Product Review: Fromm's Four Star Nutritionals Treats (Parmesan)

We got these treats to review from Chewy.com, and this particular flavor (Parmesan) leapt right out at me from the list. Does Elka like cheese? Oh yes she does!

Product Review: Surprise My Pet Box

I was approached by Surprise My Pet to do a product review of one of their subscription boxes. I haven't yet personally committed to an ongoing subscription box of my (or Elka's) very own, but I love the principle of them, and they're always fun to try.

Surprise My Pet was no different.

We got the box and I set it on the floor for Elka to peruse. She promptly nosed it, because that's how she interacts with most things, so I apologize for the blurry action shot.

Product Review: Primal Beef Liver Munchies

These Primal Beef Liver Munchies were on the list of treats to try out from Chewy.com, and while I'd heard of Primal as a brand before, we hadn't tried it yet. It's just the kind of treat I like getting for Elka, single ingredient, and the beef was raised in the United States and the treats were made in the USA as well (see on the bag)! They're grain free and gluten free which concerns me less, but can be very important for dogs with food allergies.

Product Review: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Treats, duck flavor

We got the email from Chewy.com offering treats for review, and I selected the duck flavored Blue Buffalo Wilderness treats. It's a brand I've been happy with, and after a series of mostly chewy and/or freeze dried treats, I thought something along the lines of a crunchy biscuit would be good to try.

Product Review: NutriSource Soft & Tender Lamb Dog Treats

Chewy.com offered us the opportunity to try Nutrisource Soft & Tender Lamb Dog Treats. It's hard to say no to treats! We use them for training and just plain living (Elka is particularly fond of her post-potty treats and her bottle return treats), so it's nice to try a variety of treats with good ingredients, made in the USA!

Product Review: Benny Bully's dog treats

I was approached by a rep at Benny Bully's dog treats to do a review of their products. Single (or limited) ingredient freeze dried treats? Check. Made in the USA and/or Canada? Check. I was excited enough for both Elka and I (she can't read packages, obviously. She just wants you to hand over the beef liver)!

We received the Liver Chops and the Liver Plus (in banana) and we could not have been happier with them.

(picture from Benny Bully's site. Photobucket is being unkind to me)

Product Review: Minties Dental Treats And Hip&Joint

It's a Twofer! We were approached by a VetIQ rep who wanted to know if we wanted to try out Minties dental treats and one other product from a list; I selected Hip&Joint.

We got them really fast, and as always, Elka was quite eager to sample the goods.

"That dog sure is spoiled!"

I don't get a comment like that a lot, once in awhile, in casual conversation, somebody refers to Elka as "spoiled". Arguably, that's a pretty rude thing to say, but she's just a dog, right?

Anyway. Is Elka spoiled? I think it's kind of in the eye of the beholder.

Treat Review: Orijen Freeze-Dried Food

Courtesy of Chewy.com, we have sampled Orijen's new(ish) freeze-dried food offering and would like to tell you about it!

First of all, for a dog of Elka's size, the amount of Orijen's freeze-dried food would not be feasible to feed her regularly. She would need 6 or 7 (I think) of the little "food pucks", and there are only so many per bag. As a travel food, or something to keep in an emergency "go bag", it would be a great solution. However, since I wasn't planning to get Princess accustomed to food gravy of this quality, I confess I just broke it up and used it for treats.

Never Stop Training

Yesterday, Patricia McConnell posted "Gotta Love That Recall" on her blog, and while I read and recommend her as often as I can, I also noticed the specific phrase which I've poached for the title of this post: Never stop training.

I'd been thinking about this lately, in fact, when a certain long nosed miss started nosing up to peoples' plates in a manner she had not otherwise displayed. I may or may not have been mostly unbothered by this, for it was rarely, if ever, my plate she was getting too close to. This is Elka, who I can leave in the car with McDonald's or other takeout and she will not touch is. Elka, who has been in a room with a coffee table full of nachos and dip and even pigs in a blanket and not touched a thing. Elka, who dropped a turkey sandwich she had in her mouth when I said "drop it", and left along a dropped tupperware of taco meat when I said "leave it".

(forgive the old picture, I don't have a new one of her lurking in the "safe range" of food that is not hers)

Product Review: Natural Balance Jerky Bark dog treats

I'm able to share this review with you, product made available courtesy of Chewy.com!

I picked the Natural Balance Jerky Bark treats because the flavors sounded interesting (subjective, I know; I'm not going to eat them) and because they're made in the United States. We got the Chicken and Sweet Potato. They're grain free, which is not an allergy issue with Elka, but just a preference for me when it comes to purchasing her ingestible products.

As always, she was very excited to see the package come in the mail. Poor dog; most of the time, the packages we get are books or similar things that have nothing to do with her. But frequently enough, it's toys or food or treats, and well, we know about random reward schedules. So she gets excited.

Why We Give Elka People Food

Last week, in North Carolina, my family was on vacation as well. At dinnertime, Elka was very attentive of what was going on with regards to peoples' plates (at at non-nose touching distance, but close sometimes), and I did confirm that yes, she will eat a baked potato (she loves them, even plain!)

Natura Dog Food Recall

Natura Pet Products has now recalled all of its dry dog food lines. 

Quoted from Dogster.com:

This recall involves ALL lot codes and ALL package sizes of the following products, affecting ALL expiration dates prior to June 10, 2014:
Innova Dry dog and cat food and biscuits/bars/treats
EVO dry dog, cat and ferret food and biscuits/bars/treats
California Natural dry dog and cat foods and biscuits/bars/treats
Healthwise dry dog and cat foods
Karma dry dog foods
Mother Nature biscuits/bars/treats

According to the Natura web site, this was due to a single positive test of Salmonella in product that was manufactured April 3. This is a voluntary recall, and I have to say that unlike the Taste of the Wild recall, Natura didn't drop the news on a Friday and go home for the weekend. They also have downloads for a replacement or refund voucher right on their web site, which is a nice touch, and if necessary, can be contact via phone at (800) 224-6123.

Product Review: Frosty Paws

A ways back, we won the Frosty Paws giveaway from Life with Desmond. I cashed in one of the coupons awhile ago as well, but since it had been cold and rainy still, I didn't give any of it to Elka right away. Not that she really has the warm weather + ice cream correlation in her mind, but it's in my mind, and I'm the one who opens the freezer.

We had a (still rare!) warm day, and so I busted out the Frosty Paws for Elka to try.

Happy Birthday, Elka!

Four years ago today, my little Elka V was born! It's hard to believe that she's four; she's still so much like a puppy. Inquisitive, excitable, full of boundless energy......

Command Clinic: Heel (with a bonus Front)

The other day, Elka and I were playing with Gumby. Maybe we'd just come in from a potty trip, and it was celebratory tug? I don't remember. Regardless. When we play tug, I like getting Elka all riled up and snarling like she really means it, and then having her "drop it" and then either Down, or Heel. My fiancé hadn't seen this mystical "heel" happen, and had us repeat it several times.

Elka will go from facing me into a heel pretty well at this point, off leash in the house, and also in the yard. If she's a bit crooked, I say "Excuse me, straight" and she straightens herself out in relation to my heel, and sits. I can also say "Front", and she'll swing her hindquarters around and sit in front of me. But how did we do it?

(Front, if slightly crooked)

Liebster Blog Award (Thanks Ruby!)

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Share five things about yourself
3. Answer five questions presented by Ruby
4. Ask five new questions to your nominated bloggers
5. Reveal your top five picks {with less than 200 readers} and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
6. Copy and paste the award on your blog
7. Hope that the people you’ve sent the award to forward it to their five favorite up-and-coming bloggers and keep it going

Sounds like fun, right?  Right!

Thanksgiving is coming!

This happens to me every year, perhaps because of National Novel Writing Month, but Thanksgiving has snuck right up on me!

Last year I posted about this lovely holiday play set that Target had. I don't think Target has brought it back, unfortunately, but because I've carefully guarded it, we've still got it! But, I also talked about food safety, and things like that bear repeating.

One thing that we've noticed at holiday time with Elka is that sometimes, when somebody *coughnotmecough* feeds her things like turkey skin, she has the runs after. I guess this is a good indicator that she has just enough fat in her diet, and doesn't need more of it in "lump sum" quantities. We've never given her what seems to be a massive amount of turkey skin, but we won't be doing any of that this year. Pancreatitis is one of those things you have to watch out for, and I've seen other blogs and web sites caution against loading your dog up on high fat things at any time. There are other ways to give them treats, they don't need to be greasy and fatty!

I've discovered this year that Elka really loves sweet potatoes. Mostly because every time I have sweet potato, she sings at my plate until I give her some. I tend to just bake them, with some butter or some olive oil, and find they don't really need much more than that. I didn't used to like sweet potatoes; add it to the list, I guess.

So, safe and happy holidays, folks!

Dog Treats From the Grocery Store

There are times Elka is picky about the treats handed to her.

Oh, she'll always take them, but whether she eats them is something else. The last time we were in Tractor Supply, she very nicely took the Milkbone from the cashier, and then set it down on the plastic bag loader (not even on the floor!) and looked at the lady, as if to say "All right, what else do you have?"

So, as a followup to my recent post about having found decent food in my grocery store, I also found decent treats. Just a few ingredients. They are, however, little crunchy bone shaped biscuits.

Pets Love Toys: review

I was contacted by Brian, the CEO/Founder at PetsLoveToys.com to see if I was interested in sampling and reviewing their service. You may have heard of sample box services, in which you get a monthly box full of product samples in a certain niche. PetsLoveToys is a similar principle; every month, you view the showroom and pick which box you would like to get. There are typically three choices, with a combination of treats and toys.