H&H Blog

The "Perfect" Diet for Dogs

ssleeper@maine.rr.com (Shannon Sleeper) — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 11:11:04 +0000

Most people want to feed their loved pets well. Growing up in the supermarket business, I have seen major changes in the pet food industry. Pets were often fed table scraps and leftovers up until the early 1900's. Throughout history, archeologists have discovered the diet of pet dogs closely resembled that of humans. In the 1950's, Purina began the extrusion process, where dog food was mixed and cooked in a liquid form and then extruded into kibble form and baked and dried. Busy families enjoyed the convenience of a dry, easy to feed and relatively economical food for their pets. Television ads convinced them that this was the healthiest way to feed their dogs a balanced diet. The dry dog food business was booming and at our supermarket we would sell 100"s of 25 lb bags of dried dog food, for about $5 a bag. Canned or wet dog food was also booming and feeding table scraps was becoming a thing of the past in most homes. Next, we saw a shift towards "super premium" dry kibble has major companies tried to move away from the $5 bag of kibble. We also saw the 25 Lb bag go to 18Lbs as the great packaging shrink took hold! The only problem was, the "super premium" food really wasn't much different than the original kibble. One of the the next phases was grain free. People believed many of the allergies in our pets were due to the grains present in modern day kibble. Grain free was everywhere and many customers made the switch. Raw diets were also gaining in popularity since many people believed dogs were carnivores and raw chicken/meats were the best way to provide needed nutrition. Then, in 2019, fresh refrigerated dog food made it to our small town grocery store shelves. I remember my father's shock (he is 88) when he saw us install the cooler for fresh dog food. We were surprised at the steady growth of this fresh ultra pasteurized dog food. We tried the fresh dog food on our own picky eating poodle and she loved it. The biggest problem for our family was the look and smell of the food. While they claim the food is made using all fresh ingredients, the are hardly present in their original form. We began our quest to make a better fresh dog food. I studied every dog diet, from raw to grain free, consulted veterinarians, read research reports and cookbooks. To be honest, it confused the heck out of me. How could people disagree so much on what was good for dogs? We decided to settle on a very basic formula, Our food would be made with 50% fresh meat and of that 20% would be organ meat because organ meats including liver and gizzards are good for dogs. 25% of our food would be high quality brown rice, and the other 25% would be a mixture of fresh vegetables and wild Maine blueberries. We chose every ingredient based on their nutrient value and to create a balanced diet. We started feeding it to our three dogs and saw changes start to happen. Our oldest dog's transformation was amazing. Cosmo went from near death to an overall healthy 14 year old dog. Hot spots went away, breathing improved, and arthritis improved. Our two poodles both had eye allergies causing excessive goopy eyes and those have

gone away. Cosmo has lost needed pounds and Honey and Hazel have gained a few needed pounds. Have we found the perfect diet? I hesitate to say that because I know some will say our food is lacking in something dogs need. But I will say along with our veterinarian, we have created a darn good food loaded with active nutrients and great quality proteins. We know Honey & Hazel food has worked wonders for our dogs. We encourage you to talk to your vet and as always we welcome your feedback as we all work towards the "perfect" diet for our loved pets.

Adopting Honey

ssleeper@maine.rr.com (Shannon Sleeper) — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 11:12:52 +0000

Our oldest dog, Cosmo, was struggling with extremely poor health. Friends and family had been encouraging us to stop his suffering. Hazel, our 6 year old standard, had never known life in a one dog house. We knew we were facing the hard decision to put Cosmo down. He had a softball size hot spot on his back, and he was literally trying to chew his paws off. His walking was terrible with frequent falls. The decision was made harder, because most of the day, he didn't appear to be in any pain. At other times, he refused to eat (not normal for him!) and his breathing was labored. We started considering a new companion for Hazel and stumbled across a 3 year old standard poodle named Honey. We knew she had some trust issues, but she appeared to be a sweet dog. So, after a four hour drive to meet her, we arrived back home. She was extremely calm the whole ride home, sitting near our son, Nic, who was getting ready to return to college for his second year. We arrived back in Caribou just has the sun was setting and were greeted by family members excited to meet the newest member of the family. Not thinking, I opened the door and Honey jumped out. She took one look at all these strangers and started a slow jog away from us. That started a two day search through potato fields, back yards, cemeteries and highways spanning five miles. With lots and lots of help from generous people, Honey made her way back to our high school and gave herself up in the baseball field. She has come a long way in just a few months, from runaway to part of the namesake of Honey & Hazel. And, oh, by the way since switching to Honey & Hazel food, Cosmo has made a miraculous comeback! Cosmo's chicken miracle formula was created and we are now a three dog family!

FEEDING THE RIGHT AMOUNT

ssleeper@maine.rr.com (Shannon Sleeper) — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 11:12:38 +0000

One of the best ways to improve your dog's life is through proper weight management of your dog. Most dogs will eat whatever you put in front of them and veterinarians all agree that excess weight causes many different health issues in our loved pets. When feeding fresh food, remember the food contains more readily available nutrients and more quality sources of protein so most normal active dogs are perfectly fine using the amounts in our meal plans. As always, we encourage you to speak to your vet and most importantly, keep track of your dogs weight. If your veterinarian thinks your dog is overweight, monitor the progression using Honey & Hazel's convenient one day feeding packs. We make it easy, each pack contains one days worth of food, feed half in the morning, half in the evening.

Here is what we found after switching over. Being a multi dog family, we found switching to Honey & Hazel helped manage our dogs weights. Our oldest dog, Cosmo was overweight and struggling with arthritis and many other health issues. He was forever "stealing" Hazel's food that she would leave behind. Since making the switch, Hazel eats all her food in minutes, and Cosmo gets exactly the food he should be getting, and Hazel has gained a few needed pounds while Cosmo has lost about 10 pounds improving his health drastically. His hot spots are gone, his coat has improved and he is walking much better. We encourage you to share your story!

Packing, Shippng & The Environment

ssleeper@maine.rr.com (Shannon Sleeper) — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 11:11:17 +0000

When we stated to create Honey & Hazel we were determined to reduce the packaging waste that comes with styrofoam, gel packs etc... We tried everything in our test packages from paper takeout boxes, to bulk plastic tubs. We contacted companies all over searching for a biodegradable insulated shipper. Most companies came up with the same answer. "They just don't perform quite as well yet." Like most things in life, our packaging is a matter of balancing the ideals with realities. The final result was to find packaging which:

1: maintains the quality and safety of our much loved product.

2: has as little impact on the environment as possible.

3: keeps our product as economical as possible allowing more people to feed their pets fresh, homemade dog food.

4: provides an easy way for our customers to store and dispense the proper amount of food.

Our final outcome is a vacuum package of each daily food supply. For example, if your dog requires 1 Lb of Honey & Hazel per day, you will receive 1Lb packs. Simply feed 1/2 in the morning and half in the evening. If you dogs requires 9 oz per day, your packages will be 9 oz. We keep it simple for you. We pack all of our food in an insulated liner and we will only ship where we can reach in two days. This plan includes most places so feel free to reach out if you have questions. We also have a unique program where you can return the insulated liners after you accumulate 10 of them for a $10 coupon off your next order. We will even pay the return shipping. Ask us for details.