Walking through Faversham market one Saturday morning I spotted a sign with a rather handsome looking Saluki on it. I was instantly drawn to the stall, Ruthie, already knowing that I was lost to the possibility of finding something for the dog, followed along behind.
"I see you've spotted my George." The stall owner said as she approached. "He is my inspiration for this." We chatted briefly about her products, about how she wanted to create something that was good for dogs, that contained the right vitamins and was lacking in additives and preservatives, in short they were wholesome, healthy and deliciously crunchy dog treats. Being a soft hearted lover of lurchers and longdogs (George it turned out was a SalukixGreyhoud) and being someone who is always excited to buy Pixel a treat, I was sold.
The Old Sea Dog Celebration Gift Pack
We bought the celebration gift pack off of Bev (the owner and creator of The Old Sea Dog) for what I would consider to be a reasonable £12 (she was even kind enough to throw in an extra pack of Dried Fish skins). For that we got 150g pack of Seaweed with Butternut Squash and Courgette Biscotti, 150g pack of Seaweed with Beetroot and Apple Biscotti, 150g pack of Seaweed with Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Croutons, a jar of Healthy Dog Seaweed Salad, a pack of three Dried Fish Skins Cubes, and a Dirty Dog Seaweed Bath Bomb. Individually these items would have set me back around £20!
Seaweed Biscotti
Available in two flavour varieties (
Buttersquash and Courgette and
Beetroot and Apple), a 150g pack contains six biscotti biscuits. These biscuits are easy enough to snap into smaller pieces if you wish to give them out as small treats or you can just as easily give them to your dog whole. The serving suggestions are pleasingly large, with dogs up to 7kg being able to have one bar (or 50g) a day, dogs up to 20kg being able to have three (or 200g) and those over 21kg being able to have four to six (or between 200g and 300g)! These biscotti are double baked to give them a good shelf life without any icky preservatives.
Perhaps the greatest thing about these biscuits is that they smell genuinely delicious and I was half-tempted to try and nibble of my own. Pixel seemed to thoroughly enjoy every crumb of these biscuits, with each mouthful of biscotti was accompanied by a satisfying crunch as he greedily inhaled these treats. Pixel loved both of the flavours on offer although if pushed to pick a favourite he would have to go with the Beetroot and Apple which he spent a minute after eating snuffling about for any crumbs.
Seaweed with Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Croutons
Similar to the biscotti, these croutons are greedily eaten accompanied by the sound of crunching. It is also clearest here that these delicious dog treats could easily supplement the food that you give your dog. We are lucky that Pixel is very food orientated (while writing this he had not left my side in the hopes that I might grace him with further
Old Sea Dog treats) but the smell and the texture of these croutons, and that fact that they are in such lovely bite-sized pieces, could easily coax even the fussiest of dogs to the food bowl.
The serving suggestions for the croutons is the same for the biscotti so you can be sure that your dog will be well fed and because they made in the same double-baked method, they will keep for a while meaning you can be sure to get the most of these treats.
Healthy Dog Seaweed Salad
Seaweed is great for dogs (and humans too) and the Healthy Dog Seaweed Salad is an easy way to get the seaweed into your dog (especially if your dog is unable or unwilling to eat the biscotti or croutons). Simply soak the required amount of dried seaweed in some water and then add it your dogs main meal (we feed Pixel dried food so I added the water too to add a little moisture to the mix).
Pixel seemed delighted to have something extra in his food bowl, even going around at the end licking up ever last piece of seaweed that he had somehow missed. The seaweed salad does lack that certain something that excites him like the other treats mentioned here but then it's not meant to. Instead it protects against things like skin irritation, arthritis as well as encourages the growth of fur and nails, all things that Pixel needs. With a shelf-life of 6 months after purchase, the Seaweed salad won't last as long as the other products but with regular use I am hoping to see a nice glossy coat on Pixel soon.
Dried Fish Skin Cubes
This is one of Pixel's favourite treats from the Celebration pack and perhaps my least favourite because it gives him poisonous doggy-fish-breath. With a strong smell and lovely crunch, Pixel absolutely adores these little cubes. Coming in a pack of three these are the smallest treats that came in the pack but one that he can't seem to get enough of. Made of nothing but dried and packed fish skins, they grabbed Pixel's attention. Unfortunately these treats don't appear on their website so if you live in Kent, and around the Faversham/Hythe area, you'll just have to hope to see them at a market.
Dirty Dog Seaweed Bath Bomb
Probably the thing I was most excited to have in the pack, the
Dirty Dog Seaweed Bath Bomb promises to be a soothing and conditioning rinse for your dog, achieved by popping the bomb into warm water and letting it soak. Alternatively it can be used by placing the bomb in water before squeezing it out and applying the bomb directly to the dog to wash off any grime (Bev informed us that it worked wonders on grass stains and the like). The bomb, however, is the only item I haven't yet got round to using as I recently washed Pixel and I don't much fancy attempting another wash on him just yet. Be assured that once I have had an opportunity to to try it out I will update this.
Summery
In short I absolutely recommend this product. There is not a single thing within the Celebration Pack that Pixel has not taken to with gusto, this product offers unbeatable value for your pampered pooch.
Originally wanting to purchase the IQ Treat Ball (they are only available online), I picked up the Rosewood Treat Ball when I spotted it in a pet shop while browsing. When Pixel is using this Fun Feeder, he will nose the ball around the house, chasing it excitedly. The Treat Ball has an adjustable opening so that you can increase or decrease the difficulty of getting food.
Like the Wobbler, the Treat Ball also suffers from being a noisy way to feed your dog as they push it into the walls, but this is a minor inconvenience. The worst part of this feeder is that you cannot open the ball in anyway which means that you have to place the food into the ball via the small opening. It's quite impractical and I spend half of the time picking up the kibble I have dropped. The difficulty on this feeder does not seem to scale well either, the easiest setting seems to drop food regularly while the harder settings can mean that food is not dropped at all, I understand that this is the point, but if you wanted to gradually make it hard, it is almost impossible to do so. I kinda wish I had waited and bought an IQ Treat Ball.
