Happy Festivus!

Break out the unadorned aluminum pole, it's time to celebrate Festivus! I'm a big fan of winter holidays, and this is a particularly silly one. It's a rejection of the holiday consumerism that pervades the month of December, and gets right to the heart of family get-togethers. That's right, I'm talking about the Airing of Grievances. Let's take a moment to talk about the ways in which companies have disappointed The Dog Geek over the last year.

Feats of Strength!

Kong, your Squeezz Crackle ball couldn't handle being squeezed and crackled.

Petsmart, your Puppies backwards-R Us treat spinner couldn't handle even a tiny amount of regular dog play.

Zack & Zoey, you turned out to be a regular Pet Edge brand, and not some adorably personable company with a charming backstory.

Loot Pets, you totally abandoned your geeky premise and sent us a regular dog-themed subscription box. There are tons of regular dog-themed subscription boxes out there, I got yours purely for the geekery. You got rid of the geekery slowly, sending regular toys instead of geeky toys, and fewer items in every box, until your finally abandoned the concept altogether, and that's when you lost a customer. It was a fun six months though, and those first few crates were awesome. The pet shirts never fit right though, you must all have super wide pug-shaped dogs or something.

Sileo, you did nothing for Ranger's fireworks fear. I think we're going camping for New Year's just to get away from the possible fireworks noise.

Company of Animals, your Pet Corrector needs to come with instructions about using it in the vicinity of other pets. It has a very non-specific, area-wide effect, so it "corrects" basically every single dog in agility class when some clueless student chooses to use it for their dog's leash reactivity.

Outward Hound, your dog backpack was awkward and uncomfortable and felt ridiculously cheap and flimsy. Like, I understand making things for a certain price point, but that felt like some serious dollar store shit.

Reviews.com...your research sucks. Bigtime.

Chuckit, your Floppy Tug was surprisingly non-durable.

Zukes, your Power Bones treats show a distinct lack of knowledge about the canine metabolism. I expected better of you.

Thank you for joining me for this little wallow in negativity. the Dog Geek will be back to the usual upbeat outlook following the Feats of Strength.

Treat Tuesday: Zukes Power Bones

Zuke's Power Bones are sort of like an energy supplement you give your dog while exercising, maybe like those energy gels for people? Zuke's advertises these as containing fast-burning carbs for quick energy, which would be great if dogs used carbohydrates that way. Instead, they mostly use fat for energy.

Good For: Picky dogs. High-value training treats. Dogs that could stand to gain some weight via 20-calorie treats.

Not Good For: Actually providing energy during periods of high activity.

How Much We Like Them: Enough to consider actually using them as intended before researching how dogs actually metabolize carbohydrates. It's a nice idea, but dog bodies don't work like human bodies. I'll stick ith high-fat performance dog food, thank you very much.

Treat Tuesday: Zuke's Hip Action

Zuke's Hip Action treats are actually a daily hip and joint supplement with glucosamine and chondroitin. I just feed them as regular treat though, because the evidence for those substances having any effect at all is weak. Zuke's recommends I feed my under-45-pound dogs no more than one Hip Action treat per day, but they could easily eat an entire bag with no ill effects according to this vet. The Pet Poison Helpline says that liver failure is a rare occurrence, and most pets only have gastrointestinal symptoms if they have any issue at all. I have yet to find a reliable report of a serious case of joint supplement overdose.

Good For: A tasty snack. Hiding in a puzzle toy. Balancing on a dog's nose or paws.

Not Good For: Actually helping with arthritis pain.

How Much We Like Them: Not enough to go the unproven nutraceutical route if my dog is experiencing joint pain. It's been studied quite a lot, and the evidence just isn't there. If my dog is in pain, I will get them some damned pain medication. They deserve to be comfortable.

Food Friday: Alternative Protein Roundup, Rabbit Edition

Brisbane's Bark Blog has been around for close to two years now, and in that time we've reviewed a lot of food and treats that use allergy-friendly alternative proteins like rabbit. Since Brisbane is allergic to poultry, I don't normally consider turkey and duck to be alternative proteins. I also know that beef is a common allergen, and that buffalo and bison may not be different enough for dogs with beef allergies. Lamb was considered alternative a couple of decades ago but has become increasingly more common since then. For the purpose of this blog post, I'm going to stick with the more exotic choices.

Rabbit is a high-protein, lean meat that, frankly, should be cheaper and easier to find in the grocery store. Those little buggers are everywhere, on the trail one even leaped into Brisbane's mouth. I bet giant bunny feedlots in the middle of California would smell way better than the legions of cows currently occupying that space.

This picture has nothing to do with this post.
Photo by Erin Koski

Rabbit Food

I think our favorite rabbit-based food is Stella & Chewy's Absolutely Rabbit, freeze-dried is always a winner around here. Wysong Archetype was also a winner until Brisbane's allergy test revealed his barley allergy. Raw is also quite popular, and Brisbane and Sisci both loved the Primal Nuggets we tried. The place where I work used to carry Wild Calling Hoppy's canned dog food, and that was what we tempted picky dogs with until our vendor stopped offering it. Instinct also offers a rabbit-based canned food. Our least favorite was Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Potato and Rabbit, which is high in carbs while being low in protein and fat. Mostly it's just widely available and worth trying if you're not sure what your dog is allergic to and can't get something like Wysong Anergen 2 instead.

Rabbit Treats

In addition to rabbit-based diets, we've found a bunch of bunnymeat treats. Some are made almost entirely from rabbit meat, like Wysong's Dream Treats and Barkworthy's Rabbit BonBons. Others have some additional ingredients, like the Etta Says Crunchy Rabbit Chews that also contain rawhide. Zukes offers a couple of different rabbit-based versions of their semi-moist treats. Their Lil' Links Rabbit and Apple Recipe are still safe for Brisbane's ever-growing list of allergies, but their Mini Naturals are full of barley so those are now off the menu for us.

Have you found a rabbit-based product we haven't tried yet? Please share in the comments!

Treat Tuesday: Zukes Mini Naturals

Zukes Mini Naturals are small semi- moist training treats made from rice, barley, glycerin, and tapioca. They come in a bunch of flavors, including allergy-friendly pork, rabbit, and salmon varieties. These are favorite training treat for many people because they are just the right size and don't need to be broken up for most dogs. They are also more exciting than kibble for a lot of dogs, but I've yet to find a dog that likes them more than hot dogs or freeze-dried liver. I've also found that they go from semi-moist to rock hard pretty quickly.

Good For: Convenient training treats. Dogs with allergies. Treats that won't spoil if forgotten in a pocket. Mid-value training treats.

Not Good For: High-value training treats. Picky dogs. Training itty bitty dogs without filling them up.

How Much We Like Them: I used to use these a lot when Brisbane was a baby, but I found better stuff over time. They're just not irresistibly stinky like most of the stuff I use now.

Treat Tuesday: Zukes Genuine Jerky Treats

Zukes describes their Genuine Jerky Treats as real "jerky strips" but I beg to differ. There were no strips in there. These are more like little jerky bits, which make them better for training. I don't mind, but I think it's worth noting. I found them on sale at a local pet store that knows I will totally buy a bag of treats on sale if they mention it as they're ringing up my purchases.

These are 100% beef and therefore safe for Brisbane's poultry and egg allergies. The ingredients list includes things like brown sugar and apple cider vinegar, which makes me wonder how these treats taste. I bet they taste like regular beef jerky for people. Maybe with a bit less salt. I should get my husband to try them and report back.

Good For: Mid- and high-value training treats. Sticking in some food toys. Playing find-the-treat.

Not Good For: Turning into a squintillion tiny treats for clicker training. Possibly my husband.

How Much We Like Them: I don't have a whole lot of use for non-tiny training treats. I should stuff these in the grooves of the Everlasting Groovy Ball.

Treat Tuesday: Zukes Lil' Links Rabbit and Apple Recipe

"Healthy Little Sausages for Dogs" is what it says under Zukes Lil' Links on the bag. These things are grain-free, made from meat, and semi-moist thanks to the addition of vegetable glycerin and gelatin. Once exposed to the air though, they harden to a rock-like consistency. I bought these when I needed to keep Ulysses quiet in a crate for a couple hours, and I foolishly shoved most of the bag into the Kong Genius Mike toy. I was forced to chisel most of them out with a butter knife a couple of weeks later when I finally admitted to myself that the dogs were never going them retrieve them.

Good For: Keeping the chihuahua busy for a few minutes because the treats are each the size of my thumb.

Not Good For: Shoving inside puzzle toys because my dogs just lick them and refuse to gnaw rubber in their quest for sausage treats.

How Much We Like Them: Enough to try another bag so I can stick some in Kongs and then chisel them out again.

Treat Tuesday: Zukes Skinny Bakes Pumpkin 'n Sweet Potato Crunch

Zukes Skinny Bakes are currently a staple in our household because they are so darned useful. These are low-calorie treats so I can feed a lot of them. They are generally fruit, nut, or vegetable-flavored rather than meaty, and they smell nice.

Good For: Sticking in each of the small holes of the large Kong Quest Starpod. Stuffing into the bottoms of puzzle toys to keep squishy things like sweet potatoes from getting stuck down there. Bribing Ulysses into crates. Quick rewards or goodbye cookies that don't get my hands all stinky.

Not Good For: Serious training motivation. Tempting picky dogs.

How Much We Like Them: Enough to keep a large bag in the cupboard at all times.

Product Review: Zukes Z-Bones

Zukes Z-Bones are digestible potato-based dental chews. They come in three flavors and four sizes for dogs ten pounds and heavier.

"Hold this Briz, it'll make a nice picture."
Photo by Erin Koski.

A lot of companies are making digestible dental chews these days. I think Greenies were the first ones I heard about, and those originally weren't digestible. After multiple cases of intestinal blockage in dogs that prefer to gobble rather than gnaw their dental chews, Greenies changed their formula to something that wouldn't get stuck. I like to think that, during the Greenies fiasco, other companies took the opportunity to introduce their safer chew bones. Obviously it worked, because Greenies no longer has the market cornered.

"Come on, open your mouth."
Photo by Erin Koski

The Z-Bones are made from potato and peas. They do not contain cornstarch, wheat gluten, or synthetic chlorophyll. Other ingredients include rosemary, fennel, alfalfa, parsley, apples, pumpkin, and cherries. Zukes says the texture of the bones is ideal for polishing teeth. I prefer raw bones to keep Brisbane's teeth white and shiny, but this makes a nice non-perishable chewy treat. Brisbane certainly enjoys them.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Tasty chew bone that freshens breath, available in multiple sizes and in bags as well as individually wrapped. Contains no poultry, egg, wheat, or corn. Helps freshen breath in a relatively clean doggy mouth at least temporarily.

Cons: I don't think these will actually keep a dog's teeth clean even with daily use. The bone is too quickly consumed to have much scrubbing power. Raw bones or daily tooth brushing would be much more effective as eliminating the underlying causes of doggy breath.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: This is something I use as an occasional treat to keep my dog busy. Z-Bones are non-perishable, individually wrapped, and not nearly as icky as raw bones or bully sticks. Less effective than the aforementioned animal parts, but also less objectionable in certain circumstances.