Bone Broth and Topper Kit
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Broth is the wet half of a topper and a freeze-dried mixer is the solid half. Put both on a bowl of dry food and you have changed the texture, the smell and the temperature of the meal without changing the food itself. This kit is two broth flavors, one mixer, a shallow tray that suits a wet bowl, and a bag of ours for crunch, which a fully wet bowl has none of.
When a dog starts leaving dry food
It usually happens gradually. The bowl goes down, the dog looks at it, eats half and wanders off, and two weeks later you are standing there at eight in the evening wondering whether to throw it out. Before you change food entirely, it is worth finding out which half of the bowl is the problem. A topper answers that in a week for the price of a pouch, and it costs you nothing if the answer turns out to be the food. Our picky eater rotation sampler works the same question from the treat end. All of the kits are listed on the bundle guides hub.
The two pouches
The Family Pet describes the 12 ounce pouch of Open Farm Beef Bone Broth as a mealtime topper and hydration add on for both dogs and cats, not a stand alone meal. The Family Pet also states that Open Farm does not publish an AAFCO adequacy statement for this broth, since it is meant as a topper rather than a complete meal. That is a useful thing for a maker to say out loud, and it is the reason this page is about toppers and nothing else.
The chicken pouch is the same size and the same job. The Family Pet describes the 12 ounce pouch of Open Farm Chicken Bone Broth as a mealtime topper and hydration add on for both dogs and cats, not a stand alone meal. Two smells rather than one, for the same reason you would buy two mixer flavors:a dog that gets the same thing poured on every night stops noticing it by the second week. The Family Pet items are sold and shipped by The Family Pet through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
The solid half
Montana Dog Food Co describes Adventure Fuel Surf and Turf as its grain free freeze-dried raw meal or topper. Montana Dog Food Co says beef and trout are blended with a medley of fruits and vegetables, then the batch is freeze-dried right away to preserve its texture and taste, and lists three sizes at 6.4, 16 and 32 ounces. Two proteins in one bag is the reason it pairs with either broth rather than only with the beef one. Start at the 6.4 ounce size until you know it gets eaten. Montana Dog Food Co items are sold and shipped by Montana Dog Food Co through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
Why the tray is shallow
A deep slow feeder and a wet bowl are a bad pairing. Liquid pools at the bottom of a maze, the dog gets the top layer and gives up, and then you are washing a bowl with food welded into the grooves. SodaPup describes the Four Seasons eTray as a shallow slow feeder tray with four panels, each carved with a different season, for dogs who need an easier to reach bowl. SodaPup says it is made from TPE, about 8 inches across and 1.25 inches deep, and holds 2.25 cups of food. SodaPup says the shallow depth suits flat faced breeds, puppies and senior dogs. An inch and a quarter is the number that matters here, and it is the reason this tray is in a broth kit rather than a deep maze bowl.
The crunch layer
Sardine heads go over the top after the broth, not before. Single ingredient, whole sardine heads, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, in a two ounce bag. A fully wet bowl is one texture all the way through, and some dogs lose interest halfway down for that reason alone. Scatter four or five broken heads across the surface and there is something to find. Our freeze-dried treats are made in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania and ship from us, with the rest of the range in the freeze-dried treats aisle. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
What we left out
No wet food in a can. Nearly every list under this search puts one in, and a can of food is a different purchase with a different purpose, since it is meant as a meal rather than as something poured over one. Open Farm's chicken and beef pate is in the drawer as an alternative if that is actually what you want, and The Family Pet describes it as a wet food for adult and senior dogs made without grains or legumes. We also left out a second bowl. One tray is enough while you are still finding out what works. Explore will sort our own range by protein if you want to swap the sardines.
A week of it
- Night one: base meal in the tray, a third of the beef pouch poured over, nothing else. See what comes back.
- Night two: same, with a scatter of sardine heads on top.
- Night three and four: switch to the chicken pouch.
- Night five: dry mixer instead of broth, so you know which half is doing the work.
- Night six: both together, which is the version most dogs end up on.
- Night seven: nothing on top. If the bowl still comes back empty, you have your answer and you can stop buying toppers.
An opened pouch goes in the fridge. Wash the tray after every wet meal rather than leaving it until bedtime. A shallow tray with broth dried into the carving takes three times as long to clean as one rinsed straight away.
What it replaces
A full change of food, which is the expensive answer to a problem that is often just boredom with a dry bowl. Two pouches and a small mixer bag cost a fraction of a month of something new, and if none of it works you have learned that before you committed to a different bag of food.
Questions
How much broth goes on a bowl
Less than you think, and take a corresponding amount out of the base meal. A third of a pouch over a normal dinner is plenty to change the smell of it.
Can the cat have the same pouch
The Family Pet describes both pouches as being for dogs and cats, so yes. That makes it one of the few things in a two species house that does not need buying twice.
Does the mixer need water
Not in this kit, since the broth is the liquid. Montana Dog Food Co sells it as a meal or topper, and here it is going on dry underneath the broth.
Related guides
The rest of what goes on top of a bowl is tagged mixers and toppers.
