Avenue K9

“Big enough for a Great Dane’s pile.”

When I saw that quote on the side of the box of Earth Rated’s PoopBags, I knew I had to buy them immediately.

In addition to being biodegradable, these are some of the most durable bags I’ve ever used. And yes, they can definitely contain a Dane-sized dump. Because they are so big and my two dogs are so small, I decided to use the same bag throughout the day for all the poops my dogs do (they like to poop once in the morning and once at night), that way I’m not using multiple bags in a single day.

I can leave a partially poo-filled bag next to my door for most of the day without worrying about the smell because the bags smell REALLY good–even with poop IN them! The bags are scented with lavender, which hides the smell o’ funk perfectly.

Big bags. Strong bags. Good-smelling bags. Earth-friendly bags (they dissolve in 18 months).

You can get a box of 120 bags for about $6. Crappy bags that don’t biodegrade cost more than that. Buy these!

The Good: They are designed to to clean and freshen dog breath–while some dog owners relish the naturally potent pooch-stink, the idea of a product that can at least temporarily get rid of that freshly licked poop scent is a great thing indeed. Oh, and dogs seem to really like the taste (of the DogToids…and apparently of poop as well).

The Not-So-Good: I’m not quite sure how well they work. I just fed one to my dog Casper, then I got down and smelled his breath…it smells like dog treats.

One of the ingredients is “desiccated liver.” Thanks to a quick visit to dictionary.com, I now know desiccated just means dehydrated–not necessarily a bad thing after all…the word “desiccated” just sounded really scary.

The Verdict: The jury is still out on whether this is more novelty than it is effective, but I’ll take the placebo effect over poop breath any day of the week.

The pooch reaction: A few sniffs before eating–they don’t seem to have much of a smell. After eating the treat, Casper the test-pooch sniffs the ground, eagerly looking for another. They must be tasty!

Packaging: Very hip. Also made from 100% recycled stuff paperfiberstuff.

The Human’s Take: It’s a really big box of treats. The individual treats are small enough for little dogs to eat. They are free of wheat, salt, corn and soy–I like that. As the name indicates, the treats contain hemp–”hemp meal” to be exact. Hemp contains essential fatty acids that help keep your pooch’s coat looking good and their heart healthy. Another plus: This big box of treats only costs six bucks. Good price for quality stuff.

[ratings]

Ever open up a bag of dog treats and say to yourself: “Holy &%^$ these treats smell amazing! I almost want to eat one! (But you don’t, of course, because that would be weird, and I’ve never actually taken a bite of a dog treat. Ever. Never. Yep. I swear.)

The Wellness company makes a dog treat called Well Bites. These treats are super soft and smell SUPER delicious. Sometimes I’ll just open the bag and take in the smell–I can admit this to you because chances are, you are also an obsessive dog-owner and by law you are required to accept my weird dog-related quirks.

Back to the treats.

They’re made of lamb, salmon, oatmeal, blueberries, sweet potatoes, apples and carrots. No by-products or filler ingredients.

In addition to being soft, the treats are nice and big (about one square-inch), which is great because I can easily break them up into small pieces and make the bag last longer.

An 8-oz bag of Wellness Well Bites is about $8. One bag  lasts about a month with our two little dogs, so for us, it’s well worth the price–plus, if you’ve looked at dog treat prices lately, even the crappy treats are getting pricier, so do your dogs a favor and buy the good stuff!

Buy them. Smell them. Refrain from eating them.

The Good: You know you won’t be feeding your dog junk. This is high-quality food that’s 100% grain-free, and all of this company’s products are manufactured in a USDA inspected food plant. Surprise surprise! Your dogs will most likely go crazy when they get a whiff of this raw goodness.

The, uh…eh: It’s not cheap, and you’ll need to buy a lot of it if it’s the only food you’re gonna feed your dog–if your dog weighs 50 lbs or more, the recommended feeding amount is 1-2 bars daily. At about 3 bucks per bar for the chicken and salmon, you’d be looking at a $90/month dog food bill.

The bottom bark: Northwest Naturals definitely delivers a top-quality product your pet will love. If you’re unable to switch your dog’s diet entirely over to raw because of the cost, you may want to consider substituting just one of their daily meals to raw. We feed our dogs three times a day and have been doing kibble in the morning, raw food at mid-day, and kibble again at night. So far so good!

If you have poofy dogs like I do, you know how they can get the occasional mats in their hair despite the many hours you spend brushing them (or not brushing them, however you may lean….).

Many years ago, I learned that the best way to get our hairy knots was using the tiny flea comb that came with one of our larger brushes.The comb is small, and the tiny gaps between the teeth are just the perfect size to get into each knot and break them apart with gentle pulling. Pom Pom is SUPER sensitive when it comes to being brushed and having her skin pulled, so the tiny comb allows me to demat while holding the base of the knot so I don’t pull too much.

I can’t really think of a downside to this particular product – it works well for me. But I also recognize that I have dogs with straight, fine, thin hair. I can imagine that dogs with curlier or wiry hair may need a more intense dematting tool, like a slicker brush.

Price wise, a small flea comb is no more than a couple of dollars. Ours even came with a regular brush. Cost-effective, convenience, and small…it’s the perfect package!

I never really gave much of a glance to the pet food section at Trader Joe’s, but yesterday Cindy brought home a bag of Organic Chicken and Brown Rice Sticks from the TJ for the pooches.

The sticks are soft enough for Pom Pom’s teeth (a big requirement these days) and fragrant enough for Casper to know where the bag of treats is at all times.

Another plus? All-organic ingredients. The wee ones may not know what that means, but the pet parents like it.

For three bucks, you get about 15 sticks that are about 4 inches long. We like breaking the sticks up into smaller pieces to make them last longer. We call that being economical, Casper calls it torture.

I definitely recommend throwing a pack of these in your basket next time you’re at Trader Joe’s.