All our recipes are expertly formulated by one of Canada's few Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionists, Dr. Sarah Dodd, DVM, MSc, PhD, DECVCN. 

Bringing together the latest research in sustainable, plant-based canine nutrition with healthy, novel ingredients and innovative cooking methods, Dr. Dodd created tail-waggingly delicious Root & Tail recipes that we are very proud to bring to pet parents.

The short answer is Yes! Dogs are omnivores, not carnivores, and although they evolved eating a diet including animals, the diet of many wild canines included a large proportions of plants.

What's important is that their diet provides all the essential nutrients that they need. To learn more about choosing a plant-based diet, read our blog HERE.

Food allergies are predominantly due to protein-rich ingredients, the most common being beef, dairy, chicken and eggs. Plant-based diets with proteins like chickpeas, lentils, peas, lupini beans and oyster mushrooms like Root & Tail can be excellent to avoid these common allergens. In fact, if you ask your vet, a lot of prescription diets for dogs with food allergies are vegetarian diets (although they are usually kibbles and not fresh food).

Antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables in Root & Tail recipes also provide active anti-allergenic benefit, meaning they are not only hypoallergenic, but also beneficial for sensitive dogs.

Yes! Dogs are omnivores, not carnivores, and although they evolved eating a diet including animals, the diet of many wild canines included a large proportions of plants.

What's important is that their diet provides all the essential nutrients, including protein, and total protein requirements can be met with a number of different plant protein sources. In this recipe, the protein mainly comes from chickpeas, lentils, peas, and oyster mushrooms.

There are multiple health benefits of plant-based proteins:

• Lower in fat than animal proteins, especially saturated fats
• Higher in gut-supporting fibre than animal proteins
• Provide additional beneficial compounds like beta-glucans, antioxidants and other health-promoting phytonutrients

We believe dogs should be fed like the cherished fur babies that they are. And while we would not want to feed our kids highly processed protein bars every day, we would not want to feed our dogs highly processed kibbles every day either.

Cooking food at lower temperatures helps preserve enzymes and nutrients, making them easier for dogs to digest and absorb. Studies have shown that ultra-processed pet foods can alter gut bacteria, leading to inflammation, digestive issues and weakened immunity in dogs.

Read more about feeding kibbles vs. a gently cooked diet HERE.

We chose to make our dogs' food with only ingredients that we would eat ourselves. The kitchen that we cook the food in is also HACCP certified and inspected by the CFIA - the very best standards in human food kitchen. Being human grade means quality, commitment to safety, and ensuring that we only bring the freshest and healthiest food to market. That's our promise to our dogs who deserve only the best for being such loving companions in our life!

Though not definitive evidence, studies have also determined that owners of dogs fed plant-based diets report better health and longer lives (up to 18 months) than dogs fed conventional meat-based diets. We will be sharing more about this exciting research in our blog!