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Saying goodbye to your pet

To Sydney: A great dog, friend & family member. What it was like to say goodbye 😩

Me, Sydney & Cooper

A tough start to the day

This past Saturday was one of the tougher days I’ve had in quite some time. When our family woke up, we were met with the unmistakable smell of a dog that had gone to the bathroom all over the home. Unfortunately, my dog, Sydney had another accident through the night, only this time, she wasn’t able to stand up without the mightiest of struggles. Unfortunately, this was the last day our family would get to spend time with Sydney. 

For the past 2 years, she’s been fighting the inevitable aging that eventually hits all dogs. As the owner of a dog food company, I knew this day would come as we all too often hear about the heartache longtime customers go through when they lose an animal. It’s always sad, but this was a new level of sadness for me. Growing up, I remember the day we got our first family dog. It was my 5th birthday, and we picked up a black lab by the name of Sadie from some family friends. As we were trying to figure out which puppy would become a member of the Felderhoff family, I had picked up a puppy, only to accidentally drop her….My Dad then said, “that’s our puppy now, Mitch.”

Sadie was a great dog and one of the best friends a young kid could have. But, as I left school for college, I essentially parted ways with her. I would see Sadie on holidays & weekends, but for the last 3 years of her life, I didn’t have a lot of interaction with her. When she passed, it was a sad moment for me for sure, but nothing like this past Saturday when Sydney took her final breath. 

As we went through the process of cleaning up after Sydney again, I couldn’t help but cry. For the past 12 months, Sydney no longer had control of her bowels. My wife and I (Aubree) tried countless measures to accommodate our senior dog and her struggles with her digestive system. We switched to raw freeze-dried 2 years ago, and that made a tremendous difference (I believe added a year to her life easily). At that time, she had been a little overweight and was starting to have bowel issues. When we switched to freeze-dried, it instantly helped her shed excess weight, she had less frequent bowel movements & they were not only solid but also crumbled and disintegrated into the lawn within a few days without us needing to scoop anything. 

A slow decline

Then, as she continued to grow gray in the face, she lost her hearing, and a few months later, she lost her sight. She could no longer hear when we would call her name, she failed to respond to visual cues. For the past 9 months, we’ve pretty much walked her everywhere with one hand on her side to make sure she didn’t run into anything. About 6 months ago, her back right hip started to rotate out and she began having trouble walking. 3 months ago she began struggling to stand & to lay down. Throughout this time, she would suffer from random lengths of time that her digestive system would wreak havoc on our home. We gladly cleaned it though, because we loved having Sydney around still, as messy as life became at times.

Her favorite spot to lay was the couch….which wasn’t “allowed” but she spent more time on them than off of them 😂😂

We had agreed that until she seemed miserable, and the veterinarians told us there were no other options, we were going to keep her going as long as possible. Plus, the amount of joy and peace she brought our kids, especially Cooper (our middle child) was irreplaceable. On the majority of days when we’re trying to find Cooper, we know to find Sydney. Sure enough every time we found her, we’d find Cooper, sitting next to her, petting her & talking with her like a friend. It was not uncommon for this to go on for close to 2 hours at times. Cooper definitely has a special place in his heart for animals, but the peace Sydney brought him in return was invaluable, and there was no doubt she enjoyed the attention.

Sydney with her favorite human, Cooper!

A very tough phone call

Unfortunately, for the past few months, regardless of feeding regimen, supplements & or medicine, Sydney could no longer find peace & comfort. As I picked up the phone to call my Aunt (who is a world-class veterinarian), I told myself “it’s ok, it’s time, she’d had 15 GREAT years and you were lucky to have her”. When the receptionist answered the phone I explained that “my sweet dog had made it to the finish line and needed to be laid to rest”. She asked for my name & the name of my dog. I managed to mumble “Mitch Felderhoff”, but when she asked me for my dog’s name, I couldn’t speak.

I literally started sobbing and handed the phone to my wife who was able to finish the call for me. Making that phone call was one of the toughest calls I’ve ever made because it felt like I was giving up on not just a friend, but a family member. I know it wasn’t true as we had exhausted everything we could have done to keep Sydney with us as long as possible, but the enormity of that decision weighed heavily. 

After making the call, I took Sydney and gave her a bath, something she’s never really enjoyed. This time, however, she didn’t try to get away, she just stood there while I washed her. In the end, she tried to shake the water off, but it caused her to fall to the ground. In the 100+ times, I’ve given her a bath, I always hated when she would shake the water off onto me. This time, I was heartbroken she couldn’t. 

Making the most of the last day

Knowing I had 5 hours until we were going to the vet, we made it a point to try and spend some quality family time with Sydney. Breaking the news to our 3 boys was just as tough as everything else that had happened that day. When we told them it was time for her to join Stormy (our cat that passed just a year earlier) all of them broke into tears, which then caused Aubree and I to join them almost immediately. 

Anyone who knew Sydney, knows her favorite thing in the world, is food…..all of it. Having not been able to feed her as much the past few months as we had her whole while we tried to manage her bowel movements, we knew today needed to be a full belly day for Sydney. So, we asked Cooper to get her a special meal ready for her. We went and defrosted some bone broth from the freezer, heated it up & poured it over a combination of Freeze-Dried Elk & Chicken patties we had. She ate and ate & then licked the bowl for a few minutes like normal and for a few minutes, we all smiled.

We then decided to share some of our favorite moments with Sydney. Most of them ironically had to do with her stealing someone’s food off the coffee table or from a picnic the boys would occasionally have on the living room floor. I remember a time in college when a few friends had come over to our rent house to watch football for the day. My buddy Cory showed up with some cheeseburgers, unwrapped them, put them on a plate in front of him & jetted off to grab some paper towels. I had walked into the other room to grab my phone, and when we returned, he asked me what I did with his burgers. Sydney was looking at him, licking her chops, and let out one of the biggest dog burps we had ever heard 😂😂…..I think we were gone for a collective 15 seconds and she managed to eat about 1800 calories in that time.

Aubree’s favorite story about Sydney goes back to 2007 when we had first started dating. For those of you who don’t know my wife, she’s very passionate about exercise and has always been quite active. In an effort to impress her, I told her I often went running with my dog, Sydney. I didn’t disclose that I rarely made it more than a mile but also felt like that wasn’t too important. Shortly after learning “I ran”, she offered to take Sydney on a run. I said “Absolutely”! I was working an event at a local feed store and my phone rang with Aubree on the other end of it “Hey, I’ve only gone 2 miles and Sydney looks like she’s going to pass out, how far do you normally run with her?”……I had been discovered as a fraudulent “runner”.

Aubree & Sydney

Picture time

Due to the pandemic, we’re currently battling as a country, only one person is allowed in the veterinarian’s office at a time with their dog. So, we decided the family would say bye at home and I would take her. I have to say, the whole time we took pictures, everyone smiled and for a minute, Sydney didn’t seem to be in pain. Every kid took an opportunity to grab a photo with her, Nolan snagged a few with his polaroid (yeah, a polaroid…so cool by the way), and then we took a family photo.

Looking at the family photo with Sydney in the middle is going to be a longtime family favorite for certain. You’ll notice Cooper can’t help but have a hand on her, Nolan is focused on the camera, Nash isn’t sure he’s ready to be a willing participant (3-year-old) & Aubree and I are just happy to have a moment where we’re all together. 

family shot!

The long drive & then wait

As I picked Sydney up and sat her in the front seat of my truck, I had an instant flashback to college. Everywhere I went that wasn’t work/school, she was with me, riding shotgun. Whether it was a 15-minute drive or a 3-hour drive, she would pretty much just lay there with her head on the center console and I would pet her as I drove. I’m not going to lie, we had many conversations where I would talk to Sydney about my next steps on how I was sudying for tests, how work was going and what the future was going to be like. If dogs could talk, she would have plenty to share!

It was about an hour drive to my Aunt’s office and was one of the best drives I had made in a while. Unfortunately with 3 kids, there hasn’t been room to bring Sydney along for a ride in quite some time. This was one of the first in a long, long time. It took me back to our old days that I remembered so fondly, and it was honestly great to just sit in that moment for a while. 

We’ve had countless hours with Sydney riding “shotgun” over the years.

When I arrived at the office, I was informed there had been some emergencies and it would be a little longer than anticipated. For the next 1.5 hours, I sat in the truck with Sydney and just talked with her. I went over the different memories and couldn’t believe how many I had. She just sat there like a good dog and stared at me while I talked and was just there with me. Even though she was the one at the end of the line, she was comforting me. 

When we finally went into the office, there was another 30-45 minute wait. Due to Covid, the grief room wasn’t being used, so the procedure would be done in the exam room where they could disinfect easily enough after. So again, I just sat there with Sydney and for the first time in a while, just wanted time to stop. The past year our family has climbed a few mountains, and there really hasn’t been much time at all to just “sit” and think, and if so, it was normally in traffic. Today, I was forced to “sit”, but at least I was able to do it with my dog. I don’t know how to explain it, but I actually feel like time slowed down and I felt the most peace I had felt in a while. 

There were no words exchanged, I didn’t say anything to Sydney, I just sat down on the ground next to her. So many times in life after a bad day, I would come home and just “sit” with Sydney. She never had anything negative to say, and would just lay her head on my leg like she did this last time. Without ever talking, I always felt better after hanging out with my dog.  In a way, I think this was her way of leaving me with one last gift. She pulled me out of what was bound to be a busy Saturday, right before a very, very busy week & made me stop. 

Our last moments together…..

When my Aunt came in for the final step, it was a very surreal moment. The dog I had proudly taken home to my apartment 15 years ago was about to be gone forever. I knew it was close, but I never knew how I would react. In those final moments though, she just lay with her head pressed against me while I kept my hand on her shoulders. As she took her final breath, I said my last goodbyes (Although I’m not sure what it really sounded like as I choked on my tears, I’m certain she understood). Sydney lived a great life as a dog and continued to make an immeasurable impact on me even in her final moments. Aubree, the boys, and I will miss her dearly, but we’ll forever be thankful for the peace and happiness she brought us.

Final thoughts

Many people never own a dog, and will never know what it’s like to lose one. Even though my family has had pets from the time I was a child, I never truly knew what it was like to lose “your dog”. It’s been a while since I’ve cried as much as I did Saturday, and honestly, I have tears running down my face as I type this. In a way, these are healing tears as it’s been a reflection of the impact Sydney has had on my life.

To all of our friends and customers who read this, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope this helps you understand how seriously we take being a pet owner & how seriously we take our responsibility of providing your dog with the best product we know how to produce. Know that we will continue to press forward and continue pushing the envelope to develop the best diet that will give us the most years with our pets. When you tell us how great your dog is doing on our food, we genuinely get excited and happy. When we hear that you’ve finally resolved issues that have followed your dog for years, we’re happy. When you share news of your dogs getting sick or passing, we genuinely get it and feel with you. If you’ve ever lost a dog that was more than just a dog, I feel you. We’re here for you, good and bad, and I appreciate you being here with me.

Much Love,

Mitch Felderhoff
-4th Generation Owner

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A scoop a day for a stronger heart

Dogs are facing an epidemic that has plagued humans for the better part of 50 years. Obesity is increasing at a pace of over 80% since 2005 with over 54% of dogs being labeled as obese. Not shockingly, they have gone the same path as their owners, but why?

Bad Science

For over 30 years, at least in America, we have been told to avoid fat, and eat more “healthy carbs”, yet we’ve gotten bigger. When you go to the grocery store, take a look around at all of the low fat, no fat, and reduced-fat options that exist….There are more than ever and their sales are higher than ever……yet we are larger than ever.

The largest pet food manufacturers have a history of what?!

You probably didn’t know that the largest pet food manufacturers in the U.S. have their roots firmly planted in…….Candy. Yes, that’s right, candy. Nestlé and Mars are 2 of the largest manufacturers of pet food and have helped set the course of “nutrition” that dog food diets have used for years. Is it really a coincidence that they aren’t as worried about levels of carbohydrates and I don’t know….diabetes?

What do the numbers say

Obesity54% of all dogs are obese
(more than 30% overweight)

An increase of 80% since 2005

An increase of 32% since 2011
Diabetes296,666 dogs had diabetes in 2017

1 in 300

2/10 dogs euthanized w/in 12 months
of diagnosis

60,000 dogs die from diabetes every
year…..60,000……60,000….60,000
Odds your dog will be hit by a car1,200,000

1 in 74

.013%

Simply put, this is the biggest nutritional threat your dog faces. Unfortunately, these companies have incredibly deep pockets and the ability to buy influence on a massive scale as they have spent years financing Veterinarian schools & students. 

How does this affect my dog’s heart?

The number one cause of cardiovascular disease……….You guessed it, obesity. With 54% of all dogs suffering from obesity, it’s only common sense that since we’ve checked off diabetes as one of the more common diseases facing our four-legged friends. However, the one lurking in the shadows…..Heart Disease. 

In people, we know if you have diabetes, you are twice as likely to die from heart disease. In fact, 65% of people with diabetes die from heart disease. Over time, the excess blood sugar that exists in the blood due to the lack of insulin to convert it to fat or energy damages the blood vessels and nerves that control the heart. This results in a weaker heart that is no longer able to pump the way it should. 

What else can cause heart problems?

Ever hear the saying, “too much of a good thing”? You can literally eat or drink too much of anything. You can die from drinking too much water, exercising too much at one time, or even eating too much salt in one sitting…..Does that mean we shouldn’t drink water, exercise, or consume salt? Absolutely not, but you do have to be aware of how you incorporate each of these.

Unfortunately, in the pet food industry, many manufacturers move too quickly when developing new products and don’t take the time to consider if what they’re making can and will, have unintended consequences. I believe with 100% conviction that unfortunately dogs are being fed diets way too high in carbohydrates, and have been for a long time. This is a result of foods being much easier to make when they are loaded with starches and happen to be cheaper.

I also believe that some brands have pushed too hard to ‘remove” grain, and in turn, ended up creating diets that had very little research behind the ingredients being used. When you look at the foods listed in the DCM study by the FDA, many of them use 5-6 different types of peas & pea protein that probably account for close to 40% of the diet in some cases, maybe even more. They also list about 13 different kinds of “fresh meats” to continue bumping the rest of the ingredients down the list.

How our food is different

Well, we didn’t produce our first grain free diet until 2015. You see, we wanted to have a solid understanding of how we could benefit the dog if we introduced a grain free diet. With a history of making dairy feeds for over 4 decades, we knew that what we put in the feed could change the composition of the milk produced, and that balancing specific amino acids, sugars, probiotics, and protein sources all played a vital role. 

Instead of just loading our ingredients into a feed program generator and hitting the “calculate” button, we took time to meet with our Ph.D. nutritionists and examine each ingredient and where we could potentially cause problems. One of the things both of our Ph.D. nutritionists advised us to do was keep legumes under 20%, because after the diets exceed this level, there’s not a clear understanding of how it affects the stomach acid and if this could have a negative reaction towards nutrient absorption (appears that it may). Fortunately, we don’t have any diets that contain over 16%, with many of them coming in under 5%.

The other thing we did was use proven proteins that have high levels of cysteine and methionine, and we incorporate appropriate levels of B vitamins in the diet that are necessary for taurine synthesis. By taking all of these things into consideration, moving slowly, and not using the cheapest path on formulating our diets, we have one of the few brands that were not listed on the FDA’s 3 reports. 

Extra preventative steps that can be taken

If you’re new to Muenster, have an obese dog, or maybe just an older dog that you’re concerned could have heart issues, one of the best things you can do is provide a supplement like Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid that’s responsible for strengthing the heart and allowing it to pump the blood through the chambers. When you have a weak heart, it’s not able to pump blood all the way out of the left ventricle. This results in congestion within the heart as well as reduced oxygen levels.

How do I feed my dog extra taurine?

As we all know, feeding your dog supplements and medicine is difficult because most of the time it doesn’t taste good, and it’s full of useless & unpalatable ingredients like vegetable glycerin. 

approximately 40-45 servings per 12 oz container

What we did different, is take taurine and mixed it to a Freeze-Dried meat, you can learn more about this process here. This provides a very palatable and appetizing product that allows you to provide your dog with an incredible supplement. That is also made using ingredients naturally rich in Taurine like Beef heart, beef liver, beef tripe. What you won’t find in it; glycerin, flour, rice, peas, potatoes, or any other filler.

How much Taurine is in the topper, and will my dog eat it? 

Enough to ensure your dog is getting an adequate supply regardless of what food they’re eating. This will raise the amount of taurine to at least .15% of their diet when fed according to our feeding directions. The best thing about this topper?? It makes the food taste absolutely incredible. If you add this do your dogs bowl, they’ll not only have a boost in one of the most powerful amino acids for heart health, they’ll also be members of the clean bowl club!

For more information on our HeartStrong Taurine Topper, just click here

If your dog doesn’t absolutely love it, we’ll give you a refund 🙂

-Mitch Felderhoff, 4th Generation owner.

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Substance vs Substitutions

  • Muenster Ancient Grains Chicken & Pork
  • Purina Dog Chow Complete Adult

While the jar on the left is 35% less full than the jar on the right, it has the exact same weight of product in it. This is the difference between high quality, meat-rich diets, and cheap, least-cost formulated foods.


You see, at Muenster, we have fixed recipes and a deep ethical conviction that dogs need to eat diets high in protein & fat, yet low in carbohydrates. We don’t compromise this for profit, because more importantly to us, the health of the dog comes first.


When you look at the jar on the right, you see different colors, different shapes and anything else that can be done to distract you from the fact that you just bought a bag of marketing garbage.


What is “least-cost”? Well, it’s when you can manufacture about 50 varieties of a recipe and still be in line with the ingredient listings on the back of the bag. This is why a lot of these companies do a few things:


1.) They use a ton of different ingredients in the food. This gives them a lot of flexibility. Ingredients are listed in order by weight, and if they’re the same weight, they can be listed in any order. Many of the larger companies are able to arrange their ingredients in a way that allows them to adjust levels of things like corn gluten, rice bran, and wheat midds in order to keep their price low.


2.) They have a committed price to national chains for 12-18 months in many cases. They aren’t concerned with ingredient prices changing because they’ll just substitute something cheaper.


3.) I’ve heard so many times that some of these larger companies are better because they have 20-50 nutritionists….Well, there’s a great reason for that too. If you don’t have a fixed, tried and true recipe, you need that many nutritionists to keep your food cheap. They simply exist to constantly modify the recipes in order to create a cheaper version of the food that still hits the ingredient listing, yet also provides them the margin they need.


Funny story to go along with this experiment….As a joke, I ate some of our Chicken and Pork recipe on the left and said, whoa….not bad…..


Then, I tried the food on the right, and holy crap….it tasted like cheese cracker, I was impressed, it was delightful, until my ears started itching like crazy within seconds. You see, I have a gluten allergy, and I completely took for granted that I knew our foods were 100% safe for me to eat, and didn’t pause to consider the food from this National Brand may have wheat in it…..well, it did, and today, I feel terrible because of it.


Also, dog food shouldn’t taste like a cheese cracker, it should taste like meat!


RECAP: the food on the left (Muenster) was made with the dog in mind, the food on the right was made with the shareholder in mind.

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What is Freeze-Dried dog food?

Muenster Milling’s Freeze-Dryer, located in Muenster, TX

By now, most of you have heard the term “freeze-dried,” and have probably seen it on the shelf at your local pet food retailer or online. It’s one of the fastest-growing segments of the pet food industry and for good reason. The process gently removes moisture from the food without cooking it, leaving you with a nutritious, shelf-stable, uncooked product to feed your dog. 

Why is freeze-drying a superior process for producing pet food?

It’s simple really, you get out of the freeze-dryer what you put into it without having to add extra fillers. The freeze-dried process was initially developed to maintain structural integrity and nutrient levels in foods for our astronauts. When cooking foods, vitamins & minerals are lost during the heating process. In freeze-dried, since everything happens in a frozen environment, the proteins aren’t denatured, so vitamin/mineral concentration isn’t lost. The freeze-dryer provided our astronauts with a complete and balanced diet that was light and could be reconstituted, while ensuring they had all the nutrients necessary for their travels. Another important application of freeze-dried products is in pharmaceuticals.  As expensive as prescription drugs are, the manufacturers can’t afford to lose half of the integrity of their product to the heating process – which is why, oftentimes, pharmaceuticals are freeze-dried.

Our goal for feeding your pets is to give them the nutrients they need without having to pack in an abundance of high-calorie carbohydrates to make it happen. Carbohydrates are sugars that have low nutritional value for carnivores – but do a great job of holding kibble together, making extra carbs a common ingredient in conventional pet food. Since freeze-drying removes water from foods while frozen, carbohydrates are no longer needed to hold the foods together. Freeze-drying also negates the need to add glycerin to foods (used many times in baked & cold extruded treats). When freeze-dried, a dog’s diet is more simple & pure without extra filler ingredients.

This image was taken shortly after opening our freeze-dryer in Muenster, TX. The ice you see on the condenser plates is the moisture we have removed from the meat via freeze-drying.

What exactly is the freeze-drying process?

  1. We put frozen, raw meat onto trays in our freeze-dryer.
  2. The temperature lowers to around -60°, turning the water content in the meat into ice.
  3. A vacuum seal lowers the pressure to less than .06 ATM (atmospheric pressure).
  4. The trays heat up gradually. Once above 32° and without pressure, the water in the meat moves directly from ice form to vapor form, skipping the liquid form entirely (like dry ice evaporating on a counter).
  5. The water vapor collects on condensing plates (similar to the way frost condenses to your car in the winter), effectively drawing the moisture out of the meat. This condensing process can take anywhere from 24-48 hours.
  6. After all moisture has been removed, the vacuum is released and we’re left with a shelf-stable, super-nutritious raw meat product you can feed your dog or cat without any fillers or added carbs!

This is what frozen chicken looks like prior to entering the freeze-dryer. The trays slide onto the shelves and the sublimation process begins, taking water directly from ice to vapor.

How to incorporate freeze-dried into your pet’s diet

  • Freeze-dried foods can be 100% of your dog’s diet by allowing them to transition to a full carnivore diet over the course of one week.
  • Incorporate freeze-dried as 25-50% of your dog’s diet by mixing it in with kibble or canned foods.
  • Feeding freeze-dried during the day and kibble at night is a popular method.
  • Gradually adding freeze-dried meal toppers to kibble can be used to slowly remove carbohydrates from the diet.
  • Use freeze-dried as a treat only. Personally, when feeding as a treat, I like to hide freeze-dried foods throughout the house and let my dogs “hunt” for it. 

Image of our Freeze-Dried Elk & Venison Meal Topper. All it takes is a little sprinkle over their regular food, and your dogs’ mealtime will never be the same!

However you choose to incorporate the freeze-dried product into your dogs’ diet, you’ll want to make sure you monitor how much food your pets are eating. Freeze-dried foods are more rich in protein and nutrients than conventional pet foods, so your pet will likely need a lower quantity of food in general. But every single dog is different and will have different needs. You are the best judge of your dog’s body condition, and you can easily help your dog by ensuring you adjust the feeding amounts as directed. If you need any help putting together a freeze-dried feeding program for your dog, please reach out to us and we can help set you up a program. Send us a note: info@muenstermilling.com

To save 50% on our Freeze-Dried Elk/Venison meal toppers, use coupon code 50offelk.

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What do I do about my Overweight dog?

Obesity in Pets

Over the course of the last few decades, pets are facing an obesity crisis that’s mirroring the one people are facing, if not worse. Take a look at these statistics:

  • 54% of dogs in the U.S. are considered obese (30% overweight or more)
  • This is an 80% increase since 2005. 
  • In 2017 out of the 89,000,000 dogs, appx 297,000 of them had diabetes.
  • 60,000 dogs die every year as a result of diabetes.

How did we get here? Well, the answer is actually quite simple, most dogs eat too many carbohydrates on a daily basis. Over time, this causes insulin resistance as they aren’t able to handle the amount of sugar that’s being converted as the carbohydrates are broken down, leading to insulin resistance. When a dog becomes insulin resistant, they try to produce more in order to handle the elevated blood sugar, and eventually, the pancreas waves the white flag and gives up. 

When the pancreas gives in, the dog, unfortunately, becomes diabetic. Now, since the dog can’t talk, they don’t really have the ability to let us know they need to pee more than normal, their feet are tingling, and their vision is getting blurry, all we can see is they’re gaining a little more weight than normal. Beyond these symptoms, they are also more at risk for heart disease, cancer, and other chronic inflammatory diseases.

Conventional & mass-market pet food companies, unfortunately, spend a lot of money trying to research how they can make a diet as cheap as possible. You essentially end up with a product loaded with soy, corn, gluten, rice bran, and other starchy ingredients that cause massive spikes in blood sugar, and take the pancreas down the road of being rendered useless.

The best thing you can do is move your dog to a diet that’s higher in protein and fat, and then…..remove the junk food. When I say junk food, I’m talking about the conventional baked treats that are sold made mostly of flour & potatoes. While our dogs may eat them and seem happy, there are much better options. You see, every time you give your dog one of these sugary treats, it’s causing an insulin release. When insulin is released into the bloodstream, it converts carbohydrates to sugar, prevents fat from being used as energy, and then causes the muscle to be broken down for energy. Over time, you end up with a dog that has added fat, reduced muscle, and been subjected to chronic inflammation. Then we wonder why our dogs have arthritis at an early age and can’t lose weight no matter how much less we feed them. Unfortunately, a lot of dogs get prescribed a “weight loss” diet that’s medicated and has even lower carbohydrates.  Time and time again while talking with customers, they will ask me, “I’ve put my dog on a low-calorie diet, and he/she just isn’t losing any weight”. Then we move them to one of our low carb grain-free diets, cut the feeding amount by almost ½, and in no time their dog has lost the extra weight.

A creature created for low carb diets

If you were to follow dogs/wolves/coyotes through the wild, you would find they would consume mostly meat, eggs, and some vegetables & fruits when they find them. This would result in a starch level of approximately 4%. Keep in mind berries are mostly water, and there aren’t typically enough for a dog to eat to satiety, so they typically are doing it for water content, or they just like the taste of a cool berry! Now, consider most pet foods on the market have a calorie profile where carbohydrates contribute 40-50% of the nutrition (10X what nature intended), and it’s easy to see how the industry has missed the mark. 

Also consider, dogs have 8 hormones to raise blood sugar, and only one to lower it (insulin), it has to make you wonder why we’re working so hard against the genetic makeup of the dog. They have the ability to raise their blood sugar if they need energy with the use of EIGHT different hormones, yet we place the burden on insulin when we feed high carb diets.

What can you do?

The best thing to do is to feed your dog fewer carbohydrates. I have seen countless dogs lose weight that their owners thought would be impossible to lose, simply by moving them to a lower-carb diet, you can find ours here. 

The next best thing you can do would be to incorporate Freeze-Dried meats to their diet. This will increase the fat & protein of their diet even more, while also reducing the amount of dry kibble you would feed. Beyond being the exact nutrient profile your dogs were mean to eat, it may be one of the tastiest things you can add to their diet. You can find our Freeze-Dried meal toppers & treats here.

Want to save a few bucks and help your dog drop a few pounds?

If you’ve never tried Muenster before, use coupon code lessfat25 to save 25% on your first order of Grain-Free & Freeze-Dried here.


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10 Ways to Adopt a Shelter Sweetie During Adopt a Dog Month

Do you ever look at your rescue pup and think, “who saved whom”? We know the feeling. Even though they were technically adopted, they feel like one of your own. You can’t imagine your home without them, and life before Fido seems like a distant memory. Though your shelter sweetie has no doubt enriched your life, he or she may exhibit some anxious or unruly behaviors you’d like to see shift. Continue reading “10 Ways to Adopt a Shelter Sweetie During Adopt a Dog Month”

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Top Health and Personality Traits of 6 Popular Small Dog Breeds

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Welcome to part two of our summer series that reveals key characteristics of specific small dog breeds. In these pages, you’ll discover health and wellness info to help you better care for your fur friend. Whether you’re curious about key facets of their personality, potential health complications, or ways to support their diet and style their coat, read on. Continue reading “Top Health and Personality Traits of 6 Popular Small Dog Breeds”