Zuke's Z-Fillets

While I was in Arizona I was given a bag of venison Z-Fillets by Taro's owner. I was excited since I hadn't tried any of these and they are made by my favorite treat brand, Zuke's!

Venison, yumm

Ingredeints:
Venison, Rice Flour, Maple Syrup, Garlic Powder, Salt, Phosphoric Acid, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherols. 

Guaranteed Analysis:

Protein	not less than 25%
Fat	not less than 5%
Fiber	not more than 3%
Moisture	not more than 20%

The ingredients look good. The maple syrup... Dunno about that one or the garlic stuff, but I think it's a small enough amount that it can't hurt to give.

Conker really likes these.

This is darker than the real thing.

A couple weeks ago I found a bag of beef Z-Fillets for $2.50! I grabbed it since they normally retail around $6 or more.

Ingredients:
Beef, Rice Flour, Maple Syrup, Salt, Garlic Powder, Phosphoric Acid, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherol.

 Guaranteed Analysis:

	Protein not less than 30% Fat not less than 5% Fiber not more than 3% Moisture not more than 20%
	Again the ingredients look alright. Keep in mind that all of these do contain a grain, rice, so if you don't give grains then don't buy them.
	Like the venison type, Conker loves these. The Girls do too. I probably won't buy them too often due to the price unless I find them for $2.50 again. They are simple to carry around and can easily be busted up into smaller pieces for training.  They don't crumble very much so it won't leave a ton of crumbs in your pocket. They kinda smell good too, but then again they don't, so you might want to put them in a treat pouch instead of your pocket if you don't want your clothes smelling like it.

Zuke's Z-Ridge and Z-Bones

Back in July I wrote a short post about the chews made by Zuke's which happens to be my favorite dog treat company.
Zuke's has since discontinued the Z-Ridge line in favor of the newer Z-Bones which come in a plastic wrapper instead of cardboard and feature two different flavors than before.  The Z-Ridges came in fresh breath, carrot and cranberry.  The Z-Bones come in apple, carrot and cherry.  Conker's favorite by far is the apple so I can't complain too much about the change.

Anywho, onto the review.

Box of Z-Bones surrounded by Z-Ridges

Apple Z-Bones

Ingredients:
Potato Starch, Tapioca, Vegetable Glycerin, Apple, Alfalfa Concentrate, Cellulose Fiber, Spinach, Lecithin, Turmeric, Natural Flavor, Parsley, Ground Clove, Rosemary Extract, Fennel Seed Powder, Vanilla Extract, Chlorophyll, Calcium Propionate, Zinc Propionate.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein:  not less than 1%
Fat:  not less than 1%
Fiber:  not more than 2%
Moisture:  not more than 20%


Original Fresh Breath Z-Ridge

Ingredients:
Potato Starch, Vegetable Glycerin, Cellulose Fiber, Alfalfa Concentrate (a source of chlorophyll), Natural Flavor, Lecithin, Whey, Vanilla Extract, Clove Powder, Parsley Powder, Nutmeg Powder and Fennel Seen Powder.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein:  0.4% min
Crude Fat:  1% min
Crude Fiber:  6% max
Moisture:  16% max

Both are grain-free so if you're into that, these should be fine.
The ingredients are not too terribly different but I think a better side-by-side comparison would best be done with the carrot flavors (I'll get around to that soon).
One of the reasons why I like Zuke's is that even though the first ingredient on both of these chews is potato starch, Conker does not react adversely to it.  Potato, in it's whole form, sets him off no matter how it's cooked if he has too much. Fortunately neither of these chew do that.

Reused image from July post

The Z-Bones are, as I suspected they would be, around .50 cents to $1 more for the same size of Z-Ridge.  I don't like this at all, which is why I bought the bigass box of apple chews since it would save me $6 to do that.  But other than the price increase and addition of plastic wrap, I like these chews.
The apple flavor smells quite nice and Conker finishes all he's given.  With the old Z-Ridges he would sometimes leave it and Sasha would sneak in and steal it.

Digestion wise, like with any new item I give Conker, is fine if I gradually increase the amount.  Things do turn a bit green, red or orange respectively, but I find that they digest just fine.  No chunks of the chew come out intact.
Since I bought the box of large sized chews I ended up hacking each one into three pieces that would be about the same size as the mini chews.  The regular size Z-Ridges I would normally buy for Conker I would allow him to chew about half then give the rest later, so it equals to the same amount that way.

Anyways, the Z-Bones are pretty good in my book. While they don't really clean teeth as good as a nice bone or hard bully stick, they do make Conker's breath smell nice which even though it doesn't smell like anything to begin with, is a plus.

Shiba Inu and Nihon Ken forum Christmas exchanges.

So, I kinda jumped the gun a bit and sent out my boxes for the Shiba Inu and Nihon Ken forum secret Santa Christmas exchange things a tad early.  But, since I'm going to AZ soonish, and I have a birthday coming up, I wanted to get that out of the way so I wouldn't be all "OH CRAP I HAVE TO SEND STUFF AND ONE OF THEM IS INTERNATIONAL!" with only two days left or something.

Yep.  Fun.

I tried to pick things I knew Conker, and Juneau and Sasha, all loved so that the recipient dogs wouldn't turn their noses up at anything.  I also accidentally picked all things made in the USA.  I almost never do that intentionally.  (I do avoid things from certain countries and companies though.)
So what ended up getting sent off in the mail today?

To the Shiba recipient:
1 bag of Zuke's Mini Naturals salmon
1 Zuke's Original Z-Ridge (now discontinued)
1 package of Boneys Bonez trachea chews
1 True Chews bully stick

To the Nihon Ken recipient:
1 bag of Zuke's Jerky Naturals salmon
2 Zuke's apple Z-Bonez
1 package of Boneys Bonez trachea chews
2 True Chews bully sticks

I was somehow able to smash all that into two, 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8" flat-rate boxes.  They were tiny little boxes.  I knew the Shiba items would fit fine but the Nihon items?  I had to rearrange and wiggle them around a bit to make sure they'd all fit into that little box.  I was determined to do so, since going up a box size (or making my own) would tack an additional $30 onto the shipping price and I was not wanting to do that.

I hope the dogs getting this stuff like it all.


Boneys Bonez is a small, local Pacific Northwest company.  They make excellent natural dog chews.

Zuke's Mini Naturals: Wild Rabbit

My favorite treat company Zuke's recently came out with a new flavor of Mini Naturals!  So naturally I had to go pick up a bag.  The new flavor is wild rabbit.  Conker has never had rabbit treats before so I was interested in how he would like these.

Ingredients: 
Wild New Zealand Rabbit, Ground Rice, Ground Barley, Malted Barley, Gelatin, Vegetable Glycerin, Tapioca, Brewers Yeast, Natural Flavors, Fish Oil, Lecithin, Salt, Phosphoric Acid (a natural acidifier), Sorbic Acid (a natural preservative), Mixed Tocopherols, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein     not less than 12%
Fat     not less than 7%
Fiber     not more than 3%
Moisture     not more than 30%
Calories     Approximately 2 per piece

Like all of Zuke's soft treats the ingredients look good.  There are grains so those of you who do the completely grain-free thing might want to skip these.

The treats are very small, about 1 x 3/4 centimeters.  They are perfect for training or for smaller dogs.  I like to grab a small handful and toss them into my mix of hiking treats since they don't crumble or make a mess in my pocket. 

They cost a bit more than the other varieties of Mini Naturals (salmon, chicken and peanut butter) and I think that's due to them being new and/or how they use rabbit instead of a more common protein or flavor.  This bag cost $6.99 (I got $2 off) which runs $1-2 more than the other flavors.  Do I think they are worth it?  Well, Conker seems to really like them so I see no harm in adding them as part of his treat rotation.

Other than the slightly stepped up price, I highly recommend these treats.  If you want to give them a shot and want to knock a dollar off the price, Zuke's has a coupon on their home page that they'll send to you to use in your local store.

Zuke's Superfood Biscuits: Mean Greenz

I stumbled upon yet another treat made by Zuke's but I normally keep a ton of these around and didn't need more.   If it weren't for the price tag of just $5.50 a box, I wouldn't have gotten them.

Here we have the Mean Greenz, the veggie variety of Zuke's Superfood Biscuits line.  Normally these go for something like $8.29 per 14 ounce box so don't take my good price as the norm. 

Ingredients:  Organic Ground Oats, Organic Ground Barley, Spinach, Green Beans, Potatoes, Oat Fiber, Organic Blackstrap Molasses, Oil Blend (sunflower, olive and canola), Broccoli, Peas, Cabbage, Kelp, Asparagus, Kale, Natural Vegetable Flavors, Chlorophyll.

There isn't anything wrong with these really.   They do contain grains so you grain-free people should steer clear of these. Some say molasses shouldn't be used but in treats I think it's fine. Other than that the ingredients are good. 

Guaranteed Analysis:

Protein	not less than 10%
Fat	not less than 11%
Fiber	not more than 10%
Moisture	not more than 10%
Calories	Approximately 9 per piece

The thing I dislike most about these treats is the lack of resealable closure thing.  When opened you have to cut or tear the bag.  I remedy this by tying them shut with a rubber band so the treats don't go everywhere if one of my dogs knocks them off the shelf.  I also stick a variety of treats in a tupperware for easy assess.

As far as taste goes, Conker prefers the Very Berryz and over these.  I guess that's because he's not too fond of veggies and there are no fruit or meat sources in these treats.  But if you'd like to give your dog a healthy veggie treat then these will work fine.  Plus they are organic if you're into that.

Like all baked Zuke's treats these can be busted in half for smaller dogs or training.  I normally break them in half, use one piece and stick the other into my pocket.  When not broken they hold up well and don't make a lot of crumbs in my pocket.  When broken they produce a few but the pocket stays relatively clean. These treats are good for walking or hiking since they hold together and don't crumble easily.

Zuke's Hip Action: Peanut Butter

Due to Conker's Luxating Patella I decided to add joint supplements to his diet as a preventive measure against arthritis. This sometimes included treats like these.

The Hip Action treats come in three flavors.  Peanut Butter, Chicken and Beef.  I got the Peanut Butter flavor to try first.

Ingredients:  Ground Rice, Ground Oats, Peanut Butter, Malted Barley, Maple Syrup, Gelatin, Vegetable Glycerin, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Fresh Apples, Fresh Carrots, Ground Flax Seed, Fresh Blueberries, Lecithin, Salt, Phosphoric Acid (a natural acidifier), Garlic Powder, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Chondroitin Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Sodium Selenite.

The ingredients are similar to the Jerky and Mini Naturals but with a few added things and the Glucosamine and Chondroitin stuffs. 

Guaranteed Analysis – Peanut Butter
Protein	not less than 10%
Fat	not less than 8%
Fiber	not more than 3%
Moisture	not more than 30%
Glucosamine HCl*	not less than 300mg
Chondroitin Sulfate*	not less than 50mg
Calories	Approximately 31 per piece

The Hip Action treats are slightly bigger than the Jerky Naturals which are about 1 inch a piece.  It's also slightly thicker.  There are about 25 per bag and according to Zuke's you should give:

Small dogs (46 lbs. and under)	1 treat daily
Medium/Large dogs (92 lbs. and under)	2 treats daily
Giant dogs (138 lbs. and under)	3 treats daily

So if you've got a smallish dog these will last about a month.

While Conker's joint health has improved drastically since I began adding things like salmon oil and a Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM supplement to his diet, the joints did not get worse when I ran out of Hip Action treats.  My guess is since they weren't adding too much when compared to the G/C/MSM thing that they didn't really make that big of a difference.  But if fed alone I imagine you might notice with a dog who had obvious joint problems when you started/ran out.

I mainly use these treats when I go hiking since I can't take my joint supplement with me (needs to be refrigerated) so I give a couple of these treats instead.  I also like to use them during or around times of high exercise.

Anyways, I really like these treats since they are so similar to the Jerky Naturals.  But with the price increase of $2-3 I don't buy them very often since Conker already gets a joint supplement.  However, for this type of treat the increase in price is pretty typical.  Either way they are a good choice for older or arthritic dogs if you don't mind paying a bit more for them.
EDIT:  I can regularly find these for $6.99 instead of $8.69 but the price is still rated by the higher one since it's more common.

Zuke's Mini Bakes: Chicken N' Cherryz

I have been trying to find treats that Conker can eat that he won't react to, and since other products made by  Zuke's have worked in the past I decided to pick up a box of these.

These normally sell for $6.29 at my local pet store.  I haven't found them in big box stores.
Edit:  I have found these for $5.50 at a small feedstore but most other stores have them at the first price, so the price rating is not affected.

Ingredients:  Ground Oats, Rice Bran, Chicken, Cherries, Potatoes, Oat Fiber, Blackstrap Molasses, Oil Blend (sunflower, olive and canola), Natural Vegetable Flavors.

Guaranteed Analysis
Protein	not less than 12%
Fat	not less than 7%
Fiber	not more than 10%
Moisture	not more than 30%
Calories	Approximately 5 per piece

The ingredients are decent.  There aren't many common allergy grains but there is chicken, something Conker has reacted to in the past.  He also has issues with potatoes but the content is low enough that I figured I'd try them anyways. 
I gave Conker only one at first, then two.  He does fine with up to three treats a day but anymore and he begins to get loose poop.  So for reactive Shibas and dogs this particular flavor combo might not work out.  There are two other flavors of Mini Bakes to try.

Despite this these treats are still quite good. The ingredients are better than many treats, there are a lot of treats per box and they can easily be broken in half.  For similar kinds of treats these are a good price.  You get one pound per box.

Zuke's Jerky Naturals

These are by far both mine and Conker's favorite treats.  They are made by Zuke's, a company located in Durango Colorado.  They manufacture their stuff in Colorado as well so if you like made in the U.S.A. then you might like these.  They also make treats for cats.

The Jerky Naturals come in three flavors. Lamb, Beef and Salmon.  The flavor I use most commonly is the lamb. Conker goes nuts for them and if you've never seen a Shiba drool then you haven't found the right treats.

The ingredients are the same for each flavor except for the first slot being used by whatever flavor that particular treat is.

Ingredients:  Lamb, Ground Rice, Ground Oats, Malted Barley, Gelatin, Maple Syrup, Vegetable Glycerin, Fresh Apples, Fresh Carrots, Canola Oil, Ground Flax Seed, Fresh Blueberries, Lecithin, Salt, Phosphoric Acid (a natural acidifier), Sorbic Acid (a preservative).

Guaranteed Analysis – Lamb
Protein	not less than 10%
Fat	not less than 8%
Fiber	not more than 3%
Moisture	not more than 30%
Calories	Approximately 22 per piece

Since Conker hasn't shown any reactions to these they are deemed safe for mildly reactive Shibas and dogs.  They do contain some grains but they are much higher quality than some treats and are wheat, corn and soy free.  

The treats are soft and roughly 1 inch square that is easily broken and molded into smaller pieces.  I use one treat each day I train Conker since I can cut it into several pieces, sometimes as many as 25.  Each bag has about 30 or so treats in it so if you only use one a day or one every few days they should last a while.  I have found them for as low as $4.99 a bag and Zuke's has a coupon on their website that they will send to you for $1 off.  For this type of treat they have a good price.

Overall these are very good treats.  They aren't messy like most dry treats and are easily carried around.

Zuke's Very Berryz

Right as I say I'm trying to add variety to Conker's treats I go and buy these.

I kinda cheated and bought these at a mis-marked price of $6.29 instead of the normal $8.29.  The checkout lady didn't care and let me pay $2 less for them.
I've been wanting to try these since they are all fruity-like and Conker only eats certain type of fruits and prefers them whole and raw instead of pureed or cooked.

Ingredients:  Organic Ground Oats, Organic Ground Barley*, Blueberries, Cranberries, Potatoes, Oat Fiber, Organic Blackstrap Molasses, Oil Blend (sunflower, olive and canola), Beets, Raspberries, Cherries, Blackberries, Natural Vegetable Flavors.

Guaranteed Analysis – Very Berryz
Protein	not less than 10%
Fat	not less than 11%
Fiber	not more than 10%
Moisture	not more than 10%
Calories	Approximately 9 per piece

The ingredients are okay.  First two are grains, but Conker hasn't reacted to them so they are fine in my book.  Potatoes are fifth followed by another grain product, some other stuff and finally the last three berries.  I'd prefer the berries be the main ingredients or close up there but oh well.
Relatively the same as the Mini Bakes but with less fat and slightly less fiber and protein. 

Like the Mini Bakes they are able to be easily broken in half but are somewhat bigger than the MB's.  The Very Berryz are 2 grams, the Mini Bakes 1.
The MB's come in 16 ounce boxes and cost $6.29, the VB's come in 14 ounce boxes and cost $8.29.  So really the MB's are a better deal if your dog doesn't much show a preference for the different treats.  But the VB's are organic, the MB's are not so if you're one of those types you'll like the VB's.

Edit:  I have found these for $5.50 at a small feedstore, but other stores still carry them at the above price so the price rating is not affected.

Conker liked them on the first try. Again, not as good as the lamb treats and he performed a perfect sit but failed to catch about four times before he got it. 

Zuke's Chews

While in Tahoe City I found a small dog store that sold Zuke's  Z-Ridge and Z-Bones chews.  I bought a bunch since I haven't found them in GP until today.  At the little store they sold the Cranberry and Carrot flavored Z-Ridges in medium and large and the new Z-Bones Apple and Cherry flavors in regular.

Zuke's just updated their site today and I guess they are discontinuing the old Z-Ridge since that's what it seems like on the site.  I'm a bit miffed since I'm one of those people who's normally a stickler for originals.

Above we have the Original Fresh Breath flavor Z-Ridge in it's neat-o fire-starting mostly-recycled cardboard thingy.  Below we've got the new Z-Bone in it's hazardous-if-set-on-fire plastic wrapper.  I'm guessing you can tell how I feel about the new packaging by how I described it.

They also dropped the text telling you that:  "Litter Matters - Stash Your Trash" something that will make Earth Muffins upset by the switch from eco-board to plastic with no reminder to dispose of the wrapper properly.

Moving on, above we've got five flavors of Zuke's chews.  The larger chews on the bottom are the old Z-Ridges and the top are the new Z-Bones.  Old chews from left to right:  Fresh Breath, Carrot and Cranberry flavors.  New chews same order:  Cherry and Apple.

Again I'm miffed that Zuke's is probably discontinuing the original line of Z-Ridge chews.  However, there is one point that makes me not mind so much.  I laid out all five chews and let Conker decide which one he wanted.

Apple.  So I took the apple away and let him pick again.
Cherry.  Okay, so he likes the new chews.  But which one after that? 
Carrot.  Well carrot comes in both new and old so...  Yeah.

Oh well, and when it really comes down to it Conker's taste determines what I get, not how I feel about the new bones.
I did find a place here in GP (the bigger Mini Pet Mart store I hadn't been to before today) that sells Z-Ridge chews and I'm guessing Z-Bones once they run out of those.  If Conker will eat them, I'll keep getting the Z-Ridges until the new Z-Bones come in stock.

Hopefully they won't slap the 2.69 Medium Z-Ridge sticker on the smaller Regular Z-Bones.  I hate it when people do that.


Review pending on how well they actually help clean teeth,

Gonna try something

Okay so while in the petstore I checked out the bargain section and found some Zuke's Mini Bakes for $3.00.  There was only one box and it was the cherry and chicken flavor.  It was a steal since those treats are normally $6.29 at Mini Pet Mart (where I was) and even if Conker can't eat them Juneau and Sasha can.  So I bought them.  And a squeaky ball.

The box was kinda busted and taped up so I'm guessing that's why they were marked down to $3.  The squeaker ball was $1.49 but that's what I originally went there for so I was expecting that.

Funny thing though, since I kinda go there a lot Conker is pretty much always given a treat of some sort.  They aren't the best treats out there, some sort of beef stick thing, but Conker's never had a bad reaction to them so I allow the employees to give him one if he'll get close enough to them to take it.  Anywho, the cashier, this young guy who really likes Conker didn't give him one right away and Conker just stood there staring at him.  Like he was trying to use his Shiba powers to will the guy to give him a treat.  It apparently worked, cause he came around the counter and crouched down and held pieces of the treat out to Conker.  Conker was being his normal inside self and wouldn't let the guy touch him but got close enough to stretch out and quickly take the treat from him.  This is better than last time where Conker took it and ran.  He stuck around this time.  Hopefully next time Conker will be a bit less skittish.

Anywho, I'm going to attempt to give Conker one or two of the Mini Bakes and see how he reacts, since they contain TWO things that have given him problems in the past. Chicken and potatoes.  You'll know right away if he does have a reaction.

Zuke's Hip Action treats and trachea chews

I picked up some Zuke's Hip Action treats at the petshop today.  I also got a trachea chew since I'm almost out of chews for Conker.
They had beef, peanut butter and chicken flavors.  I went with peanut butter since I've already got beef flavored Jerky Naturals treats and I'm still unsure if Conker's allergic to cooked chicken.

The Hip Action treats are bigger than the Jerky Naturals by a little bit.  Lamb flavor is on top, beef on the right, peanut butter on the left.  I gave him one right after dinner.  Conker was confused when I handed him such a big treat, I usually cut them into smaller pieces for training purposes.  After I told him he was fine he munched away and dropped a lot but slurped it up soon after.  He wasn't as enthusiastic about it like he is with the lamb flavor but he still enjoyed it.

I cut the trachea into four roughly 2 inch pieces and gave one to Conker before dinner.  He LOVES these and was bugging me to give him the other three for a while.  I'm probably going to order a 50 pack of 3 inch trachea chews from bestbullysticks.com for him, as well as a few bully sticks since I'm out of those. 

I'm going to give him a Hip Action treat every other day  and a trachea chew every other or every three days.  He gets plenty of the Jerky Naturals treats during the day and still has a cow hoof to chew on so he doesn't need too many extra things or he might begin to put on a few unwanted pounds.