I know many dog parents believe in grain free and raw food for their dogs. I haven’t always been sold on the ideas, but the more I learn the more I am. We’ve been feeding grain free for a while, and Luke especially seems to benefit from it the most, with far less digestive issues than he had in the past. I’d love to take the jump to raw or homemade, because I believe that a high protein diet is very important, but I’m just not ready to take that on yet. So we do the best we can to choose high quality kibble and canned foods, and occasionally throw in some fresh cooked meat or veggies.
We got a nice surprise recently when Merrick Pet Care sent us a package with their new food called Backcountry to try. I love their idea of adding freeze-dried raw real meat pieces to a protein rich kibble. It seems like a good way to take another step towards feeding a more natural diet to my dogs.
Merrick’s tag line “Feed as nature intended” describes this all natural, grain free, high protein “ancestral” diet very well. What are some of the benefits of this new food? Not only is it high in protein with meat as the first ingredient, but it helps to:
- Avoid grain allergies and gluten intolerance. Our dogs don’t have these issues at this time, but by sticking to grain free I feel hopeful we can avoid them.
- Reducing grains can lead to better overall gastrointestinal health.
- High protein diets are highly digestible, leading to less stool volume, as well as better weight management and overall health.
- Ancestral diets are more calorie dense, so smaller portions can be fed.
This food is made in Merrick’s USA kitchen, with no ingredients from China. It contains industry leading levels of Omega 6 & 3’s, along with glucosamine and chondroitin, all excellent ingredients for joint health (this is very important to us). There are no artificial ingredients, and no corn, soy, or wheat.
I also like the unique proteins they use in their blends, such as rabbit, trout, venison, and quail. I believe that feeding unique proteins can help reduce allergies to common ingredients like chicken.
The dogs were so happy to give these foods a try! Because it was a small bag of kibble we received, and we have three dogs, I decided to use the kibble as training treats. This is actually a good way to see if they really like it too. Since mixing high value and low value treats is a great tool for training, this really worked out well with those freeze dried raw pieces in there, but honestly, the dogs liked the high protein kibble just as well as the special bites.
Plus they LOVED the wet food as seen in the photos below….they ate every last bite and licked their bowls clean!
This food is now available at your favorite pet supplies stores and online. The kibble is available in 4, 12, and 22 lb bags in 4 different recipes. The canned food comes in 7 flavors rich in meat, fresh vegetables, and hearty gravy. For more information, you can visit merrickpetcare.com.
*Disclaimer: We received this package free of charge with no obligation to share about it. It was our choice to share….Wag ‘n Woof Pets only shares products we believe in and feel will be of interest to our readers. All opinions are our own.
We are joining the Tasty Tuesday blog hop hosted by Sugar the Golden Retriever and Kol’s Notes. Please visit our hosts along with the other blogs through the links below for more tasty treats.
I’ve considered raw diets for the girls but with all the recalls — voluntary and forced — and the price of the stuff, I just cannot justify it these days. Especially with our limited income. The foods they are on now seem to be working for them, so I’m not ready to “upset the apple cart” at this point. I’m glad that the “Backcountry” seems to be working well for your crew, though!!
I’ve always thought “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” was a good saying! I think you’re wise to stick with what’s working. If I fed raw, I would want it to be at least partly homemade, and I don’t think I’m up for that, not right now with three dogs anyway.
Think long and hard before embarking on a journey of homemade dog food!! It’s A LOT of work, especially when you’re doing it for multiple pets! Not to mention expensive! When I was making my own version of the FreshPet, I was going through 5 lbs. of chicken breast every 2 days; and even though I was only paying 2.99/lb. on sale, it got to be more expensive than feeding Sam and Me very quickly! I was cooking the chicken in the crockpot, and steaming the carrots and spinach together in the steamer, but it was time consuming to chop it up and measure it out into containers.
I have thought of that, and the time consuming aspect of it is probably the thing that holds me back the most….not to mention the expense. Heck, half the time I don’t even feel like cooking for hubby and myself! 🙂
We have been feeding a kibble with freeze dried raw for over 6 months now and the boys are doing great on it. It’s great to hear that Merrick has a similar option with Backcountry!
Shiner got some of that food to try too! She loved it 🙂
I love that more companies are branching out and offering raw products!
Our girls INHALED this stuff! We usually feed canned Merrick food with another brand of kibble, but this is something that is really on my radar, and I like to keep a couple of brands in mind in case something comes up and we can’t get our regular fare or in case we’d have a reason to need to switch. This one is definitely on my short list!
We eat mostly grain free too. And the mom has been adding freeze-dried raw to our foods as well. That looks like some good food. Merrick’s is a good brand.
Looks yummy.
They do look like they loved it!
The boys LOVED their Merrick Backcountry. Bentley tried scaling the cabinets as I scooped it into their bowls! BOL!
What a great box, duck and venison, yummy!
Looks like your pack loves the stuff! What a great box of goodies!
Looks like a great box. Kilo has no issues yet except greed. He seems to have been thriving on his kibble and home-made mix. However I really like the sound of this. Thanks for sharing X susie
I think that mixing kibble with some homemade food is a great way to go. It’s also good to know there are other healthy options out there for when you might need them.
Sounds yummy. I recently switched to a dehydrated all natural food – and the Boys live it! It’s a good feeling to know that your pets are eating healthy.
I have always been a fan of Grain Free foods for the dogs. Koda has some tummy issues and I do find a big difference as you said with Luke. Love Merricks and will definitely check this out!!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We have been eating Merrick since last summer, but no grain free. We got this box too a while back and loved it. Since we are into wabbits, we love the one bag which has wabbit in it. Since it is so tasty and healthy and has wabbit, it is now our food and we love it. We order the bags in flavor rotation too, so we don’t get bored with just one taste. Enjoy!
I love this box nd I will look if I can get one for Easy as a christmas gift… it’s much better than the common stuffies who are KIA within 2 minutes :o)