April Hiking Goals

April was a bit of a lean month for my hiking/beach goal this year. I did make it to a few new places, and a few old ones as well, though.

First up was in Abbotsford, British Columbia. This was my first ever hike in Canada, and was a lot of fun. We were in the area for a flyball tournament, and there happened to be a great little trail system right across the road from the tournament venue.

Flyball tournament venue

The park was in the City of Abbotsford, according to this trail map.

We also checked out a new-to-us logging road a couple times for short hikes. The dogs enjoyed it, and I plan on exploring more soon.

Heading off up the logging road

We also made it to the beach once. It was raining lightly, but not too bad, and we spent about two hours combing the beach for agate and fossils. I left my camera at home and didn't get any pictures, though.

And, sadly, that was it for us this past month. We have been busy moving and doing projects around our new place. Between unpacking, building a fence, work (with a much longer drive), and a ton of little projects and things to do, we just didn't get out as much as I would have liked. Hopefully that will change this upcoming month!

Wordless Wednesday: Wet Spring

Helping me up the muddy hill

Four wheel drive helps in the Oregon spring mud

An Oregon slug

Tongue Out Tasty Tuesday

Ptera and Theodore Trex had some fun while sampling a recent review product.

I know some people are super grossed out by tongue pictures, because they have told me so, but I honestly don't get it. I think dog tongues are adorable.

And so are cat tongues.

The texture of cat tongues, especially, fascinates me in pictures. I found it adorable that Theodore Trex was so into this food that he chose to keep participating in the photos, even sitting pretty the whole time to get his share.

Adorable whiskers and tongue!

Nose, dog whiskers, and teeny tiny bit of tongue.

This post brought to you by Chewy.com and a review of Nutro limited ingredient canned food. I think it is safe to say that this food was a hit. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves in terms of that. (We were given this food in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.)

For the human side of the equation, I quite like this food. The smell isn't that nasty cheap canned dog food smell (where the meat is just called meat, you know what I mean). The ingredients are good, with the first ingredient being lamb, followed by potatoes, water, lamb liver, and potatoes. So I know a good deal of the food is actually the two ingredients advertised on the label. The texture of "premium loaf" is basically a pate, scoopable, no chunks, no gravy. Perfect for making little "meatballs" to hide a pill in if your dog needs pills, or great for putting on a spatula to lick off for cute tongue pictures.

The feeding guidelines say that Ptera, at 10 lbs, would need 1/3-1/2 of a can per day. Since I know from experience that Ptera eats roughly double the recommended amount for her body weight for most foods, I would start her at one can per day if we fed this as her main food, and adjust from there depending on her weight. Fed as a meal, I gave her half a can.

Good food. Good dog. Good cat.

Saturday Caturday: Cat Litter Review

Cats mean litter boxes. We love our cats, and hate their litter boxes. For years I've been using natural compressed wood pellets in the litter box rather than more conventional litters, but when I was given the chance to review a new scent of Fresh Step from Chewy.com, I decided to give it a try. I figured it would give me a chance to see if I switching back to conventional litter is a good idea, or if I should stick with what we've been doing.

We were sent this cat litter in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.

Theodore Trex is open to modeling gigs in the future

The litter we tried out is Fresh Step extreme odor control with Febreze freshness in the Hawaiian Aloha scent. When I first opened our Chewy box I could actually smell the litter. The scent is light and flowery without being heavy or overwhelming. The scent is a little too much when first pouring the litter into the box, and for the first hour or two. After that it starts to dissipate a bit. My cat explored the new litter pretty much immediately and ended up smelling like Hawaiian Aloha for a few hours, but that only happens with new litter. Each time I add a little more to his box, again, the scent is strong for a few hours, but mellows out after that.

This litter clumps really well and is super easy to clean the litter box. Something that I don't like about the pellets we've been using for years is that while you can scoop out solids, the liquids stay in the box until you clean it out (liquids cause the pellets to come apart into shavings, so you can scoop it out a little, but not much), making you need to dump the entire box more regularly. I have not smelled a single gross smell from this litter box the entire time we've been using the Fresh Step, even when cleaning. This litter is more dusty than the compressed pellets, but not as dusty as I remember from other classic cat litters.

The big downside for me of the Fresh Step is that it must be thrown in the trash. We recently moved and don't have traditional trash pick up at our new place. Things like dog poop and the cat litter box (when using the pellets made out of compressed wood shavings) can go into a large barrel for a specific kind of compost such as used when making humanure (look it up, it is fascinating and gross all at once, and probably the way of the future). Clumping litters can't be used with this kind of set up, though, so while we have been testing out this litter for review I have been needing to throw away the scoopings and the litter and bring it into town for disposal. Because of this, I think we'll be sticking with the pellets we have been using long term. However, I am absolutely saving the rest of the box of this litter to use while traveling, because I think it is a better choice for when in smaller spaces together or in hotel rooms.

WW: Jelly Belly Head

My favorite picture from the fundraiser on Easter, of Steem getting treats out of a Jelly Belly box.

Tylee's Dog Food: Part 2 #chewyinfluencer

At the beginning of this month, my dogs started eating Tylee's, a human grade cooked food exclusive to Chewy.com. This food is not dried like a kibble, so is delivered with dry ice and stored in the freezer or fridge, then thawed to feed. We were sent this food at no cost in exchange for our honest review, but we are not being compensated in any other way, and all opinions shared are completely our own. Read Part One from the beginning of the month.

Ptera and Theodore wait eagerly for their breakfast every morning.





















I used to feed just in the evening, but we moved this month (long story), and feeding morning and evening both kind of worked itself into our new routine in the new place.

Well thawed Tylee's toward the bottom of the bag- still recognizable as food, but a bit mushier than thawing one serving at a time.

Ptera does a little happy dance when I head toward the fridge with her food. I'll try to get video before the end of the month, because her flips and jumps are super cute.



The Tylee's is super high value in terms of foods for dogs. Ptera loves it SO much it is a little crazy. Koira has been getting some Tylee's as well, but more as a topper and mix in than full meals, and she absolutely loves it as well and gets super excited when she sees the bag come out of the fridge.



Theodore Trex always wants to steal some of Ptera's food. Since it isn't formulated for cats, he can't have it as his meal, but I do sometimes let him steal a bit from Ptera or give him a small amount as a treat.



Ptera has been doing great on this food. She normally gets weepy eyes when we switch food regardless of how good the food is, but she had none of that at all this time. She did lose some weight at first until I figured out exactly how much she needed to be eating, and I think switching to feeding twice a day helped as well. Now, she is looking sleek and happy.



We'll have one more update at the end of the month to let you  know our final thoughts about the food, and how everything went all month! There are tons of things I want to talk about, from weight and measuring the food to coat quality and eye weepiness. But I'll have the best possible information on all of that at the end of a full month of eating this food.

For now, I'll close by saying that Ptera is looking forward to continuing to eat Tylee's, and Theodore Trex is just disappointed they don't have a cat formula.

His expression when I told him this is dog food, not cat food.

An Awesome Easter Fundraiser

My flyball club put on an Easter fundraiser for our club yesterday, and it was pretty awesome. Of course I had to get a quick shot of each of my dogs with our photo backdrop.



No green "grass" with Ptera's picture because I forgot to get it until we were pretty much done cleaning up.

WW: Hiking in Abbotsford

I will admit that I have never gone to Canada without playing flyball, and have never done anything in Canada except play flyball (unless you count eating dinner with my flyball team or sleeping in a Canadian hotel, or stopping at a Canadian Costco to pick up tylenol). This time, I wanted to do something more. So I talked the two friends I was carpooling with to leave at the crack of dawn on Friday morning in order to arrive in Abbotsford early enough to go for a decent hike.

All of these dogs rode in a minivan with three humans on the way to Canada. An additional JRT rode with us on the way home.

The Discovery Trail started at the fairgrounds where our tournament was being held, and it led through some nice open fields down into gorgeous wooded paths.

The terriers, and the only two girls

British Columbia is very similar to Oregon and Washington, at least in the southern mainland area. I recognized most of the plants, and the forests felt familiar and much like the forests of home. We only went for a moderate hike of about an hour and a half since we needed to get the car unloaded and check into the hotel, and didn't want to tire out the dogs too much right before the tournament, but I am really glad we made the effort to get up there early.

The "littles"

Run Free Flyball Tournament in Abbotsford, BC

I spent the first weekend in April in lower mainland BC at a flyball tournament.

Ptera ran full time on a team for the first time, and ran like an experienced pro. She earned over 900 points over the course of the weekend. I only realized on the drive home that she had also earned her next title, Flyball Dog Champion Gold (FDCh-G).



This trip was pretty interesting because I packed into my van with two friends and 8 dogs between us for the trip. The amazing thing is that we all fit, and with all of our luggage that we needed, and extra crates for at the tournament venue. We also all shared a (really amazing) hotel room where the staff kindly turned a blind eye to the number of dogs we had. The hotel room had a living room, full kitchen (complete with stove, fridge, freezer, sink, microwave, and dishwasher), large bathroom, and a bedroom with two twin sized beds. Two of us took the beds, and the third crashed on the sofa cushions in the living room.



One of the friends I carpooled with debuted her dog, Flynn (who has appeared on the blog before) in flyball, earning his FD and FDX. Flynn's little fluffy butt and adorable pointed toes make me smile when I look at this picture. And none of these pictures is taken by me. I set my camera up, and then the third person in our carpool took the pictures for Flynn's mom so she could have pictures of his debut- and got a few pictures of the other dogs on the team as well, including Ptera and Remi.



The weekend was amazing in many ways, with flyball successes, some really fun close racing, a great hike on Friday, and the carpooling vanload of crazy. But it was hard in one huge, tragic way when one of our flyball friends lost her dog suddenly. While we don't know exactly what happened, we do know that it was not flyball related, and likely could have happened at any time, anywhere. So all of Region 7 spent the entire weekend seesawing madly between horrible grief and fighting back tears and the enjoyment we get from this awesome sport. Ollie was an amazing flyball dog, and was deeply loved by his person. We will all seriously miss him.

But, hard as it can be at times, I know that the best way to honor his memory is to continue in the sport, continue to celebrate the milestones and incredible moments, and to continue building relationships and enjoying the tight community that comes with running flyball in our amazing region.

At the end of the weekend, there was grief. There will be grief for a long time coming. But there was also joy, and a deep sense of camaraderie.

Hug your dog tonight. Do something fun with them. Enjoy the moments you have. Not because you never know if it might be your last together, but because every moment is deeply worth enjoying, even if you have thousands of moments more.

Easter Treat Hunt for Dogs

My flyball team (Apupalyptic) is hosting a fundraiser next weekend in Eugene, OR. We will be having a super fun treat hunt for dogs.

Our super awesome flyer

My goal in how we set up this event was to make it friendly even to dogs who are not particularly dog friendly or who are shy around crowds, groups of people, or other dogs. We will have only one dog (or one family of dogs, if the owner chooses) in the room at a time, so that they can hunt in a safe environment without being surrounded by strange dogs or people. I've always wanted to go to dog Easter egg hunts, but was never comfortable with the way they were set up, with lots of leashed dogs all searching at the same time. That isn't something that would work for my dogs. So while we are doing this awesome fundraiser, I wanted something that would make me feel safe to attend with my dog.

Anyway, I just wanted to share it in case any of my more local blog readers were looking for something super fun to do with their dogs next Sunday.

Tylee's Human Grade Dog Food Review, Part 1 #chewyinfluencer

For the month of April, I was given the opportunity to try out Tylee's dog food from Chewy.com for my dogs. Tylee's is a human grade food that comes in Pork, Chicken, Beef, or Turkey. This isn't a raw dog food, but it also isn't a kibble. Instead, it is most like a home cooked food without having to home cook it yourself.

We were given this food in exchange for our honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely our own, and we were not compensated in any other way. 



I chose the Pork flavor to try out this month. I like feeding pork when it is an option because it isn't a super common protein for dog food and my dogs seem to do well on it.



This food is required to be frozen or refrigerated. It should be thawed for feeding, or stored in the freezer if not being used. Like any meat product, it shouldn't be kept for more than 10 days in the fridge, and if it reaches room temperature, it should be discarded after 2 hours. Because of all this, Tylee's arrives at the house in an insulated box with dry ice to keep it cold. I happened to be home when our box was delivered, but I put the dry ice back in the box to see how long it would last (in roughly 60 degree weather) and there was still dry ice over 24 hours later. So I have no worries about this food being delivered while I am at work, though in the summer, I would leave instructions to place it in a shaded spot as direct sun would likely make it all thaw faster.



One of the great things about Tylee's that makes me excited to try it out is the list of ingredients. Pork heart and ground pork are the first two ingredients on the list, followed by water for processing, and then beef liver. After that are the vegetables included in this recipe, broccoli, kale, carrots, butternut squash, and pineapple. Each of those are things that Ptera will happily eat by themselves if offered (though she can be picky about the size of offered vegetables, too big of chunks and she'll spit it out). 



I opened the bag while it was still frozen. You are supposed to defrost the food before feeding, but since I have a very small refridgerator (I actually just have a mini fridge), I am keeping the bag in the freezer and using it from there. I didn't realize at first, until I reread the information about the food, that I should be measuring from the thawed amount, not the frozen amount, as the product will get somewhat smaller when thawed than when frozen. So when it says a dog should get 1 cup on the bag, it means 1 cup thawed. Since I am scooping from frozen, I just make sure to get a heaping cup instead of a flat cup, and it seems to be about perfect to compensate.



Chewy even included a one cup measuring cup for me with my Tylee's, which I have been using to scoop. You can see in these two open bag pictures that the meat and vegetables are immediately obvious. You can pick out the pieces of broccoli, squash, and carrots if you want to. I like how obvious it is that this is whole, real food. However, super picky dogs would be able to leave behind veggies if they picked through the food.




We're just getting started feeding this food, and I'm looking forward to using it for the month and sharing the experience. If you are interested in Tylee's, right now, Chewy.com is having a buy one, get one deal if you enter the code TYLEES after adding two Tylee's products to your cart. Or, just check back in with us in a few weeks to see how the dogs are doing with the new food.