Dog DNA is 99% that of the wolf. The outside of the dog has changed but the digestive system hasn't and that's why raw food and treats are your dog's natural diet. It's the natural diet of the wolf. But many people are hesitant, believing raw feeding is difficult and expensive. You can be a DIY'er picking and choosing each ingredient that goes into your pet's meals if you like. We have very good quality beef, organs, bones, fish and chicken parts for you to choose from based on availability. if you don't have the predisposition to that, we have high quality complete meals with muscle meats, organ and bone mixes, some with veggies added for your pet. Many of these are single protein for those of you dealing with allergies or sensitivities. We found once your pet settles into the raw diet and catches up on his nutrients, the intake settles down depending on activity level and metabolism. In fact when we compared the cost of raw vs kibble (even what we thought was a very good quality kibble), we saved money and we haven't taken into account the potential money saved on vet bills.

There are 3 Cardinal Rules:

1. A complete diet has muscle meat (protein) organ (vitamins) and bone (minerals).

2. A balanced diet has as much variety of the above as possible.

3. Dogs and puppies need bones to chew on.

Available at our booth F4 at Bountiful Farmer's Market
3696 97 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 5S8
Hours:
Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 – 4:00 pm

Contact us beforehand to check availability for the harder to find organs. (ex. pancreas)

- This is a rough guideline but gives you a starting point. The average adult dog eats 2% of their lean body weight in Total Daily Intake. For a 45lb dog for example, the math looks like this:

• 45 lbs divided by 100 = 0.45.

• 0.45 x 2 (%) = 0.9 lbs in TDI.

• To know what that is in ounces, multiply 0.9 lbs by 16. 0.9 x 16 = 14 + ozs.

• Your Pet's TDI includes meals, snacks and treats.

• A kitchen scale will help weigh out portions.

If your pet is overweight, use his target body weight.

Inactive pets will need about 1%. Active, working or nursing pets will need roughly 3-5%.

Puppies will need 4-5%.

Cats 2-3%.

4 week kittens 10% then slowly working down to 4-5% by 1 year.

Ferrets 10% and kits 20%.

Watch how your pet responds. Is he still hungry? Is he losing weight? Is he gaining weight? Is he at his target weight? Adjust his intake accordingly if needed. His ribs should feel like the knuckles on the back of your first. You should also be able to see your pets' waist from the side and from above.

Available at our booth F4 at Bountiful Farmer's Market
3696 97 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 5S8
Hours:
Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 – 4:00 pm

Contact us beforehand to check availability for the harder to find organs. (ex. pancreas)

Many diseases can be helped if not cured by switching to a raw diet. To help the healing process, you can also do what's called Organ or Glandular Therapy. The Chinese have practiced it for centuries. You give up to 10% of the TDI of a specific, good quality ground or minced organ. For example, to heal pancreatiis, supplement with pancreas. For kidney disease, kidney. For heart disease, heart and so on. You can also supplement prophylactically if your pet's breed happens to be prone to a certain condition. We carry high quality beef organs from our ranch for DIY'ers or people supplementing to treat conditions.

Available at our booth F4 at Bountiful Farmer's Market
3696 97 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 5S8
Hours:
Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 – 4:00 pm

Contact us beforehand to check availability for the harder to find organs. (ex. pancreas)

Sometimes, even though you’ve bought the same protein mix before, you’ll find a change in the texture of the food. One case may have food that is more firm, and another case may be softer with more fluid that comes off it after it thaws. There are a number of factors that contribute to the variance in texture.

First, leaner meat will always have a higher water content. Ground beef can be as high as 75–85% water. Bison is naturally lean, so we can expect it to have a high water content too. Chicken, for example, has a water content of about 65%. Turkey, about 75%. But this isn’t the only contributing factor.

Grass-fed beef and bison will always have a higher water content in the meat.

Also, the higher the pH of the meat, the higher the water retention within the meat. pH can be affected by the age of the animal, the diet as stated above, the breed, how it was raised, the metabolic state of the live animal at the time it is culled (which is influenced by handling and its natural genetic makeup), the speed at which the meat is cooled prior to being processed, and the processing itself. So, the animal’s total environment, genetics, stress or the lack of it, age, diet, and processing all affect the muscle meat’s water content.

The time of year, temperature, and humidity levels influence the live animal’s physiology.

The type of muscle meat also plays a role. Different muscle meats will naturally have higher water content.

Freezing the meat itself contributes to fluid. The presence of ice crystals in the meat breaks down the cellular walls and releases intracellular (within the cell) myoglobin—a naturally occurring fluid. Myoglobin is full of nutrients, so it’s preferable that it and the water are not tossed out. You want to feed this to your pet as well.

So, as you can see, there are quite a few contributing factors as to why you see a variance in the fluid content of the meat. Some of these issues we can mitigate, others we can’t.

Some people mistakenly believe there is water or blood added to the meat, but we don’t do this. We also don’t offer fresh pet food because, in order to mitigate any possible bacterial contamination, the finished pet food is frozen at -40°C or colder for a minimum of 2 weeks—effectively killing any bacteria. Besides, fresh pet food (even refrigerated) would need to be consumed within 3 days, which is a logistical nightmare.

Here are a few tips you can try:

If the meat has more fluids than you prefer, you can drain the fluid off by placing the meat into a paper towel-lined strainer. Save the fluids by freezing them in ice cube trays to add later to “drier” meats. You can also work with the food while it’s still partially frozen—it holds its shape better and is easier to divide into meal portions. Some dogs will also happily eat a partially frozen or completely frozen meal portion, especially during hot summer months.

If your pet is not liking or refusing to eat food with a higher fluid content, please contact us. We’re happy to work with you to find a solution.