Raising Healthy Dogs with HardyPet {Sponsored}

What do you feed your pets? The more that I explore and understand human nutrition, the more I consider this question. If I believe that humans are healthiest on a diverse, vitamin-rich diet, doesn't it follow that my pets would thrive on such a diet too?

Our little dog Hawise stopped being interested in dry food about a year ago. We tried switching brands but she was never excited about it. I'm not a fussy pet owner and wasn't about to get into cooking a fresh meal, but I'd always been curious about raw diets for dogs. With a friends' encouragement, I started feeding Hawise raw frozen chicken. She thrived and I began to notice that she wasn't quite as anxious as usual and her smelly breath lessened.

When our new puppy Annabel entered our life, I chose a high protein, grain-free dry dog food. She is far less picky than Hawise but doesn't seem to have as strong of a digestive system. And instead of chewing food she swallows it in big gulps, so we haven't switched to the raw diet yet but we might someday.

Pet Vitamin Supplements

HardyPet recently offered me a chance to try their Blue Box Bundle of health-supporting supplements for dogs. The box arrived by mail and I let Anabel try to open it. She could smell something good but fortunately isn't a very destructive pup and couldn't figure out how to get inside.

I started feeding the dogs HardyPet Complete, a multivitamin, right away. Both gobble up the tablet eagerly. While I haven't noticed any outward effects, I do feel more secure that Hawise is getting balanced nutrition with a primarily raw diet. I am hopeful that with nutritional supplementation, we can avoid some of the more common canine aging problems like joint pain, heart disease, and immune disfunction.

Annabel uses the HardyChew daily. She loves her soft toys too, but I appreciate the durability of the antler.

I'm giving the probiotic HardyPet Canine PRO6 as a support when they've eaten something suspect. Anabel cleared a couple plates at our Pi Day party last weekend, for example, so I fed her PRO6 for a couple days to help her digest the human foods.

About HardyPet

I didn't accept the offer from HardyPet before researching their company. With all the pet food recalls and questionable ingredient sourcing, I wanted to be sure this was a manufacturer whose values matched my own.

The mission of HardyPet is to reduce pets surrendered to shelters because of poor health. Being a supporter of Capital Area Humane Society, I know all too well the number of animals that come in with nutritional deficiencies and all sorts of related health issues.

HardyPet is a researched-based company with roots in the animal welfare world. Their products were developed for animal shelter use and continue to be used by shelters to restart nutritional balance. HardyPet uses pharmaceutical grade ingredients and offer a money-back guarantee to back their well-tested products.

I found the Blue Box Bundle a convenient way to support optimal nutrition for my dogs. If you'd like to try it too, HardyPet is offering free shipping and value pricing on the bundle for a limited time.

Disclosure: HardyPet sponsored this post. I was provided the featured products for free, but all opinions are 100% my own.

Seven

Dear Lil, You are seven years old today!

When you transformed us from a couple to a 'little family', we had no idea what that would mean. We know now that the length of your labor and delivery (36 hours!) is nothing in comparison to the abundance we feel with you in our lives.

Your curiousity gives us the excuse to explore the world through new eyes. Your energy makes us wrestle, run, hike, and tickle. Your questions cause us to search for answers in ourselves.

We love to watch you grow even though we frequently tell you to "stop growing". You answer "that's scarcasm!", revealing your maturing sense of humor.

This year you taught yourself to read and opened your world to Garfield, chapter books, and street signs. We experience no greater pleasure than turning out your light after you fall asleep with a book in hand.

Life isn't always easy in a household with three first-borns. We all have big ideas and seek perfection. We are learning to listen to each other and make mistakes.

You are patient with all of the adults in your life - your aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents. When we bore you with our "talk, talk, talk" you amuse yourself with dog friends Hawise, Devie, Molly, and Ani. You are loved by your big family and many pets.

We look forward to moving into your third home, travelling, and helping you find the kitten of your dreams in the coming year. We know you will surprise us with your own plans too.

Happy Birthday Lil!

Love,

Mama and Papa

Bathing the Little Hound {Wordless Wednesday}

Low to the ground, the little hound dirties quickly. Fortunately, our deep numerar sink contains her for baths followed by baby bunting towel wraps. We love a clean Hawise!

Confessions {Friday Five}

1. I like to make jam but I rarely eat it. 2. Same with pickles. Hence, my pantry is overabundant and I give many jarred gifts.

3. I failed at worm composting last year. I so don't like squishy creatures that I hated tending the box and turned the wigglers lose in my compost bin in the summer. I am keeping my awesome One20 Farm composter with the hopes that someday I'll get over my fear or convince Lil to tend worms for me.

4. I don't like the way I look on tv or in pictures. Thankfully this video segment on local news about moms who blog with Mikaela Hunt included beauties Amy Turn Sharp, Diane Davis Lang, Susie Owens, and Wendy Hondroulis to counter my awkwardness.

5. Alex is a better cook than I. He makes sauces, garnishes dishes and attempts recipes that I simply do not take time for.

6. (Bonus because I had to share the picture!) I take unwarranted pleasure in bathing the little dog. She hates it but Lil and I smirk as we wash her filthy body.

No More Hounds in the Kitchen?

You may have noticed that posting has been light the last few weeks. I have had a sinus headache to end all headaches that leaves me with little energy to do anything but sleep. After many meetings with my Ear Nose, and Throat doctor, he referred me to an allergist. Today I suffered through nearly four hours of the arcane prick tests to determine that I'm allergic to dust mites and dogs.

So the blog is not going away, but the hounds and I are renegotiating terms. Little Hawise will no longer be allowed to sneak into our bedroom and might be bathed more often. Big dog Devie is going to have to give up her couch soon for a washable bed.

Posting may continue to be uninspired or few and far between as we tackle a few home improvement projects that should ease my allergies - removing carpet upstairs and the basement drop ceiling. I'm trying out some medicines too.

Hopefully soon I will feel like my usual self again. In the meantime, thanks for your patience!

Black (Pet) Friday

Did you know that black dogs and cats are more likely to linger in animal shelters than any other color of pet? The problem is so pervasive that shelters have given the syndrome an acronym, BBD, for Big Black Dog. BBDs persist in shelters despite being personable, house trained, and gentle.

The animal shelter from where we adopted our hounds, Capital Area Humane Society in Hilliard, is actively combating the lack of adopters from dark colored pets. Today, Black Friday, the shelter is offering special low rates on black (and mostly black) animals. The shelter is open from 12 - 7 pm today. For the first two hours the shelter is open, black pets can find their forever home for 50% of the standard adoption rates. From 2 pm on, adoption fees are discounted 25% for black pets.

If you visit the shelter tomorrow, say hi to my sister Sarah, one of the shelter managers. She is forfeiting family holiday time to help the wonderful animal souls at CAHS find homes. I hope she is able to make many matches with families of all sizes and pets of all colors.

Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree

Our Xmas tradition is to decorate a Norfolk Island Pine.  It tolerates the attention but prefers to be an indoor/outdoor tree and is usually completely dried from the lights at the end of the holiday season. This year I was thinking about buying a metal or wooden reusable tree.  Then I had a brainstorm: let's make our own branch tree!

I filled an empty clay pot with garden stones.  Sand or pea gravel would also work well.

Lil helped me gather multi-pronged branches from the backyard.  We inserted them into the stones and added more on top to hold the branches in place.

I brought the 'tree' inside and wondered whether it was a dumb idea.  The branches looked out of place on the quilted tree skirt made by my grandmother.

We unwrapped our  collection of  miniature ornaments and added them to the tree.

I placed a few pieces of holiday origami at the base.

When all the decorations were placed, I fell in love.  Our tree is earthy yet shows off our ornaments.  I don't have to worry about leaves drying out or presents being dirtied by soil.  Best of all, the tree cost nothing and can be returned to the yard at the end of the season.

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I am also in love with my new camera.  I brooded about whether I needed a DSLR for months and finally bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera on Friday.  It is amazing!  I'm still learning how to use it well, but the pictures I'm getting are already so much better than I could take with my Powershot.

Case in point: I rarely took pictures of Hawise before because the old camera would not react quickly enough to capture her ever moving body.  Today I recorded another xmas tradition with the DSLR: torturing the dogs with costuming.

Hawise Sees the Light

Ah, winter sunlight.  It streams sideways through the windows and illuminates every fingerprint and bit of dust on furniture tops.  It bathes our indoor herb garden with warmth. One beam was soaked up by Hawise the little hound and I could not help but take her portrait.