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| Earthborn's Lamb Formula For Dogs |
I'll be honest, I have not always been interested in sustainability, recycling and doing good for the earth. When Lisa and I first started dating I wasn't even recycling because 1) I had no idea what exactly could be recycled and 2) where I came from in North Carolina did not really seem interested in the idea. Now that I took the small step to recycle and have friends that have majored in sustainability, I'm becoming more aware of ways we can be more green and support companies who feel the same way.
Lisa and I have both worked in the pet industry and recently broke into the holistic side of pet food, treats and toys and have found that we love it. We switched over to this pet food because Chica had been licking and biting her paws a lot and Lisa realized this might be due to something in her food that she was allergic to. We were also buying a bag of puppy food for Bowie and a bag of senior food (with glucosamine and chondroitin for her old bones) for Chica which was really putting a strain on our wallets. The fact that this company makes food for "All Life Stages" really does help us be able to feed our pets the best food available.
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| Earthborn's Lamb & Bison Formula For Dogs |
Lisa started doing her research and found recommendations to cut grains - corn, buckwheat, oats, etc - from the food to help with the licking and biting of paws. She looked around the store and found this particular brand. They had the regular chicken/turkey ingredients but these two bags -- Meadow Feast and Great Plains Feast -- we're talking Lamb and Bison. We bought 40 lbs for ~$45 and even though we've added a third dog (Khepri), it lasts us about 1.5-2 months. We keep ours in a metal container and every time I open it up I think it smells like corn flakes. Let me tell you, our dogs were in heaven as soon as I opened up that first bag. They inhale the stuff and we have to watch out for Bowie or else he'll go scavenge the other dog's bowls. In other good news, 2-3 weeks after we switched their food, Chica had stopped with her paws.
Now, besides our dogs loving it, here are a few reasons why Earthborn is a food you might consider. First of all, let's take a look at those ingredients. They do have a line of food that does contain grains if going grain free is not something you're interested in doing or have no need to do. If you take a look at their website you'll notice that the first ingredient is meat; no by-products and no corn or corn gluten or corn meal. They follow this up with a whole list of fruits and veggies that your dog will just eat up. They do contain flaxseed, though, for those dogs that have an allergy. Second, they are all about our environment. Their bags are recyclable, they use soy ink on their bags and if you keep their UPCs and return them, they'll plant some trees! Their UPCs for Trees program really hit the nail on the head for me, personally. I just love the fact that they are willing to go to lengths to help plant trees in areas that have been hit by deforestaion. Third, in some retail stores, there are frequent buyer programs. I know here in Phoenix there are certain holistic stores that either have a Buy 10, Get The 11th or Buy 12, Get The 13th bag free program. This does take awhile to reap the benefits if you're not buying a lot of food like we are, but when you hit that free bag, it's like Christmas!
For us, the pricing of this holistic food is right in our price range. We compared about 3-4 different grain free products and found that this brand looked better for our dogs and seemed more "green" than the others. We even switched our cat food so that they could also enjoy the benefits of this brand and I've never seen their coats shinier.
My purpose here was not to make anyone switch their dog's (or cats) foods, but before I did research I had no idea that our pets can be allergic to grains just like we can be. Consider this entry a success story for us and just a small glimpse in to a new brand that some people have not heard of.
-A
