My family takes the cake when it comes to dealing with picky pups. Between Maltipoo Mochi and mystery mix Snowy, getting the two of them to agree on a regular diet has been an ongoing challenge. When a wacky terrier named Potato joined the pack earlier this year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to establish a more permanent diet. I decided to put two brands to the test: Purina Pro Plan, which is the kibble that Potato was fed at the rescue, and Sundays for Dogs, an all-natural air-dried dog food that keeps its nutrition without fortification.
Most Appetizing - Sundays
Potato was already on Purina so that's what I started introducing to Mochi and Snowy, as well. Unfortunately, they were turning their noses up to the Purina almost immediately. Their eating habits became very erratic and a lot of kibble was ending up in the trash every night. That all changed when we began the switch to Sundays. Suddenly, all three dogs were getting extremely excited for every feeding, crowding me in the kitchen with tails wagging. Even Potato's behavior shifted as he went from contentedly eating his own Purina each night to wolfing down his Sundays before trying to sneak bites away from Mochi and Snowy. To this day they still can't get enough and it's hard to ignore their pleading faces for seconds after their bowls have been licked clean.
Most Convenient - Sundays
Since Sundays is air-dried fresh food, it's just as convenient to feed as kibble but has ample more nutrients for your pet. I love the super cool velcro close bag that keeps the food fresh so I don’t have to add it to another storage tub like I usually do with Kibble. Another issue with kibble is the general messiness. There's the minor frustration of kibble dust that can be a pain to keep tidy and the major frustration of stray kibble bits on a hard floor. I don't wear shoes around the house and I don't know if you've ever stepped on a piece of hard kibble in bare feet, but it can be just as painful as stepping on legos. Even if the dogs weren't inhaling every stray particle of Sundays, the worst thing I would experience from stepping on a forgotten sliver would be an unexpected squishing sensation. Not to mention the added convenience of direct to door delivery. There's nothing worse than having to lug home that those big bags of Kibble from the grocery store - thankfully Sundays cuts this step out!
Most Economical - Purina
There's no question that Sundays falls on the pricier range of dog foods. Just like fast food is usually cheaper to buy than the ingredients necessary to make my family a well-balanced meal, feeding my dogs Purina for a few weeks helped me save a buck or two. Balancing the price against the tradeoffs is where it gets trickier for me, but there's no question that Purina is more economical, though a bunch ends up in the trash.
Best Ingredients - Sundays
The tradeoff for going with the economical option is you get what you paid for. Maybe there's something Mochi and Snowy detected in the 21 synthetic ingredients or feed grade quality of the Purina kibble that put them off it from the start, but there's no question whether I'd rather have all that stuff in our dogs' food or feed them something made from all-natural, human grade ingredients. Add to that the fact that we were able to tailor each of our dogs' recipes to meet their individual needs through Sundays, and there's no doubt in my mind that Sundays is providing our dogs with a more balanced nutrition from higher quality ingredients than Purina can offer.
Overall Winner - Sundays
At the end of the day, Sundays is what's right for our dogs. Seeing them genuinely excited about their food each day and the knowledge that they're getting high-quality nutrition is more than enough for us to justify the higher price tag. If your puppy pal is a fussy eater or you simply want what's best for them, Sundays is well worth checking out. With Sundays, it's hard not to become a member of the air-dried dog food fan club!
