# Grandma Lucy's or The Honest Kitchen?



## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Thoughts? pros/cons? poop experiences? price? 

One article says Grandma lucy's Pureformance is cheaper, another said it's more. I'm having trouble calculating the serving sizes per bag since one is dehydrated and the other is freeze dried.

Also, I heard too much of a good thing is not good. So what's the best way to balance this out with Fromm grain free foods? For example, Fromm = 3 cups a day. THK/GL = 3 cups of dry a day. Do we just do 1.5 cups of each?

If I feed cooked meat (chicken, beef) on top of the food, should I just get the non meat versions? I usualy give about 3 or 4 oz of cooked meat per meal, and wondering if it's going to be too much protein. 

Lots of questions! Thanks for any feedback


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I just purchased my first bag of Grandma Lucy's on line at a reduced amount so the 10 lb. bag was much less expensive than the comparable size of THK. I also like that I can get pork and bison as my 9 month old is, in Chinese Medicine, a fire dog and needs cooling meat sources – no chicken, turkey, lamb or venison. We will see how my girls like it.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

We rotate between the two GL's and THK for my dogs' breakfast and love both. I do find that I get more bang for my buck with Grandma Lucy's and like that there are more flavor varieties than THK has. I really like both products though


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I feed Honest Kitchen as a topper and FROMM's Chicken a la Veg as kibble. Never tried Grandma Lucy's though. By local independent type petstore does frequent buy offers for THK and FROMM.


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Tayla's Mom said:


> I just purchased my first bag of Grandma Lucy's on line at a reduced amount so the 10 lb. bag was much less expensive than the comparable size of THK. I also like that I can get pork and bison as my 9 month old is, in Chinese Medicine, a fire dog and needs cooling meat sources – no chicken, turkey, lamb or venison. We will see how my girls like it.


interesting...chinese medicine and cooling meat sources? could you elaborate?

also, keep me posted how your kids like GL. :wavey:


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

puppydogs said:


> interesting...chinese medicine and cooling meat sources? could you elaborate?
> 
> also, keep me posted how your kids like GL. :wavey:


There are 5 elements in Chinese medicine: earth, wind, water, fire and metal. Each plays a part in body function. I really don’t know the qualities of each one, but Tayla is considered a fire dog. She has an over the top temperament. She tires easily in the heat, frustrates easily, prone to skin issues, seeks cool spots and several other traits. She runs hot. She is a field GR and never slows down, hates the heat, she can be sweet as honey and the next minute something frustrates her and she is jumping and biting. There are foods that are considered hot foods, venison, lamb, chicken and turkey and cooling foods such as pork, beef, fish, rabbit and duck. These foods warm the system or help cool the system. Different internal organs are affected by each of the elements and some dogs may have liver issues or kidney issues or lung issues and it is believed in Chinese medicine that the whole body needs to be in balance and when it is not internal issues arise. Skin issues for example come from an overabundance of heat. Hot spots or allergies. Instead of treating the hot spot alone, Chinese medicine treats the whole body to balance out the underlying cause, heat and therefore, the skin issues will resolve. Our vet practices both traditional and eastern medicine including acupuncture. We have been going to him for over 12 years. We recently lost a 15 year old Aussie/BC mix and we still have our almost 15 year old GR mix. Tayla is our newest at almost 9 months. That is about the best I can explain because after 12 years a lot is still a mystery to me.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

MikaTallulah said:


> I feed Honest Kitchen as a topper and FROMM's Chicken a la Veg as kibble. Never tried Grandma Lucy's though. By local independent type petstore does frequent buy offers for THK and FROMM.



Both The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy's have loyalty programs where if you send them x number of upc codes, they will mail you a free box/bag of food.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

missmarstar said:


> Both The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy's have loyalty programs where if you send them x number of upc codes, they will mail you a free box/bag of food.


Grandma Lucy's just started back in July Buy 12 get the 13th free  You send the UPC's to the company. Google is great. I learned something new today. Thanks 

I will have to keep them in mind. Ends up being the same as Honest Kitchens 12 10 pound or 7 pound boxes gets 1 free. My local store actually will take the UPC's themselves so no wait for free box


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

MikaTallulah said:


> Grandma Lucy's just started back in July Buy 12 get the 13th free  You send the UPC's to the company. Google is great. I learned something new today. Thanks
> 
> I will have to keep them in mind. Ends up being the same as Honest Kitchens 12 10 pound or 7 pound boxes gets 1 free. My local store actually will take the UPC's themselves so no wait for free box



No problem! I was pretty excited when GL's started their loyalty program because I prefer their product over THK kind of, but THK's loyalty program kept me buying boxes of that more often. Now I feel free to switch between the two and know I'll end up with a free container of food for either one of them at some point.

That's nice that your local stores will take the UPC's for you... I've never even thought to ask about that here. But I order all my dog food from a local store that delivers to my house so I'm never actually in the store anyway. And I seem to recall my last free box of THK not taking very long to ship to me anyway


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Do you have the link to the GL loyalty program? I only saw one for treats and referrals.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

puppydogs said:


> Do you have the link to the GL loyalty program? I only saw one for treats and referrals.



Here you go!

http://www.grandmalucys.com/FrequentBuyer.pdf

they posted the info about it on their Facebook page when they first began the program back in July!


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

thanks for the info!


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Just got my first bag of Grandma Lucy's on Saturday. We switched from THK. Both dogs love it and I will say it looks better in a dish than THK and smells better also. The only thing I need to do is add more water than they say as my younger GR likes it soupy. I think both are great products, but I was able to get Grandma Lucy's for less money, each bag makes more food and I like the pork and bison versions so I have more choices.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Tayla's Mom said:


> Just got my first bag of Grandma Lucy's on Saturday. We switched from THK. Both dogs love it and I will say it looks better in a dish than THK and smells better also. The only thing I need to do is add more water than they say as my younger GR likes it soupy. I think both are great products, but I was able to get Grandma Lucy's for less money, each bag makes more food and I like the pork and bison versions so I have more choices.


I definitely notice the GL's bags last longer than THK does, even though they are the same weight. And I too enjoy that there are more protein sources to choose from. My dogs love it!


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Ok - finally gave in and got a bag of pureforemance chicken (grandma Lucy's). Seems to be more expensive than honest kitchen though (smaller when it rehydrates). So far she's doing ok. Seeing the whole ingredients makes me want to make her own food...if only I knew the right vitamin/mineral ratios!


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I'm just using the regular, not the pureformance. 


Sent from my iPod touch using PG Free


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

missmarstar said:


> I definitely notice the GL's bags last longer than THK does, even though they are the same weight. And I too enjoy that there are more protein sources to choose from. My dogs love it!


Is this Pureformance or Artisan? So far the GL Pureformance seems to make less food than THK, or I'm adding too much water and it seems soupy. Also the bag is 3lb vs. 4lb of THK...


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## oro perro (Aug 20, 2012)

Am I the only one that is afraid of rehydrated food which expands...and it's possible cause of bloat?


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

puppydogs said:


> Is this Pureformance or Artisan? So far the GL Pureformance seems to make less food than THK, or I'm adding too much water and it seems soupy. Also the bag is 3lb vs. 4lb of THK...


I'm using Artisan. I add more water than needed 'cause Tayla likes if soupy.



oro perro said:


> Am I the only one that is afraid of rehydrated food which expands...and it's possible cause of bloat?


rehydrated food would probably the least likely to cause bloat for the reason that once it's rehydrated it's not going to get any bigger. Add plenty of water and in 5 to 10 minutes it's as big as it gets unlike some kibble which really expands with water after in the stomach.


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Replying to my own thread to provide an update. So far my baby enjoys Grandma Lucy's pureformance chicken. Haven't seen how it affects allergies (if any) yet. Her poops are definitely 50% more and there's moisture in them (firm but not dry). I think it is a tad more poop than Honest Kitchen lol.


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