Lifestyle: Dog Treats For Dogs (And Humans)

In June I was dog sitting Jarvis, our family labradoodle. He is a handsome chocolate coloured life-sized Teddy bear with a very gentle and kind character. Last time when he saw me working on a blog post, Jarvis seemed very fascinated by it. I told him that people read and like my blog and sometimes I get nice things sent to review. He asked me 'Do you think people would like me to do a post?' and I said 'Yes sure, people are fascinated when they meet you in public, so why not give it a try ?'.

Said and done. I wrote a polite pitch to some pet brands explaining that my dog and I were looking for some support for the post. Pooch & Mutt and Salty Dog replied and kindly gifted some products to us to try out and review. We both had no idea what to expect and how this blog post will turn out in the end.

|First Treat: Salty Dog*|

I found Salty Dog after an online search and I liked their website a lot with their comic dog mascot and pet friendly jargon to navigate the site. They won a Cool Brands award in 2012/2013 and I found the product, crisps for dogs, intriguing and thought this might be an unusual pet snack. Usually crisps are a no-go for dogs, as the salt some how gives them a chemical imbalance and the potatoes affect their digestive nervous and urinary systems. I was under the impression that these crisps were designed for dogs, so my pitch about us looking for some dog products went straight to Salty Dog's email address.

After a few days, Jarvis and I received various crisps samples. We had a range of different flavours to chose from, e.g. sea salt, ham and wholegrain mustard, sweet chili, jalapeno and coriander, flame grilled steak. So we opened the grilled steak sample first and the wrapper rustled nicely, which attracted Jarvis's attention immediately. It took less than a minute for him to have his nose stuck into the packaging. I can't blame him for that as the crisps smelled delicious.

I tried the sweet chili sample and liked the crunchy texture and flavour of the crisps, though the snack was slightly greasy and a look at the nutrition table revealed that they were not the healthiest. Anyway, whilst I was munching one crisp after another my family joined me and we recognised that Jarvis was gone for a good 30 minutes. We found him in our stream, drinking the water hastily and this was the first time, since I reached out to Salty Dog and my pitch stating that I was looking for a pet product, that I realised those crisps might not be for dogs, but for humans (!!).

My family had a look at the website and checked. The crisps were indeed crisps for humans which was an awkward and embarrassing moment for me. My family found the whole incident hilarious and it made them laugh at me for the entire afternoon, which is fair enough. I'm always happy to contribute to everyone's entertainment. Jarvis luckily didn't have any funny reactions and we all sat down later in the evening to finish the samples and started laughing all over again when thinking about the misunderstanding. What a great start to a blog post and story to tell!

Salty Dog crisps are not for dogs, but for humans. They are very rich in (artificial) flavour and probably not the healthiest snack, but they'll definitely guarantee a fun family time. You can get their hand-cooked crisps online at a price of £19.20 for a box set of 30 x 40g.

|Second Treat: Pooch & Mutt*|

Pooch & Mutt are DEFINITELY a pet brand, just to avoid another embarrassing misunderstanding. I found them through Twitter and their products have been awarded a European Design award for their practical, but decorative tube packaging. The brand responded within a few days and sent two tubes of their Charity Chicken and Brain & Train snack.

There are 150 gluten-free, hand-baked mini-bone treats per package. Made of chicken and mixed herbs with no added sugar or salt, this is a low calorie and healthy supplement for Jarvis.

As you can see, he absolutely loves those biscuits. Whenever I shake the tube, Jarvis comes running to me as he knows exactly what this rattling noise means: a delicious treat for him. The use of natural ingredients won’t harm his delicate digestive system and I feel that I'm giving him the right snack to enjoy in between his main meals. Though the bones are a bit small for such a big boy, the package lasted for a while. We still have some Brain & Train bones made of ginkgo biloba and coconut oil to support memory and concentration, left over. So no more crisps :)

You'll find the colourful Pooch & Mutt tubes at Waitrose for £2.99 and the range includes a great selection of healthy treats, f.ex a parsley-based version for fresh breath or chamomile bones to calm and relax your dog. The brand has also launched a new range of grain-free foods.

Jarvis and I had a fun time working on this post, as we didn't expect such an outcome. I hope you've enjoyed reading today's piece as much as we did reviewing the products.

Till next time,

xx Jarvis & Caz xx

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*PR sample. Thank you so much, Woof!