Today might be the happiest day so far this month or year maybe…

I am featured and interviewed about ThoughtsFurPaws.com on the FRONT PAGE of BlogCatalog.com. I’m a Recognized Blogger with them and they sent out an email featuring ME and ThoughtsFurPaws to their Subscribers today!

WOO-HOOOO!!

Here’s a snap shot and some snippets — I’m forwarding the email to most of my regular readers and everyone in my Blogroll, but if you want it forwarded to you, just email me at thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com. The formatting is all screwy here on the blog because I could not figure out how to take a screen shot and turn it into a JPEG (still trying…).

Anyways — hooray ThoughtsFurPaws!!

About the Author Meet Jaime. With a love of golden retrievers and tabby cats (and pretty much anything else with fur), pet blogger Jaime injects her blog full of the passion and adoration she feels for our quadruped companions. Her blog, Thoughts Fur Paws, is a mix of posts about animal welfare issues, pet product reviews, and heartwarming stories about the magic that happens when a loving human and a loyal pet find each other. We included a few of Jaime’s recent posts in the newsletter, but head over to Thoughts Fur Paws to check out her full line up of pet-packed posts. From an early age… Jaime’s love of pets is not a recent phenomenon. Her mom, who Jaime identifies as the most influential person in her life and her best friend, began teaching her to care for pets at the age of four. The lessons she taught have become part of Jaime’s life-long passion to care for animals. The seed that was planted by her mother has blossomed and today Jaime uses her blog as a tool to educate the public about animal welfare issues. Most recently, Jaime has been shining a light on the horrid conditions dogs are forced to live in at puppy mills and dog auctions. Focusing mainly on legislation to ban these types of operations in Ohio, Jaime is rallying us all to come to the aid of the defenseless creatures who rely on us to keep them safe. And the Pettie goes to… Thoughts Fur Paws has been nominated for the Best Pet Blog award as part of Dogtime.com’s 2010 Petties. The competition looks stiff as there are a number of good blogs have been nominated along with Jaime’s. So, if you check out her blog and agree with our opinion that the site is Pettie-worthy, I’m sure Jaime would appreciate it if you swung by and gave her a vote. Jaime, all of us at BlogCatalog wish you good luck and hope you take home the Pettie!	Ohio Dog Auctions Many concerned citizens firmly believe the auctions serve not reputable breeders but large commercial facilities where dogs are bred to produce as many puppies as possible in conditions ranging from unsanitary to inhumane. The Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions is spearheading a new, citizen-backed ballot initiative – The Ohio Dog Auctions Act. August Photo Contest This is a KITTEN & PUPPY PHOTO CONTEST only, so please don’t send pictures of your babies unless they’re 6 months old or younger! The entry deadline is next Friday, August 20th at 7 p.m. EST. Clean + Green Clean+Green by SeaYu has founded Fragrance Free Day (#fragrancefreeday), a social media event which asks people to tell the world via their social networks that they’ll go “fragrance free” for one day.

It’s hard nowadays to find a pet food brand (whether for dog or cat) or a dog treat brand that actually lives up to expectation; that actually helps what it promotes; that honestly lives up to its PR company’s hype.

Henry Checking Out the Turkey Jerky...

Well, despite all that, I believe I found the perfect mix of food and treats for our family’s dogs through K9 Cuisine. K9 Cuisine offers only the healthiest and most well-prepared, honest-to-goodness pet nutrition products you will ever find ANYWHERE. You can find wellness brands of food, treats, food toppers and more. I was TOTALLY surprised and thus impressed when our dog and my sister’s dogs – who are all SO PICKY AND STUBBORN – took so well to these healthy grain-free food and treat options. It’s truly a fabulous website with only the best products.

I’m talkin’… revolutionary product that will change the way people treat their pets in terms of nutrition. Just as Americans are becoming healthier in terms of eating habits, thus so should our best friends – our pets.

Rotations Sample

First, we sampled the Rotations Complete 3-in-1 Complete Nutrition System. It’s adult dry food that has various flavors. The boxed set offers you three different meal types – Premium Chicken and Brown Rice, Wild Salmon with Peas and Carrots, and New Zealand Lamb and Potatoes.

The idea is to rotate them so your pet doesn’t get bored with the same old food. They basically promote the “appropriate levels of proteins and fats to provide energy and maintain ideal weight.” Rotations dog food options are all balanced with fermentable fiber (as always, no corn, wheat, or soy) so your dog receives proper digestive support and gets a healthy overall body maintenance and performance.

ROTATIONS Pet Food is designed around the premise that a broader array of fresh natural ingredients provides pets with a more complete diet that can still be easily digestible and convenient for you. That’s why each box contains three distinctly different all-natural formulas in three separate re-sealable bags — to ensure that your pet will never be bored, undernourished or overexposed to one particular ingredient or flavor.

Benson LOVED the Chicken and Rice one and surprisingly ate the veggies in the other kinds too. We noticed after feeding him this diet for about 10 days that not only did he lose almost 2 pounds, but also he was FAR MORE active – acting and playing with the energy of a puppy again!

Rotations is by far the “cream of the crop.” Learn more about it on their site, which is chockfull of information on how to feed, what’s in the products, what the benefits are, and LOTS more.

K9 Cuisine also sent us the Wellness Pure Rewards Turkey Jerky. I don’t even know how to explain this… I’ll tell you that I let my sister’s Bassets try these samples out instead of Benson. I gave each Basset one and they each practically swallowed it whole. Ten minutes later (I was dog-sitting and in another room), one of them (had to be Henry – a 10-yr-old Basset trouble-maker who is shorter than the normal breed) actually jumped up and counter-surfed to pull

Turkey Jerky Wellness Treats and Free Wet Food Lid!

the treat bag down! The two of them then just went to town on the Turkey Jerky because they liked the flavor so much! So yeah – they ate a lot of them, but they had NO SYMPTOMS of stomach upset, diarrhea, etc , after eating a whole bag of treats in ten minutes… These treats get four (okay – paws up for SURE!! I have since bought many bags of these for them to bring when I come over to dog-sit…

Tons of Tasty Samples from K9 Cuisine

K9 Cuisine also let us sample the Go! Grain Free Chicken, Turkey and Duck wet formulas. These were also a HUGE hit with Benson. They didn’t upset his stomach and he “chowed” them right down (highly unusual for him as he is SO PICKY in his old age). The best part about this wet food is that it has human-grade ingredients, so your dog is tasting food similar to what your food tastes like.  (Not to mention it’s packed with vitamins, minerals and supplements like sunflower and wild salmon oils for Omegas, plus garden fresh vegetables, orchard fruits and lots of minerals!)

Next up from K9 Cuisine we tried the Real Food Toppers in Pure Beef

Even the Kittehs Checked Out the Samples!

Sirloin Flavor. After topping Benson’s food with these once, we realized we would use them as treats because he wouldn’t eat dinner without them that night!! He remembered that at breakfast he had a tasty topper! So we used them as treats for going potty in the proper area, sitting, lying down, etc.

Overall, I was seriously blown away by the products I got from K9 Cuisine. First because they are ALL grain-free, but in particular, the Rotations and the Wellness Treats are items that we have since re-ordered or purchased. I’ve also now moved my cat Sasha over to the Wellness brand wet food since she’s almost 10.

Benson's FAVORITE Thing EVER!

The quality of the products, the care and study that goes into creating them,  and the all-natural REAL ingredients used in ALL of these cat and dog foods, really are top-notch, and totally worth spending a few extra bucks for shipping. I would not tell you to go and buy something if it wasn’t any good – you know me better than that. But K9 Cuisine has it all: the BEST brands, the HEALTHIEST choices, the most REASONABLE prices, plus they always offer free samples, discounts and shipping deals and other promos. Plus, the company’s founder –Anthony Holloway – designed these recipes himself after realizing that he knew what he was eating from his plate, but his dog didn’t know what he was ingesting, and neither did Anthony; thus, K9 Cuisine was born. (I just think that’s a great story and a little tidbit for you all to read and learn how dedicated Anthony and his team are to making exquisite, quality pet food.)

Dog Food Toppers and Go! Grain Free Wet Food

I genuinely hope that some of you will go ahead and order at least one of the products discussed here, and measure the difference in your animal’s coat, eyes, attitude, and energy level (or even their weight). K9 Cuisine is BAR NONE the best option for cat and dog food that I’ve come across thus far.

Visit the site and you can get free samples by clicking on the tab on the top right!

Who wants to meet other pet-fanatics??

Snuggle Session Complete!

Who wants to learn how to get more traffic?

Who wants to get relevant pet information about pet nutrition & animal welfare??

Who wants to learn more about pets in the news & pet charity??

Who wants to learn how to make $$$ major moolah from advertising???

ME!!! I mean WE!!

ThoughtsFurPaws.com wants to know all of the above – which is why Mom is headed to BlogPaws West 2010.

It’s in Denver from Sept 9-11, and the conference is filled to the brim with fun, fur, friends, and… oh yeah, TONS of information on how to make your pet blog ROCK:)

Mom went to the very first-ever BlogPawsEast in Ohio & had a total blast!

She only decided to go to this one at the VERY last minute — when she found out ThoughtsFurPaws.com was a finalist in Dogtime.com’s Petties Awards…

** So we’re totally pumped about that nomination, but Mom thinks she has zero chance of winning considering who she’s up against…

Anyhow, according to the website, BlogPaws West is being held to:

“continue building our Be the Change focus on a national scale, to embrace the exciting momentum of BlogPaws East (thank you, thank you, thank you EVERYONE!), and to give our peeps in the West a chance to meet and connect, we’re offering: more learning, more networking, more blogging, Tweeting, laughing, raising funds for shelters/rescues, shouting, singing, partying, listening, hugging, crying, cooing, clapping, and learning at BlogPaws  2010 West. “

And guess what we just found out?? Our super-good buddies at IAMS/Eukanuba are sponsoring our trip! HOORAH! We can’t wait to see our friends from there!

We will for sure return that favor somehow – Mom is already thinking of ways in her mind – she has steam coming from her ears and that means she’s on a mission. (When Mom is on a mission we do not interrupt!!)

There’s going to be lots and lots of pets there and lots and lots of people and food, and treats and vendors, and sponsors and all-around FUN!!

We also can’t wait to see our best friends from Bissell, Inc, too — they are sponsoring BlogPaws for the second time this year and we’re looking forward to catching up with our fellow Bissell Pack of Pet Lovers members.

Anyhow, we think everykitty and everydoggy should go to BlogPawsWest. You can get more information on the BlogPaws Community of Pet Bloggers here.

** This is a guest post written by a friend, Heather Reynolds.

First, here is my introduction to this post. Since I’ve been talking about pet insurance – and it seems to me that more and more pet owners are buying policies now-a-days (according to statistics from companies like PetInsurance.com, etc.) – I got an insider’s professional view of the pet insurance industry. Many of you either commented or emailed me after the last post with tales of how pet insurance saved your animals’s lives, or how you WISHED you had bought it when you had the chance because you now have $6k in vet bills…

Heather Reynolds works for Trupanion here in the U.S. So since we already discussed pet insurance and pet health earlier I thought I’d allow a guest post rrom a knowledgeable industry rep. on the whole pet insurance concept. Heather is representing Trupanion, a pet insurance company based in Seattle. Although it’s fairly new to the industry in the U.S., the company has been thriving in Canada for the last decade, and actually ranks 5th in Google for the term “pet insurance.”

In fact, recently, the pet insurance industry was reviewed by Consumer Reports and Trupanion was named as thee one company that provides everything Consumer Reports looked for in a preferred plan.

The report states, “We prefer coverage with simple, percentage-based payouts, and no reliance on judgments of what’s ‘reasonable’.”

Trupanion offers one simple plan, pays a straight 90% of veterinary costs, and does not impose ‘reasonable’ fees. There is no payout limit over the life of the pet and no limits per year, claim, illness, procedure, or condition. The report also looked at two specific scenarios in which pet insurance could be applied – one in which the dog was basically healthy and one in which the dog had chronic problems.

While none of the nine policies reviewed would have been cost-effective for the healthy dog scenario, Trupanion provided the highest net benefits for the chronically-sick dog scenario.

Another portion of the review told the story of two cats with rare conditions – one young, one old. In this scenario, Trupanion’s coverage paid the most for both cats, at both the $100 and $500 deductible levels. Check out the full report here. Also, check out Trupanion’s blog here.

Anyhow, here is Heather’s guest post: (thanks Heather!)

None of us want to think of something disastrous happening to our beloved pets. But the truth is that three out of four pets require emergency medical treatment in their lifetimes. With veterinary costs rising every year, it’s getting harder and harder to pay for needed veterinary treatments.

This is where/when/how having pet insurance will help.

First, be wary – there are many pet insurance carriers out there, some of them “less than reputable” to put it nicely, and so choosing the policy that’s  right for your pet(s) can be a daunting & sometimes confusing task.

Here are a few tips on getting started with pet insurance coverage:

1. Do your research. Check out www.petinsurancereview.com for an unbiased review of several pet insurance companies.

2. Use word-of-mouth. It’s well-known in the Marketing and PR industry today that word-of-mouth advertising beats any ad you’ll see on TV, hear on the radio, or see online or in a magazine. So visit some pet forums (i.e. Iggy Planet, Petfinder, PetLovers.com or The Nest) and search for the term ‘pet insurance’. (Most forums already have a chat room open and lively for this topic.) Chances are that you’ll find other people asking the same exact questions — and perhaps they’ve received solid advice. Also, there’s no harm in asking friends, neighbors, people you know from the dog park, and/or even your vet for their experiences and/or preferences. (Be sure to explain you’re not asking their OPINION on the concept – just if they have pet insurance and who it’s through…)

3. Get quotes. Visit several pet insurance websites and receive quotes for each pet you want to insure. This will give you up-to-the-minute pricing that may be outdated on other sites.

4. Read the fine print. Many pet insurance companies only disclose ‘reasonable costs’ and other fees in their fine print, which many people don’t see until they actually have to file a claim.

ThoughtsFurPaws recently published a post about Petplan. I would like to tell you a little bit about Trupanion, a different pet insurance company. Recently, the pet insurance industry was reviewed by Consumer Reports. The report reviewed nine policies from four companies, including Trupanion. After comparing all companies against certain veterinary scenarios, Consumer Reports determined what they would prefer in an insurance company. They state: “We prefer coverage with simple, percentage-based payouts, and no reliance on judgments of what’s ‘reasonable’.”

Trupanion mirrors those preferences by offering one simple plan, paying a straight 90% of veterinary costs, and not imposing ‘reasonable’ fees. There is no payout limit over the life of the pet and no limits per year, claim, illness, procedure, or condition.

You can read the full report here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/insurance/pet-insurance/is-pet-insurance-worth-the-cost/overview/index.htm.

Just as with human health insurance, pet insurance is only financially beneficial if your pet becomes seriously ill or injured. But also like human health insurance, it’s extremely beneficial to have in place if the unthinkable happens. You don’t want to have to wait to make a medical decision so you can ‘crunch the numbers’, and you don’t want the financial stress piled on top of the emotional pain you feel when your pet is sick.

You do so much to protect your pets… so it only makes sense to protect your pocketbook as well by investing in pet insurance.

 Top 5 Reasons to Choose Trupanion

No Payout Limit – No dollar limit on the cost of care if your pet becomes sick or injured.
Higher Payout – We cover 90% of your veterinarian’s bill.
Fast Approval – We approve and pay claims faster than any other competitor.
No Penalties – You are never penalized with higher rates for submitting claims.
Fair Premiums – Premiums won’t increase due to your pet aging.

Heather Reynolds is a pet lover and internet journalist at Trupanion. Feel free to contact her with any questions related to cat and dog insurance at heather.reynolds@trupanion.com.

I cannot tell you how many vaccuums, brooms, dust-busters and wet rags I’ve used to clean up the pet hair of long haired Goldens and two cats – one VERY long-haired (and black) so it shows up in dust bunnies EVERYWHERE: on the couches, the hardwood kitchen floor, the living room couch and white Berber carpet, my bedroom…. you get the point.

Well I finally found my solution! And if you suffer from an overbearing amount of pesky shedded pet hair during summer shedding season, then it’s going to be your solution too!!

It’s the Bissell Power Groom Compact Pet Vacuum -  And I’m not pulling your chain here – Featuring the Pet Hair Removal System, it’s Great for Capturing Pet Hair and Dirt.

It really is an awesome vacuum specifically for pet hair – but it picks up EVERYTHING else too! With the innovative pet hair cleaning solution you get a pet hair lifter, rotating brush, dirt removal, pet dander pick-up and pet hair pick-up all in one seriously powerful compact vacuum (reminds me of “The Little Engine That Could!”

*** Here are some of the stand-out features that I in particular like… the best parts of the Bissell Power Groom Compact, its quick cleaning system for pet hair and special features:

• Multi-Cyclonic Separation – powerful suction for better dirt and hair pick-up.
• Filtration: HEPA Media (yay – clean-air friendly)
• Surface Types: Carpet, Upholstery, Bare Floors, Stairs, Low Pile Carpet
• Weight:  11 lbs (really easy to handle and carry/move)
• Compact Size: Light-weight and smaller profile make cleaning and storage in small spaces easier.
• Multi-Use Tool:  Crevice Tool, Stretch Hose, Dusting Brush
• Pet Hair Tool:  Pet Contour Tool
• It’s BAGLESS! HOORAY- forget about the dreaded emptying of vacuum bags!

Because of the vacuum’s unique lint brush, the Pet Hair Lifter is able to collect deep down pet hair from carpets area rugs and more. This distinctive material grabs pet hair from carpet when the vacuum is pulled back – and releases it into the suction path when pushed forward. NEAT-O!

Bottom line: between the compact size, light-weight, power, multi-cyclonic system and Pet Contour Tool, the Bissell Power Groom Compact provides a complete pet hair removal system.

ThoughtsFurPaws gives Bissell FOUR PAWS UP for creating this one-of-a-kind powerhouse pet vacuum. Click here to purchase or learn more.

*** On anoter note, I thought you might be interested to know that Bissell, Inc is going to be hosting a Live Q&A Call on how to remove pet stains with its veteran expert “Stain Solver,” a BISSELL Chemist named Eric Hansen. Bissell’s Pet Care team wrote a guest blog  on Petfinder.com, which you can read here: http://www.petfinder.com/blog/2010/08/06/live-pet-mess-qa-bissell/.

Yes- you can actually CREATE YOUR OWN PET FOOD, and even name it! Only with Red Moon brand though – and this stuff is amazing!

Sasha, my sweetheart black cat, is THEE PICKIEST EATER ON THE PLANET. This is a new development, like over the last 6 months. Yes - she does have some health issues and has been suffering from rapid weight loss, dehydration and vomiting, etc, but the vet keeps telling me to feed her whatever she’ll eat and not vomit up. (Lovely, I know….) (She’s had multiple blood and other tests and so far everything is kosher – she’s just gettig older and pickier like Theodore got at her age…)

nyhow, so I created an awesome mixture for Sasha that I knew she would LOVE at Red Moon Pet Food.  They let you CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR ORDER! It is so cool and so much fun!

You can choose:

"Sasha's Solution" from Red Moon Pet Food

- whether it’s for cat or dog

- the pet’s energy level

- kibble size range

-  base flavor (Chicken and Turkey, or Salmon-based for cats, or High, Moderate or Low Protein bases of Lamb & Potato, Chicken & Potato, Chicken & Pea, etc. for dogs)

- bag size

- PLUS two free nutrients or vitamins you want to add (I gave Sasha the anti-furball supplement and the Perfect Fur, Skin and Coat Makeover additive.) For cats you can also choose from Digest-Ease, Kidney/Urinary Health, Breath Helper or Joint Renewal. For dogs you can choose Antioxidant Immune Booster, Oral Health Support, Joint Renewal, Joint Reviver Plus, High Gloss Skin and Coat Makeover, or Digest-Aid.

It DID take Sash awhile to adjust to the new food but I gotta admit I HAVE seen a difference in her coat and she is vomiting less!! Hooray!!! I haven’t tried their dog food but based on our experience with the cat, I think this is a reputable brand of pet food, that takes pet nutrition into account, not to mention your pet’s age, special needs, and energy level. They base their formulas off those things, which is SO important if you have a particularly high or low energy dog breed or special cat needs like I did. In terms of pet nutrition, I give Red Moon Pet Food a 10 out of 10 – which is extremely rare for me. (Just being honest…. no one usually nails it 100%)

Also, all of Red Moon’s products are grain and gluten free — so forget about those nasty fillers you don’t want your pet to have, and they have FREE SHIPPING ALL THE TIME!!

So go out there and make your own trial size order today: I bet your pet will like it!!

From Red Moon’s site: 

As an owner, no one knows your pet better than you. That’s why RedMoon gives you the ability to create a food specific to your pet’s individual needs. We offer the only fully customizable pet food on the market, and we pack it full of healthy and fresh ingredients. From juicy lamb to whole blueberries, it all comes fresh from regional sources. Contact us with your questions or comments.

Oaky — these pictures are SO FUNNY that people in my office printed them and have them hanging in random places…!

Remember earlier this summer when PetSmart was kind enough to sponsor a giveaway for ThoughtsFurPaws.com?  (Like – over $100 giveaway of some seriously cool stuff for summer protection of pets…thanks again PetSmart – ThoughtsFurPaws LOVES you…)

Anyhow, Dayna Hilton and her dog Sparkles the Fire Dog won the contest (great blog – go visit her link please and see all Sparkles does for her community), and here are the pics of Sparkles and her friend Tango modeling and checking out the prizes.

See what I mean about funny? I myself printed one or two to hang up in my office for when I need a laugh.

I can think of no more deserving dog for this gear than a FIRE-FIGHTING and PREVENTING dog so the stars aligned for us correctly on this giveaway.

Sparkles Checks Out His Winnings...

HILARIOUS Sparkles in his Winner's Gear!!!

Sparkles and Fire Friend Tango Checkin' Prizes Out

Tango is READY to Fight Fires and Heat!!

*** Stay tuned this weekend to see what Fenris and others did when they received their Summer Contest prize packages!!

Happy 4th everyone, and please stay safe and be responsible — both for yourself, your families, AND your pets this weekend!

Jaime

Like you guys haven’t heard this already — I’m a little late in telling you, but the United States Postal Service, last month, announced its launch of 5 irresistible postage stamps featuring pets!

The United States Postal Service is out with the new Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps! These adorable 44 cent stamps feature cats and dogs who were adopted from shelters and are now living in happy, healthy homes.  Not only will these stamps help raise awareness for adopting shelter pets, but the campaign has inspired a pet food company to donate a million meals to shelter pets around the country. The USPS calls the campaign Adopt-A-Pet: Stamps to the Rescue! The postal store at this link (previous link) has tons of other sets of stamps and stuff you can purchase as well. They make great pet-lover’s gifts!

The 5 irresistible postage pets that the author, Peggy Frezon, selected include:

1. Teddy:  A wire haired Jack Russell Terrier who was given up when she had puppies.

Teddy

2. Willow:  A gray Maltese cat who was left in a box at the door of a shelter.

Willow

3. Buddy:  A golden retriever who was purchased from a pet shop, then given up due to health problems.

Buddy

4. Peaches:  A gray, white and tan shorthaired cat who was born under a porch and had to be trapped to be rescued.

Peaches

5. Trevor:  A yellow Labrador retriever found abandoned at a new home construction site.

Trevor

This story is thanks to Guideposts.com, with additional reporting by ThoughtsFurPaws Administrator.

So is your dog bored of squeeky toys, rope pulleys, and balls? Does he play for 3 minutes then walk away uninterested? Perhaps it’s time to refresh his toy collection…

I have the perfect solution for you: the new interactive doggie games from The Company of Animals in the UK. These games will keep your pooch mesmerized for quite awhile, and make them exercise their brains/thinking skills and actions/motions all while learning something new at the same time.

As the UK’s leading specialist in dog behavior and training products, The Company of Animals  recently introduced three new interactive, reward-based games to its Nina Ottosson Collection.

The games are designed to keep pooches mentally active while reinforcing a special canine-human bond. The new additions—Dog Finder, Dog Twister and Dog Casino—work on the same principle as the original games—Dog Tornado, Dog Brick, Dog Magic and Dog Spinny—where the dog moves the parts around to reveal hidden treats. However, these new games are the most challenging in the collection.

Every Nina Ottosson game is suitable for dogs of all ages and sizes and comes with free training guides and DVDs.

We tried out the Dog Finder, and boy did Benson ever have fun with this one!! As the “runt” of his litter, Benny isn’t the smartest Golden you’ll ever meet  – except when it comes to anything to do with food or food preparation. (What he lacks in brains he makes up for with sweetness!) Anyhow, at first Benny just sniffed around all over the place, and got super-excited because he could smell his treats underneath the plastic bone-like shaped toppers. 

The dog’s task in this puzzle is to slide the bone to a wider area of the groove and then dislodge it (i.e. actually pick it up and remove it from the board) to access the hidden treat.

Dog Finder, pictured here at left, is a little more challenging than some of the games in the collection and takes practice to master. Treats are placed under the white plastic bone shells, which the dog must slide through a channel to be able to remove.

The ground-breaking Dog Finder, which retails for only $29.99, is definitely given an A+ from ThoughtsFurPaws for keeping our dog entertained and teaching him new skills and learning activities. Now when we pull the toy out of the closet, Ben can’t wait to get started on it!

You can purchase the Dog Finder and other Nina Ottosson Interactive games (such as the Dog Twister, Dog Casino, etc.) at The Company of Animals. (The easiest way to find the toys on the site is to type the name of the specific toy into the Search Bar I’ve found.)

I highly recommend the Nina Ottosson Interactive Game Collection to anydog — it would especially make a good pet lover’s gift! Your pooch will have so much fun, and will learn and use their memory at the same time. It’s genius!

Wags from Benson

**This product review was written after a sample game was sent for trial

I recently received samples of Holistic Select: Select Actives for both my dogs  (I split it between our dog and my sister’s Bassets) and my cat — historically picky eaters…all of them. So trying a holistic, healthy, natural recipe meal made me a little nervous at first.

Made with natural ingredients, including different sources of proteins, grains, fibers, fats and oils, and vitamins, Holistic Select isn’t just your ordinary healthy dog and cat food. It’s top-notch, the best of the best.

I am shocked, yet pleasantly surprised to reveal, that both my Golden Benson, the Basset Hounds AND my kitty Sasha LOVE the Holistic Select foods chosen for them! Sasha actually smelled the food through the bag on the floor after I received it and somehow managed to bite her way through it in the middle of the night and helped herself to a midnight snack! I woke up the next morning and found little teeth and tear marks on the side of the bag and little crumbs on the floor!!

For Sasha, I tried the Feline Select Actives Radiant Adult Health with Anchovy, Sardine, and Salmon Meals. It’s a premium fish meal blend for high digestibility, has 32% protein and 20% fat, naturally Omega 3 rich fish oil for shiny coat (which IS noticeable – especially with her long hair), and added taurine for eye and heart health. She chowed it down!! And getting Sasha to switch from her dry diet of Fancy Feast (which I know is SO bad and packed with fillers but she’s just so damn picky) was quite easy once she tried Holistic Select.

As for Benson (and the Bassets), we tried the Radiant Adult Health Anchovy, Sardine and Salmon Meal Recipe. It has 22% protein, 12% fat , a premium fish meal protein blend so it’s highly digestible, and naturally occuring Omega 3 rich menhaden fish oil for coat and skin health.

We actually started by mixing this food in with the boys’ regular food before fully switching them over and it worked like a charm.

This food is SO much healthier that what they were getting — and they were on PRESCRIPTION diet food. In my opinion, this just goes to show you that some of these holistic pet food companies and natural/organic food recipes are just as good as the ones you can pay an arm and a leg for at the vet…

I would highly recommend that you at least try a bag of Holistic Select for your dogs and cats – I bet they will love it. They will feel and act healthier, and you will notice the difference.

To learn more or become a member of the community, click here. To locate a store where you can find Holistic Select, click here.