Who Inspired Us
Written by Marie-Luise Smith
The name Wolfried is, in part, a nod to Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, the Prussian king who profoundly shaped the region I come from: Berlin. What struck me was not his power or politics, but how he lived with his dogs.
In an era when animals were rarely regarded as individuals, Friedrich treated his dogs as beings. Not symbols. Not property. Not projects. That way of seeing, direct, unromantic, and deeply attentive, felt immediately familiar. It cuts against a disconnect that still defines much of how dogs are treated today.
Dogs are not ornaments. They are not lifestyle accessories. They are not problems to be optimized. They are living beings with needs, limits, and agency. And they deserve better than what most of the modern pet market offers, both to them and to the people responsible for their care.
Wolfried is not a trend. It is a return. A return to intention. To question without allegiance. To rigor without theater. Not “clean” promises or clever packaging, but work that holds up under scrutiny.
About Me, The Founder
When I say “life is about the dogs,” people tend to assume exaggeration. Or obsession. Neither is accurate.
Our life is the dogs. Structurally. Practically. Deliberately.
We live with five dogs of different sizes, ages, and (special) needs at all times. All of them have taught us more about care than any certification ever could. Not because they're just inspiring, but caring for them is also demanding. Care is not a trend. It’s a sustained responsibility.
Wolfried did not emerge from branding exercises, but from a market gap we encountered ourselves when we needed help caring for our dogs. Over the past fifteen years, we’ve had eight dogs, never fewer than five at once. I was the child who was told “no” when I asked for a West Highland White Terrier. My response was simple: When I grow up, I’ll have all the dogs in the world.
I meant it. I still do. It’s just that my scientific degree in Psychology has taught me the difference between devotion and disorder.
Wolfried is not a lifestyle brand. It is a lived one.
The Turning Point
There is a certain irony in my path. I am the daughter of a radiologist who practices with humility, who understands the patient as the most important variable in any medical system, and who has always held a balanced view of both Schulmedizin and natural approaches. Disciplined thinking, evidence, and restraint were familiar to me early on. And yet, for a long time, I trusted the pet health systems, predominantly the pet food industry, in place, and set most of my doubts aside.
When I eventually turned my full attention to canine health, I returned to what I trust most: research, pattern recognition, and restraint.
In the years before that, I had been caring full-time for my disabled mother. That chapter demanded everything. Only later did I recognize how much it delayed a closer examination of the pet health landscape itself. When I finally did, the picture was sobering.
Conventional medicine often manages symptoms without addressing foundations. Holistic spaces often replace rigor with belief. And between them sits the truth—context-dependent, uncomfortable, and rarely marketable.
That is where Wolfried begins.
What Wolfried Stands For
Wolfried practices non-dogmatic canine health and guardian-informed care.
Our stance is food first. Always. No supplement, tincture, or protocol replaces real, species-appropriate nourishment. Anything we create or recommend exists to support that foundation, not distract from it.
We formulate to complement personalized raw and fresh diets. We do not design products to compensate for ultra-processed feeding. We build on biological intent, not industry rebranding.
Everything we offer is transparent. Straightforward. Grounded in evidence where evidence exists, and honest about limitations where it does not. No mythology. No absolutism. No promises that bypass physiology.
We call that Realistic Holistic™ because clarity matters more than claims. And because informed guardians deserve the full picture, not a narrative engineered for comfort.
If you’re still reading, you likely recognize yourself here.
That tells us enough to begin.