COMMON QUERIES

Looking for more info about one of our products? Check out our list of frequently asked questions below for some quick answers. If you can’t find the answer, get in touch.

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Shipping / Delivery

• What delivery/shipping to you offer?  We currently offer free local delivery in certain areas and a pick-up hub in Hastings, MN.  We are always looking to add new locations so contact us with any suggestions!

• Will the dog food fit in my car for pickup?  The raw dog food is packaged in boxes that are roughly 15" x 12.5" x 7.75".

• Are the boxes of dog food heavy? They each weight between 35-40 lbs.  We would be happy to assist getting the food into your car.

• Will it still be frozen? Properly packed, it will arrive frozen or partially frozen. Partially frozen is fine.

• Can I buy in bulk directly from you? Yes, you can! “Bulk” may be more than you think, however, and some restrictions apply. Contact us regarding free delivery for bulk purchases.

 

Ingredients and Nutrition

• What's in the food? Simple, whole food ingredients. Muscle meats such as beef hearts, pork hearts, turkey gizzards, chicken breasts, chicken necks. Organ meats like beef kidney, beef liver, chicken liver pork liver, turkey liver. Ground bone. Whole eggs, including the shell. That's the muscle protein, organ meats, and bone. We round that out with kale, cranberries, sunflower oil, and dried kelp.

• What nutrition is in those ingredients? Details are in this Ingredient Benefits page.

• Does it have everything my dog needs? For food, yes, it does. You'll need to provide shelter, exercise, love and cuddles. 

• B.A.R.F? Prey? Complete and Balanced? We have a Biologically Appropriate Raw Food mode. It's mostly muscle meat, with some organ meat and bone, and a small amount of produce, eggs, sunflower oil and kelp to give your dog full nutrition. 

• Some people follow the Prey model of raw feeding, which is just meat, organ, and bone, without any produce. Ours is the B.A.R.F. model and is complete and balanced.

• What does that mean, complete and balanced? It means that it contains everything your dog needs, and that you don't need to supplement the food. Albright's Raw Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the American Association of Feed Control Officials, AAFCO. It is a complete and balanced food for all life stages, including the youth of large dogs that will be 70 lbs or more as an adult.

• What does 80/10/10 mean? Dog owners that use a Prey model in raw feeding follow this formula. Muscle meat 80%, organ meat 10%, bone 10%. They may add vitamins and supplements or they may not. In our food, the kale, kelp, cranberries, sunflower oil, and eggs consist of about 12% of the final product. Taking that into consideration, our food then conforms to the 80/10/10 formula.

• Why does it have fruit and veg in it? Isn't just meat enough? In the wild a predator usually consumes most of the prey animal. That includes the stomach and intestines of the rabbit, deer, bird, etc. Those small bits of vegetation provide vital nutrients to the predator. Dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes will also nibble on wild berries, leaves, grasses, etc. We include kale, cranberries, kelp powder, and sunflower oil to make our food complete. It needs either real food or synthetic vitamin mixes to be considered a complete and balanced food by AAFCO. If it does not meet AAFCO standards, it cannot be sold as a food, but only as a "topper" or "treat." We use real food to meet those standards, not a vitamin powder.

• Is it human grade?  All ingredients are edible and human grade, and it is produced in an FDA compliant plant. Since it contains bone and eggshell, the final food is not for human consumption. It is a pet food.

• Do you use downed cattle? No, never. We only use human grade beef, chicken, turkey and pork.

• Do you use denatured meat? Does it contain dyes or charcoal? No on both questions. Denatured meat is not for human consumption, and has dyes added to show that. Our food only contains meat passed for human consumption.

• Do you use vitamins from China? No, never!

• Do you add vitamins to the food? No. All nutrition comes from real food. Ingredient Benefits

• Does it contain ground bone? Yes, it does.

• Do you use dried bone meal? No, we don't. We do not use a commercial bone meal. The ground bone comes from the beef femur bones we sell. They're cut up on the band saw and produce some "saw dust" that we include in our Beef Recipe. The Beef & Chicken and the Chicken Recipe have enough bone from the chicken. The Turkey Recipe contains ground turkey bones, and the Pork Recipe has ground pork bones.

• Why eggshell? The eggshell contains calcium and the attached egg membrane has collagen, glucosamine, chondroitin and hyaluronic acid. If for some reason you do not want eggs or eggshell in the food, both the Turkey Recipe and the Pork Recipe are egg-free.

• Can I just make my own dog food? Sure, you can. You should do your research to be sure that you're feeding the best nutrition to your dog. Just giving some raw hamburger is not enough, although it would be fine for the occasional meal. Making your dog's food can be time consuming. Often our best customers are those who made it for a while but no longer have the time. 

• Can I just buy meat from the grocery store or butcher? Yes, of course. Again, do your research to be sure you are feeding a complete, balanced food.

• If it's grain free, do I need to worry about DCM/dilated cardiomyopathy? In the last few years some dogs have developed DCM after eating a grain free diet. DCM is often caused by a lack of taurine or the amino acids used to produce it. Research is still being done, but it does not appear that the lack of grains is the problem. Rather, manufacturers began taking out grains common in dog foods, such as corn, soy, and rice. They then added peas, lentils, beans, and potatoes as filler instead. These ingredients may be preventing taurine production or the use of taurine. Using more exotic proteins such as kangaroo or emu may also have played a part in the problem.  Albright's Raw Dog Food, and other high quality raw food, is meat based, without fillers, without grain, without pea protein, lentil, beans, or potatoes. Raw food like this has not been implicated in any of the DCM cases to date. 

 

Product Info

• What recipes do you sell? We have a Beef & Chicken Recipe, a Beef Recipe, Chicken Recipe, a Pork Recipe, and a Turkey Recipe. We've recently added a Lamb Recipe.

• Size and packaging? We have 5 lb chubs, 2 lb chubs, and 1 lb packages. (Chubs are the “tubes” with a printed casing.) 

• Is the packaging BPA free? Yes.

• Case Pack? The 5 lb chubs are packed 8 to a case, for a case weight of 40 lbs. The 2 lbs chubs are packed 18 to a case, for a case weight of 36 lbs. The 1 lb packages are packed 36 to a case, for a case weight of 36 lbs.

• What is the shelf life? It’s frozen and can be stored in the freezer for up to a year after date of manufacture. You’ll find a “Best By” date and lot number on each package and case.

• Do you make a puppy formula? All of our food can be fed to puppies as soon as they start eating solid food. All recipes are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the American Association of Feed Control Officials. It is complete and balanced for all life stages, including the youth of large dogs. (70 lbs or more as an adult.)

• How should I thaw it? It’s best to thaw it in the refrigerator, in a pan or bowl. This will take 2-4 days to thaw completely. If you need to give that a head start, you can leave it on your counter for up to 2 hours, and then move it to the fridge.

• Can I microwave it? Microwaving can destroy the natural enzymes, cook the bone that should remain raw, and create hot spots that could burn your pet. And there are metal clips on the end of each chub. A much better way is a water bath. Put the chub in a pan or bucket of cool water. Change the water every 10 minutes and it will thaw quickly.

• How long does it last after thawing? About 3 days.

• Can I repackage and refreeze it? Absolutely! You may want to portion it out. Just partially or fully thaw it, portion it, and refreeze it in a timely manner. If it’s been thawed for more than 3 days it should be used that day or thrown out. Freezing old food does not make it fresher.

• What about freezer burn? If you see ice particles or frost on the food, that is not freezer burn. Freezer burn is caused by dehydration and food exposed to air for a long time. This is unlikely since our food is in vacuum stuffed chubs.

• Why is the color different than the last package? The raw meat that we use will vary in color, and that is perfectly normal.

• It smells strong. Is that normal? That’s fine. It will smell stronger than fresh beef or chicken from the market because it contains liver and kidney. It started out with good ingredients and if you’ve kept it frozen, a strong smell is normal. If it smells spoiled, throw it out.

 

Changes in My Dog

• Where's all the poop? This is a great benefit, isn't it? The dog's stool is usually smaller and firmer on a raw diet. Instead of eating a lot of filler that just passes through the dog, more of the food is used and digested. If the dog is maintaining the proper weight, less poop is just fine. Also, it smells less. Weird, but true. Not that we suggest you do a comparison sniff test...

• Is he constipated on raw? He seems to be straining to go. Again, because there's less filler, less will come out. There will not be a large loose pile, but smaller and firmer poop. And yes, they may have to push a bit more, but that's a good thing. It helps evacuate the anal glands, so you won't have to pay your groomer to do that.  However, if the dog really does seem to be constipated, give them a spoonful or two of canned pumpkin. If it seems to be a regular thing for your dog, just add a spoonful to your dog's food daily. Some dogs just need a bit more fiber. The pumpkin is low in calories, good for them, and they love it. 

• He used to let his food set around all day. Now he eats it in a single minute. Isn't that too fast? Now he loves his food. Loves it! It's fine. That's what dogs and wolves do in the wild.

• And he begs for more and doesn't seem to have enough. Should I feed him more? He may need a little more food, or he may just want more. If his weight is staying where it should be and he's begging for more, he's playing you. Don't fall for it.

• How do I tell if he's at a good weight? This varies by breed, but generally, if you can clearly see the dog's rib bones, the dog is underweight. If you can't even feel the rib bones, the dog is overweight. As a guide, hold your hand flat on the table Your dog's ribcage should be like your own knuckles. You can see some definition of the knuckles, but not a lot. You can still feel the knuckles. If your dog's ribcage feels like that and their waist is doesn't seem too thin or too bulging, he's probably at a good weight. Your vet can be more specific.

• She seems so excited before dinner time that she coughs. Is this normal? Our own beagle Rosie did this after we switched her to raw. She'd start dancing around at 5:30 and salivating and coughing, bugging us until we fed her at 6:00. Her coughing went away after about a month. Her excitement for the food never went away.