product review Archives

On priorities, passions, and pet food #HealthyMeetsHappy

06•09•17

At the start of 2017, I wrote out a handful of goals for myself. One of the biggest?

Simplify.

I’ve come to realize, though, that simplifying isn’t just a matter of clearing out the clutter, creating routines, and so on. It’s a matter of defining your priorities, then shifting time/effort to focus on what matters most.

For me, it starts with a fundamental priority: my herd’s (John, Violet, Cooper, Newt) health and happiness. But, I believe that includes values and passions like kindness and compassion, and lessening our impact on the world around us… and improving it when and where possible.

No one can do it all, though, and that’s where the priority-balancing piece comes in.

For example, it’s incredibly important to me to feed Cooper and Newt the best food possible, and that can mean cutting other budget areas to accommodate the food I think they deserve.

This post is sponsored by Wellness® and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share the availability of Wellness Complete Health and NEW Complete Health Grain Free Cat Food available at PetSmart, but OhMyDogBlog.com only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Neither Wellness nor PetSmart is not responsible for the content of this article.

In April, I wrote about how Wellness Pet Food named 2017 as the year of the cat. That theme continues, of course, and it aligns perfectly with my goals and priorities!

How?

Some of the specs:

All Wellness Complete Health products are carrageenan-free (a food additive linked to cancer).
The formulas are nothing but simple, pure, authentic ingredients that help Newt thrive.
Wellness® Complete Health™ and Wellness® Complete Health™ Grain Free dry food packaging can be RECYCLED through their partnership with Terracycle!!!! <—- This is huge, you guys! You can sign up for their recycling program, and you totally need to because not only do they recycle or upcycle the food bags, the packaging you send in generates donations to other nonprofits. It’s a full-circle cycle of giving. Seriously, this is the kind of thing that makes my heart swell!

But–more importantly in Newt’s opinion–is that the food makes her happy! Check it out:

Here’s what she was eating in the video: Wellness ® Complete Health® Morsels wet food: Wellness Complete Health Morsels feature cubes of tender meat in rich gravy. She was devouring the chicken formula, but I’m telling you… that “rich gravy” does her in!! Recently my mom cat sat for us, and she even commented that clearly we’d found Newt her favorite food!

Truly, this food is the cat’s pajamas. 🙂 It totally nails the things that are the most important to me and my herd, and for that… I’m a loyal Wellness customer.

Here’s what I’m wondering: Do any of YOUR cats sing and dance like Newt does to get food? Any other kitty members of the Clean Plate Club? I’d love to learn about your cat-feeding experience in the comments!

Please visit and support our sponsor on Facebook or purchase products here! They make this site possible, and for that I’m forever grateful!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wellness®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Emmett Takes on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Healthy Dog Food #WellnessPet

11•18•16

Emmett tackles life with gusto.

Everything he does, he does with force and vigor. He finds fun everywhere–even the vet–and he assumes something good is around every corner. His optimism knows no bounds. He’s a model for good living, I think.

This post is sponsored by Wellness and the BlogPaws™ Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share the availability of Wellness Products at PetSmart, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Neither Wellness nor PetSmart are responsible for the content of this article.

But, a natural extension of good living, of course, is healthy living.

I’m going to be sharing a lot about loving and caring for a senior dog in the coming weeks (November is Senior Dog Month!) but one of the most important things in any area of health is food. As you guys know, Emmett’s been known to have a complete and utter lack of sense when it comes to food. He’s our very own Cartman.

He’s also 13. And he has cancer. And he’s my best friend in the whole entire world, so of course I’ll do anything for this guy.

He loves food and he loves outings. One of the ways I can make sure he’s enjoying these twilight years is by combining those two greatest loves! Emmett gets to go on tons of trips to PetSmart. Pretty much anytime we need to buy his food, we bring him along. Or sometimes we’ll just make a special trip out of it. (And, truth be told, sometimes we take him through the Starbucks drive-thru on these outings and get him a puppy latte… no, not healthy, but everyone deserves an indulgence once in a while!)

It’s on me to keep him healthy. That’s why he’s been eating Wellness® Core®.

But it’s also on me to keep him happy. That’s why he goes to PetSmart! (And Starbucks!)

I know not all dogs love getting out and about, but the fact is… I draw a lot of parallels between Emmett and his health and happiness with seniors in retirement communities. The happiest and healthiest people are the ones who get out and about, get some exercise–mental and physical–and take care of their bodies.

Since Emmett is Cartman in a dog’s body, it’s my job to make sure that happens.

So, why Wellness? They have a promise they call The Wellness Difference: “The Wellness Difference is about being more than natural. And it’s not about what is left out—no fillers, or artificial ingredients—these are a given for us. True Wellness is about what we put in—a small number of simple, pure, authentic ingredients. We believe this is the way to make superior food for our animals.”

They don’t put in junk; they only use good ingredients. I only want the best for Emmett in every single thing, and most especially his food, so this works for us. The fact that it’s available at PetSmart and I can combine picking it up with taking Emmett out is icing on the kibble!

He’s happy, I’m happy. He’s healthy, I’m even happier!

The herd, patiently waiting for their dinner… maybe not so patiently… Newt actually chewed a hole through Emmett’s bag of Wellness. Again. Sigh.

Anyway, all that said, and because this food has worked so well for him for so long, I wanted to share a coupon with you guys in case you were interested in trying it out for your pups. This is for the Complete Health line, which we wrote about a few months ago. We’re feeding Em the Core right now, but we switch back and forth because both have really great grain-free options. The Complete Health is a bit more affordable, and with the holidays around the corner, we can all stand to save a few bucks, right? Save $5.00 off any 24 lb. bag of Complete Health™ Dog Food at PetSmart (but it expires 11/30/16).

Now, if only I could get Emmett to STOP jumping on the checkout counter at PetSmart… but, he says, “YOLO!! They’ve got cookies!”

Visit PetSmart to check out the extensive line up of Wellness Core and Wellness Complete Health Products. And please say hi to our sponsor on social! You can find Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wellness. The opinions and text are all mine.

Emmett Tries Caloric Harmony (sort of like doggy nirvana but with kibble) #WeruvaDog

03•09•16

When I wrote about all of Emmett’s excellent health news on Monday, I glossed over one critical piece of the overall puzzle:

Emmett is old.

It’s hard for me to imagine my guy getting old, yet here we are. He is old. He’ll turn 13 this July. His face is white. His hearing is going–we’re doing lots of shouting these days–and his coat is worn like the Velveteen rabbit’s. As he ages and as he combats health issues big, like cancer, and small, like arthritis, I’m hyper-focused on keeping him fit and well. A huge part of that, to me, is what he eats.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Weruva and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network. I am being compensated for helping create awareness around the brand new Caloric Harmony and Caloric Melody premium dog food product lines, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Weruva is not responsible for the content of this article.

We recently had the opportunity for him to try the new WeRuVa®’s new Caloric Harmony™ for a week, and I thought it could be a good fit for him, and for us, for a few reasons.

{He thought it was a good fit for him, too, because he thought it was tasty. But, as you know, Emmett’s opinion rarely counts when it comes to food.}

One thing that appeals to me is that it’s an All Life Stages food. To me, good nutrition is good nutrition, regardless of age or stage. Plus, and this isn’t to disparage my guy, but as he’s aging, he’s getting a bit… saggy. Our vet calls it gravity because she’s very kind. It’s so important to me to keep him fit, and a huge part of that is diet. Caloric Harmony is low fat, and it has a low glycemic load to maintain energy–something he needs to stay on top of getting exercise. It has added pumpkin to help with digestion and seaweed for a little prebiotic action, again keeping his gut healthy. The kibble also has Salmon Oil, Linoleic Acid, Zinc, and B Vitamins, all of which supposedly contribute to healthy skin and coat.

What it doesn’t have: potato, wheat, corn, soy, or any Chinese ingredients.

Our trial bag also came with little packets of toppers and some pumpkin for both dogs and cats. Newt decided she had to see that for herself!

“Don’t let her eat my food, lady!”

Beyond the ingredients, I like the brand because, for one thing, they’re a family-owned pet food manufacturer, and the protein is responsibly sourced (cage-free chicken, for example). Their business focuses on ethical practices, which is so appreciated in this economic climate.

Bottom line: Emmett is sweet, stubborn, and convinced he’s always starving. The boy will eat anything. So it’s up to me to figure out what food works best for him. After a week on this, and learning all that I have about the brand and the ingredients, I’m happy with this one. I’m committed to ensuring that Emmett stays healthy and well in these twilight years (which I plan to last much, much longer, of course!), and this food fits into that puzzle.

If you want to learn more about the new Caloric Harmony or its complementary, lower-priced line, Caloric Melody, check them out on Facebook or Instagram. Or, visit Pet360 to purchase!

For those of you with seniors, what do you look for in a food? Are you all about digestive health? Or are skin-and-coat issues more concerning? What about low fat? (Emmett says he can’t be the only golden oldie with a sagging belly! 🙂 ) Or is it the combo platter, like it is with Em?

I look forward to reading your insights! As always, I leave you with an outtake! 😉

This post is sponsored by Weruva and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network. I am being compensated for helping create awareness around the brand new Caloric Harmony and Caloric Melody premium dog food product lines, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Weruva is not responsible for the content of this article.

Around the house: The things I truly love

02•04•16

Having just gone through the process of packing up our entire house, moving it, then unpacking it… I’ve been thinking about the stuff we have. We cleared out so much in the packing process, then even more (“why did we keep this?”) in the unpacking process, so the stuff that made the cut is stuff that truly works or is just plain loved.

I get a lot of emails about past product reviews, asking if we still use this or how’s that holding up. Silly me. It never occurred to me to do a “where are they now” style post about past product reviews. Thank YOU guys for being so smart and prompting this post. I figured I’d address some Qs today, along with a couple new items that I adore! If I missed something, please let me know!

BarkBox: I got some Facebook messages asking if we still subscribed to BarkBox and is it worth it. The short answer: YES! We do, and I think it is. The long answer: Well, honestly, we had a series of mishaps with October, November, and December that all, thankfully, got resolved. I decided to tackle all those BarkBox customer service issues and include a review in a video. It was a comedy of errors: camera tipping over, Cooper barking, Newt biting Emmett’s ear, etc. And then I screwed up the file. Crud. I tried fixing it today to no avail, obviously, but if I DO get it fixed, I’ll be sure to post! In the meantime: If you want to subscribe, you can do so through my affiliate link, which also gets you 10% off. And here’s the hilarious cartoon for this month’s, which has long been Emmett’s philosophy…
The water fountains: I’ve done a couple reviews and giveaways of the PetSafe fountains (here and here). Those are old posts, and during our “trial” periods with both, there was some apprehension among various herd members. Recently, a friend asked for an update. Did they ever get used to them? Or did we go back to bowls? After a while, it was clear that Newt was drinking exclusively from the fountain and ignoring her water dish. The boys drank from whatever–dish or fountain–was closest. I wanted them to shift to fountains because we have very hard water, and our new house didn’t yet have a water softener. So, they didn’t get an option. We put one fountain downstairs and one upstairs, and they’ve been fine drinking solely from those. And I feel better that they’re drinking filtered water. That said, we did have to order a replacement motor for the Zen. It wasn’t an expensive part (~$15) and the fountain’s running just fine now.
Ruggable: This one hasn’t been on the blog yet, but I wanted to share it because I think it’s a smart buy for dog-loving homes! These guys sent me a sample for consideration of the gift guide, but as you know, the gift guide only features products that include giveaways. However, we had the sample, and our new house has kind of a weird set up. You come in through the garage, and the bedroom is right there on the left and the door to the backyard is straight ahead. Which means that the dogs frequently come in from outside–from walks through the garage or from playing in the back–and jump straight in our bed. It’s just what they do. So, the perfect spot for the Ruggable. It’s a rug in two parts: the non-slip base and the top that peels away. The top is flipped up in the corner in the pic below. Why? So you can toss it in the wash machine! And dryer! Seriously, a machine-washable rug! We desperately needed something like that for this spot in our hallway. It’s worked really well since we put it down in December. You can check it out here: Ruggable.
My growing pit bull “stuff” collection: I know I said I cut down on stuff. But… there’s one area (okay, two if you count books, but you can’t count books as “stuff”) that’s grown. Hehe! John bought me a Pittie Chicks sweatshirt for Christmas, and I loooove it! It fits well. It’s warm and cozy and flipping adorable. I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on it, too. Love. Also, I know I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge stationery/notebook geek. I started looking for handmade notebooks on Etsy, and I found Black Dog Bindery (hello!) and a custom breed notebook! I emailed and asked if she could do a pit-type, and she sent me a rendering of a pit. The dog had cropped ears, so I asked if she could do one without, and not only did she do it! She sent me BOTH! Swoon! (She has other super cute stuff, too, but who doesn’t want a custom breed-specific notebook?!?!) And, they’re Coop-approved!
The Honest Kitchen: Yep, Coop’s still on Brave, and it’s still working for his belly! {…knocks on wood…} He has had a couple tremors since my last tremor FAQ and update, so… I don’t know. I guess my bottom line is that the food is working for him, and he’s healthy. The tremors have diminished significantly. So, we’re happy.
Toys: It’s safe to assume that none of the toys I’ve ever reviewed are still whole. In fact, did you see my Instagram on the Tuffy Level 10? Four minutes. Sigh. Cooper’s got a pretty substantial carbon pawprint.

There you have it! Sort of my version of “Oprah’s Favorite Things” but with fewer cars!

I’m 100% positive I missed some questions, so please do ask away–or if you want more info on any of the above. I’m always happy to share, share, share!

Food, glorious food!

01•11•16

Some people might think this is hyperbole. But, trust me when I say this: Food changes everything.

Those who think I’m exaggerating must be the lucky ones who have a solid gut for themselves or their pups (a dog, really, like Emmett who can eat a plastic Christmas wreath that’s merely scented of cranberries and be fine the next day… or two loaves of zucchini bread… or an eight-layer dip… or…). Dogs, or people, who don’t fall into that “solid gut” category, well, it’s a different story.

In short, here’s what led us to today: Baby Cooper’s fur fell out. His skin broke out. He suffered from chronic ear infections and anal gland problems. We tested food after food after food. He got bloody diarrhea. We put him on an allergy restriction diet that took ages. That determined that he can’t eat chicken or beef. He seemed to have issues with additives, maybe preservatives, maybe something else. He still had chronic ear infections and itchy skin and goopy eyes and on and on… until we started cooking for him. He stopped having bloody diarrhea (yay!) and his coat improved. His ears did a smidge, too.

He was eating (and we were cooking) salmon or lamb, quinoa, mixed vegetables, steamed apples, and boiled potatoes, plus a vegetarian multivitamin/mineral, a calcium supplement, and two huge scoops of coconut oil. His allergy symptoms cleared up, which was awesome, but he was eating SO MUCH FOOD just to get enough calories. We were spending all our time cooking for Cooper, then cleaning up after cooking for Cooper, then grocery shopping for Cooper (not to mention how much it all cost).

Then, one day, magic appeared in my inbox.

The email was from The Honest Kitchen, and it said something to the effect of: Hey! We have this new line of Minimalist foods, and we’re offering pet bloggers a chance to try them!

I read through the ingredients, and two were ruled out immediately, but the third, Brave, could it be?

So, despite some misgivings about the exchange, I accepted. A box of Brave arrived mid-September, just as our world started to slowly fall apart as Lucas declined.

That trial box took us ages to finish. Why? Because I was so afraid of his bloody diarrhea reappearing. I did little bites of Brave here and there, slowly building up the quantities. At that point, the trial box had run out, so we ordered a 10-pound box online to see if the momentum could continue because he wasn’t sick. At all. That was mid-October, and it took us another week or so after that box arrived to get him to a full bowl. Then we lost Lucas, and my post about this fell by the wayside.

So, finally! Here’s where we are today: We have signed up for 10-lb box reorders at our local pet supplier. He is doing great. He is FINALLY gaining weight. Cooper, the little string bean, has exceeded 40 pounds (well, 40.2, but that’s exceeded!), and he’s had no ear infections. None. He does occasionally have an upset belly, but with everything he’s allergic to, plus being super high-strung, that’s to be expected.

He’s thriving on this food, truly.

It’s expensive, for sure, when compared to commercial dog foods. It’s about $120/box, but we were already spending $90/month on just his meat. We are keeping him on the same supplement regimen, and so it shakes out to be roughly the same amount per month.

But the time! Aw, lawrdy, the time! HOURS each week. Literal hours. Saved.

Also, no huge mess and no cooking huge amounts of meat every couple days. John will never eat salmon again.

I know that many of you come here looking for information about allergy-prone dogs and dogs with food allergies or sensitivities. Every dog is different, but for Cooper, the Brave formula did the trick. OMG… if they ever discontinued it, I would cry. Seriously, sob. No hyperbole here either.

Have you tried this food? Or another in the minimal line? If your dog is hyper-sensitive like Coop, what’s worked best for you?

Disclaimer: The Honest Kitchen sent me a trial box of Brave for Cooper to try.