Raw Food Diet Made Easy

The folks at Sojos asked us if we would be interested in reviewing their dog food.  When we told them we would, we ASSUMED that they would send us some kibble and we would just test it out.  Boy were we wrong!  When mom opened up the box and took out the bag, me and Stanley looked at each other in shock!  This was taking dog food to a whole other level!

This was a whole new thing we NEVER even heard of before!  The food they sent us had freeze-dried RAW BEEF!  All you have to do is reconstitute it by adding water!  It was a raw food diet made easy! This is what it looks like in the bag:

But when you add water, a miracle happens! 

The minute mom started measuring it out (1 cup dehydrated is mixed with 1.5 cups warm water), our noses started going CRAZY!  Mom yelled at dad to turn off the vacuum and then when she looked at Stanley she realized Dad wasn't vacuuming, Stanley was trying to sniff so hard at the food mom was mixing that he was nearly causing a wind tunnel!!

Now we know dog food is a highly controversial thing and mom always says it is impawtent to read the labels.  So we checked the label and the ingredients:   sweet potato, USDA beef, celery, carrots, cabbage, whole egg, flax meal, tricalcium phosphate, cranberries, papaya, pumpkin, rosemary, parsley, ginger root, dried alfalfa, dried kelp, zinc sulfate, vitamin E acetate, vitamin D3, vitamin A palmitate.

The other thing we discovered is that 1 pound  dehydrated makes 4 pounds of fresh raw food.  And the reason they call it fresh is because it is made and then the package is stamped with a birthday!  The bag we received was only 5 days old!

Mom decided to check into the cost of the Sojos Complete dog food and to be honest, the price was so shocking that me and Stanley had to jump on her chest to make her heart start beating again.  So we did some checking on their web site and (addressing that very issue) they said (from their website):  Our food contains no fillers, so you feed less than what you would with traditional pet food. As a result, the price per day is about the same or less than most premium commercial pet foods. In the long run feeding your pets fresh, wholesome pet food can also save you money on vet bills.

These are DRY measurements BEFORE it is reconstituted with water.

The 8 pound bag they sent us sold for $94.90 on their website  but you could find it for $72.11 on Amazon and $69.99 at wag.com.  The other thing we checked out was to see how this food compared to what we normally ate.  Mom and Dad buy our food at Costco, the Kirkland Rice & Vegetable made by Diamond but we like to compare against Hills' Science Diet (Adult Advanced Fitness, Small Bites Lamb and Rice) because so many people think that is the best in the universe (we disagree but that is a whole other blog post).

Protein:  Kirkland 26%, Science Diet 24.2%, Sojos 22% (all minimum values)

Fat:  Sojos 8%, Kirkland 16%, Science Diet 16.4% (minimum values)

Fiber:  Sojos 8%, Kirkland 4%, Science Diet 2%

Calories:  Sojos 333, Science Diet 367, Kirkland 393 (per cup)

We liked the fact that Sojos had the lowest calories and less fat and thought that would be good for dogs who needed to watch their weight or weren't real active.  The other thing that stood out was that Sojos had a much higher fiber content than the other two.  

The manufacturer suggests slowly introducing the raw diet to dogs.  Considering the increased fiber, mom thought it was a good idea so she has been using the Sojos for supper and we eat our regular kibble otherwise.  Mom was concerned that we might have some bad poops from the additional fiber so she has been "watching".  When we were on our regular 6 mile run Friday, both Stanley and me stopped for a poop (not unusual).  When mom and dad went to pick it up they noticed that it was shiny.  Stanley looked at my poops and gave it a good sniff (I pooped first) and said, "Brother, your poops are glistening in the sunlight".  He must have really liked it cuz then a mile later he had some glistening poop too.  But mom said it was normal otherwise.  Actually, I think she called it "nice poop".

When we see that mom is putting the Sojos Complete in a bowl for us, we get excited and Stanley cranks up his "vacuum" again.  We LOVE the raw diet.  Mom says it's not too much of a hassle since it can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.  Mom likes the idea that it is a low calorie, clean food too.  We think it would be a good alternative for doggies with allergies since it is such a "clean" food.  The ingredients are human grade and it is all made in the USA!

We think this is a great dog food.  The only drawback would be for those who free-feed since you cannot let raw meat sit in a bowl all day long.  Stanley and I free feed (we know, against everybody's advice but it works for us) but we have a definite time we like to eat in the evenings and that is when mom gives us the Sojos Complete dog food.  It is working out well for us.  

If you want to try this food out for yourselves, you can always purchase a smaller bag.  It also comes in a 2 pound bag.  But if you do, don't blame us if your doggie's nose turns into a vacuum cuz we warned you!  Mom asked me and Stanley if we gave this food a paws up and we said:

This product is endorsed by Murphy and Stanley.  We were not paid a fee for our honest opinion but the product was supplied free of charge.

Murphy & Stanley