Top

Menu

Smart Dog University

Professional training by a puppy expert

review

Review: The Honest Kitchen’s Single Serve Cups

The Honest Kitchen’s Single Serve Cups

It’s been a whirlwind of traveling for work.

I worked two weeks straight without a day off — and that was bad enough! But to add to the misery, I had to work both weekends, too, and those were traveling weekends. I actually started my vacation on Friday, but was working in Atlanta, GA until that Sunday. When I arrived back home, we all jumped into the car and headed off for a week’s vacation. (More on that in another post.)

Single Serve Cups, The Honest Kitchen, product review, dog food reviewWith all the travel and all the work (and zero time off), I was really happy The Honest Kitchen (THK) sent me some of their Single Serve Cups to review!

When I travel, I get the dogs’ food all measured out so it’s really easy for my husband to feed the dogs. These single serve cups made at least part of my job super easy — I just stacked those cups up in the pantry! That’s it! No scooping out food and putting it in a baggie, making a label for the bag, putting the label on the bag, and arranging them by dog (and by meal!) in the pantry.

These single serve cups made my job super easy — I just stacked those cups up in the pantry! That’s it! No scooping out food and putting it in a baggie, making a label for the bag, putting the label on the bag, and arranging them by dog (and by meal!) in the pantry.

I wish I had a photo of the cups. Here’s my tip for any other bloggers who are reading this. Take the pictures first! Don’t say “Oh, I’ll get the pictures later.”

Schooner, the Great Dane, sort of <ahem> taste tested a couple of the single serve cups on his own.

He volunteered and did a bang up job. Someone (who shall remain nameless) left the pantry door open while I was out teaching classes. I didn’t see anything amiss when I got home from teaching. It was the next morning when I noticed the mess of cardboard and then, as I got closer, I saw the dried bits of food all over the sofa.

Apparently, Schoons thought the food didn’t need any water at all and helped himself to two cups of the stuff. ?

The Honest Kitchen, single serve cups, human grade dog foodThankfully, The Honest Kitchen has some great pics on their website that I can use to show you how cute these little cups are. And despite Schooner’s adventure, those cups are really quite sturdy. Just not in the jaws of a 165-pound dog. ?

These single serve cups are perfect for travel.

Whether you’re leaving food behind for your pet sitter or if you’re bringing your dog on the road with you, these cups make packing for your trip a whole lot easier.

As with all of THK’s offerings, these single serve cups are 100% human grade. They are free of BHA and preservatives and are made from whole food.

The one single serve cup that I was able to mix up and offer to Tango was super easy — just add warm water, stir, and serve! Makes things easy for you if you’re on the road (hotelling it or roughing it) and for pet sitters (or husbands) who are looking after your dog while you’re adventuring.

I love THK because of the quality of the food. Now I have another reason — they make things so much more convenient for a busy traveler like me!

 

Review: The Education of Will

The Education of Will. The Education of Will, Patricia McConnell

Patricia McConnell is one of my favorite authors.

Her writing is brilliant — she’s entertaining, and, of course, helpful. I loved her other two books The Other End of the Leash (2005) and For the Love of a Dog (2007).

In all her books, Trish has shared part of herself with the reader.

In her latest book, The Education of Will, (released February 21), we get to know even more about her. She delves into some of the darker times in her life. Times that shaped who she is and that gave her insight to the mind of her border collie, Willie, who wasn’t the “easy” dog she’d hoped for, but that accompanied her, step for step, on her road to healing.

This book is about psychological trauma.

Yeah, it’s got some seriously heavy moments that her previous books haven’t had. McConnell describes her own trauma and it’s effects (that led her to tell a story of a kidnapping that never happened) on her life. She compares her own experiences to the trauma that her dog, Willie, faces and realizes that post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) isn’t limited to just humans, but rather it’s common across species.

It’s one hell of a read.

Survivors of trauma may find some particularly challenging passages, but keep going! It’s worth the squirming and the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach. I felt a particular kinship to Trisha as she described her irrational fears of the dark. I’m routinely made fun of (and make fun of myself) for being afraid of the dark, my coping skills for being home alone at night, and for being sure that someone has gotten into my house and is hiding in a closet or in the basement.

When I was in the early relationship stage with my boyfriend (now husband), he tried to be cute by turning off the lights as he went upstairs, leaving me alone in the dark in the kitchen. The only light I could create was by opening the refrigerator door. I yelled, he laughed (surely I was joking, no one could really be scared to walk through the house in the dark), and I stayed there in the kitchen holding the refrigerator door open until he finally turned the lights on for me. So yeah, I get it, that irrational fear that you can’t explain, but you also can’t overcome.

Turns out Trish has some really good reasons for her fears.

She experienced quite a bit of trauma in her early life. Molestation, rape, and seeing a man literally fall out of the air and die right in front of her. It wasn’t until she got her dog Willie, and began to recognize some of her own symptoms in him, that she was able to begin the journey that would help both Willie and her.

The book is a fascinating read with enough dog and human examples, personal experiences, and animal behavior to satisfy every type of reader.

While there were some dark passages, scary to be exact, the book is more than an accounting of the bad things that happened in her life. She deftly manages to include enough dog behavior information to please the dog trainers, enough personal information so we feel like we really do know her (and we’d be friends if we could just meet in real life), and hilarious stories from her daily life.

One of my guilty pleasures was that she weaved into the book stories of her life on the farm.

Regular readers of McConnell’s blog are familiar with the paragraph that always begins with “Meanwhile, back on the farm…” I love hearing her describe the different birds on the farm and how they function as a seasonal clock and can either herald springtime or warn of the impending winter.

If you’ve enjoyed McConnell’s other books, you won’t be disappointed with The Education of Will.

It’s different than her others, but there’s still so much of the Trisha we all love, along with a side of her that we’ve never known, that I’ll bet this book will also become a fast favorite of yours.

She’s going on a book tour, too!

From McConnell’s site, here’s where you can find her.

March 1, 2017 – Seattle, WA

Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
7:00 PM
Free, no registration necessary, but seating is limited.

March 4, 2017 – Beaverton, OR

Powell’s Books, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
2:00 to 3:00 PM
Co-Sponsored b the Oregon Humane Society and Powell’s Books
Free to public. No registration necessary, but seating is limited.

March 5, 2107 – Navato, CA

Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keyes Blvd
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Sponsored by the Marin County Humane Society
Click here to register
Seating is limited

Which of McConnell’s books is your fave? Why?

The Honest Kitchen: Joyful Jerky Review

Joyful Jerky, The Honest KitchenThe Honest Kitchen: Joyful Jerky Review

I’m a fan of The Honest Kitchen (THK) because their ingredients are human grade and of the highest quality.

When they sent me Joyful Jerky to review, I was excited to let my dogs try it. Joyful Jerky comes in two varieties: beef and chicken. I received the chicken variety to try.

I have been leery of chicken jerky since the reports came out several years ago that chicken sourced in China was associated with the death of many dogs. In fact, THKs Joyful Jerky is the first chicken jerky I’ve given my dogs since the recalls began almost a decade ago.

I did my research, even with THK, and was relieved when they declared that none of their chicken is sourced from China! In fact, Joyful Jerky chicken treats contain just 3 ingredients (chicken, salt, celery juice powder, contain all-natural cage-free chicken, and do not contain glycerin or fillers.

I was sold! So were my dogs.

I used the Joyful Jerky on a veterinary visit where high value treats are a must for Schooner, our chicken-hearted Great Dane. He may be large, but he is not the bravest soul.

Great Dane, Schooner, getting X-rays

It was easy to break the jerky into small, bite-sized bits so it lasted longer.

Unlike my Labradors, who will pretty much eat whatever is put in front of them, Schooner is a bit more, shall we say, picky. He’d rather I describe him as having a discerning palate.

Whatever you want to call it, I generally have to go through several different treats before I find something that meets his taste standards.

I was super excited when he tried to steal some of them out of the container while I wasn’t watching. That’s when I knew we had something good!

vet visit, scared dog, dog training, dog obedience, positive, clicker, Smart Dog, Laurie, Frederick, Luck, dog trainer
Treats help this scaredy-cat enjoy his visit a bit more.

We went through the whole bag there at the veterinary exam. This was a particularly invasive visit, as we’re still battling the pesky (and funky) bacteria on the top of his paw. The veterinarian had to get some skin scrapings (ouch!) and take a good look at that foot. Which meant Schoons needed as much reinforcement and distraction as possible. I kept popping Joyful Jerky in his mouth and he kept his focus on me instead of what was happening to his paw.

Voila! Before Schooner knew it, we were done and heading out the door.

And while I’m still dealing with that foot, I now have a new tool in my “happy veterinary visit” arsenal – Joyful Jerky!

Truly Pawsome Review

Truly Pawsome
Truly Pawsome, review, dog training, Smart Dog University, subscription box

Truly Pawsome is a high-end subscription box for discerning dog owners.

When I was offered a free month of Truly Pawsome’s subscription box, I jumped at the chance. The dogs and I are always up for new and interesting dog related goodies and we weren’t disappointed with Truly Pawsome’s offerings.

The box arrived stuffed with goodies!

The dogs were all over it the minute I brought it in from the mailbox.Truly Pawsome, subscription box, dog training, dog

We had three bags of treats (artisanal, organic) and toys, too!

There were treats and toys and as you can see, Schooner had to have his lips on everything first! If your dogs don’t share nicely, you’ll be wise to consider getting a box for each dog! Our dogs found everything in their box totally enjoyable. There weren’t any duds in the lot!

I loved the toys — one of them was the poop emoji.

It made me laugh plus the dogs loved it. It’s a win-win!

Truly Pawsome, subscription box, Smart Dog UniversityTruly Pawsome offers different size subscription options. Large dog? no problem, you’ll get toys the big guys like. Little dog? Easy, you’ll get toys your little dog can fit in his mouth. There are also  a variety of subscription options – 1 – 3 – 6 – 12 month plans.

Truly Pawsome differentiates itself by offering free shipping and partnering with one canine rescue center, Rocket Dog Rescue, which receives 10% of all proceeds.

Our dogs had a blast scarfing down the treats and ripping the toys to pieces. And I laughed every time I saw one of the dogs running with the poop emoji!

 

Slippery Floor Tough on Your Older Dog? Try This!

dog traction, dog falls, dog training, dog obedience, Frederick, clicker, puppy classes, puppy training, Smart Dog UniversityTraction on hardwood floors is hard to come by.

Almost all of the flooring in our house is hardwood or tile. We have dogs, hard floors are easier to keep clean than carpeting. However, our dog family is getting older. Three of our dogs are past their first decade, and our oldest at 13.5 years is having an increasingly hard time getting traction on those hard floors.

I’d been investigating ways to help her gain some traction including booties (which Lily would despise), little sticky pieces of plastic you stick to the pads of their paws (again, Lily would despise that), and even something called toe grips. Knowing Lily and her persnickety ways, I knew I had to find a solution that did not involve putting anything on her, but rather I had to find something I could actually put on the floor.

Now before you start suggesting scatter rugs, know that (until very recently) we had a cat that just loved to pee on any rug or dog bed on the floor. Throw rugs or runners were absolutely out of the question. Plus, they’re just one more thing to vacuum. The reason we took the carpet out was so I could sweep all the dirt up and get it out of the house. Adding scatter rugs everywhere sort of defeats the purpose.

At about the same time I was running out of ideas, the folks from HandiRamp happened to reach out to me with their Puppy Treads (TM). I was intrigued when they told me these were applied directly to the floor — that meant I could leave Lily’s paws out of the equation, making both our lives a whole lot better. I gladly accepted their offer to try some of their Puppy Treads (TM).

Here’s our experience with Puppy Treads (TM).

I put them at the spots where Lily usually loses traction. When she hears my husband’s truck in the driveway, she beelines it to the door which involves making a sharp right turn on laminate flooring — it’s very much like an ice rink and she routinely spins out and falls right on her rump. I tried using the treads in two different ways: I used a full strip in one location. And in another location, I cut the strip into smaller, thinner pieces, like so:

Puppy Treads, non skid traction, dog traction, Smart Dog University, dog training, dog obedience, Frederick, clicker

Puppy Treads, non skid traction, dog traction, Smart Dog University, dog training, dog obedience, Frederick, clicker

Yes, I left the dirt and hair on the floor. If you have dogs, hopefully you’re used to seeing floors like this and you’re not grossed out by it. In any event, that’s what I did with the Puppy Treads. Those have been on the floor now for about a month and have seen some seriously heavy dog paw and human foot traffic. This is probably the most heavily trafficked area in our house and the treads held up quite well here — no curling up or anything. We’ve had rain, too, so there have been wet and muddy foot- and paw-traffic on them and still they’ve stayed stuck.

Caveats

If the dogs take a different path to the door, where there aren’t any Puppy Treads, they’ll still slip and fall. I can’t Puppy Tread the entire family room floor, so I’ve tried to choose the most likely routes. I haven’t mopped the Puppy Treads a whole lot, so I can’t speak to how long they’d hold up if you mopped your floors every day. (Hahaha, mopping floors everyday; who does that?) Also, if you’re using the Puppy Treads on a high gloss real wood floor, I don’t know if the Puppy Treads would take any of the polyurethane off the floor when the Puppy Treads are removed. My guess is that they wouldn’t remove the poly (that’s pretty tough stuff), but because I didn’t try them on actual hardwood, I can’t speak to that flooring material.

About Puppy Treads

  • Size: 6″ high by 24″ long. They are easy to cut down to any size with a pair of regular scissors.
  • They’re fairly translucent, but it’s clear (haha) that they’re on the floor. The higher the gloss on the floor, the more readily apparent the treads will be.
  • Durability: they’ve withstood 16 paws and four feet for the past month without any trouble at all. That includes rainy and muddy weather.
  • Stick and unstick: these are easily removed whenever you want them to come up. If they’ve been down for awhile, I don’t think they’ll re-stick again with the same intensity as the first time around. Most important to me, though, wasn’t that I could move them from here to there, but that I could remove them without having to clean a lot of sticky residue afterward. I’ve since taken one of the treads completely off the floor and there wasn’t anything left behind.
  • They’re made right here in the U.S. (Illinois)
  • Made of vinyl and graded “high traction” by the National Floor Safety Institute.

These would be great on hardwood stairs — for people and dogs. We have only one set of stairs in our house (and they’re carpeted), so I didn’t have the opportunity to experiment with them on stairs, but I think that’s where they’d really shine.

Pricing

Per Puppy Tread: $7.99

4 Puppy Treads: $29.95

10 Puppy Treads: $69.95

If your dogs (or you!) are having traction problems on your floors, take a look at Puppy Treads. They fit the bill for us and have helped give Lily some added stability.

Freshpet: New Baked Dog Food Recipes

dog food, Freshpet, dog training, dog treats, Smart Dog University, clicker, positive, Frederick, With the addition of monster-dog Schooner who eats 10 cups of dry food each day, I’ve been looking for a high quality, convenient, and reasonably priced dog food for him. At about the same time I was researching different dog foods, I stumbled across a new Freshpet offering in Target. I’m a dedicated Freshpet user, usually the Freshpet Select kitty treats (that I use and recommend for dog treats — great small size won’t fill up your dog too quickly), but also the refrigerated dog treats, too. But now. Now they’re making dog food. I was a little excited. Here’s why.

Freshpet has a new line of baked recipe food that I’m pretty keen on. I like it for a few reasons:

  • fresh and simple ingredients: no chicken meal here — straight up fresh chicken and eggs, peas, lentils, cranberries, flaxseed, sweet potatoes, etc.
  • freshness: you can see the exact date the food was made on the front of the bag
  • no bad stuff: no artificial preservatives, animal by-products, or rendered meals
  • grain-free option: for those dogs who don’t do well on grains (like mine)
  • easy to travel: nothing needs refrigeration, so traveling with your dog is a breeze
  • convenience: you can find it in Target, grocery stores, and big (and small) box pet supply stores
  • price: the quality ingredients are reflected in the price — it’s not the cheapest food in the store (for which I’m grateful), but then again, I wouldn’t buy the cheapest. My dogs deserve quality food and I’m happy to buy something that takes the time to make a better, more nutritious product.

Who cares what I think about it, how do my dogs like it?

Schooner was getting a bit picky with his current food. I swapped in one Freshpet baked recipes cup of food and used his regular food to make up the difference. Interestingly, he made quick work of that new combination, rooting around for the Freshpet kibbles, fruits, and veggies. I’ve been gradually adding more Freshpet while reducing the normal food and I expect we’ll transition fully later this week.

I need to finish the bag of the other food that’s already open, so when that’s gone, I’ll transfer Nemo over to Freshpet, too.

Next time you’re out shopping, take a look for Freshpet. It comes in three sizes: 3.5 lb, 11 lb, and 22 lb bags. (The grain free food comes in only 3.5 lb and 11 lb.)

 

Subscribe to Email Updates

Stay up-to-date on training advice, upcoming classes and the latest news from Smart Dog University. We promise — No spam!
Testimonials

What People Are Saying

Smart Dog U really helped me deal with my first puppy and help me grow her (Etta) into a sweet little girl. Without that training from SDU this would have been a tough journey.

Ingrid Copeland

We did in-home training and group classes which helped us welcome Ember into our family. Her understanding of both dogs and busy families made the training easy and guilt-free.

Beth Schillaci

Thank goodness I discovered Smart Dog University! Laurie’s methods quickly made me realize that I was the one in need of training. The end result: A well behaved pup (Kasey) who is a true companion!

Matt Church

Laurie is someone Your Dog’s Friend depends on for good information on dog behavior and training presented in an engaging, understandable way. She has done free workshops for us; we have used her articles in our newsletter; and she is a trainer whom I can refer people to with total confidence.

Debra Ekman, Your Dog’s Friend

Laurie is a very knowledgeable and experienced trainer. She does a wonderful job with both the dog and owner. She is easily approachable and genuinely wants to make sure you and your dog are getting the most out of her classes.

Suzie Brown
Read More Testimonials