Complimentary Product: A two month trial of Bravo Pet Food was provided for me in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own, of course!
While it’s no longer National Dog Day, it feels like every day is around here celebrating this dog of mine, Rigby. To say Rigby is spoiled would probably be an understatement. When I first got Rigby, I knew we wanted to feed him a higher quality pet food then what can be found at say Target or Walmart. We started with a high quality and highly recommended kibble made for puppies, then transitioned into an even better quality kibble for all ages, but noticed he had horrible, horrible gas. Like deathly.
It not only was odorous, but what came out the other end wasn’t looking quite right either. I won’t get into specifics, but it seemed that he wasn’t properly digesting the kibble and it wasn’t making his digestive system too happy. After reading a lot, I made the switch to a raw diet. We have tried a couple over the past two years, but our recent switch to Bravo Homestyle Complete Freeze Dried Raw is probably the best for us and for him.
Why you ask? There are a couple of main reasons for this:
1. We’ve noticed a huge improvement in his smell and coat. The previous raw food he was on had a formula change, and since that, he started to smell a bit like bread (or yeast.) Doing a little internet research tells me that it’s likely he has a food allergy to something causing a yeast response. Last summer at this time he had thinning patches around his knees and under his front legs. This summer, despite blowing chunks of coat everywhere since July, he’s had no thin spots. We switched him back in June.
2. The convenience. His previous food had to be frozen, which takes up a lot of freezer space. We live in a small condo, so we don’t have room for an additional freezer unit. It also requires defrosting, and if you forget, this can be a pain. Bravo, however, comes in a bag like kibble and just needs to soak in water for about 15 minutes before serving.
3. No mess, and great for travel. As mentioned above, Bravo is freeze-dried, meaning it’s dry food that can easily be packed up into smaller containers for travel. Because it’s freeze-dried, there’s really not a lot of mess associated with it. If you spill it, just sweep it up.
4. No Smell. Some people may be a little grossed out when dealing with other types of raw food. Bravo, however, doesn’t really have much smell and the consistency is far from what you might expect from a raw meat product. Dealing with raw meat typically turns my stomach a bit, and I have no problems with this.
Overall, we’ve been super happy with the switch and will continue feeding and purchasing Bravo products. Bravo generously offered one of you a chance to switch your dog (or cat!) to a raw food diet as well with a selection of some of their products. Due to shipping restrictions, this giveaway is US-only. Enter below:
Have you considered switching a pet to a raw diet, or do you feed one already? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
Ru is on a freeze-dried raw diet right now as well, and I love it! It’s so much more affordable than the frozen ones, and I agree, it’s great how it doesn’t take up space in my fridge. The big thing I’ve noticed is it helps if you soak it overnight or more like 8 hours vs. just the minimum 15 minutes. It expands so much more!
Cat
That’s good to know! I’ll have to try that as that would make feeding time much easier on Rigby who hates to wait the 15 minutes or so for his food, haha! :)
I haven’t tried a raw diet, but would love to. The thing that has held me back most has just been that most of the available foods are so high maintenance. I’d love to try Bravo!
I definitely know what you mean, Kyle! What I like about Bravo is that the most “challenging” part is the soaking… and dealing with your dog if they’re a food monster like Rigby. He often will talk to the soaking bowl while he waits. ;)
I haven’t tried a freeze diet yet, but now I’m very curious to. My puppy has just been eating a high quality kibble, but I had been looking into doing a raw diet. Now I am thinking freeze dried will be much easier.
It’s a great way to try out raw and see if it’s right for you. I don’t have the time or energy to devote to a fresh raw diet, so this is a great happy medium solution!
no my pet has never tried it because I have never heard of it before.
Glad I could share a little more about a raw diet with you then, Ashley! Good luck! :)
I have not tried it because it’s expensive.
I know what you mean, Elena! I think I may spend more on food for Rigby than I do myself!
He’s totally smiling in that first photo!
Haha, definitely is!
I haven’t yet, but I like to. My dog just has a sensitive tummy, so I have been hesitate to change her food, so far.
That’s understandable, switching foods can be hard! If you do decide to try it, definitely go slow with transitioning, incorporating th new food slowly into the old food over the course of 10-14 days or so. :)
We don’t have a dog now, but when I did growing up my parents were always really careful of what food we gave her!
That’s great that they were conscientious about what they fed her! :)
Raw food is a great concept that I haven’t thought about for my pup. We always use high quality food for her, but this sounds amazing! The only thing I have struggled with in the past, with specialty dog food, is the price. Thanks for the giveaway! :)
That definitely was something I initially struggled with as well, but we hope in the long run feeding good food now will prevent vet bills as he ages. :)
This information couldn’t have come at a better time. :) I am currently struggling with what to feed my pup Djinn Djinn. I don’t really like to ask my Vet about what I should be feeding him because they always just seem to try to sell me something so I’m not quite sure if I can trust them entirely (I mean, obviously if they tell me a general diet, I will listen to them but they usually just suggest food that they sell). Anyway, a while back when Djinn Djinn had anal gland issues, they suggested I switch him to the Science Diet. It helped him a lot but his skin was getting itchy and then he recently started developing bladder stones and had to have surgery. Now the vet suggested I switch to Royal Canine S0. I mean, I don’t know the cause of these things but I just feel quite strongly that the weird chemicals in the foods are not helping at all and I should be feeding him a completely natural diet. So if it would make any difference with a raw diet, I would be interested in making the switch. It’s tough to know what’s best sometimes, eh?
So glad it was helpful, Victoria! I find that some vets are more progressive than others about nutrition. Our vet’s office as a whole doesn’t believe in raw feeding (one reason they claim is that dogs are exposing others to e. Coli through their feces, which happens regardless of what you feed, hence why you need to clean up after pets! ;) ) However, we lucked out and the particular doctor that Rigby likes best doesn’t mind that we feed raw and think it’s great for Rigby based on what she sees at his check ups. From what I understand, in Vet School the nutrition education is often sponsored by Hill’s or other brands, and they also provide some form of reimbursement to offices that sell the food. Obviously I can’t speak for your vet, or even mine, but it definitely seems a bit suspect when the food they sell magically is the “cure all”. ;) It definitely is hard to know what to do! It took me awhile to get comfortable with feeding Rigby raw, but I noticed a change rather quickly with what was coming out the other end (TMI sorry, #dogmomlife!) I joined a lot of dog groups and forums and read a lot before I got comfortable with trying the pre-made options, but some people are very hardcore and source their own meat from farmers and create balanced meals themselves. If you want any more info about feeding raw diets in general let me know, I’m happy to share! :)
So it’s a year later and I just now saw your reply haha! Notifications are weird. Anyway! So, these days I’ve yet to switch my dog(s) (I adopted another pup recently!) to a raw diet simply because it’s so much easier to just buy a bag of dog food. I am feeding them Taste of the Wild and so far, no complaints. I am still interested in a raw food diet for them for future reference so I will definitely keep this brand in mind and will be sure to ask you for advice when the time comes! Thanks Jenn! :)
You’re so welcome! And I totally get that. Pre-Made Raw is definitely great when it comes to saving time, but it’s still more time intensive (pre-soaking or defrosting, depending on what you end up going with) versus feeding kibble. I tried to switch Rigby back to kibble but his stomach just does not handle it well anymore, but he’s also more sensitive and prone to stomach upset than your average dog. Feel free to shoot me an email or DM if you ever have any questions! :)
I haven’t tried a raw diet for my dog. I think it’s because I’m not sure what to feed him or where to get the food I’ll need. :)
Definitely understandable! I hesitated to try it for awhile since I didn’t know which would be the best for my dog either!
I have not tried it because I don’t know how to make a raw diet nutritionally complete. I also don’t know how much to feed either.
Definitely understandable reasons! The nice thing about premade raw is that it’s developed to be nutritionally complete with a balance of fat, protein, and fiber. Thanks for entering, Daniel!