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Dog food. It’s what’s for dinner | thepupdiary.com

27 Sep

We consider ourselves fairly savvy when it comes to dog food. We are label readers and we certainly know what NOT to eat. Our go-to brands are Stella & Chewy’s and The Honest Kitchen.

Earlier this summer, By Nature® asked if they could send us some of their dog food to test and review. Before we replied, we did a little research.

By Nature Organics

By Nature Organics

First, we checked the brand on dogfoodadvisor.com website. The By Nature® Organics dry dog food got a 5-star rating – the top score.

Next, we checked out the label on the Organics Chicken formula they wanted to send. The first ingredients are organic chicken, chicken meal, organic oats, organic brown rice. (Chicken meal is a bit of a red flag for us because it could come from rendered chickens, which is really gross!) In general, the label was easy to read with quality ingredients. Also, it is made in the USA.

We replied to By Nature and told them we would accept the Organics Chicken dry dog food and try it. Mom likes to use kibble to train us since it’s easy to hand feed as a reward when we’re training. The By Nature won’t replace our Stella & Chewy’s, but we like the Organics food and it’s always good to add some variety to a doggy diet to help prevent allergies. Check the By Nature retail store locator for a retailer near you.

We just bought the new cookbook Home Cooking for Your Dog and we’re excited to try some of the recipes this fall. We met the author, Christine Filardi, at the recent #SitStayLove event at Anthropologie. We’ll let you know how that goes!

Book event for Home Cooking for Your Dog

Book event for Home Cooking for Your Dog

It’s Fashion Week! 7 fashion items every dog needs | thepupdiary.com

10 Sep

It’s fashion week in New York City! Runway shows, pawties, models, glitz and glam . . . we’ll attend the annual Celebrity Catwalk Paws & PJs fashion week pawty this weekend. (We sleep in our birthday suits by the way!)

The NYC fashion industry employs thousands of people and generates lots of money. For pets, the projected 2013 total U.S. spending is estimated at $55 billion ! Just think of all of the doggy loot we could buy with that money! Of course that number includes vet care, food, etc., but doggy clothing and accessory designing and manufacturing are still big business. SuperZoo had a special Rodeo Drive fashion-centric neighborhood at their recent show with hundreds of fashion items for Fido and Fluffy.

While you’ll never see us spend a lot of money on dog clothing, we do own a few unique pieces for special occasions. (We would rather spend our doggy allowance on trips and travel!) Besides a great leash, collar and harness, we do think every pup should have some basic items for comfort and safety.

7 Fashion Items Every Dog Needs

Doggy ID Tag/License
New York City is increasing their efforts to license all pups. It’s now possible to register your pup for a dog license at some upcoming events. And don’t go out without a simple dog tag with a phone number.

Life Jacket
If you’ll be in or near the water, all pups need a life jacket. Paws Aboard has some great options. Your local PetSmart and Petco usually carry life vests, too.

Life Jacket

Life Jacket

Reflective Gear
Whether it is on your leash, collar, or clothing — if you’ll be outside walking at night, make sure you have some type of reflective gear so people will be able to see you.

Cooling Jacket
We love the cooling coat we bought this year. MustLuvDogs is our favorite brand for this item. It not only has the best fit, it also offers the most coverage. The water-activated coat absorbs and retains water to provide instant cooling for your dog. And it works!!

Wearing a t-shirt and sunscreen

Wearing a t-shirt and sunscreen

Sun Protection
We burn and freckle just like humans do! If we will be out in the sun, we often wear a t-shirt and sun protection. Epi-Pet makes a great sunscreen for animals.

Winter Coat
Baby it’s cold outside in the winter! We like a basic coat that keeps us warm and dry. Orvis has a sporty option.

Protective shoes
If it snows in the city, there is sidewalk salt everywhere! Pawz Dog Boots are easy to use and inexpensive.

SuperZoo turned us on to these 10 pet products | thepupdiary.com

2 Sep

We love pet industry trade shows! We get to check out new and innovative products to see what we’re missing in our daily doggy routine. We’re always on the lookout for products and tips that can make our lives easier and more fun!

Earlier this summer we headed to Las Vegas for the annual SuperZoo show where we checked out over 1,000 pet products in the comfort of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

SuperZoo turned us on to these 10 pet products:

Finding Rover
This is one cool app that we all need! Finding Rover uses facial recognition technology to help lost dogs get home. We simply snap photos of lost and found dogs and the app matches them up. Of course it will only work if the photos are registered in their system. Get the free app here.

iFetch
Out of over 800 new products this year at SuperZoo, the iFetch won Best New Product. iFetch takes an old game – playing fetch – and makes it better. The interactive toy allows pups to play fetch on their own at any time. Pups activate the toy by dropping a ball into the funnel and a few seconds later the ball shoots out the other end up to 30 feet. The iFetch should be available for purchase the end of the year.

Push Pushi Rain Coat with detachable hood

Push Pushi Rain Coat with detachable hood

Push Pushi Rain Coat
Finally! A doggy rain coat with a hat that actually keeps our faces dry! The unique detachable hood will make walkies much more pleasant on rainy days. The Push Pushi coats retail for $39.95 and can be custom ordered for specific sizing.

Scaredy Cut
We are excited to try the Scaredy Cut clippers we got at SuperZoo! The simple and silent scissors should make grooming much easier for us and also help us to save money! With less money spent on professional grooming, we will have more money for treats! Stay tuned for our Scaredy Cut grooming review!

Bistro Bites
We are always looking for tiny treats that are great for training sessions and easy on the waist line. Bistro Bites, made specially for small pups, are the pawfect size. They’re hand-crafted with all-natural ingredients and grain, preservative, and gluten-free. They’re made in the USA and come in a variety of great flavors. They retail for around $7.

Bistro Bites are small treats for small dogs

Bistro Bites are small treats for small dogs

Pet Party Printz
Pet Party Printz must know that sometimes it’s more fun to play with the packaging than the actual gift! They make non-toxic and tape free gift wrap that allows pups to unwrap their own gifts. Doggy birthday parties are everywhere these days, so this product will come in handy! The wrapping paper comes in cute doggy themes and retails for under $5.

YAP Sport Backpack
We bought the YAP Sport backpack at SuperZoo and still use it today. It’s light weight and easy to use. We love it!

YAP Sport Backpack

YAP Sport Backpack

Gen7Pets Strollers
We finally found a doggy stroller company with great attention to detail and innovative designs. The executives at Gen7Pets use “smart-features” to build a better stroller. And it helps that some of the executives have experience in the baby stroller world! We want the G7 Jogger which will be ready for shipment this fall.

Pawz SafeSpot Locking Leash
Mom is never going to leave us tied up outside of a store. (And we cringe when we see other folks do this! Especially since approximately 2 million dogs are stolen every year . . .) But we do think the SafeSpot Locking Leash is a great product to use in certain situations. The fully adjustable collar and lead have a steel cable reinforced core that can be securely locked to an immovable object when necessary. We also love the Pawz dog boots!!

leanlix
No more doggy treat crumbs in mom’s pockets, purse, stroller basket . . . instead she’ll carry the leanlix lickable treat. What looks like a lip balm is actually a low-calorie and easy to use doggy treat. leanlix products are made in the USA with human-grade ingredients and retail for around $12.

Our new YAP Sport bag | thepupdiary.com

26 Jul

We love our new YAP Sport backpack carrier that we found at SuperZoo. Not only is it roomy enough for little doggies of a certain size (we both weigh in at around 10 lbs), it is also very light weight and easy for our mom to carry. Mom loves the extra wide and cushioned shoulder straps. The bag is airline approved and retails on the YAP USA online store for $89.95. Other features include storage pockets, a safety leash, adjustable straps, and a water-proof floor.

Our new YAP Sport Bag

Our new YAP Sport Bag

Campfire with Marshmallows dog toy | thepupdiary.com

29 May

Every once in a while we get a really cute doggy toy that mom lets us look at, but certainly not play with and destroy. (We are doggy toy chewers and shredders and can chew through a plush toy in a matter of minutes!) Mom says our new Martha Stewart Pets Campfire with Marshmallows dog toy is a keeper. PetSmart gave it to mom at the recent Blog Paws conference and it is just too cute to destroy.

The toy comes with two small removable marshmallow squeaky toys hidden inside the campfire. The campfire has crinkle fabric inside and the logs underneath are polyester fiber fill. I love to put my snout inside the campfire and pull out the marshmallows!

Where to purchase: PetSmart stores or online at PetSmart.com
Cost: $ 16.99
Bottom line: Extremely cute toy, but we can shred this in a matter of minutes (and mom says it is just too cute to destroy!)

Campfire w/Marshmallows dog toy