Teefs

This month, I had the opportunity to review Greenies from Chewy.com with my dogs. Since my two dogs are very different sizes, I tried the ones sized for my larger dog, Koira (which ends up being the Regular size, since she is 40 lbs, and Regular is made for dogs 25-50 lbs). It is safe to use Greenies that are too big, but you don't want to use ones that are too small, so if you want to buy just one size for multiple dogs of different sizes, go for the ones meant for the largest dog you plan on giving them to.

Ptera doesn't mind getting the slightly larger size, and there is no real downside other than that she is eating a slightly larger portion. If I fed dental bones like these daily, I would either get the ones sized for her, or else break them in half. But as a dental treat given once a week or less I am not at all worried about it. Especially with a dog like Ptera who doesn't appear to gain weight no matter what you do.

I will admit, I wasn't so sure how well the dogs would like these. Koira has been offered Greenies before at a trade show kind of thing, and she took it and spit it out, and refused to eat it. But in her own home, she likes them, so I think it just wasn't a high enough value treat to eat in such a busy and stimulating atmosphere. Ptera and Koira both ate these happily. They don't last super long for Koira, and Ptera is a chewing fiend too, but they do seem to leave their breath smelling a bit fresher. Though to be honest neither of my dogs tends to have nasty dog breath. Just feeding a few of them over the last few weeks hasn't shown a visible difference in tooth cleanliness, but I wouldn't expect to see a visible difference that quickly.

Ultimately, I would likely use these again. They are long lasting enough that if I give them as I leave the house, the dogs stay occupied until after I am gone, but not so long lasting that I'm worried about them as a choking hazard (like I might be with a bone). The ingredients aren't what I would look for in a dog food, but as a part of the dogs' dental routine, I'm not worried about it. And there are wheat free options if your dog can't have wheat.


We did receive this product for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions shared are entirely our own.

WW: A Walk at Wildwood

We went to Wildwood Recreation Area (between Portland and Mt Hood) for a clinic this past weekend, and took a walk around the forest while we were there.

Pausing on a bench with our friend Stella

A Food Friday Update

Wait, what?

Koira has been spending a lot of time nappy on my be. I picked up both an electric throw blanket, and an electric mattress pad this past week. The days are too warm to make running the heater reasonable, because the house would be too hot in the day. But the nights are too cold for no heat. So we've been using the electric blankets and mattress pad instead, and Koira is taking full advantage.

Is that my treat container?

But of course I had to disturb her for a quick photoshoot, because I need to give an update on how the dogs are doing on the Nutro Wild Frontier that we are trying out this month. As soon as she realized there were some cookies (kibbles) involved, she was much less grumpy.

I think it is safe to say that both of my dogs are loving the Nutro food. They are loving it enough, and consistently enough, that I have been using it as their training treats for a lot of stuff, and they are treating it as just as high value as something like Zuke's. Since the kibbles are small, they work great for training, and I have yet to notice that nasty kibble smell on my hands after using it as treats, even after quite a bit of it passes through my hands and gets slobbered on.

I use a ViewTainer as a treat container. I can't be bothered to wear a treat pouch, because I feel like treats spill out all over every time I try. And no matter what treat you use, just putting them loose in your pocket spells getting nasty pocket gunk. The ViewTainer is a great option for me, and is pretty cheap, running just a few dollars at the hardware store (it is meant for nuts and bolts and such which is why it is at a hardware store).

And while the ViewTainer isn't the point of this post, I did realize that I don't think I've ever posted about using it before, and wanted to give a pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) tip for those of you looking for a good treat carrying method. I like using dry treats or kibble because I am bad at remembering to put things back in the fridge after training, but even wet treats work well in these. And even in my purse rattling around the treats don't spill out, even when I use a treat as small as this Nutro kibble.

Back to the kibble update, though, I have to say, I am pretty thrilled. I almost didn't review this kibble, actually, because I haven't really liked other Nutro kibble that I've tried. Not because of anything wrong with it, really, just that I have this weird aversion to the kibble size/shape that a sample of it was when we tried it ages ago, and it has just stuck with me. And I'm actually regretting that now, because if this is the quality that can be expected with a Nutro food, I've been missing out. My dogs are still thrilled at every meal. They have had zero digestive upset of any kind since starting this food, with consistent, formed stools that aren't too hard or too soft and mushy, with pretty consistent color (though the various treats and chews they get can change color a bit).

Picture of Ptera instead of dog poop, regardless of how well formed and consistent

The dogs' coats are shiny, and I actually was just noticing today how extremely soft Ptera is right now. Ptera is still shedding like mad, but she has been doing that consistently for the past six months since I brought her home, so I wouldn't expect any food to change that. Ptera has been getting a little more in the way of eye goop than earlier in the summer, but I think it is just as likely to be the change of seasons stirring up allergens as anything to do with the food she is eating. Her eyes were super goopy in the spring too, and while they were clearer over the summer, they have never been totally clear, so like I said, may well be allergies. Especially since she has been sneezing a good bit pretty much all month (again, she sneezed a bunch in the spring too, so I think she is allergic to some stuff around here).

We do still have some time left for trying this food, but honestly, at this point, I can't see much going wrong. The dogs are eating enthusiastically, whether given as a meal or as a treat. Their coats are soft and shiny. Stools well formed and consistent day to day. But we'll make sure to let you all know how things turned out for real after we finish a full month of Nutro.

Happy Birthday Ptera

Ptera turned 1 today.

BW Sunday: Cute but Crazy

Crazy masked by cute

Food Fit Friday

What we feed our dogs is important. Not so much in the exact brand or formula that we feed, but in the quality of ingredients, overall nutrition, and, most importantly, how well our dogs do while eating it. I'm of the belief, gained through feeding raw for years, that variety is an essential part of a healthy diet for my dogs. And since they are used to eating a variety of different foods, they have very few issues switching between foods.

Venison Nutro

Which is great, because it means I can opt in to review a food for Chewy.com this month and know that I will get a realistic idea of how my dogs might do on the food in the longer term.

The food we are reviewing for the month of September is from Nutro, and called Wild Frontier. I chose to review the Woodland Trail formula, which is venison based, as venison is both a meat that my dogs have loved in the past in other forms, and something they don't get often, making it a great choice to try as part of a varied diet.

The Nutro came in a box as big as Koira, making it pretty much a requirement to pose her on top of it (after I removed the bag of food, because the smell apparently came through the box and made her unable to concentrate for her picture op.

And of course, we happened to have a Chewy box from another order that hadn't been recycled yet, so I made Ptera pose a bit too.

So, starting this food, I wanted to share some of our initial thoughts so far. First, delivery by Chewy was very quick, as always. The price point that this food is at is very reasonable for the quality, with the variety we got being $52.99 right now, with free 1-2 day shipping.

The ingredients are very good, with Venison Meal and Chicken Meal as the first two ingredients. Some people don't like seeing meat meals in their dog food- I prefer it to whole meats, because the meat meal is processed and dried, meaning that when it is counted, it is at the amount that really ends up in the product, rather than as a water-laden whole meat product that gets dried out later. Having two meat meals as the first ingredients means that a lot of the protein in this food is from meat rather than other sources. Other than that, the food is grain free and contains no ingredients that I object to feeding my dogs.

About 1/2 cup of food in a teeny tiny metal food dish. 

Opening up the bag, the food doesn't have any strong smell, which I appreciate. I always feel like the strongest smelling kibbles tend to be low quality ones that are sprayed with flavoring on the outside before being bagged up. The kibbles themselves are small and flattish, making them a good size for my 10 lb dog and my 40 lb dog. I think kibble can be too big for a dog to eat easily, but not really too small, at least for my dogs. The size means that it can be used as a training treat easily as well, since there are a lot of them in a cup of food. They are not greasy and don't leave that weird gritty gross dog food feeling on the hands if used as treats in training.

Compared with a quarter, to show the size of the kibbles.

And of course, always important, the dogs seem to enjoy the flavor of the food. My dogs aren't exactly picky, but they do seem to really like this food so far.

I will be posting a few more times as we continue trying out this food, letting you know how the dogs are doing on it over the course of the month.

As always, all opinions shared here on the blog are entirely our own. We were not compensated in any way other than with the product we are reviewing. 

WW: Floating Away

Up, up, up.