Greenies review for Chewy.com

Happy Leap Day!

February is National Pet Dental Health Month.  So the awesome folks over at Chewy.com were kind enough to send us a bag of Greenies for free, in exchange for our honest opinion.  The collies love Sydney and Chewy.com.  They get so excited when a box arrives, they have even come to love the mailman because he brings the Chewy.com boxes!

Greenies can be an excellent treat to aid in keeping your dogs' teeth clean.  As you can see by the pictures, the collies love them.  Unfortunately, they eat them so quickly, I am not sure how much they helped in cleaning their teeth.

The Key Benefits  are listed as:

• DHA and EPA aid in brain cell communication and receptor function
• Vitamin E, Vitamin C and taurine support healthy cell production
• Zinc and iron support metabolism and are easily absorbed into dogs' systems
• Microencapsulated fish oil supports healthy skin and a soft, shiny coat
• High in protein, low in fat and nutritionally complete for adult dogs
• Awarded the Veterinary Oral Health Council Seal of Acceptance for control of plaque and tartar

So Greenies sound like a great way to keep a dog's teeth clean, as long as the dog doesn't chew as fast as the collies!  I know many of our readers prefer to feed food and treats that contain only limited ingredients.  So I am also including the ingredient list below.  As you can see Greenies are not a limited ingredient dental chew.  For that, you may want to stick with a good old marrow bone.  But if you are not restricting your dogs' diet, then Greenies are a great option that can make teeth cleaning nutritious,fun and enjoyable for your dog!

Ingredients:

Wheat flour, wheat protein isolate, glycerin, gelatin, oat fiber, fish oil, water, lecithin, natural poultry flavor, minerals (dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, potassium iodide), DL-methionine, choline chloride, dried apple pomace, taurine, fruit juice color, vitamins (dl-alpha tocopherol acetate [source of vitamin E], L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, vitamin B12 supplement, d-calcium pantothenate [vitamin B5], niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement [vitamin B2], vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1], folic acid), decaffeinated green tea extract, marigold extract, turmeric color

P.S. - did you know the Chewy.com boxes can make excellent beds?!?

It's true! Just another reason to love Chewy.com!

The collies stage a protest! (Part 4)

Well, our Mom sprung us from the clinker...and look, she even gave us cookies!  Our protest was so worth it!  Power to the puppies!

Then sister handed out cookies to all of us!

Happy National Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day!  Hope you all got a cookie or two!  We have to run, we have a lot of collie cuddles to catch up on!

The Collies stage a protest (part 3)

I knew Scarlett's plan would land us in hot water!  But I didn't think we would end up in the slammer!

Uhm, better see if Mom will bail us out!

The collies stage a protest! (Part 2)

So the peaceful, silent protest isn't working!  What should we do?

I have a plan!  It's time to teach Mom a lesson!

I don't like the sound of that!  Does anyone else have a bad feeling?

The collies stage a protest! (Part 1)

Do you know what we discovered?!?  Today is National Dog Biscuit Day, and our Mom didn't tell us!  #horrors

So we are putting our collective paw down!  We are staging a protest - no collie hugs or kisses until our demands our met!

 

Pssst - Holly, you're doing it wrong!

Now no one look at her, pretend you can't hear a word she is saying.

Stay tuned for developments in the Great Collie Cookie Protest of 2016!

A (Not so) Wordless Wednesday - Westminster edition

Collies at the AKC meet the breeds event, held in conjunction with the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  The event was called "AKC Meet and Compete."  It was open to the public, and gave over 20,000 people a chance to meet and learn about hundreds of pure bred dogs.

The collies were a huge hit, and took countless selfies with their adoring fans.

A new review for Chewy.com - Instinct Raw Boost Mixers

Hi everyone, do you know what time it is?  I'll tell you...it's time for another review of one of the many great products sold by our friends at Chewy.com.   

Scarlett loves Instinct Mixers



We love Chewy.com, and we are not alone.  There is now a monthly "Chewy.com Blog Hop" hosted by Sugar and Ozzy! Because Chewy cares about the quality of the products they sell, they give Bloggers a chance to review these items for free, so that you, our readers, can choose which products are just right for your pets! 

#Chewyinfluencer

This month we were sent a package of Nature's Variety Instinct Raw Boost Mixers.  This is a freeze dried dog food topper, designed to add protein packed raw food to your pet's kibble.  Many people are reluctant to feed their dogs a raw diet for a variety of reasons, and I am one of them.  So Nature's Variety created a freeze dried product that can be added to your pets' kibble to provide your dogs or cats the benefits of a raw diet while maintaining the convenience of your current kibble based diet.  I was very curious about this line of food, so I jumped at the chance to do a review.  While this company does have a line of frozen, freeze dried and canned food for dogs and cats, the Raw Boost Mixers were created as an all natural, grain-free meal enhancement. 

According to the company, there are many benefits to feeding raw Boost.

Key Benefits

• Great topper for kibble
• High quality, raw nutrition in a convenient and easy-to-serve form
• Pure protein for lean muscles and strong bones
• Natural ingredients for optimal nutrient absorption
• Nutritious oils for healthy skin and coat
• Freeze dried and all-natural for an irresistible taste
• Grain-free and gluten-free
• No artificial colors or preservatives

We were sent the Beef Formula to review, check out the great ingredient list:

Ingredients

Beef, beef liver, beef kidney, pumpkinseeds, beef heart, carrots, apples, butternut squash, ground flaxseed, montmorillonite clay, dried kelp, mixed tocopherols, broccoli, rosemary extract, salmon oil, apple cider vinegar, blueberries, dried chicory root

The ingredients all sound awesome.  To make sure we were giving an honest and educated review, we did do some research on this product and there were two areas of concern to us.  The first is the number of recalls Nature's Variety has had on it's dog foods over the years.  However, as far as we can tell their raw Boost Mixers were not part of the past recalls.  The second, is that we cannot find any documentation on their website that shows their salmon oil is ethoxyquin-free.  We did contact them, and we are waiting to hear back from Nature's Variety.  This trusted source, has stated that according to their research, Nature's Variety is ethoxyquin-free, so we felt comfortable feeding raw Boost Mixers to our collies.

But Abby wonders, how does it taste?

The final part of our review, is as always, the products actual appeal to our collies or cats.  So we added raw Boost Mixers to our collies' food, and the results were unanimous.  They all loved the taste of the freeze-dried beef.  They all devoured the Mixers when it was added to their food or offered as a training treat, so they give the Instinct Raw Boost Mixers four paws way up!  

We want to thank Sydney and Chewy.com for sending us this product to review.  We have already ordered another bag, this time we are trying the Lamb formula, which the collies also love! 



Westminster Loyalty

As I am sitting watching collies in the Westminster herding group on the television, I thought I would share our post from 2012.

Probably the most well-known dog show, in the United States, is Westminster.  I grew up watching this dog show every year on TV, and I was fascinated by the glamour of it all.  What I didn't know, and didn't discover until many years later, is that what you see on TV is a very small part of that show.  Behind the scenes are the breed rings, where champions of every breed compete for Best of Breed and the chance to compete in the Group ring.  Also behind the scenes are thousands of spectators wandering around, trying to pet the dogs entered in the show.  Westminster is a benched dog show, which means unless you are in the breed ring competing, your dog has to be on display in his or her benching area. 

Westminster 1877

Westminster 1927

The benching area is a very small cubicle, where the dog is kept throughout the day.  The dogs are not permitted to leave the show until the end of the day, not even to go outside.  They have x-pens set up, with shavings, for the dogs to relieve themselves.  And the people who attend the show as spectators are everywhere.  Thousands and thousands of people, so many people that it is difficult to even walk from one area to another.  So many people, including animal rights groups, that the owners of the dogs fear to leave their dogs unattended for even one second.  At Westminster you can actually hire a guard for your dog.  And all of this is hard on the dogs, it's a very hot, very loud and very long day.

(photographer unknown)
But it is the premier dog show in our country, and an invitation for your dog to attend is a coveted honor.  We have entered Westminster twice, and I am not sure I would do it again.  So why would people enter their dogs in this show if it is so stressful?  Because to win Best In Show at Westminster is considered the "greatest honor in Dogdom."

My daughter, showing our collie, Holly, at Westminster.

In all the years since the Westminster dog show first began, a collie has only won Best In Show once.  The collie's name was Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven.  He won Best in Show at Westminster in 1929, and he was only 9 months old at the time.  Loyalty was imported by Mrs. Ilch of Belhaven Collies, a very well-known kennel of that time.  He was bred by R.F. Roberts of Ashtead Collies in England.  He was sired by Lucas of Ashtead out of Jean of Ashtead.  In his pedigree were multiple crosses to CH Magnet, from whom my own line of collies also descends. 

Westminster was Loyalty's first show in the United States.  Loyalty was handled by the Bellhaven kennel manager, Mike Kennedy.  He competed against 125 collies, and won Winners Dog and Best Collie.  Back in 1929, the collie was still part of the Working Group, and it was highly unusual for a collie to win this Group.  Best In Show at Westminster was usually judged by "Terrier Men," so terriers had won the show for many years.  But in 1929, the Best In Show judge was Dr Carlton Ford, a collie judge! 

Dr. Burrows, a columnist at the time, wrote a description of Loyalty for <i>Dog Fancier Magazine.</i>  He described Loyalty as "he is in full bloom, full of life, and has a sweet expression, carries a wealth of coat, good head and ears, is sound all over, and a good mover."  Mike Kennedy wrote about the experience, "I knew I was in the running for the cheers of the people told me that.  I showed him on a long lead, and that is the way you have to show a collie.  There is no posing or holding your collie's tail.  What there was to see of Mrs. Ilch's collie, everyone could see and that is why I am the proudest kennelman in the world today!  Loyalty was shown with a free hand - a long lead.  His tail and chin hadn't to be held.  The puppy won on his own merits."

What is heartbreaking, is that this was Laund Loyalty of Bellhaven's only American show.  He retired after Westminster, and never finished his championship.  He retired amid threats to his life and rumors that acid had been thrown into his eyes.  Mrs. Ilch wrote a letter on September 3, 1974 about Loyalty.  "He was as near perfection as any collie could be and to think that after his great win, he was blinded, never to be shown again.  Someday I will hunt up a clipping of the dreadful death of the jealous fiend who did it - a person who from my first success, tried in every possible way to drive me out of collies."  No one knows the true story of what happened, or the name of the "fiend" who blinded the beautiful puppy, if that is what actually happened.

Loyalty, who was called Don, was not used much as a stud dog.  His stud fee was so high, that during that time, the time of the Great Depression, few could afford to breed to him.  (his fee was $150.00)  Laund Loyalty sired only one champion, a dog who played an important role in founding the Tokalon family of collies.  His son, CH Bellhaven Loyalty II, sired Tokalon Loyalson. (CH Bellhaven Loyalty II x Phyllis of Beechtree) Tokalon Loyalson is behind almost all the Tokalon collies. 

Even though Laund Loyalty never became a champion, he will always be remembered because of his famous win, Best In Show at Westminster.

Holly, on the train ride home from Westminster.