Pet Product Review » Food & Treats http://www.petproductreview.net Helping you make the right choice for your pet. Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:43:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Everyday Isle of Dogs Natural Dog Treats http://www.petproductreview.net/everyday-isle-of-dogs-natural-dog-treats/ http://www.petproductreview.net/everyday-isle-of-dogs-natural-dog-treats/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:23:31 +0000 demik3 http://www.petproductreview.net/?p=118

Coature, Salon Elements, Naturaluxury and Vanity Series.  They sound like names for products you’d find at your spa or salon.  But they’re product lines for  grooming care products from Isle of Dogs.  While many of their products lines are geared toward pet professionals, they also offer a product line called Everyday Isle of Dogs for [...]]]>

Coature, Salon Elements, Naturaluxury and Vanity Series.  They sound like names for products you’d find at your spa or salon.  But they’re product lines for  grooming care products from Isle of Dogs.  While many of their products lines are geared toward pet professionals, they also offer a product line called Everyday Isle of Dogs for pet owners to use to help keep their dogs fresh, clean smelling and healthy.

I was contacted by Isle of Dogs and asked if I would be interested in trying some of the products from this line.  After saying yes, they sent me 1 each of the natural dog treats as well as their Replascents odor neutralizing spray to try.

The treats they offer are made to help your dog in certain situations.

treatformynerves*
help support your dog’s nervous system and are recommended for dogs that get stressed.

treatformybreath*
help give your dog fresher breath.

treatfor14days*
contain beneficial bacteria to help improve the health of your dog’s GI tract.

As always seems to happen when you have a product to review that benefits in certain situations, you aren’t dealing with any of those situations at the time.   If  I’d waited I would have had the perfect chance to see the treatfor14days in action as Malarky had to go on antibiotics after we finished the treats, but Father Time likes mess things up a bit.

Ricochet did help me with the treatformybreath.  He was kind enough to eat some poop to test them. What a dog going that extra mile to help.  These treats contain Kelp, Chlorophyll, Brewer’s Yeast, Peppermint Oil, Parsley Flakes, and Yucca Schidigera Extract which help control your dog’s odors.  When Ricochet came in the house with his potty mouth, I gave him one and it worked pretty well at covering that not so lovely odor.   Not like right from the dentist, but definitely better. Having spent 9 years working in vet hospitals, I do have to mention that if your dog has a lot of tartar and dental issues, no treat will cure the problem.  You really need to visit your vet and discuss having your dog’s teeth cleaned to get your dog’s breath back to fresh-smelling.

For the treatsfornerves, I volunteered Mellie to try them. She tends to be submissive about some things so I figured out of all my dogs, she was the best choice.  I only kept her on it for a few days because she and Malarky got into 2 fights during that time.  I don’t blame the treats (I wish figuring out their reasons for fighting was that easy)- Malarky and Mellie have gotten into fights before and during this time a neighbor’s visitor was letting their dog run loose through several backyards and up to my fence while my dogs were out causing them to get riled up.  After that the 2 fights, I just felt it was better to go back to normal and we went into taste test mode on the treats.

All my dogs got a chance to try all 3 different treats.  They enjoyed all of them.  The ingredients all come from North America or France.  They don’t contain any meat or meat-by products.  I do prefer meat-based treats because I tend to use treats for a lot of training but I do give other type of treats on occasion.  Since these are meant to be given at certain times, I would have no problem offering them to my crew when needed.

Here are the ingredients and calories (gotta love when they include that info!):

treatfornerves- Barley Flour, Oat Flour, Pumpkin, Ground Rice, Cane Molasses, Skim Milk Powder, Canola Oil (naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Lecithin), Organic Sweet Potatoes, Whole Flax Seeds, Vanilla Extract, Lavender Extract, Rolled Oat Flakes, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Apples, Organic Carrots, Organic Green Peas, Lemon Balm Extract, Kelp, Brewer’s Yeast, Peppermint Oil, Parsley Flakes, and Yucca Schidigera Extract; Calories per biscuit-19 kcals.

treatformybreath- Barley Flour, Oat Flour, Pumpkin, Ground Rice, Cane Molasses, Skim Milk Powder, Canola Oil, Organic Sweet Potatoes, Whole Flax Seeds, Rolled Oat Flakes, Natural Flavoring, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Apples, Organic Carrots, Organic Green Peas, Kelp, Chlorophyll, Brewer’s Yeast, Peppermint Oil, Parsley Flakes, and Yucca Schidigera Extract; Calories per biscuit-19 kcals.

treatfor14days- Barley Flour, Oat Flour, Pumpkin, Ground Rice, Cane Molasses, Skim Milk Powder, Canola Oil, Organic Sweet Potatoes, Whole Flax Seeds, Rolled Oat Flakes, Lemon Extract, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Apples, Organic Carrots, Organic Green Peas, Bacillus coagulans, Kelp, Brewer’s Yeast, Peppermint Oil, Parsley Flakes, and Yucca Schidigera Extract; Calories per biscuit-20 kcals.

The packaging was nice; easy to open and with ziplock to keep it airtight after opening.  Each 10 oz package also had a “Best Before Date” so you can easily keep an eye on whether it is fresh.

Definitely keep these treats in mind if you need something to help with stress, bad breath or for use after antibiotics.  You may even want to keep them on hand so you have them for “just in case”.  You never know what Father Time has up his sleeves.

Check for the review of Everyday Isle of Dogs Repláscent.

Isle of Dogs

Amazon*

Petco

]]> http://www.petproductreview.net/everyday-isle-of-dogs-natural-dog-treats/feed/ 8 Charlee Bear Dog Treats http://www.petproductreview.net/charlee-bear-dog-treats/ http://www.petproductreview.net/charlee-bear-dog-treats/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:38:48 +0000 demik3 http://www.petproductreview.net/?p=96 When you have a dog, you are going to have treats in your house. They are great to use for training or to give just because. What many people don’t take into consideration is the amount of calories that may just be getting handed out randomly to their dog. With medium to large [...]]]> When you have a dog, you are going to have treats in your house. They are great to use for training or to give just because. What many people don’t take into consideration is the amount of calories that may just be getting handed out randomly to their dog. With medium to large dog biscuits having 40 to a 115 calories each (Pet Obesity Prevention has put together a list of calories in different available treats- Pet Weight and Treats) those calories add up quickly.

IMG_1269I admit I am anal when it comes to keeping my dogs at a good weight. Having spent 9 years working in vet hospitals, I’ve seen the effect of obesity on pets and figure that is one area of their health I can control. I do a lot of training and use food as a reward so I am always looking for healthy, low-calorie treats to use.

Charlee Bear Dog Treats are treats I’ve used for years. All my dogs’ have loved them. And they are a favorite of mine for several reasons.

  • They are low calorie. They only have 3 calories per treat. Compare that to a small Milkbone which has 20 calories or a Snausage which has 25 calories (according to Pet Weight and Treats). My smaller dogs who run around 20 lbs need about 400 calories a day while my larger one who is about 40lbs needs about 600 calories a day. They get about that much just from their food (Food and Calories) so anymore than that and they start putting on the pounds. This makes low calorie important to me.
  • They are small. The picture above shows a few of the Charlee Bear’s with a dime. Small means I can give my dog several of them without the calories adding up. My dogs don’t really care about the size (they seem to eat everything at the same speed no matter the size- fast). They just love getting treats and love getting more of them.
  • They use simple ingredients which are sourced in the US. My dogs love the flavors (we haven’t tried the Turkey Liver & Cranberries yet).


LIVER: Wheat Flour, Liver (poultry liver preserved naturally with vitamin E), Salt (1 tablespoon per 100 pounds), Garlic Powder


CHEESE & EGG: Wheat Flour, Cheese & Egg (preserved naturally with vitamin E), Salt (2 tablespoons per 100 pounds), Brewers Yeast, Garlic Powder


TURKEY LIVER & CRANBERRIES: Wheat flour, Turkey Liver, Cranberries, (preserved naturally with vitamin E), Salt (1 tablespoon per 100 pounds), Garlic Powder

  • They are readily available. I can find these in almost any pet store in my area. Plus they are available online.
  • They don’t taste gross when you them put in your mouth. Okay, this reason may sound a little weird unless you have trained dogs for obedience. There are some dog trainers who keep food in their mouth to spit to their dog to help teach them to look at the trainer’s face. A lot of people will make liver to use. I like liver, but not enough to keep it in my mouth so I tried the Charlee Bears and they work fine for me. Plus, I can spit them. Spitting is not a talent I perfected as a child, but these I can get a decent distance. hey, some people actually try all their dogs treats before giving them to their dogs to make sure they are good. I don’t do that (after all my dogs have exotic taste for things like cat poop) so I figure that puts me slightly lower on the weirdo scale.

Charlee Bear Dog Treats are a staple on my list of goodies I give my dogs and one I highly recommend.

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You can find Charlee Bear Dog Treats at many local pet stores as well as online at retailers like-

Amazon*
Entirely Pets*
Clickertraining.com*

]]> http://www.petproductreview.net/charlee-bear-dog-treats/feed/ 1 Simon and Huey’s Soft Training Treats http://www.petproductreview.net/simon-and-huey%e2%80%99s-soft-training-treats/ http://www.petproductreview.net/simon-and-huey%e2%80%99s-soft-training-treats/#comments Thu, 10 May 2007 16:59:17 +0000 demik3 http://www.petproductreview.net/?p=75 I am not too picky when it comes to choosing treats for my dogs. I only have 2 criteria for my ideal dog treat- they be healthy and they be small, about the size of a pea. Of course, my main reason for wanting my treats to be healthy is because I care [...]]]> Simon & Huey TreatsI am not too picky when it comes to choosing treats for my dogs. I only have 2 criteria for my ideal dog treat- they be healthy and they be small, about the size of a pea. Of course, my main reason for wanting my treats to be healthy is because I care about my pets’ health and I do feel that nutrition plays a big part in their overall health. Yes, I do occasionally give them treats that I consider junk food (after all, I am one of the biggest junk food junkies!), but the majority of their treats are healthy. I like my treats to be small because 3 of my dogs are small, from 15 to 28 pounds. Those calories add up if you are giving several treats a day and because I use treats for training we can easily go through a 1/2 cup in a training session.

Simon and Huey’s Soft Training Treats fit both my criteria and then some. They are small, about 7/16ths of an inch. They are healthy- no sugar added and they make them without corn, wheat or soy so are great for dogs with those food allergies. They come in 7 flavors and my dogs love them all (okay, they don’t turn their noses up at to much, but they really get excited when they see the Simon & Huey container coming out!) The flavors include – Kickin™ Chicken, Liver Mesquite, Salmon Dill, Peanut Butter Molasses, Garlic Dill, White Cheddar Simon & Huey Treatsand Wild Ginger.

I like the soft treats for training because they go down easier (who wants to take time to do a lot of chewing when they are having fun). Even though they are soft, they don’t break into pieces in my hands while training and they throw nice if you need to reward your dog from a distance. Honestly, I can’t find a bad thing to say about Simon & Huey’s Soft Training Treats. Next we will have to try their Bites, a crunchy treats about the same size. I don’t think my dogs will complain about the taste testing.

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I found that the original makers of Simon and Hueys treats went out of business, but that Paws Gourmet purschased the recipes and is now making 4 flavors- Kickin’ Chicken, Liver Mesquite,Peanut Butter Molasses and White Cheddar.

]]> http://www.petproductreview.net/simon-and-huey%e2%80%99s-soft-training-treats/feed/ 0 Veggie Baskets http://www.petproductreview.net/veggie-baskets/ http://www.petproductreview.net/veggie-baskets/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:54:35 +0000 demik3 http://www.petproductreview.net/?p=69 For most of our small pets, life can be pretty boring. Sure, we may think we want to changes places with them sometimes so we can have the EASY life, but how long could you stand it? By providing different things for them to do, we can enrich their lives, lower their stress and help [...]]]> For most of our small pets, life can be pretty boring. Sure, we may think we want to changes places with them sometimes so we can have the EASY life, but how long could you stand it? By providing different things for them to do, we can enrich their lives, lower their stress and help them be healthier.

In their natural habitat, animals spend a large part of their time looking for veggie twist basketfood. It doesn’t magically appear in front of them. One way I provide enrichment for my rabbits is to put their veggies in something so they have to work a little bit to get them out. Sometimes, I will cut small holes in paper lunch bag and put lettuce inside, other times I use something like the Veggie Basket*. Made of wire, it is very easy to slide the lettuce leaves and parsley inside. You can even put their hay inside. Once it is hung up, they are ready to eat. Not only do they get some exercise, but they get much needed mental stimulation.

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Amazon*

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