What DVS Certification Means (and Why It Matters for Your Dog)
Part 1: Our Journey Toward DVS
If you’ve followed DoggyBag Kitchen for a while, you’ve probably heard us mention the DVS — long before we were even a Sdn. Bhd.
Back then, about 13 or 14 years ago, fresh-cooked dog food wasn’t even a thing. There was no “market” for it. So when we first approached the Department of Veterinary Services to ask if we could register, they weren’t quite sure what to do with us.
There was no category called ‘Cooked / Fresh Pet Food’. We were something completely new.
To help ourselves, we decided to get our ingredients tested in local labs and obtain Certificates of Analysis (COAs) — proof that our meats and vegetables were handled hygienically. (You don’t have to do that now, as long as your supplier already has a COA.) But back then, we were doing what we were doing what we felt, was right.
So we kept it simple: get accredited where we could and make sure every meal was nutritionally balanced. Within a few months into starting DoggyBag, we became certified in Canine Nutrition.
We also reached out to a canine nutritionist in the U.S., who helped us painstakingly balance our recipes using local Malaysian ingredients and minimal supplements. It wasn’t cheap, and importing certain vitamins and minerals was tricky — there were strict limits on what could be brought into the country.
But we kept going. We sourced locally. We tweaked. We adjusted. And slowly, our meals stabilised into what they are today — complete, balanced, and proudly Malaysian.
Still, I always wanted more.
It wasn’t enough that I knew our meals were balanced — I wanted our customers to know that that was a top priority for us.
That’s why I’m genuinely happy to see that one of the DVS requirements is to make sure all meals are nutritionally adequate. This is so important, because over the years we’ve seen some people (much like ourselves) enter the market with the best intentions but with minimal information on how their food is balanced. It has unfortunately, shed light on a trend of fresh dog food makers who serve up meals with nutritional gaps in them, and boy do big kibble companies love to point this out.
So seeing the DVS take a stand on nutritional standards feels like validation for Doggybag. It’s proof that the category we’ve been championing all these years is finally recognised. We may not have started the movement intentionally, but we like to think we helped push it forward.
After more than a decade of working toward better standards, it feels incredible to see “fresh dog food” evolve from a fringe idea to a legitimate, regulated category.
Fresh dog food is here to stay — and we’re proud to have been part of getting it this far.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll share what we did to get ourselves DVS-certified ready!
Paws Out!
Sara