Chidog Human Grade Fresh Dog Food

Hi everyone! I have an 8 month old Staffy named Zion & I have been doing research on switching his food. He has previously had GI issues & is currently on Hills Science GI low fat prescription food. He hates it & will not even touch it. I looked at the ingredients and was absolutely disgusted with what is in it!! My last dog Nala, rest in peace, ate Farmers Dog fresh food & absolutely loved it. I have been looking for fresh food that is good for dogs with GI issues, and stumbled upon Chidog which has a "Wood Dog" recipe that looks like it would fit the needs of Zion (chidog.com/pages/menu <- you would have to copy and paste this link since I am new to the forum). I am going to have a conversation with the owner (a vet) to ask questions on their quality control, who formulated these meals & to make sure that this food would give Zion the nutrition that he needs. I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of Chidog or uses Chidog for their dogs meals, to get their opinions on this company, and to see if they would recommend it. Hopefully someone does & responds to this post soon

Hi & welcome.

I'm afraid I 'm not well up on US dog food,but although the ingredients look okay, I'm always suspicious of 'faddy' foods. I may be doing them a huge disservice, but I would be cautious.

What do you mean when you say "faddy foods" like something that is a fad? If so, what makes you weary of them?

Dog food is dog food - good or bad. I don't much like the fancy ones that quote chi etc, or say they're for a specific breed for example.

Have you thought about intolerances? For example, many dogs nowadays seem to be intolerant of poultry, chicken especially.

I would personally look for a good quality, novel protein food (lamb, kangaroo, fish etc) and see if that helps. Have you thought about raw feeding?

Never thought about raw feeding, I dont know anyone who does that & dont have enough education on it to make a decision like that.

There are several companies throughout the US who do pre-mixed raw food. Usually frozen so you'd need freezer space!

Thats pretty much what it is. I have a list of stuff to ask the company.

Did you feed a raw diet? Do you know any of the pros and cons off the top of your head, if you did feed raw?

I did feed raw for the last two boys I had.

Dempsey LOVED it - anything and everything raw! Badger was , with his neurological problems, was more difficult. As a pup he did incredibly well on raw (pre-mixed, puppy relevant mix). But as he started to mature he became picky. Eventually I put him on a commercial 'home cooked' food which he loved & did well on.

Raw doesn't suit every dog or every person. So much depends on cost & storage. But a good quality raw is usually better than a good quality kibble.

Gotcha. Is it an actual companies raw food? Or is it raw food that you buy at the regular grocery store?

zionthehappystaffy wrote:Gotcha. Is it an actual companies raw food? Or is it raw food that you buy at the regular grocery store?

We have several pet shops near me that either sell a good range of commercial raw food or are exclusive raw food shops. Do you have any similar near you? If not, you may need to research online & buy direct from the companies.

The only shops around here (I live in southeast Florida in the US) are the big stores like Petco, Petsmart, etc. No good places sadly. Our country doesnt really care whats put in human food, none the less dog food.

Maybe join one of the Facebook raw feeding pages - there are loads of raw feeders from the USA & I'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Don't be tempted, though, to DIY at least until you know what you're doing - it's a minefield of mistakes that could lead our dog to be missing vital nutrients. Go for a commercial complete raw feed. That's if you want to go down that route of course!

I wouldn’t even attempt it myself lol Do you happen to know of any groups on Facebook that are legit and honest regarding raw food diets?

I find this one is pretty good. Beware, though, as with all the groups, there are people who like to get on their high horse & criticise. Mainly it's okay & they'll share knowledge/info.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/therfc/?ref=share

Okay awesome!! I think thats just how humans are in general that way now days! I wish everyone was just nice lol but I am going to look into that as well! Thank you for being such a big help & sharing your knowledge, I really appreciate it!

No problem. Let us know how you get on.