The Importance of Fresh Food – The Farmer’s Dog

I was recently approached by The Farmer’s Dog to review their fresh dog food recipes. Their team is awesome, and when we were initially discussing the review, I felt like I had to be honest with them.

The review topic can’t really be focused on whether or not Rooney likes the fresh food, because he will. Rooney doesn’t have any real food preferences. If it’s edible he will eat it. He even likes Spinach (which is of course, is a good thing)!

via GIPHY

As the conversation continued, I realized that a thorough review of The Farmer’s Dog would include seeing if my parent’s German Shepherd Sasha liked the food and saw an improvement in her allergies. Sasha struggles with ongoing allergies (a combination of food allergies and atopy). She occasionally struggles with vomiting as a result of a sensitive stomach and the inevitable finding of a stray crumb left around the house. I thought that if we fed her The Farmer’s Dog food for a few weeks and saw a decrease in the frequency of her vomiting, that would be an indicator that the food was not only enjoyed by the dogs, but could indeed improve their overall gut health.

And really, that’s The Farmer’s Dog’s goal; to share with pet parents the benefits of a fresh food diet.

How much does a dog’s diet matter?

According to a book titled “Canine Nutrigenomics“, published by Dr Jean Dodds, DVM (and quoted in this TEDX talk), “30-40% of all Canine Cancers can be prevented simply by implementing dietary changes”. Meaning, your dog’s diet doesn’t only give them the nutrients needed to sustain life, but also can assist in the ability to fight disease, cancer, and obesity.

The importance of diet is how the Farmer’s Dog got its start.

The Co-founder of the Farmer’s Dog, Brett Podolsky was struggling to find a food that would keep his dog Jada healthy. After two years, he had yet to find the right solution to her stomach problems, until he started feeding her fresh home-cooked food, a suggestion made by a veterinarian, and it worked! He then began to search for a company that provided fresh food, and that’s when he decided to found the Farmer’s Dog.

Why is Fresh Food in a Dog’s diet so important?

If you know me, you know that I studied Animal Science. So, when people say “fresh food is important”, my immediate response is, “Well, that makes sense, but…I would love to see some research”. So, I was interested in reading some of the research supporting that fresh food can improve a dog’s health.

One of the interesting pieces of research shared with me by the Farmer’s Dog team was this paper published by Purdue in JAVMA: “Evaluation of the effect of dietary vegetable consumption on reducing risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers.”

After studying 92 adult Scottish Terriers they found that, “results suggest that consumption of certain vegetables may prevent or slow the development of transitional cell carcinoma in Scottish Terriers.” JAVMA

Reading a little more about the study you see that cruciferous vegetable types (read: of the broccoli variety) didn’t have a conclusive effect on the risk of development of transitional cell carcinoma. However leafy greens and yellow-orange vegetables did seem to have an affect.

What kind of vegetables do the Farmer’s Dog diets include?

Vegetables included in Rooney and Sasha’s at home recipes:

• Parsnips
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Kale
• Green beans
• Cauliflower

As you can see, even though there are some cruciferous vegetables included (they still provide a good source of fiber), there are lots of leafy greens and carrots (those yellow-orange vegetables), that can help Rooney and Sasha fight disease.

What’s Rooney’s opinion of the food?

What about Sasha?

Sasha is a big fan of the Farmer’s Dog food, and after a month or so of adding this food to her diet, my parents noticed a decrease in her occasional stomach upset. Additionally, after stopping the food for a bit, because our initial trial ran out, Sasha had a big allergy flare up, and ended up with a hotspot. Which anecdotally, could indicate that the food was reducing her allergy symptoms.

After reviewing the science, the food, our dog’s opinion, and the overall customer experience, here are my conclusions:

The Farmer’s Dog is for:

Pet parents who appreciate a delivery service

My husband and I have used Hellofresh for over 2 years now (maybe 3?), and we love this service. Everything is prepared, dinner doesn’t require creativity or another trip to the grocery store. I think the Farmer’s Dog provides a similar level of convenience for pet parents. All of the food is prepared and pre-packaged all you have to is remember to move a package from your freezer to your fridge every few days.

Pet parents who want fresh food in their dog’s diet to improve overall health

While Sasha’s allergy flare-up may have been anecdotal evidence to her experience with fresh food, she definitely enjoyed the food and seemed happier and healthier while eating Farmer’s Dog consistently.

Pet parents who are looking for fresh food that is less time consuming

Many pet parents take hours out of their days and weekends to make sure their pets food is cooked fresh. This is a huge commendable effort, but not something that everyone has time for. Not to mention, the Farmer’s Dog recipes are sure to include those essential nutrients and vitamins necessary in a fresh-food diet.

Pet parents who are trying to improve their dog’s gut health

We noticed a significant descrease in Sasha’s vomiting and overall stomach upset. Additionally, Rooney’s BMs (bowel movements) looked healthier in my former veterinary technician opinion. Lastly, Jimmy, my parents Chihuahua also got a chance to try the food, and he LOVED it. Outside of seeing my mom, Jimmy doesn’t get excited about much, but he was so excited about dinner time with Farmer’s Dog. Additionally, because the food is fresh it provided him with the water content he needs in his senior years, as he has never really been one to drink lots of water.

Pet parents who are looking to try something new

The Farmer’s Dog has a variety of different delivery options and frequencies. For example, we have written in the past about Petcurean and Rooney still loves, and does really well on that food. However, why not try something new and make some of Rooney’s meals a little extra special? He is a spoiled dog after all. #SorryNotSorry. We have set Rooney & Sasha up with a toppers plan, making the Farmer’s Dog 33% of their ongoing diet. And we prefer to have this food delivered to us every month.

Are you looking for anything new out of your dog’s food? Would you want to give The Farmers Dog a try?