ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Mackerel and Lamb Recipe Dog Food - 2.5KG

ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Mackerel and Lamb Recipe Dog Food is an air-dried complete dog food made with New Zealand mackerel and lamb, at a ratio ZIWI put at 96% meat, organs, seafood and bone.

Key Features

• Two proteins, both named on the pack: Mackerel and Lamb together. Worth being clear that this is therefore not a single-protein recipe: if you are running an elimination diet, one of the single-meat recipes is the one you want.
• Complete for every life stage: Puppy through to senior on the same bag, so you are not changing food as the dog ages.
• Meal, topper or training treat: It works as the whole diet, or scattered over what you already feed to make a dull bowl interesting.
• No grain, potato, glycerin or rendered meat: Which is the short answer to most of the questions people arrive with about this food.
• Fish and meat together: The mackerel brings omega-3 oils that a land-meat-only recipe does not, which shows up first in the coat.

What Air-Dried Actually Means

• It is meat gently dried rather than cooked at the temperatures kibble sees, and it is not raw. It lives in the cupboard, needs no freezer and no thawing, and you scoop and serve it like a dry food.
• ZIWI put this range at 96% meat, organs, seafood and bone, with a 10% Z-BOOST blend on top. The texture is closer to jerky than to a biscuit, which is also why most animals take to it immediately.
• Ground bone is in the recipe on purpose. That is where the calcium comes from, rather than from a mineral added at the end.

How Much To Feed, And What It Really Costs

• Air-dried carries far more energy per gram than kibble does, so the amount on the chart will look too small. It is not. Scooping it like kibble is the single commonest way a dog gets fat on this food.
• Judge it on cost per day, not cost per kilogram. The bag is dearer and it lasts much longer than the same weight of kibble. Tell us what you feed now and we will work the daily comparison out for you.
• ZIWI's own chart is in pounds and cups, which is no use to anyone here. Give us your dog's weight in kilograms and we will convert the ration to grams before you order.

Changing Over To It

• Move across over six to eight days, mixing a little more of the new food in each day. ZIWI advise the same, and a sudden jump to this much meat upsets most animals.
• Expect smaller, firmer stools once they are settled on it. That is the low carbohydrate load doing what it does, not a problem to fix.

Storing It In This Climate

• Low moisture is what keeps air-dried food stable, and the air here works against that. Press the air out, roll the top down and seal it properly every single time rather than most times.
• Keep it in its own bag rather than tipping it into a storage bin. The bag is a moisture and light barrier; a plastic tub is neither, and it is why decanted food goes stale faster.
• Keep it out of the kitchen heat and out of any sun. If a bag ever smells sour, or feels soft rather than dry, stop using it and bring it back to us.

Good To Know

• Sold in several bag sizes on this page. The larger bag is better value per kilogram, and the smaller one is easier to keep sealed and fresh in this climate.
• If you are switching from kibble, order the smallest bag first. Dogs rarely refuse this food, but it is an expensive way to find out.