Vital Essentials Mini Nibs are great to stuff Kong toys with!

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Vital Essentials Mini Nibs: Company Facts

They’re a freeze-dried raw dog food and one of my top nutritional finds at the 2016 Global Pet Expo in sunny Orlando, FL!

I found Vital Essentials in the natural section of the show floor. They’re a US based company that’s family-owned & operated. That said, they’ve been making a difference in what we feed our dogs and cats since 1968!

The brand meets all the requirements I’m looking for in a company who produces healthy, species-appropriate nutrition. I’m going to let their company facts speak for themselves:

Vital Essentials sells raw frozen patties as well as raw freeze-dried complete meals.

The freeze-dried meals offer ultimate convenience because they don’t have to be refrigerated.

That’s thanks to the slow, 48 hour freeze-drying process of the raw meat, bones, and organs.

Freeze-Dried Vital Essentials Mini Nibs

The freeze-dried Mini Nibs are available in beef, chicken, turkey, & duck. That said, here’s what the duck & turkey samples my pups taste-tested consist of:

Ingredients Duck Mini Nibs

Ground duck with bone, duck liver, duck gizzard, duck skin, herring oil, mixed tocopherols, d-alpha tocopherol.

Ingredients Turkey Mini Nibs

Ground turkey with bone, turkey heart, turkey liver, herring oil, mixed tocopherols, d-alpha tocopherol.

I Used The Mini Nibs As Training Rewards & To Fill Food Puzzles

I felt very comfortable letting Missy & Buzz taste-test the nutritious turkey & duck Mini Nibs I brought back for them. Obviously, I didn’t have enough for a whole meal, so I incorporated one half in a little training session, and the other half in a dog food puzzle. 

As you can see in the pictures below, I rewarded Missy with the Mini Nibs for holding a “down-stay” combined with a “leave-it”.

Buzz got some Mini Nibs for holding his “paws up” on our chaise lounge combined with a “leave it”. That’s a great core-strengthening exercise, by the way!

Filling The KONG Toys

I also filled the pups’ hollow KONG toys with a mix of the Mini Nibs, plain greek yogurt, peanut butter, and an apple/carrot/pineapple smoothie.

Tip: It’s best to purée plant matter because dogs lack the enzymes that break down plant cell walls.

The filled KONGs then went into the freezer for about 6 hours. I also could have offered them non-frozen, but that way they only would have lasted about 10 mins.

Freezing them adds about 20-30 minutes of licking time.

Missy & Buzz got to enjoy their frozen goodies when I came back from my dog walking visits on one of our awesome, warmer spring days!

As expected, they lasted a little over 30 mins, which gave me some time to unwind with a cup of coffee while watching the pups enjoy their frozen treats outside in our yard.

Meeting KONG At The Global Pet Expo 2016

Speaking of our KONG toys – of course I also had to stop by the KONG booth while attending the Global Pet Expo. I had the pleasure of meeting Minoru and chatting with him about the importance of mental doggie stimulation – which is just as important as physical exercise! 

Food puzzles are an excellent means of burning mental energy because they ask dogs to figure out how to get to the edible goodies inside of them – I can’t recommend them enough, especially when you’re in need of some “me” time.

Vital Essentials Mini Nibs: Our Paw-Sitive Verdict

I’m stoked, to say the least, to have found another raw feeding company who sets itself apart from the big commercial dry dog food brands. Here’s to all the amazing health benefits associated with raw food for dogs:

*Reduction of Cancer Risk

*Improved Digestion & Oral Health

*Improved Weight Management

*Reduction of Allergies

*Healthy Skin & Coat

More Freeze-Dried Goodness from Vital Essentials – Minnows

Vital Essential’s wild-caught, freeze-dried Minnows are a small freshwater fish typically used for bait by fishermen – I’ve been looking into adding more fish protein to Missy & Buzz’s diet and treat allowance, so I’m excited that I’ve been finding out more about fishy products  These particular ones don’t smell and are a hit with the pups!!

Has your pup taste-tested some of Vital Essentials’ yummy foods and/or treats? As always, we’d love to hear from you in our comment section!

Related Reading:

• Why I treat my dogs with freeze-dried Vital Essentials Minnows
• Raw lamb for dogs makes a great KONG filler
• Global Pet Expo 2023 – The Natural Pet

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