Our Story

We grew organically, born from need.

All my life, I was told not to feed my dogs “people” food. We’ve always been told that table scraps are bad for dogs, and they should just stick to the dry, processed kibble made by dog food companies. We always assumed, back then, that what the kibble companies were producing was balanced, healthy, and delicious. But that notion is both antiquated and nonsensical.

In a perfect world, dog food would be made from top quality ingredients, including many of the products humans consume on their own. One might think that the kibble companies would simply purchase quality ingredients in these approximate proportions and produce kibble with these kinds of ratios. Unfortunately, this is NOT the case. The truth about processed dog food is much worse than this. Not only does legislation COMPLETELY ignore canine health, the industry is skewed in favor of manufacture’s profit margins. This legislation allows dog food companies to use things like recycled restaurant deep fryer fat and rancid tallow as your dog’s “good fat” and by-products, such as hooves, tails, testicles, ears and other bits of animal as protein ingredients. They also contain dyes and preservatives that many trainers believe are the source of some behavioral issues. Furthermore, the ratios are generally wrong, with even “high protein” diets containing less than 30% protein. Even worse, canned dog food can contain up to 70-80% moisture. After learning all this, The Kennel Birkline invested much time in learning what dogs REALLY need versus what we were feeding them. And then, we resorted to making our own dog food. Each batch will contains only real food, with powdered vitamin C to naturally extend its life. We’ve created several flavors to rotate through to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. This alternating pattern of feeding ensures that your dog never gets bored and also gets the critical vitamins and minerals necessary to properly process the food Fido is eating.

The best part about this recipe is that it contains nothing that a dog owner wouldn’t put in their mouths (except maybe sardines…yuck!). There are no preservatives, hoofs, ears, rotten tallow or measures of used deep fryer fat. Once we learned what the dog food companies are allowed to feed our dogs, we could no longer stand behind it as the primary source of their nutrition.

Just days after switching we noticed incredible differences in the texture of our dogs’ fur, their energy levels, and even their attention to our house rules. They sleep better. They shed less. (Our Labrador barely sheds at all anymore!) Our picky eater is gone and gaining weight. Our dogs are visibly healthier. It was almost as if we had stopped feeding them used fry fat and ground chicken feet!

We’re proud now, to feed our own mix of healthy, fresh food, and we’d like to share it with you. But be careful! Leftovers can confuse humans. Indeed, it looks so much like human food, we have to label it in the fridge!