Here at Meadows, we have two predominant feeds that we feel confident enough to recommend and which we feel are the best of the best. I should add before I go into further detail that in no way do we profit by 'promoting' these products, this is just what we believe is the best for all of our pups. To give you an idea, our weaning journey looks like this:
We begin our pups (hopefully everything going to plan) being fed by mum and topped up with puppy formula should they need it. Then we move onto Nutriment puppy RAW paste at around 3 weeks of age and gradually increase the amount of food to milk ratio each week until their diet is 100% solid foods by the time they reach 7-8 weeks of age.
Homemade RAW paste - 'Barf Diet' (2-3 weeks old). Why do we feed this? Dogs for generations have devoured meat and bone. The shape of their digestive system, their teeth, and their jaw has not changed since hunting for their meals. This is why to us personally it makes more sense to continue feeding them uncooked meat and bones just like they ate back in the day. If you wish to or are thinking about continuing to feed raw, please consider the numerous benefits including improved dental health, a shinier and healthier skin and coat, reduced allergies, smaller and more compact stools, increased energy and stamina, and better digestion just to name a few. Alongside raw mum will feed her puppies her milk, until around 6 weeks old, and then she will naturally begin to wean them off. The faster a pup is beginning to eat full meals, the much less strain there is on mum as well as the healthier and stronger the pup will become.
Nutriment is Biologically Appropriate Raw Food ("BARF") for puppies, dogs, and cats supplying a balanced dietary and scrumptious diet. They state 'All of our healthy meals are designed to support your pet’s health & happiness, improve behaviour, balance energy levels, help eradicate intolerances/sensitivities and help with other health concerns such as obesity, irritable bowels, pancreatitis & arthritis.' 'Our food is 100% natural. Using only the highest quality ingredients, we create a delicious blend of high-quality cuts of meat & bones as well as oils, antioxidants, herbs, seasonal vegetables, fruits, and berries to help your pet thrive'.
Although we would much prefer our pups to continue a raw diet, we understand that many puppy parents are not satisfied or find it convenient enough to feed RAW. Because of this, we made the decision of following on from the raw paste to a solid food at the age of 6-8 weeks by gradually increasing the amount of 'Orijen puppy food' to their raw food paste each week.
As you can imagine we have researched drastically to ensure the dry meals we are feeding are just as good and equal to that of a raw diet. And for this reason, we have chosen Orijen Puppy. A dry kibble version of raw food. Orijen has a high-quality meal made of Human Grade meat percentage (not meat meal, which is a processed structure of dried meat used in most kibbles today and is typically made from untraceable low-quality cuts of bones, and, on occasion, feathers and beaks - its high cooking temperatures degrade it, but it is more difficult to digest, less tasty, and less nutritious than freshly prepared meat diets like raw) and additionally uses veggies, fruit, whole prey and fresh & raw meat.
Unlike other dog food brands, Orijen also has a very high nutritional value of 94% (Bella and Duke having a 98%) compared to processed very well-known supermarket brands with shocking stats of 38% and 37% nutritional rates. General supermarket and pet store dog food is made from inferior raw materials, mainly cereals, bone meal and fats. Very often, only a very small amount of fresh meat is actually contained within the food and instead, meat flours are processed and added which are often declared as dried meat. In comparison, Orijen have a philosophy to 'MIRROR THE QUANTITY, FRESHNESS, AND VARIETY OF MEAT THAT DOGS AND CATS HAVE EVOLVED TO EAT' which we of course particularly love. They use only fresh regional ingredients in dog nutrition and avoid artificial additives, the first 5 ingredients are always fresh or raw and it includes ‘the most succulent parts of the prey like poultry or fish, organs and bone to mimic what your dog’s ancestors consumed in the wild’. They are a great alternative to of a RAW diet as they maintain a high-quality diet without any additional nasty ingredients all while supporting your dog's ability to thrive and because of this we feel confident in recommending it.
For more information on dog food and their nutritional values please visit: www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk it’s very eye opening!
All our pups will be sent along with a 2kg of Orijen Puppy food, and if you are interested in continuing with a raw food plan we will be able to discuss this and the next steps to do so.
BARF diet.
