Goodies

Raw + whole foods.

They wait patiently for their food to be delivered. After Conker goes into a hysteric barkfest, of course.

In other news...

 

I got a Bark Box from My Rotten Dogs the other day! They dogs each got a turn chewing on that roasted bone (I don't give these normally) and each got to try the vegan veggie and barbecue treats. Obviously they liked the grill treats better, but I left them outside last night and something (raccoon) got into them. Oops. The toy is an eggplant from Planet Dog. I got excited about this since I was thinking of ordering a few toys from them. Juneau loves it and has claimed it as her new favorite toy. 

Broth puck treats

I made some strange treats for the dogs the other week. I made some beef bone broth with a couple ribs in the slow cooker (overnight), then added a bit of ground beef to the rib meat and pulverized it all in the cuisinart. I poured the meaty broth mixture into cupcake pans then stuck them into the freezer. I made enough for two dozen 1 inch thick pucks. The dogs think they are great!

Look at how leggy my Shiba is.

Conker, like usual, takes the longest, and Sasha the shortest, to eat their pucks. The pucks are good since they offer some resistance so they do aid in cleaning the teeth, but they are soft enough that the dogs can easily break them up. (No broken teeth!) They don't have a ton of calories either so I can feed them often without the dogs getting fat.


In other news...

I am taking care of the neighbor's dogs again. Indie is still as handsome as ever.

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.

Homemade HKK Treats

HKK = Honest Kitchen Keen

I was buggering around on the internets and found myself browsing the recipe section of The Honest Kitchen's site.  I like to make stuff for Conker so I figured I'd give one of them a shot but I couldn't find a recipe that I wanted to make or had all the ingredients for.
So I made one up.

What you need:
1/2 cup of The Honest Kitchen (any variety)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup mashed baked sweet potato (or pumpkin)
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg
1 teaspoon coconut oil (or equivalent)

Mix Honest Kitchen and oats together, add warm water and egg.  Mix some more then add the sweet potato and oil and stir real good.  Let the mixture sit for a short while (about 10 minutes) then spoon the mixture onto a cookie sheet.  Use one spoonful per treat.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.  Longer for less soft-n-squishy treats which I find hold up better.  Let the treats cool before giving them to your dog.  Store in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for a bit longer.  Makes about 15 treats, more of they are smaller.

Yay for supercloseup picture!

Or you could not bake it and just give the batter to your dog straight-up.  I did let Conker have a couple spoonfuls which he thought was equally as delicious as the baked version. Or or you could like, bake it in a loaf, for like, doggy bread or something. 

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.

Whole Life: Freeze Dried Treats

I heard about this company called Whole Life who makes freeze dried treats.  I also heard that they send out free samples, so I plugged in and requested some.  I waited a couple weeks and this little white box arrived on my porch last Friday. I opened it up to see... a piece of paper.  When you remove the paper you get:

10 samples of treats!  Each bag contained at least two treats, some as many as five.  Conker seemed to know that the box was for him since he sat very impatiently beside my bed as I rummaged through the box.

Me being me, I had to take all the samples out of the box and line them up on my bed.  I intentionally didn't get them perfect just to spite myself.  They are color coded according to type of protein.

They are in no particular order:  Beef, turkey, chicken, lamb, venison, salmon, cod, beef liver, chicken liver and lamb liver. They make a couple other things too.

I'm not going to post the guaranteed analysis since there are ten items, and since they all consist of one ingredient.  They are all linked though, if you are curious what the GA is on them.

Conker tried three varieties off the bat.  Beef, turkey and chicken.  He loved all three and was performing sits and downs without me asking.  He only does that for something he really really wants.

Anyways, I was curious about the price of these since I haven't seen them in stores, and since Conker liked them so much I might pick up a bag.  I looked online and the prices were OUTRAGEOUS.  The lowest I found (didn't look very hard) was $10 for a 4 ounce bag of the chicken treats, and the price only went up from there.  Then again, these are freeze dried and you get a TON of treats per ounce so maybe the price isn't that bad.  Still, I have yet to see them in person and I'll be able to get a better idea of just how many are in a 4 ounce bag when that happens.


Edit:  I've had Conker try all the other varieties.  He wasn't so fond of the lamb liver or cod but everything else was good.  I think his favorite type is the turkey.

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.

Dogswell: Breathies

I have never tried anything from the brand Dogswell before.  I have heard in the past that they had chicken from China that had some contamination in it or something but that wasn't what stopped me from picking their stuff up.  It was the chicken in general.  You can read more about that here.

So!  I was at Mini Pet Mart and saw little bags of a couple kinds of Dogswell treats.  Since I didn't want to spend another $6.99 on a regular bag, these smaller sized bags were perfect for a trial run.

 The little 4 ounce bag cost me $2.99, not bad for a try-out.  The bigger bags have a fairly normal price.

Ingredients: Oats, Barley, Brown Rice, Chicken, Dried Cane Molasses, Flaxseed, Potato Protein, Sweet Potatoes, Rice Bran, Canola Oil, Brewers Dried Yeast, Natural Flavor, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Parsley Flakes, Chlorophyll, Vitamin E Supplement

First three ingredients are grains, but high-quality grains.  Molasses is often targeted as a bad ingredient by many dog-food review sites but in treats I think it is an okay ingredient.  The rest of the ingredients are pretty typical of this sort of treat and unless your dog has allergies or intolerances to certain grains or chicken, these treats look fine.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein                     15.0% (min)
Crude Fat                          7.0% (min)
Crude Fiber                        5.0% (max)
Moisture                            10.0% (max)
Vitamin E                          100 i.u./kg (min)

The treats are about 1 inch long and quite green.  This is due to the Chlorophyll which is basically pure plant greenstuff.  Conker wasn't nuts for them, instead of his usual scarfing down he sniffed, tasted and crunched slowly.  Sasha liked them and will be getting most of them since her teeth are the worst.
As far as their breath-freshening ability, I have yet to notice any difference in all three dogs, but I give these to them as an after-dinner breath freshener and will edit if I find they do anything.

These treats, unlike the chicken jerky kind, are made in the USA.  If you are still unsure about the chicken then avoid them, but the bag has a little American flag and Made in the USA printed on it so I'm okay with them.

EVO Wild Cravings: Herring

I've seen these treats a couple times in the past but for some reason I've never picked them up.  I decided today to give them a try.  You can read about them on it's website.

The package is actually teal, not blue.
Anyways, I got these for $4.99 and it contains 10 ounces of treats.  One thing I liked about these was the fish.  They are fish-based treats and fish treats, at least in my area, normally cost a lot more than other treats.  They also have glucosamine and chondroitin in them.

Ingredients: Herring, Herring Meal, Peas, Pea Fiber, Pumpkin, Tomatoes, Sunflower Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a Natural source of Vitamin E), Herring Oil, Apples, Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Cottage Cheese, Dried Chicory Root, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondoitin Sulfate, Minerals (Zinc Protoinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Protoinate, Manganese Protoinate, Calcium Iodate), Vitamins (Absorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement,Betaine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Ninacin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Caratone, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Botin, Folic Acid)

I like how there's two fish ingredients, though they are the same, at the beginning of the list.  I think all the vitamin and mineral supplements are somewhat unnecessary for a treat however, on the bag it states that:  "EVO Wild Cravings Herring Formula Baked Dog Treats are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for adult dog maintenance.  Therefore, you can feed these treats exclusively to your pet as their sole source of nutrition.  If you choose to feed a smaller amount, please reduce your pet's meal size by the same amount you're giving your pet in these treats.  Always adjust the total amount of food and/or treats to maintain or achieve an ideal body condition."
That's pretty interesting.  It's also got this printed below:

Never seen one of those on a bag of treats or food before.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min)        33 %
Crude Fat (min)        13 %
Crude Fiber (max)        3 %
Moisture (max)        10 %
Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (min)        1 %
Carbohydrates NFE (max)        33 %
Vitamin E (min)        250 IU/kg
Vitamin C (min)        250 mg/kg
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min)        1.8 %
Glucosamine (min)        689 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate (min)        574 mg/kg

There is a fair amount of glucosamine and chondroitin, more chondroitin (compared to the glucosamine) than I've seen in other joint treats so far.  As a food I guess this is okay for somewhat more active dogs but I haven't really looked into that.  Also, I think feeding just this to anything bigger than a Papillon would cost a lot.

There are four shapes in the bag.  Each one is about 1 1/4 inch long, so they aren't really small but aren't huge either.
Taste wise Conker loved these.  They are crunchy but softer than most crunchy treats and are easily crumbled so they may not hold up too well if they are stuck in a pocket.  They don't smell horrid like some other fish-based treats so if you aren't into stinky treats, you might like these.  As a treat the price is good, as a food not so much but I'm basing the price rating on these being treats.

For those of you who care about this, EVO is owned by Natura who sold out to Proctor and Gamble.  If you don't like P&G then ignore these treats but if you don't give a darn then go ahead and buy them.  They don't appear to contain any horrible low-quality ingredients so I think they are safe.

Pet Botanics: Omega Treats

Back when I lived in Missouri I bought these for Conker.  They are made by a company called Cardinal Pet, or something like that.  You can see the page for these treats here.  I don't know anything else about the company so I don't have much of an opinion on it.


Ingredients: salmon, sweet potatoes, cod, cane sugar, glycerin, salt, potassium sorbate, mixed tocopherols (vitamin e).

Simple, not too many, good ingredients for the most part.  Cane sugar isn't really needed but other than that, I can't find much wrong here.



Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein...10% (min)
Crude Fat......3.0% (min)
Crude Fiber....1.0% (max)
Moisture......16.0% (max)
Omega 3*......0.15% (min)
Omega 6*......0.40% (min)

Pretty typical of this sort of treat.


The salmon variety sure smell strong when first opened.  The smell gets on everything too, so if you stash treats in your pocket like me you might want to put these in a small bag first.  They are able to be cut into smaller pieces, about 6 or so for training and smaller dogs.  They do get mushy when warm and stick to stuff so again put them in a bag if you stick them in your pocket.  They will dry out if they are left out though, so if you let them dry for a bit they won't stick anymore.

Conker really liked these.  These are what taught him how to wait and sit.  My biggest issue with these treats are that they are made in China.  Yes, I'm one of those people who tries to avoid stuff from China BUT they have limited, good ingredients and were loved by every dog I gave one to. 

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. 

Grizzly Nutreats

I haven't been very diverse with Conker's treats lately.  I've noticed that I've only got treats made by Zuke's so when I stopped at Mini Pet Mart today I figured I should pick something up by a different brand and see how well I liked it.

This is what I ended up with.  Most everything else there was wheat, corn, nameless protein or nameless by-product based and I don't get that junk for my dogs.  There were a few brands (some grain free) I've noticed but never really looked at there but they were far more expensive than these.  At $6.99 per 6 ounce bag they are $1 more expensive than the Mini and Jerky Naturals I normally get.

Ingredients:  Salmon Meal, Smoked Salmon, Salmon Protein Hydrolysate, Salmon Oil, Porcine Gelatin, Alfalfa, Kelp, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extracts

The ingredients are simple.  Almost completely salmon with a few other things.  Nothing instantly stuck out to me as something to avoid so I went ahead and grabbed them.

Guaranteed Analysis  
Crude Protein (min) 53%
Crude Fat (min) 12%
Crude Fiber (max) 3%
Moisture (max) 7%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min) 3%

The protein content is quite high compared to the Zuke's treats I get (around 11%) so these will be an occasional treat. There are about 150 in each bag and they are difficult to break up but since they are lighter than the Zuke's treats I guess you get more per bag, unless the Zuke's are busted up.

Conker wasn't instantly interested in them when I offered one to him.  Probably because I had to go hunt him down and he never gets treats when I have to do that so he was probably weirded out by me.  Anyways, he took his time crunching up the first one and dropped several pieces but licked them up soon after.  He ate the second one with more gusto but still wasn't as thrilled with these as he is with the Zuke's treats.

When offered three treats at the same time, part of a Lamb Jerky Natural,  a Grizzly Nutreat and half of a Mini Bake, Conker went for them in that order.  So he still prefers the Lamb over anything else.  I will have to try pitting other lamb flavored treats against each other and see which one he chooses.

All in all these treats are pretty good.  They are made with good ingredients, don't have common reactive ingredients (for Shibas), are healthy for your dog and smell obnoxious so even picky eaters might enjoy them.