Honest Kitchen

Has anyone ever used this for their pugs? I got some samples at a meet up and I gave my boys a taste last night. They loved it. It's dehydrated raw that you mix with water and add your own fruits and veggies and meats to if you'd like.

Yes, I have used this for a while now. Mine have eaten the Embark, Force & Keen. They go crazy for it!
If you're thinking about switching to it, I just found a site that the prices are better and shipping cheaper.
It's www.heartypet.com

Do you mix anything in it? It says it's about $40 for a 4-pound box, which makes 17 pounds of food. How much do you feed?

LuLu gets 1/3 cup twice a day, and a 10 lb. box lasts about 6 weeks.
I don't mix anything with it currently, but I have in the past added green beans, yogurt, and pumpkin.
Also, she doesn't have any issues with grains, so she eats the Keen which is a little more cost effective.

I have a sample of the Keen, too. I may give that one a try. Thanks!

Can I just rave about Honest Kitchen?! I've tried Force in the past but recently bought Keen because it is more affordable. Grace normally has issues with grains, but she does well on Keen. I feed dry kibble for breakfast and Keen for dinner. It's similar in calories to their dry kibble, so everyone gets the same amount of Keen as they would kibble. I will add broccoli, green beans, pumpkin, yogurt, whatever to it - as they literally wolf the stuff down in 10 seconds flat, so I like to add to it to help slow them down. I've NEVER seen my dogs go crazy over food like they do Honest Kitchen.

I'm glad that you posted this thread, Sam. It made me remember that I still haven't tried the samples that Becky was able to get for us at the convention. Now I just need to find them!

GingerSnap wrote:I'm glad that you posted this thread, Sam. It made me remember that I still haven't tried the samples that Becky was able to get for us at the convention. Now I just need to find them!

Ginger, it looks gross when it's rehydrated, but it's amazing how good the stuff smells. I haven't worked up the nerve to taste it but man just the smell alone makes me feel good about feeding it. And be careful, as soon as they see you getting ready to add water and hydrate it, they go crazy and it's a chore to get them to wait 10 minutes til it's ready!

I am glad for this thread becuase through it I found ziwipeak treats! they are GREAT! and soo economical.. they are just shavings, and tear apart into tiny pieces for training instantly (in situ).. no prep cutting needed!

thanks all!

I fed Murphy and Duke the Keen this morning and they gobbled it up. The only drawback is you have to wait 10 minutes for the food to absorb the water. I gave them each a beef lung to tie them over and after I got out of the shower I served them dinner.

It does look weird when it's re-hydrated but it smells a lot like chicken noodle soup. LOL

I plan on getting a 4-pound box this weekend. But I'm also going to mix it up with their Wellness kibble. I still feel like they need the hard stuff for their teeth. Or am I nuts?

Newsie96 wrote:
I still feel like they need the hard stuff for their teeth. Or am I nuts?

I felt like this with LuLu too, but she is such an avid chewer on her nylabone toys that she doesn't really have plaque issues. I think a raw bone, or something else that they will like to chew on, will help if they do develop any plaque.
Actually, LuLu's teeth are much whiter compared to Tyson's who eats kibble.

I don't feed the Honest Kitchen, but I feed Addiction Raw which is dehydrated. I found that adding warmer water makes the food thicken up quicker then if I add cold. I don't know if that would help the HK or not.

I'm happy to hear that everyone is so pleased with the Honest Kitchen foods. I picked up a 4 lb. box of Force on Saturday and am planning on trying it tonight for the pugs dinner. I've been trying to figure out the most economical way to feed raw with multiple pugs & I'm not sure that I'm ready to make the leap to RMB's just yet. I've been cooking for them lately and plan on trying the Force and then maybe eventually Nature's Variety frozen raw to see which work's out best.

GingerSnap wrote:I'm glad that you posted this thread, Sam. It made me remember that I still haven't tried the samples that Becky was able to get for us at the convention. Now I just need to find them!

I still have some leftover if you want me to send them to you!

I learned an interesting thing from some product studying I was doing with Nature's Variety. For more complete nutrition, they actually recommend rotating the TYPE of food you feed, ie: Raw, Canned (Instinct), Dry (Instinct or Prairie) as well as the MEAT that is in the food (lamb, beef, venison, buffalo, chicken, etc).

Here's more information: http://www.naturesvariety.com/rotation

Newsie96 wrote:But I'm also going to mix it up with their Wellness kibble. I still feel like they need the hard stuff for their teeth. Or am I nuts?

I've read in a couple of different places that you should not feed kibble & raw at the same time due to different rates of digestion. Don't know if that's true or not. We are doing kibble in the morning and then the Honest Kitchen for dinner. Holy moly...this stuff is like doggy crack! My pugs have always been good eaters but they really go nuts for it!

PugLady3 wrote:

Newsie96 wrote:But I'm also going to mix it up with their Wellness kibble. I still feel like they need the hard stuff for their teeth. Or am I nuts?

I've read in a couple of different places that you should not feed kibble & raw at the same time due to different rates of digestion. Don't know if that's true or not. We are doing kibble in the morning and then the Honest Kitchen for dinner. Holy moly...this stuff is like doggy crack! My pugs have always been good eaters but they really go nuts for it!

It's the same thing at our house. In fact, I mix it up and let it sit on the counter to re-hydrate and then take the kids out to potty while it's "cooking." It's all I can do to get the girls to go outside - poor Kayla gets so worried that I will forget to give her the food!!!

Newsie96 wrote:

I plan on getting a 4-pound box this weekend. But I'm also going to mix it up with their Wellness kibble. I still feel like they need the hard stuff for their teeth. Or am I nuts?

I guess the hard stuff is good if your pugs actually CHEW their food, so many just inhale it anyway.

I'm glad you brought this up, we may try this food for CP too :)

How much is everyone feeding their Pugs? I just got some of the Keen and Verve in the mail and am hoping to switch my crew tomorrow. I'll probably steam up whatever veggies I have around and keep those as filler. I don't think I'll be adding meat in. My crew needs to lose a bit of weight per the vet...

By the by, nice to see so many familiar faces. I was PugMomInIL on PV. I'm Jill, work with NIPRA, and am owned by Pugsley, Scooby, and P2.

I fed it several years ago. I used to just make up a few days worth and put it in an airtight container in the fridge. I never had any issues with it that way and then you don't have to wait for it to thicken every time you feed.

Oh, and Becky, Hearty Pet is great! Prices are great and shipping is too. I actually get a great deal on shipping because they're close to me. I usually get the food within a day or two!

Jill wrote:By the by, nice to see so many familiar faces. I was PugMomInIL on PV. I'm Jill, work with NIPRA, and am owned by Pugsley, Scooby, and P2.

Hi Jill!!


I figured that I'd add this question here instead of starting a whole new thread. For those of you who are using (or have used) HK, has anyone else noticed an increase in stool volume? I'm feeding 1/3-1/2 cup per meal, depending on the size of the pug, and it seems like some of them are pooping way more than normal.

PugLady3 wrote:

Jill wrote:By the by, nice to see so many familiar faces. I was PugMomInIL on PV. I'm Jill, work with NIPRA, and am owned by Pugsley, Scooby, and P2.

Hi Jill!!


I figured that I'd add this question here instead of starting a whole new thread. For those of you who are using (or have used) HK, has anyone else noticed an increase in stool volume? I'm feeding 1/3-1/2 cup per meal, depending on the size of the pug, and it seems like some of them are pooping way more than normal.

Yes, definitely an increased poop volume in our house. I emailed their customer service about it when I noticed (when on walks I was carrying poop bags that looked like I had 4 big dogs instead of 2 small dogs), and they said it is normal. It evens out after a while.

I am picking up honest kitchen for my gang on Friday. Yay! I am excited to try it. Those who use it, and who have multiple pugs, I know it's expensive-do you feed it for all their meals? or just one meal? We were thinking to do their (no grain) kibble in the mornings, and HK in the evening. I don't know, still trying to figure it out.

Also, does anyone have that formula for figuring out calories?

All 3 of mine eat HK, LuLu eats Keen, Mac eats Embark and Tyson eats Preference (and we add the protein). They eat it for both meals, and go craaazy for it!! If you have someplace to purchase it locally that is great. If you are going to continue feeding it, you may still want to check out online retailers because sometimes the store prices are pretty high in comparison. The best price I've found online is www.heartypet.com
If you don't already have them, here is link to coupons you can use in-store
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products/coupons.shtml
I don't have the calorie calculator, but for reference, LuLu weighs 20 lbs, is not what I would necessarily call active, and she eats 1/3 cup twice a day. Tyson gets 1/4 cup of Preference mixed with 1/4 of protein, and Mac because he's still young gets a full 1/2 cup twice a day.
What kind are you going to try? Some of them are a little "looser" (I think the Verve) when you add equal parts water, some-like the Keen, need a little more water.

Oh, I forgot to add that you can also become a fan on FB and they have contests and giveaways.

Thanks Becky, that helps a lot! The coupons too, I am buying the first batch at the store here and then I'll know the price to compare it to. I think we are going for all of them on Force, that was the vet recommended that would work for all 3.