Sasha at PetSmart in Ancaster, ON

I’m not a fan of raw pet food. It’s not because I don’t know anything about it, or haven’t read about the supposed health benefits.

The three main reasons I can’t give my 10-year-old schnoodle Victor a raw food diet are the following:

1. I’m not the world’s greatest housekeeper so bacteria is an issue.
2. It doesn’t travel well.
3. I’m a vegetarian. The idea of meat, especially raw, in my house is gross.

This post is sponsored by Nutrience®, PetSmart®, and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the launch of Nutrience® SubZERO™ in PetSmart Canada but dogtrotting.net only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Nutrience and PetSmart are not responsible for the content of this article.

However, I know both my dog and cat need meat and what I feed them is important. I gravitate to natural, grain free and most importantly made in Canada, with ingredients sourced in Canada. That’s a BIG one for me because to be honest, I’m still ‘raw’ over the tragic results of the overseas scandal.

I’m willing to consider any pet food sourced, manufactured and made with care here in the Great White North.

Nutrience® SubZERO ™ checked all the boxes … and some I didn’t think of. It’s Canadian made, grain-free, and has all the health and wellness benefits of raw but in a freeze-dried protein form, called Nutriboost™ Freeze Dry Raw, with four key ingredients:

• Green-lipped mussels to support joint health
• Pacific cod liver for omeg-3 fatty acids that help skin and coats
• Pumpkin for dietary fiber and digestion
• Acadian kelp with natural anti-oxidants

But you know all that if you read my previous #SubZeroDifference post.

Now one question remains: Will my very picky rescue schnoodle eat it?

To find out I headed to PetSmart® to pick up all three flavours and found Nutrience SubZERO easily in the front display rack. The best part was with a PetSmart Pet Perks card I got a discount. Staff members were standing nearby (maybe because I was taking photos) and knew the product well. One told me she didn’t necessarily recommend an all-age diet to her customers, especially those with older dogs, but the Nutriboost™ in this brand negated any age concerns. She suggested (as I suspected) the anti-inflammatory properties would be ideal for Victor and his knee issues.

Victor wondering why he’s sitting among cat food

So, to test the all ages theory, and make the taste test more interesting, I solicited the help of Victor’s BFF Sasha. She’s a three-year old Chocolate Lab/Belgian Malinois cross and her fur daddy wants to head off any breed-specific health issues by providing the best nutrition early in life.

Drum roll please: Here are the results of my highly unscientific taste test of Nutrient SubZERO.™

I lined up three bowls of three Nutrient SubZERO flavours:

•  Fraser Valley with Pacific wild-caught fish and freeze-dried chicken
• Prairie Red with Canadian beef, bison and boar
• Canadian Pacific with fresh and freeze-dried wild caught fish

Sasha inhaled Prairie Red

Victor characteristically took his time then headed toward the Fraser Valley. But when he saw the camera (which he hates), he ran away.

Sasha was up next, sniffed around, dove into the Prairie Red, and inhaled it. Then turned her head to the next one, Canadian Pacific, but hesitated because curious Gracie the kitten took her turn sniffing. Clearly, Sasha would eat any of them, but beef, bison and boar was her first choice.

Later that night, with no camera in sight, Victor chowed down a bowl of Fraser Valley chicken.

But not indiscriminately. I watched him pick out all the kibble, toss it on the floor and eat the Nutriboost™ freeze-dried bits first.

Ok, maybe there is something to this raw thing after all….

Check out the video, then follow PetSmart on Facebook