THE WHAT, WHY + HOW OF OUR MEALS, MIXES + TREATS
Did you know our products support fresh feeding, home prepping and even dehydrated treating preferences?
Here’s a breakdown of our three product types + why we were inspired to create them + some ideas for integrating them into your pup's diet.
RAW & LIGHTLY-COOKED MEALS
Potential benefits of a fresh food diet for dogs include immediate effects like better nutrition and improved digestion; medium-term progress like healthier skin/coat and reduction in allergies; and longer-term outcomes like more stable bodyweight and even behavioural support - not to mention ultimate longevity.
So to give particular little eaters (and their busy humans!) the best chance of fresh-feeding success, our core range of gentle, small-serve meals is all about lift-the-lid convenience - delivering human-grade protein in nutritionist-balanced recipes, including raw/lightly-cooked, reduced fat/allergen, red/white protein and free-range/grass-fed options.
In fact, we're still the only local brand delivering on both raw + lightly-cooked preferences. Why? Because if you’re aiming to transition your dog from a processed to raw food diet, an initial period of feeding our lightly-cooked meals can help your dog's palate and digestion adjust significantly more smoothly.
We also understand some pickier small pups just prefer cooked food paws-down!! So by keeping the cooking light, we retain as many canine-appropriate nutrients as possible, while also fulfilling our food safety obligations around cooking/cooling temperatures.
All our meals are frozen-fresh, ready-to-serve directly into your pup’s bowl after defrosting, or even eaten straight from the container! And per 1kg of your dog’s weight, we suggest feeding approx. 20-30g daily, ideally split over two meals.
For feeding variety, you can also:
- Mix in a little water to slow eating down.
- Spread meals on a feeding mat to slow eating a little more.
- Mix-feed with dehydrated food in a slow feeding bowl.
- Feed spoon by spoon throughout the day, especially if your pup needs boredom relief during imposed physical rest.
- Feed in a rice bowl to keep fluffy faces and ears cleaner.
- Fill an enrichment toy with fresh food from the fridge just before serving.
MEAL MIXES
We created our meal mixes in response to the growing home-prepped dog food movement in our community. We recognised that pup parents were seeking greater protein flexibility and control; however, we also noticed vegetables were often insufficiently processed for optimal nutrient absorption, and supplements were being over/under-utilised.
Our Antioxidant Meal Mix and Immunity Meal Mix look after the nutritional range of these vegetable and supplement components, so you can concentrate on sourcing the key meat, bone and organ components of your pup's meal - especially if you're keen to use novel proteins outside our core range. We also provide full meal prep suggestions on each product label.
Here's some other ideas for using our mixes:
- Defrost and portion into a week’s worth of home prepared meals, adding your own choices of protein as per instructions on the label.
- Defrost and refreeze into ice cubes or molds, served as portion-controlled snacks or dessert.
- Defrost and refreeze into enrichment toys like Kongs.
- Substitute into meals of slightly overweight pups to lower total calories.
DEHYDRATED TREATS
Finally, pet treats followed our meal mixes, as bone and organs were the two small-but-vital protein groups we saw missing from home prepared bowls most often. We get it! They can be tricky to source, and less than pleasant to prepare.
So we dehydrate some of our favourite proteins for easy feeding between mealtimes – free-range quail frames for bone content, and grass-fed lamb liver, heart and kidney for organ variety. Our Daily Quail Delights and Daily Lamb Delights are even suitable for cats too!
Be sure to follow our feeding guide on the lid, as dehydration makes everything much more nutrient dense. And remember to include treats in your pet’s total daily calories!!
Below are a few more creative ideas for serving treatos:
- Break up and hide in snuffle mats or puzzles.
- Wrap daily portion in recycled paper as a distraction game when you leave the house.
- Garnish or hide in the bottom of meals for variety of texture.
- Crumble as an enticing meal topper or mix through for picky or slightly underweight pups.
- Save as a high value rewards during short training sessions.
Further questions about any product? Feel free to email us anytime at info@suburbanpup.com.au :)
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