Treat Tuesday: Whole Life Living Treats, Antioxidant Blend

I bought these Whole Life Living Treats at a local pet supply store because I had never seen anything quite like them. They are freeze-dried puffs that really, really remind me of macaroons. They come in three flavors, antioxidant berry, beta boost pumpkin, and go green kale. Ours are the berry ones, and they're kinda purple. This is a company that makes their dog treats in the USA from all USA-sourced ingredients. They are really big on product safety, their website says they test each batch of freeze-dried treats for listeria, salmonella, e coli, and staphylococcus aureus, and do not release the batch until the testing comes back negative. At first glance, the Whole Life website has very little information about their specific products. Most of the info on the site is general, about the company, their philosophy, and their production methods. Information on the specific treats initially appears limited to product ordering page, a separate link on that page finally leads to a menu for finding out what's in their treats.

Good For: Dogs with digestive difficulties, or who have been on antibiotics, since these are full of live probiotic cultures from all the yogurt. Do live probiotic cultures survive the freeze drying process? Dog with protein allergies, since these are only made from yogurt, berries, apples, peas, potatoes, and carrots.

Not Good For: High-value training treats. Super-picky chihuahuas.

How Much We Like Them: My biggest chowhound is currently eating squishy food only, so these have been sort of unloved. Ru won't eat them, and Sisci really has to think about it.

Product Review: Companion Road Angel Wedding Dress

This little wedding dress with matching veil is by Companion Road, and Petsmart house brand. This brand seems to have been replaced with the Top Paw and Martha Stewart product lines, but the Companion Road stuff can still be found at various discount stores. This dress comes in five sizes to fit dearly beloved dogs with chests 12-23" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

With ribbons, lace, and trim, this is a fancy little dress! The veil is actually my favorite part though, I love the way it fits on Ru's tiny little head. The fabric is a bit stiff, but it's thick and sturdy if not the finest quality.

This little wedding dress is definitely a costume rather than an everyday outfit. It has to be hand washed in cold water if it gets dirty, while most of Ru's outfits are machine-washable.

Pros: Perfect for dog weddings, photo shoots, and looking adorable.

Cons: Pretty limited range of uses, really.

Bottom Line: When you need a dog wedding dress, this one will do.

Food Friday: Walk About Goat Recipe Canned Dog Food

This can of Goat Recipe dog food by Walk About is the first thing I've found that Brisbane refused to eat.  Admittedly, this was shortly after his surgery so he was still getting his appetite back. Ru and Sisci loved it, and it was one of the more appealing-smelling wet dog foods I've experienced.

The Walk About Company

We had previously tried Walk About's goat jerky treats, and the dogs all loved those. I was pleased to spot their canned dog food at the same store recently. There's not a whole lot of information out there about this company, they seem fairly new to the market. Their website says they are based in California and make their products in Australia and New Zealand. I like that.

The range of alternative proteins offered by Walk About is impressive given their limited product lines. In addition to goat, they offer dog food made from wild boar, kangaroo, duck, and brushtail possum. I would totally be feeding my dogs Australian possum if it weren't only available in the duck-and-brushtail recipe.

The Food

This is a rather pleasant-smelling food with visible chunks of cooked meat in it. The only ingredients aside from the usual vitamins and minerals are goat, goat broth, goat liver, fish oil, and guar gum. That's a lot of goaty goodness.

 I've recently come to realize how I view certain alternative proteins. For example, I don't consider bison to be sufficiently different from beef to want to feed my hypothetical beef-allergy dog bison products. Likewise, I don't consider wild boar to be different enough from pork to count as a novel protein for a dog with a pork allergy. I do, however, consider goat to be different enough from lamb to count as alternative. When I really analyze my though process, I have to conclude that this is entirely the result of my personal experience with these meats. Bison burgers and steaks are like really tasty beef. Roasted wild boar chops are like really tasty pork. I have no idea how goat tastes, but I used to buy it for Brisbane when he was on a prey-model raw diet, and it definitely lacked the distinctive smell of raw lamb.

The Verdict

Freshly post-surgical Brisbane would not touch this stuff. Eventually I fed it to Ru and Sisci, who enjoyed it very much. I'll have Briz try it again when he's feeling a bit less picky. This is an adult maintenance dog food, not suitable for growing puppies, pregnant, or nursing dogs. I tend to stick with all-life-stages foods, but this is certainly one I plan to add to the rotation. It's new enough that the Dog Food Advisor website has not yet rated it.