Saturday "Growers" Market

It started up last Saturday (but nobody told me) so today Mom and I walked down and got some burritos and donuts. I also bought some chews for Conker. It's been many months since he's had a Boneys Bonez chew. He will be very excited later then I give one to him.

Flower tablecloth throws things off a bit

I like these chews. They are a bit greasy, but not as bad as some of the store bought stuff. They also don't have any preservatives or other crap in them. The price for the packages chews I can buy at the Grange have gone up recently, but thankfully the "growers" market prices haven't.

I got three tendons, six half-size bully sticks, and twelve trachea rings. They should last a little while.

Nihon Ken and Shiba Inu secret Santa gifts.

This is what I got for the gift exchanges on the Nihon Ken and Shiba Inu forums!

From the Nihon Ken person:

One of the last pictures taken by the Cannon.

A huge assortment of chews from best bully sticks!  I have been meaning to order something from them but still have yet to get around to it, and this has convinced me that I need to sooner or later, when this stash runs out.  (Not pictured are two twisty things that Conker snatched up and concumed seconds before I snapped this.)

From the Shiba person:

Terrible picture due to stupidity of Fuji.

A squeaky chicken thing, some Greenies, a roll of doggy bags (haha, I loved that) and a daypack!  I really like the little pack since it's not as big as the Ruffwear Approach and lays quite flat against Conker's shoulders.  When I go on hikes in Cathedral Hills I'd like to be able to have Conker carry something without having to take the big red saddle bags along, and this fits the bill perfectly.  Plus I won't have to cart his... goodies... around for him anymore XD

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.

Freshpet: Dognation Bones

Freshpet has a line of dog treats and chews called Dognation.  In my free sample box I revived a pouch of Dognation Bones.  They are "Crunchy Brown Rice with Real Chicken Center" bones.  Chews that mimic a real bone like a beef bone or something.

Bones are in the back on the right.

Ingredients:
Brown Rice Flour, Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Tapioca Starch, Whole Ground Oats, Gelatin, Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Apples, Parsley.

Nothing looks terrible here, and the only problem for me is the chicken content.  The chicken flavor is the only kind of Bones Freshpet makes right now, but as an occasional treat I don't think it will be a problem for Conker.

The "bone" is about 5 inches long.  The outside is the rice stuff, the inside the chicken part.  The chicken is kinda like marrow while the rice like actual bone.  It didn't last as long as a real bone though, but it did help clean a bit of the gunk off Conker's teeth that had built up a bit since he started eating Freshpet.
So I can see why these would be beneficial to your dog if you fed them Freshpet's food.  Like I said in part 1 of the review, the food has no benefit to the teeth, so giving your dog a "bone" every week or so will help keep the teeth healthy and clean.

For the first sample I let Conker have only half of the bone.  He really liked it and was not happy when I took the remaining half away, but I wanted to be sure there wouldn't be any problems on the back end.
Things were a bit soft and... odd looking, but the next time around everything was fine.
Conker really enjoyed chewing the bones.  The first time it took him about 20-30 minutes to get through half, then only 20 minutes for half, and the second bone I gave him he went through in 30 minutes.  I originally only wanted him to have half but he chewed it so quickly I didn't notice until it was gone.
So for Conker they aren't incredibly long lasting.

These, like all Freshpet's stuff, need to be refrigerated and they tell you that if your dog doesn't finish a bone in 2 hours to take it away and refrigerated it.  They also say to use up the bones in 14 days after opening.

Again I'm not sure if I can get these locally or what they're price is.  Once I find out I'll update this.



Anyways, that was part two of the review!  Here is Part 1 and Part 3.

More Saturday Market Spoils

I walked down to the "growers" market today and had a quick look around. There were so many veggies, it was insane.  Anyways, I headed over to my favorite booth (the only one I've ever bought anything from) and picked up some more chews for Conker.

This time around they had a box of "half size" tendon chews for .50 cents a piece.  I normally get the $1 pieces and prefer to take the chew away when Conker's gone through half of it, so these worked out perfect.  I got 12 of them and since Conker gets them every other day they should last a while.

A couple people stared really hard and long at my shoes.  It was quite entertaining.


Oh yeah, almost forgot.   I've got a poison oak rash behind my left knee (again) and on two places on my lower right arm.  And like last time, I have no fricking clue how it got there.
Despite this I am still going hiking tomorrow.

Spoils of the Saturday "Grower's" Market

My farmer's market is stupid. They call themselves the grower's market, since there is a store called Farmer's Market and I guess they don't want to associate with it.

I walked down there today to have a look around.  It was mostly veggies (everybody claimed to be organic), pastry and crafty crap.  I was looking for meat, and the only meat I found was just that.  Meat.  The beef was horrendously expensive, another guy was selling halves and quarters of beef and pork, the "organic" chicken was so expensive, and the only organ meats anyone had (chicken livers and heart, which I have plenty of) were so high I'd pass even if I ate it myself!  There was some rabbit but it was over $5 a pound.

So I meandered over to the only stall I've ever bought anything from and was greeted by a very outgoing, talkative and young salesman in a big straw hat.
I came home with this.

Spoils for Conker

I got three pig ears, three beef trachea and three tendon chews.  Conker has had the trachea before but he's never gone for a pig ear, and it's been a long time since he's had a tendon thing, other than a bully stick.
And when offered the pile of delicious and greasy chews, he didn't know what to do.  I thought he would dive in and lick everything but he just stood there, sniffed, then looked at me with a hugely confused expression on his face.  I wish I'd gotten a picture, because it was hilarious.

I separated the chews and offered him one of each.  He was still quite confused and after about five minutes, went for a trachea.  I could tell it was a hard decision since he kept sniffing the other two and licked at the tendon for a bit, but I guess the old favorite won out in the end.


Edit
These chews are made by a local company here in Oregon, but I'm unsure of their exact location. They do have a website but it's under construction right now.  I also don't know too much about them, but they claim the treats are natural and all that.  Either way, Conker really likes them and hopefully they will get their site up soon so I can read more about them and do an actual review.

Conker's Teeth

I figured since I had some of Sasha's teeth to compare that I'd post a picture of Conker's.

The only teeth that have any visible plaque are the carnassal teeth and a couple rear molars.  All other teeth look awesome.

Conker is one year and one month old.  His teeth aren't really kept clean by his raw diet (as some people claim) since he does not chew his food.  He gets smallish bones that are crunched one or two times then swallowed so he gets almost none of the cleaning benefits of bones.  I am working on a hunk of pork that's got a good sized bone in it that I'm going to let him gnaw on but I haven't made too many pork meals lately and that hunk is taking a while to get used up.

Other than his food, Conker regularly gets these chews.

Beef trachea:  Little to no cleaning action.
Bully sticks:  Some cleaning action.
Cow hoof: Cleans better than a bully stick.
Zuke's Z-Ridge/Z-Bones:  Still can't tell with this one yet. 

I'm testing the Z-Ridge and Z-Bones right now and will write up something on them later.

Tahoe Treats

Conker and I went to the Grange and Mini Pet Mart to pick up some chews to keep him busy for the times when nothing is going on at Lake Tahoe.  The small trachea and chewed up cow hoof are things I already had.  But hopefully this will be enough to satisfy Conker's chewing needs.

The cow ears are new.  MPM hasn't had them before and none of the other stores carry them.  They were .99 cents a piece and are quite huge, bigger than my hand.  (The bully stick is 12 inches long) Conker was psyched when he saw me pick them up then pull them out of the bag at home.  He thought he was going to get one right then and there but sadly he has to wait a couple days.

I also got some sardines for him since I don't want to take the bottle of salmon oil with me.  I've already prepared all his food and toys so now all I've got to do is get his crate and bedding situated.

Chew Review: Lamb Ear

Conker hasn't had any ears yet, or chosen to chew one.  We walked to the pet store yesterday in the middle of the pouring rain and came back with a $2.49 lamb ear.  The price was a bit steep for such a small chew that I didn't even know if Conker would eat, but I wanted to give it a try.

At first Conker was like:

 

 And then he was like:

 Lamb ears are good in Conker's book, but only last 10 minutes, and at $2.49 a pop I don't think he's getting any more anytime soon.

Conker got beef today.

In other news...

I went to the grocery to see if I could find some cickory root (didn't) but sintead found this:

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

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.

Chews Part 2

Conker inititally went for the pigs ear then ignored it every time I offered it.  So I tried giving him the trachea.  He ignored it at first, more intent on getting a reaction out of the clicker sitting on my desk, then decided to give chewing on it a try.
He loves the trachea, almost as much as a bully stick!  The pigs ear?  Not really.  He licked it a few times then left it alone.  I let him chew on the trachea until he'd gotten about halfway through.

I went to the petstore and got Juneau and Sasha each a hoof to chew on. Sahsa went right to town on hers but Juneau... not much interest in it.  I tried to get her to chew on it by encouraging her when she licked it but after a while she just laid there with it between her paws.  So I took Conker's rejected pig ear and gave it to Juneau.  She loved that!  So now Sasha gets cow hooves and Juneau pig ears... I guess.
I'd give one to Sasha but she's still fat.  I'm monitoring her food, treats and chews so hopefully she'll begin to slim down by their next bag of kibble.
Which is going to be Taste of the Wild!

Juneau however decided to change her mind and after Sasha got up and left her hoof, she swooped in and took it!  Now she's chewing on it.  Sasha will get Juneau's old one.

So the verdict is as follows, a simple yes or no if they would chew on it or not.
Pig ear: Conker no, Juneau yes, Sasha unknown
Cow hoof: Conker yes, Juneau yes, Sasha yes
Trachea: Conker yes, Juneau unknown, Sasha unknown
Bully Stick:  Conker yes, Juneau yes, Sasha yes


I imagine they'll all chew on the trachea so I'm most likely going to order a bunch from bestbullysticks since they've got amazing prices on them.  Also, I could try stuffing one full of meat for Conker to see if it'll slow his eating down a bit.

Chews Part 1

Conker and I walked to the petstore today.  It's only a few blocks down the street, maybe a ten minute or so walk.  We saw something interesting on the way.  An old lady weed-whacking her grass.  Seriously?  how many old ladies do you see having at their grass with a weed-whacker?  Not many!  That was pretty bad ass.

We picked up some Lamb flavored Zuke's Jerky Naturals (Conker's favorite), a small beef trachea, a pig's ear and a cow hoof.  Then we walked back, and the little old lady was still going at her grass with the weed-whacker.  There were also a LOT of people walking their dogs.  We saw about six other dogs.  Usually it's none or two at most.  I guess the small increase in temperature is to blame.
We also ran to Petco and got a clicker since the ones at the petstore were way overpriced.  More on that later.

I decided to go with the cow hoof first.  I held it out to Conker who sniffed it then tasted it then kinda looked bored.  I'm not sure he knew what to do with it until I tossed it onto the bed and told him to get it.  After he mouthed it a bit more he figured out it was for chewing and went to town on it.  Sasha ended up coming in when he wasn't chewing on it and stole it, he didn't like that, so I had to take it from her and give it back to the Shibrat.  He chewed on it before and after dinner some more.

It's not a complete hit like a bully stick but it's good enough to hold Conker's attention for a while.  Thankfully this hoof gets soft when chewed on and doesn't splinter into incredibly sharp pieces. I don't know if other types/brands of hoof do or what.
We will be trying out the other chews in the next few days and giving reviews on them.  I'm going to go back to the store and pick up a few more hoofs for the Girls since Mom kinda scolded me for only buying one.  I might grab a cow ear if they've got one, or a lamb ear.  Can't remember which it is.  Maybe a small antler too.


I don't know if it's just me, but I don't mind Conker chewing on his nasty smelly things on my bed.  Sheets.  Not the blanket, the sheets.  I don't want him getting that stuff on my nice heating blanket (yes, even though it's about 70 degrees in the house at night I use that and make it a comfy 85.)  I guess I should be a bit more cleanish and put an extra sheet on top of my blanket?  I dunno, being unsmelly and clean isn't a big issue with me.  If you saw the state of my hair you might question my sanity.