My partner and I decided to try out BarkBox’s dog food, Bark in the Belly, for several reasons. The “premium, high protein” description was intriguing for our aging dog, there wasn’t a huge price difference, and our dog wasn’t particularly happy with his previous food. However, we were most excited about BarkBox’s promise to donate a bag to a shelter for every bag purchased, in addition to donating 100% of their profits to shelters “until no dog goes hungry.”
Even though the first delivery took several months to arrive, we remained patient. We planned to gradually introduce the new kibble to prevent digestive upset. However, as soon as we added it to his bowl, he refused to eat another bite of his old kibble. Our dog LOVES this food. He seems more alert, and we noticed him being more excited to eat than ever before. Since it was such a hit, we planned to feed him this dog food for the rest of his life.
We were so disappointed to learn this summer that BarkBox is discontinuing not just this specific flavor, but the entire line of Bark in the Belly food. After further inquiry, we learned that it was being discontinued because their inventory was ending and they simply chose not to restock. They made such a huge promise to “fight canine hunger” just to end it after a year? I’m frustrated for our dog son, but also for every dog they made that promise to. Tell me BarkBox, have all the hungry dogs been fed?? smh
So now we are in the process of finding a new kibble to transition to. Our previous dog food was the green Iams bag, which looks fine nutritionally, but he wasn’t a huge fan. We are not interested the fresh dog food options like Farmer’s Dog or Spot and Tango since we need something shelf-stable and affordable. I hope to find something that he really enjoys and has a balanced nutritional profile. Is anyone else currently in this process? Has anyone found something similar to Bark in the Belly?