Freeze-Dried Meal Mixer Starter Kit
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You want something on top of the kibble without changing what is underneath it. Montana Dog Food Co sells Adventure Fuel as a meal mixer and topper, which is exactly that job, and the only real decision left is which flavor your dog wants. So this kit is two flavors rather than one, plus a bowl that slows down the result and a bag of ours to crumble over the lot.
Two flavors is the point
Buy one bag and you learn nothing. A dog that clears a mixed bowl on Monday might be responding to the beef or might just be responding to the change, and you find out which in week three when the novelty runs out and the bowl sits there again. Two flavors run side by side tells you inside two weeks. Our picky eater rotation sampler takes the same approach on the treat side, and the other kits sit on the bundle guides hub.
What Montana says about each bag
Montana Dog Food Co describes Adventure Fuel Beef as its grain free freeze-dried raw meal mixer and topper. Montana Dog Food Co says beef is 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. Start at 6.4 ounces. A 32 ounce bag of a flavor your dog turns out to dislike is an expensive way to find out, and the small bag lasts two weeks at topper quantities.
Montana Dog Food Co describes Adventure Fuel Chicken the same way, as its grain free freeze-dried raw meal mixer and topper. Montana Dog Food Co says free range chicken is blended with a medley of fruits and vegetables, then freeze-dried right away, again in 6.4, 16 and 32 ounce sizes. Check availability on the beef before you plan around it, since Montana Dog Food Co lists 2 of 3 sizes available on that one against 3 of 3 on the chicken. 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 a bowl is in a topper kit
A mixed bowl is more interesting than a plain one, and a more interesting bowl empties faster. That is the whole reason the Flower eBowl is here. SodaPup describes it as a slow feeder bowl with a petal pattern ridge maze that slows down mealtime for medium and large dogs and large-breed puppies. SodaPup says it is made from TPE, measures about 8 by 8 by 2 inches deep and holds 4 cups of food, and that you can load it for a meal or fill it with wet food or peanut butter and freeze it. Four cups of stated capacity is the reason it is here rather than a shallow tray, because a topper goes on top of a full meal and the bowl has to hold both.
The bag from our end
Beef heart goes on last, crumbled by hand over the top. Single ingredient, beef heart, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, in 1.5, 3 or 6 ounce bags. It holds its shape in a mixed bowl rather than dissolving into the rest of it, so there is still something identifiable to find at the bottom, and that matters with a dog that eats the interesting part and leaves the base. Our freeze-dried treats are made in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania and ship from us. The whole range is in the freeze-dried treats aisle, and Explore filters it by protein if beef is not the right call.
What is not in here
No complete food and no wet food. Most lists under this search put one of each in and end up describing a change of meal rather than a topper. This kit deliberately does not touch what is already in the bowl. If you want the wet half of a topper as well, Open Farm's beef bone broth is the alternative in the drawer. The Family Pet describes that 12 ounce pouch as a mealtime topper and hydration add on for dogs and cats, not a stand alone meal. The Family Pet items are sold and shipped by The Family Pet through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. 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.
The first two weeks, in order
- Weigh the base meal you normally give, so you have a number to work from.
- Take a little of that base out, then put the same volume of beef mixer on top. You are swapping, not adding.
- Four days of beef. Note how much comes back in the bowl each time.
- Four days of chicken, same quantity, same time of day.
- Two days with neither, as a control. A dog that eats fine with nothing on top does not need a topper at all.
- Then run whichever flavor won, and rotate the other one in every few weeks.
A topper adds calories. Take the equivalent out of the base meal rather than putting it on top of a full bowl, which is the single mistake people make with this whole category.
What it replaces
Three half used bags of things you tried once. Buying two small sizes on purpose, running them against each other and then committing to the large bag of the winner costs less over a year than guessing at 32 ounces. The bowl carries on being a bowl regardless of what you decide.
Questions
Do I rehydrate it
Montana Dog Food Co sells it as a mixer and topper, so it goes on dry over the base meal in this kit. A splash of warm water loosens it if your dog prefers that, which some do.
How much goes on a bowl
Start smaller than looks right, and take the same volume out of the base. The bag gives you Montana's own guidance for feeding, and this kit is about testing the flavor rather than rewriting the meal.
Which size should I actually buy
The 6.4 ounce bags for the test, then the 16 or 32 once you know. Montana Dog Food Co lists all three sizes on both flavors, subject to what is in stock that week.
Related guides
Everything that goes on top of a bowl rather than in it is tagged mixers and toppers.
