Review: Busy Buddy Bristle Bone

The girls were extremely excited to try this offering from Chewy.com: the Busy Buddy Bristle Bone.

This ingenious toy, devised for very heavy chewers (which both of our pups are), integrates thin, replaceable rawhide rings into the bone.

We got to try the large size, which currently sells for $14.95 at Chewy.com. As soon as I let them try out the one we received, I knew I’d have to buy another one. They were both very interested in the bone and possessive over it. I bought another one in our next Chewy order, and they have both really been enjoying themselves with this toy.

They did figure out how to unscrew one of the ends of the bones and remove the ring, however, so I’d suggest that this is a toy for supervised play time.

Eden went to the vet for her annual checkup just last week, and the vet tech, whose opinion we treat like gold, actually recommended this toy to us. Eden was developing some buildup on her molars, and the vet tech said she really liked this toy for keeping the plaque at bay.

We’re all very pleased with this bristle bone! It’s always a pleasure to discover a new toy that can stand up to these heavy-duty shepherd mouths.

Is your dog playing with anything new lately?

Disclaimer: We were provided with this product in exchange for our honest review. We never review products that we wouldn’t heartily recommend to friends.

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Review: ZiwiPeak jerky treats

I don’t know about you, but we’re always on the hunt for high-quality, small-sized treats for daily training and practice. We’re perpetually working on leash reactivity, and so we try to always have some good reinforcement on hand to rebuild those neural pathways.

Accordingly, we were delighted to try this offering from Chewy.com: ZiwiPeak’s Good Dog lamb jerky treats, which originate in New Zealand.

These are 95% lamb and grain free, and they come in these tiny, lightweight little strips, which are just perfect for handing out and training on the go.

A bag of these treats currently sells for $7.22 at Chewy.com.

Pyrrha and Eden were VERY excited as soon as I ripped that pouch open. They were ready to throw out any trick or behavior to get a taste, and these little treats certainly didn’t disappoint them.

What have you been using for training tidbits lately? 

Disclaimer: We were provided with a bag of these treats in exchange for our honest review. We were not otherwise compensated, and we only review products that we genuinely recommend.

Review: Purina Pro Plan Savor Tender Strips

As we settle back in to our normal life, the girls are pleased to know that we’re resuming some reviews of products from Chewy.com. We are not paid for our opinions, and we only review things that we feel comfortable about recommending. We are provided with a free sample and asked to write a review, which Pyrrha and Eden are only too happy to help with.

This time, we got to sample Purina Pro Plan’s Savor Tender Strips.

This is a soft treat that is easily breakable into tiny bits, so even though the strips are big dog-sized (about 4″ to 5″ long), you could break them up into small pieces for training.

We don’t feed Purina and haven’t been terribly interested in most of their offerings, to be honest, but I was pleased to see that lamb is the first ingredient in these treats.

A bag of the lamb and sweet potato treats currently sells for $5.99 at Chewy.com.

The girls are trying to contain their excitement:

(*Note that is a pinecone between them. Not something… untoward…)

They are big fans! I have been using broken-up pieces of these strips to entice Pyrrha while I apply some antibiotic spray to her in the morning (she has an ongoing minor issue), and it certainly helps distract her from any small unpleasantness.

Do you have a favorite type of treat that’s currently in rotation at your house? Do share!

In exchange for our honest opinion, we were provided with a bag of these treats from Chewy.com. I was not paid for my opinion, and I only feature reviews of products I am comfortable recommending to good friends.

Review: Dogswell Chicken Breast Jerky

The girls were REALLY excited to sample these chicken jerky treats by Dogswell.

Check out the tongue action and the tail blur!

These are great “special occasion” treats, but they are also easy to divide, if you want to make them last longer.

The ingredients list, as you can see, is pleasingly minimal:

Chicken Breast, Vitamin E Supplement, Flaxseed, Vitamin A Acetate

A 5-oz. bag currently sells for $5.75 at Chewy.com, and there is also a 15-oz. and 32-oz. option.We will certainly be checking out more products like this from Dogswell. This is a high-quality product for high-quality pups!

Does your dog like jerky? Any particular brands you’re fond of?

Disclosure: We were provided with a bag of these treats from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review.

Review: Primal Beef Liver Munchies

We were happy to receive another great product from Primal: their Beef Liver Munchies.

I like using freeze-dried treats for training, because they are easy to break up into smaller bits and they are usually have a very short ingredient list. These treats from Primal fit those qualifications perfectly. In fact, the only ingredient is beef liver.

As an added bonus, the beef is raised in the United States and without antibiotics or added hormones. And the treats have no preservatives or added salt or sugar. Just pure beef.

As you can see, the Kitchen Vultures were very delighted to try them out:

These treats are currently on sale for $4.99 a bag at Chewy.com.

Do you use any treats from Primal? If so, what have you liked?

Disclosure: We were provided with a bag of these treats from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review.

Review: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats

This month, we got to try Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Trail Treats in the turkey biscuit variety. The pups are always excited when they see/smell me breaking into a package from Chewy.

These are hefty biscuits, and they make for a great occasional, special treat. (They are too sturdy to break up for training purposes, in my opinion.)

The dogs were very enthusiastic about getting to try these biscuits, and Eden got to be our cute, eager-faced little model this time.

Turkey is the first-listed ingredient, and the treats also do not contain any corn, wheat, or soy, which is always a great bonus in our book.

A 10-oz. bag of these treats is currently on sale at Chewy.com for $5.99.

Do you keep of a stock of “special occasion” goodies for the dogs? What are some of your favorite products?

Disclosure: We were provided with a bag of these treats in exchange for our honest review. All opinions are our own, and we don’t review products that we wouldn’t endorse to close friends and their pups.

Pup, your breath stinks! (TropiClean Fresh Breath review)

See this cute little face?

Don’t let her get too close to your mouth. There’s a reason why I’m not one of those people who lets her dogs lick their faces copiously, and it’s called coprophagia. Charming, right?

Pyrrha is an occasional poo snacker, but Eden can be downright compulsive. She can be called off if she’s caught in the act, but we are not out in the yard with them every second. Guion, the faithful spouse that he is, scoops poop every day, but we’re going to miss some. I aim to brush their teeth at least once a week, but I admit I can miss the regularly scheduled brushings.

All that said, I’m always eager to try dental chews, toothpastes, and additives, so we were happy to receive a review sample of TropiClean’s fresh breath water additive for dogs.

The product claims to:

• Reduce plaque and tartar
• Reduce risk of periodontal disease

There’s no brushing involved, and you add one capful of the additive to every 16 ounces of water (usually amounts to 2.5 caps in our giant water bowl). The formula has aloe and green tea in it, and the product it also made in the USA. We’ve been trying it for about two weeks now, and I daresay Eden in particular has sweeter breath. I haven’t noticed any difference in the girls’ plaque or tartar buildup, but I think the aroma coming from their mouths is noticeably less foul!

This product is on sale right now at Chewy.com for $10.99 for a rather large bottle (33 oz.). There’s also a smaller version (16 oz.) for sale, if you wanted to trial it before a bigger monetary commitment.

Do you have a poo snacker in your home? Have you ever tried a water additive for breath?

Disclosure: We were provided with a sample of this product in exchange for our honest review. All opinions are mine and unbiased by any companies.

Review: Primal Venison Lung Puffs

We’re big fans of limited-ingredient treats over here, and so we were excited to try this offering from Primal: Venison Lung Puffs. (The name makes me laugh a bit. “Lung puffs” sound like what a baby dragon might do when learning how to blow smoke…)

The treats are dehydrated and come in a variety of sizes and chips, but they are easy to break up (without excess dust or crumbs).

I’m not sure if the dogs have had venison before, but they were BIG fans! This is purely anecdotal, too, but they really seem to go crazy for treats that are solo ingredient (i.e., just meat), much more than the ones that have grains or other fillers in them.

Ingredients list? Venison lung and ascorbic acid. You can’t really beat that!

Additionally, these treats offer:

• Venison raised in New Zealand without antibiotics or added hormones
• Single-source protein
• No preservatives
• Grain and gluten free
• No added salt or sugar

These treats are currently on sale for $6.99 a bag at Chewy.com. We will be adding these to our shopping list for future treat purchases!

Do your dogs eat limited-ingredient treats? If you don’t make them yourself, what are some of your favorite sources/brands for these kinds of treats?

Disclosure: We were provided with a bag of these treats by Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review.

Review: Dr. Tim’s freeze-dried turkey hearts

Our girls are always willing taste-testers, but they were especially excited to try these freeze-dried turkey hearts by Dr. Tim’s.

They went crazy for them!

The treats are single ingredient (we received the turkey hearts, which come in small discs), raw, freeze-dried meat that has been USDA inspected and sourced from Wisconsin. Really excellent. I know lots about the benefits of raw feeding, and although we don’t do it ourselves, I think about it a lot. These treats are a nice way to reap some small benefits of raw feeding — without the mess and squeamishness on my part.

We also took a handful of these treats on a walk to a park to work with Pyrrha on her reactivity toward other dogs. They make great training treats, because you can easily break them up, but they don’t disintegrate. Plus, Pyrrha is just WILD about them, so they serve as a really powerful reinforcer in our quest to classically condition her on walks.

Highly, highly recommend these treats! The price may seem a little steep, but the package is generously portioned, and the quality is significant. You get what you pay for here, which is a seriously high-quality snack. They are currently on sale at Chewy.com, so check them out.

Such adorable beggars.

Do you ever feed raw treats to your dogs? If so, what works best for you?

Disclosure: We were provided with a package of these treats from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review.

New toy joy (review of Planet Dog Glow for Good ball)

Another way dogs are like little kids: Anything NEW is the BEST THING EVER.

I mean, look at these dorks:

So when we got the Planet Dog Glow for Good ball in the mail from Chewy, the girls were more than a little excited.

Notably, Pyrrha was really into this ball, and she normally doesn’t go wild over toys like Eden. When we adopted her, she had never played with toys before, so it took her a long time to warm up to them. Which is why these photos of her reveling in the new ball just melt my heart:

Eden, however, has a really strong drive for retrieving, so I knew she’d enjoy any new ball. “Enjoy” is putting it lightly; the dog didn’t let this particular ball leave her mouth for about three hours after she stole it away from Pyrrha. Amazing. She’s totally obsessed with it.

The ball is squishy but strong, and Eden hasn’t chipped any part of it off, even after hours and hours of intensive fetching and chomping. It also has a minty aroma, which is intriguing to me. And the ball glows in the dark, which is pretty wonderful if you have an all-night fetcher. Furthermore, there is a hole through the middle of the ball, which could be stuffed with small treats or a narrow chew (about the thickness of a Sharpie marker). And it floats! Which is a great feature if you have water retrievers. Even better, 100% of the proceeds from the ball go to support Planet Dog Foundation, the company’s nonprofit that champions service dogs.

The Glow for Good ball in the 3″ size currently sells for $12.54 at Chewy.com.

In short, we were thrilled with the new toy, and we will definitely be shopping for Planet Dog products in the future! I’m impressed. And I daresay the girls are too.

Does your dog have a favorite ball? Have you ever used a Planet Dog product before?

Disclosure: We were provided with this ball by Chewy.com in exchange for our honest review.