Darwins Natural Pet Food

Recently, I had the fortune to come in contact with Darwin’s Natural Foods online. I’d seen the site previously, but passed on the offer as I was still green in the Raw Feeding arena. Auto-fulfilment is a hard thing to commit to when you don’t know anything about what you’re ordering.

Having made the successes we have, I’ve begun to be a bit more savvy about how much I spend and where I source the food. I’ve seen online delivery services before, but I questioned quality and price. Of the options available, Darwin’s seemed to fit the bill. As much as I love Meat’s, the drive across town every 10 days of so is wearing me thin.

Naturally, my first concern is quality… followed by cost.

Quality: Darwins offers an equivilent level of food to the Columbia River products I’ve been purchasing. They have a premium “organic” option, but sick or not this dog isn’t eating better than we do. Standard option it is. What I really appreciate is the meat/vegetable ratio. Darwin’s mixes at about 70% meat and 30% vegetable (I’m sure thats an estimate) and they add minerals. (a huge plus since most ground beef / lamb / buffalo products will NOT contain bone – a good source of calcium and minerals)

Cost: Remarkably, Darwin’s is less expensive. I almost couldn’t believe it. Now, if I wasn’t located in Oregon or Washington there would be a nominal shipping charge which would probably even it out. Luckily I am, and for about $178 / month, I’m getting the same pounds of raw ground food with minerals and a more liberal vegetable content. I’m not certain the breakdown with Columbia River via retail, but it was running close to $210.

So, I gave it a try.

In my area it will be a weekly / bi-weekly Fed-ex shipment

Now, not to over endorse, I really appreciate the packaging.  The Columbia River stuff is great feed, but the packaging consistently has small little holes in it which during defrosting, leak all over my fridge drawer.  Not the easiest thing to keep sanitary.  This packaging is thick, labeled well (to include ingredients) and neatly stacks up in the freezer.

The only reason I got one of the Organic (more expensive) options is because I want to keep as much variety as possible.  Unfortunatly, the standard options include Beef, Chicken, and Turkey.  Gunner doesn’t do so well with Turkey, for reasons I still don’t know.  So, to ensure we had three different meals, I opted for the Organic Duck.

I like that… It’s nice to see the ingredients, and the supplements.  Flax seed, Kelp, Apple Cider Vinegar… these are surely trace amounts in the end product but I like that I’m covering the bases in his diet and hopefully offsetting any deficiencies we may have encountered during the transition period.  Esspecially since it’s not costing me any more than I was already spending.

All in all, I’m impressed with the first offering and am a little excited to see this new option through.  I had a feeling “mail-order” would be a great way to deal with Gunner’s new diet, and so far everything about Darwin’s has been wonderful. They even included a little gift…   Calender and a storage container.