Saturday, April 16, 2016

Chewy Brings Us A Surprise

When I received this month's Chewy review selections, there was a brand I was unfamiliar with, so I did some research. I was more than pleasantly surprised with the results  and I'll share them with you.
The brand of dog food was Wild Calling. I had never heard of them and before I feed anything to my pack, I want to know where, what and why.
Wild Calling makes both kibble and canned food. They are a family owned company based in Colorado, USA. They got started when Tim Petersen, a dog food distributor, his wife, two grown sons  and daughter wanted a food for their family dog and didn't find what they wanted on the store shelves. It took years to come up with the right formula with the right nutrients, but they did it.

Now here is the very best part. If you have a dog with special dietary needs, this may be the food for you. When a dog shows signs of a food allergy or sensitivity, the vet usually suggests a food with a unique protein source.  My vet tells me that the three most common food sensitivities are beef, wheat and dairy.

In our case, Fudge and Noah have both become sensitive to beef. Noah can eat chicken, but Fudge can't. We solved the problem by feeding duck, a protein that neither boy had ever had before and tolerated well.

The problem arises when the dog can't eat any of the common protein sources and here is where Wild Calling comes in. All their food is 100% grain free and 96% meat. None of their sources come from China. They offer many unique protein sources so that even the most sensitive tummy should find one that works. They offer the usual beef and chicken, but also turkey, rabbit, buffalo, salmon, duck, elk, lamb, pork, alligator and kangaroo. They also have some combos. They have added liver to each of their foods and show on their site and their containers that the salmon and triple delight combo both contain chicken liver, for those with a chicken issue.

So armed with all this info, I ordered Wild Calling Rainbow River for my girls to try. It's 96% salmon.
 Here are my observations.
First, I love the label designs.
Second, I expected it to be more pink in color. Back to the web site to find that adding liver tones down the pink color. OK.
Third, it was very wet and somewhat mushy. I'm used to canned food being fairly firm. I learned that this is because it's 96% meat and no fillers. OK.
Fourth, it smells!! Fortunately I feed in the garage because this smelled really fishy. The whole garage seemed to smell fishy. It's 96 % fish, duh!!!

So what did my girls think? I set the bowls down and picked up my camera, but by the time I turned it on, Tess was the only one who hadn't finished. I guess they liked it. They liked it A LOT. And so did I. I'm not sure how I'd like the fishy smell in the morning, but for an evening meal, it was fine.
If you have a dog with food sensitivities, check out Wild Calling. You might find an easy answer to a tough problem and I think your dog will thank you.

As usual, Chewy sent us a case of Wild Calling Salmon at no cost to us, in exchange for our honest review.



7 comments:

Hailey and Zaphod and their Lady said...

We are sure the smell is one of the reasons it was so well loved! We don't eat much fish in our house as the Man is sensitive.

Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 said...

Looks yummy

Ruby said...

OMD, Ma just GAGGED! Yeah, that's why I can't have the fishes!!! All because the smell makes Ma gag! Wells, I thinks she should puts in nose plugs and MAN UP! I LOVES the fishies!!! Okays, that's it, I'm comin' overs tomorrow nights for some of that most FABulous food!!! I'll trade for some margaritas!!!! okays, and some cupcakes...
Kisses,
Ruby ♥

My Dog Sam - Ruptured Disk said...

Hi Sue, wow your guys make out okay with Chewy. Good review. Thanks. I hope that all is well now :)

Molly the Airedale said...

This sounds like a wonderful food and we'll be checking it out! Our mom says that if it's good for us, she will just have to deal with the odor.

Marjie said...

I'll suggest this to Cass and Jeff. Both seem to have some unknown food sensitivities, which cause them skin issues.

Lapdog Creations said...

Isn't it always the stinkiest stuff they love the most? Sounds like a great company!