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Raw food is high in moisture, low in carbohydrates, has fresh protein, and moderate levels of fat. The BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet consists of raw muscle meat, raw meaty bones, vegetables, and fruits. It has the greatest bioavailability of nutrients. That means, your pup can easily digest their meal—compared to any other dog food!—and receive all the nutrients!
Cautious Method:
*Caution!
Keep a close monitor of your pet’s stool during the transition period! If your pet’s stool is not so solid during day 1 - 2, stay at that transition stage for an additional two days. Once the stool is back to normal, you can proceed to the next transitional stages.
Cold Turkey:
With the Cold Turkey Method, your dog will fast for at least 12 hours prior to eating its first raw food.
There are two ways of portioning, by Body Weight Percentage and by Caloric Intake.
2-3 Months Old: 8-10% of total body weight
4-5 Months Old: 6-8% of total body weight
6-8 Months Old: 4-6% of total body weight
9-12 Months Old: 3-4% of total body weight
Older than 12 Months: 2-3% of total body weight
This method is not always suitable for every dog. Age, activity level and health status should be taken into account as well.
The Caloric Intake method is more precise. It takes into account the dogs’ breed, age, activity level, and other conditions to determine the daily calorie requirements.
Have the most optimal protein rotation, every time. Here is our cheat sheet, just for you.
Stage 01: New to raw food? Start here.
#1 Holly
#2 Snowy
#3 Hachiko
#4 Bolt
Stage 02: For your adorable puppies!
#1 Lady
#2 Spike
#3 Perdita
#4 Slinky
Stage 03: For when your puppy has turned into an adult dog.
#1 Buddy
#2 Lassie
#3 Toto
#4 Stella
Stage 04: For your wise senior dogs or those who thrive on a low-fat diet!
#1 Stoney
We bake our fish to avoid Thiaminase contamination, and we thoroughly wash and then bake shellfish to lower the heavy metal amount in it. We handle all raw meat in a clean environment and deep freeze it right after mixing to eliminate bad pathogens.
Yes! Kindly ask us if you want to see the report.
We understand your concerns! However, Salmonella and E-Coli worries are more intended towards us (the humans) rather than dogs. Dogs’ stomachs are much more tolerant to bacteria and have more defense mechanisms than humans. For humans, salmonella and e-coli can easily be prevented by washing hands (and any place touched by the food) thoroughly with soap for more than 30 seconds.
Yes! All of our Boosters are 100% natural and don't cause side effects. However, excessive Boosters may not be fully absorbed by your dog’s body and will be discarded through urine. Please adhere to the recommended portion written on the packaging label.
Each recipe contains different nutrition and calories per gram. To fulfill your dog’s caloric requirement, each recipe will be portioned accordingly.
We need to deep freeze the meals until it hardens and gives it time until all the bad pathogens are eliminated during the freezing process.
If you have a small-sized freezer, opt for biweekly shipping. If your freezer is decently-sized, opt for monthly shipping to reduce cost!
Contact our customer service ASAP! We will see what we can do.
We use a sealed vacuum pack for the meals, and put it inside a thermal bag/styrofoam box along with ice gels. After the thermal bag/styrofoam box is put inside the Better Than Raw box, we seal it with tapes and ship it. We only use instant, same day, and 1 day shipping to ensure meals are received frozen.
Don't worry too much! Our package can last up to 6 hours (when the box is unopened). After arriving at home, immediately unpack the box and store the raw food in your freezer.
We understand! Our customer service is ready to schedule shipping at your leisure. We can also hold shipping for a maximum of 2 weeks.
Please remember that for PMP orders, we will need 5 business days to process.
There are several types of raw diets depending on what goes inside each meal.
Prey Model Raw (PMR) mimics the natural diet of the wild consisting of whole prey animals and does not contain plants inside the diet.
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) raw diet consists of different proteins, raw meaty bones, organs, vegetables, and fruits in each meal to fulfill required nutritions. BARF is 100% natural and does not use processed foods.
Keto or Ketogenic Diet is most beneficial for dogs who are fighting cancer, according to newest research. To put simply, keto diet is low in carbohydrates while being high in fat and moderate in protein. The goal is to fuel the body by burning fats instead of carbohydrates.
When first starting, we were faced by the 'big 3' guidelines: NRC (US), AAFCO (US), and FEDIAF (Europe).
Out of the 3, we deemed NRC to be the most suitable one for raw food because NRC focuses on bioavailable ingredients.
Furthermore, we favor NRC because its research was independent with no direct financial support, and has restricted sponsorship for funding.
However, outside of preference, we would like to heavily pinpoint that no guideline is perfect. A nutritional guideline needs to be utilized correctly by pet nutritionists to create a great raw recipe.
Above which guideline is used, the most decisive factor to create a great recipe is in the knowledge and experience of the pet nutritionist.
Better Than Raw always advises you to read every raw food's recipe analysis before feeding.
Nutritional requirements can be grouped into two: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients consist of protein, fat, and carbohydrates that take up big percentages on each meal to provide energy. Micronutrients refer to supporting (yet essential) nutrients that are ingested in smaller amounts compared to macronutrients and affect physical health. It consists of amino acids, fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins, water soluble vitamins, macro minerals, and micro minerals.
The National Research Council (NRC) provides Recommended Allowance (RA) for macronutrients and micronutrients that need to exist in every 1000 kcal consumed by your dogs in order to fulfill their nutritional requirements. Each Better Than Raw Recipes follow and fulfill the Recommended Allowance (RA) by NRC.
Please refer to our recipes’ nutritional report for complete information of macronutrients and micronutrients in each recipe.
Yes! The different textures of meat and raw meaty bones will arouse appetite by enhancing eating experience. The smell of raw food that’s served properly is fresh and appetizing for dogs.
