# Report on trying a new food



## Madison's Mom (Dec 26, 2007)

Axel and Paxton will eat just about anything, but Madison is so picky. They've been eating Stella & Chewy's Raw Frozen, but Madison just refuses it, even when I try to feed her by hand.

So I visited our local pet boutique, Bark Avenue, today and got several sample packs of dehydrated raw food.

Tonight we tried The Honest Kitchen's Embark. This is the first time I've dealt with this kind of food. It was very interesting. It's very GREEN when hydrated. I actually tasted it and it really wasn't bad...kind of like baby food. I put about 1/3 cup in three little bowls and put them on the floor. Axel, of course, started eating right away; Paxton sniffed, licked, sniffed, looked at me, licked, then must have decided it was OK to eat it, because he ate it all.

Madison, the picky-miss, sniffed and walked away. Sometimes if I go out of the room, she will eat. Nope. She followed me out of the room. I picked up her bowl so Axel wouldn't eat it (we are afraid he's gaining weight and I've started a weight chart for each one of them). I put Madison's bowl down again later and she would just sniff it....so....I fed her with a spoon and she ate it all. :brownbag: Do you think maybe she's a little spoiled? We'll try it again tomorrow.

Here's a question for those of you who feed Embark - do your kids get green beards after eating? Maybe I put too much water in. The consistency was not too runny, but not as thick as canned food.

The other foods I bought were three varieties of Addiction Raw Dehydrated. I'll report on them when we try them.

Now that I've fretted over dog food all day, I'm going to eat some junk food for dinner.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

I tried two sample packs of THK Embark with Preston and he loved it, but yes, it is VERY messy. He had a bright green beard after only two meals so I can only imagine how permanent it would be if feeding it daily. He really enjoyed it mixed with kibble, but then again he loves to eat! I chose to go with a different product for two reasons: First, because THK only has 3 grain-free varieties to choose from and I am an advocate of rotation feeding if at all possible. Second, I felt it was just too runny or too thick...one extreme or the other. I think it is because the entire food is powdery, rather than having varying textures.

I just started feeding Grandma Lucy's Artisan, it is freeze-dried and the meat is cooked rather than raw. The fruits/veggies/carbs are all raw. The consistency is like mashed potatoes but lumpy like oatmeal. There are chunks of meat in it as well as ground up meat. Preston is only getting 1Tbsp per meal mixed with his kibble right now to transition, but so far he loves it. I am very happy with it so far and will do a full review on it soon.

I can't wait to hear how you like Addiction Deh. Raw because that was my other "go-to" food if Gma Lucy's doesn't work out for L&P. I haven't tried it yet.

P.S. The Gma Lucy's tastes better than THK in case you are curious! LOL!


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi Glenda. Bailey currently eats THK's Embark and has been on it for over a month now I believe. He loves it but he loves to eat and is not picky at all. I'm not crazy about it being green and soupy either! He eats about 1/4 cup of Embark mixed with a a couple of tablespoons of canned food - mixing it with canned thickens it up a bit so that helps, but it is still kind of messy. It doesnt stain his mouth green or anything though. I have fed him Grandma Lucy's in the past as well and that had a much thicker consistency. I have not tried any of the other THK varieties so I'm not sure if they all look like the Embark but I am pleased with the quality of THK and really like the company, so I will continue to feed it. I may rotate it with Addiction dehydrated raw though. 

I hope you can find a food all three of the kids will enjoy, including Missy Picky Madison! Have you tried any other varieties of frozen raw other than S&C??


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## Madison's Mom (Dec 26, 2007)

Bailey&Me said:


> Hi Glenda. Bailey currently eats THK's Embark and has been on it for over a month now I believe. He loves it but he loves to eat and is not picky at all. I'm not crazy about it being green and soupy either! He eats about 1/4 cup of Embark mixed with a a couple of tablespoons of canned food - mixing it with canned thickens it up a bit so that helps, but it is still kind of messy. It doesnt stain his mouth green or anything though. I have fed him Grandma Lucy's in the past as well and that had a much thicker consistency. I have not tried any of the other THK varieties so I'm not sure if they all look like the Embark but I am pleased with the quality of THK and really like the company, so I will continue to feed it. I may rotate it with Addiction dehydrated raw though.
> 
> I hope you can find a food all three of the kids will enjoy, including Missy Picky Madison! Have you tried any other varieties of frozen raw other than S&C??


The first frozen we tried was S&C Beef frozen and Madison reluctantly ate it. So the next bag I bought was Chicken. She thought it was super yucky and just refuses to eat it at all. She would prefer to live on the homemade chicken jerky I make, but that isn't goin to happen!

I haven't opened the Addictions I bought yet so I don't know what color they are. I haven't tried any other frozen foods other than the S&C.

When you talk about a 'rotation' diet, how often do you change the variety of food they are getting?


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## Madison's Mom (Dec 26, 2007)

LJSquishy said:


> P.S. The Gma Lucy's tastes better than THK in case you are curious! LOL!


 
LOL! 

BarkAvenue is having a fund-raising walk today for the local dog food bank. They told me that there are many elderly people who can no longer afford high quality food for their dogs along with their own food, so they are feeding their pets the best and living on what they can. So sad.

One of their suppliers, Nature's Variety, is going to match in food donations what the walkers are able to purchase. That's great!


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Madison's Mom said:


> The first frozen we tried was S&C Beef frozen and Madison reluctantly ate it. So the next bag I bought was Chicken. She thought it was super yucky and just refuses to eat it at all. She would prefer to live on the homemade chicken jerky I make, but that isn't goin to happen!
> 
> I haven't opened the Addictions I bought yet so I don't know what color they are. I haven't tried any other frozen foods other than the S&C.
> 
> When you talk about a 'rotation' diet, how often do you change the variety of food they are getting?


I'm a strong believer in rotating Bailey's diet and giving him a wide variety of foods...I usually change with every bag/box of food. This past January he had a bad tummy episode that was believed to be a foreign body obstruction so he had to have surgery...after that I kept him on a strict limited ingredient canned diet for a few months to give his system a chance to heal. But other than that, he has always gotten a wide variety. In the past, I used to give him dry food (I switched with every bag, so that meant a different kind every 2-3 months) but I mixed in different canned foods in with the dry (variety of proteins, different brands). 

NOW however, I am trying to keep things simple for his system to process so I try to give him one protein at a time but switch it up every couple of months - I have him on Embark which is made with turkey and I also mix in canned food which is also made with turkey. When I'm done with this box, I will switch to a different protein - so maybe the Addiction dehydrated raw that is made with venison, mixed in with venison canned food. 

I am really interested in trying frozen raw food too. A couple of the ones I'm looking at are Primal and Aunt Jeni's. Maybe Madison may like a different brand of frozen raw better than the S&C? I know Primal has a free trial pack that has 3-4 of their different varieties in it so you could try something like that if you wanted to stick with frozen raw. 

Let us know how it goes with the Addiction dehydrated!!


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## Madison's Mom (Dec 26, 2007)

Last night's food was Addiction Lamb and Potato. Of course, the boys didn't think twice about cleaning their bowl. And as usual, Madison sniffed and walked away. So I picked up her bowl so the guys couldn't get it.

About an hour later, I called Madison back to the kitchen, put her bowl down in front of her, and SHE ATE IT ALL! YAY! She doesn't care for chicken or beef, but the lamb was OK. 

Our last trial will be Addiction's Venison and cranberries. If Miss Picky will eat it, it's a winner, too!

By the way, as a small treat, I gave them some sweet potato I had stir fried in virgin coconut oil this weekend and the Malts loved it - the Yorkie, not so much. 

AND, my Mom gave me her dehydrator so I make chicken jerky for them in it. It worked much better than in the oven and they ALL love it!


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## SpringHasSprung (May 4, 2007)

I feed my two Stella and Chewy's Freeze-Dried Raw in all flavors. I do NOT re-hydrate it. I just break the patties up on top of kibbles and they absolutely LOVE it. They just do not like the "squishy-ness" of it being hydrated. Maybe something you might want to try. It works out so great for us because my girls can sometimes be grazers too, and it can be left out for longer this way. It's also great because you can travel with it and have no worries. I also break it up as treats sometimes too. Good luck! And no green beards! HA!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Madison's Mom said:


> Last night's food was Addiction Lamb and Potato. Of course, the boys didn't think twice about cleaning their bowl. And as usual, Madison sniffed and walked away. So I picked up her bowl so the guys couldn't get it.
> 
> About an hour later, I called Madison back to the kitchen, put her bowl down in front of her, and SHE ATE IT ALL! YAY! She doesn't care for chicken or beef, but the lamb was OK.
> 
> ...


I'm glad she finally ate it! How was the texture/smell/consistency of it? Is it quite similar to THK or is it chunky? Hopefully she will like the Venison variety just fine. Preston is loving Grandma Lucy's right now, and London is getting one Tbsp at each meal to start and seems to be doing fine on that for now.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

Madison's Mom said:


> Last night's food was Addiction Lamb and Potato. Of course, the boys didn't think twice about cleaning their bowl. And as usual, Madison sniffed and walked away. So I picked up her bowl so the guys couldn't get it.
> 
> About an hour later, I called Madison back to the kitchen, put her bowl down in front of her, and SHE ATE IT ALL! YAY! She doesn't care for chicken or beef, but the lamb was OK.
> 
> ...


So far the Lamb and Potato has been the one that a few of my customer's dogs weren't crazy about. The Perfect Summer Brushtail is one that is a hit so far with everyone. I just got in their new Kangaroo and will be trying that one next with my crew. My crew isn't picky at all so they aren't really a good test market. So I'm interested in what customer feedback will be.

Oh and I just add a little water at a time and stir until I get the consistency that I like so it's not too runny. :thumbsup:

I'm so pleased with Addiction because they now have 6 grain free formulas to rotate between and it is more of a moderate protein level. Raw tends to be pretty high in protein and since most Malts and Yorkies are asymptomatic MVD, I truly think a more moderate protein level is better for them. My friend's Malt is asymptomatic MVD and her ALT's and AST's have always been able to stay WNL with milk thistle. However when she switched to raw with the higher level proteins, she was no longer able to maintain the normal levels with milk thistle. So Dr. Becker has had her adjust the protein level in the raw foods she was feeding by adding more veggies. So if you find your babies prefer THK or Sojo's or Stella & Chewy's, you can still use that but work with your vet at how much more veggies to mix you need to add.


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## puppy lover (Dec 25, 2007)

My Olivea is really picky and won't eat any dry, canned or raw frozen patties 
I've also tried many raw dehydrated foods and the only one she consistently eats is Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw (flavors are alternated), and sometimes Addiction Steakhouse Beef and Zucchini. 
I add between one and 2 tablespoons purified water per patty and mix till no extra water is left. I also add one heaping tablespoon finely chopped raw veggies (crunchy sprouts, sunflower sprouts, cucumber, romaine lettuce, etc) or chop up one tablespoon cooked veggies from that night's dinner. As long as all the water gets absorbed into the patty, their faces stay relatively clean. I also supplement with homemade and when I'm in a rush I give them Ziwi Peak, which both dogs love. 

Yes, I agree with Crystal that the protein is somewhat high in S and C and adding some veggies is an easy fix and gives food a nutritional boost too


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