Meet Mosi: The Dog That Inspired The Honest Kitchen

We sat down with Lucy Postins, founder of The Honest Kitchen, to hear more about the dog who started it all: her beloved Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mosi.

For years, Lucy’s dog Mosi suffered from chronic ear infections, sometimes so severe they led to bleeding. She tried everything to help him heal, but the flare-ups continued. Frustrated and worried, she eventually took a leap of faith: she changed his diet.

That decision, born from love and determination, set off a chain reaction that would eventually lead to the creation of The Honest Kitchen — a pioneer in human grade pet food. Lucy walked us through the early days, her connection with Mosi, and how one dog’s health struggles inspired a mission to help pets everywhere.

Mosi was Lucy’s first dog and her first puppy, raised from just a few weeks old. From day one, he wasn’t just her pet; he became the heart and soul of what would later become The Honest Kitchen.

“He was goofy, mischievous, sensitive, and incredibly loving,” Lucy recalled. “Mosi had a strong sense of independence — almost cat-like in his personality — but our bond was incredibly deep.”

Her love for Mosi led her to question conventional pet food, to spend late nights researching canine nutrition, and to take the leap into preparing food herself. What began as a single act of love for one dog evolved into a broader mission to help pets everywhere.

Lucy explained that she exhausted every available option to help Mosi. She tried antibiotics, steroids and ear flushes. While these treatments brought temporary relief, the infections always returned. And even when Mosi wasn’t actively suffering, he never seemed fully comfortable.

“As his mom, it just wasn’t enough,” Lucy told us. “I wanted more for him — not just quick fixes, but long-term wellness.”

Her background gave her a head start. She had always been interested in nutrition, and when Mosi came into her life, she began researching how to give him the best possible foundation. At the time, she was also working at a pet food company that had a somewhat holistic approach, so she understood how diet could impact health.

But the more she learned, the deeper she wanted to go.

Eventually, she hit a turning point. She began questioning whether the food she was feeding Mosi might be contributing to the problem. And once she opened that door, she couldn’t unsee it.

That’s when she began preparing his meals herself and researching the link between diet and chronic health conditions.

Lucy had a unique vantage point. Her time working in the pet food industry gave her a front-row seat to how traditional dog food was made. She toured rendering plants and manufacturing facilities. She saw how highly processed many pet foods were, what kinds of ingredients were used, and how those ingredients were treated during production.

That insight was impossible to ignore — especially when Mosi’s health issues continued.

Lucy explained that traditional kibble is often full of synthetic ingredients and carbohydrates that feed the naturally occurring yeast in a dog’s body. For Mosi, that yeast likely contributed to the chronic ear infections.

Despite trying multiple medications, the infections always returned. Lucy began to realize that unless she addressed the underlying cause, he would never fully get better.

So she made a choice.

She stopped feeding him commercial kibble and started preparing his meals using whole, minimally processed foods.

Lucy was quick to point out that The Honest Kitchen didn’t spring to life overnight. It began as a personal project — a messy, time-consuming effort to help her dog feel better.

Once she stopped feeding Mosi traditional kibble, she began preparing his meals from scratch. She cooked with ground beef, pureed vegetables, and raw chicken backs and necks. It took hours, and her freezer was always full of meat. But it worked. Mosi’s scratching stopped. The infections disappeared. For the first time in ages, he was thriving.

But there was a problem: Preparing every single meal wasn’t sustainable. So Lucy started looking for other ways to maintain Mosi’s progress without daily prep.

That’s when she discovered the power of dehydration. By using low heat to gently remove moisture from ingredients, she could preserve nutrients while creating a shelf-stable product. She began experimenting by feeding Mosi dried cranberries and other dehydrated foods, and he continued to do well.

It was a revelation.

Dehydrated food offered the same health benefits without the stress of cooking every day. And it sparked a new idea: What if there were a commercial pet food made with real, whole, human grade ingredients — just like what she was feeding Mosi?

Lucy began crafting her own dehydrated food blends and sought out partners who already made human grade products. But bringing her idea to life wasn’t easy.

Because the idea of “human grade pet food” was so new, she ran into regulatory red tape from the beginning. She needed FDA approval before she could even register her products in New Mexico, and the process was filled with confusion and delays about how to classify her new food.

In Ohio, the Department of Agriculture initially denied her application, arguing that labeling pet food as “human grade” could confuse consumers. It was a long journey, but eventually, she secured the licenses and The Honest Kitchen officially launched.

What started as one woman’s effort to help her dog feel better soon became a pioneer in a new category of pet food.

The Honest Kitchen expanded beyond dehydrated food to include homemade-inspired meals, human grade dry food , wet meals, and an evolving line of foods and treats all crafted with real, whole ingredients.

Mosi’s journey is a powerful reminder of how far pet parents will go to help their animals — especially when they’re suffering. His chronic health issues were heartbreaking, but they were also the spark that led Lucy to challenge conventional norms, dive into nutrition research, and ultimately trust her instincts.

What began as a search for relief for one dog became something much bigger: a deeper understanding of the link between nutrition and well-being, and a commitment to creating better food for pets everywhere.

 Support your pet’s wellness from the inside out: Explore our high-quality, human grade pet food.