Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Review: Pure Pet Food & Discount Code!

Posted on Tuesday, 9 December 2014

It's Tasty Tuesday and we've got

a rather tasty review for you today!

(There's also a discount code at the bottom of the post!)

Pure Pet Food got in touch and asked if we'd like to review their dog food. We'll let you into a little secret... We actually got sent a free sample last year when we first heard about them and loved it, so we're more than happy to do a review to tell all our lovely readers about it!

Who are Pure Pet Food?

You can read the full story here but in a nutshell, Pure was founded by two childhood friends, Dan and Mat, who one day asked themselves "Why would you feed your dog something you wouldn't eat yourself?" The pair decided to go back to basics and create dog food recipes solely from fresh, raw, human quality ingredients. Pure, dehydrate their food to avoid the harsh cooking process involved in making commercial pet foods. By doing so they make the food last, whilst preserving the natural goodness of the ingredients! They have 4 different recipes to choose from; Chicken Delicious (The food we got sent), Duck Delight, Chicken Dinner and Vegi Plus - All us folks have to do at home is add warm water!

What did we think?

Ooh a package! There's nothing more exciting than when a package arrives at the door and it's for me!

The box actually came in perfect condition... I just got a bit too excited and jumped on it, oops.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX MUM?!

Another box? I think someone's having a laugh with me here, this isn't pass the parcel.

Something is smelling good though!

*Please let it be food, pleeaasee let it be food!*

Huh? That doesn't look like food?

There's a scoop, a clip to reseal the bag, a leaflet and... A big bag of light brown powder???

Where's the food? I can definitely smell chicken!

Hmm, I was dubious as mum grabbed my food bowl. I listened to her read the directions...

"Okay, if Bernie is around 12kg I'll pop in a scoop and a half of powder. Yep that seems about right..."

So this powder is the food... Oookay...

"And exactly the same with the warm water, a scoop and a half."

Mum, maybe I should re-read those directions, this can't be right?

"And stir well. Mmm, looks appetizing, eh Bernie!"

No, no mum it certainly does not... If anything, it's ruined.

Surely you can't expect me to eat that.

"And now we leave it for 10-15 minutes"

Aww, what?!

I have no idea how long that is in dog time but I bet it's really long :(

Still waiting....

Mum, it's got to be ready now right?

I hope it looks better than it did before as it's smelling really tasty!

Oh Cool!

That now looks as good as it smells!

Is it ready to be eaten?

Om-nom

I have some on my face you say?

... Saving that bit for later

And my conclusion... Speaks for itself!

We would definitely recommend Pure! The small bag we received when rehydrated actually equates to a 2kg bag of dog food! Pretty impressive! We're keeping ours stashed in the cupboard, fresh (thanks to our free resealing clip) for those days when we run out of our usual brand of dog food.

If you fancy treating your dog to some Pure Pet Food don't forget to enter "BERNIE" at the checkout to receive 10% off your order! (The website by the way, is totally awesome and really fun to explore).

Pure Pet Food provided me with the products for review, but did not otherwise compensate me for this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post and on this blog are entirely my own.

Applaws uncovers pet food labels

Posted on Thursday, 27 November 2014

Were you aware?

Mum takes great pride in making sure she knows what she's feeding me and that it's only the best. We did a post back in April highlighting certain dog food brands to be aware of and our reasons why: Berniethefrenchie: J is for Junk Food
Perhaps the most shocking thing is that some well known products labelled ‘with meat’ only have to have a minimum 4% meat by law!

How well do you know your dog?

We got 88%
Reckon you can do better?
Click below and have a go!

Images and links supplied for Berniethefrenchie by Applaws

Review: PetShopBowl

Posted on Monday, 17 November 2014

Morning all! We have a review for you all today!

PetShopBowl got in contact with us a few weeks back and after exchanging some quick emails, they sent out a big box of products for us to review just days later! We were very impressed with the super-speedy delivery! Let's do a quick background check...

Who are PetShopBowl?

"Hello from PetShopBowl!
PetShopBowl is a nationwide home delivery subscription service to pet food. We are a young company with a team of friendly, helpful staff dedicated to saving you time and money. All of our staff are pet owners so we understand the needs of other pet parents.
How it all began…
The idea for PetShopBowl came from the founder; Adam's personal experience. His mother suffers from arthritis and struggled with carrying heavy bags of dog food and last minute rushes to the supermarket to stock up on cat food. Adam also noticed that supermarket prices were really expensive and so he decided to set up a business with his partner Lexi that would make a positive impact on the pet industry.
What we do…
We stock over 10,000 products and all major brands of pet food and supplies
We offer a unique subscription service called Bottomless Bowl to ensure you never run out of pet food again.
We deliver everything straight to your door and offer free delivery on all orders over £19.99
We aim to provide excellent customer service."

Sounds pretty good, right? We thought so too!

Since my human baby brother arrived, it's been difficult getting out the house. On more than one occasion I've completely run out of food and dad has been sent out to the nearest pet shop to grab me some food - and that's IF they have it in stock!! Then there's the lugging it back home! Which currently, is not fun - we've had a lot of wet weather lately and our car is broke. Why go through all that hassle when we can pop over to PetShopBowl's website, select what we'd like and get the postman to deliver it straight to our door?!

Wait! There's more! By having a quick look on their website, we notice that they not only do dog food but also, dog toys, accessories, beds and flea and worming treatments! They also sell products for Cats, Birds, Reptiles, Fish and Small Furries! The website is well laid out and very easy to navigate.

So, what did we make of their service?

I didn't want to get too excited just in case it was ANOTHER package for baby Travis...

Wait!.... Is this for ME?!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! It is! It's all for meeee!

What's in the box mum?

PetShopBowl very kindly sent us:

A 2kg bag of Canagan Dry Dog Food

12 tins of Hills Ideal Balance Dog Food

A small box of Lily's Kitchen Bedtime Biscuits

And a fabulous Kong Toy !!

It's two weeks later and I've just finished off the last can of Hills food. It was incredibly tasty but mum said it made my back end smell awful! Haha! I'm now halfway through my bag of Canagan and mum and I are both very impressed with the quality of this dry food - so much so that we're considering purchasing some more! Lily's Kitchen biscuits are soooo yummy although mum's not too impressed with the crumbs left in the rug... Oops.

And... I'm still enjoying my Kong toy :)

PetShopBowl can also be found on Facebook and Twitter

PetShopBowl provided me with the products for review, but did not otherwise compensate me for this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post and on this blog are entirely my own.

J is for Junk food

Posted on Friday, 11 April 2014

By 'junk food', I mean dog food brands that you should AVOID!

Are you paying attention to the ingredients label when purchasing your dog's food? If not, you should. If your dog consumes food containing animal derivatives, artificial flavours or corn/cereals, your dog's diet may be lacking in the essential vitamins and nutrients that help maintain good health.

Although many well known pet food brand labels claim to be "premium" these may in fact offer very little or no nutrition for your dog. Any brand can consider their food premium even if it only contains 4% beef.

Ingredients to look for:

Animal protein should be one of the first ingredients i.e. turkey, salmon, beef, lamb
Grains, vegetables or fruits should be clearly labeled
If the food contains animal meal it should say so i.e. chicken meal, lamb meal

Ingredients to avoid:

Meat by-products / animal derivatives. This is a cheap way of adding protein and are generally not as nutritious. It does not require as much care in the handling process. It can be sourced from any animals i.e. Chicken? Horse? Rabbit? Emu? Rat? Giraffe?... and can include but is not limited to; teeth, intestines, hooves, brains, feathers etc.
Artificial preservatives, colours and sweeteners. Natural preservatives are much healthier and there is really no need for kibble to be coloured green to look like peas
Corn / Cereals. These are added to bulk out foods and have little beneficial nutritional value. Some products can contain up to 80% cereals! They can irritate allergies, cause dry itchy skin, upset the stomach, increase hyper-activeness and more. Quality food brands tend to use fruit and veg to bulk their foods instead. This is not to say that all grains are bad, rice can be beneficial.

It's all in the labeling! You should avoid brands with unclear labeling. Here are two examples; one good and one bad:

Food brand one:
Lamb (42%) (Lamb Meat Meal, Lamb Gravy), Sweet Potato (30%), Potato (8%), Rapeseed Oil (4%), Pea Starch (4%), Linseed (3%), Beet Pulp (2%), Alfalfa (1%), Yeasts, Carrot (1%), Minerals, Tomato Powder (0.5%), Seaweed Meal (0.5%), Herbs (Marjoram 167 Mg/kg, Orgeano 167 Mg/kg, Parsley 167 Mg.kg, Rosemary 167 Mg/kg), Yucca (200 Mg/kg), Cranberry (100 Mg/kg), Marigold (50 Mg/kg).

Food brand two:
Cereals (35%), Meat and Animal Derivatives (26% Meat in the Chunk, 4% Beef in the Brown & Natural Kernels), Vegetable Protein Extracts, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Oils and Fats, Various Sugars, Minerals, Vegetables (4% Vegetables in the Green & Yellow Kernels). with Colourants, Antioxidants and Preservatives.

It's quite obvious which is the good and which is the bad, right?

Food brand one was Wainwrights Grain Free Lamb and food brand two will hopefully come as no surprise... Bakers complete.

So, which well known brands should you be wary of?

Bakers - #1 worst of all time. It is PACKED with additives, preservatives and sugars. In fact, it contains 13 E numbers, some of which are banned in certain countries. You wouldn't feed your kids McDonalds everyday so don't feed the dog equivalent to your pet.

Pedigree - Unclear labeling, mainly cereals with a measly 8% chicken, contains colourants and preservatives

Iams - Unclear labeling, contains wheat and maize and added salt

Beta - Unclear labeling, main ingredient is cereals, 4% chicken and 14% meat - doesn't specify from what animal

Royal Canin - Unclear labeling, contains wheat and maize and artificial additives

Eukanuba - Contains wheat and maize

Frolic - Very unclear labeling. Contains mostly cereals, animals derivatives with 4% beef, sugars and milk

Wagg - Main ingredient is wheat. Also contains maize and artificial additives

Hi-Life - Unclear labeling. First listed ingredient is meat meal (which meat?) also contains wheat and added salt

Hills - Foods contain low meat content and mostly maize

Winalot - Unclear labeling i.e. meat and animal derivatives 27% of which 14% meat (what's in the other 13%???) also contains cereals and sugars

Pro-Plan - Low meat content, contains wheat, maize and added salt

Any supermarket own brands i.e. Tesco, Asda, Pets at home - all cheap for a reason!

We're also jumping on the Pet Parade blog hop hosted by Rascal And Rocco, Jan's Funny Farm, Bionic Basil, Barking From The Bayou and Love Is Being Owned By A Husky!

An InLinkz Link-up

BIG apologies - Back to blogging!!

Posted on Sunday, 2 March 2014

I can't believe I've abandoned my blog for the last 7 months!! I'm so so sorry! :(

So much has happened since then! Allow me to fill you in quickly...

My mum became pregnant!
Partly the reason for the absence as she was very unwell in the first trimester

I turned 1!
and looked absolutely miserable about it lol

I had my first family Christmas
and had to wear this stupid outfit. Ho ho help me.

I also decided that showing wasn't for me. I'm more than happy with just being a family pet, especially with my new little brother on the way.

I learned looaaddss of new tricks! You'll find a list on the bottom of this page.

My mum found a food that suits my sensitive tummy and tastes amazing. It's by Wainwrights and is their salmon and potato kibble. I also get their turkey and rice trays - they are my absolute favourite!

I was featured in the Your Dog magazine with my mum. She was quizzed about what it's like to own a french bulldog. I've read it and she's made me sound marvelous.

I learned to cock my leg!

We're moving house... and location! With my little brother on the way we've decided to move from Bristol back to North Devon! I can't wait to show my new little bro all the beaches!

AND I got big!! I now weigh 11kg and mum says I no longer look like a little puppy. Hooray!

Eden review - First impressions!

Posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Mum bought me some new dog food! God, I love that woman!

It's by a company called Eden and it's their Multi-Meat and Fish Formula.

I had previously been eating a raw diet but my tummy wasn't agreeing with it and I had a bit of a choking incident which I believe was the last straw for mum. She has been feeding me temporarily on Wainwrights Turkey and Rice Puppy Kibble which is also a very good food and is one of Pets At Home's brands.

Anyway! The new food arrived and I was so excited to try it as I know mum has been eagerly waiting for it to arrive. I tried a few pieces and I absolutely love it!! Mum is still giving me my old food though that I don't really like. She says it's to "introduce the new food slowly to avoid upset tummies", but that's fine... I'll just pick it out and leave the old stuff in the bowl. HAH!

I'm desperate for some more, it tastes soooo good! I've even been sat in the kitchen giving mum the big puppy dog eyes and licking the bag but she doesn't seem to be taking the hint.

Also, mum wanted me to tell you a little more about the food so here goes:

Rated 5 out of 5 on WhichDogFood.

Ingredients:
Fresh Chicken 19%, Dried Chicken 17%, Fresh Salmon 16%, Herring Meal 14%, Potato 10%, Sweet Potato 5%, Chicken Fat 5%, Dried Duck 4%, Dried Whole Egg 3%, Chicken Gravy 2%, Fresh White Fish 2%, Lucerne, Pea Fibre, Mineral & Vitamins, Carrot, Spinach, Apple, Joint Support Pack (Glucosamine (355mg/kg), MSM (355mg/kg) & Chondroitin (250mg/kg)), Rosehips, Camomile, Burdock Root, Aniseed & Fenugreek, Mixed Herbs (Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano and Sage), Seaweed, Cranberry and Prebiotic FOS.

Comes in small and large kibble sizes. Mum bought me the large kibble as I have a big bulldog mouth!

£49.99 for a 15kg bag!

Only the best for moi! I shall let you know how I'm getting on with it in a weeks time.

First impression?... PAWSOME!!!

Older Posts

Impersonator of pigs, bats & gremlins. Lover of duvet days & all things edible.

Followers

Archives

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Review: Pure Pet Food & Discount Code!

Applaws uncovers pet food labels

Review: PetShopBowl

J is for Junk food

BIG apologies - Back to blogging!!

Eden review - First impressions!

Categories

Impersonator of pigs, bats & gremlins. Lover of duvet days & all things edible.

Followers

Archives

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Related articles

Categories