Ingredients For health
Helping dogs achieve superior health!
Many people assume a dog’s natural diet is meat and nothing else. It isn’t. A meat-only diet is unbalanced. Meat is one part of a healthy diet that should also include bone, fruit, vegetables and offal. Whole foods, with no added vitamins or premix.
Main Proteins
Beef Organs
Artisan Raw uses six organs as our staples: heart, green tripe, kidney, liver, lung and spleen. They’re high in protein and packed with vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, D, B6 and B12, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, iron, zinc, taurine and pantothenic acid. Heart and tongue aren’t secreting organs, so they count as muscle meat, and we use heart as a staple lean meat in our beef content.
Beef
Beef is a first-class protein. It contains every essential amino acid dogs need at every stage of life, from growing puppies and nursing mothers to the happily retired couch dog. Along with protein it supplies fat for energy, plus vitamins and minerals. Raw beef is naturally low in sodium and high in potassium, and it’s one of the best sources of iron, with zinc and vitamins B2, B6, B12 and D as well.
Wild Salmon
Wild Salmon
We only use wild salmon, never farmed. It’s packed with the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which help keep the heart healthy and the immune system strong. Dog studies have shown the omega-3s in salmon reduce inflammation from arthritis and skin conditions, and they help grow a thick, healthy coat.
Chicken
Wild Salmon
An excellent source of highly digestible protein, amino acids and essential fatty acids, with good levels of selenium, niacin and vitamin B6. Chicken is a raw-feeding staple because its bones are soft and easy to digest, a natural source of calcium, and the cartilage brings natural glucosamine and chondroitin. Chicken backs give a great meat-to-bone ratio.
Chicken Feet
A favourite for large-breed dogs. Chicken feet are cartilage and connective tissue: a natural, whole-food source of glucosamine and chondroitin, the same compounds sold as joint supplements. That matters for big dogs, whose joints carry more weight every day.
Fresh Whole Eggs
Nature’s perfect protein. Eggs are rich in choline, which human studies have linked to lower inflammation, and high in selenium, iodine and vitamins B2, B5, B12 and D. They also carry lutein and zeaxanthin, natural antioxidant pigments. We use the whole egg, shell and all, for a good source of natural calcium.
Vegetables
Leafy Greens
Leafy Greens
A great source of vitamins A, C and K, folate, manganese, chromium and potassium. We typically use spinach, bok choy, romaine and napa cabbage.
Spirulina
Leafy Greens
Spirulina is a microscopic algae and one of the most nutrient-dense foods there is: over 60% protein, plus vitamins A, B-complex, C and E. It’s also rich in essential fatty acids for a thick, shiny coat and healthy skin. The best part? In a dog study, spirulina at the same level we use in Artisan Signature strengthened the immune response and supported gut health.
Red Pepper
Red Pepper
Sweet, crunchy and full of goodness. Red peppers are rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C (by weight, more than twice the vitamin C of an orange), with a good amount of fibre and vitamin B6 too.
Garlic
Turmeric
Red Pepper
Garlic is a much debated ingredient. Many sources believe that garlic is toxic to dogs and it should never be used in dog food. However, we believe it has real value when it is used raw and in a measured amount - and we will show you the amount. That said, several of our meals contain no garlic at all, for those who would rather avoid it.
Turmeric
Turmeric
Turmeric
A natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant spice. Most of turmeric’s goodness comes from curcumin, its active compound. Turmeric also gets bile flowing, which helps with digesting fats, and its antioxidants help mop up free radicals, the unstable molecules that damage cells.
Garlic Continued
Garlic - why we stand by our choice to use it in our Complete Meals
Garlic is the most debated ingredient we use, so here is exactly where we stand.
The concern is real and we are not going to talk around it. In large amounts, garlic damages a dog's red blood cells. That is well documented, it is why so many sources say to avoid garlic entirely, and we take it seriously. It is also why several of our recipes contain no garlic at all, including our Hypoallergenic.
What we do not accept is that the ingredient matters more than the amount. We use garlic raw, at a small, deliberate, measured dose, the way it has long been used in raw feeding. We are not making it out to be a cure-all.
On ticks and fleas: there are a lot of anecdotal reports from raw feeders that garlic helps, and the reason is not clear. It may be the odour released through the dog's skin as the compounds are metabolised. We have not tested it and we know of no trial we could point you at, so we will call it what it is - anecdotal.
It's All About Dosage
Too much of anything is bad for you. Even minerals you assume make you and your dog healthy can be harmful in large daily amounts. Vitamin D and Zinc are both good for them, as long as you are not overdoing it. Garlic is no different. At some level all of these have the potential to be toxic.
So here is our number, and where it sits. We use garlic at 0.5% of each recipe, measured by raw weight. For a 50 lb dog eating five pucks a day, that comes to about 2.8 grams of garlic.
The most conservative figure in the published research is 5 grams of fresh garlic per kilogram of body weight per day, the level associated with red blood cell changes in dogs (Lee et al., 2000). More recent work puts the point of real toxicity considerably higher. That works out to about 0.13 grams per kilogram of body weight - around 40 times below the conservative threshold.
We would rather show you the arithmetic than ask you to take our word for it.
Not all forms of garlic are the same
Raw Garlic - this is the only type we use. Crushing fresh garlic is what forms allicin, the compound most of the interest is about, and it breaks down with heat. Raw keeps it intact.
Cooked Garlic - garlic cooked under high heat (boiled, roasted, sauteed) loses that compound and a high percentage of its nutrients. We do not use cooked garlic.
Powdered Garlic - we do not know or trust the dehydrating processes behind powdered garlic, and the concentration per gram is very different from fresh. We do not use it either.
The safe dose is not the same for every dog
Dosage is the whole argument on this page, so it is worth saying plainly that the safe dose is not identical for every dog.
A handful of Japanese breeds carry red blood cells with a higher potassium content that are markedly more vulnerable to oxidative damage - the Akita, Shiba Inu, Japanese Spitz, Shikoku and Kishu. These dogs can react at amounts that are harmless to other breeds.
If you have one of them, or a dog with a known blood condition, choose one of our garlic-free recipes. Email us and we will tell you exactly which meals those are.