Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sojos Dog Food Product Review

We were asked to review Sojo's Dog food ages ago... before Mabel's recent illness. I must say Mabel simply loves the Sojo's treats that we've reviewed in the past. They are her favorite bedtime snack. And I love the good wholesome ingredients so I figured this would be a easy one.


Between the time we said yes and the product arriving, I started reading about their food. I was impressed by the quality ingredients but I was kinda intimidated. Sojos comes freeze dried and has to be re-hydrated. I was afraid I would mess something up.

We ordered the Turkey complete dog food but Sojos also has grain free and meals where you can add your own meat. As I studied this, I realized it was simple...just add warm water and allow it to sit at least fifteen minutes.  Not  difficult at all!

This what the turkey complete looks like out of the bag:
And here it is after adding the water:

And another minute or so later:


I LOVE the Turkey Complete Meal. It's chock-full of healthy stuff I feel good about giving Mabel:
turkey, sweet potato, whole egg, broccoli, celery, apples, flax meal, pecans, tricalcium phosphate, pumpkin, cranberries, basil, dried alfalfa, ginger root, dried kelp, zinc sulfate, vitamin E acetate, vitamin D3, vitamin A palmitat. 

I knew that all the veggies would be filling but I also know that flax, pumpkin, ginger and sweet potato might be soothing to Mabel's nighttime tummy issues. I've mentioned before the horrible belching she suffers with at night.  With Sojos, the belching has dropped to a few times a month, down from every single night! 

Which brings me to the only downside: the cost. I am a below poverty-level artist who has finally found part-time work which helps but barely supports us. While Sojos is an excellent dog food, I feel it is geared toward wealthy dog owners. I simply cannot afford to feed Mabel this all the time. I would love to, but, it's just not an option. 

While I did find the 8# (makes 24# of food) bag of Sojos Turkey Complete on another website for over $30 less a bag, that still costs 2.66 / pound. Similar limited ingredient brands run around 1.82 / pound but... are there ingredients as good??? I doubt it. 

Sojos before Mabel gets it! Kibble, wet food, meds and Sojos all mixed together.

Which brings me to another positive note. When I first tried this, I was telling a friend about it and she asked a surprising question: Have you ever tasted dog food? Taken aback, I said no... She responded that she wasn't talking about enough to make me sick but a taste.  She went on to say that dog food is absolutely tasteless! No wonder our dogs are always begging for our food... they want to taste something! 

I will admit to licking my current brand when I got home... she was right! It was nothing I would look forward to, certainly not day after day! But here's the thing about Sojos: it smells AWESOME! It smells like hearty bowl of soup with lots of veggies! And... Mabel Lou LOVES IT!
nom nom nom...

All gone... Sojos Good!

Happy Girl, looking for more Sojos!
So... we've come to a compromise. I want both of us to be able to sleep and since Sojos really helps her tummy, I replace half of her evening meal with Sojos. (Her regular kibble and Sojos are the same calorically.) She loves it and yet still loves her old 70 cents a pound kibble. And best of all, her tummy doesn't give her fits most nights! It's a win / win.

Summary: Sojos Turkey Complete Meal
Taste: Four paws up
Looks: Two thumbs and four paws up
Ingredients: Two hands and four paws up (thumbs are NOT enough!)
Cost: Two thumbs down

Creekhiker was not compensated in any way for this review. Mabel Lou was given a free bag of dog food to eat - or not - by Sojos.com

4 comments:

Millie and Walter said...

How nice to find a food that helps Miss Mabel Lou with just a taste test. Too bad it's so expensive but it sounds like you came up with a good compromise.

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Sojos is one of the foods Mom has tried for Picky Boy Phantom. He doesn't like"mixed" foods - he prefers a ground version where it all looks the same. Mom was really disappointed because she thought it would be so good for him. The rest of us loved it, but yes, it is a bit on the pricey side for a multi-dog family:( But she would definitely buy it for Phantom if only he would eat it.

Woos - Phantom, Ciara, and Lightning

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

We totally agree with all poinnts of your review. We are letting Arty enjoy it, but it is rather pricey for the whole pack.

Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

Mollie said...

Hay Mabel, wez back and haz mizzed youz. I am sure that'z yummy butt it doe'z look a bit sick like Bawahwhahhahhaa xxxoxxxxx


Mollie and Alfie