Real Pet Stories

I am so happy I was introduced to your products! My dogs go nuts over your treats! Your nibs are the perfect size to put in their puzzle toys and to keep on hand when I am brushing them outside. (Like today)
I just wanted to send these pics showing you one of your favorite customers who can’t get enough of your treats!
Keep up the great work! We can’t wait to see what new products you may have to offer in the future.

This is Phoenix.  She is a year and a half old Lab Terrier mix.  I broke her out of doggy jail at the Humane Society in the Fox Valley at the end of June.  When I got her you could see all of her ribs.  She was very timid and shy.  She now is a very happy, healthy, energetic dog.  You cannot see her ribs and her coat is nice and shiny.  She loves playing with kids.  I have a 7 year old that she adores.  She is a lap dog.  She loves snuggling in blankets.  She is very good playing with dogs her size or bigger as she likes to play rough and run fast.  We are very happy to have her as an addition to our family.

Mazy, has always had a battle with itchiness! I had tried every thing. Nothing worked! She’s only been on your Frozen Rabbit 18 days and her itching has reduced to being almost nill! I’m so impressed! Thank you!

“My dog, the pickiest of all dogs. I love her so Much but, I couldn’t get her to chew on any type of bone or chewy. I took her to the pet store to let her try to find one she likes and get crickets for my duckling, Juniper thistle. Well, after searching the store, nothing. We were all stumped. So we buy the crickets and go to leave the store when someone came to me to talk to me about how beautiful Luna is. We were talking and I told her I couldn’t find a single thing for her! She said, well your dog seems to like those. I look down and she grabbed a Bully stick and was chewing on it, Going to town! I Freaked Out. I said, I have to buy these for her. She wouldn’t let go of THE bully stick so I grabbed another one and went to the cashier and said I am getting 2, the other one is in My dogs mouth. Luna was walking around with it in her mouth like the princess she is. EVERYone laughed. I said okay, let’s go bye BYEs, so she walked out to the car with it in her mouth, tail and nose head high like she won the lottery. Jumped in the CAr and chewed it all the way home. Cutest moment ever with her in public. Forever buying them for her.”

The most common question my wife and I hear from friends and co-workers isn’t “How are you?” or “Did you see ‘The Walking Dead’ last night?”, it’s “When are you guys going to have kids?” We’re both approaching 30, we’ve been married for 5 years and we don’t have any children. Aren’t really interested in that prospect. Not because we think kids aren’t adorable and amazing, but we’ve found something else to fill that void in our married life. We have a “fur-baby.” We have a dog.

Back when we were newly-weds in a brand new city, we considered having children. It’s what everyone does, right? But, for whatever reason, it just didn’t appeal to us. Then, one day, we decided to “go look at puppies.” We had no idea how our lives were about to change. We ended up with the cutest little fur ball anyone could hope for. We called him Indy.

We care for this dog like he IS our child. We love him the way people typically make fun of other people for loving their animals. Yeah…we’re “those people.” I have more pictures on my desk at work of Indy than I do my friends and family. Every picture of my wife that I carry around with me…she’s holding Indy. Of course, he’s the background image for both of our phones. We spoil him. We check our high-tech life-feed camera during the day to make sure his routine of naps and barking at the door is going undisturbed. We love this dog. It’s weird, sometimes, when we think about it. But we wouldn’t change it for the world.

So, it comes as no surprise that we obsess over what kind of food we are allowing him to eat. We started off with the same thing every new-dog owner starts with. The kibble “puppy food.” We soaked it. We mashed it up to make it easier for his little puppy teeth and…yes…we inspected his poop to make sure everything was being processed properly. He never acted TOO excited about his kibble, but he ate it nonetheless.

Then, we noticed some odd behavior. He began licking his feet. All. The. Time. We thought maybe it was nervous energy, so his daily walks were extended from 30 minutes to at least an hour. The feet licking continued. Ultimately, we asked our vet. “He’s probably allergic to sweet potatoes.”

Wait, his food has sweet potatoes in it? That’s weird. I can’t imagine a wolf in the wild eating sweet potatoes …but I trusted my vet. We switched to a non-sweet potato food. The paw licking continued.

Recently (February 2016) I traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida for work. I met a carnivore nutritionist and we began telling your typical “dog-owner stories.” Then the topic of dog nutrition came up. I was embarrassed by how much I did NOT know about the product that I had been feeding to my dog. Do you know all the things that go into your most common of dog foods? Do you know the temperatures at which they cook this “mash” of ingredients in order to get those hard little pieces? Do you know how taxing it is for the tiny wolves you let sleep on your couch to digest and get ANY nutrition out of their meals? It was astonishing to me.

The brand “Vital Essentials” came up. It’s organ meat. Your dog shares the exact same digestive tract of all other dogs and wild canines. They may have stubbed noses, long fur, short hair, 10 or 100 pounds…but they all look the same as far as stomachs and intestines. What wolf have you ever seen eating sweet potatoes? Their teeth are proof enough that they aren’t meant to be eating vegetables.

I ended up doing the research (don’t take my word for ANYTHING, this is your dog … do your own research) and Vital Essentials kept coming up. We began the transition (which we spread out over about a month because we didn’t want this new high-protein food that is so much easier to digest to upset his stomach… you know…because they are going to have a LOT of stomach acid left over) in late February and we started seeing a noticeably different dog.

He’s happier. He’s more vibrant. He gets genuinely EXCITED about his food. He acts like he is being given a treat every single time we fill his bowl. I’m confident in the food I give Indy and it helps me to sleep better at night. I know I will out-live this dog, unfortunately, but I want to put off that harsh reality for as long as possible. Vital Essentials is helping me do that.

I’m not going to try and tell you what is right for your dog. They are your babies and I wouldn’t even begin to think that I know more or even as much about them as you do, but give it a shot. Read. Ask questions, heck …shoot me a message on Twitter (@CJWoliver) and I’ll help you in any way I can. I believe in this product, my dog loves this product and I will tell every dog owner I know about it until we stop feeding our animals…crap.

I have three ferrets (ferrets are obligate carnivores) and it’s near impossible to find something preprepared that’s biologically appropriate for them (every kibble has something in it they shouldn’t eat; many have 10% or more non-meat content) short of making my own raw meals. I didn’t want the guesswork associated with balancing my own raw meals. I found VE Nibs (I use the dog version because they’re dairy free) and my three fur kids love them. They’re healthy, biologically appropriate, free of unnecessary non-meat ingredients, and the Nibs are pre-balanced so all I need to do is pour the food in the bowl. VE is great! I’ve got peace of mind and they have an appropriate diet they enjoy. Thanks VE!

Please meet Gretel, my 3-year old “special needs” GSD. At the young age of one, Gretel was diagnosed with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). Some days we struggle with her lifelong disease maintenance, but try very hard to keep her life as normal as possible. My beautiful girl LOVES the snow, hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, playing Frisbee and also with her Jolly Balls. I’m also very proud to mention that Gretel also earned her AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Title.
With Gretel’s disease, Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), she has VERY limited dietary choices, especially with treats, actually, they’re an absolute no-no with an EPI dog, however, all EPI dogs & their daily maintenance are different and I’ve found a daily dietary schedule that works for my Gretel and fortunately I can give Gretel “Vital ESSENTIALS Tripe Nibblets Freeze-Dried Dog Treats” as an in-between meal snack & also as training treats with absolutely no repercussions PLUS she LOVES them, not to mention she’s VERY picky and has NO food drive! We use an auto-ship program & receive a 1-lb. bag every few weeks!

I got Forest as a little kitten.  He was raised on raw.  My dogs eat the VE raw beef chubs so he ate the dog food for a while.  I did chicken for him.  Now he enjoys the VE cat patties.  He enjoys them. He has eaten a few other raw foods but I always seem to go back to VE.  My dogs do well on your food and I know it’s a brand I can trust.

Meet Dillon (Yellow Lab), Axel (Chocolate Lab) and Parker (Black Lab) part of Team Trifecta!! We love feeding our boys Vital Essential treats because we only want the best for them!! They are extremely competitive in DockDogs and always need to be in the best shape to compete! Vital Essential treats are extremely all natural, healthy treat for our boys and they absolutely love every bite of them!! -April