I sent in my resume for Freshpet's blogger program and appear to be one of the last ones chosen to try out the food in return for a review. I went to their site and could not find the blogger program page, so I guess they are no longer taking in applicants.
Anyways, I am very glad I was given the chance to try out some of their foods and was quite surprised when I received an unexpected package on my porch a couple weeks ago. Before I even opened the box Conker seemed to know it was for him. He got super excited as I brought it inside and sliced open the tape. He impatiently stuck his nose in before I could even see what was in there. This is what was inside the box.
Two bags of Complete Meals (one pictured)
One 2lb roll of Turkey Slice and Serve
One 2lb roll of Bison and Beef Slice and Serve
One pouch of Dognation Bones
Today I will talk about the Complete Meals.
I started off with the Complete Meals and I didn't transition Conker to the new food. One day he got raw, the next he got Freshpet. Well, I did give him a hunk of turkey neck and while things were a bit soft on the other end, there was nothing really bad worth noting so an instant switch is possible. Even with a dog who's had issues with that sort of thing in the past, Conker did fine.
Ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Liver, Cranberries, Beef, Salmon, Eggs, Spinach, Vinegar, Peas, Natural Flavors, Carrageenan, Salt, Caramel Color, Inulin, Pomegranate, Broccoli.
Vitamins:
Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid.
Minerals:
Calcium Sulfate, Dicalcium Phospate, Zinc Chelate, Potassium Chloride, Iron Proteinate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min) 18.0%
Crude Fat (min) 9.0%
Crude Fiber (max) 1.5%
Moisture (max) 65.0%
This food does contain chicken but there's no potatoes. And when those two are together, Conker has issues. There are other proteins in it but they are in smaller amounts so I gambled a bit to see how Conker would do with the chicken.
The bags contain 1.75 pounds of food and according to the directions, Conker is supposed to eat from 1 2/3rds cups to 2 1/2 cups of food each day. I only gave him about one cup and he neither gained nor lost any weight but in order to be certain I'd have to feed it for longer than 1 1/2 weeks. But as some pet owners know, the guidelines are just that. They are not set-in-stone rules about how much you have to give your dog.
So if that doesn't clue you in, Conker LOVED it. Every morning if I didn't get up fast enough he'd leap off the bed and strut furiously around the room and toss his head in that odd Shiba fashion then stick his nose in my face and... Grunt at me. He'll whine when he wants something but grunt when he feels like he needs it, like he's got an addiction that needs to be satisfied, and I'm the only one who can give him the cure.
Which is true, but still. Having an addict that happens to be a dog is quite annoying.
So! How did Conker do on this food?
Very well. So well in fact that if it weren't for the price tag and the fact that the only store in GP that sells Freshpet doesn't carry Vital that it would be a regular part of his diet. Because of that I can only estimate the price which I'm gonna say would be... something around 7.99 and up. (The equivalent in the Select line costs $5.99 for 1.75 pounds and 8.99 for 3 pounds.)
See, Conker's got these horrid deathfarts on raw. Every night around 4 in the morning he lets one rip. And at random times during the day but that late night/early morning one is so regular that it's practically predictable. No such late night/early morning monstrosity happened while Conker was on Freshpet. He did fart a bit but it was nowhere near as bad as his normal farts.
Conker's energy levels were normal, he kept his weight, poop was good (almost better than raw, actually) and he liked it a lot. He never refused a meal which he has done with several raw items and other foods.
The only adverse things I can say about it health-wise was that he did develop a slight "doggish" odor that he normally doesn't have but it wasn't unbearable (only noticeable if you stick your nose into his fur, which I do several times a day) and that there is absolutely no benefit to the teeth. If your dog doesn't have teeth, or has really sensitive teeth, then this food is great. It's easily eaten and since it's soft, it doesn't need to be chewed.
Note:
While Conker didn't show any huge signs of a chicken allergy/intolerance, he did begin to lick his front paws which he does not normally do. Once he was switched back to raw he quit licking his feet so I guess it's gotta be the chicken that caused it.
So again other than price and availability in my area, this food would be a normal part of Conker's diet. The Complete Meals wouldn't be a huge portion due to the potential chicken allergy thing but the rolls I tried would be. If you've got a dog that doesn't have any problems with chicken and you can find and afford Freshpet, I highly recommend you add it to your pet's diet, even if it's only an occasional thing.
Juneau and Sasha did get to try the Complete Meals and they, like Conker, loved every bit of it.
Anyways, that is part one of the review. Here are Part 2 and Part 3.
