# Honest Kitchen Base Mixes-how are you using it?



## farnln (Nov 4, 2012)

I am going on vacation soon and trying streamline feeding my dogs.

They normally eat an 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver & 5% organ mix that I prepare ahead of time and store in my freezer in individual meals.

If I use one of the HK base mixes, I can just add meat? I don't need liver, organ or bone?? That is how I understand their label, but want to see how others are using it.

It would be nice if I could package up the HK and meat together in individual bags so their caretaker could just grab them from the freezer and lightly microwave and serve.
A big no no if there is bone mixed in. 

Thanks for any thoughts.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

farnln said:


> I am going on vacation soon and trying streamline feeding my dogs.
> 
> They normally eat an 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver & 5% organ mix that I prepare ahead of time and store in my freezer in individual meals.
> 
> ...


Yes, you can mix plain ground meat in with the HK base mix and then freeze it. As long as the ratio of meat to mix is as they direct, there is no need to add anything else. Meat combined with HK Base Mix is a complete and balanced meal.

I'm a raw feeder too but have done the same thing for vacations but this year I changed and went with Ziwi Peak. No refrigeration, no mixing (unless you want to add a little water or bone broth). These are bendable little squares, something like jerky but softer.

My dogs L O V E D it! and so did I! Wish I could feed it all the time but it is expensive.

Here is some info in case you are interested (they've changed their formula a little since I put this together but it's basically the same, just cost a little more and only 8 pound bags now:


 *ZIWI PEAK:*
"Air Dried Food" *
ZiwiPeak Cuisine *(condensed info)
ZiwiPeak pet food is a complete, natural balanced real-meat diet prepared with care in New Zealand. [FONT=&quot]All of our natural ingredients are sourced from the green, free range farms and blue, pristine oceans of New Zealand. The twin stage process eliminates pathogenic bacteria, such as e.coli, salmonella and listeria, while protecting the natural nutrition of our ingredients. As a further safety step, our products are mandatory tested and only released for sale after approval by the New Zealand government's regulatory authorities.
Air-drying is a technique that has been used for centuries to naturally preserve meats. Our modern method stays true to this artisan approach, while eliminating the need for artificial preservatives, salts, sugars or glycerines. Our slow, gentle, twin-stage air-drying process crafts a food that is as nutrient-dense and digestible as a completely raw diet but safe, clean to handle and can store for up to 21 months. 

Example:
*Beef*: A complete, balance diet of ranch raised beef meat and organs, this protein rich meal features delicious red meat and nutrient dense organs. It also includes New Zealand green-lipped mussels, a natural source of chondroitin for joint support, and herbs, vitamins and minerals, making it suitable for all breeds and life stages. 

Beef ingredients - Beef Meat (min 58%), Liver, Lung, Tripe (min 32%); Green-lipped Mussel (min 3%); Lecithin; Chicory Inulin; Dried Kelp; Parsley. Naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols; Vitamins: Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Hydrochloride; Chelated Minerals: Iron amino acid complex, Copper amino acid complex, Manganese amino acid complex, Zinc amino acid complex, Selenium Yeast, Potassium Bicarbonate, Calcium Carbonate
*Guaranteed Analysis*
Crude Protein (min) 38%
Crude Fat (min) 35%
Crude Fiber (max) 1.0%
Moisture (max) 13%
Ash (max) 7%
Calcium 1.83%
Phosphorus 1.29%

An 11 pound bag will last a 70 pound dog approximately 20 days. 

Price is $142.00 but if you get it on the "auto shipped" program the price goes down to $128.00 for 11 pounds at Only Natural Pet: ZiwiPeak Daily Cuisine Grain-Free Air-Dried Dog Food 
Also at chewy.com: https://www.chewy.com/ziwipeak-daily-dog-beef-cuisine-air/dp/104801 

Feeding Calculator at the bottom of this page; Our Ingredients | ZiwiPeak
*NOTE *that there is a specific measuring cup inside every bag which is used by Ziwi to measure *THIS *food. 
These measuring cups are ½ Cup USA measurements. There are 88 - ½ cups in an 11 pound bag. 


Moms 
[/FONT]


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I'm trying to figure out our vacation as well. Varik is coming with us. If I were leaving him at home, I would just make up a batch and divide it into individual meals. Depending on how long you'll be gone, I'd just leave the first few days in the fridge. Freeze the others. Have the feeder pull the rest (assuming gone seven days?) out a day or so before they need to start feeding the frozen dinners so they can thaw in the fridge. 

Be aware if you haven't fed the base mix mixture before, it may take more than what the box says to be enough food for your particular dog. As in twice as much. 

I feed a balanced ratio myself, so I use THK base as more of a supplement, so he gets 1/2 cup rehydrated twice a day.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

When I board, I do premeasured bags of THK and meat, freeze all but one day's worth, and tell them to pull one out of the freezer to thaw as they use one. When I travel, I do the same thing, with a "dog cooler" and lots of blue ice packs (dry ice would be good too).

My issue with traveling is when mine gets off his rhythm, he will easily go off his food for DAYS. I tried Ziwi (and still take a small container, just in case), but he won't eat it when we travel (though he likes it enough to consider it a special treat at home). I've tried the THK versions that contain meat, and those are no-go for him. So...we travel with frozen meat, carefully bagged up....because that's his "normal." 

OP, I have fed THK both ways (with/without organs). It's totally fine to just feed it with hamburger meat (or whatever). Since mine can only eat beef, we try to rotate him through heart different parts of the cow -- he loves heart and liver, so Primal Grinds are a favorite (they're heart/liver/bone -- a little extra calcium those weeks), and we do feed straight hamburger too, straight heart, and ground chuck with mixed organs from the butcher when I can get them (incl. kidney and all the left over bits).

The great thing about Preference is you just don't have to worry about anything being "wrong." It's designed to be easy and flexible. Do what's easy for the dog sitter, and mix it up when you're home.


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## DTS (Oct 19, 2010)

We use THK base mix daily, however, we cook the meat for our boy. 
We just make the mix as usual and cook extra meat and put it in containers and put it in a cooler. If we're going for a week or more we end up buying meat at the store when we go for ourselves. I bring a measuring cup
With us to scoop the meat and the mix when making the mixture. 
We only make enough for a day to refrigerate and then mix more each night. It's more time consuming this way, but our boy has MegaE so I have time to burn while he is eating in his chair anyway.


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## DDRGSD56 (Aug 16, 2011)

what is the ratio of meat to base mix?

lets say for an 80 pound, active gsd, how much meat a day are you feeding and how much base mix?


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

For an active dog, you can feed up to a 2:1 ratio. So, two cups of meat to one cup of mix. Otherwise, normally you would feed 1:1. There are 33 cups in the 7 lb box. Like I said, you may have to feed more than the suggested amount on the box.


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## DDRGSD56 (Aug 16, 2011)

thanks

to feed the correct amount, combining the THK base mix with the cost of the meat you add to the mix seems like it would cost as much as Darwin's


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

It's not a cheap option for sure. I normally feed meat/bones/organ and use it as a supplement because my dog needs the bulk.


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