BarkBox Review: July 2014 Box "Day at the Beach"

Another month has flown by and here we are opening up BarkBoxes again!! This month we got two of the same box, so this will be the only review. As I said before, I enjoyed getting two different boxes last month. However, it is kind of neat to be able to have the same things for both the girls.

For those of you who do not know, BarkBox is a monthly subscription service starting at $29 that has a few treats and 1-2 toys a month inside.  You can buy a 3,6, or 12 month subscription at a discounted rate.  I also encourage you to use my referral link and get 10% off!  You can also add on an extra toy for $9/month if your dog is really toy oriented.

BarkBox has the absolute best customer service of any group I've ever met.  Every question I have is quickly answered, every concern I have is thoroughly addressed, and I never feel like they're brushing me off.  They also make it really easy to unsubscribe if you just decide it isn't working out for you.

It was really rainy this week, so we opened it inside!

Our "unboxing":

9" Straight Pizzle - $4

Elsa really enjoyed the pizzle stick.

Bixbi Daily Chicken Breast Jerky Treats - $10

These were really, really, really, really yummy.

1.75oz Mr. Barksmith's Pina Colada Smoothie - $2

I saved these for a day that they had gone running at the dog park for awhile.  They love frozen treats and these were gone impressively quickly. 

11" Plush Shark - $12 

She hasn't figured out the shark has a squeaker in it yet, but she still prances around with it like it's the best thing EVER!!

Petsafe Indigo Triple Chew - $11

These chews didn't set well with our puppies' stomachs. They got pretty sick, and it made me very nervous. Elsa recovered pretty fast. Britta had a harder time. I emailed BarkBox and they are sent us both replacement toys and even a new toy for my foster pup who should be here Friday, Idgie!

In conclusion, we pay $19/month for the boxes (I strongly urge you to buy a subscription and save up to $11/mo), and the box's contents are valued around $37.

Puppy Photos Week of 7/13

Morning Dog Park Fun

Britta loves my tub faucet.

Meet Idgie!  She is going to be my first foster dog... hopefully she will be here Friday!

Buying Idgie and Elsa Silly Bums.  Britta already has one that came in her BarkBox and Elsa always loves to play with it, so I decded it was time for her to have one too.

Winding down after a long day.

Support Your Local Animal Charity: the Easy Way

While nervously awaiting Elsa's new cousin (a.k.a. my new foster dog), I've been researching different ways to support local charities.  Now that I will have a second furbaby, I am going to be limited in the money that I can donate outright.  I will continue to volunteer at the Humane Society, but I also started researching simple ways to support the rescue I am fostering through.  Here are a few really easy tips for giving back without investing a large portion of your time or

1. Amazon Smile: When shopping on Amazon, use smile.amazon.com and choose your favorite charity through their site.  Each purchase you make, they donate 10% to the charity you pick.

2. Woof Trax: Download the Walk for a Dog app and choose your local shelter.  Every mile you walk, they donate a certain amount.

3. Keep a shelter donations box: Old towels and blankets, bowls, newspaper, papertowels, coupons for pet items... there are a thousand different items that your local shelter can use that you would have otherwise thrown away.

4. BOGO and other sales: watch Publix and other stores with really good sales.  Every once in awhile they will put cat and dog food, treats, or toys on a very good sale.  Pickup a bag of food or a toy to add to your shelter box.

5. Follow them on social media: start "liking" and sharing their posts.  Invite friends to their fundraising events.  Share a post with a newly adoptable animal.

6. Bookmark GoodSearch: use Goodsearch every time you search for something online and gain a penny for your rescue each time!  They also have surveys and other things you can use to raise money.

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview

Age:
Week of:
July 7 - 13, 2014  Total Hours (5 hrs on Site) + (2 hrs Outings)

Health: 

- Her ears smelled really bad a few days ago.  I was afraid it was a yeast infection, but the smell has gone away.  I will continue to monitor for a repeat.

Problems: 

- Some anxiety is cropping back up.

Socialization: 
- We Talk Dog daycare all day Monday!  They work with her on not jumping and appropriate socialization.
- Wednesday evening Elsa went with daddy and Britta to his game night/puppy playdate.
- Saturday we went to Hoover Dog Park then after to Brusters for puppy sundaes!

Obedience: 
- Basic tasks covered while eating dinner each night

Service Dog Tasks: 
- Working on deep pressure this week.  Elsa doesn't like to sit too long, but she is doing better each time.

Manners: 
- Nipping is an issue again
- She got excited and tried to herd my face when we went walking the other day.  It was nervewracking, but supposedly a puppy thing.

Comments:
- There's some new anxiety that I think is cropping up because I'm not doing enough with Elsa away from Britta.  We've had them together way too much recently.  I will be working with Elsa more and not letting Britta stay with us as much.

Puppy photos! Week of 7/7

We just found out Brusters does puppy sundaes!!

Mommy, I think it's a little too tight...

Got a Kong wobbler this week to keep things varied and interesting at mealtime. 

New Kong! Donated the old one to the humane society. :)

I wanna pump gas too!!

Service Dog Tasks in Puppy Play

Recently, I've had comments about how I must be working Elsa too hard.  I must be teaching her too much and she will burn out before the training is over.  My precious little puppy is four and a half months old and I'm pushing too much onto her and making things serious too fast.
At first, the comments frustrated me.  Now, I just choose to appreciate the concern that people have for making sure my puppy's training stays humane.
Anyone who is around is aware that I spend more time playing with her than "training" in an official sense.  However, the playing is carefully constructed to teach her to be comfortable with things that she will encounter as part of her tasks.  Some days are more structured than others based on how much I've worked at my other job, weather, and other weird factors.

Below, I have listed several things that can be used to keep play going in a useful, yet fun, manner. I hope others will comment with their ideas to help me expand!!
- One meal a day is spent going over basic commands.  This way they work for the kibble, practice basic obedience consistently, and don't even notice it happening.
- We have puzzle toys that sometimes come out for different meals.  They help with staying entertained and I've noticed after we bought a couple that had Elsa using her paws, she's become more interested in utilizing them like little hands.
- Hide and Seek: this can be helpful if one has a fear of coming home to intruders.  It's possible to teach them to bark once they've found you.  You can upgrade to friends hiding when you're out for a walk and then you can come home and have them find the person and bark for a treat.  Eventually that becomes habit to check.
- Mini agility toys: certain things like a mini see saw plank or a hula hoop can be useful to teach agility basics without getting serious too fast.
- Fetch: this easily reinforces bring it and drop it.  Here there is also an opportunity for object recognition reinforcement.  Elsa has become really efficient with "bring it" without much formal training because of this game.
- Biking: Really, any activity can be a bonding exercise.  This one is really helpful to teach her to constantly be focused on me.
- Waking up: When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, immediately give your pup a treat.  They will begin to expect the treat at the sound of the alarm and this can be really helpful during a depressive phase if you're not wanting to get out of bed and your puppy is licking your face.  Eventually, we will refine this and it will become one of Elsa's tasks.

Dog Treats: Weekly Experimental Baking Post!

I want to start selling homemade dog treats and toys on Etsy, so I am going to be doing some experimental recipes that I will record on here and send out samples to a few loyal readers for feedback. I've got a few friends who will try the recipes out, but I also want some other people to try the products out.

This week, I am working on the beginnings of a trail mix for pups.  I'm testing a mix of dried chicken, dried blueberries, and cinnamon-honey-roasted peanuts.

The dried chicken is easy: take it out of a can, rinse off the extra fat, and put the small pieces of chicken in the oven for around four hours at 175 °F.

The blueberries are a bit more involved.  Begin by boiling the blueberries for around a minute to split the skins. 

Then put them in cold water to cool off quickly...

On the side, I added a bit of honey and boiled the juice down for a bit. Then, I stuck the concoction in an ice tray. The pups now have blueberry honey pops!

Take the blueberries out of the cold water and lay them out to dry off.

Then, into the oven at 200 degrees for four hours, stirring every half an hour to help them dry evenly.

Elsa and Britta are both just crazy about the chicken and blueberries.  I tasted one of the blueberries and it is really bitter.  I have NO IDEA why they're so crazy about it!!!  I'm not brave enough to try the chicken now, hahaha.

Onto the peanuts.  On a low temperature, put some cinnamon in the pan.  Then add honey and stir.  (I tried a recipe the first time that called for butter and they just burned in the oven.)

Once you've coated the peanuts, stick them in the oven at 200 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every fifteen.  Elsa isn't as crazy about these as the blueberries and the chicken, but she will eat them anyway.  Britta seems to like them pretty well. Personally, I like them but am thinking about adding a bit of vanilla flavoring to the mix next time to see how that goes.

In conclusion, of COURSE my pups love these treats, hahaha.  They love EVERYTHING!  To help determine how the treats REALLY are, I'm going to make a big batch of these treats to send out to friends later next week.  Once they've sent their reviews in, I'll post them here!!!

Are you interested in reviewing my treats?  Comment below with an email!  I will be in touch with a few people to review