Sundays for Dogs’ Fish Recipe: Its Unique Dog Health Benefits and Eco-Friendly Impact

At Sundays for Dogs, we’re always pushing to find new ways to bring new flavors and health benefits to the bowl, while making life easier for devoted dog parents.

As a vet, a mom of three human kids and three dogs, I know first hand how hard it is to juggle everyday responsibilities while providing your loved ones with wholesome, nutritious and tasty meals. 

The newest addition to our recipe lineup, our Fish Recipe, is finally here after years of research and development, taste tests, careful sourcing and so much more.

Here’s the story of how we decided on fish, the specific fish we’re using, and why we’re uniquely excited about this eco-friendly, healthy option. 

The unique benefits of fish — omega-forward nutrition

As a protein, fish offers unique nutritional and health benefits when compared to mammal and bird proteins. This is largely due to fish’s richness in omega fatty acids, which are healthy fats packed with vitamins and nutrients that have been proven to provide support throughout the entire body. 

Long-chain omega-3 compounds like EPA and DHA provide anti-inflammatory benefits, and excellent nourishment for skin and coat health.. As a good, healthy fat, omega-3s also provide important support for brain and joint health — and have been proven to promote memory and learning in puppies. 

Finally, in conjunction with the leanness of its protein, a diet high in omega-3s can support healthier lipid profiles, helping manage cholesterol, and keeping the body feeling full and satiated for longer — making our fish recipe an especially useful one for managing weight and keeping your dog at their healthiest body condition. 

A truly novel protein 

Fish in and of itself is a relatively novel protein, when compared to the typical chicken and beef recipes that take up the majority of shelf space. Whereas most fish recipes available today either use salmon, or a blend of ocean fishes, we’ve chosen to use a commonly available whitefish, for an even more novel primary protein.

This is important when designing a recipe for dogs with allergies — a novel protein is less likely to trigger common mammal-protein allergies. Add to this our human-grade production standards and our fish recipe is a great allergy-friendly option for dogs in need. 

Novel proteins are not  only a benefit for dogs prone to allergies! From a flavor perspective, fish is a great option to have on hand to keep the taste of mealtime from getting too predictable. Loaded with fatty acids, our fish recipe is super tasty, highly palatable, and very useful as a rotation option for picky eaters, or dogs who appreciate variety. 

An eco-friendly protein source   

Our newest recipe allowed us an opportunity to design a recipe that helps the planet! The specific whitefish we use is called silver carp, a highly invasive species which has presented a huge ecological problem to the Mississippi River ecosystem and its surrounding streams. 

Brought to the US in the 1970s to feed on algae in ponds, silver carp eventually made its way into the wild, and quickly posed a problem. By eating all of the algae in the rivers and streams, the silver carp has undercut the natural ecosystem and decimates the algae native aquatic species rely on. The silver carp has multiplied rapidly, and is able to leap over barriers, making it hard to contain.

Fishing silver carp for a food source is one of the best approaches available to manage the population numbers and help protect the native ecosystems. Silver carp is a nutritionally rich, lean protein source, and due to their location in the food chain, do not bioaccumulate heavy metals and other toxins as many predatory fish do. When we learned about the opportunity to formulate our fish recipe in a way that could benefit the planet, and more specifically the Great Lakes region where Sundays calls home, we leapt at the chance!

A recipe made to Sundays for Dogs standards 

While the fish recipe may be new, it’s made to the same high standards anybody could expect from Sundays for Dogs. 

Our Fish Recipe was developed in partnership with vet and PhD nutritionists, and is loaded with simple, wholesome ingredients. From healthy, high-quality protein, fruits, and veggies, to superfoods like kale, turmeric, and kelp, our Fish Recipe is nutritionally complete and balanced using the ingredients’ natural nutrients. We don’t use any artificial flavors or preservatives, cheap fillers, or synthetic vitamins, making it one of the few minimally processed options available. It's also super tasty for dogs, and we’ve extensively taste-tested it to be sure! 

Finally, we make all of our recipes to human-grade standards for quality you can trust in, and like our other recipes is gently cooked and then air-dried for safety and convenience. You can read more about our food philosophy here.

Fish, it’s what’s for dinner!

Our team is here to help with any questions you have about our latest recipe addition, from adding it to your orders to details about the nutritional makeup. Call or text us at 706-786-3297, or email us at [email protected]

And if you’ve not already tried Sundays, what are you waiting for! Just tell us a little about your dog, and we’ll help you find the best healthy, nutritious recipes to support today’s needs and their lifelong health.