Education & FAQs

A lot of science goes into crafting our recipes. For more information, check out our other FAQs to learn about how much to feed your dog and what 'easy and affordable' means to us.

All recipes are complete, balanced, and vet-approved, which means your dog can eat any of these recipes every day and get the right balance of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients.

The Balance IT system, including a Balance IT Canine Plus supplement, is used when creating the recipes to ensure that the food is nutritionally complete and balanced. It's important to note that we make no commissions on this product.. Each recipe goes through vet approval. The veterinarian we work with specializes in nutrition and also cooks for her own dogs. Ensuring that a dog's food contains all the essential nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals, and avoiding too much of any one mineral, which can be toxic, is crucial for the dog's health. A diet lacking any essential nutrient or with too much of any nutrient can cause health problems. Each recipe contains a combination of nutrient-dense ingredients that include: High-quality proteins such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, or legumes. Complex carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, buckwheat, and quinoa that provide energy to fuel the body. Fibers from a variety of vegetables and fruits such as carrots, broccoli, green beans, zucchinis, berries, apples, and bananas that promote healthy digestion and lower cholesterol levels. Healthy fats such as fish oil, safflower oil, corn oil, coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil, or flax oil, which are essential for proper body functioning. While the amount of fat may vary, fish oil is recommended up to the healthy daily maximum.
However, we believe in using a rotating variety of ingredients because we wouldn't want to put all our nutrition eggs in one basket.

Although nutritional supplements are great, just like how humans benefit from a range of natural vitamins vs. vitamin pills, dogs benefit from a diverse diet that provides nutrients naturally. Our recipes include different protein sources, grains, and vegetables to provide a range of nutrients and keep dogs interested in their food. This is one of the reasons cooking is better than using a set rotation of recipes from Farmers Dog, Ollie Pet, Nom Nom Now, etc. More variety each week!
Fresh food is better than raw and kibble from a nutrition and safety POV.

Kibble is highly processed and often contains preservatives and fillers, which is detrimental to a dog's health. Additionally, kibble is often high in carbohydrates and low in protein, which is required to produce a kibble that sticks together. This can lead to weight gain and other health issues. A study published in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition found that dogs fed a high-carbohydrate kibble diet had higher levels of insulin and triglycerides, which are markers for obesity and diabetes. Studies show that feeding fresh food instead of kibble can add up to 1-3 years of lifespan. For instance, a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that dogs fed a diet consisting of at least 30% fresh food had a 15% longer lifespan compared to dogs fed a kibble-only diet. Fresh food is also better for digestion, weight, and allergies. While raw food can be digestible for healthy dogs and is considered by some to be better than kibble from a nutrition point of view, it can be contaminated with harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. These bacteria can cause illness in dogs and humans, especially if your dog likes to give licks and kisses, which can spread the deadly bacteria to you and your family. FYI, freeze-dried treats that are not labeled "irradiated" have the same bacteria problem because these treats are still raw. Irradiation may sound like a scary word, but it is actually the process to kill bacteria off these raw treats. Cooking at home gives you more safety controls than other fresh food companies like Farmers Dog, Ollie Pet, Nom Nom Now, etc which can be subject to recalls from the manufacturing process. If you cook small-batch at home, you know every ingredient going in is fresh and unspoiled and food is thouroughly cooked to eliminate dangerous bacteria.
Recipes are made with high-quality, organic ingredients like quinoa, brown rice, meats, occasional organ meats, fruits, and vegetables, along with a nutrient supplement

Grains such as rice, barley, and quinoa can be a great source of energy and nutrition for dogs. They are often high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals that can support overall health and well-being. Additionally, some grains like rice can be easy to digest and can help soothe upset stomachs in dogs. While some dogs may have food sensitivities or allergies to grains, for most dogs, a diet that includes grains in moderation can be a healthy and nutritious option. It's important to note that not all grains are created equal, and some may be more beneficial than others. The grain-free trend is not backed by scientific evidence and may actually be harmful to dogs. Many grain-free diets are high in legumes, which can cause health issues if overused. Legumes can lead to a deficiency of certain amino acids found in grains but not in legumes, which can increase the risk of heart problems such as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Grain-free diets can be lacking in essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals, leading to health issues such as digestive problems, skin and coat issues, and weight gain.
Calories in our recipes are composed of around 33% protein, 40% fat, and 27% carbs.

There's no ideal ratio for dogs when it comes to protein, fat, and carbs. Healthy dogs can tolerate a wide range of fat content, which can vary depending on their individual needs and health conditions. However, there are minimums that should be met. For adult dogs, the minimum protein requirement is 18% (22% for puppies), and the minimum fat requirement is 5% (8% for puppies). Carbs make up the rest of the diet. Healthy dogs are typically able to tolerate a wide range of fat content, with sled dogs' diets sometimes containing over 60% fat. All of our recipes are calorie-controlled and tailored to match super-premium fresh dog foods, with input from a veterinarian to keep dogs full, happy, and healthy.
It's important to consider your dog's individual needs when selecting their diet.

These recipes are made for healthy adult dogs. Senior dogs and puppies have different nutritional needs.

Max Nutrition

How to maximize nutrition and minimize waste & cost

Our dogs mean everything to us, but providing them with high-quality nutrition and care doesn't have to be physically or financially exhausting. We've found a few hacks to deliver the same great nutrition to our dogs with a fraction of the effort and cost. Shop in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze food for the week or month to optimize for your convenience.

Recipes center around using entire packs of meat

To help reduce food waste, our recipes are designed around using entire Costco-sized packages of meat, so you won't be left with half-opened packs in your fridge. Here are some examples of the meat sizes we typically use:

Organic ground turkey: 3 lbs
Great Range ground bison: 2.5 lbs
Organic ground beef: 4 lbs
Organic chicken breasts: 6 lbs
Signature tilapia loins: 3 lbs

Frozen veggies can be better than fresh

Frozen fruits and vegetables are a convenient and nutritious addition to your dog's diet as they're picked at peak ripeness and frozen to preserve their nutrients. We recommend using frozen ingredients from the giant bags available at Costco, as they can be used across multiple recipes without worrying about spoilage. Just make sure the frozen veggies don't contain salt or onions. Some of our favorite frozen options include:

Kirkland organic blueberries: 3lbs
Kirkland organic broccoli florets: 4lbs
Kirkland organic Normandy frozen vegetables: 5.5lbs
Tropicland organic riced cauliflower: 5lbs

While we recommend frozen veggies for convenience, we also include fresh ingredients in our recipes to provide variety and additional nutrients.

Shop in bulk - we love Costco

We understand that making your dog's food with high-quality ingredients can be costly. To help with this, we'll provide cost breakdowns from a Costco in the San Francisco Bay Area, because buying in bulk is more cost-effective. Costco offers many organic options, making it a great place to shop for ingredients. Additionally, we'll provide tips on where to find harder-to-find ingredients like organ meats for the occasional recipe.

Some examples of our favorite items include:

Kirkland organic quinoa: 4.5lbs
Quaker oats: 10lbs
Homai organic brown rice: 15lbs
Gold potatoes: 10lbs
Organic sweet potatoes: 6.5lbs
Kirkland organic pasture raised eggs: 2 dozen

Please note that we are not sponsored by Costco.

Storage & Freezing

To store your dog's food, place it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For long-term storage, portion out your dog's daily servings (based on recommended calories) and freeze them for up to 30 days.

When you're ready to serve the frozen food, thaw it out in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before feeding it to your dog.

3 recommended tools

Everything used can be commonly found around the house, I recommend adding the following, slightly less common, items:

A food scale - very important for making sure your dog has enough vitamins and nutrients
Freezable storage containers - I started with ziplock bags until I was sure I wanted to keep cooking for my dog
2 large pots - you can get away with 1 and a rice cooker or even 1 large and 1 small, but 2 makes things easier

How Much to Feed

How much to feed your adult dog

I can assist you in calculating how many days' worth of food you have on hand for your adult dog by using the total amount of calories per recipe (I give this for every recipe) and the table below to determine the appropriate serving size.

To do this, divide the total calorie count of a recipe by your dog's recommended daily calorie intake, as determined by your dog's weight in the table below. For example, if your energetic 30 lb dog needs 1000 calories per day and a recipe contains 8000 calories, you have 8 days' worth of food. It's a good idea to pre-portion the food before freezing to ensure that you're feeding your dog the correct amount at each meal.

Remember to monitor your dog's weight and adjust the portion size as needed. If your dog is gaining weight, try reducing the number of calories by 5% at a time. If your dog is losing weight, try increasing the number of calories. Maintaining a healthy weight for your dog is crucial to preventing health issues such as joint problems, heart disease, and diabetes that can result from obesity.

Dog Weight	Calories
5	150-200
6	180-240
7	210-280
8	240-320
9	270-360
10	300-400
11	330-440
12	360-480
13	390-520
14	420-560
15	450-600
16	480-640
17	510-680
18	540-720
19	570-760
20	600-800
21	630-840
22	660-880
23	690-920
24	720-960
25	750-1000
26	780-1040
27	810-1080
28	840-1120
29	870-1160
30	900-1200
35	1050-1400
40	1200-1600
45	1350-1800
50	1500-2000
55	1650-2200
60	1800-2400
65	1950-2600
70	2100-2800
75	2250-3000
80	2400-3200