Treat vs. Treat Season One Showcase

Welcome one and all to the Treat vs. Treat Season One showcase! Today we are looking at the 8 treats that are heading in to this competition.

My aim for Season One is to promote treats that are commonly available in Supermarkets. All of these treats (apart from two ringers purchased from a local pet store) were bought in Supermarkets, at what I consider to be a reasonable price.

I will preface this by saying that Pixel is on completely cereal free food for his daily meals, so I am not concerned about the giving him cereals in his treats. If your dog has problems digesting cereals, the majority of these treats will not be suitable.

Competitor One: Pedigree Tasty Bites

Perhaps one of the most well-known dog food brands, Pedigree Chicken Tasty Bites claim to be "delightfully crispy treats with a delicious centre...", as well as being a good source of Omega 3, Vitamins & Minerals, as well as having no artificial colours or flavours.

Pedigree Tasty Bites are 29% protean, which isn't that bad for a non-jerky treat. They are however 25% fat, which isn't so great... It does contain come cereals, and the exact percentage or type is not listed.

Competitor Two: Tesco Chicken, Beef, & Liver Meaty Rolls

Simple and cheap, these Meaty Rolls come in a pack of 15. They contain cereals, as well as some form of colouring. While being composed of 31% protean, they are also 26% moisture. With a fat content of 5%, they are pretty low in fat compared to the other treats on offer.

Competitor Three: Alpha Spirit Active Sticks

Alpha Spirit Active Sticks present themselves as being very healthy. They are 85% protean, which is amazingly high considering they are not dried meat. They are also gluten free and meat meal free, and claim to be 100% natural. Intended for high activity recovery, these treats clock in at a minimum of 8%. I wouldn't go giving these to your hyper-active dog unless you've got a long walk planned.

Competitor Four: Good Boy Tender Beef Fillets

These kind of treats are I like to give Pixel the most. I often call the Jerky-like treats because they are pretty much dehydrated and dried meats. Very little extra goes into these treats. The Good Boy Tender Beef Fillets come are almost completely made up of crude protean and moisture so you can be happy that your feeding your dog good food.

Competitor Five: Bakers Sizzlers

Our first Purina entry, Baker's Sizzlers are delicious smelling bacon styled dog treats. Bakers are often criticized for the quality of their dog food, which I admit is not great. That being said I am a firm believer that everything is okay in moderation. Baker's Sizzlers fall into the same problem as many treats, they are composed of cereals, and what kind of cereals is not listed. Coming in at 15.2% protean, which isn't bad for non-jerky treats, they also contain milk which isn't great for dogs, especially those who have sensitive digestion.

Competitor Six: Purina Adventuros Venison Flavoured Strips

Found these on offer in our local supermarket, these are soft, almost spongy treats, flavoured Venison. Ruthie declared that our dog eats better flavoured food than we do! At 13.5% protean, these treats contain cereals but no milk like the Sizzlers above. These treats are perfect for tearing up into little pieces.

Competitor Seven: Purina Adventuros Boar Flavoured Nuggets

These boar flavoured treats are the nearly identical in composition as the Venison Flavoured Strips above. These come in nugget form, perfect to giving to your dog.

Competitor Eight: Purina Bonio

Our final entry is the classic dog treat, Bonio biscuits. Coming in at a whooping 90% cereal, of which 30% of that is whole wheat, these treats have been a staple of our dog cupboard. If you are planning on feeding your dog a cereal-low diet, these are too be avoided, however most dogs love their crunchy texture and flavour.

Treat vs. Treat

Just like the Gladiators of old would fight in the arena to satisfy the crowds of Rome, so to will these treats battle for our amusement! These brave treats will step into the modern day arena, hoping that their all-mighty Emperor, Pixelus, will grace them with his favour. Two treats, no treats leave!

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I would like to introduce you all to our new series, Treat vs. Treat.

What is Treat vs. Treat I hear you ask? It is simple really, you get two treats and then you make them fight it out for our amusement! Treat vs. Treat will compare two treats across three rounds. The first round, Availability will assess which of the treats is more readily available and in addition to this will take into account the cost of the treats. In most cases the winner of the first round will be the treat that is either the most readily available, or the one that offer the best value for money. The second round, Healthiness will compare the ingredients of the treats, examining fat content and how many of the said treat your dog can have in a day. The final round is the Taste Test in which we present both treats to Pixel, the one he chooses to eat first is the winner.


I intend to do lots of Treat vs. Treat reviews (at least one a week), so I will be keeping running scores, so that we can all see how treats are doing in the rankings. Don't be surprised if treats appear in multiple battles.

As with all our reviews, your mileage may vary, and Treat vs. Treat is by no means meant to be a formal review, instead it is a light-hearted way feeding Pixel treats while looking at what they are.

So prepare yourselves for battles that will be sung of for centuries to come!

Pixel Reviews: Purina DeliBakie Stars

Pixel Investigates

I was first recommended these treats by my Mum while we were looking to get all the family dogs Christmas Presents. On that recommendation we went ahead and bought a packet for both Poppy and Trippy but it wasn't until last week that I purchased a pack for Pixel.

The DeliBakie Stars are short bread cookies that are flavoured with the delightful combination of cheese and beef. They come in a resealable package to ensure maximum freshness.

When I opened the pack I was surprised at the size of the cookies, they fit nicely in the palm of my hand but at the same time they are quite large. They also have a strong smell, not the most appetising from my perspective but it certainly catches Pixel's attention. Pixel also seems to like the flavour, he hops around the house on his back legs, following you as you carry the treats.

I cursory glance at the Purina website is enough to know that these dog treats are perhaps best used as an occasional treat, rather than a regular one. They have a high fat content, and even for a 15kg dog the recommended daily allowance is 3 stars, not particularly high considering that the treats are not exceptionally large.

I would probably buy these treats again but I doubt that they will become a part of Pixel's typical rotation. While the treats are eagerly devoured, I am hesitant about their fat content, considering Pixel's diet tends to be heavily subsidised by treats already.

Waiting patiently for his treat

What I like:

• The individual treats are a decent size
• The resealable packet keeps the treats fresh and easy to carry around

What Pixel likes:

• The treats have a strong smell
• The treats taste really good

What I don't like:

• The fat content seems a little high for the size of the treat.

What Pixel doesn't like:

• At most, he can only have three star cookies a day.

Would we recommend?

Would I recommend?: The treats certainly catch Pixel's attention, and he does start to bounce off the walls when I get the pack down. That said, the fat per treat seems a little too high for my liking. If you're not fussed about how healthy your treats are, I'd say go for it.

Would Pixel recommend?: Pixel loves these treats. Their smell and flavour really grip him. He wholeheartedly recommends.

Pixel Reviews: zee.dog Super Toys

Eggplant, Apple and Greenbeans

The Kong is generally accepted to be the king of fillable rubber chew toys. Many companies have tried to topple the Kong, and in my opinion no one comes as close as zee.dog with their Super Toys. These toys come in many shapes and sizes, designed to look like various fruits and vegetables. Each fruit or vegetable is given three statistics: Crazy Bounce, Hardness and Treat Challenge. Pixel currently has three Super Toys in his collection which we rotate in use to keep them fresh and interesting. He currently owns the Aubergine (Eggplant), the Apple and the Greenbeans.

The idea behind the Super Toys is simple, fun and healthy eating. In this vein four recipes are available on the zee.dog website, these recipes are free for anybody to use but are best when used in conjunction with the Super Toys. That said, we regularly use liver pâté or the Kong Stuff'n and these provide a stimulating challenge, which while not as healthy, are easy to come by and use.

One area in which the Super Toys really surpass the Kong Classic is in their Treat Challenge rating, allowing you to select the toy that would be best suited to your dog. When we use the Aubergine (which is long and narrow) or the Greenbeans (which has three small holes) which are both have a Treat Challenge rating 4, they will keep his attention for at least a half hour, sometimes more depending on the treat used. This is compared to the Kong Classic which he has mastered and takes at most 10 minutes for him to complete.

The Super Toys also function well as a stand alone toy, especially if your dog likes to chew. The Apple bounces like a conventional ball, while the Greenbeans and Aubergine bounce much more erratically which can provide plenty of excitement. The straight-lined designs of the Super Toy also provide a satisfying chew for Pixel, the geometric shapes clean the teeth as well as massage the gums. The toys are also designed to float if your dog is in to jumping into water and loves a game of fetch.

One problem we have encountered with the Super Toy is that the Hardness rating seems a little arbitrary, the Apple and the Greenbeans both have a Hardness rating of 4 and yet the Apple remains relatively unscathed while the Greenbeans must be easier to chew as their are several teeth gouges.

As I have mentioned before, with zee.dog it is about more than just the products they make, it is about their entire ethos. It is clear that they love dogs and want to create what is best for them, and with the Super Toys, I think they achieve that. Pixel will play with his Super Toys while he will only touch the Kong Classic if there is food in there. In a market which is dominated by the same old things, zee.dog adds a much needed dash of colour and style and I fully encourage everybody to get behind them.

Give it to me!

Pixel Reviews: The Old Sea Dog

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. 

To order the products you can go to www.theoldseadog.co.uk

To find out more about the ethos behind The Old Sea Dog, go to www.itsallaboutgeorge.co.uk