February 4, 2012

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What About Elk Antlers For Dogs?

January 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

About a month ago I wrote a short blog post asking the question Are Deer Antlers For Dogs A Good Chew Toy?  Check out the link if you missed the story.  Up until recently I had heard lots of good things about antlers for dogs, but not long ago I had been made aware of some side effects from antlers as a chew toy and I was told by our guide dog school that “We do not recommend antlers as a chew toy/supplement.”

Reindeer Antlers For Dogs

Reindeer Antlers For Dogs - Apache Christmas!

Since I had not ever purchased deer antlers for my dogs I figured it was not a big deal (being told that we could not give our dogs antlers).  However, I wanted to let everyone here on the blog know that there was a concern and I was hoping to hear your feed back thus I wrote the initial post.  Lucky for me we have an active audience that responded to our deer antlers blog post and left me some wonderful comments, answers, emails, and additional questions.

Here are bits of feedback we received from readers:

“I have had no problem and also purchase for my sons pup who also has no problems.” –Cheryl

“GDD where I am raising my puppy from right now, says they are fine for the dogs and they are great chew toys.” –Peggy

‘My dogs love the antler chews, however you have to be very careful about the ones you buy.” –Janice

“I just read your “deer antler” info and I am wondering if the elk antlers I have been giving my dogs are safe? THEY SIMPLE LOVE THEM AND I HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY SIDE EFFECTS. ” –JoAnna

After reading through comments and several emails I received after posting my deer antlers for dogs blog post I began to see a common theme.  First, everyone who responded had mostly positive things to say about the antlers they purchased for their dogs.  Second, it seemed that the most important point was to make sure you purchased your antler chews from a reputable source.  So perhaps down the line I will buy antlers for my dogs, but I will be sure to do research to find high quality antlers.

What About Elk Antlers For Dogs?

A second question that came to light was what about elk antlers for dogs? are they potentially unsafe as well?  Since I have never purchased any kind of antler for my dogs I wasn’t too sure.  I went back to the original emails I received and conducted a little bit of internet research.

As someone who has not purchased, but only heard and researched antlers for dogs it seems to me that the worries from our deer antlers for dogs blog article are the same for all antler chews for dogs (deer, elk, moose, etc).  According to our findings the majority have found antlers to be a great chew for their dogs as long as you get your dog the right size and purchase a high quality antler product from a reliable source.

Here’s a nice thread on Elk Antler Chews:  http://www.dogforums.com/dog-food-forum/100618-elk-antler-chews.html.  One person even mentions that his dogs love Elk Antlers even more than they love the Deer Antlers (which is a lot)!

I went ahead and dug even deeper into the antler for dogs market and found many different sizes and variations including deer antlers for dogs, elk antlers for dogs, reindeer antlers for dogs, and moose antlers for dogs.  Here’s a short list of some of the antler products you can purchase from Amazon.com (Below are the highest rated by average customer reviews on Amazon).

  • Antlers For Dogs (affiliate link)- Both Deer and Antler Chews.  Antler chews are natural, healthy, odor-free and long-lasting chew toys that will help keep your dog busy and out of trouble and will help keep his teeth clean. Our antler dog chews come right out of nature from North American deer and elk and are completely unprocessed!…[Read More]
  • Elk Antlers For Dogs (affiliate link) - Our Antler Chews are 100-percent naturally shed and foraged by hand from Colorado. No animal was harmed in the making of our antler chews…[Read More]
  • Moose Antlers For Dogs (affiliate link) - Our Antler Chews are 100% naturally shed and foraged by hand from the woods in Maine and New Hampshire USA. Our Antlers are foraged, pressure washed, and cutup…[Read More]
  • Reindeer Antlers For Dogs (affiliate link) – So you may have already guessed, but the commonly searched Reindeer Antlers For Dogs refers to the doggy costume you usually see around Christmas (check out the picture of Apache above).  We got Apache his costume from Target, but you can just as easily order Reindeer antlers for you dog through Amazon.

After researching, feedback from friends and family, and finally from reader comments here on the blog I feel much more comfortable about purchasing antlers for my dogs.  Although its something I cannot give to any of my guide dog puppies in training I may try letting my own pet dogs try the antler chews.  If my 2 boys do try the antlers for dogs I’ll make sure to report back to you and give a thorough review telling exactly what we thought about the product.

I know a lot of you have already chimed in through last months article on deer antlers for dogs.  However, now that the new year is upon us and many may have received antlers for our dogs as Christmas gifts what kind of experiences have you had with elk antlers for dogs?   How about any of the other aforementioned antler for dog products?  We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comment section below.

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Are Deer Antlers For Dogs A Good Chew Toy?

December 27, 2011 By 15 Comments

Over the past couple years we’ve been hearing rave reviews about deer antlers for dogs.  If you have Labrador Retrievers in your house then you probably run into some of the same issues we do with Dublin, our yellow lab, and Stetson, our black lab.  Those two boys just love to chew up their dog toys, treats, chews, rawhides…you name it, they chew it.  In fact, Stetson can chew up a giant pressed rawhide bone in less than 5 minutes!  That’s the same bone that used to take Dublin 2 weeks to polish off (now it takes him about a half hour).  Some of the things we’ve heard about these wonderful chew toys/treats are:

  • “They are great for dogs who love to chew because they last for a very long time.”
  • “You can purchase them in different sizes depending on the size of your dog.”
  • “They don’t stink really bad like the bully sticks you get from the store.”
Deer Antlers For Dogs

Deer Antlers For Dogs

If you’d like to read more information about deer antlers for dogs then check out this affiliate link  Amazon.com (affiliate link).  Amazon readers give mostly good reviews of the Antler Dog Chew (affiliate link).

However, we recently received an email from our Guide Dog group that we wanted to share with our readers.  Here’s what they had to say about deer antlers for dogs.

Deer Antlers For Dogs

We are having an increase in the instances of dogs (puppies and adults) with acute diarrhea. All test show that the cause is not bacterial or parasitic. What all these cases do have in common……

Now I am not knocking antlers, they definitely have their place. Antlers are an excellent tool for dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. But because they are considered a novel protein, once a dog is given this as a treat, Venison can no longer be considered a novel protein for that dog. This makes it much more difficult to find a novel protein if needed in the future for skin or intestinal issues.

Recently, as antler dog chews become more popular, antler is getting more scarce. Antler chew sellers are popping up all over and they are looking to sell the cheaper, low grade antler to make more profit. These antlers are old, brittle and can crack and splinter when chewed. Because of the scarcity antlers are being brought in from other countries like China where they may be treated with chemical preservatives. Antlers are also high in protein, this too can cause stomach upset especially in young dogs.

We recommend the following “chew toys” : Sterile bones, Nylabones and the occasional rawhide, these are the same chew toys that are given while they are in training. All of these chews need to be given only under direct supervision.

We do not recommend antlers as a chew toy/supplement.

Are Deer Antlers For Dogs A Good Chew Toy?  Obviously we can no longer use deer antlers as a chew toy/supplement for our guide dog puppies in training, but then again we never had the chance to use them in the first place.  By the way, I’m glad I did not have to experience acute diarrhea with my pups.  The fear of all 3 of my dogs getting diarrhea is enough to make me avoid purchasing deer antler chews for my dogs.

So I guess we’ll just stick to the Sterile bones, Nylabones and the occasional rawhide.  Lucky for us Dublin (and now Apache) loves the Nylabones and Sterile Bones so we rarely give them any other kind of dog chews.

Are current favorite dog chew toys are KONG Extreme Dog Toy and Nylabone Dura Chew Wishbone Chew Toy (affiliate links).  The KONG Dog Toy has been pretty much indestructible while the Nylabone Wishbone gets a bit jagged when our dogs chew on it, but has remained in one piece…just don’t let your dog drop it on your bare foot…OUCH!

Do you have a destructive dog that loves to chew?  What are your favorite dog chew toys?  Have you tried deer antlers for dogs?  How about elk antlers for dogs?  We’d love to hear about your experiences so tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Top 10 Dog Toys

December 12, 2011 By 4 Comments

Once Thanksgiving is past and Christmas is upon us I start thinking about what dog toys I should get for my 3 dogs.  The search basically starts on the internet by typing A-M-A-Z-O-N-.-C-O-M into my browser.  Any time I think about purchasing anything my first thought is to visit Amazon.com(and usually ends with Amazon too).

How To Find Popular Dog Toys

How do I find the most popular dog toys on Amazon?  It’s simple.  Here’s my step by step process:

  1. Type Amazon.com into your web browser of choice.  We prefer either Firefox or Google Chrome, but any browser will do.
  2. In the left navigation bar hover over “Home, Garden, & Tools”.  In the sub-navigation scroll down to Pet Supplies and click on the HyperlinkAmazon Pet Suplies
  3. In the horizontal navigation just below the search box click on the “Dog” hyperlink.  This will take you directly to the Most Popular Dog Products page.Amazon Dog Supplies
  4. Now just manually filter out the toys from the regular, boring, old products.  Here’s the link that will take you directly to Amazon’s Most Popular Dog Products Page.

Just in case you don’t feel like going through my wonderful 4 step process here are the Top 10 Dog Toys on Amazon.com.

Top 10 Dog Toys

We like going Letterman Top 10 list style and go in descending order (countdown) from 10 to Number 1.  Here’s our top dog toy list:

#10 Dog Toy – Mr. Bill Dog Toy – Okay, okay a bit of a weak start to our top 10 dog toys list, but if you’re a Gen Xer like me then you might recall the days of Mr. Bill.  I envision this little guy getting shredded by the likes of Apache (my Golden Retriever) Linus (my Aussie Mix) and Stetson (my Black Lab).  Anyhow we ordered one and we’ll let you know how he performs under stress (of 3 big dogs).  The 20th most popular dog product on Amazon the price is right at $6 you’re receiving a 62% discount from Amazon!

#9 Dog Toy – Kyjen Plush Puppies Dog Squeaker Mat Toy – Kyjen seems like they’ve made some pretty popular dog toys coming into this holiday season starting off with this squeaker mat toy.  It might drive me nuts when the doggies get a hold of this one, but we’re going to order one from Amazon anyways and let you know what we think.  This one snuck in ahead of Mr. Bill by just a hair as the 19th most popular dog product and #9 dog toy!

#8 Dog Toy – Nylabone Dura Chew Wishbone Chew Toy – We’ve had one of these bad boys in the past which was chewed up, but not destroyed by Puppy In Training #2, Derby (yellow Labrador Retriever).  It got pretty jagged and every time Derby dropped it on my bare foot it left a scratch mark.  Rated for powerful chewers we eventually had to trash our Dura Chew Wishbone, but today we’re going to purchase another and let you know what Linus (aussie mix), Stetson (black Lab), and Apache (golden retriever) think of the Dura Chew.  This one is the 16th most popular dog product.

#7 Dog Toy – Ethical Pet Skinneeez Exotic Series Dog Toy – I was wondering what the fuss was about these line of toys which come in the beaver, chicken, or flamingo styles.  Here’s what Amazon had to say: “Our realistic Skinneeez toys will bring out a dog’s natural hunting instinct while dogs chase and flip-flop these toys all over the place. All Skinneeez are stuffing free and last longer than regular plush dog toys because there is no stuffing for dogs to rip out!”  Isn’t that half the fun for your dog?  I guess it’s not so fun when your dog…uhhmm…Stetson…tears up and eats the stuffing.  We ordered one and we’ll let you know if we like it better or worse then your regular plush stuffed toy.  Skinneeez is the 14th most popular dog product.

#6 Dog Toy – Kyjen Puzzle Plush Egg Babies Dog Toy, 5 Eggs – The second Kyjen toy to hit our list.  This one comes from Kyjen’s popular puzzle line of toys.  In fact we’ve loved these dog toys for years.  However, this will be our first Egg Babies Dog Toy.  We’ve noticed that our pups love to extract squeakers from regular plush toys.  These toys are great because our pups can still extract squeakers (the eggs) without destroying the toy.  This guy is the 13th most popular dog product.

#5 Dog Toy – KONG Extreme Dog Toy – We’ve had a few destructive dogs come through the house, but I think Apache (my Golden Retriever pup) may be able to take down the red Kong plus he such a big boy I think we need a bigger more extreme Kong.  Enter the KONG Extreme Dog Toy.  This is on the top of Apache’s wishlist so I ordered one from Amazon and I’ll let you know if it truly is EXTREME!  At number 11 amongst all dog products.

#4 Dog Toy – Kyjen Plush Puppies Squeaker Mat Long Body Dog Toy – We’ve been wanting to try one of these large Kyjen Squeaker dog toys.  Last year we bought the Kyjen Invincibles Snake Dog Toy and we’ve heard that these types of dog toys are supposed to be better for destructive dogs.  We plan on getting a couple and putting them to the test.   The #9 Dog product on Amazon!

#3 Dog Toy – Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball Dog Toy  – we had the small version of this toy for our cat and she absolutely loved it.  I also recall Linus playing with it as well when he was just a pup.  However, we want to try the larger 5″ version with Stetson and hopefully can put a short review up for you guys in the near future.  Stay tuned…for a review of the #7 most popular dog product on Amazon.

#2 Dog Toy – Nylabone Durable Dental Dinosaur Chew Toy – we haven’t tried the dental dinosaur, but in the past we have enjoyed many other Nylabone dog products.  Nylabone rates the durability of their toys and this one is recommended for powerful chewers.  I think I might get one and test it with my boys who are definitely powerful chewers! This is the #3 most popular dog product on Amazon!

#1 Dog Toy – Drum Roll Please……… Kyjen Hide-A-Squirrel – one of our favorite toys.  It can be a bit puzzling for dogs at first, but your dog will enjoy extracting these squeaky squirrels form their stumpy home.  And the #1 most popular dog toy on Amazon is the #2 most popular dog product

After all that what actually is the most popular dog product on Amazon?  It’s a Children’s Gate Play Yard!?

And that’s it!  With Christmas right around the corner make sure you check out some or all of these great dog toys.  As I’ve mentioned some I’ve already tried and tested while others I’m considering bringing into the household.  If your dogs have already had the pleasure of playing with any of these dog toys then let us know what your pup thought in the comments section below.

We receive a small commission from Amazon that helps support our blog if you purchase an item from one of the affiliate links in this post.  Thank you for your support!

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Dog Poop Bags

October 15, 2011 By 4 Comments

What kind of Dog Poop Bags do you use?

I bet when you woke up this morning and checked your email or feed reader you weren’t expecting an in depth blog post about your dogs poop.  If you continue reading then unfortunately for you dog poop bags is the topic of the day!

First of all, I hope everyone out there is picking up their dog poop because we don’t want to step in or slip in that pile of stinky poop.  Stepping in dog poop is not the only reason not to pick up your dog poop.  We recently purchased Nature’s Miracle Dog Poop Bags (aff. link) and found that each bag had a little slogan thanking you and telling why you should be picking your dog’s poo.  Rather than keep you in suspense here’s the list:

Thank You…

  • …For protecting the environment.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pet droppings significantly contribute to source water contamination.  There are an estimated 74 million dogs depositing 20,000 tons of waste every single day in the United States alone. – WOW!  That’s a lot of dog poo!  I encourage you to please pick up after your dog as we don’t need to contaminate the source water anymore then we have to.
  • …You’re doing the right thing!  Virtually every major city and county in the United States has some sort of “Pooper Scooper” law to regulate pet waste clean up.  Fines can range from $10 to $2,000 per occurrence! – That’s a lot of dough for not picking up your dog’s poop.
  • …For picking up.  A common misconception is that dog poop is fertilizer.  A meat eater, like dogs and people, have solid waste that contains bacteria and viruses which are harmful to both people and pets if not disposed of properly. – I wonder if vegetarians produce usable fertilizer.  My guess is no, but something to think about.
  • …Every bag counts.  The average Beagle will deposit 5,737 pounds of poop and use 4,413 dog poop bags during it’s lifetime – Based on life expectancy, metabolism, and weight of a typical Beagle. – I don’t even want to think about how much dog poop my three Labrador Retrievers produce.
So now that you’ve read those facts, you know the importance of picking up dog poop.

Now back to my original question: What kind of dog poop bags do you use?

Dog Poop Bags

We started out just like many of you by using the plastic grocery bags we received from the store.  However, in an attempt to be more green and eco-friendly we’ve been working on bringing reusable bags rather than going with paper or plastic.  So what’s the alternative to grocery dog poop bags?  Well, there are many starting with buying some from your local pet store.

You might be surprised, but for me I like to break my dog poop bags down into several categories.  So let’s get started

Petco and Petsmart Dog Poop Bags

  • These are the standard dog poo bags you see at your local Petsmart, Petco, or pet store.  They are very similar to the dog bags you can buy in massive bulk directly from Amazon.com and are usually black, silver or blue with no writing and non-scented.  I’ve found the blue and silver bags to usually be fairly sturdy while the black are usually a little bit thinner.  Here’s an affiliate link to the dog bags I’m talking about:

Blue Durable Dog Waste Bags

Biodegradable Dog Poop Bags

  • I recently bought some biodegradable dog waste bags from amazon to see how they stood up against the rest of the poop bag competition.  We ordered a 120 pack from Amazon and this is what we found…they were packed very tightly onto the little plastic spindle.  Each bag was very thin and felt like half the thickness of your average blue Petco/Petsmart bag mentioned above.  After picking up Stetson’s poop with the biodegradable dog bags I smelled my hand to make sure I didn’t actually touch poop.  Fortunately all was good.  While the thin biodegradable dog waste bags didn’t really bother me they may bother you so you might want to buy only a handful before you decide to buy in bulk.  Also, the biodegradable bags I purchased were scented, but I’m sure you can buy them unscented as well.  Here’s an affiliate link to the biodegradable dog waste bags I purchased from Amazon.com:

Biodegradable Doggy Bags

Scented Dog Poop Bags

  •  We’ve purchased both scented and unscented dog poop bags.  I think the debate of scented versus unscented is based on your personal preference.  Most scented bags do cover up the dog poo odor.  However, I’ve talked to several friends who now associate that scented powder smell with doggy poop and anytime they whiff that scent they instinctively think: DOG POOP!!!  Anyhow, my preference at this time is the scented version as I prefer the way it covers up the smell of poop.  We are currently using the Nature’s Miracle version of the scented poop bags as mentioned earlier in the post.  Here’s an image along with an Amazon affiliate link:

Nature’s Miracle Antimicrobial Dog Pick-Up Bags

Flushable Dog Poop Bags

  • The flushable dog poop bags are the only bag I have yet to use on this list.  They are pretty pricey compared to the other bags, but if you order them on Amazon.com you get a bit of a discount.  I plan on trying these Flush Doggy Poop Bags in the near future and will post a short review after Dublin, Stetson, Linus, and I run them through a thorough test.  From the amazon description: Use 100% biodegradable flushable dog waste bags ! Whether flush or toss, our earth wins. EPA states “Flushing pet waste is the best disposal method.”  Here’s an image and affiliate link to the Flushable Dog Waste Bags.

Flush Doggy – Biodegradable & Flushable Dog Poop Bags

Free Dog Poop Bags

  • Plastic Grocery Store Bags.  When you buy groceries they ask you “paper or plastic”.  If you opt for plastic then you’ve got yourself an extra dog poop bag.  They’re sometimes a little large for dog poop so you might do what I try to do with all my doggy bags and pack two poops in one bag (I currently walk 3 dogs and in an attempt to save on the number of bags I use I try to pack to poops in one bag).
  • Free Dog Poop Bags at the Park – The dog poop bags I’ve seen at the park are usually blue scented bags.  They work just fine and they are very convenient when you’re out for a walk in the park.  Often times your home owners association is paying for these dog bags so since you’re already paying you should definitely use them.

Did I miss anything?  I don’t thinks so, but if there’s a type of dog poop bag that you use that I haven’t heard off leave us a comment below.

That’s the scoop on the dog poop bags.  Please be considerate of your neighbors and pick up after your dog.  They’ll appreciate it, the environment will be better for it, and you won’t have to worry about incurring a large fine.

Now the question once again goes back to you.  What kind of dog poop bags do you use?

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H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle And Bowl – Video Review

May 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

This is the third and final in our series of H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle And Bowl Reviews.  Our first review covered the basic specifications and our first impressions after receiving the H2O4K9 dog water bottle and bowl package in the mail.  Our second review covered our initial reaction to our first field test.  We actually brought the H2O4K9 Water Bottle out on several outings including our Scavenger Hunt at Fashion Island, our snow outing, bass pro shop outing and our movie outing at the District in Tustin.

H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle And Bowl – Video Review

Before we get to the H2O4K9 video review here are some quick specs on the H2o4K9 Dog Water Bowl/Bottle and neoSLING:

  • 18/8 Stainless Steel Bottle
  • 100% Recyclable
  • Fits Backpacks / Cup Holder and Bike Cages
  • Great Clip to attach the H2O4K9 Bottle to your belt
  • Weights less than 1 lb
  • NeoSLING - is a stylish, comfortable, and convenient way to carry water for you or your dog wherever you go.

Without further adieu here’s our H2O4K9 Video Review:

H2O4K9 Video Transcription

Welcome to the PuppyInTraining.com H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle and Bowl Review.  There’s our product tester, Stetson checking out the H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle.  As you can see there’s a little carabiner clip so you can clip your bottle to your backpack.  The bottle is a very sturdy construction and made of stainless steel and as you can see the lid acts as a water bowl.  I’m using the H2O4K9 lid as a water bowl I’m going to see if Stetson wants a sip of water.  Unfortunately, Stetson wasn’t too thirsty.  That’s okay because now I can show you how easy it is to add unused water back to the bottle.  The H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle and Bowl is very well-constructed and felt solid in my hands.  It is much nicer then many of the plastic bottles we’ve reviewed in the past.

We decided o put the H2O4K9 to the test by taking it on one of our outings to the District in Tustin.  I strapped on the neoSLING to carry my H2O4K9 and took Dublin for a stroll.  After walking around the District for over an hour our guide dog puppies Dublin, Baron, and Yuki were pretty thirsty.  Here’s Dublin checking out the H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle and Bowl.  Now he’s taking a few sips.  Dublin splashes water around no matter what bowl he drinks out of.  Now here’s Yuki.  She’s much more graceful when drinking water.  As you can see here the H204K9 Dog Water bowl fits Yuki and Baron’s mouth perfectly as if it were designed for a Labrador Retriever.  The only thing we didn’t really like about the H2O4K9 was the two piece design.  We prefer to see a model where the bottle and bowl are connected in one piece while our pups drink.

Thanks for joining us for the H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle and Bowl review.  If you’d like us to review one of your dog or puppy products visit PuppyInTraining.com and fill out our contact form with your information.

In case you missed our first two reviews check out:

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl Review – First Test

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl – In For Review

My final thoughts on the H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle And Bowl

We love the construction of the H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle.  It’s a very solid stainless steel bottle and 100% recyclable.  We love the fact that it’s such high quality compared to most of the plastic bottles we come across in most other dog water bottles and bowls.

The Neoslingis very easy to throw over your shoulder and is very comfortable when transporting the H2O4K9 Bottle.  However, I mostly travel with a backpack when on outings and would normally just toss the bottle in my backpack.  We also tried clipping the H2O4K9 to our backpack using the carabiner, but we found it a little awkward and annoying with the bottle swaying side to side.

As we mentioned we’d love to see a one piece construction that has the bowl attached to the bottle.  We’ve seen this in several plastic bottle/bowl combos, but we would quickly purchase a nice well constructed H2O4K9 stainless steel bottle over the cheap plastic bottles we normally see in the stores.

Have you used an H2O4K9 Dog Water Bottle?  If so, let us know what you think about this dog product.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Dog Products, Puppy Training Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dog Products At The OC Pet Expo

April 19, 2011 By 3 Comments

Every year we go to the OC Pet Expo we come home with a bag full of dog products for Stetson, Linus, and this year Dublin to try out.  After last years Orange County Pet Expo besides getting good deals on little stuffed doggy toys we also came away with two doggy toys that we had been eager to try.  The first was the Amazing Treat Machine Interactive Dog Toy which we never got around to testing.  However, we plan on giving Stetson a shot at reviewing the Amazing Treat Machine and add it to his list of dog product reviews.  The other big product we bought from last years Pet Expo was Vetericyn wound and infection treatment spray.  We were hoping this spray would help with Stetson’s dog skin allergies.  Again we did not get a doggy product review posted to the web.  However, we plan on putting together a full review of Vetericyn in the coming weeks.

The Dog Products from OC Pet Expo 2011

Upcoming Dog Product Reviews from OC Pet Expo 2010

The Amazing Treat Machine Interactive Dog Toy – Fun interactive cardboard pet toy.

Amazing Treat Machine - Dog Feeder

Vetericyn Wound & Infection Treatment - One step wound and infection treatment based on microcyn technology that works naturally with your animals immune system.

Vetericyn for Dogs - wound and infection spray for animals

Once again we got a few plush toys that the boys will most likely shred to bits in a few minutes.  We were hoping to find some awesome new dog products at this years Orange County Pet Expo and while we did come across several items we were interested in purchasing we only came home with one NEW dog product we plan on reviewing on the website.

So what is the one product we plan on reviewing?  Lets start off with an awesome idea we had years ago:

Way back in 2005 when I took my Aussie mix Linus on a camping trip we wondered through the near pitch black forest at night me with my trusty head lamp and Linus and his black fur blended right in with the darkness.  At the time I thought wouldn’t it be cool if Linus had a fancy headlamp just like the one I was wearing, but a canine version.  After much (or maybe just a little) inner debate I assumed most dogs would be annoyed wearing a headlamp on their head just like most dogs hate wearing silly antlers or santa hats during the holidays.  So I dropped the entire idea.

Fast forward to the 2011 OC Pet Expo.  Almost directly across from our Guide Dogs of America booth was a small booth with a Golden Retriever wearing a nice little LED light around his neck.  The dog product was quite simply called the PupLight Dog Safety Light!  Very cool and because it was around his neck it didn’t bother him much…it was only like wearing an extra collar.  While we still think our canine headlamp idea is still pretty cool the PupLight is much more practical.

Upcoming Dog Product Reviews from OC Pet Expo 2011

PupLight Dog Safety Light – PupLight makes walking a dog at night enjoyable by illuminating the path ahead.

PupLight Dog Safety Light

So stay tuned for our upcoming PupLight Dog Safety Light Review!

One final note on dog products at the Pet Expo Orange County: we were also looking to grab some antlers and saw a number of exhibitors selling both venison and deer antlers, but ended up coming away with neither.  Some of our fellow guide dog puppy raisers purchased some giant antlers that were about a foot long and two inches in diameter.  We also saw some much smaller antlers that were only about 4 inches in length and probably less than a half inch in diameter.  And finally we also saw a few that were sheered in half (we heard do not buy the antlers that are sheered in half as they don’t last nearly as long)  We weren’t too sure which would work best for Stetson’s powerful jaws so we decided a little more online research would be best.

By the way, after shopping around at the OC Pet Expo we thought we might be able to find better deals online.  However, the best deals were indeed at the Pet Expo along with the fact that you could haggle with the exhibitors, get bulk discounts, and also when the exhibitors saw Dublin in his Guide Dogs of America jacket they automatically gave us a better deal.  So next year we’re going to make sure we bring a fat wad of cash to spend on our three pups.

Did you get a chance to visit this years Orange County Pet Expo?  If so, did you find any cool dog products or watch any of the shows?

Filed Under: Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , , ,

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl Review – First Test

April 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

A few days back we told you about the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl that we received in the mail for review.  Just in case you missed our initial thoughts on this doggy product check out the H204K9 Review Part 1.

We took the H2O4K9 bottle out on a few of our guide dog puppy outings and let several dogs including Dublin, put it to the test.

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl Review – First Test

Here’s the tail of the tape for our initial Puppy Testers and the H2O4K9 Stainless Steal Dog Bottle and Bowl and NeoSLING:

Tail of The Tape:

The Challenger (The Product): H2O4K9 DOG BOTTLE AND BOWL AND NEOSLING

H2O4K9 Dog Bottle Bowl

  • 18/8 Stainless Steel Bottle
  • 100% Recyclable
  • Fits Backpacks / Cup Holder and Bike Cages
  • Great Clip to attach the H2O4K9 Bottle to your belt
  • Weights less than 1 lb
  • NeoSLING - is a stylish, comfortable, and convenient way to carry water for you or your dog wherever you go.

The Champion (Product Reviewers): YUKI, BARON, and DUBLIN

H2O4K9 Review

  • Three Guide Dog Puppies In Training
  • Thirsty after doing walking, obedience, Johnny Rockets and a movie
  • 10 months, 11 months, and 12 months old
  • These three dogs often need travel bottles and bowls on their every day outings

Yuki – Yuki was the first to jump in and take a sip from the dog bowl portion of the H2O4K9 dog bottle.  Unfortunately Dublin nudged her out of the way.  She actually preferred to drink straight from the bottle as I poured water into the little bowl

Baron – Baron did just fine drinking out of the little doggy bowl even though he is much larger then both Dublin and Yuki.  That’s actually him above with his mouth in the H2O4K9 doggy bowl.

Dublin – Dublin was the nosey dog of the three.  He kept nudging the others out of the way and even was so rude as to drink water straight off of Yuki’s mouth.  However, even he took a moment to take a sip out of the new dog bowl.  The bowl seemed to be designed almost perfectly for Dublin as he laid his chin right on the base of the bowl and lapped away.

The Doggy NEOSLING

The NeoSLING is a dog product for the human (me) not the dog.  Basically it’s a neoprene sling for carrying the H2O4K9 Bottle and Bowl.  We liked the design and the workmanship of the NeoSLING, but at first inspection we thought it would be something we’d rarely use.  While it might be something we rarely use we had our first opportunity to use the NeoSLING at out Guide Dog Puppy Fashion Island Scavenger Hunt.  Check out the our Puppy In Training TV video if you want to see the NeoSLING in action.

You can see exactly how the H2O4K9 dog bottle and bowl held up to the likes of three guide dog puppies in our final video review of this new doggy product.  We have some positives and some negatives we’d like to share with you in the final video review of the H2O4K9 Bottle so make sure you come back to the blog in the next couple days.

You can als stay posted through our RSS feed or subscribe to our email feed and don’t miss Stetson’s upcoming video review of the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl.  If you missed our initial review then check it out immediately at H204K9 Review Part 1.

Once again we are very interested to hear your thoughts on the H2O4K9 Dog Bottle and Bowl and NeoSLING.  Please leave us a comment in the comment section below.

We received a free review copy of the H2O4K9 Dog Bottle and Bowl.  We do our best to present the good and the bad of every dog product we review and try to not be biased for or against any manufacturer.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , , ,

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl – In For Review

March 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

We were excited to recently receive the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl in the mail for review.  As many of you know we are guide dog puppy raisers and we are currently raising our third guide dog puppy in training, Dublin.  As a guide dog puppy raiser we take our puppies just about everywhere and we are always in need of a good dog water bottle and dog travel bowl.

If you’ve been following our blog for a while then you probably remember some of our past dog water bottle and travel dog bowl reviews.  As we mentioned earlier we were very excited for the H2O4K9 Dog Bottle and Bowl because this dog product is not a separate bottle and bowl, but instead the screw off cap acts as the dog bowl.  As an added bonus we also received the H2O4K9 NEOSLING to help tote our brand new dog bowl and bottle around when out and about.

Here are some of the details on the product:

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl

As we mentioned earlier we’ve already reviewed several different travel dog bowls and bottles.  So far our favorite designs are similar the the H2O4K9 water bottle where the bowl and bottle are one unit as opposed to two separate pieces (a bowl and a bottle).

Here are some of the stats on the H2O4K9 Water Bottle for Dogs:

H2O4K9 Water Bottle

Product Features

  • 18/8 Stainless Steel Bottle
  • 100% Recyclable
  • Fits Backpacks / Cup Holder and Bike Cages
  • Great Clip to attach the H2O4K9 Bottle to your belt
  • Weights less than 1 lb

 

Product Description

H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Water Bottles for your best friend. Whether out on the trail, at the beach, or for working dogs serving the community. Your best friend deserves a water bottle designed for their needs. H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Water Bottles. Every Dog needs water. Is the first and only stainless steel water bottle specifically designed for the K9/dog market. Perfect for the park, walks, hikes, bike rides, search/rescue, camping, vacations, beach, dog shows, and use in your car. Provides fresh clean water 100% free of any estrogenic-activity (EA) chemicals including BPA and Phthalates. Portable, easy safe and sanitary for your dog anytime. Standard size bottle fits cup holders, bike cages, backpacks etc. Made using food grade stainless steel which is non-leaching. Environmentally friendly paint finish. Entire product is 100% recyclable and sustainable.

The NEOSLING

H2O4K9 Dog Bottle Bowl

Product Description

  • Stylish, Comfortable & Convenient way, to Carry Your Water Wherever You Go!
  • Soft & Stretchy Neoprene Adjustable Strap Fits Comfortably Over the Shoulder!
  • Insulating Material Keeps Water Cold Hours Longer!
  • Perfect for Walks, Beach Days, Day Hikes, Fairs, Vacations, Etc!

My First Impression of the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Bowl

Now that we have all the details out of the way let me tell you our first impressions of the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Dog Bowl.  We’re always excited when we receive a new dog product in the mail and the H2O4K9 package was no different.  When we first pulled the bottle out of the box our first impression was that this was definitely a high quality bottle and bowl.  We were pleasantly surprised to also find the red neoprene NEOSLING in our package as well.

We were happy to find that the bottle was made out of a high quality stainless steel and held in our hands felt very durable much more so than any of the other dog bowls or bottles we received in the past.  We played around with the bottle for a little while, open.closed the lid, rinsed it out, added water, put it in the NEOSLING, threw it over our shoulder, and removed the caribiner.

A few things that we had mixed opinions on:

  • We noticed the H2O4K9 water bottle came with a caribiner which we did not think we would ever use mainly because the water bottle, empty or full, would be annoying dangling from our backpack by a caribiner so we promptly removed it.  However, we do plan on attaching the bottle by the caribiner to several objects including our backpack as a part of our review.
  • A second thing we noticed was that even though we liked the NEOSLING we always carry a backpack around on our guide dog outings, backpacking, or hiking so although the NEOSLING was cool we probably would not use it regularly.
  • Finally the bottle de-attachs into two parts, a bottle and a bowl.  Our initial observation was this could be a positive and a negative.  However, we’ll determine our final thoughts after we have a chance to test the dog bowl/bottle out in the field.

Overall our initial impression was that this was a high quality water bottle and dog bowl however, we still wanted to test our new toy in the field.  As a guide dog puppy raiser we go on outings practically every weekend.  For instance we recently worked on our guide dog puppy training at the Getty Museum.  We have several other guide dog puppy training trips planned and we will definitely be using our new H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Dog Bottle And Dog Bowl during our outings.

We will take our H2O4K9 Bottle out on a few outings with our guide dog puppy in training, Dublin and in the coming week we will publish a midterm review of the H2O4K9 Dog Bottle and a final video review of the product.  So don’t miss Dublin’s upcoming H2O4K9 reviews and make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email feed.

Have you tried the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Water Bottle and Bowl?  If so we’d love to hear what you think about this doggy product.

Thank you to H2O4K9 for sending us a free demo version of the H2O4K9 Stainless Steel Water Bottle And Bowl.  We do our best to present the good and the bad of every dog product we review and try to not be biased for or against any manufacturer.  Please let us know if you have any questions in the comment section below.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , , ,

St. Patrick’s Day Dog

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the past we haven’t had much to talk about on St Patty’s Day, but this year we have a St. Patrick’s Day Dog named Dublin!  Well, he’s not really a St. Patrick’s Day Dog, but we decided that because he has an Irish (with my best Irish accent) name that we should declare him a St. Patrick’s Day Dog.

On our way to Guide Dog Obedience training this past weekend I chatted with our group leader a little bit about St. Patrick’s Day and she was very interested in getting some festive green collars for her 4 dogs at home.  It got me to thinking that Dublin being a St Patrick’s Day Dog should have something to represent his Irish side.

That being said what does an Irish Dog do or wear on Saint Paddy’s Day?  Unfortunately, Dublin cannot drink green beer and eat corn beef and cabbage today.  We were a little stumped on what to do and wear so we went to Amazon.com to do a little bit of shopping.

St. Patrick’s Day Dog

For the most part we didn’t see much that we liked including a silly Green Shamrock Tie for your dog and I wasn’t too sure about the St Paddy’s Dog Bandana listed on the site.  However, I did see three things that I may put on my wishlist for next years (we already missed the buying period for St Patrick’s Day).

By far our favorite doggy product to show up at Amazon.com was the Leprechaun Dog Costume.  Take a look:

  • Leprechaun Dog Costume

St Patricks Day Dog

Leprechaun Dog Costume

How can you not love the little orange beard around his chin?  It’s just too adorable.  This costume would look great on my dad’s little cairn terrier and probably go well on Dublin too.  Perhaps this will be a purchase before next years St Patty’s Day festivities

We also liked this doggy bandana:

  • St. Patrick’s Day Dog Bandana Shamrocks

St Patricks Day Dog Bandana

St. Patrick’s Day Dog Bandana Shamrocks

Okay now this is what I think about when I think about doggy bandanas.   This I would allow my St Patrick’s Day Dog to wear.  If you’re looking for a nice Irish bandana go wit this one and not the one previously mentioned above…

Finally this collar full of shamrocks was to our liking as well:

  • St. Patrick’s Day Dog Collar

St Patricks Day Dog Collar

St Patrick’s Day Dog Collar

We really liked the St. Patrick’s Day Dog Collar, but we also have a friend who makes and sells her own collars with beautiful designs.  Maybe we’ll have a chance to post some of her work sometime in the near future.

Since it’s a little too late to order from Amazon maybe we need to make a quick trip over to Target and get Dublin something green before we celebrate St Patty’s day with our friends.

Do you do anything special with your dog on Saint Patrick’s Day?  Let us know in the comment section below.

This post contains some affiliate links.  If you happen to click on the link and purchase a product from Amazon we earn a tiny commission which helps us cover the hosting costs on this website.

Filed Under: Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , ,

Aikiou Dog Bowl – Final Review

March 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This is our final review in our series of Aikiou Dog Bowl Reviews.  In case you missed our first two reviews of the Aikiou Interactive Dog Bowl then check out the following links:

Aikiou Dog Bowl – In For Review

Aikiou Dog Bowl – Review – Putting It To The Test

If you’ve been following our reviews then you’ve already seen pictures and know a little bit about the Aikiou Dog Bowl.  After our initial inspection we had a little bit of difficulty deciding if this was a dog toy, dog puzzle, or a dog bowl.  According to their website this dog product is actually considered an interactive dog food dish.  Whatever it’s considered we think it’s pretty cool and as you’ll see in our video below, Stetson found it to be a pretty cool dog bowl, toy, and puzzle all rolled into one.

Aikiou Dog Bowl

Once again here are the stats on the Aikiou Dog Bowl:

Here are the stats on the Aikiou Dog Bowl:

Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.5 x 13 inches; 1.6 pounds

Aikiou Dog Bowl

Product Features:

  • Encourages your pet to eat more slowly, which reduces digestive problems and discomfort
  • Help to prevents the storage of excess fat (since your pet is eating more slowly, it will feel full sooner)
  • Provides a food hunting activity your dog needs for stimulation of the brain and the other senses
  • Helps reduce stress and anxiety through play
  • Use for each meal or at desired intervals

Aikiou Dog Bowl Video Review

Here’s Stetson’s video review of the Aikiou Dog Bowl:

Video Review Transcription

Welcome to the PuppyInTraining.com Aikiou Dog Bowl Review.  And there’s the Aikiou Dog Bowl I’m just taking it apart and we’ll speed it up here just so you can take a look at how we actually load all the food in the Aikiou Dog Bowl.  That’s about 1 1/2 cups right there and the Aikiou Dog Bowl is full we just have to put the pieces back together.  And that’s what the Aikiou Dog Bowl looks like re-assembled with food loaded up.

Now Stetson is going to go ahead and put the Aikiou Dog Bowl to the test.  In the upper right hand corner he’s eating 1 1/2 cups of food out of his regular stainless steel bowl and down below he’s eating using the Aikiou Dog Bowl.  As you can see with the Aikiou Dog Bowl Stetson has to eat one compartment at a time and it slows him down quite a bit.  Now Stetson is just about done with the food in his regular bowl and that’s about it that took him only about 20 seconds.

Now we’re going to speed up the footage for the Aikiou Dog Bowl because it takes Stetson quite a bit longer to eat food out of that bowl.  Even though the video is going about 10x normal speed you can see Stetson really has to maneuver the bowl around in order to get every morsel of food out.  Stetson’s all done with his food now as he can’t find anything else left in his bowl.  It took Stetson over three minutes to finish off 1 1/2 cups of food in his Aikiou Dog Bowl compared to 20 seconds in his regular stainless steel bowl.

We noticed a ton of slobber and food residue on Stetson’s bowl so we wanted to show you that it takes a little bit longer to wash the Aikiou Dog Bowl compared to a regular stainless steel bowl.

Overall we really liked the Aikiou Dog Bowl even though it took a little bit longer to load up the food and then clean it at the end.  That just about does it.  Thanks for joining us for the PuppyInTraining.com Aikiou Dog Bowl Review.

If you’d like us to review on of our dog or puppy products visit PuppyInTraining.com and fill out our contact form with your information.

Aikiou Dog Bowl – Final Review

As we mentioned in the video we thought overall the Aikiou Dog Bowl was a great dog product.  It slowed down Stetson’s eating from just over 20 seconds with his regular stainless steel bowl to well over 3 minutes with the Aikiou Dog Bowl.

Here are the things we really liked about the Aikiou Dog Bowl:

  • Cool design shaped like a paw
  • Required Stetson to do some problem solving
  • Several chambers and Stetson either had to spin or slide the little plastic pieces to access the food.
  • Learning curve.  We had to do a little bit of training with Stetson to get him to slide and spin the pieces on the bowl.  We enjoyed this and I like spending time working with my dogs.
  • Rubber pads on bottom reduced sliding
  • Plastic pieces were easy to pop off for loading food and cleaning the dish

However, the Aikiou Dog Bowl was not without it’s faults.  Here are some of the things we didn’t like about the dog bowl.

  • Made of plastic – our vet has told us that Stetson’s canine acne may be caused by plastic dog bowls.  We’ve also heard that plastic is more likely to harbor bacteria then metal bowls.
  • Time consuming to add food.  As you can see in the first part of the video it takes a bit of time to load food into the bowl (video is going 10x normal speed).
  • Time consuming to clean.  As you can see in the end of the video it takes a while to clean out the bowl (video is going 10x normal speed).

As we mentioned earlier overall we really loved the Aikiou Dog Bowl, but the time it takes to load up, feed, then clean the bowl can be a little long.  On average it takes about 15-20 minutes to feed Stetson with this bowl.  Although we really like the bowl we do not use it as Stetson’s regular feeding bowl mainly because of time constraints and we don’t want Stetson’s canine acne to return as a result of eating in a plastic dish.

If you have the time and your dog has no problems eating out of a plastic bowl then I highly recommend giving the Aikiou Dog Bowl a try.

We plan on donating an Aikiou Dog Bowl to the Guide Dogs of America on behalf of Audrey, Garfield, and Theodore for the 24th annual Open House held on June 11th, 2011.  If you’re looking to purchase one of these bowls then head on over to the open house where you should be able to find our donated Aikiou Dog Bowl in one of the baskets at the silent auction.

Have you ever used the Aikiou Dog Bowl?  If so, we’d love to hear what you thought about this dog bowl, puzzle, toy….

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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