The Honest Kitchen Foods FAQ

How do I transition my dog to The Honest Kitchen Diets?

Generally for a healthy dog, we recommend to substitute ¼ of the total amount of your dog’s present food with the new food choice, and continue to increase by ¼ every 3 days until your dog is completely on The Honest Kitchen Diet. In about 10 days your dog should be completely our wholesome diet. Many dogs can transition more swiftly and a few may take a little longer to make the switch.


What do The Honest Kitchen diets look like once hydrated?

All three of the diets have a texture resembling muesli or ‘loose mixes’ after hydration, with some colorful pieces of recognizable fruits, veggies, and grains (for Verve). All three diets have a very pleasant aroma.


What’s so great about dehydrated food?

The de-hydration process removes only the water from the food, while leaving the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients in tact. The Honest Kitchen’s dehydrated foods provide your dog with many of the benefits of a fresh home prepared diet, made much more convenient. Processed dry kibble and canned foods, are cooked at such high temperatures so the food becomes denatured and many important nutrients are no lost. A good clue to this is a very long list of vitamins & minerals in the ingredients panel – it shows what the manufacturer had to add to make the food nutritionally balanced.


Are the meats in The Honest Kitchen diets raw?

All the ingredients in our diets are guaranteed human edible. The meats are dehydrated at a low enough temperature to maintain many of the nutrients, but the dehydration process takes place at a high enough temperature to kill any pathogenic bacteria that may be present in raw meats. Our meats are the exact same ingredients used in dehydrated and frozen human foods.

Additional raw meats may be mixed in with our foods if desired. All the other ingredients are dehydrated at very low temperatures (below 104 degrees) and are therefore still considered raw.


Do the Honest Kitchen diets contain bone?

The Honest Kitchen diets do not contain any bone. All of our diets contain ONLY Human Grade ingredients, bones are not in high demand for human foods, so they are not a readily available. Our meats are 100% pure, USDA muscle meats only.


Will adding in meats and raw bones affect the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio in my dog’s diet?

The Calcium: phosphorous ratio in our foods is balanced with the vitamin premix, containing human grade tri- calcium phosphate, and is set at a ratio that allows for additional meat and raw bones to be mixed in without throwing off the ratio. As a general guideline, we recommend about ½ cup of meat or RAW meaty bones (chicken backs/ or necks) to 1 cup of dry-measured Honest Kitchen diet. NEVER COOKED BONE!!


What is the shelf life on The Honest Kitchen Diets?

All of The Honest Kitchen products have about 12 month’s shelf life prior to hydration. Once re-hydrated, any leftovers should be treated like raw foods and refrigerated or discarded.


What are the standards for the ingredients in your products?

All of the ingredients in our products are of US origin, and everything is USDA inspected, human edible. Our products are processed in a plant that only accepts human grade ingredients onto their premises, therefore all of our ingredients must meet these standards.

All the meats used in The Honest Kitchen diets are antibiotic & hormone- free.

All the fruits and vegetables are certified GMO- free.

Our flax, barley, oats, and rye are all Certified Organic.


How many meals will I get out of a 10 lb bucket of the Honest Kitchen?

Dependent on which diet you choose, your dog’s size, age and activity level and whether you plan on adding in any meats, or fruits and veggies, a 10 lb bucket of Verve will make about 40 lbs of re-hydrated food, while a 10 lb bucket of Embark and Force will make approximately 43 lbs of food.


What constitutes one cup of food?

Our label feeding recommendations are based on 1 cup (8 oz by volume or 4 oz by weight). 1 Cup of dehydrated food will make approximately 1 lb (or a little over two cups) of food once re-hydrated.


Are the feeding guideline recommendations based on dry measure?

Yes, the recommendations for measuring out your dog’s meal are based on de-hydrated measure.


I feed my pet twice daily, are the feeding guidelines the total daily amount or per meal?

At the Honest Kitchen we do suggest feeding your pet twice daily, and the feeding guidelines are designed for the total calorie intake for one day. The feeing guideline amount should be split into two meals.


Can I prepare the food in advance and how long will the food stay fresh once prepared?

Yes, you can prepare a day or two of feedings in advance, though the food should be refrigerated once hydrated. The food will keep in the fridge for up to 48 hours. If you wish to prepare more then two days you may prepare the food and freeze the diet. May people like to freeze it in individual portions, especially if someone else will be caring for their dog for a few days.


Which diet is best for my dog?

The Honest Kitchen has 3 diets available, as well as 3 supplements, and our highly sought-after Smooches Cookies.

The diet best for your dog is dependent on age, activity, and if you are content with his or her present weight. You may contact us to help in determining the best diet for your pets’ specific needs. Diets may also be combined to manipulate the nutritional composition is desired.

Verve - a beef based food with organic grains, and contains the least calories of our three diets. This is a great food to maintain your dog at a good weight.

Force - a chicken based diet and is grain free, great for dogs with allergies. The Force diet is higher in fat than Verve & contains a number of veggies and fruits to provide your dog with adequate carbohydrates.

Embark - a turkey based diet and was designed with the active dog, or puppy in mind, also dogs with weakened immune system (cancer recovery) benefit from Embark higher calorie and protein content with very low carbs.


What are some recommended add in ideas?

The list of items to add into your dogs diet is near endless, just to name a few, ground beef/ turkey/ chicken or exotic meats of available, plain yogurt, fruits such as melon, a few nuts such as flaked almonds – the list is endless!
Some items that you should NEVER feed to your dog are onions, raisins, COOKED BONE, and basic junk foods that we ourselves should not be eating! Add-in amounts may vary; we recommend a ratio of about ½ cup of meats, veggies, or Raw Meaty Bones to 1 cup dry measure of The Honest Kitchen diets. Please visit the recipe page and/ or sign up for our newsletter, which will feature a new recipe monthly.


Are there samples available?

Yes, we have samples of all of our diets. The sample packets will make 1 lb of food once re-hydrated. They can be purchased at Our Food Pantry under The Honest Kitchen.


My dog is over weight, which diet do you recommend?

Generally for over weight dog the diets of choice are either Verve or Force, and this can be dependent of the specifics of your dog. All of our diets are low in carbohydrates, and the Verve and Force are the two lowest in calories, and fat content. Some dogs seem to maintain a healthier bodyweight with limited carbs – in which case Embark would be a good choice. It is usually matter of determining which diet is the best choice for an individual dog. Of course, one of the keys to maintaining healthy bodyweight is exercise- ideally about 20 minutes of brisk walking each day for most dogs.


Are the Honest Kitchen diets designed to support a growing puppy’s needs?

The vitamins and minerals present in all of our diets are fine to support normal growth and skeletal development in puppies. The Embark formula is specifically designed to offer the growing puppies more protein, and calories to assure proper muscle development. We do however suggest the addition of fresh meats, which will offer them more variety of amino acids. For giant breed puppies you may want to consult with your breeder as to specific needs and or limitations of nutrients. You can also contact us at any time, for guidance.