Vital Essentials Raw - Treats - Anyone ever tried this?

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I was at a Dog Breed show in NYC last weekend and came across a vendor that was giving out samples of freeze dried raw dog/cat food and treats.  I spoke to the rep. for a while and they only use US beef/chicken/organs from Wisconsin, the indrienients have no grains, fillers or preservatives.  My doodles went nuts over them.  My local pet supply carries this brand so I bought a big bag... it was kind of pricy at $25.00 for a 1 ln. 5oz. bag of nibblets which is the food but I am using it as treats...anything for my babies.  They also have green tripe treats, they ordered me a bag which will be in today, I am hoping they are not going to be too smelly because my doodles LOVE TRIPE.

 

Has anyone ever used or tried Vital Essentials Raw.... I did my reasearch and have not come up with any negative on them.

 

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's hard to find the source info on their website, which is difficult to navigate and filled with false statements about why you should feed raw. (It will "eliminate allergies"?!!?  Really? Gosh, it must have been formulated by Prof. Snape at Hogwart's! It's magic!)

But the products themselves look fine, if you have verification that they do indeed only use North American ingredients. The freeze dried raw patties look similar to Stella & Chewy's, which we do recommend.

 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

LOL - I know....did you go on to www.vitalessentiasraw.com???  I looked around for a while and found that they use beef/chicken...etc. from WIsconsin at least that is what the website said.  How would you verify that???  I just don't want to feed the doods something that is not good for them or have any chance of them getting sick.  I try to be so careful and do my research. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

See if the label has any info on the source of the ingredients. Otherwise, you can send the company an email asking them to verify it. If they state on the wbesite that the meats are from WI, legally they can get into serious trouble if that isn't true, so I'd be inclined to believe it. But it never hurts to ask for verification, and sometimes when you contact them, they send you coupons, too, lol!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

The bag has a stamp on it that says:  Packed Under Continuous Inspection of U.S. Dept of Agr. A-27506 and says Product of USA.  Also it says Green Bay Pet Food Co., Green Bay, WI.  I am going to give them a call and see what they say where the beef is from.  THANKS

[Leslie and Halas]

I think I have a sample of this at home.  If not this, it's something else from Vital.  I helped at an obedience club event this weekend, and a woman from a shop in Springfield was there selling some stuff.  She had Stella and Chewy's, and this Vital stuff.  I asked her which she preferred, and she said Stella and Chewy's.  But she made it sound like she really likes both brands.  There's just something about S & C that makes her like it a little bit more.  Of course, I don't remember what that thing was.  I bought the S & C's, just to see if it's something Halas will eat (he will) when he doesn't want his regular food, and she gave me a sample of the Vital.  But it's just a powder that I have to rehydrate.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Les, didn't you buy the S & C patties when you were here last summer?

[Leslie and Halas]

No.  I thought about it, but they didn't have any really small packages, and I didn't want to spend the money on a large package.  I wasn't planning on buying it this time, but with Halas deciding not to eat his regular food on flyball weekends, and this vendor being at our obedience club, I decided to try it.  I gave him 1/2 a patty the other day.  He seemed to like it, and it didn't cause any stomach upset.  I'll experiment with it over the next couple of months.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle was given half a patty at that store last year and he went out of his mind. He actually tried to get behind the counter to find them!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Seeee  .... that is how my two are acting with this ---- they love it !!!  :)   I am going this afternoon to pick up the tripe treats.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

we call the S&C patties "doodle crack".  I got a couple of sample packs from a local store and thought that I could use them to help keep Cubbie still during grooming...wrong!!  He spent so much time spinning around trying to find where I had them hidden that I couldn't get any grooming done.  I should stock up on them and use them to work on the come command.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

LOL - doodle crack :)  great name for it.  I make a dessert with toffee, saltines, chocolate and nuts.. its like crack so we call it Cholocate Crack.  Now my doodles will have their own version of crack :)

 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Hey Leslie.... The samples I got from Vital "Essentials" was chunks of freeze beef.  They are about the size of a nickel.  I did not see any power type product.   They also had the freezedried patties that reminded me of a sponge.  I am going to look for the S&C's as well since both my doodles seem to LOVE this type of food.