Izzy and Jack Test PURE Pet Food (Chicken Dinner)!

Izzy and Jack are two very typical English Springer Spaniels. Some might call them mental; other people might say a handful. They are just typical working-type Springers. They use up a lot of energy each day, and they love their food. We generally feed them a mix of dry and wet food, which seems to suit them. However, many working dog owners champion raw feeding. This is something we’ve never considered and to be honest isn’t a road we plan to go down. So when the opportunity came along for Izzy and Jack to trial PURE ‘naturally dehydrated’ and grain free pet food, we quickly agreed.

What is PURE Pet Food?

Can I start by saying that PURE Pet Food is Made in Britain! It is basically raw ingredients that have been dehydrated into a complete balanced food suitable for adult dogs. Being dehydrated makes it less messy and more transportable than other ways of feeding a raw diet. Jack and Izzy sampled PURE’s ‘Chicken Dinner’, and reading the pack ingredients it consists of:

• Chicken (25%)
• Potato
• Carrot
• Parsnip
• Chicken Liver
• Green Beans
• Apple
• Cabbage
• Minerals

A 2kg box makes 8kg of fresh food once hydrated. It is estimated that inside every 2kg box of Chicken Dinner there’s 13 chicken breasts, 20 parsnips, 6 potatoes, 4½ bunches of carrots, 1 cabbage, 2¼ apples, 500g green beans and 400g chicken livers.

Because there’s only 7 ingredients in this feed, it is perfect for dogs that have sensitive skin and tummies (being grain, wheat, corn and soya free).

How to Make It

On the back of the box is a handy guide as to how much dry ingredient to give your dog. My spaniels are both approx. 20 kg in weight. We therefore scooped out (scoop provided in box) 7 scoops of dry food each, and added 9 scoops of warm water to each bowl – and mixed well. Leave for 10-15 minutes so that it fully hydrates, and then serve.

I have to admit I didn’t like the smell once hydrated (but then again, I don’t like the smell of tinned pet food either). The dogs are very impatient – once they know food has been put in their bowls they start demanding it … so the waiting time is quite a noisy one!

Meaty Toppings

In addition to the 2kg box of dehydrated Chicken Dinner, we also received a 150g box of ‘meaty toppings’. With our dogs weighing around 20kg they can have 2 tablespoons of toppings a day.

This particular crunchy topping is made with 90% real chicken chunks, along with coconut oil, carrot and spinach (dehydrated of course). This can be added to any dry, wet or fresh food, or just give as a treat. This supports dental health and the coconut oil and spinach give a ‘superfood’ boost!

Verdict

I perhaps should point out that Jack and Izzy eat most things, so we never doubted they’d like PURE. They do like it  They seem to eat their bowls of PURE food slower than they do their usual dry/wet food combo … but they don’t walk away from their bowls until they are empty. Maybe because it’s meatier than what they are used to, it is more filling, hence they eat slower?

The dogs haven’t been on it long enough to be able to say they have gleaming white teeth and lusciously smooth shiny coats. But we can say that they are still enjoying it, are still very healthy dogs, and it hasn’t given them any upset tummies.

PURE Pet Food is definitely a brilliant compromise if tempted to feed a raw diet. Based on our experience, we’d definitely consider carrying on post-trial.

Disclaimer for: Izzy and Jack Test PURE Pet Food (Chicken Dinner)!

PURE kindly sent a box of their Chicken Dinner food for Jack and Izzy to try out. We’ve had a long chat with both dogs, who assure us that they really like it. So we are passing on their comments, as they can’t type (because they are dogs …)

If you’d like to find out more about PURE, please visit their website here.