Absolutely. In a perfect world you might only feed your dog fresh dog food, but even a little bit mixed with you dog’s regular food is better than none at all. Mixing half a package with your dog’s regular food will at least give him some of the vital nutrients that only whole food can provide. A little bit regularly is better than nothing.

As a general rule of thumb we suggest feeding roughly 2-3% of your dog’s body weight daily. Dogs are meant to eat multiple times a day. If possible you should feed them at least 2X daily. A forty to fifty pound dog should get about 16 oz. per day divided between breakfast and dinner. Smaller dogs may get by with only a quarter package morning and night. The benefit of eating “whole food” is that your dog may need less to get the nutrients they require. Feel free to supplement with a high quality HUMAN GRADE dry dog food (Please look for one with human grade ingredients and no meal or byproducts). NOTE Many of the premium dry dog foods you pay top dollar for do NOT meet these criteria, please read the label of your food of choice.

Typically we recommend you use it in less than 6 months. Once defrosted your food will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. We suggest you place in in a small sealed “tupperware type” container once it is opened.

One of the biggest reasons for “allergies” that dogs have today is the poor food they consume in the first place. A good example is corn allergies that so many people claim for their dogs. The problem is not usually with corn but in the fact that commercial pet food manufacturers are allowed to use moldy grains in dog food. These moldy grains are certainly not allowed in human grade food and they lead to all sorts of allergies and reactions. Feeding Lucky Dog will help most dogs by allowing them to ingest whole foods. (NOTE. If your dog has a TRUE allergy it is not recommended to feed products containing that ingredient.)

“Meal”, whether beef, chicken, lamb, etc., is typically processed at high temperatures that “denature” protein, meaning it DESTROYS the amino acids that make up protein. They are therefore poorly digested and provide little nutritive value. U.S. Food and Drug Administration website (The AAFCO) defines meat meal as: “The rendered product of mammalian tissues, exclusive of any ADDED blood, hair, hide, trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents.” This means all of the above can be present in the meal as long as the manufacturer doesn’t add extra.

Most grains found in commercial, pet grade foods are grains that are unfit for human consumption. This means they are filled with mold, aflotoxins and bacteria. They are also poor quality since most are by-products of the milling process. This means they are the left overs of the milling of corn, wheat, barley and are stripped of their inherent nutrients. So many dogs are experiencing allergies and even seizures due to the quality of raw ingredients in their diet. The grains themselves are not the issue, their quality and toxicity are!

Grains have many health benefits as long as they are whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat pasta and barley. Once cooked, they are well absorbed and well digested by dogs. Whole grains provide a myriad of vitamins and minerals and provide soluble fiber to feed the ‘good bacteria’ in the gut. They also provide the nutrients the body needs to manufacture its own Vit. K.
Whole grains are digested slowly which keeps the blood sugar low, reducing stress on the pancreas and the liver. They are also an excellent form of protein when combined with the amino acids of vegetables.

Typically a problem encountered in the Southern Climes, Hot Spots are both unsightly and very uncomfortable for your dog. Most dogs eating Lucky Dog as a primary ingredient of their diet will be far less susceptible to Hot Spots. This is because the immune system will function at a higher level when nourished by “whole foods”. We do not market Lucky Dog as a cure all or remedy for any particular ailment but anything that helps your dog’s immune system function more efficiently will allow you dog to remain healthier.

Food in its natural state, as opposed to processed food, is always better for people and for dogs. Raw foods are not always tolerated by all dogs or by their owners! Raw foods can cause spikes in blood sugar levels. This can cause stress on the liver and pancreas. Our foods are gently cooked to allow for more gradual absorption and digestion which prevents these spikes in glucose production. Some anti-oxidants like lycopene found in tomatoes are released during the cooking process.

Our meats are muscle meats only with a little bit of heart and a small amount of  organ meat. Organs, like the liver, normally contain toxins but in grass fed meat this is not an issue. 
Our meats are cooked then drained of excess fat. We also lose about 1/3 of volume in the cooking process. So a 10 lb batch of meat will yield approximately 7 lbs.
Our calcium sources are from yogurt and cheeses, not bone meal, ground bone or dried egg shells. All of our ingredients are whole foods that are absorbed the way nature intended with a balance of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, etc.

Enzymes are easily damaged by both freezing and by cooking. Most raw food for dogs is stored and shipped frozen like our product. Enzymes are proteins that are broken down in the strong acids in the stomach. A dog’s stomach contains more acids than ours. Enzymes are treated like any other protein in the body and used as a protein, not directly as an enzyme. Our bodies and our dog’s bodies produce their own digestives enzymes when given the proper building blocks. With good quality, whole foods there is less stress on the system and therefore less depletion of digestive enzymes – the body does not have to work as hard and it has the raw materials available to replace what it uses. Processed foods with questionable protein sources are hard to digest and deplete available enzyme stores.

Wow! Of all of the myths in the dog food industry this one has stuck around the longest. First and foremost, kibble does NOT clean your dog’s teeth!!! If kibble cleaned teeth we could all throw away our toothbrushes and just eat crackers for breakfast every day. Your dog should be on a regular tooth brushing program. (we actually use an electric one for our dogs) One additional benefit is that by feeding an all natural cooked food with no preservatives or fillers your dog’s breath will actually improve. Yep, that’s right, no more of that annoying doggie breath.

This is actually a two-fold answer. First of all most of our clients don’t find it that expensive because many of them actually save more on vet bills than they spend on food. That’s all well and good but we don’t make any crazy promises so the second part of the answer is slightly different.

Lucky Dog Cuisine is more expensive because we never compromise. We could make it cost less by not using real cheeses and yogurt as our primary calcium source. We could stop using grass fed beef and pork or hormone free turkey. We could stop making sure we use only GMO free veggies. I guess we could start using the ingredients all of the other companies use including vitamin pre-mix either from China or using petroleum based vitamins. There are lots of ways we can make Lucky Dog cost less but then it wouldn’t be Lucky Dog.

It costs more for real ingredients than processed inferior quality items. At Lucky Dog Cuisine we think both you and your dog deserve the best.

We won’t compromise.