When transitioning to a natural, whole food diet, it’s best to start slow. Slowly integrate our recipes into your dog’s existing diet over a 10-day period.

Our whole food recipes provide your pet with unadulterated nutrients and the most species appropriate foods for a pet’s anatomy. They’re able to absorb all of the nutrients efficiently without the need for synthetic vitamins and minerals commonly found in commercial pet products. Each of our ingredients is thoughtfully selected to deliver important species appropriate nutritional benefits.

All proteins contain different essential amino acids for your pet's overall health, so it’s always beneficial to rotate your pet's proteins. Rotation also decreases the likelihood of developing allergies and can keep mealtime exciting for picky eaters.

Absolutely! Replacing just 10-25% of a bowl of kibble with our fresh, whole food recipes can have a significant positive impact on your pet's overall health. 

Yes, all of the whole food ingredients used for our diets, treats, and toppers are human grade. There are some items that aren’t meant for human consumption (e.g. turkey necks), but they are sourced from human grade, USDA Certified food suppliers.

Our easy Balance Indicator can help identify which recipes would be best for your dog!

Puppies have different micronutrient requirements than adult dogs. While our current diets don’t provide quite what a puppy needs in each meal, our treats are puppy-perfect and our recipes would make an excellent fresh-food topper.

Eastern Food Therapy is the practice of healing illnesses and diseases through specific foods and diets.  Used together or individually, EFT or Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, TVCM, can be used to maintain optimum health and wellness in pets.

The food-as-medicine practice has been used for thousands of years across much of the world.  The practice is based on the understanding that every ingredient has an inherent energetic property:  Warming, Cooling, or Neutral.

Food Energetics is one of the five branches of TVCM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine):

1. Acupuncture,
2. Herbal Medicine,
3. Tui Na (massage and compression techniques),
4. Qigong (posture and breathing techniques),
5. Food Therapy.

Every ingredient has an internal energetic property: Warming (Yang), Cooling (Yin), or Neutral (Balanced).

When an illness occurs, it means there is an imbalance somewhere in the body. Although opposites, Cool and Warm (Ying & Yang), are interdependent and cannot exist without each other.  When the body is out of balance, excessively cool, or excessively warm, it weakens the other and creates an imbalance.

EFT aims to bring your dog to a balanced state through diet. As each dog's (or human's) body function is unique, different ingredients alter body temperature based on how that individual body reacts to breaking down and metabolizing food

Warming Foods often require greater effort from the digestive system, which quickens the metabolism. The result is an increase in body temperature. 

Cooling foods are easier to digest, allowing the body's temperature to cool because not as much energy is needed to break down and absorb the nutrients.

Neutral (balanced) Foods help maintain equilibrium in the body. Neutral ingredients support a balanced dog as they do not tip the scale one way or another.

The tongue is one of EFT's most important diagnostic tools to derive a TCM diagnosis for your pet's condition and plan the treatment.

The tongue will show an imbalance of depth and nature (hot, cold, etc.), and it is less affected by short-term influences such as nervousness. The tongue is also useful as a measurement tool to gauge the progress of a disorder.

With our patented AI Health Assessment tool, Side by Side can help you determine which recipes and treats are best suited to support a healthy balance in your pup. Scan our QR code and upload a photo of your dog with his/ her tongue out (our technology will find it in the photo). We will determine if your pet is running warm, cool, or balanced and, based on the results, provide a customized list of Side by Side products best suited for your pup.

The tongue is a key diagnostic tool in EFT used to assess whether a COOLING (Yin) or WARMING (Yang) counterbalance is needed. The color and shape of this muscular organ can be used to help identify any imbalances in the body.

According to Cheryl Schwartz, DVM*, “The tongue is a visual gateway to the interior of the body.  The whole body lives on the tongue, rather like a hologram”. “Abnormalities in the coating, texture, shape, and color allow practitioners information to determine the patient’s state of balance.”

The primary ingredients in each Side by Side recipe are the most impactful when formulating a Warm, Cool, or Neutral diet.  These main ingredients (the proteins) determine the recipe’s energetic classification. 

From there, the rest of the recipe consists of whole foods that complement the inherent temperature of the main ingredients while ensuring that each diet is complete and balanced. 

When put together in the proper proportions, it works harmoniously to bring the body to equilibrium from the inside out, supporting a healthy, happy, and balanced pup. 

Dogs are omnivores and derive essential nutrients from both quality plant sources and highly digestible animal sources. Side by Side diets contain a combination of fresh whole fruits & vegetables and highly digestible meat. All the essential nutrients in our diets are derived from the perfect combination of whole, digestible foods, not from synthetic vitamins and minerals.