THK giveaway winner is a Taiwan dog

Tags

animal rescue, formosan mountain dog, giveaways, honest kitchen, meetups, sparcs2014, taiwan dogs, tugou

So busy lately! Finally here to announce the winners of our last Honest Kitchen giveaway!

Our runners up, receiving sample packets of Perfect Form, are as follows:

• J. in Nevada, with Leo the dog
• Joy H. in Kentucky, with Paisley, Drover, Sookie, Abby, and Cali the dogs
• Kelly M. in California, with Pud — our first feline prizewinner on the House of Two Bows!

Our main prize winner is Mio in California, who will be receiving a two pound trial box of Love, THK’s beef formula!

Mio was lucky number one, the first commenter to jump right on the giveaway. First is just as eligible as last, according to the whims of Random.org. I’m especially pleased to announce Mio as the winner because I know she’s a Taiwan dog, and despite what cranky critics of international street dog rescues might say, is quite fortunate to have the life that she does here in California.

We’ve never met Mio, though she’s apparently a local-ish tugou. We did, however, get a chance to meet several other Taiwan dogs at a meetup last month. Like I said, I’m waaay behind on my blogging… so I’m finally getting around to posting the pictures now.

The park had a very strange layout — relatively narrow in width, a long stretch of unshaded, woodchipped land with most people concentrated right at the gate, near the drinking fountains.

Knowing that this kind of setup gets claustrophobic for Bowdu in particular, I didn’t mingle as much as I would have liked. I was keeping an eye on my dogs to make sure they weren’t getting bored and acting out.

Not that many of the dogs were as thrilled to meet me as I was to meet them. That’s a cool and guarded Formosan dog attitude for ya. They just buzz by with minimal interaction, doing their own thing.

I was fascinated by their body language of hesitance, caution, curiosity, anticipation — some consistent expressions seen amongst the group.

Those are two different brindles similarly craning to get a careful sniff of Bowdu. Maybe it’s something about Bowdu that brings that out in other dogs, no matter the end of approach.

And then there was mighty Bella, petite tuffstuff.

Bella’s person is a reader of this blog, and tipped us off about this meetup which was hosted in honor of Mary, a prolific Taiwan dog rescuer whom I had a chance to meet when I was last there. Like her dogs, she sometimes travels across the Pacific, and was in town for ongoing dog training education. Mary’s commitments are exemplary, and part of why I continue to feel that international dog rescue for Taiwan dogs in particular is justified, critics be damned. Not only does she send her dogs abroad, she shares her knowledge and experience which flows in both directions.

Such international, transnational communities of dogs and their associated dogpeople were on my mind during the presentations at SPARCS 2014 this year. I doubt I’ll get around to a proper recap of the conference though it will continue to filter into future writing. But that’s the point of education — knowledge accumulates, changes, flows. Most importantly though, knowledge belongs to those who continue to feed themselves on steady diets of the new and fresh, whether it be food or information.

REVIEW: The Honest Kitchen Force w/ GIVEAWAY (inc. Perfect Form)

Tags

dehydrated dog food, digestive aids, giveaways, honest kitchen, supplements

Product: The Honest Kitchen Force
Quantity: 2 lb. trial package
Price: $21.99 via THK online*
Ingredients (all dehydrated): Chicken, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, organic alfalfa, organic kelp, honey, pumpkin, green beans, cabbage, bananas, papayas, basil, garlic, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate
Guaranteed analysis:

• Protein, 24.0%
• Crude Fat, Min 0.85%
• Fiber, 6.5%
• Moisture, 8.5%

Country of origin: Manufactured in the United States; ingredients sourced from various locales, no ingredients from China
Company information: The Honest Kitchen; 145, 14th Street; San Diego, CA 92101
Web Presence: TheHonestKitchen.com, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and elsewhere

* Complimentary box received in exchange for our honest review. Please check out the bottom for details on a how to win a FREE trial box of THK!

In a long term relationship, one sometimes falls so deeply into familiar routines, questions start answering themselves. It’s hard to step outside that halcyon lull when everything just feels fine. And why should you want to? Steadiness, reliability, and that constant source of assurance can be exactly what makes any long term relationship so desirable.

But then one day, your old familiar partner walks through the door with a wild new hairstyle or decked out in a sharp new wardrobe, and you think…

… Woah. Hot!!!

For it’s a mistake to equate stability with stasis, or a lack of change. The desire to package and present yourself anew can itself be endearing. So long as we’re not talking drastic measures like, say, face tattoos without prior notice, and all the intrinsically lovable traits remain intact, some element of surprise does wonders to keep a relationship fresh.

And that is how I feel about The Honest Kitchen’s new packaging, designed by Natalya Zahn, unveiled a few months ago and introduced via a lovely care package delivered straight to the doorstep at the House of Two Bows.

Inside was a wooden crate containing all kinds of literature reintroducing the brand and the product, including a lavishly photographed recipe book full of healthy dog- and human-friendly meals. Of immediate concern to the Bows was the box of Perfect Form, a digestive supplement that we sometimes use, and a trial size box of Force, the grain-free chicken recipe that is already a part of the Bows’ regular meals.

I’m cataloging the contents for full disclosure that yes, we did get free stuff from THK in exchange for our honest review. No other compensation was received. But the Bows’ and THK already go way back to July 2011, when we first started feeding it regularly. I had no idea back then that we would use THK products on a near-daily basis. Indeed, as sometimes happens in long-term relationships, we’ve come to take their products for granted. So the surprise package was a welcome invitation to recall why we fell in love in the first place.

Some of the many ways we prepare THK: topped with raw chicken gizzards and hearts, mixed with shredded carrot and topped with raw chicken’s foot, topped with raw chicken liver and mixed with herbal skin and coat supplements, rounding out a meal of smallish raw chicken drumsticks, blended with raw ground turkey, topped with raw egg, with raw sardines and scrambled raw egg, with a hunk of raw chicken thigh

The new, two-pound trial size box is available in four dog-specific recipes (Force, Embark, Love, and Keen) and one cat-specific recipe (Prowl). Each box makes about eight pounds of food, which lasts about three to four weeks when fed for one of the two meals at the House of Two Bows. Thus, it’s a fitting amount for a proper food trial, both in terms of volume and time. The previous one and three-ounce packages only give a shallow impression, basically letting you know if your pet will bite… or not. To get a better idea of potential benefits, you gotta have enough to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the affair a bit.

So let me now take this opportunity to explain the top three reasons why I have stuck with The Honest Kitchen over the years:

• They’re just my physical type. Of all the different types of dog food — kibble, canned, raw, rolled, etc. — I find this dehydrated form to be the most versatile and portable. Every recipe is fully balanced on its own, but I like to add extras to bump up protein content or just to spice things up (also very easy to hide medication, as necessary). Meanwhile, rehydration adds necessary moisture, and that can be adjusted too.


When switching formulas or countering mild digestive upsets, I add Perfect Form to the mix. Pictured is THK Preference (meatless base mix) with ground turkey, topped with Perfect Form before mixing.

• They have a strong personality… insofar as one can speak of a company possessing a personality. I’m not referring to a cartoon mascot or hired spokesperson. I mean that the company visibly embraces specific food production values which overlap with lifestyle philosophies, all of which they forefront with abundant detail. Now, I don’t claim to be in complete alignment, but I feel like we’re on the same page on a lot of flashpoint issues inclusive of dogs and cats and also extending to matters of broader social import. There are too many examples to list here, but the thing is you don’t have to dig too deep to find out where the company stands on quality control, sustainable sourcing of ingredients (the tag “nothing from China” is even printed on the box), and even social issues like the balance between animal rescues and ethical breeding, etc.
  

  Honest Kitchen is clear about where all their ingredients are from, even if internationally sourced. All recipes are domestically manufactured in the US. Source: THK blog, http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/thk-blog/pet-food-with-no-ingredients-from-china/

• Third, they know how to communicate. They’ve been pretty social media-savvy from the start, especially on Facebook. Not only do you know about it when they’re adjusting recipes, they even solicit feedback in the course of making product changes. There’s a lot more they do to maintain integrity with their customer base. Again, too many examples to list here, but suffice to say, their presence and outreach efforts befit their status as a 21st century pet food company, both in the office and on the product shelves.

Finally, The Honest Kitchen is generously sponsoring a GIVEAWAY for one box of any of their 2-pound trial boxes:

• FORCE, free range chicken (grain-free)
• EMBARK, cage-free turkey (grain-free)
• LOVE, Midwestern beef (grain-free)
• KEEN, turkey with organic oats
• PROWL, free-range chicken for CATS

That’s right! Cat owners are invited to participate, as well. The only rules are that 1) you are committed to a long-term relationship with your pet(s) — so please tell us who you’re entering for, 2) you reside in the continental United States, and 3) comment on this post simply stating which recipe you would like to try out.

Deadline is Wednesday, June 18th at 11:59PM Pacific Standard Time, at which point one winner will be randomly chosen to receive their preferred two-pound box; three runner-ups will be chosen to receive sample packets of THK Perfect Form, a digestive supplement suitable for both dogs and cats. Because I will be personally mailing out the packets of Perfect Form, “runner up” winners can be from anywhere in the world — so international participants are welcome to comment, though you’ll be ineligible for the main prize.

Have at it, and good luck!

The Cost of things: May 2014

Tags

acana, budgeting, creston valley meats, dehydrators, dog treats, honest kitchen, kibble, pet finances, pig ears, raw turkey, zignature

Don’t look now… it’s that time of month again.

This is my fourth year of tracking pet finances at the House of Two Bows. This is an ongoing effort to get a practical sense of what it costs to keep two 20 ~ 30 pound adult dogs in an area of the US with relatively high costs of living. Previous posts in this series can be found under the category of finances.

The Cost of (Pet) Things for May 2014:

• Food: $194 [previous month, $15]
• Treats: $41 [previous, $12]
• Grooming: $0 [previous, $0]
• Vet & Medical: $0 [previous, $0]
• Accessories and misc: $0 [previous, $0]
• TOTAL: $235 [running average for 2014: ~$161/month]

Another high total bumping up the monthly average, unfortunately. This month I splurged on a couple sales and bulk orders.

Placed another food order with Creston Valley Meats, a practice which I only seem to manage about once a year. This round included a 12-pound box of ground turkey meat and bone, which I mix with Honest Kitchen Preference at about a 2:1 ratio (heavy on the meat), and about 7 pounds of chicken’s feet at $1.50 a pound, sold as “all natural, home grown, most fed on organic feed.” This is slightly cheaper than the local Asian groceries, and apparently better quality (from what little I can tell by visual inspection). Given the way I stagger meals, this supply should last through the rest of the year.

Also on the pricey side, I threw down for more Honest Kitchen products since the local Pet Food Express chain was running a promotion: buy one, get one half off. I snagged a 10 lb. box of The Honest Kitchen Force for an additional $20 off because the packaging was damaged (though the contents were unaffected), so I matched that with a 7 lb. box of Preference at discount. That amount of Preference has lasted about a year before, perhaps a bit less.

10 lb. box of THK Force (old packaging) vs. 2 lb. trial size box (new packaging)

Not sure if the sale was because the store wanted to clear the shelves to make way for THK in its new packaging (shown on the 2 lb trial size box that Bowpi is licking). Review preview: You will hear more about The Honest Kitchen Force and their new packaging in the next post…

For kibble, the Bows got a 15 pound bag of Acana Pacifica, probably the most expensive kibble in their rotation (and thus only appearing about once a year), because I managed to comp a small bag of Acana Grasslands with a special order.

Finally, there was one last 4 lb. bag of Zignature Wild Trout recipe at half off. We’ve tried a couple Zignature formulas before. Since then, the retail price on the small bag at my local pet store was adjusted to $12.98 a bag, which makes it comparable to Taste of the Wild. I’m not convinced that it’s a better kibble, though at less than $7 a bag, it’s totally worth another chance.

So that was a lot of food that should allow us to aim for a single-digit food total next month…

For treats, restocked on The Honest Kitchen Beams at buy 3, get 1 free (went for the small size this time). Also eight raw pig’s ears, hacked up and thrown into the dehydrator. Lots of crunchy bits to get us through the month…

Health update on the cusp of spring

Tags

flea dermatitis, hair loss, honest kitchen, kennel cough, skin and coat supplements, skin rash, tracheal collapse, vet

A health update is called for, as we’ve had a titch of trouble recently.

Last Wednesday, I brought Bowpi in to the vet. She’d been cough-wheezing for a while. It’d reportedly started in November, when I was still in Taiwan. I certainly noticed it when I came back — a sporadic, whuffing sound that came on when she was balled up, either getting into or just emerging from sleep. RJ figured it was due to the unusually dry winter we’ve been having in California, and as it seemed to come and go, we just kept monitoring her.

The cough suddenly got louder and more frequent over one rainy weekend, so I had her in ASAP. Basically, she was whuffing and chuffing in several, continuous, uncontrolled rounds, and doing a lot of this in addition:

… yet, she wasn’t coughing frequently enough that I could count on her to demonstrate her symptoms to the vet. So I took video. Even on the day that I brought her in, the rain had cleared up, and she hadn’t coughed for over 12 hours. And Bowdu, as you can see, has been his usual, doofy self, so it didn’t seem to be a highly contagious condition.

Based on the video, manual palpation, my description of the symptoms, and Bowpi’s overall age and stature, the vet’s diagnosis was partial tracheal collapse, aggravated by a secondary infection of kennel cough. She spared me the X-rays for a more precise diagnosis, since she was pretty sure that was what was going on, and her condition wasn’t severe. She was able to recreate the coughing sound in the examination room by pressing on Bowpi’s trachea, and noted that the condition was not in the esophagus, so there was some process of elimination going into the diagnosis too.

So we were sent off with a round of Doxycycline for the cough, and a harness for Bowpi is already on the way. I definitely feel some guilt, wondering if this all could have been prevented if I had just been walking Bowpi on a harness to begin with. Like pretty much every Basenji I’ve ever walked, she’s always been a puller, jerking with great determination (for such a small dog!) towards the object of her scrutiny. This is much less of a problem when she’s off leash, as the vast majority of our daytime walks tend to be.

Obviously, I can’t always walk her off leash, so I’m doing what I can to minimize the harm that’s already been done. Like the doc predicted, her cough cleared right up after a week of medication, and her chuffing has subsided to very occasional, and minor disruptions. Neither her energy levels nor appetite has been affected, and otherwise she remains in great shape, so we carry on, and will follow up by phone in a couple months.

I am transparent about pet finances on this blog, and since veterinary fees can be one of the most inscrutable costs, I present the itemized bill:

• Office call, $56 $50.40 (minus 10% student discount
• Doxycycline (strength: 25 mg/mL), 28 mL, $30
• TOTAL: $80.40

Meanwhile, Bowdu was off his flea medication schedule for over two weeks, as I’d forgotten about it in February’s flurry. This is atypical of me, and poor Bowdu is the one that had to suffer for it.

Due to what I think were some flea or bug bites, Bowdu got really itchy in a couple spots on his chest, resulting in the loss of large swathes of fur. I didn’t actually see any bugs, though I saw the bite areas, and I didn’t find anything on Bowpi, whose short fur is usually quick to reveal any such problems. However, knowing that Bowdu does react pretty intensely to bug bites, and given the intensity of the fur loss (most of it came right out within about a two day window), my first response was to get both dogs back on Comfortis, ASAP.

This does coincide with a seasonal fur blow, which is already pretty intense in its own right. Since a few years ago (with the diagnosis of canine hypothyroidism), I’ve noted that Bowdu does tend to lose his fur in big, bald patches when he’s shedding. Pictures from February 2011 for comparison:

Pretty much always the same areas around the neck, chest, and belly, but never his back.

This is clearly the worst Bowdu has had it in years, with raw red skin and hyperpigmentation and everything.

I gave him a bath with some medicated shampoo to try and ease the itch and speed along the shedding process. I think it was actually a little too intense and offset his skin oils, because he’s felt greasier since the bath. I’ll give him another week or so, and try again again with a gentle shampoo.

Meanwhile, he’s been getting generic diphenhydramine (Benadryl) about twice a day, with breakfast and before bedtime. He’s got his skin and coat supplements: the usual fish oil and vitamin E, and additional Honest Kitchen Sparkle (which is being discontinued due to “regulatory challenges combined with low sales” — time to formulate our own herbal blend!). His itching seems to be under control, he just looks and feels rough, and is a bit cranky about being touched in certain ways.

At least he’s not too self-conscious about showing off his precious, slightly bald tummy.

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY: The Honest Kitchen Quickies

Tags

dog food, dog treats, fish, giveaways, honest kitchen, training treats

Product: The Honest Kitchen Quickies
Quantity: 2 oz tin
Price: $9.99 via THK site (here, and a special Valentine’s edition here; Valentine’s edition available in a case of 6 for $45, online special only)
Ingredient: Dehydrated haddock
Guaranteed analysis:

• Crude Protein, Min 83.5%
• Crude Fat, Min 0.85%
• Crude Fiber, Max 0.75%
• Moisture, Max 11.85%

Country of origin: Iceland; packed in the USA
Company information: The Honest Kitchen; 145, 14th Street; San Diego, CA 92101
Web Presence: TheHonestKitchen.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere

Though I’m cynical enough to write off Valentine’s Day as a commercial holiday, I do think there’s merit to celebrating companionship in all its forms, not just in romantic, coupled, traditional terms. Indeed, there is much to be said for the enrichment that pets bring to human lives, and vice versa. One of the primary ways I express love and friendship is through food. Whether meticulously prepared in my kitchen or carefully selected in a store, food serves multiple, significant functions. Food not only nourishes our bodies, but also strengthens interpersonal bonds.

This is something that the folks at The Honest Kitchen obviously understand, judging from the rather amorous names to their products. Their treats, in particular, revel unabashedly in the pleasures of little displays of affection — Nuzzles, Pecks, Smooches, etc.

So then what are Quickies all about?

Quickies demand a more concentrated, intense technique. There’s a degree of spontaneity and furtiveness that you don’t get with other, more noticeable displays of affection. It’s not something you gloat publicly about. That’s not the point. Rather, it’s something that you keep private, tucked away, a secret to be shared only between you and the most deserving of intimates.

Translated in edible form, The Honest Kitchen got it exactly right: one tiny, pea-sized niblet of densely flavored, fishy goodness. Their Quickies training treats are made from a single ingredient, dehydrated haddock, and pressed into a heart shape. They have the texture of Smarties candies. I bet they provide a similarly potent burst of flavor.

While I want to indulge the Bows, I have to regard these Quickies as a more special treat to be doled out as a super jackpot. At 1.1 kcal per treat, they’re not excessive by any means. But the shape and the texture make for a special feeding experience.

What I love the most about the Quickies is the packaging. I actually squealed when I opened up the box and saw the tiny canister inside. The tube has a convenient, pop-open tin lid, and fits comfortably into the front pocket of my pants.

Is that a tube of Quickies in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Coolest thing about this packaging is that you can shake the canister and train your pets to respond by basic Pavlovian conditioning. As a fairly tasty, high value treat, it shouldn’t be hard to integrate this into your training regimen with just a few repetitions.

The Bows love these treats. No question there. And I am completely enamored by the special Valentine’s Day packaging, which conjures up all kinds of nostalgic remembrances from childhood. I kind of want to order these by the case (the Valentine’s Quickies are available in quantities of 6 for $45) and deliver them to all the dogs in my neighborhood… Maybe the cats too, since I think they’re appropriate across species. Now, if only I knew all their names.

The only drawback about these treats is the price. Ten bucks seems like quite a lot for this little container… but let’s do the math here. 2 ounces is approximately 57 grams. At 1.1 kcal per treat, measured out at 333 kcal per 100 grams, we can say there’s about 190 kcal in this tiny little tin, or about ~170 treats.

Well, that sounds like quite a lot, actually! No, I didn’t do a proper count. And a couple weeks later, we’re still working on our first canister… but be warned that they can go pretty quickly.

So they’re not the most economical treats out there. That said, high quality, fish-based edibles tend to be more expensive in general, and are pretty few and far between. Quickies are worth trying at least once, because the packaging is worth saving. It’ll probably take us a month to finish our canister, and when they’re through, I’ll be holding onto the tube for a while yet.

After all, the Bows are coming to associate the rattle of that canister with the promise of a tasty tidbit.

Final Grade: A-

BONUS GIVEAWAY: We are giving away one 2 oz. canister of Quickies to a randomly chosen commenter who responds to the following question: Do you have a pet crush? That is, is there a cute pet you’ve noticed (any species) in your neighborhood, your group of friends, or even on social media? (It’s fine if your answer is no.) Just leave a comment by Thursday, February 13th, 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time for a chance at your own canister of Quickies.

Note: Winner must reside within the US or Canada. The Honest Kitchen provided us with two canisters of Quickies treats — one for review, and one for a giveaway. Opinions expressed in this post come from M.C. and the House of Two Bows.

The cost of things: August 2013

Tags

budgeting, honest kitchen, pet finances

This is my third year of tracking our pet finances here at the House of Two Bows. This is an ongoing effort to get a practical sense of what it costs to keep two 20 ~ 30 pound adult dogs in an area of the US with relatively high costs of living. Previous posts in this series can be found under the category of finances.

Last month was quite the wallet wallop.

The Cost of (Pet) Things for August 2013:

• Food: $262 [previous month, $76]
• Treats: $47 [previous, $5]
• Grooming: $7 [previous, $0]
• Accessories and misc: $5 [previous, $0]
• Vet & Medical: $0 [previous, $289]
• TOTAL: $311 (running average for 2013 ~$189/month)

… yet, it was less than the total for July, since there were no August veterinary expenses to account for. At any rate, this is what it looks like when I attempt to stockpile enough food and treats to last the Bows four months, since I don’t expect RJ to do much shopping for them while I’m gone.

For food, I’m leaving them with 19 pounds of kibble (in addition to whatever was left in the tub when I left), 16 pounds of The Honest Kitchen dehydrated formulas (four boxes purchased on the buy-three-get-one-free deal at Pet Food Express: Embark, Force, Thrive, and Zeal), and the dozens of pounds of frozen chicken, organs, tripe, fish, etc. that was accumulated mostly last month. They get one more canister of The Honest Kitchen Sparkle to round out the summer. Besides all that, the only things I expect RJ to be picking up for the dogs is their morning yogurt and occasional eggs.

They still have a decent stockpile of treats, since this is the department that RJ knows how to handle by dehydrating chicken hearts. Meanwhile, I made sure to have a bunch of other edibles on hand that will hopefully help the Bows get acclimated to the new housemate occupying my absence.

Grooming expenses = a bulk of poop bags.

And finally, in miscellaneous expenses, a large water dish to help with the rearrangement of items in the house due to above-mentioned new housemate.

It’s tempting to call it a wrap at this point and just use these numbers to calculate the monthly average for the rest of the year. But honestly, I don’t know what the next few months hold by way of finances, pet or otherwise. At any rate, The House of Two Bows finances project is on pause for now. There may be occasion to check in later, but don’t expect anymore numbers until the the end of the year.

REVIEW: The Honest Kitchen Pro Bloom Instant Goat’s Milk

Tags

digestive enzymes, goat's milk, honest kitchen, powdered milk, probiotics, supplements

Product: The Honest Kitchen Pro Bloom
Quantity: 8 oz box (contains 16 half-ounce pouches*)
Price: $23.99 via THK site (approx. $1.50 per pack)*
Ingredients: Dehydrated goat’s milk, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation product, dried candida rugosa fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation product, dried pineapple fermentation product; dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus brevis fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium longum fermentation product, dried streptococcus thermophiles fermentation product
Guaranteed analysis:

• Crude Protein, Min 35 %
• Crude Fat, Min 1 %
• Crude Fiber, Max 0.5 %
• Moisture, Max 7.9 %

Country of origin: USA
Company information: The Honest Kitchen; 145, 14th Street; San Diego, CA 92101
Web Presence: TheHonestKitchen.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere

Every now and then, I wander back to my fantasy goat farm and think about swapping my academic career “plans” for a couple dairy Alpines. I probably know as much about goats as I did about academia when I first started my degree(s)…

Which is to say, just about nothing.

I know I find goats enchanting, with their weird eyes and odd vocalizations that make me laugh until I cry when viewed in YouTube digest form… though, like academia, I’m sure some of these daily quirks wear thin in short order. I know that goats can be very affectionate towards humans, thanks in part to their long domestication history. Most importantly, they produce tasty cheese that costs/sells for oodles of foodiebucks, though I’m not necessarily a fan of goat milk.

The Bows, however, find goat’s milk to be quite a novelty, as I found out thanks to the Honest Kitchen, who sent us a couple sample packs of their new powdered goat milk supplement, Pro Bloom. The “pro” is for the additional probiotics and digestive enzymes loaded into the dehydrated mix, which you can check out in very full detail here.

In my cursory web searches on the use of goat’s milk for pets, I often stumbled across fairly broad claims of its efficacy. It’s praised for being highly digestible, even for those who are somewhat lactose intolerant (*raises hand*), it’s got more this and more that, it’s wholly nutritious unto itself, especially in its raw, natural form, etc. Well, I appreciate that THK is a little more restrained in their claims. This product is as much about the added probiotics as the milk itself, and they do supply plenty of information to assure you that the product will do what it is labeled to do — boost digestive gut flora that helps the body break down whatever needs to be consumed, but is not in and of itself a substitute for proper nutrition.

We know of at least one other commercially available goat milk product for pets, but THK is different in a couple ways. One is the aforementioned list of added cultures. Two is the fact that it is not raw, but pasteurized before dehydration. Third is its powdered form, which means it’s a lot easier to keep and offer as needed, and just as easy to rehydrate as their other products.

Each half-ounce pouch reconstitutes with a cup of warm water into a rich, fragrant mix. I sampled a few sips myself before offering some to the dogs (it’s described as “human-grade and made in the USA from pasture-raised, free-ranging goat’s milk in the Pacific Northwest[…], naturally free of pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones and antibiotics”). Bowdu was lapping up his share before the bowl even touched ground, while Bowpi hesitated, insisting that I take another sip from the prep bowl before she followed suit.

And then we entered Slurp City: Population, 2.

They licked everything clean, including the film rimming each bowl. As a powdered product, one can clearly see and taste the difference, but it’s not bad, for what it is.

The individuated packaging seemed excessive to me, but I can see its advantages. It is not priced for regular consumption (though apparently it’s great for nursing puppies and kittens), so most pets would probably be getting this on an occasional basis. Thus, the portioned pouches help keep the rest of the powder fresh and loose — a real concern with dry formulas in humid zones. You can also easily incorporate the powder into the rest of THK’s dehydrated mixes or other wet meals.

So if I ever end up with that goat farm, at least I know that the Bows will accept some milk in their fare. Until then, I suppose we’ll make do with it in this form.

* We only sampled two pouches and couldn’t test the product claims over a longer trial, so there’s not enough info to assign our typical letter grade. The most I can say is that Bows were happy with their samples and I am a fan of the company. I have ideas for how I would use it in the future, as I’m willing to try it again, though I’m not sure when I’d have occasion to spring for the cost of a full box. On a pass-fail scale, we can at least give this product a grade of SATISFACTORY (Pass).

REVIEW: Primal freeze-dried products

Tags

dog food, dog treats, freeze-dried raw, honest kitchen, primal raw, sponsored reviews

Product: Primal Freeze-Dried Canine Chicken Formula (complete meal)
Quantity: 14 oz. bag (approx. 64 nuggets)
Price: $27.99*
Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Necks, Chicken Gizzards, Organic Kale, Organic Carrots, Organic Yams, Chicken Livers, Organic Broccoli, Organic Apples, Cranberries, Blueberries, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Carbonate, Sodium Selenite), Organic Parsley, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Salmon Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Quinoa Sprout Powder, Dried Organic Kelp, Alfalfa, Natural Vitamin E, Mixed Tocopherols (natural preservative)
Guaranteed analysis:

Crude Protein (min), 37%
Crude Fat (min), 37%
Crude Fiber (max), 1%
Moisture (max), 2%

— AND —

Product: Primal Freeze-Dried Turkey Liver Munchies (treats)
Quantity: 2 oz. pouch
Price: $6.99*
Ingredients: Turkey Liver
Guaranteed analysis:

Crude Protein (min), 52%
Crude Fat (min), 5%
Crude Fiber (max), 1%
Moisture (max), 3%

Manufacturer: Primal Pet Foods
Country of origin: USA
Company information: 2045 McKinnon Ave, San Francisco, CA 94124; Phone: 415.642.7400 or 866.566.4652; Founder and President: Matt Koss (est. 2001)
Web Presence: Primalpetfoods.com; on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

* Prices are based on one local retailer. We received one bag of each product from Primal Pet Foods in exchange for our honest review.

Primal was Bowdu’s first raw food love. If you search through the early archives of this blog, you’ll find me singing the praises of this company’s products, as they did so much to help us transition to a healthier diet during Bowdu’s summer of immune system meltdowns. Bowdu learned to literally sing for his dinner once we started feeding Primal raw, as demonstrated by this post and video back from 2010. He still serenades me every single night during dinner prep, and it’s all thanks to Primal that he found his voice.

However, it’s been a while since we’ve stocked any Primal meals, mainly because our limited freezer space has been occupied by meats, now that we’ve got the swing of a more DIY raw feeding system. So when Primal offered us a chance to test out a couple items in their freeze-dried product line, we gladly accepted the offer.

Primal’s freeze-dried raw offers several advantages over their frozen product. It’s lightweight, easier to store, and easier to prepare, though the process is entirely different. When we fed their frozen raw, I would portion out the appropriate number of nuggets the night before, thaw for about 24 hours in the refrigerator, then quickly temper the meat in hot water before serving — the last step being the extra push that really encouraged both Bows to take to a raw diet, as the warmer meat was more appealing to them. The freeze-dried products appear to use the same recipes, but the format is different.

You drop the desired number of nuggets into a bowl, and add water. I use water pumped out of my trusty Zojirushi heater (not straight off a boil, but hot), and let it cool to still-warm temps as the product soaks and rehydrates.

The instructions recommend about 1/4 cup of water for four nuggets, which is what you see above. I was impressed that rehydration happened within seconds. Once soaked, the nuggets were easily broken down with a spoon to help force water into the pores. This is quite different from other freeze-dried meals we’ve tried, which took much longer to reach an edible consistency. Primal’s freeze-dried nuggets are ready within minutes. Ideally, you want the end result to appear gloopy and mushy, as extra moisture is part of what rounds out the nutritional superiority of raw meals.

Bowpi (20 pounds) should get eight nuggets a day, and Bowdu (30 pounds) should get about twelve. They are both accustomed to quite a raw variety now, but I still eased them into the product by combining it with The Honest Kitchen’s Keen, which they’ve had regularly for the last couple months. This gave me a chance to compare the two products side by side.

They are comparable dehydrated pet foods from two companies with nutritional philosophies that I respect. The difference is that THK uses slow, air-drying processes, where ingredients are brought up to high enough temperatures so that they can’t bill their product as completely raw. Primal, on the other hand, can call itself a raw diet, as freeze-drying, or lyophilization, is a different (and more expensive) process. They also use High-Pressure Processing (HPP), a “unique, non-thermal process that kills pathogenic bacteria through high-pressure, water-based technology,” to ensure the food safety of their raw poultry products.

The Honest Kitchen formula that I happened to use for this comparison took slightly longer to rehydrate and came out bulkier. Some THK formulas do contain grains though, whereas Primal’s are all grain-free. Another major difference with Primal is the smell. Primal definitely registered in my nostrils as a RAW product, though not in an unpleasant way. It’s the scent of fresh meat and produce, which I’m sure added to the olfactory experience for the Bows.

Suffice to say, it was a big hit! I couldn’t really get pictures of the meals because they were consumed way too quickly.

What I could get the Bows to pose for were the Turkey Liver Munchies. This was just what I needed to help Bowpi weather some of our off-leash outings in the midst of fireworks season. I mentioned in a recent post that she gets extremely skittish when strange sounds are in the air. Though delicious liver treats were not a cure-all, they were an effective “adhesive,” keeping Bowpi closer than she otherwise would have stayed.

Bowdu is cool, Bowpi is hiding — but at least she’s with us

It’s hard enough for me to find raw turkey liver, so at least I can get it in this form. I love that these treats are made with a single protein, named organ. Even though we’re paying by the ounce, retail cost is reasonable, relative to other freeze-dried treats currently available. I just have to ration the goodies. Each bag contains many pieces in a variety of sizes. It’s best to break up the bigger chunks, as too much liver in either raw or dessicated form can be overkill.

But speaking of breaking things up — this is my biggest complaint. Like many freeze-dried products we’ve encountered, the pieces are just too crumbly, so you often end up with a bag of flakes or dust instead of whole, manageable pieces. I counted the nuggets I was able to count, and got to 40 pieces before I ended up with…

… this. Smithereens city. Given that each bag is supposed to contain about 64 nuggets, the crumbled portions account for over a third of the bag. Yikes!

This wouldn’t be so bad if rehydration and feeding guidelines were based on approximate dry volume, instead of nugget count. The crumbs still absorb water the same way, after all. Once you get used to the routine, it’s not too hard to eyeball the amount and adjust the moisture levels to the needs of your own pet. Meanwhile, the liver treat crumbs can be sprinkled onto any meal as a topper. Nothing need go to waste. Nevertheless, I do wonder if there’s a better way to package the product.

My other main issue is, unfortunately, cost. This is not an item that I can afford to feed exclusively, as both Bows would go through a single bag in about three days! I sometimes don’t even spend $9 a day feeding myself, let alone my dogs. To me, this is suitable as an occasional treat or perhaps emergency rations. I would much rather pack freeze-dried nuggets than heavy tubs of kibble on a camping or cross-country trip, for example. Resealable zippers add to the convenience of these products, but it all comes at a premium.

Overall, I have no complaints about the quality of ingredients, the processing method, or the reputation and overall standards of the company. Primal offers a lot of additional information about their products on their website, including where they source their ingredients and detailed nutritional data beyond what is required on the packaging, down to the percentage of organic ingredients, organ meat, bone content, and even calcium-to-phosphorus ratio (for example, see the complete listing for the chicken formula).

Reviewing these Primal products was like coming “home” in a way. They are familiar to us from our early days of food experimentation, and they’re also local. The company is headquartered just across the Bay in San Francisco, and they maintain strong links with local businesses and animal partners. However, Californians are not unique in how we treat or want to treat our pets. Primal products are distributed from coast to coast in the US and Canada, for now. They are one of several modern pet food companies that has helped raise the bar for how we live with our pets, and so they remain one to keep an eye on.

FINAL GRADES:
Primal Freeze-dried Canine Chicken Formula: A-
Primal Turkey Liver Munchies: A

The cost of things: June 2013

Tags

budgeting, honest kitchen, pet finances, primal raw

After a long weekend wrapping up a house sitting gig, an abstract submission, and a live streamed conference on canine science (if you missed SPARCS 2013, a DVD of the best online dog-thing to happen in 2013 will be available later), it’s time to return to the real world…

This is my third year of tracking our pet finances here at the House of Two Bows. This is an ongoing effort to get a practical sense of what it costs to keep two 20 ~ 30 pound adult dogs in an area of the US with relatively high costs of living. Previous posts in this series can be found under the category of finances.

The Cost of (Pet) Things for June 2013:

• Food: $14* [previous month, $67]
• Treats: $28 [previous, $16]
• Grooming: $0 [previous, $0]
• Accessories and misc: $0 [previous, $0]
• Vet & Medical: $0 [previous, $54]
• TOTAL: $42 (running average for 2013 ~$139/month)

Food was a special case this month. I actually spent about $58 which included a box of The Honest Kitchen Embark, some chicken organs, eggs, and yogurt. However, I’m counting the Natura Pet Food Settlement as a credit in this category, even though it took years for the check to come in, and even though it’s a very atypical, one-time occurrence.

After some debate, I decided it counts because this bonus income did encourage me to spend a bit more on treats than I otherwise would have. Picked up several bags of Fruitables, Zuke’s, and Isle of Dogs treats on a buy three, get one free deal to stock up.

Meanwhile, we got a bit of food assistance for this month and the next from the folks who first initiated us into raw feeding, Primal Pet Foods. Stay tuned…

The cost of things: May 2013

Tags

allergies, budgeting, goat's milk, heartworm, honest kitchen, iverhart, joint supplements, pet finances, petmeds, soloxine, sparkle, wapiti labs

This is my third year of tracking our pet finances here at the House of Two Bows. This is an ongoing effort to get a practical sense of what it costs to keep two 20 ~ 30 pound adult dogs in an area of the US with relatively high costs of living. Previous posts in this series can be found under the category of finances.

The Cost of (Pet) Things for May 2013:

• Food: $67 [previous month, $66]
• Treats: $16 [previous, $11]
• Grooming: $0 [previous, $7]
• Accessories and misc: $0 [previous, $0]
• Vet & Medical: $54 [previous, $0]
• TOTAL: $137 (running average for 2013 ~$158/month)

For food and the Bows’ daily diet, aside from the usual yogurt and fresh meat here and there, this month was mostly about supplements. A free shipping offer from The Honest Kitchen allowed me to stock up on a couple canisters of Sparkle at a reasonable price. I added this skin, coat, and digestive supplement to their daily meals around this time last year — right at the cusp of Bowdu’s spring coat blow, and into the summer allergy season. Though he’s got some patches of black skin on his legs now (as has been typical for the past few years), he got through last summer quite nicely, so I’m implementing the same regimen again.

The Honest Kitchen also sent us a complimentary grab bag of supplements to try out, including a couple packs of their brand new goat’s milk supplement, Pro Bloom. I’m trying to dig up info on goat milk for dogs, which they are selling as a formula rich with digestive enzymes and probiotics. Will report back in due time…

One last biggie purchase also came at a significant discount from the Pawalla shop — a 30 gram bottle of elk velvet antler extract from Wapiti Labs, which I’ll be alternating with liquid glucosamine supplements for a while. I prefer joint supplements in additive forms, as opposed to tablets or chewable treats, because it seems easier to add the amount I want directly to their meals.

Treats included a round of Honest Kitchen Beams and a couple pounds of chicken hearts and gizzards for the dehydrator. This is one of RJ’s favorite thing to do for the Bows… and by this point, I believe the dehydrator has finally paid for itself!

Finally, for medications, I stocked up on another 250 days worth of Soloxine (0.4mg pills broken into two halves, twice a day) for $20 via PetMeds. They’re usually slightly more expensive than that, but PetMeds does have a price-matching guarantee that they’ve always been good to honor, when I point out that Drs. Foster and Smith sell the same pills for less.

I also seriously considered stopping heartworm medication for the Bows, given the very, very low incidences of heartworm in our local microclimate. Basically, as my vet explained when I was discussing this option with her, the nightly fog that creeps over the area drops temperatures below a level that allows mosquitoes to propagate. However, we had a couple heat waves, and the buzz of a single mosquito one night made me paranoid… So I figured that if I were to take the Bows off heartworm medication, summer is not the time to do so.

I got Iverhart. It was cheap. Cost is a concern at the moment… which is why budgets are necessary.

Next up: Reporting on the Novato Shiba Picnic 2013!