The Side by Side Difference

With an influx of different foods hitting the market, many pet parents find themselves overwhelmed trying to find the perfect food for their pet. Side By Side is different from your typical pet food, and even other freeze-dried foods. With diets nutritionally formulated to meet your pet’s health needs and whole ingredients, it’s definitely becoming a PetFlow favorite.

Dog Whisperers

Nearly every pet parent would agree that their pet is unique – from their personalities to their behavior to their nutritional requirements. While we love our fur babies dearly, it can feel impossible to know what your dog actually needs, right?! 

Dog with vet and Side by Side

Well, maybe not… There are actually subtle signs and symptoms that indicate whether your dog is experiencing internal imbalances that may be impacting their overall health. That’s where Side by Side comes in (& helps you learn to “speak dog”)!

Side by Side looks at the exterior signs and symptoms (more on that in a minute) then uses whole foods to return balance from a cellular level. They craft unique diets that combine Western veterinary science with the time-tested principles of food energetics to create a variety of food, treats and supplements that help restore balance from the inside out!

How do they do that?

Food energetics classify different ingredients based on their energetic profiles & can either have warming, cooling or neutral properties. In the west, we often look at food as fuel & tend to treat symptoms/ailments with pills, ointments or medicine. Food energetics, instead, seeks to identify the root cause of the ailment/symptom based on the external signs and symptoms and then uses food as medicine to help heal and restore balance internally (thus helping to resolve the external problem!).

The Side by Side Pet Health Profile

To best figure out which Side by Side diet is best for your fur baby, we suggest taking their quick & easy pet assessment (psst it’s free!). You can either complete a comprehensive assessment on their site (takes about 3 minutes) or check out the chart below! Essentially it’s like learning to speak dog (that panting & excessive itching is your dog’s way of trying to tell you something!) so you can understand your pet better.

Side by Side Dietrician Pet Assessment

Side by Side Recipes – The Differences

  • Warming – The warming diet is formulated for pets that run on the cooler side. Oftentimes, these pets have watery eyes, prefer to sit in the sun, and will have looser stools.
  • Cooling – For pets that run warm, the cooling diet is the way to go. A pet that needs a cooling diet usually prefers to lay out in the shade, suffers from seasonal allergies, gets frequent hot spots and pants constantly.
  • NeutralIf your pet doesn’t run warm or cool, we recommend a neutral diet. This will maintain your pet’s homeostasis. This diet is recommended for pets who are happy and energetic, generally upbeat & active.

Thoughtfully Made

Side by Side diets are gently blended and minimally processed to protect the naturally occurring vitamins and minerals in all their dog-gone awesome human-grade ingredients. Their ingredients are also sourced from local US farms & they use ethically raised proteins. That means your pup is truly getting the best in every bite – no synthetics, fillers, artificial ingredients or fake junk. Seriously, it’s just made from stuff you know (check the label for yourself!).

Fresh ingredients in Side by Side pet food

Each recipe contains specific functional ingredients that have been carefully selected and intentionally combined in order to support your dog’s health from the inside out. For instance, their cooling diets contain chamomile and rabbit which help soothe internal heat and provide moisture to pets who exhibit warming characteristics. While their warming diets blend chicken, pumpkin & sweet potato to energize and warm the system in pets that exhibit cooling characteristics.

Transitioning Your Pet’s Diet

There are different ways to transition your pet over to a new food. Typically, pet parents will slowly introduce the new food by gradually increasing the amount of the new food they get over a certain amount of time. However, if you have a young, healthy pet, you are able to make a swift switch. For a swift switch, you would simply fast your pet for 1 or 2 meals when your new Side by Side diet arrives. During the fast period, please make sure your pet does get water. Once they have fasted, you can go ahead and get them started on their new diet and wait for the health benefits to begin! For detailed instructions on switching your beloved pet over to Side by Side, check out their FAQ.

Treats and Toppers

Roasted in small batches with the same great ingredients, Side by Side also makes everyday training treats & high-value reward treats (available in freeze-dried or dry-roasted)  so you can treat your pet to something truly special when they’ve been on their best behavior. Along with that, they also make toppers that you can sprinkle over your pet’s food to give their bowl a tasty & nutritional boost!

All of their treats and toppers are also classified as warming, cooling, or neutral so you can be certain that your pet is sticking to their regimen.

Side by Side pet food

If you’re looking for a new food for your fur baby, we definitely recommend checking out Side by Side. With nutrition catered towards your pet’s specific needs and high-quality ingredients, you can feel confident you’re giving your pup the best!

For any questions about Side by Side, freeze dried foods, and anything else, feel free to reach out to our team of dedicated pet parents at 1-888-7297.