At Old Guard Pet Company we take a unique approach to developing recipes for your dog’s health and well-being. In this blog, we describe our approach and how it uniquely positioned us to provide nutrient-dense, high-quality recipes for your beloved American pup.
We make everything about your dog
We love dogs at Old Guard Pet Company, and all of the decisions made about our business come with the question of “How will this improve the health and lives of dogs across America?” Simply put, everything we do is for your dog’s health. Dogs are family members, our loyal companions and best friends, and we work to help you do the best for your dog every day so we can all enjoy more quality years together.
Prioritizing each dog’s health also means designing food that is uniquely crafted for the dog, not the wolf, the environment, or the human, as some companies will do. We provide a more detailed overview of what we mean by “designing food for your dog” in the blog Dog and the Wolf: Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Evolution on Nutritional Needs (oldguardpetco.com) where we discuss the myths that dogs should be fed as wolves.
Our recipe design started from an understanding of how nutrition uniquely impacts whole body health of the dog as well as individual systems within their body (skin, joints, brain, muscles, digestion etc.). By understanding both the whole body’s nutrition and individual parts of the body, we ensured that each meal delivered the ideal nutrients. This is unique to recipes that are designed to be “complete and balanced” for the whole body as well as recipes designed for specific needs like “joint health” or “skin and coat.” We put it all in each recipe.
Science and nature in perfect balance
We focus on what is proven to be healthy for the dog, leveraging decades of quality research. This means looking and critically evaluating years of scientific data and publications to design recipes that are based on quality scientific insights. Alongside clinical science, we leverage our deep understanding of the natural evolution, physiology, and the impact of today’s typical living conditions and environments on pet and working dogs to create recipes that are perfectly balanced and nutrient rich for their needs. Our founder has also led nutritional research completed in homes and in controlled settings to understand macronutrient metabolism and the visible benefits of nutrition in dogs to further improve recipes through robust scientific findings and real-life visible benefits that owners can see. At Old Guard we take an unbiased approach and look at the dog and the dog only to design our food. We also don’t immediately jump on trends or new science that is intriguing but still needs more research. We ensure there is a wealth of information before making changes to our recipes.
Old Guard Pet Company also uses scientific data to create digestible recipes, ensuring nutrient availability. You can have a recipe full of the right nutrients but if it’s not available for the dogs metabolic needs then there is no benefit. We complete third-party chemical analysis on our food after cooking not only to look at safety parameters but also nutrient levels, and then we test each recipe in feeding trials to make sure the food is readily digestible and tasty. Science at the beginning of the recipe design and at the end to make sure it’s healthy and safe.
Expertise in dog health
As we mentioned, some companies may make recipes to look healthier (i.e. color/shape variation), be more environmentally sustainable (i.e. insects) or to follow human dietary trends (i.e. vegan) and they will often say they are healthy for the dog but, health has often become a secondary factor in these types of recipes. At Old Guard, health is always the primary objective and we leverage the ideal ingredients and nutrients to deliver on this.
As pet food companies have chased trends and become overwhelming with options, dog owners are increasingly turning to alternative foods, like fresh and raw (Debunking the Myth of Raw Dog Food Superiority (oldguardpetco.com)) or making their dog’s food at home. But these recipes may not be appropriate for all dogs and homecooked meals can be deficient in key essential nutrients like Calcium and Phosphorus. They can also have nutrient imbalances that lead to metabolic issues, which can be of particular concern for puppies, senior dogs, and those with certain health issues Kibble vs. Fresh & Raw – Old Guard Pet Co..
Old Guard is uniquely positioned to be a leading brand in pet food since we are the only petfood company founded and operated by a PhD in Canine Nutrition and Behavior with over 16 years of experience in the pet food industry and in animal training and behavior. Why does this matter? Our founder designs and oversees all our recipe development. We don’t outsource this to consultants, and we also provide support to our customers who need help finding the right recipe for their dogs. That means 1:1 consultation with owners and even with your dogs’ veterinarian to make sure we are giving your dog the right nutrition.
Ingredients selected for their proven benefits and nutrients
Ingredients and their quality are important for the nutrients they provide and for the functional benefit they deliver to the dog. There are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients include fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. Dogs have specific nutritional requirements for macronutrients and micronutrients but not ingredients.
At Old Guard, we select our ingredients based on the nutrients they provide and the proven health benefits. We prioritize ingredients from the USA and our recipes are all natural with no artificial color, preservatives, or flavors. Other pet food companies may leverage certain ingredients merely for marketing purposes. For instance, blueberries may be in the ingredient list, the company might make claims about blueberries and show them on the bag. However, they are often included in such insignificant amounts that they offer no health benefit to the dog, nor have they ever been proven to provide a meaningful health benefit to the dog. Alternatively, the industry has often talked about certain ingredients as being “fillers” despite studies showing they benefit the dog by supplying key nutrients or physiological benefit. Certain fiber sources, like beet pulp, are a perfect example of this. Look for ingredient information online from your pet food company to determine what ingredients they use and the benefit they offer your dog. Your can find out more information on each of our ingredients here: Ingredients – Old Guard Pet Co.
Balance is key to supporting health and wellbeing
A balanced meal is crucial for your dog’s health, providing essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals (Optimizing Your Dog’s Health: The Power of a Balanced Diet and Nutrient Synergy with Old Guard Pet Company). These nutrients support energy, weight management, digestion, cognitive function, and strong bones. Nutrients can work synergistically, enhancing each other’s effects, or competitively, affecting absorption and metabolism. For example, vitamin D aids calcium absorption, while high calcium can block iron absorption. Ideal balance of nutrients can also spare the use of nutrients that are stored in the body helping optimize your dog’s metabolism.
With our nutritional expertise we customize each recipe for specific dog size, life stage and lifestyle to ensure they are getting the appropriate nutrition. Examples of how we balance our recipes include:
- Balancing omega fatty acids to ensure the omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids work together synergistically.
- Leveraging animal-based protein sources in each diet to ensure a more balanced amino acid profile versus vegetable-based proteins that are limiting in certain amino acids.
- Including several types of wholesome grains to provide balanced glycemic profiles and sustained energy availability for critical health functions including in the brain.
- Will NOT add pieces to the kibble that are nutritionally imbalanced.
We believe in ensuring that each bite is fully balanced with the complete nutrition your pet needs; therefore, we do not add “supplemental” pieces or chunks of raw/freeze-dried/shredded/bits/fruit or veggie pieces to our kibble. Why? It is difficult to control how much of these pieces are in each meal and how much your dog eats, which can create an imbalanced meal that leads to nutritional deficiencies. At Old Guard, we ensure each bite is perfectly balanced, slow-cooked to maximize nutrient retention, and highly digestible so your dog gets the balanced nutrition he or she needs to thrive.
Uniquely slowly cooked to perfection
At Old Guard Pet Company, we cook our food slower and longer than our leading competitors. This means we can also lower the cooking temperature but maintain a safe final product. Why is this important? Both overcooking and undercooking can impact your dog’s health. Too little and the food is less digestible, can upset tummies and can have some “anti-nutritional” factors that naturally occur in some raw ingredients and foods. Overcooking can lead to nutrient damage and Maillard products which can negatively affect protein quality and the availability of essential amino acids to your dog. Slow cooking has been shown to improve cooking quality and digestibility in dogs. Also, not achieving the ideal cooking can impact taste of the food.
We also make everything in very small batches and check our food after each cooking process is completed at the family-run manufacturing kitchens we partner with in the USA. That means 10X more finished product checks and quality checks than leading competitors.
A Unique Process of Care and Quality
At Old Guard Pet Company we work every day to give your dog the best possible nutrition and in this blog we hope you have learned a little more about what makes our process unique and the devotion we have to your dog’s health.
