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Creating your own Dog Food

Introducing My Custom Dog FoodTM

4th Generation Owner Chad Felderhoff adding Freeze-Dried Elk & Salmon Oil to a Recipe

A Brief History of Kibble


Since 1956, Pet food has been manufactured through a process that we’ve come to know as extrusion. This allows manufacturers like ourselves to combine all the ingredients your dog needs into one meal. While we’ve seen continued innovation over the past 70 years, the runway has gotten short. Simply put, an extruded dog food is round & brown. 

There are literally thousands of different dog foods on the market all competing with the exact same technology and science. Most foods are made by a few select manufacturers that tend to use the same recipe and just put it in a different bag. Then a marketing company will do their job and try their best to tell you why their food is the best because of some exotic dried berry they put in the food to act as an antioxidant. 

In fact, some of the largest pet food manufacturers in the world made their initial entrance into the food world by making candy (think Nestle/Mars). They tell you how great their food is because they have 20 nutritionists constantly working on their diets. However, if someone has 20 nutritionists working on a diet, they’re generally doing it so they can find a way to use a byproduct and still hit AAFCO standards. Simply put, they’re there so they can find a way to make the food cheaper. If you have the perfect product, you don’t need to try and find a way to work in rice bran, distillers grain, corn gluten, etc. However, if you’re trying to reduce costs and increase your margin, they’re great ingredients. If they were really concerned about health, they wouldn’t be making candy…

Time for a Change….

While we work very hard at Muenster to ensure that we’re using the best local ingredients and formulating the best diets possible with our Ph.D. animal nutritionist, we can’t deny that dog food as it has been traditionally presented is boring and antiquated. At the end of the day, we spend too much time trying to fit every dog out there into 1 or 2 boxes and say “this food is great for any dog of any size w/ any condition”. However, dogs have varying energy requirements, protein tolerances, grain allergies, etc. 

Based on this information, many of you have spent countless hours researching foods, trying different brands, only to end up with the same results…or possibly, the perfect food for your dog, only your dog didn’t like the taste….

This is exactly why we’re introducing our newest approach to feeding your dog, My Custom Dog Food. Now, you can bring control back into your hands. With over 14 different base mixes and 6 different enhancements available, you can create over 3000 different recipes. This gives you the ability to find a recipe that will keep your dog healthy AND give them the flavor they are looking for!

We’re starting simple, with just a few additions and base mixes, but will be rapidly expanding our offerings. By January, we will have joint health, skin & coat, digestive & heart-healthy supplements available. Next on the list is salmon & beef protein boosters. 

How do I get started?

Well, it’s very simple! All you have to do is visit a product that has enhancements enabled. You’ll notice to the right of the screen on the desktop that you can select the product enhancements you want to add. As you select them, the price will adjust for the ingredients you add. 

Current Recipes available for customization

Grain Free Rabbit & Coconut

Ancient Grains Chicken Recipe

What’s Next?

The next step for us will be to continue releasing new diets eligible for the customizations, as well as releasing new and additional enhancements. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter & updates. We would love to hear from you, so please send us a note at info@muenstermilling.com with any requests you have!

Want to be first in line?

The first 20 customers on November 1st to customize a bag of our Ancient Grains Chicken Recipe will receive their customizations for FREE! (Must enrol in Autoship) (Limit 1 bag per customer). You can add Bacon Fat, Salmon oil, and Freeze-Dried elk at this time, with more options coming soon! Only requirement….We want to hear back from you after you try it, so be ready to send us videos, pictures & a review!

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Do You Know Which Plants are Poisonous to Pets?

poisonous plants for pets

Spring has sprung, and for many of us, that means rolling up our sleeves, putting on a sun hat, and doing some gardening! It can also mean bringing home new potted plants to live indoors, just to improve air quality and “brighten the place up.” Before you head out to exercise your green thumb, though, it would be wise to brush up on your knowledge of poisonous plants.

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Our Second Generation: Muenster, the Military, and More

Muenster Milling History

While Joe Felderhoff faced the unique challenge of founding and developing his own company in the 1930s, there were still many more challenges to be faced when a fatal car crash took him from both his business and his family. This put Joe’s wife Mary in a difficult position. She was now a single parent with the responsibility of keeping her family financially afloat while still being the hands-on parent she wanted to be for her four children. At the time, Arthur was her oldest child, and he was only 13 years old, so her children couldn’t help her run the business. So in order to keep the company alive, she decided to lease the business to another Muenster family for the next ten years.
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Buying Local Pet Food

Have you ever purchased fresh produce from the Farmers Market? There’s something about reaching out and picking up a basket of tomatoes or squash at a farmers market that can’t be imitated at the chain grocery store right down the street. Maybe it’s because the vegetables purchased at the Farmers Market were grown in the same type of soil your house is planted on. Maybe it’s because you know exactly who you’re supporting when you hand the farmer/gardener the $5.00 for a basket of peaches. Maybe, it just tastes better from the extra TLC it gets by not being mass produced on a plantation in Mexico.
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Dogs are Better Mood Lifters than Chocolate!

For years animals lovers have told us how happy their dogs make them and how important a family member they are. According to a new study by Dognition, having a dog is good for your hormones which has to be great for your health.In the study, researchers sampled the blood of human and canine participants before they spent time along together and then afterwards. The results included significant measurable decreases in blood sugar and blood pressure. But wait, put down the chocolate! After spending just 30 minutes along with their dog, participants had increased levels of the mood-lifter Oxytocin, also known as the “hug hormone” and a whole range of other mood hormones, including beta-endorphins which are associated with euphoria and pain relief; prolactin which promotes a parenting-like bonding behavior; phenylethylamine and dopamine, which increase when people are in love.
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You Are What You Eat

I spent my first 3 years of college as a student athletic trainer at the University of North Texas. What drew me to this path was a weird and obsessive love with the sport of football. I knew that I was too slow, too weak, and too unathletic to compete at the collegiate level in my favorite sport, or any sport for that matter. However, I enjoyed anatomy classes in high school and wanted to stay connected to the sport. What I learned there was an invaluable amount of information on the way the human body works; more importantly, the effect of nutrition on the body.
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