific needs. Diets
may also be combined to manipulate the nutritional composition is desired.
Verve - a beef-based food with organic grains; contains the
least calories of our three diets. This is a great food to maintain
your dog at a good weight.
Force - a chicken-based diet that is grain free, great for dogs
with allergies. The Force diet is higher in fat than Verve and contains
a number of veggies and fruits to provide your dog with adequate carbohydrates.
Embark - a turkey-based diet designed with the active dog, or
puppy in mind, also dogs with weakened immune system (cancer recovery)
benefit from Embark's higher calorie and protein content with very low
carbs.
What are some recommended add-in ideas?
The list of items to add into your dog's diet is near endless, just
to name a few, ground beef, turkey, chicken or exotic meats if available,
plain yogurt, fruits such as melon, a few nuts such as flaked almonds
– the list is endless!
Some items that you should NEVER feed to your dog are onions, raisins,
COOKED BONE, and basic junk foods that we ourselves should not be eating!
Add-in amounts may vary; we recommend a ratio of about ½ cup
of meats, veggies, or Raw Meaty Bones to 1 cup dry measure of The Honest
Kitchen diets.
Are there samples available?
Yes, we have samples of all of our diets. The sample packets will make
1 lb of food once re-hydrated.
My dog is overweight, which diet do you recommend?
Generally for overweight dogs, the diets of choice are either Verve
or Force, and this can be dependent of the specifics of your dog. All
of our diets are low in carbohydrates, and the Verve and Force are the
two lowest in calories and fat content. Some dogs seem to maintain a
healthier bodyweight with limited carbs – in which case Embark
would be a good choice. It is usually a matter of determining which
diet is the best choice for an individual dog. Of course, one of the
keys to maintaining healthy bodyweight is exercise - ideally about 20
minutes of brisk walking each day for most dogs.
Are the Honest Kitchen diets designed to support a growing puppy’s
needs?
The vitamins and minerals present in all of our diets are fine to support
normal growth and skeletal development in puppies. The Embark formula
is specifically designed to offer growing puppies more protein and calories
to assure proper muscle development. We do, however, suggest the addition
of fresh meats, which will offer them more variety of amino acids. For
giant breed puppies you may want to consult with your breeder as to
specific needs and or limitations of nutrients.