Small-batch dog foods typically contain high-grade ingredients and provide a nutritional diet to promote dental health, energy levels, and overall wellness. Furthermore, these varieties often use less filler than their mass-produced counterparts.
Small batch embraces raw and cooked diets, offering light versions of their most popular recipes made with quality ingredients cooked sous vide for pasteurization.
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High-Quality Ingredients
Small-batch pet foods are generally produced in smaller batches, allowing for greater control over ingredients and producing higher-quality products. As opposed to mass-produced dog foods, many small-batch recipes typically avoid unnecessary additives, preservatives, or fillers that could harm dogs.
Smallbatch uses only high-quality meats and organic vegetables from local farms to meet its sustainability and ethical practices, including using humanely raised animals without antibiotics and hormones for its meat products. They use premium supplements and ingredients like unfiltered raw apple cider vinegar, organic kelp, and bee pollen.
Raw recipes from this company boast high protein and low carbohydrate contents for optimal nutritional outcomes, designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages and with no artificial additives or preservatives added.
Nutrient-Dense Diets
Small-batch foods use whole ingredients that are more nutritionally dense than traditional kibble, so your pup can get more nutrition in smaller servings, helping maintain their ideal weight and lower the risk for obesity-related health issues.
Small-batch dog foods use meats raised and harvested ethically, promoting animal welfare and environmental responsibility. Furthermore, many of these food options don’t contain added vitamins and minerals for improved digestive health in your canine companion.
Quality pet food manufacturers provide recipes explicitly tailored for specific breeds, sizes, and life stages to give your pup optimal nutrition in an easily digestible form. They may include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals essential for their growth and well-being – providing your dog with all they need for healthy growth, development, and overall well-being.
Dental Health
Pet parents concerned with their dog’s dental health can feed a raw diet, which has been shown to reduce tartar accumulation and encourage dogs to chew thoroughly – two elements that promote oral wellness while breaking down bacteria that cause plaque and gum disease.
Inflammation and discolored teeth in dogs can lead to painful chewing and more severe issues like loose teeth. To avoid this, feeding your pup raw food containing named meats instead of starchy foods like potatoes, chickpeas, and peas may be most effective in keeping their mouth healthy.
Small batch offers protein-rich options like chicken, fish, and lamb; organic veggies and fruit; and low-temperature processing to preserve nutrients while preventing chemical degradation.
Ethical Sourcing
Small-batch dog food brands often prioritize ethical sourcing in their ingredients and production processes, which is crucial given that mass-produced pet foods may come from companies without regard for animal welfare and humane production practices. Ready-made foods may claim their products are “responsibly sourced” or “farm-raised,” yet these terms don’t translate to anything tangible.
Small-batch brands strive to treat animals humanely while using organic or non-GMO ingredients in their foods. Companies such as Open Farm provide customers access to an online lot code tracer, enabling them to locate where each element was sourced from for their meal.
At Sea To Table, they only source sustainable fish species that aren’t endangered, avoid GMO grains, and only use organic ingredients in their meals. Furthermore, their packaging is made of recycled paper and biodegradable polylactide (PLA), helping reduce plastic waste in landfills.
Healthy Weight
IAMS offers this special raw diet designed to aid your dog if he or she tends toward weight gain, with 17% less fat, L-carnitine for healthy metabolism, and fibers and prebiotics for improved digestion.
This raw food has been specifically tailored to meet the nutritional standards set forth by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance. It features higher protein levels to support muscle maintenance during weight loss. Furthermore, its lower carbohydrate level ensures optimal energy for active dogs.
Like with any new food, it is recommended to gradually introduce it over seven days by increasing amounts of fresh food while simultaneously decreasing amounts of your pet’s current diet each day. Always ensure access to plenty of clean drinking water during this process.
High Digestibility
Digestive health is paramount to overall pet wellness. A dog who consumes high-quality, easily digestible food can absorb more of the essential vitamins and minerals they require from their diet, helping them maintain a healthy weight with soft stools that don’t cause discomfort or upset stomach.
Highly digestible pet foods help avoid the build-up of toxins and waste in their digestive tract, which can cause stomach upset and other gastrointestinal issues in pets. While mass-produced dog foods contain ingredients known to cause allergies or sensitivities in some dogs, smaller batch dog food typically uses premium natural ingredients, which are less likely to lead to problems for them.
Look for small batch dog food made with locally sourced meats and organs as the primary protein source, along with organic veggies free from GMOs that are rich in vitamins (such as cauliflower, carrots, squash, and green beans) plus natural supplements like salmon oil, organic kelp or bee pollen for additional nourishment.