Saturday, December 26, 2015

Review & Giveaway: WellyChef Dog Food

The Chesnut Mutts WellyChef Dog Food Review

The Chesnut Mutts were compensated in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are genuinely mine and we would not share a product that we did not fully believe in. Please do not use any image without permission. This post also contains affiliate links.


Homemade dog food is on the rise and we keep seeing better and better nutrition for our pups! It just amazes me that we are making so much progress and getting away from junk food kibble. So yeah, I am here today to introduce you to the brand WellyTails® and their line of "add your own protein" homemade dog food mix called WellyChef! 

WellyTails logo


WellyTails® is a science focused pet health products company. We produce natural high performance pet health supporting products from researched and evidence based natural ingredients that are proven to be safe for pets.(source)

I love that WellyTails® is a science-focused company who cares a lot about the ingredients that go in their products. Because WellyChef is a homemade dog food base mix, it eases my mind that what I am feeding my dogs is balanced and right for them. Another great point to make is that this base mix is made in the U.S.A., grain-free, and has no artificial ingredients!

WellyChef logo

So I have two different mixes of WellyChef to share with you: beef and duck! Let's start off with the beef recipe...

WellyChef homemade dog food mix beef bison lamb pork turkey

Now I say beef recipe because this is what protein I decided to use, but you can use raw lean beef, bison, lamb, pork, or turkey. I went to a store who has great local meats and picked out some hamburger to make this dog food. 

ingredients: dehydrated pumpkin, dehydrated apple, dehydrated carrot..

I love the ingredients! Lots of dried or dehydrated fruits and veggies with their formulated vitamin and mineral blend called Ensure Multi-Canine.

The first step is to get all your ingredients and prepare your workstation. Besides your protein of choice, you also need either sunflower oil or veggie oil and fresh fish oil. For the fish oil, you can use capsules or WellyTail's Fortified Wild Ocean Fish Oil Omega-3 Blend. They gave me a bottle of this to try as well. I like the ingredients and the Stay Ever Fresh Pump System so that it doesn't spoil.

WellyTails Fortified Wild Ocean Fish Oil Omega-3 Blend

Wild caught ocean fish oil, cold pressed flaxseed oil, cold pressed borage seed oil...

Next, we measure out 3/4 cups of the base mix into our large mixing bowl...

WellyChef beef dog food mix

measuring out 3/4 cups of the WellyChef dog food mix

Then you add 2 cups of warm water, mix it, and wait for 15-20 minutes as the food rehydrates.

adding water to the homemade wellychef beef dog food

mixing the homemade wellychef beef dog food

Jada waiting for her WellyChef dog food to rehydrate
The waiting is the hard part!
 Time for the oil! 2 tablespoons of sunflower (or vegetable) oil and a 1/2 pump of WellyTails' fish oil (or two soft gels of fish oil).

rehydrated wellychef beef dog food
rehydrated!
adding in the sunflower oil to the dog food

wellytails fortified wild ocean fish oil

Mix it all together and then you have the option of adding in another carbohydrate source or a chopped egg. We decided to go on to the next step which is adding in your protein! We dumped in 1 pound of raw lean hamburger, but you can use bison, lamb, pork, or turkey as well. 

adding in hamburger to the wellychef beef dog food
the meat is a bit brown cause Abby had to reheat it in the microwave, whoops

mixing in the beef for the WellyChef dog food

finished WellyChef beef dog food
all mixed together!
The dogs were salivating all over the floor at this point, and I don't blame them! It was like doggie hamburgers and I found out that our friend Luna from Beagles and Bargains actually made some for her 4th birthday this year!

On the box, it had feeding guidelines and said to freeze any remaining food in pre-measured portion sizes. I decided to give my girls a half cup each 2 times a day, so I put that morning's food in their bowls and froze the rest in little Tupperware containers. 

wellychef beef dog food serving guidelines

portioned out WellyChef beef dog food for the dogs

portioning out WellyChef dog food to freeze
I was able to make a couple day's worth of food!

I know what you are thinking...so how did the dogs like it?! Well, I wasn't able to get a picture of Jada since she ate it so fast, but both girls really liked it! 

Jada about to eat some Wellychef dog food
ready to engulf!

WellyChef beef dog food

bailey eating wellychef
omnom!

jada waiting for bailey to finish eating
"Hurry up Bailey!"
A few days later once the beef WellyChef food was eaten, we decided to try the other base mix where you use fresh ground chicken, duck or farmed Atlantic salmon & tilapia. I couldn't find ground duck anywhere, but I remembered I had some cans of duck dog food from Evanger's. I figured that would be fine since the ingredients are just duck. 

WellyChef duck base mix with Evanger's Duck canned dog food

dehydrated sweet potato, dehydrated pumpkin, dehydrated apple, dehydrated carrot...

The method is the same as the other base mix, and the girls liked it just as much! The ingredients are wonderful as always.

using Evanger's duck canned food in wellychef dog food

portioning the WellyChef dog food
I was able to make 4 cups of dog food!
Here is a video showing the making of the WellyChef beef dog food and how much the girls liked it!


In a nutshell...
  • WellyTails® is a science-focused pet health products company
  • WellyChef is a base mix to make your own homemade dog food and add your own protein
  • There are two varieties: Beef, Bison, Lamb, Pork or Turkey and Chicken, Duck, Salmon & Tilapia
  • It is grain-free, make in the USA, and has no artificial ingredients
  • The box includes easy to read instructions and even has a recipe for senior dogs who need more fish oil, and has options for add-ins
  • One box can make 28 pounds of dog food!
  • Both varieties are $38.95 
  • You can buy WellyChef in their online store here

I really like this product and after seeing how much my girls like it I am definitely using it again. Making it was easy and I love the quality of the ingredients. The mix itself is affordable, and all you have to do is find high-quality meat at a good price. I would recommend WellyChef to anyone looking for a homemade dog food!

bailey licking her lips
"so good!"

Learn more about WellyTails® & WellyChef here!

What is your dog's favorite type of meat?
Let us know in the comments!


We are also having a giveaway for 1 box of WellyChef (recipe of your choosing) [ARV 38.95]

Ends January 9th at 11:59 pm EST, 18+, U.S. and Canada Only

68 comments:

  1. its always good too find great food for our pets,xx Rachel

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  2. This product looks great. Nala's favorite protien is probably beef or maybe turkey.

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    1. Thanks Amy! We met WellyTails at BlogPaws and learned about it. Yum! Nala has good taste!

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  3. my youngest does not like raw, she will eat freeze dried venison, salmon, the middle child and the oldest will eat anything raw, venison, rabbit, but they all love sardines in water. they love salmon as well. they love steamed veggies as well. the middle child is vac cleaner and will eat anything, although she is not that fond of bananas but if it is food she will eat it. her dad was the same way. the baby has always been a picky eater. she will eat something one day and then the next decide she does not like it.

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    1. Bailey is very picky too! If you want, you can just brown the meat and mix it with WellyTails instead of using raw :)

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  4. My dog loves chicken!

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  5. My big dog will eat anything, but prefers beef.

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  6. My Golden angel loves me to cook for her. Any kind of meat with veggies and brown rice.

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  7. my dogs favorite is chicken

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  8. My purebred springer spaniel girl Tracker love venison,moose and elk. She loves the antlers more I think -lol-

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    1. Nice! Venison is a favorite around here too. Haha, I don't blame her!

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  9. My dog eats anything, but really likes beef and duck.

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  10. My dogs really like jerky style treats. Thanks!

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    1. ooo Jada loves jerky treats! Don't forget to look at our dog treat reviews - we have reviewed Spot Farms, Full Moon, and Meaty Mugs jerky treats :)

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  11. I have four rescued Treeing Walker Coonhounds who will eat almost anything. As far as favorite meats, I would have to say liver, chicken, and salmon.

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    1. Those are such beautiful dogs- with great taste! ;)

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  12. Its a safe assumption to say that my dog Simon loves his turkey! Most of the time when I toss him some meat he'll take it and eat it off the floor and with turkey he snapples it up in mid air lol

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  13. My dog loves chicken or turkey, we don't have beef but I'm sure he'd eat it too.

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  14. My dog has never refused ANY type of meat, but she seems togo the craziest for chicken!1

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  15. Oh, they like anything. I think Bison, Elk, and Venison might be their favorites, though they really like Turkey, too. Rabbit, lamb... They like trying novel proteins, too, like Emu and Kangaroo.

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  16. All 3 love their chicken and beef.
    Laurie Emerson
    lauraemerson17 at yahoo dot com

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  17. My dogs will eat any meat, but I think fish and seafood is their favorite.

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  18. Never heard of this dog food before, but CAN'T WAIT for my furbaby to try it. He LOVES duck!! I'm more excited than he is...at least for the moment!

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  19. Replies
    1. Jada is slightly allergic to chicken, so I understand! :)

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  20. My dogs like all kinds of meat. Their favorite is Beef!

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