August 25, 2014

Ruby Reviews: The Honest Kitchen Halcyon


We are big fans of The Honest Kitchen at my house. I feed the Love recipe as part of the ginger sisters' rotation diet, I keep cans of Quickies stashed around the house for impromptu training moments, and they get Beams as regular treats.

Not only was this review a chance to possibly add another The Honest Kitchen product into the mix, but it was also a great occasion to work with the girls on their sit-stays, down-stays, and other cues. They seemed to have a lot of fun, Ruby hamming it up as usual and Boca surprising me with her improvisation. 

 

I was therefore very excited to be given the opportunity to test out their new dehydrated duck formula, Halcyon. We were sent several sample packets for the girls to try. As always, The Honest Kitchen boasts high-quality, human-grade ingredients:

Dehydrated duck, organic oats, organic buckwheat, dehydrated peas, organic flaxseed, dehydrated potatoes, dried organic coconut, dehydrated carrots, dried parsley, dehydrated spinach, dried bananas, dried basil, chia seeds, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate


I feed grain-free kibble at dinnertime, so I don't mind the girls having some "cereal" for breakfast in the form of the oats and buckwheat. I am also happy to see coconut in the ingredients as it has some wonderful health properties.

The ginger sisters are accustomed to our morning routine of re-hydrating their food with warm water and setting the timer for five minutes while I make my coffee. They know that when the timer chimes, breakfast is served!


Boca is easy to please and gobbles up anything that is in her bowl (the gratitude of a street dog!), but Ruby tends to be my picky eater. She unfortunately turns her nose up at some of The Honest Kitchen varieties, so I was delighted that she danced around excitedly while I prepared the Halcyon and licked her bowl clean. Another winner from The Honest Kitchen and a variety we can add to our rotation!

The Honest Kitchen has generously provided a 4lb box of Halcyon for one of my readers to win. U.S. residents may enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to notification by email.



a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
Disclaimer: I was provided a sample of The Honest Kitchen Halcyon Duck Recipe in exchange for my honest review. Based on the ginger sisters' clean bowls I purchased a 4lb box on my own, just like the one you can win!

37 comments:

  1. I havent tried dehydrated food yet but would like to :)

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  2. I've not tried dehydrated food for Boomer and Dottie yet but I've heard great things about Honest Kitchen!

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  3. The Honest Kitchen has so many good things. Good review
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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  4. THK has been out of my rotation because Elli is allergic to all creatures with wings and their by-products. THK is now back in my house since I got my new puppy, who delightfully has zero allergies to anything. :) The Ginger Sisters are wonderful models. :)

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    1. They do make a fish-based mix and they seem to be pretty good about not putting chicken in everything like some do, but the Zeal is also one of the most expensive recipes.

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  5. I got a sample of the Love from BlogPaws, and I have mixed feelings. It keeps them busy when I stuff it in a Kong, but it's so sticky they never manage to get it all out! I'll still enter your contest, though! :)

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    1. It can be a weird consistency, although you can mix it to your dog's liking. Ruby doesn't like it if it's too sticky or too soupy...perhaps I should have named her Goldilocks! I wonder if it would work better if you made the Kong mixture more watery and froze it?

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  6. I haven't tried any Honest Kitchen stuff yet! I think I got lucky with my girls because they are not picky. :D

    I'm glad Ruby and Boca liked it!!

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  7. We haven't tried it yet but it sounds like something both dogs would enjoy!

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  8. Nice! Shiner has tried some varieties of Honest Kitchen in the past but she would love to try some of this duck food. Yummy :) Ruby is so photogenic!

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    1. Ruby is such a good sport - she knows exactly what to do! Boca is learning fast - the last shot with her paw on the box was completely her own doing!

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  9. I haven't tried it yet but have been wanted to let Lady Girl try it!!

    reply to anncluck dot net at att dot net

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  10. The pop-ups are not working for twitter

    reply anncluck at att dot net

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  11. Duck is not Silas Approved--I could never tell if he was allergic, or if he hated it so much that he wasn't eating enough to keep his reflux in control. I'm glad to see some new things from THK, though. Silas has finally come around to the turkey one, and I mix his super-expensive venison with Preference. Your post reminded me to order some sample packs of their new base mixes to try with that.

    I don't have any problem doing full raw, but since Silas is so touchy about vitamins I like to mix some commercial food in.

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    1. This 4lb box will be the true test for Miss Finicky...sometimes she's gung-ho about things at first and then loses interest. She eats her kibble dinner normally with great enthusiasm but I just keep insisting on this raw-dehydrated thing for one meal!

      She's never refused the Stella & Chewy's Duck Duck Goose but it's too expensive to feed regularly. I take it on trips sometimes as it's so convenient to feed.

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  12. I love the picture of Ruby posing on the box!

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    1. I was so proud of her because the box wobbled a few times and she kept trying - she is getting braver, and tricks like this are helping.

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  13. And yes, we do feed dehydrated food. : )

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  14. I've never tried dehydrated food, I have no doubt in my mind Laika would be thoroughly interested. Such great photos; the look on Boca's face in the second to last photo had me laughing.

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    1. Boca is so funny. She concentrates really hard when treats are involved.

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  15. I received a few samples but haven't actually tried feeding my dogs dehydrated food on a regular basis. I'm impressed by the quality of the ingredients.

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    1. The stuff even smells good when you prepare it, and how many commercial dog foods can you say that about?

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  16. This seems like such an interesting concept. I have never tried dehydrated food for my pups, but it seems like something they would love!

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    1. It's great for travel! I always stock up on the sample sized packets for this reason.

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  17. No we havent, but we'd love to try it out and see if she likes it.

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  18. I have fed Honest Kitchen before and just switched to Stella and Cheweys because it was a bit easier and I had to feed so much of the Honest Kitchen to keep weight on Rookie.

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  19. I've definitely been wanting to try the Honest Kitchen out with Bain. Looks like the girls love it.

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  20. We love the Honest Kitchen around here, haven't tried all the flavors yet, but willing to try!

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  21. Yup, we've fed Honest Kitchen to Honey. But she tires of a flavor after a few days. I was hoping it would be a good option for once we move aboard the boat. So I'd love to give it another shot with a new flavor.

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  22. When we first tried THK, the dogs didn't like the consistency - too sticky. Now I add a lot more water than the directions advise; another dog owner made the suggestion. Our dogs do really well on it now.

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    1. I have to play with the consistency for Ruby, too. She is like Goldilocks and prefers it not too sticky, not too soupy...just right!

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  23. I have used lots of different honest kitchen products for years. I love all their things. I don't like that they have added peas to more things lately. I did leave the company itself a comment about that. My dogs LOVE BEAMS

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  24. I've never tried dehydrated food before...but I use Honest Kitchen's Perfect Form for my pups. :)

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  25. These products seem great! I haven't tried any yet, but they seem super high quality. Love that they are human grade. Glad the girls enjoyed it!

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  26. I haven't tried any, but would love to! :)

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