Air-Dried Toppers & Diets May Be The Answer

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this season is known as late summer. Late summer is associated with the color yellow, the element of Earth, and the organ of the spleen. This time calls us to embrace the grounding energy of the Earth element, which symbolizes stability, nourishment, and balance. 

I don’t know about you, but I feel OFF balance. I can tell the dogs do, too! We are back in GI transition mode, and the easy diet I was feeding that everyone enjoyed is now being completely boycotted.  Walter was diagnosed with gastroenteritis this week, and Herschel doesn’t want to eat at all. This happens between seasons, but this transition seems the hardest. 

Walter is older and has many health issues that are managed, so I’m not surprised that a small weather change hits him the hardest, but Herschel is just Herschel. I’ve tried over 25 different types of diets, and many are prescription diets. I’ve also worked directly with a board-certified nutritionist who creates diets for your dogs. We have served tilapia, chicken breasts, blended diets, kibble, freeze-dried, raw, and so on. I have never served up an air-dried topper or kibble… ever. I’m not even sure I understood what this meant. 

I asked Elevate Pet Provision’s Creative Director for help straightening out some of my questions about air-dried diets and toppers.  

According to Jared Byerly, Elevate Pet Provisions Creative Director, their toppers add a nutritional protein boost. 

Q. What about your toppers would you like readers to know that may not be obvious just by looking at the site? 

A. Toppers are big right now and we made ours with the same quality, natural ingredients that are in our dog food. Our toppers are formulated to not only entice those picky eaters but to add a nutritional protein boost that pets aren’t getting from other food brands.

Q. I’m a neighbor in SW WA. Is the farm in Wyoming the only one you source your beef from? 

A. We actually source all our beef from ranchers & farmers in the Rocky Mountain West. We only use 100% USA grass-fed beef in our products.

Q. I also see you have a sensitive stomach line, which includes a topper! What inspired you to create a custom topper and diet for dogs? 

A. With the advent of overly processed foods it was only a matter of time until it caught up with us. Poor food quality in the pet space as well as a multitude of food allergies and intolerances, led us to create our sensitive stomach recipes. While all of our products have limited ingredients that are great for sensitive stomachs, these specific recipes have added pumpkin & rice to aid in digestion and are rich in nutrients with natural antioxidants.

Q. Ingredients are a big deal in our household, as I have both dogs on Hill’s Biome, and they need a fiber-based diet. Your topper ingredients are perfectly suited even for our dogs, and I really appreciate how palatable the topper is. Is this because of the air-dried process? 

A. All of our products have limited ingredients that are naturally nutritious, and the air-drying process preserves roughly 93% of those nutrients.

What does Herschel think?

I’m using both the toppers and the sensitive stomach recipe is as palatable as the human-grade air-dried beef. I use them as a topper with each meal and shake some on the plate and then some on top of his kibble.

He typically begs for more. Also, I have a bag of both diets and I use those in addition to the toppers. The texture of the premium air-dried food is slightly different. 

Disclaimer: Elevation Pet Provisions sent us a beautiful box of toppers, food, and goodies for the dogs.

Resources:

Air-dried dog food and toppers 

The benefits of air-dried kibble

How is air-dried kibble made?