If you think dogs can’t count,
try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket
and then giving Fido only two of them.

-Phil Pastoret, ‘Our Boarding House’

So, we’re trying to help our overweight dog drop five pounds by watching the amounts of food he gets, and also the quality. I’ve been on the prowl for protein-rich, filler-light food for not-so-active adult dogs, AND I needed to find a puppy chow that was large breed specific (a thing I hadn’t realized existed until the vet asked if that was what Karma was eating, whoops). Luckily, sometimes the Universe (and MrChewy.com) conspire to help a blogger out.

What’s Mr. Chewy? One-stop shopping for hassle-free delivery of  pet products: food, treats, litter and competitive pricing on Frontline flea and tick meds (having just been through six months of stubborn flea issues, I’m currently resigned to these as a necessary evil, sorry).

Given the chance to see what Mr. Chewy had to offer, I opted for The Honest Kitchen VERVE Dog Beef and Organic Grains Diet for Jimmy and Avoderm Natural Large Breed Puppy Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Formula for Karma. If you’re in the market for dog food, seriously, click these links and check out the ingredient lists. They are impressive.

The Avoderm is a standard-looking puppy kibble, but once I started adding it to her normal puppy chow (slowly, so as not to upset her stomach) Karma would refuse to eat the chow until I added that bit of Avoderm. I’m thinking that’s puppy speak for “where the heck is my avocado superfood deliciousness?” With an ingredient list that’s full of food names I recognize, plus avocado for healthy skin & fur, I feel pretty good about feeding this to her. Avoderm comes in wet and dry food, for cats and dogs.

The Honest Kitchen VERVE is pretty cool. It’s a 4-lb box of dehydrated raw dog food made with human-grade beef, vegetables, fruits and organic grains which makes 16lbs of dog food. You scoop out however much food you need and add an equivalent amount of hot water, wait a few minutes and voila! Healthy dinner for Jimmy without taking up a huge amount of space in the pantry. VERVE is specifically for senior dogs with (ahem) moderate to low activity levels; there are also formulas for sensitive stomachs, grain-free, gluten-free and cats.

I also couldn’t help but order them some treats. I know, overindulgent mommy. This is why he’s pleasantly plump.

Here I went with Newmans Own Organics Turkey and Sweet Potato Medium Size Heart Shaped Treat Dog Treats (say that 3x fast) and Dogswell Happy Hips Duck Breast Dog Treats (straight up dried meat, looks like jerky).

I love Newmans Own because their products are certified organic, and contain zero antibiotics, hormones, chemical ingredients or artificial preservatives, colors, or additives. PLUS, they donate their profits to charity (in the case of pet foods, those monies go to pet-related charities). Dogswell is one of the few brands of treats that Jimmy will eat, period, but he will totally break free of his usual stern demeanor to dance the meringue for these. No hormones, antibiotics, fillers or byproducts.

*totally gratuitous video of Jimmy doing tricks for Dogswell*

 

Mr. Chewy has a very impressive (70+ brands) selection of high-quality pet foods, treats, and cat litters— including way more organic, vegan and gluten-free options than any brick-and-mortar pet store or grocery I’ve ever been in. Options like:

• Blue Buffalo (natural, no by-products or artificial preservatives)
• Orijen (grain-free, limited carbs, more fresh meat than any other brand of dry food)
• Taste of the Wild (grain-free, real roasted meats, fruits & veggies for antioxidants)
• Royal Canin Veterinary Diet (specifically formulated for health conditions)
• ZiwiPeak (equivalent to a raw diet)

Yeah. They don’t carry that at SuperFresh. In the week since I ordered, they’ve added a bunch more (I opted in for the email updates and have been notified of brands I might be interested in).

Love the navigation choices on this site; I was able to break down by breed (cat vs dog), then age, then specialty (in this case, I wanted natural or organic + weight loss). Mr. Chewy offers an automatic subscription service that can be canceled at any time, and you save 15% off your order right now when you select that service. Shipping is free when you spend $49 or more– a significant perk when we’re talking heavy bags of food or litter.

I placed my order very very late on a Thursday night  and it arrived on Saturday afternoon, which was awesomesauce. I do think it shipped from close by, though, so your results may vary.

AND, they have a kickass referral program. If someone orders using your referral code, they get 10% off their order AND $10 gets donated to a no-kill rescue or shelter. (My referral code is ROBI7330 if you decide to order. I don’t make anything off of it, just the animals benefit.)

GIVEAWAY!

I’ve got $25 to give one pet-loving SGOH reader to spend at MrChewy.com!  You don’t HAVE to spend it on organic products, but if you do and let me know how you like it, I will give you virtual chest bumps and high fives. Just leave me a comment letting me know what breed you’d love as your next pet (don’t front, we all windowshop for new pets! I want an Irish Wolfhound). For a bonus entry, tweet this post and leave me another comment letting me know you did 🙂 I’ll randomly select a winner on February 12th, 2012.

 
This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. All prizing for MSM giveaways is handled by a third party unless otherwise noted. For this reason prize fulfillment can take up to 90 days after the winners information is received.