Frequently Asked Questions

A. Yes, you can but obviously the more JustFoodForDogs your dog eats and the less commercial dog food the better. If you are trying to meet a specific budget and have to mix the two it's still better than feeding commercial dog food exclusively.

A. There are no preservatives of any kind in anything we make and the safe freezer life of JustFoodForDogs is one year from the date of cooking, which is printed on each package of True food.

A. There are no preservatives of any kind in anything we make and our treats will last a minimum of 45 days on the counter.

A. JustFoodForDogs is made fresh and immediately frozen. Once it has been thawed in the refrigerator it can safely be left in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. If you open the bag and place it back in the refrigerator then it will safely last 3-4 days.

A. The most convenient way is to keep 2-5 days worth of food in the refrigerator at any given time. Moving over from the freezer what will be needed in the coming days. You can also defrost or warm the food in the microwave oven but before feeding your dog be sure there are no "hot spots" in the meal as microwave ovens do not heat evenly. Be sure to remove the food from its package before microwaving.

A. Yes. There are whole blueberries in this recipe and the juice from this fruit will occasionally "tint" the pasta.

A. Only if you are in the state of California.

A. The United States Department of Agriculture. If a dog food company uses only ingredients approved for human consumption by the USDA to make their food (as we do at True) then you can be sure the ingredients are safe, nutritious and digestible.

A. JustFoodForDogs cooked fresh, vacuum sealed and immediately frozen. It is shipped or delivered to you in special packaging with a precise volume of dry ice so it will be frozen upon arrival. Regardless of the arrival time, as long as you open the box and place the food in the freezer or refrigerator the same day, it will be frozen. NOTE: If your order of JustFoodForDogs arrives and is NOT frozen upon arrival please contact us immediately.

A. For starters dogs are not true carnivores, they can actually live without meat in their diet although we believe a diet containing meat is much better. Dogs are opportunistic and carnivorous scavengers. Just as an example, cats are in fact carnivores and require meat in their diet in order to survive. JustFoodForDogs contains fresh vegetables and fruit because these ingredients provide excellent sources of antioxidants, omega - 3 fatty acids, glucosinolates, thiocyanates and a variety of vitamins.

A. This is a common misconception. Raw grains are not good for dogs because they cannot be broken down and digested within a dog’s system. Similarly, most grain by-products (as opposed to whole grains) cannot be digested by a dog’s system. JustFoodForDogs uses only whole grain, USDA or FDA approved ingredients in our food - these ingredients are intended for the human food chain and are of the highest quality. We fully cook these grains which makes them highly digestible and they deliver essential nutrients such as fiber, iron, B vitamins, zinc, etc.

A. Yes. It is best to call the store to make sure we have fresh (never been frozen) food on hand. You can also set up an account and our driver will deliver fresh (never been frozen) food directly to your home or office.

A. No. All true food is completely balanced as is.

A. Yes, in fact your dog will benefit nutritionally by feeding a variety of JustFoodForDogs recipes.

A. Generally speaking these are the left over parts and pieces from the production of food for humans. For example, parts of a chicken or cow that cannot be eaten by people, parts including hair, hide, bone, etc. The same is also true for vegetables, fruit, grains and other items. Leftovers such as empty peanut shells, parts of a wheat plant or corn stalk, etc. are also by-products and cannot be digested by humans (or dogs for that matter).

A. Modern slaughterhouses create a massive volume of inedible, unwanted waste that is unfit for human consumption such as hair, hoof, beak, neck, bone, blood, eyeballs, entire carcasses from diseased and disabled animals, etc. Rendering is the process of boiling these ingredients, as well as restaurant and grocery store waste and even road kill into a mixture that is then sold to manufacturers for final use in, among other things, animal feed including pet food. It should also be noted that many reliable sources believe that euthanized pet dogs and cats are also used in the production of commercial dog and cat food.

A. Simple, in many cases these large corporations produce pet food from the ingredients they would otherwise throw away in the production of food fit for human consumption (“by-products”). Think about it this way, when a cow is butchered, every possible portion that can be used for human consumption is in fact, used for human consumption. But there are still things like bone, blood, hair, hide, etc and these are the parts that become pet food, through a process called rendering. The same is true of harvesting corn, wheat, peanuts, etc. (Corn has husks, peanuts have shells, etc.) Pet food becomes very profitable if it can be made from the items you would otherwise being throwing away. And you might be surprised at some of the “top tier” pet food brands that use these methods and ingredients. Some of the multi-national corporations that are invested in the dog food business are: 

Proctor & Gamble owns: Iams, eukanuba, Evo, Innova, others.
Nestle owns: Purina, Alpo, others. 
M&M Mars owns: Pedigree, Royal Canin, others.
Colgate-Palmolive owns: Hills Science Diet, others. 
Del Monte owns: Kibbles N Bits, Pup-peroni, others. 

A. No more than 10% of your dog’s caloric intake should come from treats.

A. This is a misconception. Crunchy dog food will not clean a dog’s teeth any more than crunchy corn chips would clean out teeth. The best way to clean your dog’s teeth is to have his teeth cleaned regularly by your vet.

A. We use dry ice when shipping JustFoodForDogs because it is the best way to ensure the product remains frozen. Dry ice is very cold, about -110 F so you should never touch it with your bare hands. In most cases, the dry ice will have dissipated by the time the shipment reaches you but if your package arrives with dry ice remaining, simply leave it outside in a safe place to evaporate.

A. Bone meal is a byproduct of the rendering industry. Essentially, it is bone, cooked in high heat with steam then dried, crushed up and added to dog food.

While bone meal and ground bones are high in calcium, they may also contain higher than recommended levels of phosphorous, fluoride, lead, or other minerals stored in the bone.

Ingredients that are considered "Meal" grade are typically very low quality. In general they are produced from the leftovers of a primary production process. For example, meat meals are produced from carcasses already stripped of any meat, organs or other parts that can be sold into the human food chain. While companies sometimes claim that meal grade ingredients contain "more nutrients", what they do not say is that many of these nutrients are in the form of minerals stored in the bone, which are much more difficult to digest and almost never in the proper balance. Furthermore, animals raised on non-purified water (almost all cattle, swine, poultry, etc.) may contain higher than recommended levels of minerals such as fluoride and other toxic metals. These toxins are then passed along to our pets through meat meals. At JustFoodForDogs we never use any products of any kind that fall into "meal" grade ingredients for these and a long list of other reasons.