Feeding K9 Natural food to your dog is simple but there are a few important things to remember.
Store K9 Natural appropriately
K9 Natural is purposely free of artificial preservatives. Our freeze dried range has a two year shelf life if the bag is not opened. Once opened, please discard within 3 months. Once reconstituted, please refrigerate and discard within 3 days. Our frozen range has an 18 month shelf life while it is frozen. Once the product is defrosted please refrigerate and discard within 3 days.
K9 Natural is raw for a reason - DON'T COOK IT!
K9 Natural has been created to provide a carefully balanced supply of appropriate nutrients for your dog, but it can only do this in its raw state. Cooking is unnecessary and undesirable because heat destroys and/or dramatically alters the nutrient levels in food. For the same reason, when reconstituting our freeze dried K9 Natural, use only warm water (no warmer than 37oC/98.6oF) as hot water will cook it. The exception to this rule is if you are feeding puppies. Their food should be served at room temperature, so if you take their food straight from the fridge, add a little lukewarm water before serving.
Handle with care
K9 Natural is made from inspected and passed meat, poultry and fish. However, any meat product can contain bacteria that could cause illness if mishandled. Please follow these instructions for your protection:
- For reconstituted K9 Natural, keep refrigerated;
- Keep separate from other foods;
- Wash surfaces, utensils and hands after touching raw meat, poultry or fish;
- Refrigerate leftovers immediately;
- Discard refrigerated leftovers if unused after three days.
- The freeze dried products will keep indefinitely before you add water. Once the foil bag is opened it will last up to 6 months if kept sealed by the zip lock sealer in a temperate climate.
Stop feeding other foods when you introduce your dog to K9 Natural
It is perfectly safe to stop feeding your dog’s food one day and introduce K9 Natural the next. A gradual introduction (i.e. feeding some of your dog’s previous food as well as some K9 Natural), is not recommended, especially if you've previously fed your dog a dry diet. A gradual introduction also makes it difficult to gauge the correct amount of food that your dog should have and will cause stomach upsets.
Avoid feeding more than the recommended amount
K9 Natural is packed full of goodness and energy. It doesn’t contain cheap fillers like rice and wheat to bulk it up. Therefore, your dog needs less K9 Natural than it would require from other foods. Use our feeding calculator, the guide below or the guide on the back of each pack to work out the recommended amount for your dog. If you notice undesirable weight gain or loss, then adjust accordingly.
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Healthy weight Adults |
Feed between 1% and 3% of body weight per day |
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Under weight Adults |
Feed up to 3% of body weight per day until a healthy weight is reached |
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Puppies |
Feed up to 9% of body weight per day in three meals until 12 weeks old, then gradually reduce until the amount fed is 3% at 12 months old, in one meal |
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Seniors |
Feed up to 1% of body weight per day |
Recommended Portion Guides
The recommended amount of K9 Natural may be less than you would feed your dog in kibble, dog roll, dehydrated or canned food. The key point to remember is that quality is more important than quantity. The calories and nutritional value that your dog gets from an appropriate portion of K9 Natural mimics what nature provides them naturally. Avoid the temptation of feeding more, unless you notice undesirable weight loss.
Remember that these amounts are guides only - start with the recommended portion amount, and take into consideration your dog's activity level. Also adjust the amount you feed if you notice weight gain or undesirable weight loss (fat loss, however, is desirable).
Wolves tend to eat at dawn and dusk. So we suggest feeding K9 Natural plus raw meaty bones, at these times (for example, you could feed your dog's recommended amount of K9 Natural in the evening and it's raw meaty bone in the morning, or vice versa).
Don’t remove the blood from K9 Natural, it's there for a reason
K9 Natural only contains meat that is derived from animals that have been Am and Pm inspected by NZFSA approved staff. This meat has been drained of blood as part of the normal method of preparation for human consumption. But because blood is such a desirable part of your dog’s diet (due to the beneficial vitamins and minerals it contains), we go to some considerable effort to collect and add back the blood from this meat.
Vary the flavours
K9 Natural frozen and freeze dried products are available in different flavour varieties and we recommend you alternate between flavours to provide your dog with the kind of variety it would experience in the wild.
Obesity
Society has become accustomed to overweight dogs yet, by nature, dogs are meant to be lean. If they could not catch their prey they would starve to death. You're not doing your dog any favours by over-feeding it and you could risk killing it with what you might think is 'kindness'. Overweight and obese dogs are at risk of many serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. Carrying all that extra weight puts enormous pressure on bones and joints. Sadly, obese dogs live shorter lives than healthy, active dogs.
We encourage you to monitor your dog's weight regularly (both by sight and touch) and to aim to keep it within a healthy range. Your vet can advise you on what that healthy range should be, based on its breed, age, activity level etc. For your dog's sake, be vigilant and if you notice that it's gained or lost weight, adjust the amount you feed accordingly until it returns to a healthy weight. Trust your instincts that you know how much to feed.
For further information or help with feeding contact K9 Natural on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
