Happy Halloween!

Monster costumes seemed appropriate!

Happy Halloween! Are you doing anything fun with your dogs? We did our dressing up this past weekend, so don't have any plans tonight (except to work on brushing out some mats on a new foster dog).

Gourds

We got a little into the fall spirit with Pumpkin Pour Overs, from Honest Kitchen. These are basically little meal toppers that are a gravy-like consistency.

They make a fun stack.

I often add pumpkin or pumpkin powder to my dogs' food, especially when traveling, because it can help with loose stools (which can be caused from traveling and excitement). These are just another fun option.

No, I don't have four dogs. But I do prep food for Ptera and Flight for dinner and breakfast at the same time, then put breakfast in the fridge until morning.

Overall, my dogs were fans of these. They like pumpkin in general, and enjoyed these. The only thing I didn't like much was opening the containers. They say to rip open, but I definitely needed scissors to open them up. They are a fun way to let your dogs get in on the "pumpkin spice" craze of the fall in a way that is safe and healthy.

Monsters! So scary!

Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

We were provided with the Honest Kitchen toppers from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review, but were not compensated in any other way. 

Happy National Cat Day! #chewyinfluencer

Happy National Cat Day!

If there is one thing Theodore Trex wants to get to celebrate, it is wet food. He loves wet or canned foods so much, and it is great, because they are good for him! Feeding exclusively dry food can be dehydrating to cats in particular, because they are so picky about their water. For male cats, this can contribute to problems like urine crystals.

I still feed some dry food, because it is just so easy. And I like putting it into his food dispensing toys so he gets some activity and stimulation during the day when I'm off at work. But we try to have at least one meal per day as wet food.

For October, Chewy.com sent us Pristine grain free cat food, in pouches, for Theodore Trex to try out.

Pristine grain free wet food

Theo is really enjoying this food, and excitedly mews at me as I open the pouch and pour it into a bowl for him. He is excited enough that he has grabbed the bowl and yanked and spilled it when I go to set it down for him. Silly boy. He always licks the bowl clean, and seems to really enjoy this food.

Chunks with gravy

I like that this food has a great list of quality ingredients, and is a healthy addition to my cat's diet. The pouches are reasonably convenient, which is nice. I normally pour some hot water into the pouch and shake a little to get any clinging bits out- and adding extra water for Theo doesn't hurt.

How does your cat want to celebrate?

Our New Car #chewyinfluencer

Back in late May, I sold my minivan and purchased a little Honda Fit as my new all-around vehicle. The van was fantastic, but with my daily drive to work, the gas mileage wasn't ideal.

Very blue

The Honda Fit has way better gas mileage than my minivan did- almost twice as good- but way less space. I've been experimenting for the last few months with the best set up that keeps the dogs safe and contained, and all of our gear accessible but secure.

Very green

In July, I purchased two used crates for the car. One is a green Impact crate, and one is an older aluminum Bob McKee crate that is less pretty but just as functional. These crates will keep my dogs much safer in case of an accident, but also are much easier on my hands, as they don't use squeeze latches like our previous car crates.

Snug and secure in her Impact crate

This month, we added a Frisco Quilted Water Resistant Hammock Car Seat Cover, courtesy of Chewy.com. It might seem silly to put a hammock car seat cover into the back seat when my dogs ride in crates, but really, it is genius. (We were provided with this car seat cover in exchange for our honest review, but were not compensated in any other way.)

Flight in the Bob McKee crate

Adding the hammock means the seats are protected from scratches from the crates, and from any dirt, grime, or water as the dogs hop in and out of the car. The hammock also allows the crates to sit more securely, without the risk of tipping into the open foot space. (Ideally, the crates will be secured with cargo straps soon, but I am still working on good anchor points.)

Back to back crates

The two crates manage to fit back to back just barely, and you can see that the hammock, at the bottom of the picture, stops just below the air holes in the crates, allowing for plenty of airflow.

All my extra gear is tucked in around and under

The hammock also allows me to tuck commonly needed dog gear in next to the crates without worrying that it will slip down into the cracks of the seat or onto the floor, never to be seen again. In the above photos, you can see toys, towels, leashes, and treats tucked in next to the crates. It also leaves the floor space clear to stash stuff and stay tidy. Each side of the car has one locking lidded box- one is emergency car gear, one is a first aid kit. These are easily accessible but out of the way. I also have extra blankets tucked under the back seat, as well as the sun shades I use in the summer. In between the front seats, I can reach back to the foot space and access a small trash can I have stashed there, as well as some bottles of water, or other gear I want handy but not piled on the passenger seat.

Koira lounging in the back

The big thing I haven't figured out yet is the best way to travel when Koira comes along on adventures. I've debated a seat belt in the front seat (with the air bag off, of course), but that means no passenger can sit there. I can put her in the green Impact crate, but it is tight, and means Ptera and Flight have to ride together in the Bob McKee kennel. For this beach trip, I tossed her beg in the hatchback area, next to the three gallon water jug and my camera bag, and she was happy enough. I would love a more secure solution for her riding with us, though.

Overall, I am really happy with our set up so far. I am sure it will continue to evolve, but it is in a great place right now. The quilted car seat cover was a fantastic addition to our set up, and I would absolutely recommend one to anyone else, even if your dogs ride in crates. This particular one is very sturdy, and doesn't feel cheap at all. It has held up great over the last month against rain, mud, sand, and water, and it was super easy to install.

How do your dogs ride in the car?

PetKind Bison Tripe Treats #chewyinfluencer

This month, we tried out PetKind Bison Tripe Treats, courtesy of Chewy.com.

Many fun things happening on the beach.

These treats come in a bar of jerky form, which is fantastic for me. While training Rally, I like having small treats ready to give out. In real life situations, I prefer having a large chunk of treat that can be broken or ripped into small pieces to give as rewards. I feel like having something big and visible to show the dogs can help with motivation on a recall, and it is easier to find in a pocket.

Flight is a goof, with a pretty good recall

The tripe jerky treats break pretty easily, with just the occasional one being in a stringy part of the strip and needing to be ripped off as a long, skinny piece instead of a small chunk.

Boing

The dogs are very willing to work for these treats. And, bonus for the human, despite being tripe, they don't smell like you are carrying something dead around in your pocket.

My girls

Overall, we really liked these treats, and would happily use them again in the future.

Pretty girl

We were provided with these treats in exchange for an honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.

I and Love and You #chewyinfluencer

This month, we had the pleasure once again of working with Chewy by reviewing an item from their site. Our pick this month was a three pack of I and Love and You treats.

We did receive these items in exchange for our honest review, but we were not compensated in any other way.

The item description does say it is three bags of jerky treats, however, we received two bags of jerky treats and one back of Fresh All Rover Breath Bones. This appears to have replaced the Beef and Lamb recipe jerky treats that the description included.

Despite the substitution, the dogs really enjoyed these treats. The Breath Bones were actually quite the hit with all three dogs- with a bag of three bones, each dog got to try one. Ptera had hers at work for her afternoon snack, so no pictures of her enjoying it.

The jerky treats were also a big hit. They are easy to break into smaller pieces, and not crumbly, which I really like. The pieces they come in are pretty big, and I broke them into quarters for the most part.

The bags themselves all had some issues ripping open, where they didn't rip down far enough for me to actually open the bag without needing scissors. But, I think that may be something of a personal problem. And it isn't hard to grab a pair of scissors to open the bags if needed (or even just be careful when opening the bag to rip down far enough).

Overall, the dogs were a big fan of these, and I think they are a great addition, both as a chew treat for the breath bones, and as training treats for the jerky.

Dental Health Month #chewyinfluencer

For February, I was given the opportunity to try out and review two different dental chews for dogs, fitting for Dental Health Month. This is the second of our two reviews. Check out our first review here. (We were sent this product in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.)

The biggest thing I did in February to help my dogs' dental health was take them in for vet visits. Ptera was cleared as not needing a cleaning. We scheduled Koira for a dental cleaning for early March. As much as things like brushing your dogs' teeth and giving dental chews can help with dental health, nothing compares to having them go in to the vet for a full professional cleaning.

Dental chews are something that are sized to the dog, so I had to choose if I wanted to give them to Ptera or Koira. Ptera comes to work with me some days and waits in her kennel, so I thought having dental chews that take a little bit to get through would be nice for helping keep her quiet when she gets put back in the kennel after our lunchtime walk, so I decided to order the chews sized for her.

Sad pup in kennel

We tried both Whimzees and Greenies. I posted a review of the Whimzees earlier. For the Greenies, we ordered the Petite size, which ended up being perfect for Ptera. The Greenies were also a much bigger hit with her.

Waiting eagerly

Taking it gently

Om nom nomming her Greenie

Both the Whimzees and Greenies have similar ingredients. The Greenies were a much bigger hit with Ptera. They don't take very long for her to eat, but longer than just giving her a treat. Both chews did a bit to freshen her breath, though it is hard for me to tell if they did much for her teeth since she already has pretty good teeth.

In the future, we will probably stick with the Greenies over the Whimzees simply because Ptera likes them better.

February Dental Health Month #chewyinfluencer

For February, I was given the opportunity to try out and review two different dental chews for dogs, fitting for Dental Health Month. (We were sent this product in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way.)

The biggest thing I did in February to help my dogs' dental health was take them in for vet visits. Ptera was cleared as not needing a cleaning. We scheduled Koira for a dental cleaning for early March. As much as things like brushing your dogs' teeth and giving dental chews can help with dental health, nothing compares to having them go in to the vet for a full professional cleaning.

Dental chews are something that are sized to the dog, so I had to choose if I wanted to give them to Ptera or Koira. Ptera comes to work with me some days and waits in her kennel, so I thought having dental chews that take a little bit to get through would be nice for helping keep her quiet when she gets put back in the kennel after our lunchtime walk, so I decided to order the chews sized for her.

Sad puppy waiting in her kennel at work, treat bags on top for her breaks.

First up, the Whimzees. These came in a large bag, which is awesome. Lots of chews means being able to give them regularly without spending very much. We went with the x-small size, which is pretty tiny. We probably could have gone with the small and been fine, but the x-small are find for Ptera. I wouldn't give them to any larger of a dog than her, though.

The ingredients on the Whimzees seem pretty similar to most dental chews, being mostly starch. I don't give these for their nutritional content, so I don't mind giving something like this occasionally.

You can see the Whimzee chew on the bed next to her, being ignored.

Unfortunately, Ptera didn't care much for the Whimzees. She would only eat them if I broke them in half (I think it gave them a stronger smell), and even then would sometimes ignore them. They didn't do much for occupying her since she wasn't very interested in them. In terms of dental health, Ptera had pretty good teeth to start with, so it is hard to tell any differences. Her breath was better after eating one of these than before, though, which is something.

Halo Live-a-littles #chewyinfluencer

In January, we also had a chance to try out and review Halo Live-a-littles. These are chunks of freeze dried chicken, and are basically dog crack. Ptera and Koira both totally lost their minds for this stuff. A friend's dog went hiking with us, and despite being a super picky dog who has never taken treats from me before, she happily chomped some of these.

Halo Live-a-littles

Unlike many freeze dried treats, these ones aren't too powdery and don't splinter apart. They are breakable, though not easy to break into small pieces. I was easily able to break the larger chunks in half to share between two dogs.

Overall, the dogs loved these things. I don't find the size ideal for doing lots of training, but they are perfect for things where I want a high value reward, such as for recalls when hiking. The container is also great, and will be getting reused for treats around here once it is empty.

As usual, we were given this product for free, but were not compensated in any other way, and the content of this post is 100% our honest opinion.

Benebone #chewyinfluencer

"But dis is mine"

This month, Koira tried out the chicken flavored, jumbo sized Benebone from Chewy.com. A dog her size, 40 lbs, can have the regular size, but I wanted to try out the jumbo size for her and see how she liked it. I'd say she loves it. She immediately started chewing on it after I took it out of the package, and has been chewing on it off and on all month.

You can see that this is going to last quite a while, since after a month it has minimal damage. This is a month of chewing, leaving it outside in the rain, and generally just using it with our normal daily routine. Koira is not a super heavy chewer, and she doesn't just go to town on this for a ages at a time.

"Mine"

Overall, Koira was pretty pleased with the Benebone this month, and I was too. We'll be getting plenty of use out of it.

We did receive this item in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely our own, and we were not compensated in any other way.

Ziwi Venison Rewards #chewyinfluencer

Ziwi Venison

This month, we had the chance to try Ziwi Good Dog Rewards Air Dried Venison Dog Treats. These treats are made from New Zealand Venison, and have additional ingredients like green mussel. They aren't freeze dried, so aren't crumbly. They are easy to break into smaller pieces for training.



With great ingredients, it is no surprise that the dogs absolutely love these. Actually, the cat is pretty interested in them too. At around $10 for a 3 oz bag, they aren't super cheap, but you get a surprising number of treats in the bag for that. I would be happy to buy these again in the future.

We were provided with these treats in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way, and all opinions are entirely our own.

Tidy Cats #chewyinfluencer

Easy to use instructions on the box

Do you ever travel with your cat? Or set up your cat in a room/part of the house while you have visitors over? This Tidy Cats disposable litter box is perfect. It comes prefilled with clumping cat litter, and the entire box can be thrown away when no longer needed.

I've stayed in a hotel with my cat before, and it isn't the easiest thing ever to carry a litter box with you (gross if you bring the one from home, even after cleaning it completely, or you buy a new one just for the trip), plus litter. This easy-to-use litter box makes it easy and clean to transport a litter box with you on a trip. Or, it can be an easy additional litter box for your home when you add a new cat, temporarily need to seperate your cats, or set up a cat in a room different from normal due to visitors coming over.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of these if we travel in the future.

We were given this product for free in exchange for our review, but all opinions are entirely our own and we were not otherwise compensated.

Crave Dog Food #chewyinfluencer

This month, we chose to review Crave dog food from Chewy.com. The formula we chose was Lamb and Venison. We received this food for free in exchange for our honest review, and were not compensated in any other way.

The ingredient list is so-so. The first ingredient is lamb, followed by chicken meal. Venison meal isn't actually on the list until after chickpeas, split peas, potato protein, and alfalfa meal, so I am not too confident about how much actual venison is in this food in relation to the other proteins. That said, there is both deboned lamb and lamb meal in addition to the chicken meal, and no by-products are listed.

Both Ptera and Koira really liked this food. The kibbles are flat and round, larger than I like for doing training with Ptera, but still relatively small.

Overall, I am happy to feed this food, but it probably will not be making it into our regular rotation of food. However, I wouldn't hesitate to feed it again if it was on sale for a great price (currently just over $40 for a 22 lb bag, which isn't horrible but also not awesome for price in my opinion).

Dave's Canned Dog Food #chewyinfluencer

Canned food isn't something my dogs get a ton of. With no medical issues requiring it, Ptera tends to eat kibble most of the time, while Koira eats raw most of the time. That doesn't mean I don't like using canned foods sometimes, though. I always like to keep a few cans on hand for emergencies like dental issues or hiding medicines. This month, I had the opportunity to review Dave's dog food, a brand that I have actually never tried or heard of before (we were not compensated in any other way and all opinions are entirely our own). I decided to try the 95% beef option.

Leading up to the flyball tournament earlier this month, I actually put Koira on a diet of this canned food plus Crave kibble every other day, alternating with raw elk meat. I like having her on a kibble food when we travel since it is so much easier, but I feel like she does better on raw food, so this was the compromise. She ran great at the tournament, so I think it worked fine.

I've also been using this food to stuff Kongs for Ptera when I leave for work in the morning. I've been crazy busy this month (hence falling off the face of the internet for most of the month), which means Ptera hasn't been doing as much as she should be. I reduced her kibble from 1/2 cup twice a day to 1/3 cup twice a day, fed in a Kong Wobbler. Then, I added a kong stuffed with Dave's 95% beef canned food and a little kibble, frozen. The Kong Wobbler for actual meals and the stuffed kong for a snack give Ptera something to do with her brain while I am gone for the day and help keep her behaving herself. She seems to really like the food in the kong, as they are always licked clean when I get home. She used to ignore them when I left her with stuffed kongs, so I don't know if she just really likes this food or if she is learning to enjoy food toys without me.

I am super happy to feed this food. It is a normal pate texture, but doesn't smell super gross when you open the can, and it stuffs well without being too messy. The ingredients are pretty basic and boring, just enough extra added minerals and vitamins that you know it is a balanced food. I would much rather stuff a kong with this than with peanut butter! I would be happy to continue using this food in the future.

Chewy Review: Nutro Wild Frontier #chewyinfluencer

A while back, we did a full review of Nutro Wild Frontier in a venison flavor (officially called Woodland and Trail recipe). This month, we had the chance to review a different formula, and chose the Cold Water recipe, which is a fish and chicken food. We were given this food in exchange for our honest review.

Waiting for foodstuffs is so hard

My absolute first reaction to this food was being thrilled at the size of the kibble. The kibbles are a really nice, small size, and rounded in shape. I might be a little obsessed with kibble size and shape right now, because we've been doing training with meals. Smaller kibbles mean more treat opportunities before we run out of meals. And the rounded shape is easier to handle than kibbles that are triangular or square.

Tiny little kibbles

A 4 lb bag of this food, which is what we were sent, has lasted Ptera about two weeks at one cup per day. On Chewy.com right now, this bag costs just over $17, which makes a reasonable monthly cost for food. The 24 lb bag would actually last long enough for us that I won't buy a bag that big if only Ptera is eating it (Koira is eating mostly raw food, rather than kibble). We actually had to throw out about eight pounds of kibble this month because it had gone rancid (which is nasty, and you really don't want to have happen). That is actually why Ptera started eating the Nutro full time.

We have been training with meals roughly half of the time, sometimes both meals in a day will be training meals, sometimes a few days in a row all meals will be in a bowl, etc, depending on how much free time and motivation I have to get some good training in. Even eating this as her main food, Ptera is happy to work for it, and is thrilled to start training times. When I fill her bowl, she actually runs over to our training area immediately and I have to call her back to her rug if she is eating out of the bowl for that meal. Of course, I still measure out the correct amount of food for each meal, whether we train with it or feed it out of a bowl. Ptera actually has gained a little weight this month, so I am scooping "light" half cups of food for meals instead of full or rounded cups.

Om nom nom

My final impressions of Nutro Wild Frontier are that we like it, regardless of which formula we are using. Ptera is a fan of it, the ingredients are decent quality, and I don't have to feed a metric ton of it to keep weight on her.

A Guest #chewyinfluencer

We had a guest help us with one of our Chewy.com reviews this month.

Our special guest #chewyinfluencer

Domestic silver fox, nicknamed Pancake by a friend of mine (because he flattens to the ground like, you guessed it, a pancake when playing with the dog) came by to let me get some photos. He agreed to help us review the Zignature canned food we picked this month, in the Catfish flavor. As usual, while we were provided with this product by Chewy, we were not compensated in any other way, and all opinions are entirely our own.

He is handsome and he knows it.

Foxes are pretty much omnivores, much like raccoons. They eat a lot of different foods, but apparently do best when they get both meat and vegetables/fruits in their diet. One of the favorite treats for Pancake is actually melon, which he absolutely loves, and he looks like a fruit bat when eating melon. I now know why some bats are nicknamed flying foxes. At the same time, he did enjoy the meat-based dog training treats I have on hand, and eats cat kibble as a main portion of his regular food (supplemented by a number of other things, the details of which I am not sure of, since I'm not actually the one feeding him anything other than treats).

Sampling the Zignature canned food

So, a little about this food (even though foxes are totally distracting and steal the show). Zignature is an excellent line of high quality dog foods, and they are especially good for dogs who need specific diets. We previously reviewed the Kangaroo variety of the Zignature food, and found it an excellent option. I actually have a friend with a dog who eats the Zignature Kangaroo (mostly the canned food, but a little bit of the kibble) because he has some undiagnosed medical issues (not for lack of trying to diagnose them) that have caused him both to have digestive issues and to not want to eat at all. He seems to be doing really well on this food though, so fingers crossed that they have figured out what works for him.

Opening a can of the Catfish flavor that we have this month, the food looks pretty much like any other pate style dog food. The smell isn't the normal gross dog food smell that comes off cheaper cans of dog food, though. The smell isn't super strong or offensive, but is somewhat fishy. Forgivable, I think, for a fish based food. The can had some liquid in it, as well as the pate, which was a tiny bit messy since I wasn't expecting that when I went to scoop some food into a bowl for our review panel. The taste test was a resounding success. Ptera absolutely loved it. Theodore Trex had to be locked in the other room to not end up in all the pictures. And our special guest reviewer was pretty sure it was the best thing ever.

Ptera got to try some too.

Overall, we really liked this food. The ingredient list was great, the company has a great reputation, this option is at a more affordable price point than some of the other Zignature canned foods, and it was a big hit with animals of three species. Of course this is not the cheapest canned dog food out there- but I think it more than delivers for the price in terms of quality.

Hundur's Crunch #chewyinfluencer

The month of June has been crazy busy here. I went on a trip to California with my grandmother, sans dogs, which was super fun and somewhat strange feeling all at once. When I got home, my package from Chewy was waiting for me to do some reviews.

Hundur's Crunch is a high quality, 100% fish treat for dogs. It comes in "fingers" which are basically dried blocks of fish skin a little shorter than your finger, and a bit fatter around. The treats smelled very fishy the second I opened the bag, and I was immediately worried that the smell would linger everywhere the treats went. And promptly forgot one in a friend's car in a hot parking lot while we went in a store for an hour. But the fear was unfounded, as the car didn't smell at all fishy.

As for the treat itself, a friend's super picky dog really liked it and happily crunched through a "finger" while another friend's dog liked it well enough, but not enough to eat it while doing nail trims. Ptera seems to be interested, but finds the big finger size pieces hard to chew. For her, this is absolutely more of a chew than a treat.

While the pieces can be broken up, it isn't easy, and they flake apart like crazy and break unevenly. Ptera did find the smaller chunks easier to eat, but I didn't think the amount of effort that went into breaking them was worth it.

We'll use the rest of the bag as a more long lasting kind of chew option, but while I absolutely love the idea of these treats, the reality doesn't seem to be something that we would use a lot. Large dogs who need a hypoallergenic treat and like something larger and crunchy would be bigger fans, I think. If I were to buy these again, it would be to use as longer lasting chews for when Ptera gets crated when I'm at work. A bag of these treats, coming in currently at $4.99, is a pretty decent buy for that.

We were sent this product in exchange for our honest review. We were not compensated in any other way, and all opinions are 100% our own.