Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Fresh Patch Small Batch Treats - A Review!


 While you might be familiar with Fresh Patch's grass potty patch, we're excited to share with you that they recently launched a line of small batch pet treats. In my opinion, this is a smart business decision as what goes in must come out πŸ˜‚

Made with sweet potato and chicken, Fresh Patch's Small Batch Treats are the perfect size for medium to large dogs, and are easy enough to break into pieces for smaller dogs or training rewards. Formulated with a pretty straight forward list of ingredients, they seemed super fresh upon arrival. 

This also may sound weird, but we appreciated that they didn't smell super strong -- they do have an aroma, but it's basically what you would expect (chicken, sweet potato, and rosemary!). The few that we gave to our special tester were gone in seconds, which is a good sign since Lady is the pickiest big dog you'll ever meet!

What I particularly liked about these treats is that they do seem really, really fresh and not super processed. Available directly from their website for $12.95, they're a steal with free FedEx shipping! And while you're on the site, why not check out their patch products as well! Even though we have a yard, we're starting to consider some other options to give our poor grass a break while we re-seed this fall 😳

Disclaimer: we received this product from Fresh Patch for the purpose of review.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Little Tikes x Best Friends Animal Society = #RescueTales

Slight tangent, but we have to take a moment to show you these Rescue Tales toys from Little Tikes that benefit the Best Friends Animal Society. Not only do these pets make cute realistic noises and movements, but they also impart the value of adoption and taking care of a pet. In addition to single pets, they also have a really cute grooming set (pictured above), that has a working bath tub!

While taking care of Lady keeps us busy enough, we are very tempted to welcome one of these cuties into our home since the littlest human Barkzilla LOVES playing vet/groomer. You can pick yours up online at Amazon or Target, and I believe they are also available in stores!

xoxo

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Gripperz No-Mess Bowl for Messy Dogs & Humans

You know that thing where you're rushing around the kitchen, short on time, and you accidentally punt the dog's water or food dish across the room, showering your kitchen floor with water or kibble? Yep. It pretty much happens without fail whenever we are late πŸ˜‚

This age old problem that I'm pretty sure most dog-owning households have is why the people at Davro Design have created Gripperz, a dog bowl that is designed not to slip, slide, or become a moving projectile. A two-piece product consisting of a plastic base with a Tacky Tech pad (that enables it to adhere securely to most flat surfaces), and a stainless-steel liner, Gripperz retails for $19.99 and is BPA free. 

While the bowl has yet to hit the market (it's Kickstarter just launched), it's definitely a product to keep an eye on! If all goes to plan it should be shipping in November 2020.

Also yay to a NJ based business!

Friday, July 10, 2020

Bonne et Filou Dog Macarons


Let them eat macarons!

What dog wouldn't like a bougie biscuit? We can't think of anything more "barkista worthy" than a macaron inspired treat! Founded by a husband and wife team who were inspired by Louis XIV's love of dogs, Bonne et Filou are whipping up gorgeously packaged treats that look absolutely delectable.  Made from high-quality, organic, human-grade ingredients, they are available in strawberry, lavender, and mint, they will set you back a pretty penny at $23.99 for a pack of 6.

We weren't able to try a sample, so can't speak to the deliciousness or size, but the packaging is πŸ’―and made us think of our beloved Laudree. (Let me tell you, we miss living around the corner from their NYC location!)

Now that we're all at home a lot more, are you exploring new treats to spoil your pet with?

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Fresh Dog Food Delivery Services Compared

For some reason, we automatically assumed that Lady would not be a picky eater. I mean, after all, she couldn't be pickier than Paddington, right? πŸ˜‚ Well, it looks like we have one of the fussiest Bernedoodles ever! We've tried almost everything, and so far what works is dry food (Blue Buffalo), and some type of topper/wet food. The funny part is she won't eat the same type of topper more than 1 or 2 days in a row, no matter how hungry she should be.

Since I'd really like to not be preparing three meals at dinner time (husband, kid, and now dog), I've been looking into fresh pet food delivery again. It's been a while since we've explored this an option (oh my gosh, I remember looking into the first "fresh" pet food options like 10 years ago that came frozen like TV dinners), I figured why not take a look at the market.

The great news is that there are TONS of options that have really great looking ingredients and recipes for dogs of all types. The bad news is it's going to cost you a pretty penny. 

We filled out questionnaires for THE FARMER'S DOG, NOM NOM NOW, PET PLATE, and OLLIE just to see what the average cost per meal was going to be for a 48 lb dog of healthy body shape and average energy, and here's the breakdown:

The Farmer's Dog: $64.09 / week
Nom Nom Now: $30.80 / week
Pet Plate: $53.97 / week
Ollie:  $39.33 / week

So on average that is $42.21 / week, which comes to a whopping $2,455 a year.

I did the math out and right now we spend about $800 a year on dog food, so that's a pretty substantial leap. (Lady gets her dry food, topper/wet food, and then fresh healthy veggies/fruit/meat.)

Now, if you wanted to JUST use the fresh food as a topper (which is personally what I think is the best option), only some services seem to offer that. It's still not cheap, but it does seem do-able.

I wasn't able to see what our schedule modification options unless I enrolled for the services, so I'm not sure what customization you can do. I also don't know what the in person quality of this food is like since I'm still on the fence about signing up for a free trial. I guess if Lady really loved it, it might be a worthwhile investment but I'm just not sure if cost-wise it would be sustainable.

We're going to keep investigating, but for the hassle of signing up, trialing, and then modifying our subscription on a regular basis not sure if it is worth it. What has your experience been with fresh pet food delivery services? 

XOXO 

Sunday, June 28, 2020

BarkYard Lawn Saving Kits

So remember when we posted last year about our dog-related lawn woes? Well, it turns out the bigger the dog, the bigger the problem 😳 While we sure do love Lady, our pretty green lawn definitely doesn't appreciate regular daily doses of nitrogen and salt containing pee.


Look - I made your lawn all pretty and polka-dotted!

Since we've already tried supplements and Dog Rocks with Paddy, we didn't even both giving it a go this time. I guess Google must be listening to our problems, because lately I've been served up a million ads for BarkYard - a DIY lawn saving/regrowing kit. Formulated for Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, or fescue lawns (which, based on our basic knowledge are grasses you'll find in climates that are cooler), there are two products: Good Boy and Bad Spot. Good Boy is packed full of nutrients and fertilizers to help support a lush lawn, while Bad Spot contains seed and everything you need to repair those bald spots.


From what we can tell it looks like you can apply both as needed. If you treat your lawn during the spring/summer/fall I'm not sure how that might impact the ability to grow new grass. That's a question for the experts πŸ˜‚

A small kit that covers about 1,000 sq feet contains both Good Boy and Bad Spot and will set you back $67.99, with an additional discount if you do subscribe and save.

So - what do you think? What works for keeping your yard looking happy and healthy? BarkYard people, if you're out there and you see this - get in touch!

xoxo

Saturday, June 20, 2020

An Update and a New Face

July 2007 - August 2019


Hi All!

It's been a while... and a lot has happened. I mean, I swear - like for most people the last 12 months has been the most insane time. Honestly, I've kind of been putting off updating the blog because we've got a mixed bag of news to share. Unfortunately, last August we had to say goodbye to our beloved Paddington. I won't go into too much detail, but she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) which led very quickly to heart failure. While she fought hard, she didn't respond to the medication, and after much discussion with our vet we decided the kindest thing we could do was to put her out of her suffering.

It was hard. Really hard. It has taken us almost a year to be able to comfortably talk about it.

So yeah, that's the bad part of the mixed bag of news.

The good part? Well, last August we also welcomed a new member of the four-legged kind to our family. Despite being totally emotionally wrecked, our house no longer felt like a home without a dog. Though we discussed waiting, by chance we happened to come upon the perfect fit for our family.

Lady loves party hats just as much as Paddington!
Meet Lady! (And yes, because we put off updating and talking about this she just turned 1, haha). A F1B Bernedoodle, her mother was a Bernese Mountain Dog and her father was a mini Bernedoodle. While little dogs always have a special place in my heart, we felt like it was time for a change and getting another Morkie felt like we were trying too hard to replace Paddington.

I mean, how stinking cute was this little face?!

We're going to do our best to catch you all up and introduce you to the newest member of our pack. In the meantime, we're looking forward to getting back into the blogging world and exploring all of the fantastic finds and products that are out there!

See you soon and we promise not to be as MIA :) And oh - you can follow Lady on Instagram at @Lady_The_Berner.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...