My Merrick #TreatRight Review

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Let's Get to Work, Mom!

As we prepared for the announcement of the #TreatRight Twitter Party and this product review, I prepared a photo shoot set. Tanner and Oliver now know that the appearance of the yoga mat means that their company is requested. I always invite them to join me for yoga practice, no matter what I'm working on. Their companionship is not only important for our bonding, but helps them become comfortable with the funky things I try, even when I'm not including them in a pose. 

Tanner and Oliver do get a fab benefit for joining me. They get a #TreatRight snack from

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Have Treats. Will Travel.

one of our favorite treatmakers. Today they'll be noshing on Grammy's Pot Pie from Merrick's Kitchen Bites line. Doesn't that sound like a delicious homemade dinner? These treats are oven-baked with deboned meat as the first ingredient. Merrick adds fruits and veggies and bakes these treats to their crunchy, USA-made goodness. 

There's no corn, soy, or wheat in the Kitchen Bites treats; these babies are grain free and gluten free! Inspired by Merrick's award-winning classic canned foods, they're available in 6 flavors that will have you and Fido salivating. In addition to Grammy's Pot Pie, there's Cowboy Cookout, Turducken, Brauts-n-Tots, and the Wingalings that come in two flavors--Applewood Bacon Flavor and Hickory Smoke Flavor. This is country dinner treat time at its best!

Next up is the Power Bites line. These tiny, soft and chewy treats are packed with the highest protein in the industry, using meaty recipes and no sorbic acid--perfect for training your smart dog to do all his great tricks and nice behaviors. All natural and perfect for your higher energy Fido or training that needs a little extra encouragement. 

courtesy Merrick Petcare

Your dog's dental specialist will be pleased to know that Merrick now offers Dental Chews called Li'l Brush Bones. Clever, right?!! Oliver just finished his second one and there was no coersion required to encourage him to chow down. He was super eager to jump right in and work his jaws to clean his choppers.

The Merrick Jerky Chip Treats come in 4 oven-baked flavors to please your dog with the most discriminating palette. Look for chicken, beef, lamb and salmon flavors, all boasting their protein as the first ingredient. And remember, all of these Merrick treats are Grain Free and Gluten Free. Yum!

Let's wrap this ambitious review up with some important facts:

• Find a store near you using this Store Locator.
• Place an order online at this wide assortment of pet product online shopping sites.
• Don't miss the Merrick #TreatRight Twitter Party on Sunday, October 26. hosted by Event Barkers. Visit the link to enter our pre-party giveaways and RSVP for the fun.

See you at #TreatRight!

We are working with Merrick Petcare through our partnership in Event Barkers, a social media promotions company specializing in Twitter Parties for the pet industry. We only promote products we have checked out. You'll find additional details on our partner sites at DogTipper.com and ToDogWithLove.com. Join us!

Treat Review Team Loves Zukes' Choices

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

This review has been a long time in the making. My friends at Zukes sent me an overly generous assortment of their goodies to test. Sophie's mom and I looked at the boxes of various textures, purposes and flavors and almost felt overwhelmed. Where should we start? As it turned out, we started at the beginning...training.

© C Boyko
Oliver Guards the Mean Greenz

© C Boyko
Mini Bakes=Super Tiny

In going through our team routine of checking for palatability, digestibility, and quality ingredients, several of the owners of our diverse group of snack-testers offered similar responses to today's product focus. We all thought the tiny treats look like an old-fashioned vitamin tablet! I had to think that through for a while. Why did Zukes use that image for these treats? The answer came to me in the middle of the night, as sometimes quandaries are solved that way. 

© C Boyko
Mean Greenz
Bigger than Mini Bakes

The Superfood Dog Treats and Mini Bakes Dog Treats are so nutritious that it's difficult to question their reasoning for creating a small treat that looks like a vitamin. Of course I also realize that our Fidos could care a less about the shape as long as it is easy enough to nosh on. What's wonderful about the unique packaging as a nutritious imagery is that they also included the scoring mark, to allow for easy breaking into two pieces, perfect for tiny Oliver who needs a much smaller training treat. 


Given that training is a word often associated more with puppies, this ability to create a smaller nibble is ideal and inventive on Zuke's part. But more than that, their ingredients seal the deal. Just look at the vegetables in the Mean Greenz Superfood treats (I love that name!) and you find broccoli, spinach, peas, asparagus, kale, cabbage and green beans along with Organic oats and barley. You can guess that seeing the O word sold me. Can you guess what color these treats are? The box may give them away, but the ingredient list should offer a hint, as well. Ditto with their Very Berryz Superfood that sports a healthy assortment of antioxidant-rich raspberries, cranberries, blueberries, beets, cherries and blackberries. Are you seeing red?!!!

© C Boyko
Mini Bakes, Mom?

So, as training treats go, the Superfood Dog Treats get a hearty 2 paws up from the All Things Dog Blog Treat Review Team. We then moved on to a tinier version of the vitamin image in their Zukes Mini Bakes, which combine chicken and turkey with fruits and vegetables in their different flavor offerings. It was no surprise that Tanner and Oliver enjoyed these as well, and I found the even smaller size to work better for Oliver during photo shoots, as it didn't hold up the next shoot for quite as long. Those tiny teeth of his take a while to do their job.


For many owners that do a great deal of training in a low-anxiety environment (we're not talking about working on fear issues or challenging agility courses), a dry, non-sticky training treat is the best choice. Something that won't stain your pocket or make a mess on your hands is good when working on daily motivation to mold behaviors. I suppose that's where I categorize Tanner and Oliver's training, focused more on photo behaviors and rock solid stays, while I hold a camera and arrange and re-arrange their "sets". Sticky hands and camera lenses just don't mix. But more importantly, the treats must be tasty. Our team all agreed on this criteria!

© C Boyko
That Works for Me!

Where can you buy Zukes for your Fido? Of course their website is one option that will save you time and gasoline. You'll also find a locator for other online retailers here.  If you're looking for local brick and mortar stores, try their Store Locator to find the closest retailer.


Watch the blog for a giveaway of Zukes that will have you singing all the way to your training area. Happy tails are sure to happen.




Full disclosure:  Zukes provided us with samples of a number of their treats to review and share our findings with you. A review of their moist treats will follow this one. We have not been paid to share our experiences or opinion and the comments here are our own.

Pet Product Review Question: Why are My Reviews So Positive?

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© E. Glavin
Tanner and I Enjoy the Bonding Activities
 of Reviewing New Toys and Pet Products

What a great question! This topic came up among bloggers at a recent conference where everyone was chatting about the challenges of writing a compelling product review. My thoughts caught the group off guard. My approach was different, and perhaps it seemed odd to some. Here's how it works here. I can't and won't speak for other bloggers, but I do think my readers could benefit from understanding my philosophy and method.


Most of my product reviews are/were pre-selected from an actual product at a convention--Global Pet Expo. That means I saw, handled, played with, read about and asked questions about the product before I even agreed to review it. As I told my blogger compadres, I'm not the sort of person who can write a seething review. I'll turn it down before I'll crucify a company. I just don't have it in me. That means that if I don't like it, you won't hear about it here.


Of course, that's not to say that I won't share my concerns with the owner. I have--more than a few times--turned down reviews that I could not support, would not recommend, and most importantly, would never use with my own dogs. That's where the decision comes to a rest--Tanner and Oliver. If I can't use it with or for them because I don't believe in it, I most certainly cannot tell you it is wonderful and give away a box of them just to get traffic to visit my blog. 


There's another angle to this that I'd love to address. Not all of my readers can afford to purchase the organic food that I recommend or are willing to shell out their hard earned bucks for dog toys when their kids need shoes. It's these readers that support my blog's mission--to help those who need information or freebies in order to keep their dogs. So, while I offer an Ask the Vet Column and an Ask the Dog Trainer Column, and I review products and write problem solving articles, I also occasionally give away free products that I cannot review. They don't quite come up to snuff for my standards, yet they are useful and have their place in many homes. 


I'm happy to share these samples and conference swag as a fun way to share the excess that sometimes comes my way. I hope you enjoy anything you receive in such giveaways, but if not, please pass it along to someone who will. Thank you for your time and please know that I appreciate your support and your interest in learning more about what you can do to make your life with dogs easier and more enjoyable. Together we can help keep more furry family members right where they belong, and not relinquished to a rescue. That's my ultimate goal. How can I help you?

Meet Your Dog Treat Review Team--The Experts in All Things Treat!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Today has been a long time coming. We've been planning and photographing, collecting the best in all-natural and organic treats from the pet product world, and of course, doing lots of taste-testing. Our procedure is quite scientific, of course.

We test one treat at a time to watch for reactions...in the grass. Tummy aches will be noted, although none have been experienced yet. But most importantly, we observe the desire and enjoyment of the nosh. As we begin to review the special yummies that have come our way, we'll be sharing with you which treats are good for super chompers--the Big Dogs! And of course, some will be better suited to our smaller team members.

Before we begin our treat reviews, you need to know who you're dealing with. Reputation and integrity are important. I'm going to introduce you to the team today, so you'll know who's giving the input, as well as the output. From left to right, your panelists are:

1. Oliver may already be familiar as a member of the All Things Dog Blog family. He's a CGC Papillon that was rescued from a puppy mill life and survived a severe case of pneumonia before joining our family. Oliver is a proud member of the PAWS Pack 80.
2. Sophie is a 10 year old toy poodle that is owned by my new friend, Lauren. Sophie is blind, yet has learned to navigate her home quite successfully. Her nose is probably her best sense, so reviewing treats is a favorite activity for Sophie.
3. Tanner showed up for the photo shoot ready to make an 'entrance' as the Leader of the Pack. What a goof! What do you think about his shades? Silly or cool? You can check out more pictures of him in this getup at his blog, 5 Minutes for Fido.
4. Nakita is an adopted Golden Retriever owned by Noreen. She is a 14-year young senior who will be giving us her viewpoint from the Golden Years. 
5. Braden is a young Australian Shepherd whose mom, Katie, makes sure he gets lots of exercise every day. If you've ever owned a herding dog, you'll know why that's so very important. She has even been kind enough to take Tanner along on a few occasions when I was not up to the task. 
6. Missy is a rescued housemate of Nakita, and both girls are good buddies. Missy has a beautiful, lady-like prance that Xena would have approved of. She is especially affectionate and has a lovely, flowing coat.
7. Oreo-Jack is a Toy Poodle that was adopted from the Little Dog Rescue here in Central Florida. He is the youngster in our group, having not yet seen his second birthday. As an adolescent, we hear he is somewhat mischievous, while always playful.
8. Cocoa-Latte, Oreo's packmate, has been seen here on All Things Dog Blog before. She is a feminine young lady that enjoys dressing up and was the featured model in our Spring Fashion review.

There you have it; our 8-member Treat Review Team. Four boys and four girls. Four small dogs and four large dogs. This group has been hard at work checking out great brands like Zukes, Dog Pack Snacks, Naturenosh,  Organix, Terra Paws, Canyon Creek Ranch, and more. With bunches of treats in each product line, these pups have their work cut out for them. We'll be back soon with our first review, now that you know who's behind the scenes doing all the analysis. Any questions for our panelists?