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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: , , , , , ,

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: , , , , , ,

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: , , , , , , ,

Aikiou Dog Bowl – Review – Putting It To The Test

March 7, 2011 By 1 Comment

A few days ago we told you about the latest product, Aikiou Dog Bowl that we received in the mail for review.  In case you missed that initial review check it out here: Aikiou Dog Bowl – In For Review.  Our Black Labrador Retriever, Stetson sunk his teeth into (literally) it and had a his first few chances to use the Aikiou Dog Bowl during mealtime.

Aikiou Dog Bowl Midweek Review

As I mentioned we recently received the super cool Aikiou Interactive Food Bowl.  We’re still debating whether it’s more of a dog toy or a bowl.  Anyhow, we grabbed our ultra fast eating champion, Stetson and let him put the bowl through it’s initial test.

Tail Of The Tape

The Challenger (The Product): AIKIOU DOG BOWL

Aikiou Dog Bowl

  • 13 x 2.5 x 13 inches; 1.6 pounds
  • Interactive dog bowl or is it a toy?
  • Slows down eating
  • Aids in digestion
  • Durable Plastic

The Champion (Product Reviewer):  STETSON

  • 75 pounds of Black Labrador Retriever (he’s put on a few pounds since this picture was taken)
  • Always Hungry
  • Sniffing Champion
  • He hearts food
  • Has already taken down the other fast eating dog bowl challengers

Stetson’s initial reaction to the Aikiou Dog Bowl was “What the heck is this thing? and how do I get the food out of it?”  He was able to get the food out of the initial exposed compartments, but didn’t immediately figure out how to slide the levers to get to the food in the opposite compartments.  I showed him once and from then on he figured out how to slide the levers with his nose and paws.

The spinning disc at the top of the Aikiou bowl was even more difficult.  It took several attempts with help and guidance from me to show Stetson how to spin and rotate the disc.  His initial response was to just slide the entire dog bowl around the room hoping treats would magically fall out.  However, after working on spinning the disc for Stetson he figured out how to rotate the disc by just using his nose on his own.

In just a few short days Stetson has mastered the Aikiou Dog Bowl and eats out of the bowl once in the morning and once in the evening.  Just as advertised this bowl has drastically increases the time it takes Stetson to finish the same meal of food he polishes off in seconds with a regular aluminum dog bowl.

However, how much time it take now will be shown in our upcoming final video review of the Aikiou Dog Bowl.  Also, we will discuss why we will or will not continue to use the Aikiou Dog Bowl as Stetson’s regular feeding bowl.

Stay posted through our RSS feed or subscribe to our email feed and don’t miss Stetson’s upcoming video review of the Aikiou Dog Bowl.  If you missed our initial review then check it out immediately at Aikiou Dog Bowl – In For Review.

Once again we are very interested to hear your thoughts on the Aikiou Dog Bowl or any other dog bowl you might be using to slow down your dog’s fast eating.  Please leave us a comment in the comment section below.

We received a free review copy of the Aikiou Dog 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 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Aikiou Dog Bowl – In For Review

March 4, 2011 By 4 Comments

We recently received a free Aikiou Dog Bowl (pronounced “IQ”) for review from Aikiou the maker of interactive dog feeding dishes and toys.  My initial reaction when I was first contacted by Aikiou was “Awesome! Another great dog bowl to test and see if it slows down Stetson’s speed eating.”  If you’ve been following us for a while then you may have seen some of Stetson’s previous forays into dog bowl review and testing.

Aikiou Dog Bowl

Most of the bowls we’ve tested in the past have some kind of obstacle(s) to slow down fast eating dogs.  However, the Aikiou Dog Bowl was quite different.  When it first arrived in the mail I was trying to decide whether it was actually a dog food bowl or was it more of an interactive dog toy?

I figured since it held food it must be more of a bowl and less of a toy (although I’d have to say it’s a little bit of both).

Here are the stats on the Aikiou Dog Bowl:

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

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

My First Impression Of The Aikiou Dog Bowl

COOL!!!  I was very excited to see such an innovative new doggy bowl!  I was excited to let Stetson give it a try.  My initial reservations were:

  1. It’s made of plastic and our veterinarian has told us that Stetson’s acne may be a result of plastic bowls.  We prefer the aluminum dog bowls over plastic
  2. Would Stetson be able to figure out how to get to the food…He’s pretty smart and very determined when it comes to finding and eating food.  In fact, Stetson lives for meal time.  When I come home midday (non-mealtime) he doesn’t even get out of bed to greet me.  However, if it’s in the morning or evening right before meal time he comes flying out of the bedroom begging for food.  I don’t think food drive is much of a problem with Stetson.
  3. Would Stetson have any problems getting the food out of the small compartments.
  4. Stetson is a violent eater.  Will the Aikiou Dog Bowl be durable enough to withstand Stetson’s exuberance?

Over the next week we plan on putting the Aikiou Dog Bowl through the ultimate test.  Stetson and I will do our best to poke, prod, lick, scratch, and do whatever it takes to produce a thorough review of the Aikiou Dog Bowl.

Stay posted through our RSS feed or subscribe to our email feed and don’t miss Stetson’s upcoming video review of the Aikiou Dog Bowl.

Have you tried feeding your dog using a bowl that helps slow his eating?  Have you ever tried the Aikiou Dog Bowl?

We received a free review copy of the Aikiou Dog 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 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Orange County Pet Expo Recap

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It was a great and busy weekend for me starting on Friday with the Orange County Pet Expo.  The Pet Expo actually wasn’t the only event I had scheduled this weekend after volunteering for Guide Dogs of America all day Friday I hopped on a plane to Las Vegas for a friends bachelor party.  I scheduled an early Sunday morning flight back to Orange County in attempt to make our guide dog puppy training train trip to Universal City.  Unfortunately, I was too tired to make the final leg (train trip with Guide dogs) of my weekend.

Anyhow I wanted to give you guys a short recap of my experience at this years OC Pet Expo.

Orange County Pet Expo Recap

Did anyone get a chance to stop by the GDA booth over the weekend.  I was there from 10am to 2pm on Friday. Some of our other friends manned the booth the rest of the afternoon while I grabbed lunch and walked around the pet expo.

I was a little too tired this year to hang around for the demonstrations.  I did catch a few of the splash dog contestants jumping into the pool.  I caught a glimpse of the K9 demonstration, but overall I just checked out the latest pet products,  the different dog breeds, some of the other service dog organizations, and the cat and dog rescues.  We even saw one of the therapy dog groups we hope to one day join.

Overall it was a great experience my feet were barking by 4:30pm so at that time we headed home.

Interesting Dog Training Opportunities

While we were working the Guide Dogs of America booth we were visited by two of the other exhibitors at the Pet Expo that really caught my attention.  The first was Beach Animals Reading with Kids also known as BARK.  We visited an attended a BARK group meeting a few months ago. BARK is a volunteer program that encourages children to increase their reading skills by reading aloud to certified therapy dogs.  I’ve been procrastinating with Stetson, but I really want to get involved in a Therapy Dog program like BARK.

Next, a couple of young ladies stopped by to say hello and also introduced us to K9 Nose Work. From their website:

“Dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt. The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop your dog’s natural scenting abilities by using their desire to hunt and their love of toys, food and exercise.”

COOL!  Stetson loves to sniff!  This would be an excellent sport for him to take up.  We’ll be investigating this in the near future.

Any New Pet Products At The Pet Expo?

So now I guess you’re wondering what about the latest and greatest pet products.  Well we did walk away with a few purchases that we plan to review in the coming weeks.  The pet-friendly Honda Element made it’s debut at this years OC Pet Expo.  Unfortunately, I did not come home with a new dog car.

However, I did find a new dog bowl for Stetson.  Well, it’s not exactly a dog bowl, but it’s the latest in a long line of dog bowls/products I found to help slow down Stetson’s fast eating.  It’s called the Amazing Treat Machine and I plan on getting a review on the site as soon as possible.  Also, I want to see if it’s viable solution as Stetson’s new dog bowl.

One pet product I did not buy was a new bed made out of PVC piping.  It was a little pricey at $70 and I’m going to see if it’s something my dad can custom make for Stetson and Linus.  Here’s a photo:

If you’re wondering who our dog bed model is that’s GDA Puppy In Training Winter.  We hung out most of the day greeting people at the GDA booth.

In the past I’ve also talked about Stetson and his dog skin allergies.  Well, we found something to kill the bacteria on Stetson’s skin and hopefully relieve him of his itching.  The product was recommended to us by good friends from Sudsy Dog Wash.  The stuff is called Vetericyn and is said to kill 99.999% of bacteria, single-cell organisms and fungi.  YAY!  hopefully no more dog skin allergies or itching for Stetson.

That’s about it for the 2010 Orange County Pet Expo.  Hopefully you had the chance to visit.  If not, there’s always next year.

Tell us about your experiences at the 2010 OC Pet Expo.

Filed Under: Dog Events Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl Review

October 7, 2009 By 2 Comments

As I’ve mentioned in the past we love to travel with our dogs.  Also, as a Guide Dog puppy raiser we are always out and about with our dogs and we are often in need of portable travel dog bowls for both food and water.

This past weekend we were lucky enough to participate in the Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) bus training.  It was great fun and we were allowed to not only give our puppies a chance to get used to riding the bus, but also we had the opportunity to visit Knott’s Berry Farm with our puppies.  OCTA was kind enough to set us up with free passes into Knott’s for the morning of our bus training.  Not only did we have a chance to do all this great training, but we also had the opportunity to test some of our travel dog bowls.

This week we’re covering the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl.

Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl Review

As I mentioned earlier we had a chance to put the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl to the test on our OCTA bus trip to Knott’s Berry Farm.  Here are the specifications on the bowl.

Product: Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl
List Price: $15.00
Product Features:

  • Folds up flat!
  • Made from food-grade silicone.
  • Guaranteed not to wet through.
  • Available in 4 Great Colors.
  • Perfect for dogs on the go!

Product Description

Hiking and biking, climbing and riding, one constant exists when adventuring with dogs: they need water and food. Cumbersome metal bowls do not fit well in backpacks, and they slide around the back of the car. Sewn fabric bowls just don’t stand up as tall as we wish they would, Tasman has a hard time when the bowl tries to close around his snout while he is getting a drink. Tazlab came up with the Aqua-Fur, the cutting edge in dog travel bowls, made from FDA approved food grade silicone which does not off gas, does not contain BPEs, does not have any nooks and crannies for bacteria to breed in, and best of all it folds up to stash just about anywhere. Just like silicone bakeware the bowls are dishwasher safe, which means that when it gets all slobbery and caked with food it is a breeze to sanitize. You can even bake a bowl shaped cake if you feel like it! Our silicone travel bowl is a drooly dream come true for every dog lover!

Puppy In Training Video Review

We took the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl to Knott’s Berry Farm, but we didn’t get any video footage…any good footage that is…I have a video of Sidney drinking water out of the Tazlab bowl, but I only captured the top of his head and about half the bowl in the video.

Anyhow, here’s a video of Stetson, Linus, and I showing how the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Bowl works.  Check it out:

I hope you enjoyed the video of Stetson, Linus, me, and the Tazlab bowl.

My Thoughts On The Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl

We love the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl!  It’s a great travel dog bowl for both food and water.  As I mentioned earlier we grabbed our Tazlab dog bowl, threw it in our backpack, then spent the day riding the bus and walking around Knott’s Berry Farm.  When my Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Sidney was thirsty I whipped out the Tazlab Dog Bowl, unfolded it, and poured water.  Sidney had no problem drinking out of the bowl.  When we were finished I picked up the bowl folded back together and put it neatly in the pocket of my backpack.

As you can see from the video above the bowl can be used easily to give your dog food or water.  As mentioned in the product description section it is made of food grade silicone and has no nooks or crannies for bacteria to breed in.  If you’ve been keeping up with our dog bowl reviews then you know that we’ve been having some trouble with plastic dog bowls, bacteria, allergies, and canine acne.  Perhaps a silicone bowl is the solution.  I actually asked the makers of the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl if they planned on making a bowl to help slow down fast eaters made of the same food grade silicone.  Unfortunately, not at this time.

Pros:

  • Folds up nice and compact making it easy for storage and travel.  We prefer just tossing it in one of the pockets in our backpack.
  • Food grade silicone seems like a possible solution for the issues we’ve been having with Stetson’s canine acne.  I’ll have to use the dog bowl more often and see how Stetson’s chin reacts.
  • Very durable
  • Doesn’t leak…it even says you can bake a cake with it…maybe in our next review…

Cons:

  • If you’re using it as a travel dog water bowl then you have to guess how much water your dog will drink then toss out or try to siphon the water back into your water bottle.
  • It was a little tricky to figure out how to fold the bowl back up at first.  However, it  only took a few minutes to figure it out how to fold it back together (I know I’m reaching on the cons, but we have to list something for you).

Overall, we love this bowl for traveling.  You can use it for either a food or water bowl (or even to bake a cake…).  It’s folds up nicely and is easily stores away in the tiny pockets of your backpack.

If you travel a lot with your dog and need a nice compact travel bowl then we highly recommend the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl.

Has anyone else out there used the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl?  If so, let us know what you think of this bowl in the comments section below.

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

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Review

September 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Over the last few weeks we’ve been reviewing dog bowls specifically dog food bowls for fast eating dogs.  I had perfect test subjects: Stetson and Derby my two Labrador Retrievers.  If you know Labrador Retrievers then you know these guys love to eat.  If you’re interested in checking out the bowls we reviewed then go to this page: Dog Bowl Reviews.

As a Guide Dog puppy raiser we are out in public all the time and we need dog food and water bowls for traveling.  Well, dog water bowls aren’t always “dog water bowls.”  In the case of today’s review our “dog water bowl” is actually just a device used for dispensing water out of an ordinary plastic water bottle.  Confused?  Well let me enlighten you with this weeks Dog “Product” review…The Pet Top Portable Drinking Device.

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Review

We first saw the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device at the OC Pet Expo a couple years ago and used it quite a bit with both Stetson and Derby.  Here are the specifications on the device:

Product: Pet Top Portable Drinking Device
List Price: $5.99
Product Features:

  • Designed to supply a neat and clean water supply to your pet when your on the go.
  • Fits most standard water bottles.
  • Unique ratchet-action keeps the Pet Top® portable drinking device open at your desired setting while in use, so your pet gets the right amount of water throughout!
  • Dishwasher safe

Product Description

Our unique patented Pet Top® portable drinking device for pets is designed to provide a neat and convenient water supply for your pet when you’re on the go and can’t be bothered with the mess, hassle and waste of pouring water into a bowl.

Take the Pet Top® portable drinking device with you to the park, in the car, on a walk, or anywhere your pet needs a drink. It’s small enough to fit in a jogging pack, purse or pocket when not in use. And since it fits most standard water bottles, you’ll always have a ready source of water nearby. You can even reuse a water bottle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028CJ6X0?ie=UTF8&tag=minlikwat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0028CJ6X0

Puppy In Training Product Review

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Video Review

Once again Stetson is our trusty test subject.  He was pretty thirsty on this day and did a great job licking away at the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device.  Take a look at the video:

What did you guys think of the video?  The Pet Top Portable Drinking Device worked as advertised and I can confirm that it does fit on pretty much every water bowl I’ve tried.

My Thoughts on the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device

What are my final thoughts on this product.  Well for starters it worked great and is very portable.  One of the main features I like about the Portable Drinking Device is the fact that I can grab this little orange cap, a couple water bottles, Stetson, Linus, and I can share the water very easy and conveniently.  It’s easy to keep clean and my dogs required very little training to use the device (I just had to wait until they were thirsty).

The one thing I didn’t like about this device and actually a bit of a deal breaker for taking with my Guide dogs was the fact that the water dripped outside Stetson’s mouth.  This was really unavoidable even after adjusting the water flow by tightening up the cap.  If I’m in doors with one of my guide dog puppies I can’t have water dripping all over the floor or carpet I need something better suited for indoors.  Also, another negative about loosening and tightening the cap: if the cap is too tight very little water comes out and it takes forever to quench your dogs thirst.  If you loosen the cap then you end up with a bigger mess of water on the floor which is not that big a deal as long as you’re outside.

To sum up:

Pros:

  • I love how portable the device is.  It’s fits easily in your pocket (in my cargo shorts)
  • It’s great how it fits on most any water bottle
  • Easy to keep clean and interchange water bottles between people and dogs

Cons:

  • Water drips on the ground.  How much depends on how much you loosen or tighten the cap for water flow
  • Even when you have the Pet Top on very loose for maximum water flow Stetson sat there for minutes drinking water (I time lapsed the video to speed things up)

It’s great that it fits on any water bottle, but we’re trying to be more green and eco-friendly by avoiding the plastic water bottle – I originally had this as a con, but in reality I’m sure you can find a used water bottle just about anywhere from anyone of your friends which does promote recycling.

Overall we really enjoyed the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device and we would recommend it to people as long as they know that some of the water will drip to the ground.  Of course this is not a problem if your just taking your dog to the park, camping, or hiking.  However, if you need to give your dog water indoors you might need a device or dog water bowl that does not drip or cause a mess.

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

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

September 22, 2009 By 3 Comments

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means time to talk dog bowls.  This week Stetson and I review the DogPause Dog Bowl for fast eating dogs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my High Definition camera for the video, but I’m not too sure it matters since we’ve been uploading to low resolution videos to YouTube.  Instead of my regular handy dandy Canon HD Video Camcorder I used a simple point and shoot digital camera: Nikon Coolpix S60 Digital Camera.  The Nikkon is not much for shooting video, but it does shoot some decent still images and has a touch screen.  I use my Nikkon for most of the still images on this site and now my first video.  Overall, I’d say it’s a slightly above average digital camera.

Anyways, back to the DogPause Dog Bowl Review!

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

As mentioned earlier today we are reviewing the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Of course the purpose of this bowl is to slow down fast eating dogs.  Below are the specifications on this dog bowl.

Product: DogPause Food Bowl
List Price: $12.95
Product Features:

  • Divides the bowl into 4 feeding zones
  • Each feeding zone is 1/2 cup in capacity and designed to “block” the dog from putting his full snout into the bowl; this slows down eating pace as your dog needs to use his tongue for each bite
  • After your dog finishes each zone, he must re-position himself for the next zone
  • The bowl is designed to slide a little on the floor, further slowing down the dog as he needs to re-position for each bite
  • DogPause Food Bowl comes in two colors (Red and Blue)
  • Clinically proven to slow down fast-eating dogs.
  • Virtually eliminates the risk of choking.

Product Description:
This bowl is sized for dogs between 15 and 100 pounds and most dog breeds ranging from Beagles to Rottweilers. It’s particularly effective with Labs and Golden Retrievers!

Dog Pause Food Bowl

Puppy In Training Product Review

DogPause Bowl Video Review

Our trusty speed eating tester…Stetson was up to the challenge and ready to demo the DogPause Dog Bowl on camera for the benefit of our readers.  Check out the Video review below of the DogPause Dog Food Bowl.

As you can see in the video it took Stetson approximately 10 seconds longer to finish the food in the DogPause Bowl versus his regular stainless steel bowl.  This is good, but not a great result and we have tested the DogPause Bowl extensively with similar results each time Stetson eats a whole meal of food.

My Thoughts On The DogPause Dog Food Bowl

This bowl does slow down Stetson’s eating and does appear to keep him from gagging and vomiting.  Although he still has done both on occasion it’s not nearly as frequent as when he uses his standard stainless steel bowl.  The main problem I’m having with this bowl is similar to the issues I’ve had with the regular Brake-Fast Bowl.  Over a period of time Stetson develops canine acne while using the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Stetson’s canine acne really makes it’s impossible to use the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl as a permanent solution for slowing down Stetson’s fast eating.

Pros:

  • The bowl does work as advertise, but in our test it only extended Stetson’s eating time by 10 seconds.  However, if you check out the video on the DogPauseBowl.com website you’ll see a video of Hank.  It took him nearly twice as long to finish his food with the DogPause Bowl going from 1 minute 5 seconds with a stainless steel bowl to 2 minutes 1 seconds with the DogPause Bowl.
  • Stetson has been better with his gagging and vomiting when using this dog bowl.

Cons

While the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl does do it’s job I think the main problem we have is that Stetson scoops food out like a shovel and swallows.  The DogPause Bowl helps a little, but not has much as we’d like.  My thoughts now turn to a giant dog bowl that would just spread all his food across so he can’t do his usual scooping action.  I’ve seen several great suggestions that I might try in the future that doesn’t really involve a special dog bowl.  First, I like the idea of trying a muffin pan.  The DogPause Bowl is very similar to a muffin pan and I think a muffin pan might work even better for Stetson as he won’t be allowed to scoop as easily with the little muffin holes.  A second option is to purchase a large stainless steel bowl and drop one of Stetson’s toys in the middle like his Kong to obstruct his eating.

I’ll probably try both of these at some point and time and report my results back here at Puppy In Training.

Do you have any suggestions that you use to slow down your dogs eating?  Let me know in the comments section so I can test it out with Stetson.

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