Shaggy Dog Stories

Congratulations to Christa McChancy for winning the free copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide! Christa’s comment was chosen at random by comment number, using a number-picking script.

Are you bummed that you didn’t win this time? Don’t despair. We have more books coming soon!

Seriously. These products smell good enough to eat! (not that I’ve tried)

In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve had a major bias in favor of Mutt Nose Best long before I asked Jenny (the founder of the company) about doing a review and giveaway. My friends Ashley and Prudence over at Of Cows’ Tails and Chew Toys have been working with Mutt Nose Best, and Pru has even been a celebrity spokesmodel for the company! In addition, I have a particular fondness for local enterprise. The fact that MNB supports Logan’s Legacy, the drive to help my friend Suzan fund the costs for her next service dog, just endears them to me even more. I wish I’d asked MNB sooner; we could have had their wonderful products at the 2011 Beardie National!

Anyway… back to the products. We received a generous sampling of Mutt Nose Best products to try:

• U. Berry Clean Dog Shampoo, Conditioner and Eau de Toilet (Blueberry Bubbles)
• U. Berry Calm Puppy Shampoo (Blueberry and Lavender)
• U. Hairy Dog Shed Releasing Shampoo (Fresh Ginger Mint)
• U. Puppermint Pup (Peppermint and Chocolate)
• U. Smelly Dog Eau de Toilet (Rosemary Peppermint)

Other lines of SPAW products include U. Puppy Dog (hypoallergenic unscented products for puppies) and U. Pumpkin Patch Pup, which makes your dog smell like pumpkin pie. How great is that?! Mutt Nose best also produces a natural healing balm for cracked noses and paw pads, a gentle ear and eye wipes formula complete with ingenious shaped wipes that fit your finger, and naturally shed Maine deer antler chews.

All of Mutt Nose Best’s products are produced from natural and organic ingredients, with as many as possible coming from local producers. The cleaning products are free of sulfates, and everything is produced with an eye to keeping the company’s carbon footprint as small as possible. The shampoos and conditioners come as 22:1 concentrates, so the little 4-ounce bottles of concentrate and the right amount of water will produce over 5 gallons of regular-strength product. Buy your stuff in groomer gallons, and you’ll have a ginormous supply of great stuff at hand. You’ll save a huge amount of money, time, and driving — plus, you’ll be supporting a local Maine company.

We Tried ‘Em

It took us a while to line up enough dirty and smelly dogs (Charlie, our resident archaeologist, was a repeat customer), but we tried each and every product in our Mutt Nose Best CARE package. Every single one smelled HEAVENLY — so much so that I’m not sure I could possibly pick a favorite. The shampoos did a wonderful job of removing the stink from our chosen victims customers. I loved everything about them — the lather, the cleaning efficiency, the kindness to my skin and the dogs’… and did I mention the fragrances?! Ahhhhhhh.

The U. Berry Clean Dog Conditioner did exactly what it was supposed to do — help smooth out tangles — and it also helped to keep down static electricity. Here in Maine in winter, the dry weather often results in accidental zaps to everybody. Keeping the static down is important with dogs as hairy as ours — otherwise, they could end up with this hairstyle…

Normally, the Beardies don’t smell very “doggy,” unless they’ve managed to get into some fragrant kind of trouble. Even Charlie, the old dirt fanatic, smells like clean laundry when he’s been outside in the sunshine. We tried the Eau de Toilet sprays on the dogs anyway, knowing we’d love the scent. It lingers; Badger smelled like blueberry muffins for breakfast for most of the day.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Conclusion

The only other thing I have to say about Mutt Nose Best’s wonderful products is GET THEM NOW. Really. NOW. Not only will you have the fun of using enchanting-smelling, organic, green, safe products on your pups, but you’ll be supporting a terrific local company.

Get Some For Free!

We just happen to be giving away a Premium Gift Package of U. Berry Clean Dog products. You’ll get 4-ounce bottles of the Wild Maine Blueberry Shampoo, Conditioner, and Eau de Toilet Spray, all packed up elegantly inside a Mutt Nose Best logo travel dog bowl!

If you want it, just follow these Wicked Simple Rules…

Wicked Simple Rules

1. Go visit the Mutt Nose Best website, then come back to this blog and leave a comment about what other product line of theirs you think you’d like best. Make sure you leave your comments on the blog. We adore Facebook comments, but we don’t count them toward entries.
2. Like Mutt Nose Best on Facebook.
3. While you’re there, please show a little love for the Shaggy Dog Stories Facebook page.

Entries close on Friday, February 3. Best of luck!

Congratulations to Kelly Ann Thuet and Murphy for being the lucky winnahs of the $25 Mr. Chewy shopping spree! Kelly Ann indicated that she’d buy some Taste of the Wild dog food with her bounty, and now she can go indulge in some mercantile therapy on Murphy’s behalf!

It wasn’t until I saw her Facebook page that I realized that Murphy was a Malamute. I’ve always had a soft spot for those dogs, especially Dinah’s obedience classmate Oonah. (Oonah talks. I can’t get enough of it!)

I wish I had enough Mr. Chewy promos to hand one out to everybody… but there are loads of Mr. Chewy giveaways going on all over the place. Try poshonabudget.com and lisablogs, for starters.

Didn’t Win This Time? Don’t Despair!

The giveaway for the Dog Cancer Survival Guide ends tomorrow, January 23. We also have some really wonderful local products for our next giveaway and some really great books in the queue — plus some other great stuff. Come on back and enter!

Charlie Brown is officially a three-time cancer survivor at age 14 ½. He’s had spindle cell carcinomas, all of which were slow-growing and easily enough removed with good margins. Spindle cell carcinomas originate in the spindle cells in the muscle layer; his were relatively superficial. You might say that he’s a lucky dog. We can also credit good breeding (his parents were both long-lived, and at least one grandparent made it to 17), a healthy environment, plenty of exercise, and good quality food.

Because we have a survivor in the family, I eagerly accepted an invitation to review the second edition of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. The book is already a best-seller on Amazon in both softcover and Kindle editions, and as part of the Dog Cancer Kit.

Veterinarian Dr. Damian Dressler and veterinary oncologist Dr. Susan Ettinger cram an astonishing amount of information, expertise, explanations, and even coping mechanisms into just shy of 500 pages. Don’t let the sheer size of the volume discourage you, though. The book has been written and formatted to resemble the popular “Dummies” books, and the information works much the same way. There is a lot of information to absorb, sure, but you’ll get it all in plain English.

If I had to distill the book’s instructions into two sentences, I might choose these: “First, do whatever you can to get a grip on yourself. Then, do everything within your power to give your dog the best life possible — and there’s a lot you can do.”

It’s not bad advice. If you’ve received a diagnosis from your vet with the word “cancer” in it, the natural reaction is to feel as though you’ve been punched in the stomach, and that your best friend is about to die in front of you. Dr. Dressler reminds you that your dog is still there with you, and in order to be the best possible health advocate and cancer fighter for your dog, you need to get past the emotions of that horrific word “cancer” and get ready to give the disease both barrels (in Dressler’s words, “Full Spectrum Care.”). He also gives advice on how to help your dog to be in the best frame of mind for healing.

Chapters of the book describe both traditional and alternative approaches in detail, including what to expect both before and after the therapy. There are herbs and supplements, a cancer-fighting diet formulated in such a manner as to reduce the environmental carcinogens as much as possible, simple (but potentially helpful) advice, such as not feeding your dog from a plastic dish (I’ve been a fan of stainless steel for many years), managing the side effects of treatment, and even links to some financial resources and ideas. The appendices are loaded with information on herbs and supplements, veterinary medical references, and scads of other helpful material. Some chapters, such as those that discuss quality of life and euthanasia, are hard to read, but they simply and honestly discuss what you’ll need to consider.

Dr. Ettinger’s chapters are essential, just-the-facts information about specific, common types of cancers: description, diagnosis, prognosis, common therapies, and, at the end of each, “The Bottom Line.” If you hear a diagnosis of cancer, these chapters are the ones to seek out first in order to fully understand your enemy.

A number of related web-based resources have sprung up around the book, including a site with over 40 special videos (with transcripts) on specific types of cancers, and the Dog Cancer Blog (where the original e-book first edition of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide was created and sold).

To be honest, the book is not without warts. Dressler uses the AR-icky term “guardian” to denote a dog owner — oooh, excuse me: “pet parent” — who loves his dog enough to be the dog’s best health advocate. The rest of you are mere “dog lovers.” Poo on you. Also a bit off-putting were the frequent and fervent testimonials planted throughout the book. Although some contained genuinely useful information, their presence (combined with the section on backlash from other members of the veterinary community) gives the appearance of approval-seeking from the reader — not what you really need from an authoritative reference. Unless one happens to be religious, the inclusion of prayer as a medical therapy leaves one wondering whether or not voodoo might be listed next. Use it if it works for you, but please don’t sell it as science. To Dressler’s credit, the numerous commercials through the book for his cancer-fighting supplement Apocaps are balanced by an honest discussion of the supplement’s contents and what each component does.

I worked for a while as a web developer for a virtual office company, creating marketing sites almost exactly like dogcancer.tv. The experience taught me a great deal about online marketing and sales, audience analysis, targeted use of free content, and how to keep a casual reader’s attention long enough to (hopefully) persuade that reader to become a customer — and after that, a repeat customer. One other thing it taught me was to be wary of any website that uses a lot of black and red text in the Impact font, centered, on white, with arrows and autoplaying video. Whether you know it or not, that site is out to sell you something. Just sayin’.

That said, the book itself genuinely lives up to its tagline, “If your dog has cancer, you need this book.” Don’t just read it once, though. Read it multiple times, as many as you need to be absolutely clear about what you’re going to do next. Refer to it again and again. The book is not intended as a substitute for a veterinarian’s care, but use it to work with your vet as part of your dog’s medical team. Even if you don’t agree with everything you read, there is enough genuine, helpful, simply stated information in the book to help you weigh all your options and decide on the best treatment plan.

Even if your dog doesn’t have cancer, you need this book — especially if you happen to have a breed (or mix of breeds) that is predisposed to developing cancer. Read it, and then keep it handy on your reference shelf. You never know when someone you know will need some common-sense advice on how to beat an all-too-common disease.

Want a Copy?

We’re giving away a copy of this fascinating sourcebook for your reference shelf! All you have to do is follow these Wicked Simple Rules…

Wicked Simple Rules

1. Like the Dog Cancer Survival Guide on Facebook. If you like, download the free Dog Cancer Diet e-book.
2. While you’re there, come on over and Like the Shaggy Dog Stories fan page.
3. Leave a comment on this blog saying why you’d like to have this book. Comments on Facebook are always appreciated, but they don’t count toward the entries.

As always, we use a random-number-picking script to find our lucky winnah by comment number.

Entries close on Monday, January 23.

Remember back when Mr. Chewy invited us to try out the service? If you recall, we were able to find our favorite food, some hard-to-find brands and formulas, and lots of treats we love. The site was easy to navigate, and browsing was just plain enjoyable. When we found our items and loaded our basket, checkout was dirt-simple, and there were no problems applying coupon codes or anything. Best of all, the prices compare favorably to those in the local stores, and orders over $49 ship free! Really, you can’t beat that with a stick.

Since our review, the Mr. Chewy online store has expanded its offerings; their cat foods and treat selections have expanded, and they now offer Royal Canin prescription pet foods along with the 70+ brands of dog food, loads of dog and cat treats and cat food, and various other pet supplies. They have also added a live chat function, so you can ask questions even when the friendly people on the phone are off duty.

Also since our review, Mr. Chewy has selected more worthy animal charities than the last batch. The Bide-a-Wee Shelter is an actual animal shelter in New York (actually, three animal shelters), and you can be more certain that monies they receive will go toward helping actual animals, not the sad-eyed waifs-behind-chainlink-fences on the TV commercials for less scrupulous “charities.” (I used to like Sarah McLachlan’s music before she sold out to those crooks.)

If you’re ordering from Mr. Chewy for the first time, use the referral code SALT7810 to automatically get 10% off your first order. At the same time, Mr. Chewy will send $10 to Bide-a-Wee on your behalf. If you like this idea, you can sign up for your own Referral Code, and then your friends can each get a 10% discount and have $10 donations sent to one of the selected charities.

Or Shop For Free!

Yes, you heard that right. One lucky winnah gets a special discount code good for $25 off any Mr. Chewy order, no matter how big or how small. (Well, your order should at least equal $25.) If your order is also above $49, it ships for free! How sweet is that?!

Go ahead and browse Mr. Chewy’s website. Find stuff you like? Well, just follow the Wicked Simple Rules below and you could get the secret code for the $25 shopping spree!

Wicked Simple Rules

1. Go visit Mr. Chewy and tell us what you’d order if someone gave you $25. Be sure to comment on the blog. We love Facebook comments and read and cherish every one, but they just plain don’t count as entries.
2. Like Mr. Chewy on Facebook.
3. While you’re there, please show Shaggy Dog Stories a little fan-page love (if you haven’t already).

As always, the lucky winnah will be chosen at random by a random-number chooser.

Entries for this contest close on Saturday, January 21.

Here it is — first coupon for Instinct Raw for this year. Nature’s Variety has created a new presence for the Instinct brand on Facebook. If you like using the coupons, why don’t you stop over there and say hello?

Click on the image below to get one in a printable size.

If you’re already a fan of Nature’s Variety products, don’t forget that we have two other coupons here on the blog that are still valid…

• $3 off Instinct Raw Patties 4-packs
• $3 off two boxes of Instinct Biscuits

(And it wasn’t a fix!)

Congratulations to Valarie Maloney from far-off Scarborough, ME! Our automated winnah-picking program picked her from among the respondents to be the lucky recipient of a packaged of Wild Meadow Farms Beef Bites! Now we’ll really get to see whether any dog can resist the glorious beefy temptation that beckoned to my dogs and promised them all sorts of deliciousness.

I took the last handful of our trial package to Badger’s Nosework class last week. Badger has always had the kind of nose that could locate a single kibble in a warehouse full of stuff. He’s done well in Nosework, but after I used the Wild Meadow Farms goodies for food pairings, his skill level increased by a factor of at least a zillion. Talk about motivation!

Curious what your dog would do for a handcrafted, nothing-but-beef treat? Head on over to Wild Meadow Farms and find out!

Oh, By the Way…

Val is the owner and chief creative force behind Showstopper K-9 Gifts, a Maine-based business featuring hand-painted images of any breed of dog on jewelry, trophies, clothing, glasses and dishes… you name it. She even does custom work, and can paint an image of your dog from a photo onto practically anything.

Anyway, Val is offering a giveaway of her own on her Showstopper Facebook page! The beautiful Valentine Beardies shown above are just a sampling from her Valentine collection. She can make a Valentine featuring your dog — any breed, any color.

Want to Win One?

To participate in Val’s giveaway, go Like her page on Facebook and follow her own Wicked Simple Rules. The contest ends on January 25, so you’d better get hopping!

Some years ago, I had an old Beardie named Doogie (his name was actually MacDougal, but he was definitely a Doogie). He came to me as a rehome at the age of 7, a big, handsome, sweet-natured lug with a heart of gold and the mind of a lifer at Alcatraz. You’d never know it to look at the old goofus, but that dog could open doors and cabinets, break into almost any trashcan, and pick an escape route through any sized opening.

Of course, he used to save his best escapades for when I went off to work. No matter how well I secured the doors, Doog would still occasionally find ways to slip out and have himself some adventures while I worked to pay for his fancy designer kibble and his obedience classes. I would come home to answering-machine messages from my animal-loving neighbor, who would find Doogie catching and eating frogs out of my pond. She’d march him back to my garage and close him in… whereupon he’d set his attentions to the trash bags awaiting a trip to the dump. I’d come home to find my garage floor strewn with trash, and one damp, happy and self-satisfied Doogie sitting right in the middle of it all.

The one time I truly wish I’d trained a webcam on Doogie was the day when I left a frying pan in the sink, filled with hot soapy water to soak off whatever I’d managed to get stuck to it. A completely soaking-wet Doogie, adorned with soap suds, greeted me at the door that night. It wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened: the old criminal had managed to pick up the pan in the sink and lift it, and then had upended the thing all over himself. That might just have been the surprise of a lifetime for him. All I could do was laugh… and laugh… and mop the kitchen floor.

If I’d had a VueZone Personal Video Network back then, maybe I could have captured Doogie’s exploits on video, uploaded them to YouTube, and retired early with the huge piles of money I might have made from having a viral video. Or not.

Sure, I owned a webcam at the time — but not a compact, battery-powered, mountable one that works on wifi, as the VueZone systems do. I didn’t have a smartphone then, so I wouldn’t have had the chance to have video clips from home that I could view through the VueZone smartphone app.

A while back, I was invited to join in on a webinar that discussed the VueZone system and its many uses. None of us attendees really got to see the system up close and personal, but we did have quite a lively Q&A session with the presenters. We all had a chance to see how amazingly versatile (and reasonably-priced) this system can be.

It’s easy to start small and expand. The wireless motion detection camera runs for 5-6 months on camera batteries. Hang one up on the included wall mount, connect the gateway to your existing wifi network, and you’re off and running. Depending on the service plan you buy (or go with the free one), you can add up to 3 gateways and 15 cameras, get video alerts emailed to your computer, use the related app to view videos on your smartphone or tablet, pan and zoom the cameras (digitally, rather than by physically moving them), capture video frames as photos, and even store the videos for later YouTube stardom.

Although you can use the VueZone network as a security camera system or to watch the pets or kids, you can easily set up these compact wireless cameras just about anywhere, indoors or out. You can set up VueZone cameras in the barn, in your business, by the whelping box, in your yard, in your vacation camp… or even use them for bird or wildlife watching. You can log in to the system while you’re traveling to check that everything is OK at home… or whether your old dog has just doused himself with soapsuds and is there waiting for his chance at stardom on America’s Funniest Home Videos.

If you’re intrigued, go on over to the VueZone website and take a look. The company is offering a giveaway of hardware and services worth $500, and the entries close on 2/12/12.

You were warned. Bring one of these packages into your home and open it up, and your dogs just might experience some of the following symptoms: dancing, bouncing, smiling, begging, mischievous glints in the eye, drooling, spontaneous tricks, and general wild hopefulness.

That’s what happened when we opened our sample package of Wild Meadow Farms Beef Bites. Old deaf Charlie, who was out in the yard at the time, scrambled up the stairs and through the dog door at the merest mention of these treats. The middle two boys tried climbing up on each other to get closer to the package. When I placed it into the fridge, Dinah very nearly climbed in there to retrieve it.

If you’re at all into dog training, you’ve probably heard the term “high value rewards.” Unless your dog can’t have beef for some reason, you will hardly find a higher value reward than this one. When the arthritic old 14-year-old dog threatens to do backflips for a piece, you know you have something special in hand. Heck, you could probably eat these yourself and ingest fewer preservatives than you would from trying one of the human jerky treats for sale next to the register at the local gas station.

Wild Meadow Farms is a Pennsylvania-based boutique producer of hand-crafted, one-ingredent, all-beef dog treats that dogs will do just about anything to get. Their motto: “1 Source. 1 Ingredient. 1 Great Dog Treat.”

If you exhibit at dog shows around the area, you might be lucky enough to have seen them at the shows. If your dog is turning up his nose at the bait you brought with you — or if you’re running short of bait — you should drop over to the Wild Meadow Farms booth and be prepared to make your dog’s day. Even if you’re not local to PA or you don’t do conformation or performance events, you can order these simple, irresistible treats and have them delivered to your door. Just be sure to get to them before your dog knows they’ve been delivered!

These all-beef treats are prepared in small batches to ensure that you receive them at peak freshness. Once you open the package, keep it in the fridge to preserve quality. If necessary, the treats do freeze — but Wild Meadow Farms suggests ordering in small enough quantities so you’ll always have fresh treats on hand.

I was lucky to be able to ask Justin, the owner of Wild Meadow Farms, a few questions about the treats and the business. Here’s how the conversation went:

Shaggy Dog Stories: What inspired you to create Wild Meadow Farm treats?

Wild Meadow Farms: As a family, we try to eat food that is as close to the source as possible and when we looked at dog treats, we realized that there was a dearth of locally sourced treats available, so we tried to solve that issue. In the process, we also discovered that there were few treats that didn’t have a laundry list of ingredients. We tried to create a treat that was locally sourced (Lancaster, PA USA) and had the minimum number of ingredients, and didn’t fill our dog with unknown and mystery ingredients from unknown places.

Shaggy Dog Stories: Where do you get your beef from? Do you raise your own?

Wild Meadow Farms: We get all of our meat from local farms in Lancaster County, raised on small (read: less than 200 acres) family-owned and operated farms. It’s the same farm that we as a family buy our meat from. We work with the local farmers to get cattle that are raised on a grass-based diet and are fed NO grains, hormones, or antibiotics.

Shaggy Dog Stories: Do you have any helpful hints to keep the treats fresh for the maximum amount of time?

Wild Meadow Farms: We don’t make the treats until the consumer orders them so they are as fresh as possible. We also avoid chemical preservation, instead using only a drying method for preservation. As a result we vacuum-seal our treats and mail them directly to consumers for the freshest possible treat. Because of their freshness, we recommend placing the bag of treats in the refrigerator upon receipt even if it remains unopened for a few days. Many people ask us about freezing the treats. The point of the treats is to make them as fresh as possible, so we encourage people to order them as needed.

Shaggy Dog Stories: Do you keep a schedule of the dog shows and events you’re visiting so people can come to your booth?

Wild Meadow Farms: We are still working on establishing our schedule for the 2012 season. At this point we don’t have an official posting of the shows we will be at, but we are looking into it.

Shaggy Dog Stories: What about your dog(s)? Do you show or do performance events? Do you use your treats as bait in the ring?

Wild Meadow Farms: Our family dog is 15 years old and is past the point of being able to be a show dog. We just enjoy time with him at home and he loves sleeping and eating our treats.

Shaggy Dog Stories: Is there anything else you’d like folks to know?

Wild Meadow Farms: We want people to know that we are passionate about our treats and we really want to provide the best treat we can for all the dogs out there. We wanted to fill in a hole in market that we discovered. We wanted to make locally sourced, all grass-fed meat dog treats. We also make it a point to not put anything extra into the treats, so they are free of grains, salt, soy, fillers, preservatives, organ meats etc. It is just lean meat cuts. What dog wouldn’t want that?

We have had an overwhelmingly positive response and are excited about what the new year holds for Wild Meadow Farms. Although we will attend dog shows, we would really love to connect with consumers online so that we can deal directly with them and provide them with the freshest treat we can.

We wanted to start with grass-fed beef treats, but we anticipate eventually making treats from lamb, goat, and bison meat that also meet our high standards of quality.

The treat is a softer treat that is easy to tear into smaller pieces. Since our dog is older, he is missing many teeth. We wanted a treat that he could also enjoy, so our treat is made for young and old dogs alike.

It is important to us that the animal from which we get the meat leads a quality life as well. That is one of the many reasons we choose the meat that we do. The animals spend their lives on open pastures and are free to roam, not being confined in feed lots and cramped quarters.

We’ve also found our treat is great replacement for handlers, trainers, and owners who end up having to make treats week after week to ensure their dog’s happiness, health, and attention when it really matters.

We believe that our tag line “1 Source 1 Ingredient 1 Great Dog Treat” really helps sum up our thoughts and vision as succinctly as possible.

Sounds Good to You?

You know your dog wants to try these amazing treats! How about a giveaway? The lucky winnah will receive a package of Beef Bites, prepared and shipped absolutely fresh from Wild Meadow Farms. All you have to do is follow the usual Wicked Simple Rules…

Wicked Simple Rules

1. Leave a comment here on the blog and tell me what you think your dog would do for a Wild Meadow Farms treat. Responses on Facebook, while always appreciated, just don’t count.
2. Visit Wild Meadow Farms’ website. (They don’t have a Facebook page yet.)
3. If you’re on Twitter, follow Justin and crew at @wildmeadowfarms.
4. If you’re not already a fan of Shaggy Dog Stories on Facebook, come on over and show us some love.

The drawing will take place on Monday, January 9. As usual, the winnah will be drawn at random by our fancy-dancy number picker.

So… what are you waiting for? Your dog wants you to enter this giveaway!