Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube Photo: Mitch Felderhoff/YouTube

Pet food commercials are always bragging about the natural ingredients their products contain, compared to the chemicals and fillers of competing brands. But how many of those company executives would be willing to put their dog food where their mouth is?

Mitch Felderhoff, president of Muenster Milling did just that, for 30 days, from Jan. 3-Feb. 2

Muenster Milling is a 4th generation family-owned business in Muenster, TX, about 85 miles northwest of Dallas. The company makes high-quality dog foods and treats, horse food, chicken feed.

"So what prompted me to want to eat dog food for 30 days?" asked Felderhoff in a YouTube video. "We wanted to prove that we believe in what we do. We're not going to feed your dog something unless we've eaten it first."

Besides wanting to bring attention to the quality of Muenster's ingredients and process, Felderhoff wanted to make pet owners aware of proper care for their animals.

"Pets are facing an obesity crisis," said Felderhoff. "And many pet foods are made by candy companies who use the same process and ingredients to make pet food."

Meet Lucky, a rockstar pup that loves the camera, and other pets at the Harris County Animal Shelter

Muenster's line of dog food is not your average kibble and bits. It offers a variety of meals like chicken or beef meatballs, fish, and elk patties.

While it might leave Fido's mouth watering, some of it was visibly hard for Felderhoff to swallow.

"Dog food is not easy to eat. It tastes like it smells," Felderhoff said. "One of the things I did that was key is that I did do some intermittent fasting."

He also got creative. For instance he baked a hash made out of freeze-dried beef and chicken meatballs, mixed in with elk.

As he grew accustomed to the pet food palate, Felderhoff said the Ancient Grains, oceanfish, and meatballs became his favorites.

Towards the end of his dog food diet, he had a little help from his friends and family, who nibbled on some of the food in a show of support. He even had nine friends join him for his last dish of dog food.

When it was all over, 30 days of dog food led to losing 30 pounds, and helping adopt 30 dogs from the local shelter.

On Feb. 1, Felderhoff feasted on his favorite foods, including pulled pork nachos and stuffed jalapenos. No word if he took home a doggie bag.

Danny Hermosillo is the Digital News Editor for Chron.com | Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @Dannyherm1| Email him at Danny.Hermosillo@chron.com