Different Dog triumphed at this year’s Crufts by winning the prize for the Best Small Trade Stand at the show, and also had a visit from TV presenter Clare Balding.
Crufts, which is regarded as the World’s Greatest Dog Show, took place at the NEC, Birmingham, 5th-8th March. Different Dog exhibited their unique range of hand-cooked recipes for dogs in Hall 4, Stand 80. Each day visitors were treated to cooking demonstrations from Different Dog’s chefs, who showed dog owners how to make nutritionally balanced meals from fresh British ingredients.
On Thursday 5th March, Alice Lees, Events Manager from Worcestershire-based Scott Farms International, one of the country’s largest importers of sweet potatoes, joined with Different Dog’s pet nutritionist, to talk about the nutritional values that this root vegetable has for dogs. They were joined on the stand by TV and lead Cruft’s presenter, Clare Balding who was shown how you can make some tasty natural treats for dogs out of sweet potatoes. The coverage was later shown in the afternoon on Channel 4’s Crufts programme. Charlie Thurstan, Founder of Different Dog and Alice Lees were also later interviewed by the Kennel Club’s roving podcast reporters at the show.
Despite fears of a low turnout at Crufts this year due to the Coronavirus, Different Dog experienced a very busy show with many dog owners signing up for a subscription
and seeing the importance of feeding their dogs a healthy diet.
Different Dog was born out of the concern that dogs eating a processed diet weren't as healthy as they should be. Charlie Thurstan and his wife Alexandra therefore set up Different Dog to change dogs’ lives with real food, as Alexandra explains,
“We all know that you are what you eat, yet we continue to feed our dogs the same food day in, day out. Often the shelf life is measured in years, and the food doesn’t even need to go in the fridge. What’s more, it doesn’t seem to have changed in years.
“When we got our new puppy, Crumble, it didn't feel right to give her processed food. So we started making food for her ourselves, as we do for our children. She loved it and thrived on it. We started making it for her friends as well, and they all loved it too. People told us their dogs had shinier coats, better digestion and more bounce. So we decided to help as many dogs as we could by setting up Different Dog.
“We use the same fresh ingredients and methods you would at home to cook your family meals. Once defrosted, our food requires refrigeration and will only last for 5 days, much the same as if you had made a casserole yourself. We are regularly taking our food to the lab for testing, and we use the results to improve the nutritional value of our food. We are the first to provide a truly varied diet, by cooking new recipes throughout the year. No one else is doing this. This enables us to use seasonal ingredients and strengthens your dog's internal micro biome, an important factor in overall health.”
The team at Different Dog are as passionate about the environment as they are about dogs, which is why looking after the planet is part of every decision they make, from their eco-friendly compostable pots, to sourcing fruit & veg which isn’t pretty enough to go on supermarket shelves but perfectly good to eat.
All Different Dog recipes are cooked by hand using high quality fresh ingredients. They adhere to the FEDIAF nutritional guidelines for optimum nutrition for dogs and the company bases their food standards on the Safer Food Better Business guidelines, which are restaurant standard. They also have one of the highest ratings on All About Dog Food and their Trustpilot reviews are phenomenal. Our nutrition score of 97%, is the highest in our category. (see https://www.trustpilot.com/review/differentdog.com?languages=en&stars=5)
Different Dog is currently crowdfunding. Go to www.seedrs.com/differentdog to find out more
