Tasty Tuesday – YourDesignerDog

Treats + Steak = One Happy Dog! #ChewyInfluencer

yourdesignerdog — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 04:15:46 +0000

Steak is one food that is guaranteed to bring a smile to my dog’s face. When our friends at Chewy.com sent over some dog treats made from real sirloin steak, I knew Sadie would be excited. When you have a picky dog that needs to be coaxed and encouraged to eat anything, it’s a wonderful feeling to find a dog treat that your dog will eat immediately, without hesitation. And True Chews Premium Grillers are exactly the treats I need to make my dog’s mouth water.

True Chews Premium Grillers are the perfect form of enticement for Sadie. As I explain in our book, How To Get Your Dog To Eat (Chapter Four), sometimes my dog doesn’t find her dinner interesting enough to start eating. She’ll smell her dog food and then walk away, hoping for something more exciting to eat. That’s when I can use True Chews Premium Grillers. I take one of the treats and break it up into small pieces, which I sprinkle over Sadie’s dog food. Since she can’t resist the steak treats, Sadie will eat her whole dish of dog food just to get at all the little pieces of the True Chews Steak treats!

The beef used to make True Chews Premium Grillers is sourced entirely from American farm-raised cattle. These treats are all natural and made in the USA without fillers, by-products, grain, artificial flavoring, or preservatives. The sirloin steak is slow roasted to give your dog that great tender grilled taste.

There are two flavors of True Chews Premium Grillers, beef and salmon. True Chews also offers two flavors of Premium Jerky Cuts and two flavors of Premium Sizzlers. All six varieties of True Chews dog treats are available at Chewy.com starting at $9.45.

This post is part of the #ChewyInfluencer blog hop.

I received a free bag of treats from Chewy.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, based on my experiences with this product.

Portion Problems

yourdesignerdog — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:00:47 +0000

As you all know, Sadie is a picky eater. Some days she acts like she’s starving and will eat anything in sight. Other days she will only eat her dog food if I spoon feed her a few bites. At the moment, the most frustrating aspect of these eating habits is portion size. Of course Sadie’s vet has recommended the appropriate amount of food for Sadie’s dinner. But when I prepare the half cup of dry food mixed with a little wet food that the vet recommends, Sadie barely eats half of it. So the next night I give Sadie a smaller portion, which she finishes immediately and begs for more food. So the night after that I give Sadie a larger portion, but she won’t eat any of it and it all gets thrown out. I just can’t predict how much Sadie will be willing to eat at any given time. Some nights I give her a full portion and she eats only half. I wake up the next morning planning to throw away the leftover food, only to discover that Sadie has gotten up in the middle of the night and eaten every bite. Sadie is certainly talented at keeping me on my toes and making sure our life together never gets boring.

This post is part of the Pet Parade blog hop hosted by Rascal and Rocco, Bionic Basil, Love Is Being Owned By a Husky, and M.K. Clinton.

#KickStartYourKibble with Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers

yourdesignerdog — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 06:30:53 +0000

As many of you know, Sadie is a very picky eater. She eats a prescription kibble for weight control and joint support as suggested by our vet, but she won’t eat just plain kibble. Typically I mix her kibble with some canned food, but I know that canned food can cause problems with her teeth. So I’m always searching for new, healthy options to mix with her dry kibble to make it more palatable. That’s where Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers come in to solve all of these issues. According to a study at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, 9 out of 10 dogs prefer kibble with Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers to just plain kibble. That seemed to me like a pretty good reason to give Meal Mixers a try.

First off, Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers are made with raw, freeze dried ingredients sourced from the USA. I’m personally a little grossed out when I hear about raw feeding, but these Meal Mixers are not like the slimy raw meat pieces I envisioned. Since Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers are freeze dried, the pieces are sanitary and easy to handle. Each package even comes with its own scoop for easy portion control. All you need to do is mix a scoop or two (depending on your dog’s weight) of Meal Mixers with a portion of your dog’s kibble and your dog has nutritious meal that takes you only seconds to prepare.

The freeze drying process also seals in the flavor, keeping the food tastier for a longer period of time for your pet. By using freeze dried, raw food like Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers, your dog can receive the raw nutrition they instinctually crave in an easy to handle way for dog owners.

Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers come in four varieties and three sizes – Stella’s Super Beef, Chewy’s Chicken, Tantalizing Turkey, and Savory Salmon in 3.5oz, 9oz, and 18oz resealable bags. We were given the chicken to try, which is great because Sadie loves chicken. But Meal Mixers contain more than just nutrient-rich meat. There are also organic fruits and vegetables and healthy probiotics and antioxidants mixed in with the freeze dried meat. You won’t find any grain, gluten, fillers, preservatives, antibiotics, hormones or other artificial additives in Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers.

Meal Mixers also work great as a reward. In my house, if I try to give Sadie some pieces of her kibble as a reward, she looks at me like I’m giving her brussel sprouts for dessert. Sadie considers her dry kibble as health food, something she must eat every day if she hopes to also get a treat or two. But Sadie gets excited to see the bag of Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers. She will happily perform tricks in exchange for a piece or two of the Meal Mixers. It’s a perfect, healthy, nutritious reward!

At Stella & Chewy’s, they go above and beyond to ensure the quality of their products. The Wisconsin-based company utilizes a test and hold process with their food. A sample from each batch of food is sent to an independent lab to ensure the quality and safety of the food before it leaves the production facility. You can even go online and read the test results from your dog’s specific bag of food!

The company was founded in 2003 by Marie Moody, who wanted to share the success of her raw diet with other pet owners. The company is named after the founder’s own dogs, Stella and Chewy, whose health issues were greatly improved by a raw diet.

Learn more about Stella & Chewy’s and Meal Mixers at stellaandchewys.com. You can also interact with Stella & Chewy’s on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This post is sponsored by Stella and Chewy’s but opinions are my own. Stella and Chewy’s is not responsible for the content of this article.

This post is part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie, Love Is Being Owned By a Husky, and M.K. Clinton.

This post is also part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

Chew With Your Mouth Closed!

yourdesignerdog — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:30:56 +0000

I seem to have failed at teaching manners to my little lady. Sadie just insists on chewing with her mouth open. It’s a good thing she’s munching on a dental treat to help keep her teeth clean and her breath fresh!

Is That a Dinosaur Bone?

yourdesignerdog — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:30:34 +0000

Someone gave Sadie a bone this week that is so big I think it must have come from a dinosaur! She had an absolute blast carrying it around, burying and re-burying it all over the house. Normally I would worry about her eating a treat that large, but by the time Sadie settled down to nibble on the bone, she was exhausted. After only a minute or two gnawing away, Sadie fell asleep with the bone still in her paws!