Fresh Dog Food in Vancouver: The Secret to Powering Your Dog’s Outdoor Adventures

Written by Kristin Matthews, Co-Founder & Kelly Gredner, RVT, VTS (Nutrition)

Living in Vancouver means you have access to some of the world's most beautiful outdoor playgrounds. Whether you are tackling the Grouse Grind, running the seawall at Stanley Park, or exploring the trails of the North Shore, your doggo is likely right there beside you.

However, an active West Coast lifestyle demands more from our dog companions than a sedentary one. Just as human athletes require specific nutrition to perform and recover, your fur baby’s diet plays a pivotal role in their stamina and health.

What is whole Dog Food? Whole dog food is defined as whole-food dog food made from fresh, human grade ingredients with minimal processing. It includes:

• High-quality meats
• Fresh vegetables
• Healthy fats

These ingredients are gently-cooked to retain nutrients. When your furry fur-iend is burning calories on a rainy hike in Pacific Spirit Park, the quality of their fuel matters just as much as the quantity.

Is Fresh Dog Food Better for Active Dogs

For decades, dry kibble has been a popular and practical option for many pet parents, offering shelf stability, convenience in travel and ease of feeding. However, dogs with higher activity levels may benefit from diets designed to deliver energy and nutrients in a more readily available form.

Kibble is commonly produced using an extrusion process, which allows for consistent, uniform texture and long shelf life. This process, however, requires high heat and pressure, factors that can influence how certain nutrients are retained and utilized by the body.

Gently-cooked foods take a different approach. By using lower temperatures and whole-food ingredients, these meals prioritize nutrient integrity and digestibility, helping active dogs access usable energy more efficiently with every bite.

How Does High Digestibility Affect Performance?

Digestibility is a scientific measure of how much nutrition your canine companion actually absorbs versus how much is passed as waste. High digestibility is crucial for active dogs because it ensures the body fuels muscles, rather than expending that energy breaking down difficult ingredients.

Research supports the superiority of gently-cooked diets in this regard. According to a study published in the Journal of Animal Science regarding the effects of a mildly cooked human grade dog food, dogs fed gently-cooked meals demonstrated:

• Higher Digestibility: Significantly better absorption of macronutrients compared to extruded diets.
• Reduced Waste: Smaller fecal output and improved microbiome health.

For the owner, this means smaller, firmer pick-up duties on the trail. For the dog, it means the body utilizes the meal for power rather than waste production.

Nutritional Requirements: Endurance vs. Sprint

Not all exercise creates the same metabolic demand. It is important to match the fuel to the activity:

• Sprinting (like in a game of fetch): Uses anaerobic metabolism and relies on glycogen stores (carbohydrates).
• Endurance (activities like hiking): Uses aerobic metabolism and relies heavily on free fatty acids.

As highlighted in a study on the nutritional requirements of exercising dogs, dietary fat is a critical energy substrate for endurance performance.

Dry foods rely on carbohydrates to help create and maintain a uniform, shelf-stable shape. Fresh meals don’t depend on this same structure, which allows gently-cooked diets to emphasize high-quality animal proteins and fats; key fuel sources for sustained energy.

According to VCA Animal Hospitals, performance dogs have higher energy needs and require highly digestible fat and protein to prevent fatigue and injury. A fresh diet avoids the "sugar crash", keeping your pup moving from the trailhead to the summit.

The Gently-Cooked Advantage

Many pet parents explore fresh feeding for different reasons, from ingredient transparency to digestibility and food safety. The "gently-cooked" method represents the intersection of culinary science and canine nutrition. This process heats ingredients to a carefully controlled temperature that is:

• High enough to support food safety by reducing harmful pathogens

• Low enough to preserve the integrity of natural ingredients

This offers a "best of both worlds" solution: the high bioavailability and moisture content of a fresh diet, combined with the rigorous safety standards of a cooked product.

How Much Whole Food Should I Feed My Active Dog?

Determining the right portion requires understanding caloric density. Because gently-cooked food is nutrient-dense, the volume might look different than kibble.

Here are a few tips for feeding the adventure dog:

• Increase Calories: On heavy activity days, caloric needs may increase by 20% or more.
• Hydration Matters: Fresh food naturally contains more moisture, which can support digestion and hydration, which is especially helpful for active dogs.
• Monitor Condition: An active dog should look lean and muscular.
• Pre-Hike Loading: For long adventures, feed a slightly larger portion the night before to top up glycogen stores.

Why Tom&Sawyer Is The Best Choice For Your Adventure Dog

At Tom&Sawyer, we craft nutritionally complete and balanced meals inspired by familiar, culinary-style dishes. By bringing together animal nutritionists grounded in science and trained chefs skilled in food, we create fresh, thoughtfully prepared meals designed to support long-term health and vitality.

Vancouver pet parents can access Tom&Sawyer through specialty retailers across the Lower Mainland. Visit our retailer locator to find the most convenient location for purchasing gently-cooked dog meals in your Vancouver neighbourhood.

Why choose us?

• Transparency: We prepare meals in a federally inspected Human Grade facility under the same standards required for food made for people.
• Human Grade: We use the same quality ingredients you would put on your own plate.
• Safety: Our gently-cooked process is designed to reduce harmful pathogens while preserving the natural nutrients and moisture that support digestibility and overall vitality.

We believe that fuelling an active lifestyle requires science-led nutrition. Our recipes are formulated to provide the optimal balance of proteins, fats and essential nutrients to keep your doggo hiking, running, and exploring by your side for years to come.

Ready to switch to a diet that prioritizes safety, digestibility, and culinary excellence? Visit Tom&Sawyer to find the perfect meal box for your four-legged fam.