AD | Robbie’s Review: True Instinct Complete Dinners Freeze Dried Dog Food

Post in paid partnership with True Instinct

It’s been a while since Robbie graced the blog, but don’t worry – he’s back! A bit older, a LOT crankier but our 14-year-old pup is still plodding through his golden years and has been as cheeky and naughty as ever. Over the last 6 weeks, Robbie has had an overhaul of his eating habits – not down to the lockdown, don’t worry he’s not been stockpiling dried pasta or bread flour, he’s actually been trialling True Instinct’s latest product release – the Freeze Dried Complete Dinners dog food range. If you have a dog (or even a cat as they stock cat food too!) hopefully this post will have all the info you’ll need to find a new dog food that will make your pooch love you forever.

WHO ARE TRUE INSTINCT?

True Instinct are experts at natural pet food. They’ve just launched their first revolutionary new Freeze Dried range for dogs. Created on British soil in their Norfolk factory, True Instinct freeze-dried dog food offers dogs deliciously filling food made from the highest quality ingredients. They also stock various raw food bites and treats for your dog so are a one-stop-shop for all your dog food needs. With social distancing in place shopping for food can be tricky, so you can order from the website as well.

WHAT IS FREEZE DRIED DOG FOOD?

 

The freeze-dried element locks in all the natural goodness of the quality ingredients by simply removing water content, meaning the range is not only extremely nutritional but offers an intense taste too. The range is made from the finest quality raw ingredients – this includes premium quality meat and fish, plus fruit, vegetables, superfoods and botanicals. They include no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives either. The True Instincts Freeze Dried range has been developed and endorsed by a team of professional vets and pet food experts, allowing you to provide a diet for your dog that is similar in nutrients as a raw diet but in a much more convenient way.

OUR TRIAL

Robbie was previously on a diet of dried food and as he’s a senior dog (stuck in his ways like a grumpy old man!) we had to transition him very gently onto the new food with care and consideration. It’s not a great idea to just change a dogs food out of the blue as it can often lead to an upset tummy with symptoms like vomiting and/or diarrhea too, so we did a bit of planning first, including getting advise from True Instincts Vet Adviser. When we started our transition plan, we swapped one meal a day to True Instinct food for a week to see how he would take to the food. We carefully checked for any signs of discomfort or in a change in his bowel movements but after a week he was absolutely fine to move him onto eating the True Instinct Freeze-Dried food full time. He now eats a bowl first thing in the morning and another around 4pm for dinner and as he’s quite a large dog, he eats one pouch per meal.

The food itself comes in really handy boxes with individually sealed sachets to keep the food fresh and super convenient too as each meal I already had Robbie’s portion size measured out (this can differ depending on the size of your dog). I was initially concerned about this in the sense of sustainability and this kind of packaging not being very eco-friendly, but I later found the pouches can all be washed out and recycled (I did a bit of research before taking on the trial and Natures Menu [the parent company of True Instinct] are a company conscious about sustainability, from everything from less packaging to solar panels you can see all the info about it here).

Upon serving the food, I was quite surprised about the size of the pieces, they are much bigger than Robbie’s previous food, but being a lab he had no issues with giving them a try and got stuck in immediately. The food has no strong smell and is easy and mess-free to serve from the pouch, straight to the bowl.

ROBBIE’S VERDICT

Robbie transitioned onto his new diet really well and without any issues at all. The freeze-dried method means the food has an intense flavour, although it’s a bit difficult to say whether he enjoyed the taste as he’s a lab who’s previously attempted to eat everything in our home – from socks to playdoh and nappies, I’m sure he thought it was tasty. He certainly looked like he was enjoying his meals and would be excited for the next, his little toes tippy-tapping on the kitchen floor in excitement as I served his next meal.

During our trial I noticed Robbie had more energy than before – he’s an old dog and is noticeably slowing down, but he just seemed to have quite a boost for an old man. On our walks, he would want to walk further and leap through the long grass like he was a spring lamb. His coat also had a boost with a lovely glossy shine too.

Our six-week trial of True Instinct Freeze-dried food went so well, we’ve decided to keep Robbie on this food. I have learned a lot about the differences between the food he was previously on and his and we feel he’ll benefit in his golden years especially to have the highest quality ingredients and nutrition. He does have various different ailments so giving him a high quality food will hopefully help where possible.

WHERE TO BUY

If you’d like to give the True Instinct range you can buy from your specialist pet store, or the best way is to order directly from their website where you can subscribe and save 10% on orders by getting a regular delivery – meaning you’ll never run out of dog food either!

Complete Dinner Pouches are priced at £16.99 for a box of six.