Bernie's Route to We Feed Raw

Bernie's Guide aka Route  to “We Feed Raw”

This month we celebrate Bernie, the Bernedoodle our Baby’s birthday this month! On May 17th he will be one. We are doing everything it takes for him to live his best PUP life! This includes how he is fed. Just like us as humans; we are what we eat, and we can feel a certain way by the nutrients we are and are not feeding our bodies. This includes pets too!

A little back story

Kibble has only been around for about 100 years. In that time there has been a drastic and continued increase of disease in our pets — chronic degenerative diseases; auto-immune diseases; allergies; kidney, pancreatic, and liver diseases; cancer, and more. Experts believe these diseases are directly related to eating a processed diet that is species inappropriate.

 This is not surprising: Kibble is usually cooked in heats of excess of 212 degrees F, thereby destroying all the essential elements and making it harder on a canine's digestive system. Kibble pet food manufacturers add these elements back in, usually by spraying them on after the process. Many vitamins and minerals are depleted after being paired with so many preservatives in kibble.

 Luckily, there's a better way. People who switch their pets from a highly processed kibble diet to a diet that closely duplicates what dogs ate in the wild — a natural, raw dog food diet — will often see positive results within just a couple of weeks. Over time, the health benefits can be life-changing and long-lasting.

Bernie’s Route so far

Before getting Bernie, we had done a TON of research on what to feed a dog. Finding a lot of info on all different methods and foods. The deeper dive we took, the more we saw how kibble really a great choice for dogs is not. Kibble to a dog is like humans eating fast food, there just isn’t much nutritional value at all and it adds a ton of problems like excessive inflammation, yeast build up, digestive issues-- you name it.

We got Bernie at 3 months old with a potential chicken allergy and constant yeast build up in his ears we had to manage with medicated drops and such. We started him on a kibble-based diet because we did not want to change what he had been eating before we had gotten him too quickly as this can cause a lot of stomach issues for a dog. And as quickly as we could we then began the transition to a raw diet.

Now, changing your pups food while avoiding excessive diarrhea is quite a challenge but, we stumbled upon a raw dog food company called We Feed Raw. This company writes up how much your pup should be eating calorie wise, creates a personalized package of raw food and outlines instructions on how to transition your dog onto a raw diet. We followed to a T and within the first 2 days his poop went from near liquid to absolute perfection, we were sold immediately. After a few more days and increasing the ratio of raw to kibble the yeast in his ears began to go away. We experimented with chicken, beef, duck, lamb, every type of meat We Feed Raw has to offer, no allergies no issues, including CHICKEN (when we were told stay away from chicken, he most likely is allergic) To date, he LOVES his raw Meat Pies that indeed we do prep for him.

Let me tell you, as we transitioned Bernie to a raw diet it almost looked like he was a different dog. Sure, was still a puppy and changes all the time, but I am telling you it was as if a weight lifted off him, full belly, tail wagging side to side with joy as he walks; we sing “happy boy, happy boy, happy boy” HA yes in the mom/ dad voices.

We started Bernie off feeding him 3 times per day and have moved and will stay at feeding him 2 times per day. (morning & night)  Bernie is 40lbs and active, We Feed Raw recommends we feed him 16oz of meat per day. What’s great is each pack comes in 16oz or 5lbs bulk. Before he reached his near adult size, we had been ordering the 5lbs bulk meat because he was eating 12-14oz daily and prepping the food was weird if we used 16oz packs we’d always have a few ounces left sitting and we didn’t like that. Instead 5lbs usually made up 11 meals for him. Within each meal we use:

·         8oz We Feed Raw

·         1 TBSP 0% Greek yogurt (probiotics & calcium)

·         1 TBSP pumpkin pure (fiber)

·         1 TBSP omega-3 oil (anti-inflammation)

·         1 TBSP bone broth (be sure there is no onion in ingredients!)

Before we began to order the 16oz packs, we would thaw the 5lbs pack of meat and put all the ingredients in each bowl mix it up good and then stick it in the freezer. At each meal we’d give him a bowl still frozen, and it would take him a good 30 minutes to eat the meal (our strategy to burn your puppy’s energy out EASY). Now that we have the super convenient 16oz packs we do very close to the same but now we thaw the 16oz pack, give him half in the AM and the other half PM alongside all the same additions in each bowl. We don’t freeze meals anymore as he is a bit easier to manage energy wise compared to his super puppy days.

Bernie has a gift for your PUP and it includes 25% off your first order of We Feed Raw. Let us know your going to start or transition your pup & we will ensure you have all the pro tips you need!