Dog In The Desert's Guide To Treats- Part 1 Training Treats

Is that bacon in your pocket or did I do something right?

Lately a lot of my friends have been either getting new puppies, starting agility, or doing other things that require treats.  With so many out there (and so many iffy ones on the market) it is a confusing topic that I have been answering many questions about lately.  I thought it might be good to put all my thoughts into one place I'm calling DogInTheDesert's Guide to Treats.  Keep in mind I am very careful about what I feed my dogs, I do not support the major pet food companies and I never would feed treats made in China, so you will not find any of those in this guide.

I'm going to split this up into sections as follows-

1. Training Treats
2. Chew Treats
3. Treats to Occupy Time
4. Biscuits and novelty treats for you to let guests hand out in an effort to stop them from giving your dogs table scraps

Lets start with Training Treats

There are a lot of things to think about when you are looking for training treats.  You need a few things in your arsenal ranging from very high value to just ok, they need to be small (or in the case of chihuahuas tiny) and they need to usually be something that your dog can eat a lot of and not get sick.  For me I also want something that I can put in my pocket or training bag without getting too gross.

Many people make their own training treats.  That is commendable and sometimes I will do that too HOWEVER time is precious.  My dogs eat an entirely home prepared raw diet and that takes a lot of my time.  Rarely do I have the extra desire or ability to spend the day baking and rolling and dehydrating training treats.  If you are the make it yourself type a lot of dogs go crazy for plain ole boiled boneless chicken breast.  Chicken is pretty easy on most tummies, easy to break up and really cheap.  On the home made front another popular training treat is string cheese.  Those are easy to store in your pocket, very high value and if your dog is tolerant of cheese it is a great way to go.  Just be sure to do that in moderation as cheese is both fattening and a little hard on the tummy sometimes.  I used string cheese at agility with Kerri for about 6 months before she started throwing it up in the car on the way home but many use it with total success. 

Moving away from cooking required but sticking with "human food" there are a lot of staples that people go to.  Hot dogs are always an option.  Watch out because there is a lot of salt in hot dogs but many of the natural all beef dogs out there at the health food store are actually better for your dog than many sugar and salt filled soft dog treats out there.  They can be an option if you need something really good and don't use too much of it.  Another popular option with little dogs is plain Cherios.  Cherios are a lot of grain for my taste but they are small, visible on the floor if you are looking to throw them and good sized for littler dogs.

As far as pre-made training treats there is one thing that I recommend above all else.  Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch.  For starters it is typically irresistible to dogs.  I discovered the stuff because a friend at agility class had it and all the dogs went so crazy for it we had to borrow some to get our dogs out on the course.  When I took basic obedience with Nova the same thing happened to me but in reverse and the other owners joked I had bacon in my pockets.  The other great thing about S&C is that they are made from pretty much just ground protein, bone and organ (so exactly what I am feeding the dogs anyway).  For a raw feeder they can even replace a whole meal every once in a while without any stomach upset at all.  For those dogs with sensitivities they come in three different proteins for you to choose from and have no added anything.  The only downside to S&C Carnivore Crunch is that they crumble up pretty bad in your pockets.

Now let's talk semi-soft treats.  For the most part (other than the carnivore crunch) dogs tend to like soft training treats more than hard ones.  This can be tricky because so many of the soft treats out there are full of sugar and other things that can really mess with the tummy in high volume.  I used to love Zukes brand, but since they have been bought by Nestle-Purina I am no longer supporting their products.  Some good semi soft treats would be Cloudstar Tricky Trainers, and ThinkDog Alligator Jerky.  One warning with the jerky though- it smells really bad.  I try to avoid anything with "natural smoke flavoring" in it because it makes me want to puke.  In fact I might have actually had to pull over once after opening some of that Jerky in the car.  If you are not someone like me who is bothered by smells you have a lot more options in the semi-soft treat category.  The important thing is to read the label, don't buy anything made in China, stick to things with named proteins high on the list and avoid a lot of treats high in sugar.  Or at least reserve the sugary treats for when you are looking for a very high value treat.  I am not very brand loyal when it comes to semi-soft treats and while I do keep some in my training bag it is often whatever I picked up that looks good.

There are a few more options I would like to talk about so I'll add those here in no particular order-

• Recently Wellness came out with a line of soft treats for small dogs called Petite Treats and they seem to go over pretty well at our house with all sized dogs.  As a training treat they are actually very well sized for even a larger dog.  Along those lines Wellness Pure Rewards and Just For Puppy treats are great training treats for the slightly bigger dogs.  I get frustrated having to pull them apart into so many pieces for the chihuahuas but for a bigger dog they would be great.  Those are all available at big box pet stores so if you are looking for off the shelf Wellness might be the way to go.
• WholeLife is a company that makes a large variety of quality freeze dried treats.  I always keep their sirloin Burgers in my training bag because they are pretty durable in a pocket, easy to break into small pieces for the chis and are a good higher value treat to add variety to my Stella & Chewys.  For dogs larger than a chihuahua their other treats would be great too depending on what your dogs liked and many are low in fat and calories and would be great for the chubbier dog that is still needing treats for training.  We have tried their sweet potato, liver, cod and cheese treats- Copley has loved them all.  The pickier chihuahuas have preferred some over others- you just have to experiment based on what your dog likes.
• Kibble.  I know- to many raw feeders and people who feed a more natural diet to their dogs kibble is a dirty word but hear me out here.  If you feed kibble (or any other small dried up food like Ziwipeak that may not necessarily be a kibble) then stick some in your training bag!  Particularly for puppies it is great to use part of (or all of) their meal as training treats.  Usually for a kibble fed dog kibble is not very high value but you can always throw in something higher value every so often or just use it for lower intensity training if that's the case.  In our house where we never would actually feed kibble as a meal I will pick up sample bags of premium kibble and use it as treats.  Ziwipeak is great for that, it is a very high quality food that most dogs love and even some raw feeders use it as a backup for the days when dinner is rushed.  Just be careful if you are using kibble as treats because it is very dense, full of carbs and can bulk up a dog really fast if you are not careful.
• Max & Ruffies is a brand that makes all vegan dog treats.  Typically I like to stick with meat based treats for my dogs but these are really a great product.  While I am not in agreement with them that dogs should be fed a vegan diet- their all veggie treats are made with great ingredients that I am happy to feed my dogs.  The mini bites are the perfect size for training treats if your dog likes crunchy things.  I also love that you can just throw them in your pocket if you need to for a walk or therapy visit.  They don't fall apart and you don't end up smelling like meat.

Although over the years a few of these companies have given me free samples I was not in any way compensated for this post.  Having received probably hundreds of bags of treats via this blog I believe I am becoming a bit of an expert on what is on the market.  I decided to share my opinions all in one place and that is precisely what this is- my opinion.

Pet Naturals Hip + Joint Review and Offer

When I was contacted by Pet Naturals about doing a review of their joint supplement Hip + Joint I was very excited.  It could not have come at a better time!  I actually was looking into getting that exact product to use for Copley.  He has been on some sort of glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM for several years now and it has been really helping him.  He does not have terrible joints, but his hips are not great and he does see a chiropractor because of poor posture.  Occasionally when he over does it his knees bother him as well, and a good joint supplement has really helped him out.  For the past 6 months or so I have been using three different individual supplements (one each for the chondroitin, MSM and glucosamine).  They are marketed at humans so I open up the gell caps and split them into his meals.  That was working ok for us except that we are traveling a lot this summer both with and without the dogs.  Splitting up pills is both complicated for our dog sitter and cumbersome on the road.  I am already doing so much with carrying raw food and preparing individual servings for dog sitters I wanted a simple supplement.  After some research I settled on Pet Naturals Hip + Joint for a few reasons-

• It is one chewable for Copley.  Nothing to break up or count or mess with, just hand it to him with his dinner.  He also loves it so that's a plus.
• It has all three things I am looking for (MSM, chondroitin and glucosamine) in good amounts!  It is very hard to find a single chewable that has all three of those in high enough doses to be effective.  One of these chewables is nearly exactly the dosage I was measuring out myself, unlike many supplements that have a lot of one supplement, or no MSM.
• It is not so expensive that I feel like I need a second job to pay for it!
• It includes Manganese.  I have had a lot of luck with Nova using a manganese supplement from her vet for her LP.  I like including it in Copley's diet too.

In conclusion I love this stuff!  Copley has been on it for a few days now and it is working just great.  I plan to stick with Pet Naturals Hip + Joint even after summer traveling season is over.  It is giving me everything I need and is super convenient.

The folks over at Pet Naturals are also offering a great offer to my readers!  The first 100 people who visit www.petnaturals.com/hipandjoint-offer/ get a FREE BAG of Hip + Joint AND a valuable coupon.  After the first 100 people you will still get a coupon, just no free bag.

P.S.-  If you are looking for a good calming supplement I have used and had luck with Pet Naturals Calming chews.  I am a big believer in L-theanine since my vet recommended trying it and Nova responds very well to it.

I was given a free product to use myself in exchange for my honest review.  As always my opinions are my own and I am always honest with my readers, particularly when it comes to things going INSIDE my dogs.  I would never recommend something I don't trust completely with my own animals.

DoggieLawn Product Review

I want to start this review out by saying that I never thought I would have a dog that was "pad trained" fake grass trained or in any other way trained to go inside my house.  No matter how small the dog was the very idea of it just seemed disgusting to me.  In fact I thought people who had their dogs trained to go inside were just plain crazy.  Copley was of course trained to go outside and Kerrigan was trained to go outside from the time she was a puppy.  It was not until I got Nova that I decided we needed to find an indoor solution (and started to realize a lot of people have perfectly good reasons for needing an indoor potty solution).  It was at the time not going to be a permanent fix but she needed a place to go when she was not yet willing to go outside.  So I put pee pads in her pen.  For a variety of reasons a year later still have pee pads in my house.  Nova only uses the pads once a day, if that.  Kerri will now use the pads if we are gone for a while but overall they are occasional use products.  We tried taking them away but then Nova would totally un-housetrain herself and the only thing worse than pee on pads that I have to pick up is pee somewhere else in my house.

When I was contacted by the folks at DoggieLawn about doing a review I was intrigued and interested in trying the product but I did not at all expect to love it as much as I did.  In fact I plan to subscribe to DoggieLawn myself at the end of the month when my grass is worn out.  The stuff is AMAZING!  Take it from a skeptic, this stuff is the best solution I've ever seen if you need your dog to do it's business inside the house.  Me and Mr.DogInTheDesert were both skeptical going into it but the grass just keeps coming through for us at every turn.

First of all it is real grass.  Just like the stuff you have in your backyard, except that it is grown hydroponically so there is no dirt.  Because it is a real plant you do have to water it.  I was a little skeptical about that.  Won't watering peed on grass make the room smell like pee?  Well I am pleasantly surprised that the stuff does not smell!  I got the petite size (it is the size that is available starting at $29 monthly depending on how often you want it) and with occasional use over two weeks you can't even tell its been used.  I can't smell anything at all in the way of dog pee.  We did have one "incident" where Nova had a slightly runny poop and even after picking it up there was some *stuff* left on the grass.  I was pretty bummed out about that because it seemed like the whole thigh would be kinda ruined by one only slightly iffy poop.  Then it occurred to me to try to rinse off the grass.  I took it out of the box, put it in the backyard and hosed it off.

As you can see it held up perfectly.  I let it dry out a little bit for a few hours, put it back in the box and replaced it in the potty corner in the dog room and it has been great since.  This is certainly not the intended use of the DoggieLawn but it does prove even clean freaks like me can use the DoggieLawn.

I think the best feature about DoggieLawn is actually the free training help they provide!  Once you subscribe you can call and schedule a time to speak to a trainer that can help you out with any issues you are having AS MANY TIMES AS YOU NEED!  That's right- they have a trainer available that will listen to your specific situation and help you get on the right track.  Just that would be worth the subscription fee!  My dogs did not need any help, I just replaced the pee pads with the grass and they went right for it, but I did talk with one of the trainers and they seemed friendly, knowledgeable and their methods of housebreaking get my stamp of approval.

In conclusion DoggieLawn is great!  Two other great uses I wanted to mention are potty training a puppy.  If you plan to have the dog go outside only, but they are still to young/unvaccinated to use your outside grass DoggieLawn would be a great alternative to pee pads because you are actually teaching the dog to go on real grass!  Seems perfect to me.  Also if you live in an apartment and want a solution that can be put on your balcony or porch DoggieLawn would be great.  Of course it also would work great for people like me who are pee pad users (or as I am now going to say used to be pee pad users before I found DoggieLawn)!

*I was given a free patch of DoggieLawn for this review but my opinions are all my own.

The Mad Stampers- My favorite tags ever!

I may have talked about them before, but I just LOVE an Etsy store called The Mad Stampers.  Their tags are cute, they hold up (a few we have are going on 18 months old and still look great), they are about the same price as the machine at Petco but better and they make really small tags that are perfectly sized for my chis.  I just got a new tag for Nova's buddy belt (pictured above), a different style than I have tried before and I had to share how happy I was with it.  I love how easy to read it is and the unique shape!  This tag is one of their regular sized ones and too big for a chis neck, but it fits perfectly with her rabies and home again tag on the harness (I ordered a big one on purpose because I wanted it to look ok with the giant rabies tag she has).  Nova has a collar tag from the mad stampers too, here is a picture of her proudly displaying it after obedience class on Wednesday.  Just to give you an idea that tag is over a year old and still looks great.

 

Kerri and Copley have their tags too, here is a shot of Kerri and Nova's tags right after I got them.  I love the selection of charms and styles they have!  Kerri got a flower because she is our fragile little flower, and Nova got the double heart stamp because she has two little angel puppy hearts watching out for her.  The price is great too, Kerri's was $9 and Nova's was $10.

Finally here is Copley's tag.  I love how rustic and adorable it is!  Plus his is bigger and fits like 4 lines of text on the back of it, legibly!

So if you are looking for a tag, you should order from The Mad Stampers, they are amazing.  

P.S.- I was not compensated in any way for this review, I paid full price for everything I bought and they don't even know I am a blogger.  I just LOVE them.

Holiday Shopping Guide

 

 Copley and his nearly 4 year old lupine collar

I know a lot of people post holiday shopping guides, but I have a lot of good ideas this year so I am going to post my list with the hopes it might help others with their shopping too!

Recommended Shopping (Stuff we have and love)-

• Barkbox!  Barkbox is a really great gift for a new dog owner or anyone looking to learn about new products.  I have several reviews on my blog (here, here and here) and have been receiving it for a long time now myself.  Some months are better than others- but every month is worth it.   I always get my money's worth in a box.  For me though the real enjoying thing is discovering new products, there are some treats and toys that we have bough more of and many have become staples in our house.  Also if you use this link you will get $5 off your first box.
• Buddy Belt- as I mentioned above we walk the chihuahuas on Buddy Belts all the time.  They are the best made, most comfortable and hardest to back out of harnesses I have encountered.  They have a non leather version called BB2 out now for the vegan folks among us or others looking to spend a little less.
• Max & Ruffy's treats-  These are great, organic treats and the Mini size is perfect for training treats and for small dogs like mine.  I also like them because if you are someone who shows or does obedience and puts treats in your mouth they are perfect for that.  They are all vegetarian and made with human grade ingredients that smell good and don't taste half bad.  My dogs who don't usually like meat-less treats love these.  I used them as the primary treats for the run of Legally Blonde with Kerrigan.  The only issue I have with their company is that they advocate a vegan diet for dogs and I don't ever believe healthy dogs should be fed a vegan diet.  So just ignore that part of the website- their treats are great.
• Star Wars!  Petco has started carrying a Star Wars collection.  Some of the items are a little overpriced and not the best quality stuff (although the t-shirts are good quality and we have two of them that have been getting a lot of use).  But come on- Star Wars!!  I got Kerri one of the cat toys that is a tie fighter on a stick and she loves crushing the empire in the living room.  I would say they are a must have for any Star Wars loving pet owner.
• Lupine Pet collars and leads-  I LOVE lupine.  They are an American company who manufactures in New Hampshire and their stiff is all guaranteed for life even if chewed.  Copley's everyday collar is the same lupine collar he has been wearing since two months after we got him in 2010.  The chis don't wear Lupine collars but they are walked on Lupine leashes and Kerri has their small step in harness for wearing over clothing.  I have bough other leashes but I don't use ant of them.  99% of the time my dogs leave the house is on Lupine.
• Planet Dog Toys-  These are some of the few dogs toys I have found that are actually manufactured in the USA (the other exceptions would be Kong and Nylabone).  Even with that said- watch out- there are a few Planet dog products (and Kong and Nylabone for that matter) that are made in China. so if that is something you care about read the fine print.  No matter where they are made I like them though.  The Orbee globe that Kerrigan has is one of her favorite toys and she has had it for quite a while.  Our blind foster dog Luke went crazy for their raspberry because it- along with a lot of their other toys- has a natural mint scent added when they make the toy- and it helped him find the toy when he couldn't use his eyes to see it.  This would be first on my list for any blind dogs out there.

I think that is most of the stuff I am loving right now.  Have fun holiday shopping!

Iams Shakeables Review- Or Anti-Review

I have noticed that a lot of bloggers have been reviewing IAMS Shakeables these past few days.  Well I don't ever accept ANYTHING from the major pet food companies, so I am not reviewing them for Iams.  In fact I wasn't going to review them at all.  But then I was reading all over blogville about how "amazing" "tasty" and "fun" they are and I decided I needed to throw my hat in the ring on this one.  I went to the store and purchased a can of the treats (they were less than $3 so it didn't break the bank) and now I am going to review them.  My basic review is this-

They are fattening, cheap, contain very little meat and I would never in a million years buy them for my dogs.  Iams is contributing to pet obesity with the size of these treats and with poor labeling practices, but at least they are not full of sugar like other treats on the market.  You could buy worse, but why buy crap at all?

 

Before I get into manufacturing practices that I find suspect lets take a go at the ingredients.  The first one is Wheat Flour followed by Glycerin.  That's right- the two ingredients that make up the primary composition of the treat is wheat flower and glycerin.  I don't have anything particularly against wheat, but it is a grain, and a lot of dogs are sensitive to grains.  Also I can't imagine that any dogs particularly love the taste of these two, cheap as shit ingredients.  Next on the ingredients list is lamb.  To that I say bravo!  Lamb is a named protein source, and a lot of dogs like it.  But it is also the reason I bought the lamb flavor.  You see a lot of people whose dogs have allergy problems buy lamb as a way to avoid chicken and other common allergens.  But you see the thing here is that the next ingredient on the list is... wait for it... POULTRY fat.  Not chicken, duck or turkey fat, but poultry fat.  That means it can be any kind of poultry fat at all.  So if your dog is allergic to chicken, these treats would be a bad idea, even though the word chicken does not appear anywhere on the label.  On top of that poultry fat is a by-product of the rendering process so who knows what really is in it.  I see people right now saying- "but I trust Iams to make sure their product is safe and they wouldn't put iffy poultry fat in treats."

Well a little research on my part finds that Iams Shakeables were actually already recalled once this year.  By recalled I mean that Iams silently pulled them from store shelves without even notifying consumers.  Here is their iffy "press release" that can only be found if you know the product was recalled and google as such- http://www.iams.com/en_us/data_root/_pdf/Shakeables.pdf

Here is a blog post about the whole situation.  I agree with their assessment that P&G was hoping no one would notice they were withdrawing the product.  Thanks for putting dogs first P&G!  http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/iams-recalls-shakeables-turkey-and-lamb-dog-treats

Still trust Iams?

Maybe you do.  Lets forgive them for a minute the "poultry fat."  It is just there after all to make the treat taste good, because glycerin and wheat flour with a little drop of lamb actually tastes like cardboard, so you need the fat for flavor.  Lets move on to a few little tidbits form the Iams website FAQ-

" Are all ingredients in Iams Shakeables from USA?

The majority of our ingredients come from the United States; there are some ingredients that are sourced from other countries."

What countries you may ask?  This FAQ might give you a clue.

"Why do you purchase ingredients from China for Iams Shakeables?

The realities of global trade means that some countries or regions specialize in certain ingredients, which can limit the buying options. We do not source meat- or vegetable-based proteins from China"

Good luck finding it in the FAQ though- they are about as easy to navigate as a corn maize.  I did learn some more information from them though.  Such as the fact that one shakeable treat is about 10 calories.  That is one thing I must thank Iams about- I was planning on trying to calculate that somehow and they saved me a lot of math. 

There too comes the other problem with Iams Shakeables.  10 calories is a lot for a dog treat.  I do use a lot of training treats, and I my dogs are not obese, but these are just HUGE.  I see so many of the dogs reviewing them online struggling with obesity.  There is simply no reason to give your dog a 10 (useless, empty) calorie treat like this.  Pictured below you will see the Iams Shakeable with equal calorie amounts of other treats I had laying around.  You will notice that one shakeable is actually more calories than a snack pack of fruitables (flower shaped treats).  The high values zukes treats I use are more calorie dense than the Shakeables, but you will see that they are small, encouraging people to actually feed less of them (those are the z's on the right).  The zukes treats easily tear in half, giving me 8 treats for every one of the Iams ones.  I tried tearing the Iams treats into 8 pieces and it didn't go great.  All I got was a crumbly mess and a broken nail.  Plus the Zukes are full of good stuff like chicken as the first ingredient and fish oil.  Dogs don't eat a lot of calories in a day, do you really want to waste 10 of them on wheat flour and glycerin?  Overall I just can't get behind these Iams treats, they don't even say on the can how many calories are in a treat!  The Kcals are there but it takes a math major to translate that into something real.  If Iams really was putting dogs health as their first responsibility they would list the calorie content per treat on the can.  It's not like they didn't know it, cause it is listed in the back of a difficult to navigate FAQ section on their website.

Also notice there was no taste test here?  Of course the dogs loved them (I broke one up for all three dogs) but the dogs love a lot of stuff, it does not mean it is good for them.  The rest of the can is going where it belongs- in the trash.

____________________________________________________

P.S- From the Iams FAQ "Are Iams Shakeables Made in the USA?" says "Yes, the Shakeables are manufactures and packaged in the USA. All of our products distributed in the United States are manufactured in the United States."

I was wondering around the store curious where Iams products are made and the first thing I picked up was this tub-

"Made in Thailand" is printed on the label.  Still trust Iams?

 

Kodak Kiosk Review

Hey everybody!  It has been very busy around here- if you follow us on facebook you will know life has been full of rehearsals for Legally Blonde, thunderstorms and minor flooding, and even an agility competition!  I PROMISE a blog post later this week about the agility- Kerri did great.

In the meanwhile I have a review to bring you guys.  This may not be a dog product specifically but stick with me here.  The folks at Kodak contacted me to do a review of their Kiosks and after learning that they have some features specifically for pets I thought it would be a lot of fun.  I am a big fan of printing pictures.  I have had several hard drive losses in my life, along with a few stolen cameras and backup drives, so when I like a picture I print it.  I am also a fan of filling my house with pictures of my family and dogs so this is right up my alley.  Plus this Kiosk is at a CVS only blocks from my house where I usually print pictures anyway.

First I wanted to talk about what a good value it turned out to be.  For only $26 and change I got two 6x8 photo collages, three 6x8 yearly calendars, one 8x10 yearly calendar and an 8x10 photo.  The final products were great.  They had calendar backgrounds with little paws on them and there were a lot of layout options for everything.  My only complaint about the final product is that the 8x10 print out on a bigger sheet and you have to cut them yourself.

The best part about this was the photo editing options for pets.  They have a special tool for reducing pet eye glare- and it worked great!  I used that feature for most of the pictures I got printed and as you can see in the example of Copley below it made a great difference.  The eye ends up looking very natural.

In the future I am going to be using their collage making feature to print out some stuff for around the house.  I was surprised how good it turned out and how easy it was to use.  Took a lot less time than trying to do something at home with my fancy image editing software.  I did print one 8x10 that needed a little enhancement.  The picture was slightly underexposed and the editing worked fine on that but not any better than what I could do myself at home.  Like I mentioned it also printed on a larger piece of paper that I now have to cut (as you can see in the picture near the top of this post).  For that reason I would not use the Kodak Kiosk to print regular old 8x10s for the wall- but for other sizes and anything with pet eye glair it will be my go to source for printing from now on.

Overall I give the Kodak Kiosk 4 our of 5 stars!  It is certainly something that I will be using in the future and I am glad I checked it out.

I received a gift card from Kodak as part of their Kiosk Review Blogger Program so I did not pay for any of the products I talked about in this review.  I was not required to write a positive review and all the opinions I expressed are my own.

Pawalla Box Review- July

Hey everybody!  Since a lot of people visit my blog looking for reviews of BarkBox I thought I would review another monthly subscription box called Pawalla (Use this link to visit Pawalla and get a $6.50 coupon).  This is the first month but so far I like Pawalla lot better than Barkbox (not that barkbox is bad, but for us I like this one a little better).  I got the full size box, but you can also get a mini.  With that coupon the mini is really cheap- I think it would be worth a few months subscription for anybody with a dog who likes toys and can eat a variety of treats.

So what comes in the pawalla box?  They say you get 7-9 full size products including "wet food, supplements, treats, essentials and a toy".  I like that they give premium wet food- and in fact one of them this month was one of those mostly meat toppers.  I feed home- made raw as you all know but I like canned food for stuffing in kongs, hiding powdered medicine in and for when we go camping.  For us the cans are more of a treat type thing and I am liking adding variety to our canned foods on hand.  Pawalla suggests using the cans as toppers to add variety to your dogs main diet.  They even have some articles on their website about the benefits of that.  Since I think variety is the spice of life (and the key to good nutrition) this idea gets a big thumbs up from me.  If you follow their guidelines and just add a little to your dogs regular food it shouldn't upset tummies either.

The toy was a fun ball, and so far the dogs are loving all the treats.  I am also a fan of the doggie wipes that came in the box.  They are made of bamboo and a lot more convenient for a purse or a pocket than others I've seen.  Since these box reviews are not really about the stuff in the box I won't bore you with reviews of each item.  I do have pictures though.  At the beginning of this post is an amazing shot of Copley-  I actually said "wait" but this smelled so good he reached up for it as I was hitting the shutter.

Sniffing the box

Reading about the contents

Everything in there

ANOTHER one of these balls to review

Potato free!  Copley can enjoy that.

This is just cooked chicken.

Individually wrapped towlettes

Treats

And more treats

 Have a great day everyone!

Bugsy's Box Review

Time to review another monthly subscription box!  They seem to be all the rage these days- and personally I love them- so  when I was contacted by the people at Bugsy's Box to do a review I was happy to say yes!

What is Bugsy's Box?  Here is what the company has to say about it-

 

"Each Bugsy's Box includes 5 to 7 items which are a variety of high quality, hand picked, well reviewed dog treats, toys, care items, healthy supplements, accessories and more surprises such as coupons which are often included as a bonus.

The idea is to let dog owners spoil their best friend with more exclusive and higher quality items which are usually harder to find in a local pet store. Not only do we save you the cost and time of actually going to the pet store but we also provide you with better items, a more exclusive selection and of course, much better prices."

The other great thing about Busy's Box is that all the treats and edibles in the box are made in the USA or Canada.  As you all know this is a must for us.

 

Copley Immideately sniffed out a carob treat sample that was in there.  You can see him enjoying it above.

Overall I give Bugsy's Box a thumbs up.  Judging by this box it is at least equal to, and perhaps a little higher quality than other subscription boxes I have tried. What was in the box you ask?  Let me tell you-

Incredibubbles-  I wish these would photograph well but they do not.  They are however the coolest thing!  They are very strong bubbles that the dogs love to chase then pounce on the ground to pop them once they are landed.  Nova LOVES them, and as you all know if Nova loves it they are here to stay.  My one criticism is that they are made in Taiwan- and are semi-edible so they seem to break Bugsy's Box's rule about USA treats a little bit.  From our perspective they are worth it though- if only because Nova loves them so much.

Eco Planet Doggie Bags-  I have been wanting to try out there for a while.  They are made out of plant material and eco-friendly.  They are the biggest, thickest, sturdiest dog bags I have seen ever!  I looked on their website and they are very reasonably priced.  They are going to be my go-to poop bags from now on.  If you have a bigger dog you should really try them.  I bet these are big and sturdy enough even for mastiff or great dane poop.

Animal Safari Toy-  I am loving this toy.  The dogs have been trying to destroy it for days and it is still completely intact.  That is saying a lot around here.

Fetch & Glow Ball-  These are pretty cool, glow in the dark balls.

YumZies Treats-  These are decent training treats and the dogs have enjoyed them in the past.  

The Barking Box- An animal cookie-like box of dog treats.

Loofa Light- The loofa toy we have all seen around but without stuffing! 

 

In conclusion I just have two criticisms for Bugsy's Box.  First I would prefer all USA toys as well as treats.  Second it would be nice if they provided websites for all the products in the box so it is easier for me to find them if I want to buy more.  That would not stop me from subscribing though, and I think they are worth checking out.

Thanks everyone!

To-Go Pet Towel Review

Modeling the towel for size

It is tiring being a model

Remember when I reviewed Poochie Bells?  Well the great people over at PoochiePets also sent me a To-Go Pet Towel to review.  Here is what PoochiePets has to say about it-

The reusable, disposable to-go Pet Towel is a 100% biodegradable drying sheet for your
pet.  It offers drying without dirtying bath towels.  Soft, compact in size, yet absorbent and
trouble-free to store and use.  Great for foul weather, after swim or bath.  Wring out, hang
dry and reuse again and again!  Each towel measures 17"x 31.5", great for all breeds.

Short story - LOVED IT.  Going to buy more.

"Help me"

Long story- Honestly I wanted to use it twice before I reviewed it because as you know I like to be thorough and only recommend the best products to you guys.  After all I am in this blogging thing to help other dog owners not to blindly say I love any free product I get.  Well I washed the dogs once- then...  You see I don't wash my dogs very often.  Under normal circumstances I do it every 6 months.  My dogs just don't get stinky!  Dirt gets on them and it just seems to fall right off.  Since we ditched kibble all dog odor left them and the only reason I have for washing is getting out excess hair.  It has been cold and I decided it just was time to publish this post even without a second bath.

What have I ever done to you?

"But Annie- don't your dogs ever get muddy, or go out in the rain, or jump in the lake?"  I live in the desert so no.  I think it rained once a few months ago, don't really remember, but puddles didn't stick around.

Is it over?

For those occasions when my dogs DO get wet I really liked this towel.  It was very absorbent, and after I washed one dog I just wrung it out and used it to dry the next one.  It is meant to be re-usable several times but also disposable and I like that for traveling.  It is the kind of thing I can use over and over but if it gets gross I won't feel bad tossing it.  It was a nice size for drying everyone, and it would even be good for a bigger dog.  The best part, particularly for traveling, is that it dried very, very fast.  What more is there really to say about a towel?  I am going to but a pack of these towels to keep in my camping stuff and a few singles for the car.

I have loved every product I have gotten from PoochiePets so far and can recommend them totally!  I also hope you enjoyed the hilarious bath-time pictures.

PoochieBells Product Review

Last month the people over at Poochie-Pets contacted me about reviewing a few of their products.  I could not have been more excited because they are the makers of PoochieBells, the dog doorbells!  I have been thinking of buying bells to train the dogs but for some reason or another never got around to it till now!

I don't know why I waited this long because it was so incredibly easy to train the dogs to use the bells.  My dogs are already house-trained so I just hung the bells on the door and every time they wanted to go out I brought them over to the bells and had them nose touch them before I opened the door.  Foster dog George (who was adopted last week YAY!!) caught on to the bells in less than an hour, he was ringing consistently by that night.  Copley took more like three or four days to understand he should ring bells not just scratch at the door like before.  Kerri was a little harder to sell on the bells.  At first she was not crazy about the noise and didn't want to go near them.  I put the bells on the floor with some treats around them and soon she was happily rummaging around the bells to get the treats.  Then I hung the bells on the door and just like I did with the other dogs I would see she wanted to go out then lead her over to the bells. I have to admit it took Kerri almost a week and a half before she was consistently using them, but now that she is I am so happy!

What I love about PoochieBells-

• PoochieBells are made in the USA with custom, lead free USA manufactured bells.  If you read this blog regularly you know I am all about responsably manufactured products made in North America!  The bells even have a cute little paw on them to let you know they are authentic PoochieBells.
• When we go out of town I will be able to bring the bells with us!  This is a HUGE plus for me.  We often travel to cabins and other peoples houses creating a real quandary for the dogs.  They never know what door to ask to go out and it is usually up to us humans to predict when they need to go.  I can't wait to travel with them, it will be so easy!  I will be able to hang the bells and the dogs will have no question about what door to go to.  Skeptical?  Don't worry dear blog readers, I will be sure to let you all know how it goes the first time we go out of town.
• They work for my tiny dog.  Kerri weighs less than 6lbs and she has no problem at all reaching the bells.
• I can finally hear the dogs wanting to go out 100% of the time!  Copley was trained to scratch the door to go out, Kerri was trained to bark (because I could not hear her tiny little feet scratching the door) but also would get frustrated when I didn't notice THAT is what she was barking about and would start pawing at the door.  Foster dog George just sits by the door because I didn't want him pawing at and scratching it up!  With 3 dogs doing three different things it was very confusing and I often went to let dogs out only to find they were just playing near the door and had no interest in going anywhere.  Finally we have a consistent way for our dogs and any future foster dogs to all communicate to me in a clear way.
• The bells are attractive on my door.  Now that the dogs are trained I am thinking of moving the bells to a hook next to the door. My main reasoning for that is my door is glass in the middle and from time to time Ben closes the door a little hard and I am worried about the bells hurting the glass.  Luckily Poochie-Pets carries a selection of really nice hooks too!

Wow!  I had so much to say great about Poochie-Bells that I didn't even get to my review of the To-Go Pet Towel!  Look out for a post about that next week.  In the meanwhile if you would like some PoochieBells of your own visit http://www.poochie-pets.net/

Poochie Pets sent me my sample of Poochie Bells and the To-Go Pet Towel to review. however all of the opinions are my own.  I would still be saying great things about their products even if they hadn't sent me a sample!

BarkBox Review

Hey everybody!  I have decided to review Barkbox again this month because it IS that time of year when everyone is looking for gifts and I am so happy with BarkBox I think it would be the perfect holiday present for the doggie friends in your life!  If you are not familiar with BarkBox you can read my other reviews for August and September.  As always you can use my link to get $5 off your first box!

I have been more than happy with the boxes these last few months.  We get fun treats, fun toys and cool other stuff to try out.  Whatever I don't like I just bring to adoption events and drop off with the other foster families- but that is actually not very much stuff.  I think in the long run the boxes are actually saving me money because I wait to buy dog toys until I see the box so I am not doing a lot of over shopping like I usually do.

Lets get down to reviewing the box!

1. First the treats.  They were Fruitables brand- we LOVE fruitables around here.  Mostly I buy them for the rats but these soft treats were a big hit with the dogs too.  My dogs are not terribly excited about the more biscuit-ey style of fruitables but they loved these.  Plus they were a festive pumpkin flavor for the holidays!  Fruitables are made in the USA with good ingredients so they pass my rather rigorous inspection process for good treats.
2. Acadia Antlers.  We have gotten antlers before from BarkBox, and just because we love antlers ourselves.  The antler this month was a antler on a rope and the dogs loved it just like they love every antler they see.  Despite it's size this antler has lasted a long while- but it may have something to do with the giant moose antlers we just got distracting the dogs.  Either way this gets a big thumbs up from us!
3. Mr. Barksmiths Cool Treat Smoothy.  This was fun I guess and the dogs like it and it has good ingredients but I don't think I would buy them.  They are just fruit puree in a cup.  I can puree my own fruit and freeze it for much cheaper than these things are.  For inclusion in the BarkBox they are cool, but other than that ehhh.
4. Bionic Bone.  This bone is a huge hit!  In fact I would recommend them to people with dogs who like licking stuff out of kongs and the like.  It is very similar to a kong in that you can freeze it and stuff stuff in it and it is somewhat indestructible, but I like it because the holes seem a little more ergonomically designed for a dog to get their tongue into.  Copley can really lick this clean all the way down.

That was all of the "stuff" in the box but this month we also got a $10 gift card for Mr. Chewy, a $10 gift card for Dog TV and $10 off dog sitting at rover.com.  That is $30 worth of free stuff!  The dog TV is really fun/cool/love it and that will be getting it's own review soon.

Overall I must say this is my favorite BarkBox yet!  I think the company is really listening to its subscribers and they are making a better and better product every month.

*BarkBox did not pay me for this review, I signed up on my own, but if you use my link I do get free stuff.  In addition though you get $5 off so it is a win-win.

Bark Box Review Month Two

I wasn't going to review Bark Box every month but a few people have asked me about this month so I decided I would give it a little attention.  If you have not heard of Bark Box before take a look at my last post so you can see what it is all about.

If you want to subscribe you can use this link for a $5 discount on your first order.

Overall this month was great- Barkbox seems to be a good value still and I am enjoying finding new stuff.  So far I have bought more of 3 items I have received in the box because I like them so much.  Just for the "finding new things" factor barkbox is worth it for me.  On top of that I think I am actually saving money in the long run because the fact that the barkbox is coming stops me from buying any dog toys during the month when I am out and about.  So there you go- another bonus is that it can help to curb your bad buying habits by giving you something new to look forward to instead of trying to satiate your need through retail therapy.

Copley enjoying a Bully Stick

I will get right down to the review and talk about what I got in this months box in order of most looked to least liked. 

• Barkworthies Bully Stick.  This has to be our favorite because Copley LOVES his bully sticks.  I don't think I really have to tell you how many of them we go through around here and I will never turn away a USA made bully stick.  I do have to admit that bully sticks are the one thing I buy made with South American beef.  I just can't find them made with US beef AND processed in the US.  I can find US beef processed in Mexico and South American grassfed beef processed in the US.  I have chosen South American grassfed beef processed in the US as the safer option for us.  This bully stick was one of those types.
• Whole Life Pet Organic Freeze Dried Sweet Potato.  We got a whole bag of those and a little sample of their chicken.  These are great- Kerrigan loves them and she is not the type to eat just anything.  Unfortunately Copley is allergic to sweet potato so he can not partake.  The good news for him is that I checked out Whole Life Pet, loved them, and already ordered and received some of their Organic Freeze Dried Chicken and Copley does love that.  The hermit crabs love the chicken too.
• Wag.com coupon for $10 off your first order.  There was no minimum purchase on this and the fine print was minimal so it really was nice.  I already used it to buy a bag of Whole Live Organic Chicken treats that I just talked about.
• Zukes Z-bones.  Copley is allergic to these dental bones so I don't buy them for the dogs.  I DO get the tiny ones for the rats.  They have a good time with me tying them up in hard to get places or putting them in bird shredder boxes so they have to work really hard to get them.  I like zukes as a company and use lots of their products.  I did let Kerri eat this one but she had to sit in my lap with it so there was no chance Copley could get it.  She LOVED it but I have to admit the smell was a little strong for her to chew it in my lap.  On the up side I did get this adorable picture you saw last week while she was eating it.

The bottle should not stick out like that

• Zigoo Pets Crinket Toy.  I don't think I am using this correctly.  It is a toy you are supposed to put a water bottle into so your dog can play with it without destroying the bottle right away.  I was excited because my dogs love empty water bottles but I can't find a bottle that fits in it and just got frustrated.  As you can see I did manage to shove a too big bottle in it and the dogs mildly enjoy it.  I can see how a bigger dog would LOVE their bigger model and how it would be easier to find a bottle to fit in that one.  Personally I think they should ship it with a recycled bottle already in it to save people the aggravation.  This toy got an ehhh from us.  Also I saw what they are trying to sell them for and I would never pay that.  You win some you loose some I guess.  Other reviewers are talking about this toy like it is the best thing since sliced bread so maybe it is just my inability to see how to work it.
• Also we got a single wet wipe sample from LA fresh- it was just one so not enough to either add value or for me to really review.

Lastly I was not paid for this review but I DO receive a free barkbox for everyone who subscribes using my $5 off link.