My rescue dog Kai is a husky/malamute cross and is over 12 years old. She has never broken a bone, torn a ligament, needed an allergy pill or had a tooth extraction. She is a healthy weight, has a luxuriously thick coat, clear eyes, and at her last checkup, the vet referred to her as "an athlete." So what do I feed my senior dog to keep her in her prime? General rule: she never eats the same thing twice in a row. That’s not because she’s picky, but rather I feed her a well-thought-out rotational raw food diet to cover all of her nutritional needs. Chicken, turkey, duck, beef, pork, rabbit, lamb, bison, venison, arctic charr, sardine, salmon… These meats all have varying levels of important amino acids (the building blocks of protein), but also different fat and organ nutrient profiles. Red meats offer high levels of zinc and iron, whereas poultry has lower levels of phosphorus, which is easier on her kidneys, and is often lower in fat. What this means for Kai is that any deficiencies (or abundances!) from one protein will be balanced out by the others over the course of the week. On a more basic level, my little carnivore enjoys the different textures each brand offers, ranging from finely ground to hearty chunks. Each brand will also add different additional components like Artisan Raw Signature blend’s green beef tripe (a great source of manganese, often missing from raw diets), Big Country Raw’s wheatgrass and blueberries (nutritional powerhouses), Nature’s Premium’s elk velvet antler (great for joints), or Healthy Paws’ canine-specific probiotic blend (a healthy gut biome is a healthy immune system). Since she’s happy to eat a variety, there are no issues if a particular product is out of stock or suffers a production shortage. Kai's food freezer is routinely filled with Canadian raw food brands such as Artisan Raw , Healthy Paws, Big Country Raw, Bold By Nature, Back2Raw, Natural Instincts, Nature’s Premium, and Red Dog Blue Kat. I feed her twice a day, and she generally gets an evening treat of a Hero rabbit ear or a Puppy Love air-dried duck wing. Since she is a natural hunter, I often hide her meal or a frozen turkey neck in the backyard and make her sniff it out, fulfilling that instinctual desire. All of these products are available here at Viva Pets, and help to keep my little athlete sprinting through the trees at Buena Vista dog park, just like when she was a puppy! Much love, Jordan and Kai Jordan has over six years of experience in the pet nutrition retail industry and over ten years of experience with raw feeding his rescue dogs. His dogs Kai and Xaler are never happier than when they’re running in deep snow or splashing in the North Saskatchewan.

There is a lot of mixed information available about the pros and cons of adding “human” food to your dog or cat's commercially prepared kibble. Kibble is balanced to provide a set amount of valuable nutrients for the overall well-being of your pet. However, kibble requires high-temperature processing for preservation, and oftentimes, a lot of the naturally occurring vitamins and minerals are lost. Almost all kibble has to have synthetic vitamins added to the recipe to ensure that the final cooked product meets the needs of the animals it is being fed to. This is fairly standard practice and one of the reasons we here at Viva Pets recommend a minimally processed raw, dehydrated or canned food diet for part or all of your animals' meals. We do understand that kibble offers some amount of convenience and can sometimes be the more affordable option for the household. That does not mean that it is forbidden for you to add value to each of your pet's meals by including one or more of the following whole foods. Meal toppers act as variety, enticement for fussy eaters and are an excellent source of easily digestible, bioavailable nutrients. Top 3 Things to Add to Your Pet’s Bowl Fruits and vegetables. At home, you can add fruit and veggie trimmings that are a bit discoloured or bruised that would otherwise end up in the compost bin to your dog's dish. Fruits and veggies are a source of fibre, as well as vitamins (A, C, E, K, folate and other B vitamins) and minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and phosphorus). Most cats will turn their noses up to these fibrous additions, as they are obligate carnivores and usually aren’t enticed by greens. This writer has one cat whose favourite treat is cantaloupe; he will actually bite it right off the rind, so I can’t say cats will NEVER eat their greens, they are just less likely. My Favourite Household Additions: Tops off of strawberries, whole blueberries, carrot ends (or whole carrots, occasionally), minced kale, romaine or spinach, a few slices of your morning banana or melon, cucumber slices, broccoli ends. My Favourite In-Store Addition: Green Juju Freeze-Dried Blends (Bailey’s Blend, Just Greens). Shelf-stable and easily sprinkled over a meal for all the benefits of fresh greens. What To Avoid: Onions, grapes, avocado pits and skins, moulding/brown bits. Omega-rich fish. An easy way to increase the amount of Omega 3 Fatty Acids in your pet's diet is by adding fish. This time of year, especially, our pets are likely dealing with the same itchy, dry skin we are that comes from extreme temperatures and constantly running our furnaces. Fatty acids in the diet can help relieve some of these symptoms. My Favourite Household Addition: Low-sodium and packed in water, whole sardines, gently steamed salmon, or trout. My Favorite In-Store Addition: Wiggly Babies Freeze Dried Rockfish; this brand sources Canadian, sustainably sourced rockfish from the west coast. The cuts of fish in each bag are quite large but easily broken down. This is one of my toothless-cat’s favourite treats; it crumbles down to fluffy flakes for her. What To Avoid: Fish that has been prepared in oil, butter or seasonings and excess fatty trimmings. Protein-Dense meat. More affordable kibble brands, especially those you would find at the grocery store or at Costco, use some amount of plant-based protein to account for the total percentage in a bag. Cats, being obligate carnivores, have almost zero ability to process and absorb plant-based protein, and it's also less digestible for dogs. More often than not, plant-based protein is contributing to large poops for you to clean up! Adding in cuts of animal-based protein to your pet's dish, when possible, can make a huge difference in overall health. If you have an animal who is predisposed to DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy), muscle and organ tissue is high in taurine, an essential amino acid that directly contributes to the health of organ (heart) function. My Favourite Household Addition: Boiled and drained lean ground beef or chicken breast, fresh (raw or cooked) chicken hearts or livers, fresh (raw or cooked) beef liver, kidneys or heart, dehydrated beef heart jerky. My Favorite In-Store Addition: SMACK dehydrated meals, available in a range of proteins from chicken, pork, lamb and fish. Fully balanced recipes, synthetic free, Canadian made and a satisfying crunchy texture. This can be fed as a topper, a fully balanced meal or used as a high-value treat during training. What To Avoid: Meats prepared in oil, butter or seasonings, charred meat, cooked bones, fatty trim.

Great question! And it’s one that we get asked regularly. While there are certainly some dog owners who will choose to dress their pets in a variety of apparel purely for fashion purposes, there are actually scenarios where ‘dog clothing’ is in fact highly beneficial, and protective for your pooch! Dog Boots In our experience, this is the number one most important piece of apparel that a dog parent living in a cold, snow blown climate can own. Dogs use their paws to regulate their body temperature. In the heat you will find that dogs love to splash around in kiddie pools, rivers and mud puddles, and will prefer to walk on grass rather than hot concrete. In the winter however, there really is no way for our dogs to avoid walking on cold surfaces, not to mention the snow and ice build up that can happen in their pads! Putting boots on your dog may seem silly to some, but your dog will appreciate it (once they get used to them). Well made dog boots serve a variety of purposes - they offer a warm waterproof barrier between paws and snow, they provide better traction for walking on icy surfaces (helping to prevent slip injuries), they prevent balls of snow and ice from forming in between pads and toes on fluffier breeds of dogs, and they also protect your dogs paws from the caustic burning of commercial ice melt products! I have seen dogs with their pads burnt nearly off by ice melt, and most pet owners have no idea how dangerous those little blue crystals are to walk on! Dog Jackets The second most important item for winter protection is a well fitted dog jacket. Some breeds with thick double coats may not need a jacket (such as a Husky or Shepherd) however short and single coated dogs are extremely susceptible to the cold, and especially the wind. Add active snowfall into your walk and you now have a dog that’s also wet. A terribly uncomfortable combination! Dog jackets are water and wind resistant, fleece lined for maximum warmth, high necked to keep snow out, and offer great coverage underneath the belly to prevent snow contact with that sensitive skin. Most jackets also include reflective detailing on the outside to make you and your pooch more visible in the winter darkness. Snoods (aka hoods) Short coated breeds also have very frostbite vulnerable ears. Snoods or head muffs are essentially a turtleneck style tube that covers your dogs ears, and can be snugged around their head to hold it in place. Breeds like Greyhounds, Pitbulls, Viszlas etc have very sensitive ears with little fur, and these are a wonderful protecting option. Our team at Viva Pets are always happy to help you size and fit your dog for all their winter apparel needs!