Food sensitivities are one of the few problems where changing the bowl genuinely changes the outcome — and one of the most common reasons owners start reading ingredient panels properly.
This page is written for owners in New York City weighing up freeze-dried raw. The nutrition below holds wherever you live — what changes locally is delivery, not diet — so we would rather give you the substance than pad it with things we cannot actually verify about your city.
Treats are where most diets quietly fail
A careful bowl and an uncontrolled treat jar cancel out. Most commercial treats carry several proteins, wheat and flavorings, any of which can be the thing you are trying to isolate.
During any trial, treats should be single-ingredient and the same protein as the food, or absent.
What improvement looks like, and when
Itching and skin usually settle over two to four weeks. Digestion often moves faster. Coat is last, because you are waiting on new growth rather than repairing what is there — four to six weeks is normal.
If nothing has shifted by eight weeks on a strict trial, the trigger is probably not dietary and it is worth asking your vet about environmental causes.
What a food allergy actually is
A true food allergy is an immune response to a specific protein. It is less common than owners assume; most diet-related trouble is intolerance, which is digestive rather than immune.
The distinction matters less than it sounds, because the fix is the same: identify the ingredient and remove it. That is far easier with a short, named ingredient list than with a recipe blending several proteins.
How an elimination trial works
Feed a single novel protein and nothing else — no treats, no scraps, no flavored medication — for eight to twelve weeks, then reintroduce one ingredient at a time.
Most trials fail not because the food was wrong but because something else got into the dog. The discipline is the hard part, not the diet.
Why our Chicken needs more cups
Chicken is 200 calories per cup against 230 for Beef and Turkey with Salmon, because chicken is leaner and fat carries roughly nine calories per gram against four for protein.
Fewer calories in the same volume means more cups for the same energy. It is on our own panel and we would rather point at it than hope nobody checks.
You are not paying to ship water
Fresh refrigerated food is roughly three-quarters water by weight, and that water is chilled, boxed with coolant and driven to your door on a schedule.
Freeze-drying removes it before shipping. No refrigeration, no thawing, no freezer shelf, no delivery window — and if you want the moisture back, it comes free from your own tap.
Why stool volume is the fastest signal
Ingredients a dog cannot absorb have to leave somewhere. Stool volume is not a formal measure of digestibility, but it is free, needs no equipment, and moves within about two weeks of a diet change.
It is usually the first thing owners notice, ahead of coat, which waits on new growth and takes four to six weeks.
Getting the interval right
A 14 oz bag is about 7.8 cups. Divide by your dog's daily amount to get the days per bag, then set the delivery interval slightly shorter so you are never scraping the bottom.
Common questions
Is chicken a common allergen?
It is among the more frequently reported, along with beef and dairy — largely because those are what dogs eat most.
Do I need a prescription diet?
Sometimes, for hydrolyzed protein trials. Many dogs do just as well on a clean single-protein food. Ask your vet which applies.
Can I give treats during an elimination trial?
Only single-ingredient treats of the same protein. One flavored chew invalidates the trial.
