Kibble Diet

Your Jack Russell Puppy's Diet

We rear our dogs as naturally as possible, with little chemicals and CORE vaccines only. Puppies under one year, pregnant and nursing mothers are fed a higher fat/protein content and a slightly different diet. Otherwise, all of our terriers are fed a 50/50% combination, all natural diet including human food ingredients like raw meaty bones, chicken, beef, legumes, fresh fruits & vegetables with roughly 50% of their diet being a premium, grain free, lower protein kibble.

Read More About Raw Feeding - Raw Feeding

Some important supplements to complete your dog's diet. Please visit our SUPPLEMENTS page.

More about a kibble diet

Are you concerned about what you've been hearing lately about how Grain-Free kibble may be linked to diet related heart disease in dogs? I've had several people ask me about this recently. I do not think we should be converting back to a grain-based diet. I'm certainly not! "Until we have much more information on the link between canine DCM and diet, I think it’s a good idea to supplement all dogs with high taurine foods, no matter what type of diet they’re eating. An easy way to do this is to simply mix a can of sardines into your pet’s meal once a week." - Dr. Karen Becker
Some families will prefer to feed only a ready-made dry kibble to their pup from Connemara. We do support you in this decision but feel that you can better a dry kibble only diet. We are happy to also suggest some alternative premium kibbles for your consideration. 

BELOW IS A LIST WE HAVE COMPILED TO HELP WITH YOUR SELECTION

The dog food companies listed here are not marketing and multinational companies that sell (but don't actually make) their own food. They use fresh, regional ingredients, produced in their own facilities. They don't use commodity ingredients from suppliers they don't know and are willing to produce the sources for all their ingredients. All use "healthy oils", no grains (grain free formulas), no potential allergens like garlic or yeast and no unhealthy by-products, corn or fillers. We believe these brands are far superior to anything else on the market. Some of the mixes may not be appropriate for your terrier as some may not do well on the higher protein formulas, (usually over 30% is considered high protein). If you have questions as to which formula best suits your individual pet, please give us a ring and we can help you determine this.

Brands/Blends we highly recommend for PUPPIES (under 10 months): *higher/fat & protein - All formulas are grain free

Brands/Blends we highly recommend for ADULTS (over 10 months):  *some are lower/fat & protein - All formulas are grain free

  • ACANA GRAIN FREE (Regional Flavors)
  • BACK TO BASICS - GRAIN FREE
  • EARTHBORN HOLISTIC - GRAIN FREE (Primitive Natural)
  • EARTHBORN VENTURE
  • FROMM - FOUR STAR NUTRITIONAL - GRAIN FREE
  • HOLISTIC BLEND - GRAIN FREE
  • CARNA4 - THIS IS A CANADA-BASED COMPANY. You can get it on Amazon.
  • FARMINA
  • RAWBBLE - All proteins - They also make freeze-dried toppers.
  • ZIWI PEAK - All proteins

Dog Food Advisor - Rate Commercial Foods Here

BRANDS WE WOULD NEVER FEED:

  • GREAT LIFE Grain Free dog food (Beware: they have refused to say who makes their food or where they source ingredients. Why is it a secret?)
  • SCIENCE DIET (Corn & By-Products. As well, they have been pulling the wool over consumers eyes for decades with their smoke-and-mirrors tactics. $ incentives to vets to push their products.)
  • IAMS (Chicken By-Products & Corn Meal.)
  • EUKANUBA (Chicken By-Products & Corn Meal)
  • WYSONG (several controversial ingredients)
  • ALL NUTRO'S LINES OF KIBBLE (even the new grain free ones)
  • Or anything listing by-products, corn or flour.

We also recommend avoiding grain based foods for the long term. Once your pup is roughly ten months old, move from a puppy formula to one of the foods we recommend above.

PEDIGREE

ANY DOG FOOD SOLD IN YOUR TYPICAL GROCERY STORE

SELECTING YOUR DRY DOG FOOD - If you had any idea where meat-by-products came from, you would never feed them to your pets. Rendered animal parts, to be exact. Otherwise known in the industry as; "The four D's" - Dead, Dying, Decaying or Diseased. I visited a rendering plant once. I won't go into the details...please trust me on this one.

In researching many of the dog foods on the market today, we came to find a few brands that stood out and away from all the others - We have already listed them above. Any of the above recommended dry kibble should be acceptable for your adult terrier. *Puppy formulas are listed as well. We do not expect everyone to agree with us or feed as we do. But at the very least, we will look for families that are health conscientious and will at least go the extra expense to feed a premium kibble.

Want to learn more about RAW FEEDING?

Behind the Cute Photos

Puppy jumping into large dog food container.

"Riley" has typical Jack Russell instincts. He's a bit of a clown and sometimes a troublemaker. He lives with his Jack Russell brother from Pennsylvania. - Dan Zimmerman Photography

Jack Russells & raw food. Jack Russell Terrier puppies for sale. Terriers.

Dog sitting at table with mug and plate.
Dog sitting at table with treats.

This is how they do things in California. You're dinner is served Lady Perrie!