Does that headline sound familiar? Just like humans, the following news is sad but true: obesity rates in dogs are rising. In 2017 alone the cost of veterinary expenses for obese and overweight dogs was over $69 million, with over $67 million coming directly out of dog owners pockets.
The cost of obesity isn’t just in dollars, it’s in the quality and quantity of your dog’s years. Overweight and obese dogs are more likely to suffer from arthritis, heart disease, bladder and urinary tract disease, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, high blood pressure, and spinal disease. Additionally, being overweight or obese can contribute to taking up two years off of your dog’s life.
Now, you’re probably wondering: why is this happening? There are two main reasons.
Most commercially made dog food comes in bulk bags with vague or deliberately misleading portioning instructions. We were tipped off by one of our readers that this was a widespread issue. Sam, an owner of a thirteen year old labrador retriever, learned it the hard way.
When Sam first got his lab, Remi, he was only a year old, but he was already overweight. The people Sam had gotten Remi from had been feeding him according to the table found on their dried dog food package, which told them Remi needed to be eating up to 7 cups of dog food a day. After consulting veterinary nutritionists and other online sources, Sam cut down Remi’s food to 3.5 cups a day, half as much as what the dried dog food table said he needed to be eating. At this portioning Remi was still able to remain very active: going on fifteen mile hikes and three hour swims while staying at his ideal weight.
The FDA doesn’t regulate dog food, which means that commercial dog food is made with far lower standards than human food is. Dry dog food is full of empty calories — fillers, additives, and low quality waste products that are only safe to eat after being cooked using high heat, destroying their nutritional value.
Kibble only has to contain 3% of beef to be labeled as ‘made with real beef,’ and if it’s ‘chicken flavored’ or ‘beef flavored’ it doesn’t have to have any real meat in it at all. The packaging your dog food comes in might feature chicken or broccoli, but that doesn’t mean it has any real protein or vegetables inside. Worst of all: dry dog food isn’t taste tested or even quality tested – it’s basically fast food for dogs, but worse.
With incorrect portioning and bad ingredients, it’s no wonder dogs are getting more and more obese each year. But it doesn’t have to be that way. A new wave of dog food delivery service have created a way to provide a healthier option to commercially made dog food. They are made with fresh, real ingredients, without harmful additives, and tend to stay away from pseudoscientific fads such grain free diets. Often, recipes are formulated by licensed veterinian nutritionists and tailored to fit your dog’s exact nutritional needs.
While the products they’re selling are more expensive than traditional, dried dog food, a lot of people have made the switch. When it comes down to it, commercial dog food isn’t a healthy option, and it really shouldn’t be an option at all. Why should your dog eat food you wouldn’t eat? They shouldn’t. However, because there are so many more options now than there used to be, picking the right dog meal subscription isn’t easy. While a lot of the products look the same, there are differences worth noting, so we’ve picked three of the best dog food companies to improve your dog’s health: Ollie, Farmer’s Dog, and NomNomNow.
Ollie is all about quality. While Ollie’s headquarters are in New York, all of its cooking and packaging takes place in New Jersey, at a USDA certified facility. This means that the meals Ollie makes aren’t only edible for dogs – they’re edible for you too. Each meal is formulated by veterinary nutritionists using the highest quality proteins, fruits, and vegetables to make dog meals customized to your pet’s breed, weight, age, gender, activity level, and allergies. In the Ollie facility, meals are cooked in low temperature kettle cookers so none of the nutritional values is lost. From there, meals are carefully cooled, weighed, portioned, and checked by third party quality testers before arriving at your door. Currently, Ollie is offering 20% off your first box, but you can get 50% off through this link for a limited time only.
Founded in Brooklyn, the Farmer’s Dog is focused on not only making your dog’s life better, but making the whole world better too. As part of this, Farmer’s Dog only uses recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable materials when packaging its meals. Before packaging, meals are designed by veterinary nutritionists to fit your pet’s profile, and cooked in a USDA certified kitchen using proteins, vegetables, starches, and fruits that are cooked at low heat. Every two weeks, the Farmer’s Dog asks you to choose which two meals you’d like to have featured in your delivery for the next two weeks, then vacuum packs and sends your chosen recipes in fourteen meals delivered to your door.
If you’re worried about whether or not your dog is consuming enough vitamins and minerals, NomNomNow has a solution for that. On top of the naturally-occurring nutrients found in the hand-inspected, all natural, human-grade, fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables NomNomNow meals are made of, each meal includes fish oil and a special nutrient mix, to help guard your pup from any sort of nutritional deficiency. NomNomNow recipes and meals are formulated by one of the leading veterinary nutritionists in the world: Dr. Justin Shmalberg, and customized to your dog’s needs when you fill out your incoming profile.
When it comes to what you feed your dog, commercial dog food shouldn’t be one of the options. There are so many dog meal subscription services out there to choose from, each of them offering healthy, fresh meals for your dog that are filled with high quality ingredients sure to change your dog’s health for the better. While all three of these dog meal subscription services are an exponentially better choice than commercially made dog food, one in particular stands out: Ollie. Ollie’s commitment to your dog’s health shows in its attention to your dog’s weight. If you’re looking for a dog food company that’ll improve your dog’s health, Ollie’s consistent quality and freshness make it the best choice on this list and the best choice on the market.
Update: Ollie is extending a limited time offer to our readers. Buy Ollie now through this article and receive an exclusive 50% off your first box for a limited time only.
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