So As I Was Saying to Molly the Other Day - we need to VARY our DIET. . . and SHE Said VERY WHAT?

Mr. Delivery Guy came by a couple of times last week and, as usual, we greeted him with APLOMB. But of all the times he came, only ONE TIME was for Molly and Me! Can you believe the audacity?
We forgive him, though, because the ONE TIME he came he brought us a NEW 30-day Challenge from Chewy.com. You heard me right - THIRTY DAYS to try some new and PRESUMABLY tasty new food.

Molly INSISTED on posing like this with OUR
box. She is such a HAM.

This challenge was to EAT Stella & Chewy's Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Dog Food. This is a different kind of food than we are used to and honestly, Mommy is not sure how we will react to it over 30 WHOLE DAYS. You see, we generally eat DRY Kibble and occasionally have it topped with canned dog food like Weruva chicken stew or Nature's Variety chicken dinner. . . you get my drift? (And most of the time we have fresh veggies topping our kibble.) A couple of times we have received reconstitutable meals (Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy's are two we have tried) but we don't care for them a whole lot. And you all know for a pug this is so rare.  

What sets Stella and Chewy's apart is the fact their meal is REAL MEAT that is freeze dried and then limited ingredients are added to the meat. There is no grain to upset delicate tummies and never never never any chemical additives. So Mommy thought we MIGHT like it for a change of pace.

Even though the name has CHEWY in it, this is
NOT one of the fine products BY Chewy.com. That is
NOT to say this isn't also a fine product

This looks interesting although not too appetizing. But I am
going to EAT it not LOOK at it.

Like I say over and over again - If it's FOOD, I'm there.

So after we looked over the packaging and glimpsed the product itself, Mommy and I discussed the benefits of such a food. Why would we use it if (1) it isn't more economical and (2) it doesn't improve our coats (which are already awesome thanks for the Holistic Blend food we are currently eating)? Well according to the Stella and Chewy website AND the Chewy.com website, Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties are 42% crude protein (meaning from the meat itself) and are made from raw, farm-raised, cage-free chickens. No artificial growth hormones or antibiotics in that meat! And the reason it is all freeze-dried is to preserve not only the flavor of the REAL FOOD but to also preserve the integrity of the vitamins and minerals.

This is what the PATTIES are made of - and don't be intimidated by the chemical names; they are naturally occurring and not chemically mixed.

This is hard to read, I know. It was from the package. Let me sum it up: chicken with ground bone, chicken liver, chicken gizzard, pumpkin seeds, potassium chloride, organic cranberries, organic spinach, organic broccoli, organic beets, sodium phosphate monobasic, organic carrots, organic squash, organic apples, organic blueberries, vitamins and minerals with long names. Note the abundance of ORGANIC fruits and vegetables! This is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

As per usual, Mommy MADE us try it that very evening.

Half a patty dry and crumbled

Add water and let sit. . . since this was a first try, Mommy added our
kibble too. If you are not used to a new food, it is always best
to start out slowly like this

Well, I will generally try ANYTHING. . . but Molly chowed
down in a major way, too. And she did something she never
does. . . she LICKED her bowl clean!

So what we discovered is

1. We both really liked the food at first (and second) tastings
2. We had no adverse (i.e. the runs) affects from the food
3. It filled our bellies enough we did not beg MORE than usual

What Mommy thinks of the food so far

1. Figuring out correct portions for us is difficult even though the bag has a portion chart. We eat a lot less than recommended portions because of MY tendency to put on weight. So actually an additional chart with portion size equivalents to other portion sizes might be more helpful
2. It takes a while longer to prepare and SOMEpuggy whines and snorts and yips a lot longer than usual as a result
3. Price-wise it is in the more elite group. A 15 oz bag of Stella & Chewy's is $40.49 (on sale for $26.99 right now at chewy.com). A 30 lb bag of Holistic Blend is $54.99 and 10lbs of Grandma Lucy's freeze-dried meals is $72.19. I am assuming these are equal in number of feedings. 

So we will see where it goes from here. The real test is if Molly-the-picky-eater keeps eating the food AND how we do on it. Mommy is going to play around with portions too to see if somepuggy gains weight at the prescribed portion size OR if it will maintain said puggy's current PERFECT weight.

Check back in a couple of weeks for a follow-up review.