Treat Tuesday: Real Meat Jerky Treats and Dog Food

These Real Meat Jerky Treats are the original product made by the folks at the Real Meat Company. These are slightly greasy, fairly stinky treats that are great for training. I do have to break them up into much smaller pieces, but they are wonderful for dogs with allergies and food sensitivities.

When I first saw Real Meat Dog Food on the shelf at a local store, my first thought was "So they've put the jerky treats in a bigger bag, then?" The dog food itself seemed a bit drier than I remembered the treats being, but I didn't have the chance to do a side-by-side comparison until now.

While they're both supposed to just be dried meat, the treats and dog food are actually pretty easy to tell apart.

The Real Meat Lamb Jerky Treats are softer and greasier than the Real Meat Lamb Dog Food. The are easy to bend and tear into smaller bits for training treats, and are stinkier than the dog food. Real Meat Air-Dried Dog Food is harder and stiffer, so it's more difficult to break into tiny training treats. It's a more pleasant product to handle because it is less greasy and stinky, but that also makes it a lower value treat.

The ingredients for the lamb treats are significantly less complex than those for the dog food. Treats don't have to meet nutritional requirements. The five ingredients in Real Meat Lamb Jerky Treats are: lamb, dried chicory root, vegetable glycerin, sea salt, and mixed tocopherols. These make for a shelf-stable product.

By contrast, the dog food includes organ meats, ground bone, pumpkin, parsley, rosemary, and all the vitamins a dog needs. It has both a higher protein content and a higher fat content than the jerky treats.

So is it worth buying the treats when you can buy a whole bag of dog food instead? Probably for some people. My dogs will happily work for the Real Meat Jerky Treats, but are pretty 'meh' about working for the actual food.

Dogzilla Versus Kong

There are several different companies making durable rubber chew toys, but I'm pretty sure Kong was the first on the scene in 1976. Today there are quite a few different brands to choose from, but none is quite as similar to Kong as the Dogzilla toys by Petmate.

Photo by Erin Koski

The current Dogzilla toys are blue, and they make a big deal out of this. Earlier Dogzilla products were a very familiar red. I always found them for sale in stores that didn't carry Kong products, and wondered if they were trying to confuse people into buying Dogzillas thinking they were Kongs.

I personally think the Kong toys are better designed. The hole ion the toy is big enough to shove a biscuit through, but small enough to prevent most goodies from simply falling out. The inner chamber is deep, and significantly wider than the opening. In contrast, the Dogzilla toys tend to have very wide openings that are nearly as wide as the toy. The inner chambers tend to be shallow. Our Dogzilla dumbbell also has a super tiny passage that leads into the other end of the toy and is far too small to be unpacked even if I wanted to spend forever stuffing one kibble at a time through it.

The Kong company is clearly a dog-centered business. I genuinely believe that their earliest products in particular were designed by dog lovers for their own beloved dogs. I haven't been as impressed with some of their more recent offerings, but the intent to make awesome things for wonderful dogs is still there. Kong also has outstanding customer service, and complaints about their products are usually met with apologies and coupons. When I send a message or ask the Kong company a question, I expect to get back a personal response from an actual person. If I search around the Kong website long enough, I will probably be able to find a picture of this person's dog.

I don't have the same warm fuzzy feelings about the Petmate company, makers of Dogzilla toys. They don't have nostalgic tales about the company founder and their beloved dog gracing the Petmate website. They don't have a community presence or donate to charities on a regular basis. Petmate toys aren't routinely donated to animal shelters, as far as I am aware. They're just a large corporation trying to make money. If I had a problem with one of their products, I would expect to receive an impersonal and mostly useless response, like the time I contacted Premier about an issue with a product and they offered to sell me another one at the regular price.

But my feelings about the companies that make them aside, how do the toys compare? Well, on Amazon most Dogzilla toys have about a three-star rating, with most of the 1- and 2-star reviews complaining that their dogs had never destroyed a Kong but shredded the Dogzilla toy in minutes. Many customers were surprised because their dogs had never done such a thing before. The average Kong rubber toy has a 4.5-rating, and the 1-star reviews consist almost entirely of people lamenting that their super-power-chewers had destroyed the toys. I have yet to find anyone claiming their dog destroys Kongs but the Dogzilla is holding up admirably.

It is my opinion that Kong toys are superior to Dogzilla toys, both in design and durability. There are plenty of dogs who love their Dogzillas, and the brand has many happy customers, but I think Kongs are a more durable product and a better value.

Yuppie Puppy vs. Sporn: The Battle of the Simple Control Harnesses

Wait a second, did I really do two different reviews of the same Simple Control harness? Kinda. The Yuppie Puppy and Sporn brands are owned by the same guy, Joseph S. Sporn. This is the guy that invented the original Sporn no-pull harness back in 1992, when I used it to walk the neighbors' oversized Weimeraner. He also opened the first dog daycare in the United States back in 1987, I like his style. (I will someday do a review on the original Sporn harness as I do own one...in just-barely-big-enough-for-Ru size. Every time I see it laugh.)

Photo by Erin Koski

At face value these products are incredibly similar. Actually, the same picture is used for both products on the Yuppie Puppy and Sporn websites and packaging. The Yuppie Puppy harness is also packaged and sold as the Sporn harness, and it's possible that this design has replaced the earlier Sporn design. At any rate, here is a side-by-side comparison of the two products.

The red harness bears the Yuppie Puppy logo on its neoprene sleeves and tag. It has bright stainless steel hardware and a plastic quick-release buckle. This harness has a martingale-style loop that tightens both the neck and chest straps when pressure is applied. The buckle is placed down on the side by the dog's elbow.

The black harness bears the Sporn logo on its tag and buckle. It has brushed metal hardware including one half of the quick-release buckle. The chest strap of the Sporn harness tightens by pulling part of the chest strap through a ring attached to the neck strap. The neck strap on this harness does not tighten at all. The buckle is located up high by the leash ring, well away from the dog's elbow. The tightening action on this harness is not very smooth or quick due to the end seams on the strap.

I acquired both of these harnesses from thrift stores. If I ordered the Sporn Simple Control Harness from the Sporn website, I am not certain which product I would receive. I suspect that the red harness is the current design, and the black one is an older model. It doesn't seem to work as well.

As neither of my dogs pulls on the leash, I have sent these to a friend with small but mighty dogs. They may not be fancy or fabulous, but they're about as simple as harnesses come.

Comparison: Head Halters

There are a lot of different head halters out there, and I only own three of them. I don't actually use a head halter on any of my dogs, for various reasons. Josie is too old and lame to generate any sort of pulling power. Ru is such a featherweight that I'm not actually sure if I would even notice if he pulled on the leash.

I have used a head halter on Brisbane in the past, but I've never successfully conditioned him to enjoy wearing one. Some dogs fight and paw at their faces when wearing a halter, Brisbane just gives up at life. This is a useful enough feature that I do occasionally put one on him when I need him to just lay there in a pile of despair. I have been told by more than one veterinarian to avoid using head collars on dogs with spinal issues, and they have the potential to hurt the neck of a healthy dog too. I only use a 4' or shorter leash with a head halter, and have to stay attentive and keep the dog from running to the end of the leash and jerking their neck.

Because Brisbane is incapable of looking animated or even lifting his head off the ground when wearing them, Josie is modeling all of my head halters. She is significantly bigger than Briz, but these things fit a pretty decent range of sizes.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the Gentle Leader. by Premier. It comes in a variety of colors and five different sizes. The Gentle Leader uses a simple design with a loop that goes around the nose of the dog, and another that fits around the neck. The neck loop can be adjusted down very small, and the nose loop is the same width for most of the sizes. This means that a large Gentle Leader can still fit a relatively small dog, which makes them rather versatile. Premier also makes a Deluxe version with a padded noseband.

My experience has been that dogs hate the Gentle Leader more than other headcollars. Josie definitely pawed at it much more during our photo shoot, and it tends to leave marks on dogs with sensitive skin. The Gentle Leader doesn't really have a built-in safety measure in case of escape. The neck loop is supposed to be fitted tightly enough that it can't slip over the dog's head, but Brisbane's neck is fatter than his head and no amount of tightening would prevent him from backing out of this thing if only he could muster the willpower. I would definitely recommend using the Gentle Leader with the leash clipped to a martingale or slip collar because emergency backup measures are awesome.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the Halti, by The Company of Animals. It is the first headcollar I can remember seeing as a kid. The noseband of this halter sits further down than the Gentle Leader, and I thinks that's why many dogs tolerate it better. This is a Halti sized for Brisbane, but you can see it still fits Josie. When the Halti is pulled tight it closes the dog's mouth, this can be helpful for dogs that bite or attempt to eat things off the ground.

I really appreciate that the Halti has a safety strap with a small clip to attach to the dog's collar. The Halti isn't intended to be as tight around the dog's neck as the Gentle Leader, and this extra safety strap is particularly reassuring when attached to a martingale or slip collar.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the Canny Collar, and it is a bit different than most head halters because the leash attaches in the back, behind the dog's head. I haven't tried actually using this one yet, but Josie was significantly less unhappy about wearing it. My favorite thing about the Canny Collar is that it does not twist the dog's head around at all. From a training perspective this could be a disadvantage because I would not be able to force the dog to look up at me. However, it seems to be significantly safer for the average dog owner who just wants to go for a walk without their arm getting dislocated.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Canny Collar is built on a flat buckle collar, and this again could be a problem for dogs who back out of collars. One of the neat features about the Canny Collar is that the nose loop can be slipped off and secured around the dog's neck for off-leash play or practice walking on a flat buckle collar.

This would definitely be the first head halter I would recommend to someone who wants to walk and isn't focused on training. I would also probably recommend the Infinity Lead, although I haven't yet found one in a thrift store so I have yet to try it myself. The Infinity Lead also attaches to the dog's collar as an emergency backup measure.

The Snoot Loop, Sporn Halter, and Comfort Trainer are a few more head halters I haven't actually played with yet, but the ones pictured here are the most common and easiest to find. I think the rear-attaching halters like the Canny Collar are becoming more common, something I'm very glad to see. Whether head halters count as positive or negative training equipment probably counts a lot on the dog and handler, but they need to be used carefully to avoid injury.

Harnesses Demystified: Part 1, Back Clip Harnesses

I have been obsessed with dog gear since childhood. When I couldn't have a dog of my own, I used to love going to the pet store and gazing at the rows of collars and leashes. I never quite got over my love for dog equipment, and I still love checking out new things. Every time I spot something unfamiliar, I am compelled to research it. I want to know how that harness or collar works, how it is fitted, who makes it, and how long has it been around. What training principles is it based on? What are the risks and benefits of using it? I often look for reviews on sites like Amazon so I can read what other people have said about using it, and find out about fitting issues, safety measures to prevent escape, and how the average dog owner is likely to misuse the product.

Harnesses seem to be one of the most confusing pieces of equipment out there. How does one pick up a random pile of straps and buckles and automatically know how it is supposed to go on the dog? Which part is the front? Where is the ring supposed to go? How did this extra strap get here?

There are basically four styles of back clip harness out there, not counting some of the weird ones used for sledding, weight-pulling, and roading. "Back clip" means the leash attaches to the back of the dog, behind the shoulders, usually at the point closest to the tail. I've seen people put them on the opposite way, with the leash ring closest to the dog's neck. There are a lot of wrong ways to put a harness on a dog.

I own a sledding harness for absolutely no reason.

Back Clip Harnesses

Back clip harnesses are intended to keep pressure off the dog's neck, and distribute that pressure along the chest instead. The X-Back harness is used for sledding, weight pulling, and other applications that involve hauling some serious weight. This harness slips on and off over the dog's head, and there is nothing to stop him from backing out if he feels like it. Obviously nobody uses these for everyday casual walks, and they work best when the sled/scooter/car bumper is lower than the dog's back.

Pretty much every other type of back clip harness involves a strap going around the dog's chest, behind the front legs and shoulders. That's the purple line in this picture. Some types also have a strap that goes around the neck of the dog, this should sit very low on the neck. That's the green line. Some harnesses have a strap that runs along the dog's chest, between the front legs, connecting the purple and green straps, that's the yellow line. Some also have a strap that connects the green and purple straps along the top of the harness, that's the orange line.

This is a Roman harness. The green circle goes over the dog's head, with the orange strap on top. The purple strap goes around his chest behind his front legs. This harness only has one buckle, the purple strap must pass through a loop on the end of the yellow strap. To put it on, I can either thread that strap through the loop each time, or I can leave it threaded and put one of the dog's front legs through that section before buckling the strap on the other side. Same Roman harnesses have a buckle on either side. Some omit the orange strap and just have the tops of the green and purple straps meet.

There are a variety of harnesses designed on this same plan. These are all Roman harnesses, including the pink Kurgo Go-Tech Adventure Harness, the teal Petco mesh harness, the green Planet Dog Cozy Hemp harness, and the red Premier Come With Me Kitty harness.

The step-in harness is another common type of back clip harness. This is supposed to be easier to put on because it does not require picking up the dog's feet. Clearly this was designed by someone who has never tried to make a dog deliberately step into anything. Brisbane was so disturbed by the whole concept that I had to clicker-train him to put his feet in the right place in order to get the thing on with minimal trauma. 

"If you have to grab my feet I'll just hide every time I see this."

The step-in harness has most of the same straps as the Roman harness, but it opens in a different way. There is no need to put the dog's head through a circle in the harness because the entire thing buckles around him.

The leash is supposed to attach to both D-rings on the step-in harness, that way there is no stress on the plastic buckle. Some step-ins don't even have a buckle, just rings for the leash.




Here are three different step-in harnesses. The black one is by RC Pets, the tiny pink one is the Midnight Pet Lite and E-Z, and the blue one came from a thrift store with no identifying marks. I use it when I need to keep random large dogs restrained in my car, which happens strangely often.

The shorter strap goes in front, around the neck. If both straps are the same length, it doesn't matter which goes where.

There is a third type of back clip harness that is becoming more popular, but it isn't common enough yet in the USA for manufacturers to have decided on a single term for it. Depending on what brand it is, this could be a sport harness, a quick-fit harness, a padded harness, or an "Xtreme" harness. The rest of the world appears to call it a Norway harness.

Cattledogs are semi-arboreal.

The Norway harness has a strap that goes around the middle of the dog, like the purple strap on the step-in and Roman harnesses, but it doesn't have a strap that passes between the dog's front legs. Instead, there is a horizontal strap that runs around the front of the chest.

Here are three different Norway harnesses, the purple on is a Comfortflex Sport, the pink one is an EzyDog Quick Fit, and the black one is a leather harness that I bought on eBay for $15 and have yet to trace to a manufacturer. It might be made from endangered animal hide and dyed with the tears of orphans for all I know, but Brisbane loves it.

So simple, yet so effective.

Norway harnesses have a single buckle, which opens the strap that goes around the middle of the dog behind the front legs. When that strap is unbuckled, it leaves a single large circle that goes around the dog's neck. I just have to drop the harness over Brisbane's head and buckle it under his belly, no feet-touching required.

Obviously the pink one is for Ru.

The Short List: Egg-Free, Poultry-Free, Grain-Free Kibble

Brisbane has some food allergies that we identified via a not-very-precise elimination diet. He is also allergic to fleas, and the vet thinks he has environmental allergies as well. I keep him happy and itch-free by avoiding his food allergens, giving him Zyrtec and Benadryl, keeping him on Comfortis flea preventative, and bathing him at least once a week in baby shampoo.

My half-assed elimination diet involved noticing that he was itchy shortly after consuming certain foods, attempting to cut those out of his diet for a long time, and then feeding him a bunch of said food to see what would happen.

Example: Briz had a huge hot spot. The previous day I was attempting to fry the perfect over-medium egg and slid all the failures into his bowl. We avoided feeding him anything containing eggs for a few months, and then I gave him a few fried eggs with broken yolks again. When he got another hot spot we cut eggs out of his diet entirely.

This entirely unscientific process has led me to believe that Brisbane is allergic to eggs, chicken, turkey, and duck. Since cutting these out of his diet he has been significantly less itchy, and stopped getting yeast infections in his enormous ears. Conveniently, he is not allergic to emu, ostrich, pheasant, quail, or pigeon.

THIS IS A SUFFOCATION HAZARD!
A dog can suffocate in a chip bag in five minutes or less!
Always supervise your garbage hounds!

Finding commercial pet foods and treats that Brisbane can eat is a little tricky, but I love research. I also love hiking and ultralight backpacking, where every ounce counts. I have amassed a list of kibbles that Brisbane can eat, and included the number of calories per cup so I can carry his food most efficiently on the trail. I thought this information would be helpful for anyone looking to put weight on a dog, or help a chunky pup slim down.

All of these grain-free foods are also free of egg, turkey, duck, and chicken, including chicken fat. I excluded some otherwise excellent foods because they used poultry fat as a preservative. I've been told that purified fat is not an allergen and could not possibly cause an allergic reaction, but my vet and I still would prefer to leave it out. Please pay attention to the specific variety of food, as most or all of the manufacturers also make varieties with poultry and eggs, and only certain flavors/recipes are safe. Some of these products are available around the world, others only in specific areas. Most can be purchased online.

I am madly in love with the Dog Food Advisor site, and recently used it to choose a new food for my dogs. Most or all of these foods will be listed there with a fabulous review and nutritional breakdown.

Update: Check out DogFoodWizard.com for custom food selection for any allergens!

The List:

Honest Kitchen Love 514 kcal/cup

Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream 360 kcal/cup
Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Puppy360 kcal/cup (Note: Puppy food has the same calories.)
Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain 338 kcal/cup Now contains egg!

Orijen Six Fish 456 kcal/cup

Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Fish 380 kcal/cup

Natural Balace LID Sweet Poato and Venison 360 kcal/cup

Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Bison 375 kcal/cup

Natural Balance LID Potato and Rabbit 350 kcal/cup

Wellness Core Ocean Formula 417 kcal/cup

Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato 446 kcal/cup

AvoDerm Salmon and Potato 360 kcal/cup

AvoDerm Trout and Pea 446 kcal/cup

Nature’s Variety Instinct Salmon Meal 448 kcal/cup

Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Lamb 433 kcal/cup

Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Rabbit 449 kcal/cup

Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost Lamb and Salmon 436 kcal/cup

Canidae Pure Sea 496 kcal/cup

Canidae Pure Land 474 kcal/cup

Merrick Grain-Free Pork and Sweet Potato 460 kcal/cup

Merrick Grain-Free Texas Beef 422 kcal/cup

Castor and Pollux Grain-Free Poultry-Free 375 kcal/cup

Acana Pacifica 421 kcal/cup

Acana Ranchlands 422 kcal/cup (What my motley crew is currently eating.)

Acana Lamb and Apple 421 kcal/cup

Innova Nature's Table Grain Free Ranch-Raised Beef & Red Lentils 497 kcal/cup

Innova Nature's Table Grain Free Cold Water Salmon and Wild Herring 483 kcal/cup

California Natural Pork and Sweet Potato 431 kcal/cup

California Natural Salmon and Pea 435 kcal/cup

California Natural Kangaroo and Red Lentil 431 kcal/cup

California Natural Lamb 428 kcal/cup

California Natural Venison and Green Lentil 443 kcal/cup

Canine Caviar Wild Ocean 552 kcal/cup

Canine Caviar Wilderness 595 kcal/cup

Earthborn Holistic Meadow Feast 300 kcal/cup

Evanger’s Meat-Lover’s Medley 387 kcal/cup

Great Life Buffalo 431 kcal/cup

Great Life Salmon 442 kcal/cup

Dr. E’s RX Buffalo 429 kcal/cup

Pioneer Naturals Pork 426 kcal/cup

Pioneer Naturals Vension 434 kcal/cup

Pioneer Naturals Whitefish 451 kcal/cup

Pure Vita Grain Free Salmon 454 kcal/cup

Pure Vita Bison 438 kcal/cup

Natural Planet Rabbit and Salmon 448 kcal/cup

American Natural Premium Buffalo Meal 400 kcal/cup

American Natural Premium Ocean Fish and Potato 407 kcal/cup

Annamaet Aqualuk 426 kcal/cup

Annamaet Manitok 422 kcal/cup

Back to Basics Whitefish and Potato 273 kcal/cup

Back to Basics Lamb and Potato 297 kcal/cup

Back to Basics Pork 424 kcal/cup

Back to Basics Open Range 400 kcal/cup

Best Breed Grain-Free Salmon 437 kcal/cup

Nutrience Grain-Free Ocean Fish and Salmon 415 kcal/cup

Redmoon Lamb and Potato 476 kcal/cup

Victor Dog Food Salmon and Sweet Potato 402 kcal/cup

Wholesome Blend Grain-Free 406 kcal/cup

Wholesome Blend Grain-Free Small Breed 450 kcal/cup