Nutri-Vet Dental Gel for Dogs

Nutri-Vet Dental Gel for Dogs

Blondie's chew ball

Your dog's teeth need care just like yours: no lie. Unfortunately, I doubt that my hygienist, would be very keen on cleaning Blondie's needleicious incisors. Of course she'd adore the little lady, like everyone else, but those teeth are sharp, and there are lots of them. No worry, though, because she gets a treatment of Nutri-Vet Dental Gel every week. 

How it Works

It's definitely not for human consumption: I doubt anyone could stomach the combination of liver and peppermint. Her taste buds, however, are in canine heaven. Even more, the peppermint oil leaves her with fresh, clean breath; a necessity for those of us who have in-your-face breeds like Labs! She gets her treatments with a Nutri-Vet Chew Ball, though the directions say it's OK to apply some directly to the teeth. Her chew ball has little indentations for gel, plus rubber nubbins that make it more chewable, the better to spread the gel around her mouth and work it over all her teeth.

Chuckit! Erratic Ball for Too Much Fun

Erratic Toys for Managing Dog Behavior

Our four-year old blond lab is the Labrador retriever everyone wants and so few get. She has good (smart) genes, but we’ve invested a lot of time into getting her to this point. She’s not perfect, she’s not a show dog but she’s well behaved, I trust her in most situations, and she has never been destructive. She’s smart, clever, and has diligently taught our younger dog. 

Why?

Favorite fetch toys have erratic bounces.

Labrador retrievers are smart and high energy dogs, which often means creative and easily bored. We found several activities that addressed both of those needs and that tightened the bond between us. A trainer recommended activities that stimulated her mind as a puppy and we’ve continually sought out other games and problem-solving toys. I’ve no doubt these helped but playing fetch with her twice a day and letting her run off excess energy while focusing on her ball has protected our house, furniture, shoes and finances. 

Petstages Orka Jack Review

An Orka Jack Gets an A on the Lab Test

Dogs love routine, and our blonde Lab is no exception. She has all her favorite toys on a schedule: squeaky bunny is reserved for rolling around on the family-room floor in the evening while her beat-up stuffed squirrel is for nighttime snuggling. When strenuous exercise is on the agenda, she tends to start slamming her favorite Petstages Orka Jack against the nearest human shin. This tough rubber toy is ideal high-energy dogs like our yellow girl because it's both tough and fun.

Description Her Orka Jack looks like a giant blue version of one of the children’s jacks we played with as kids - remember those metal jacks and the red rubber ball? - except that there aren't any knobs on the arms. It's six tapering rubber arms, all "Petstage blue," that project from a central point. Four of the arms have been left open so you can stuff in treats or string the Jack on a rope. The other two are closed. Four of the arms have a bumpy texture while the others have a pattern of raised stripes. It's available in small, medium and large sizes - ours is the large. The Orka's made of a tough but flexible rubber that stands up well to the sharp teeth of our determined chewer. It also floats, though she does't get to take this to the dog park for fear of losing it forever. We've gone through several Orkas over the years, which have included daily sessions of vigorous chase-and-retrieve play in the local open space. Eventually they break down, mainly from being thrown - hard.

Melissa and Doug's Basset Hound is part of our dog-training strategies

The Basset Hound just Wants to be Friends

Who is that strange dog over yonder by the neighbor’s mailbox? Let’s go chase it away – we really don’t trust its looks and it’s sneaky hiding behind that mailbox. Mom, you take care of it, I’ll just stay here and watch.  

The idea behind using realistic-looking stuffed animals for dog training was offered by our dog’s behaviorist. It’s supposed to accustom Cooper to other dogs and unsettling situations. Most people buy stuffed animals for children but I heartily recommend a few for a special class of nervous fur children – anxious dogs. 

A lonely dog snoozes day-in and day-out in the large dog carrier hidden in an out-of-the way room, it’s a dog that requires no play time, food, scooping after or walks but oddly beckons to everyone who passes – please play with me. This dog was not bought for a child, nor an adult who was missing a dog, but to help condition our rescue dog Cooper’s fears of strange dogs. It was selected for realism, and every time I pass it the plush Melissa and Doug Basset Hound startles me, as well as Cooper who always conducts a double-check sniff. 

The Behaviorist, The Language of Dogs, and How to Improve Communication

Low Levels of Stress in Dogs Beg for their Human's Attention

Cooper before - I don't trust this dog.

A rescue dog joined the family bringing with him a collection of emotional and insecurity issues, they always do, and knowing what to expect and watch for requires careful observation but also a different way of interpreting their signals. If only they could tell us about their specific fears. What is your new dog saying? Are you listening and responding to its concerns? 

Possibly not and you may be surprised to know how much they’re telling you.

Even though I’ve had three Labrador retrievers, two joining us as young puppies and one as an adult rescue, the recent rescue lab mix quickly lost confidence in my ability to understand his messages. We weren’t gaining ground but instead retreating and he was shutting down. It wasn’t until after working with a dog behaviorist that I began to more correctly interpret his body language. The therapist urged me to watch, as if studying it for an exam, Sarah Kalnajs’ video, The Language of Dogs. Then we practiced walking, watching and re-learning communication strategies. 

How to Identify Dog Stress Before It Escalates

Midwest Life Stages Crate

Puppy Gets Crate Trained the Easy Way

Locking up my dog in a crate will never happen; our dog needs to be part of the pack. That’s what I used to say until lessons with a young blond lab taught me otherwise. Now, "Our dog goes willingly and enthusiastically into a crate and it's the best training we've ever done." 

Many misconceptions about crates exist.

I can't debunk those but I will recommend a crate and explain why. Based upon our experience and my vet’s recommendations I urge everyone adopting a puppy to invest in the Midwest Life Stages Double Door Crate. 

The Life Stages crate has a divider that allows re-sizing the interior for growing puppies. If there's too much space inside y bed inside her small, well-defined space. She was in there at night, when she needed to resour puppy will try to relieve herself in a remote corner. We placed a small dogt, and when I needed her safely from under foot or secured when away from home. She never relieved herself in the crate. We let her outdoors frequently through the day and during the night. Within two weeks she was housebroken. As she grew we moved the divider back to accommodate her larger size. The divider is a snug fit and can be a little challenging to reposition, but this also means my puppy couldn't move it. 

The crate has two doors, on the end and one side. Both doors have double slide latches. The crate is coated with a black satin electro-coat finish—I've seen no signs of any of the finish

Petstages ORKA Flyer Dog Toy

Do you Have a Disc Dog? An Orka Flyer Really Flies

Labrador with Disc
®Petstages, Inc.

We've all marveled at the dogs galloping across open spaces in hot pursuit of Frisbees®, especially when the complete the charge with a flying leap, snagging the disc in mid-air.
That's why I've wanted for years to teach my dogs that game. A long time ago, somebody gave our first family dog, a lab-shepherd mix, an Aerobie flying ring but he seemed basically uninterested. Our prior Labradors, both the chocolate and the yellow, showed much more interest in chewing any disc in sight to shreds than they did in being a disc dog, but our current blonde fur baby is a definite believer

She has always loved chase and fetch games, screaming across our little park with laser-like focus on the track of her Orka Jack, usually snagging it in the middle of an unpredictable bounce. When I saw the Petstages Orka Flyer at our local pet store, I hoped I'd finally found a disc dog. It looks like my dream's come true.

Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey and Potato Recipe Dry Cat Food

Kitty's Healthy and Happy with her Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey and Potato Recipe

Little kitty's life now is worlds different from when she came to live with us almost a decade ago. That house is 1,000 miles away; and although she still lives with two dogs, they’re not the same ones (sniff). She always got along beautifully with our previous pooches, but Winki and her new brother just don't get along. Consequently, she's now a nocturnal beast, sleeping in her attic room during the day and prowling the downstairs at night when that evil dog is sleeping behind closed doors.

Given her level of stress, we worry that her health might suffer. So she stays healthy we try to give her quality food; mostly dry kibble juiced up with a couple of ounces of premium canned food each day. For the dry portion, we've upgraded from IAMS to Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Formula. She seems to appreciate the change, especially her Limited Ingredient Turkey & Potato recipe.

Ingredients and Analysis¹

When the Blue people call this food “limited ingredient,” it means there's no

• Chicken, poultry by-products, egg
• Corn, wheat, soy 
• Artificial preservatives, artificial flavors

What they do include looks a lot like the menu of a typical Thanksgiving dinner: there's Turkey, potatoes, peas, cranberries, oatmeal and brown rice. There are also some alfalfa, blueberries, carrots, barley and kelp, too; and all those polysyllabic whatsits that we eventually recognize as vitamins (like pyroxidine is vitamin B6 and folic acid is B9) and compounds containing  minerals like selenium or copper. For kitty's gut health, they add in probiotics like Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces (better known as yeast). The food looks good (at least to me); small, barrel-shaped tan kibbles, BB-sized. About 5% of them are smaller and a deep brown. These are what Blue terms “LifeSource Bits,” pellets full of antioxidants and essential nutrients. Kitty doesn't notice the color; she chows down on everything in her dish. We, on the other hand, appreciate Blue's grain-free formula (at least corn, wheat and soy, though I'm pretty sure those small amounts of oats and barley are technically grain). We're also impressed that the first ingredient listed is turkey, with turkey meal and potato coming next.

Blue's analysis: crude protein minimum 30%, crude fat minimum 12%, crude fiber maximum 3.5%, moisture maximum 10%, Magnesium minimum 0.08%, taurine minimum 0.15%, Omega 6 fatty acids minimum 2.5%, Omega 3 fatty acids minimum 6%.

Kitty's Reaction

Although she's pushing thirteen, little Winki remains healthy. She has strong teeth (and claws), her coat is clean and shiny and unmatted, she's slender but not bony, and remains playful. She gets daily exercise by running up and down her staircase to taunt those dogs, and attacks her collection of cardboard scratchers with gusto. She hacks up maybe one hairball every couple of weeks and the deposits in her litter box are well-formed and solid. Transitioning Kitty off IAMS to Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Formula went without a hitch. We're looking forward to her ripe old age; and we fervently hope that some day soon she and dog number two will call a truce. One can only hope

Summary: 

PLUS: no grains, no byproducts, no weird ingredients
MINUS: somewhat expensive
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Turkey and Potato Recipe keeps our kitty healthy and fit.


¹ I don't copy and past lists of ingredients because they change through time. Check the manufcturer's website or the label on the bag for specifics.

copyright © 2014-2017 scmrak

Petsport Pack My Bowl

Let's Go Hiking - and Don't Forget my Bowl

The gorgeous little blonde who lives with us was quite well-traveled before she was even three years old. By then, she had already wagged tail in ten states without ever going east of the Mississippi. She loves hiking in the mountains with Mom and Dad, and that means her food and water have to come, too. You don’t want to carry big plastic bowls out on the trail, so years ago we found these Petsport Pack My Bowls. They come in a pair, one of which is a kibble bowl with a drawstring closure that keeps extra food secure on the trail. The other bowl is a collapsible design wtih an open top, intended for use for either food or water. One of them is red, the other blue, though the colors apparently vary.

ChuckIt Ultra Rubber Ball

Chuck My Ball, Daddy: I Wanna Play Fetch!

Cooper just loves his ChuckIt Ultra!

The newest member of our family showed up just before Christmas a couple of years ago, a sweet little one-year-old boy rescued by a local Lab rescue group. He entered a household where his new big sister already had lots of established routines, one of which was daily play sessions in the park behind the house. Sis was happy for the little guy to join her, as long as he didn’t touch her toys. Since he’s not a retriever, we weren't sure how high his FQ (fetching quotient) would be, but he’s not only a great fetcher, he could teach his sister something about dropping. What a good boy!

Merrick New England Boil Cat Food

It Smells So Horrible, It has to Be Good!

Life's been tough for the little kitty who lives in our house, mainly because of the new rescue dog in the house, with whom she is decidedly not on speaking terms. These days, she rarely gets an opportunity to bond with her humans, about which she is occasionally vocal. She will perch a couple of steps down the spiral staircase to her attic, safely out of reach of Cooper, and alternates between mewing at her human staff and snarling at the dog(s). We sure do feel sorry for her.

Petsafe Plastic Dog Door

Your Dog Deserves a Door All His Own

We're like a lot of pet owners: our dogs pretty much run our lives. You can tell it as soon as we move into your neighborhood, 'cause the first two things we do are put up a fence so the dogs stay safe in their yard, and then give them a doggy door so they can come inside when it's too hot, cold, windy, or wet outdoors. No kidding: those pooches are pampered. When we moved into the great (formerly) white elephant on the edge of the prairie, I had to install two doors: one was an aluminum-frame model through the steel door into the barn, the second was through the solid-core door leading into the basement from the back yard. That second one was an off-brand from Home Depot with a fiberboard flap cover and cheap plastic "screws." It lasted less than two years before our blonde Lab pulled the flaps out of the frame.