Anita’s Natural Dog Co. started when Joe Secreti got tired of the health issues that his dogs were experiencing. These issues led him to begin researching canine nutrition; he wanted to take preventative measures against health problems such as allergies, dental and gum disease, digestion problems, cancers, and ligament damage since treatments would seemingly fix one problem and then another would arise. This research brought to life the importance of nutrition to a dog’s health and how a BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet could help to alleviate many of the conditions he was dealing with. The “best”, store-bought, dry food diets that he had been using turned out to not be doing the best by his dogs. While our feeding systems have evolved with today’s technology, a dog’s digestive system remains as it was before dogs were domesticated. Dry and canned dog foods often contain tons of carbohydrates and chemical preservatives so of course our canine companions are getting sick. In the 1990s, Joe began to experiment with raw food: first adding fresh vegetables and raw meat to his usual kibble feeding. When he saw the positive effects that this change was having on his dogs, he started adding fish, fruit, and eggs, which brought even more positive changes. Naturally, the next step was to implement a completely raw diet. His dogs had less health problems, more energy, healthy teeth, fresh breath, and thick, shiny coats; he also saw a marked improvement in the performance of his competition dogs.

Joe began to experiment with how to sustainably feed a raw diet. He made his own food blends and purchased assorted complete raw diets from retailers; he was a distributor for a raw food brand for certain dog clubs on Long Island, and then realized that the best way to ensure his dogs were eating properly was to team up with dog nutritionists and raw food manufacturers to develop his own raw food blends, treats, and supplements which are now sold by Anita’s Natural Dog Co. With more than 25 years of experience Joe has become an educational source and supplier for performance and pet dogs, alike, on Long Island and beyond.

The Anita’s Natural Dog Co. diet is based on what wild dogs eat: raw meat, bones, organs, fruits, and vegetables. Dogs have evolved to eat this diet, why should we change it?