Hungry Dogs

To start with, I have to say something rather confronting...there is nothing wrong with feeling hungry. Pet Parents are often used to vast supplies of food for themselves, snacking whenever they want, that they have a negative association with being hungry. Just because you're hungry, doesn't mean you need to eat.

So many dogs are feed highly processed diets and are overweight. Just because a dog is hungry doesn't mean it needs food.

Simply tweaking a diet can help dogs and humans feel fuller for longer. It's more so about you needing to deal with your discomfort about your dog being hungry. So often, it's just a habit you have created, for example, pet parents giving their dog lunch time snacks.

Keep in mind if your dog is new to fresh food, their brain is wired to the highly processed food they have been eating. Scientists create food for humans and animals with a thing called a BLISS POINT in mind, this is the process of formulating a recipe to make us love it and want more of it even if it's junk food.

When transitioning to a fresh food diet from highly processed foods (kibble), it is important you do it slowly, this allows your dog's digestive system the time it needs to be able to deal with this new food that comes with a different pH level, bacteria, and enzymes. It also helps your dog's gut-brain connection get on the same page, your dogs' brain and gut are used to a high carb diet, most kibble is mostly plant matter (fruit & veggies) because it's cheaper than manufacturers using a lot of meat.

Short Story: Transitioning from highly processed non-species appropriate food to healthy food isn't always smooth sailing, it takes time.

Remove 10% of your dog's kibble per day and replace it with fresh food. There is no easy comparison about how much to replace as kibble and real food has different moisture levels, so just take a guess, once the transition is over you can increase or decrease your dog's intake depending on their body condition.

If your dog gets an upset tummy at any point, stop and go back to the previous step. Most dogs will benefit from chicken without skin as their transition animal protein. Sometimes if you provide too much variety, the digestive system can't cope because kibble-fed dogs have a lack of diversity in their microbiome meaning they can't cope with dietary changes as well as fresh food-fed dogs. Some dogs may take months to transition, whereas others are done and dusted quickly - it's not a race. Let your dogs' poos tell you how they're coping with the transition. We recommend all dogs doing a transition be given a probiotic.

This is a guide for transition, not a rule:

Day 1: Remove 10% of kibble and replace it with a bland meat such as Turkey or Chicken without skin. If your dog has allergies or intolerances to these meats, use a bland white fish without skin i.e., not an oily fish such as Salmon or Mackarel. If your dog just cannot get past this 10% stage, cook the meat.
90% Kibble + 10% Meat

Day 2: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% of the kibble and add more meat as per the above.

80% Kibble + 20% Meat

Day 3: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% of the kibble and add more meat as per the above - your dog's kibble should now be reduced by around 30%.

70% Kibble + 30% Meat

Day 4: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% of the kibble, and this time you're going to add 5% meat and 5% cooked and mashed pumpkin without the skin. Your dog's kibble should now be reduced by around 40%.

60% Kibble + 35% Meat + 5% Pumpkin

Day 5: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% of kibble, and this time you're going to add 5% meat, 5% cooked mashed pumpkin, and 5% Brocolli.

50% Kibble + 40% Meat + 5% Pumpkin + 5% Brocolli

Day 6: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% of kibble, and this time you're going to add 5% Pumpkin and 10% Brocolli.
40% kibble + 40% Meat + 5% Pumpkin +10% Brocolli

Day 7: If your dog's poos are ok, remove another 10% kibble, add 10% Meat + 20% of mixed mashed vegetables of your choice that are dog safe.

30% kibble + 50% Meat + 20% Mixed Veggies.

Day 8: Time to add bones, choose a chicken or turkey bone that is safe and appropriate for your dog - remove the skin.

20% Kibble + 30% Meat + 10% Plant Matter + 40% (approx) edible bone - no need to be pedantic here. Small-Medium dogs might have 1-4 Chicken necks, whilst larger dogs might have 1/2-1 chicken carcass - this is just an example, choose bones that you deem safe and appropriate for your dog.

Day 9: Time to add offal. Liver can be rich and not always well received by novice dogs, so we're going to start with Kidney, avoid offal from pigs for now as it's quite gamey in taste.

10% Kibble + 50% Meat, 5% Kidney, 15% Plant + remainder in edible bone.

Day 10: Bye-bye kibble. I poos are fine, it's time to finalise your transition, we recommend you use our web app to create your recipes, it will work out everything for you - be sure to watch the instructional video so you don't get lost.

ideas on how to fill your dog up

Include at least 1 healthy fat in every meal - click here
Include plants with good amounts of fibre - build up the amount otherwise too much fibre can upset the tummy.
Pears, Strawberries, Avocado, Apples, Raspberries, Bananas, Carrots, Boiled Beetroot, Brocolli, Artichoke, Brussels Sprouts, Cooked Lentils, Cooked Kidney Beans, Cooked Split Peas, Cooked Chickpeas, Cooked Quinoa, Cooked Oats, Ground Nuts except for Macadamia, Ground Seeds such as Pumpkin and Sunflower, Ground or Soaked Chia Seeds & Cooked Sweet Potato.
Add water to the food bowl.
Slow down their eating using enrichment feeding toys such as lick mats and the likes.
Include foods that science says are more filling.
Boiled Potato but don't use as a large portion of their diet as it's very high in carbs which dogs are not meant to consume a lot of, slowly digesting carbs such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils, Greek Yoghurt (full fat), eggs, nuts except Macadamia, lean meats and fish but make sure you're giving healthy fats with them, Cottage Cheese & MCT oil.