For pawrents, when it comes to choosing the best diet for your pooch, the options themselves can be consuming. While the most im-paw-tant part of selecting your dog’s diet is verifying it is balanced and nutritionally complete, after that, the choices are seemingly endless. When you begin considering feeding them a mixed diet, it can become even more confusing as to whether you’re fueling your pooch with the best food possible.

So which mixture is best? In this blog, we’re going over the main different diets available and provide our recommendation of which mix is ideal to feed your furry family member. 

Dry Food

A dry food (or kibble) diet is the most common of all doggie diets. In fact, according to this 2021 survey, ruffly 76 percent of furry companions are fed exclusively kibble. The perks? Feeding dry food is oftentimes more convenient for its shelf life, lack of waste, cost and ease of preparation (it takes just two seconds to serve!). The downside? Most kibble is highly processed and filled with preservatives, flavourings, animal-by products and cheap carbohydrate fillers. Also, while most meat-based dog kibble is considered nutritionally complete, it’s because vitamins and minerals were added after the main ingredients were extruded (a common process that uses extremely high heat and pressure that takes away most of the flavour and nutritional benefits the ingredients originally had). Extruded kibble is often sprayed with a palatant after the cooking process, to help make up for the loss of flavour during the high heat and pressurised cooking.    

The good news is that not all dry food is made this way—coming later this summer, your pooch can get their paws on THE PACK’s plant-based oven-baked dry food! The first product of its kind in Europe! Our dry kibble is made with your pooch’s wellness in mind; it’s cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time compared to traditional extruded kibble, meaning it will retain our ingredients’ naturally abundant flavours and nutrients—which are plentiful, as our dried food will be loaded with premium fruits, veggies and muliple sources of protein. We’ve also added pre- and post-biotics to the recipe that will nourish your dog’s gut microbiome (So long, extra stinky poos!). Our soon to be released, nutritionally complete plant-based oven-baked dried food has us howling winner winner, plant-based dinner!

Wet Food

If you’ve ever opened a can of wet food with your dog in the other room, you’ll find that within seconds, they’re giving you puppy eyes right at your feet. Why is that? Many pooches prefer wet food for being more flavourful than its drier counterpart. Along with making your pup more likely to lick the bowl clean if they’ve been fed wet food, due to its higher water content, it can help hydrate your pooch and make them feel fuller for longer. The cons? Once opened, wet food must be refrigerated and needs to be used within a few days. Because it can spoil quickly, wet dog food makes for a lot of waste (food-wise and single-use containers-wise) and can become costly (for you and the planet). Most commercial meat based wet food is also highly processed and made of many of the same ingredients as dry food, meaning it isn’t free of animal by-products, flavours or preservatives just because it looks (and smells, unfortunately for our human noses) ‘fresher’.

Raw Diet

A raw diet for your dog is exactly what it sounds like—feeding your dog raw meat, typically organ meat such as liver and kidneys, muscle meat, bones (whole or ground), raw eggs and some fruit and vegetables. The reason for this? Some pawrents believe that their omnivorous dog—who spends most of the day on the sofa, goes to the groomers and drinks puppuccinos—should suddenly explore their ‘carnivorous instincts’. While the diet is seemingly growing in popularity, so are concerns about it, including from most veterinarians and the World Health Organisation, as just last year, researchers from The University of Porto found an antibiotic-resistant bacteria in multiple samples of raw dog food, which the WHO fears could lead to the world’s next ‘superbug’. Handling raw food can also be dangerous to you and your family as it exposes you all to harmful bacteria, including Salmonella ssp. and Listeria monocytogenes.

Home-cooked

Some pawrents like the idea of feeding their dog home-cooked meals; they know exactly what is going into their pooch’s tummy. While your dog certainly won’t complain about sharing a similar dinner to yours, your pup is highly likely to be missing out on a balanced, nutritionally complete diet when fed exclusively home-cooked meals. It’s important to ensure that your dog’s main food source has been scientifically approved as providing all the nutrients their waggy body needs.

Plant-based

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to our readers that our pack supports this diet for pooches—but throw us an eco-friendly toy bone and hear us out as to why! There have been multiple studies, like this one, pointing to overall healthier doggos when fed a balanced, nutritionally complete plant-based diet (when compared to commercial dog food, like meat-based kibble and canned food, and raw meat). From helping maintain a healthy weight, being allergen-friendly, anti-inflammatory, preventing the onset of certain cancers and hormonal diseases (like hypothyroidism)… why don’t you just download our free e-book on raising a happy, healthy, plant-based dog to find out about all the benefits a balanced, complete plant-based diet can bring to your furry friend (otherwise, we’re going to be here for dog years).

What’s The Paw-fect Mix? 

We at THE PACK believe the paw-fect mixed diet for your dog is wet and dry food, with the occasional pup-safe, home-prepared snack or side. But we’re not recommending just any wet and dry food—we’re talking about THE PACK’s nutritionally complete, sustainably packed, canned wet food and (soon to be released!) dry-baked kibble. Why? Your pooch can get a bit bored of the same single texture. As pointed out by Ashley Gallagher, DMV, it’s important to incorporate different tastes and textures to attract your pup and get them excited about eating. Just adding some of our wet food (made up of a variety of legumes, veggies and fruit) to your dog’s kibble (whether it’s plant-based or meat-based—the latter of which would make your pooch a ‘flexidogian’) will entice your dog to their bowl and get them waggy about their tasty and textured meal. It also won’t hurt to add some fresh or steamed, unsalted pup-approved veggies and/or fruit to top their food bowl for the ultimate super-meal.

Whether your dog is a flexidogian or full-on plant-based pooch, try slowly incorporating our plant-based wet food with their regular dog kibble (or our soon-to-be-released superfood kibble!) and watch the instantaneous drooling and tail wagging commence!

If you are new to THE PACK you can get 20% off your first order using THEPACK20 at checkout. 

Or 30% off your 1st subscription with code PACKSUB30. 

Winner, winner, plant-based dinner!