meilleurs oiseaux

#FidosFreebieFriday Seeks Thanksgiving Fun

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

The race is definitely on to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. The stores are abuzz with busy shoppers and grocery shelves are bursting with all the preparations. Have you planned a special treat for your dog to enjoy while your family noshes on the holiday meal? Here's our special recipe that we place in appropriately-sized Kongs for Tanner and Oliver:

Place the following items in thin layers to make each new discovery a fun expedition. The boys especially like:
ORGANIX kibble in several alternating layers with
Grated organic cheese,
Plain organic yogurt,
Mashed, cooked pumpkin or sweet potatoes or Castor and Pollux Pet's Natural Ultramix,
Shredded turkey or chicken; we buy local organic turkey for the healthiest bird around, and
Grated organic carrots.

Hope your dogs get to enjoy a fun holiday meal along with you. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Now let's get to today's Fido's Freebie Friday. Bloggers are invited to list below

their currently open giveaways, freebies, and prizes for pets and pet lovers so that readers may visit and explore items to win. You can help to get more awareness by sharing the badge you see in the top of my post. Feel free to put it in your sidebar, if you wish, but don't feel obligated.

Fido's Freebie Friday opens each Thursday afternoon for linkups at 4:00 PM ET, and renews each week at the same time with a new listing. Link up anytime during the week--24/7. We make it easy to be seen here by keeping our rules simple:

•You have up to 45 characters to describe your prize and include an expiration date.

•Fido's Freebie Friday Blog Hop is open to posts with prizes for pet products or services, including pet-related or pet-themed items for owners. Use your specific post url to link up.You'll find assistance at our HELP PAGE, where there is other useful information for bloggers doing giveaways and reviews. Your hosts are All Things Dog Blog, DogTipper and To Dog With Love.

Happy shopping!

Individual rules of entry and guidelines for winning may apply to each listing. All Things Dog Blog, DogTipper, and To Dog With Love take no responsibility for the legality of the rules governing the listings on other sites and giveaways that are posted here. We simply provide this forum as a gathering place for pet product giveaways to be offered. Please consult All Things Dog Blog's Giveaway and Contest Rules for more detail. Fulfillment of each giveaway is done by the blog conducting the giveaway, not by the hosts of this giveaway hop; please contact the giveaway host with any questions regarding a giveaway or giveaway prize.

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#OrganicPet Food Survey Says...

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

photo CP_inforgraphic_highres_zps97a3f576.jpg

This infographic is sponsored by Castor and Pollux, the makers of ORGANIX. I have not been compensated to participate in this project.

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#DogaTreats Awarded to Photo Loving Entrants

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

courtesy @dacemule via Twitter

The top activity reported as a favorite in our currently ongoing #BarkworldExpo Swag Bag giveaway happens to be playing fetch with a flying disc, so it was no great surprise to receive this adorable photo from a Twitter follower whose dog enjoys this sport. Throwing, catching and returning a flying disc is most definitely a training feat, and one that is great for working your dog's brain and body.

Today's winners of the #DogaTreats giveaway largely reported enjoying walking with their dogs, although one lucky lady has a twosome that enjoys swimming, just like our boy, Tanner. You'll see their photo below. Wouldn't it be fun to get our threesome together?!!

Each of our submissions was shared either via Twitter or Facebook, showing off your precious pups. As always I enjoyed seeing new faces as well as old friends of All Things Dog Blog. I hope you're warming up your cameras, as football season has begun and that can mean only one thing--#SuperDogSunday is coming!

courtesy @SharonGilbert6 via Twitter

If you're not familiar with this football-themed photo contest, let's give you a quick primer. Each year prior to Super Bowl Sunday I invite my readers to submit football-themed photos of their dogs, cats or other pets, as well as Petfinder adoptable pets. Photos can be submitted using simple photography with backdrops, costuming, themed items, or graphic additions. Judging categories will be provided for all options.

Once again, I plan to offer this contest to promote Petfinder adoptables, encourage donations to Petfinder Foundation, and to simply have fun creating cute pics with our pups.

As always there will be prizes--lots of them! Watch for more on this in the coming months as we begin to align ourselves with products and put together fun prize packages for all our furry friends.

courtesy CastorPolluxPet.com

Now, back to our #DogaTreats winners. They are @ShellChis, @Marshflitter, @Homesteadwitch, @dacemule, @Kimtrax13, and @SharonGilbert6. Each will be receiving 3 bags of Good Buddy treats from the folks at Castor and Pollux Pet folks, direct to their doors. I've Tweeted these lucky winners and requested shipping information. Check your mentions to assure you get your information to me quickly.

Meanwhile, I invite you to join me for more Doga fun, enjoying some bonding time with your dogs while getting yourself into shape. You'll find a complete library of video yoga instruction, along with additional modifications to make your yoga practice with Fido a bit more manageable. Find this and much more at the link. See you soon!

Namaste,

All Things Dog Blog currently shares an advertisement for Castor and Pollux Pet. We choose to work with this company because we have found their products to be of superior quality.

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Healthy Treating for Dogs

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

If I told you it was okay to eat a half a bag of cookies each day, you’d likely be shaking your head in disgust that I would offer advice such as this. Just like you and I, our dogs need to limit their treats, taking in only that amount that they need to maintain a healthy weight along with adequate energy for their daily activities.

Whether your dog’s job is one that provides a service to your family or is simply a companionship addition to you and your household, Fido’s treating needs are still much less than the average dog treat commercial on TV may infer. Keep in mind that choosing a healthy treat is as important as knowing when to cut off your pup from the cookie jar. Lower fat, higher fiber treats have health benefits and work to help his overall health stay in line with what you would wish for him.

Here’s how I look at treating. When I’m training my dogs, they are earning their treats by performing behaviors that I ask of them. The energy that goes into these performances is much like a dog that herds, provides a service to a family member, or actively guards your home. They have to think about what they're doing in order to get it right, at least until it becomes habit. And then they have to physically perform the action. It's my job to energize this with the appropriate nutrition and reward in order to keep the behavior building to my goal.

If you take this step a little further, you can see that a dog that competes in athletic activities such as dock diving or sheep herding (Yes, some dogs actually do this for farmers, but competitions also exist.) will most certainly burn more calories and require more food and/or treats than the average pet of similar size and breed. All these factors come into play.

I suppose you see where I'm going with this. Healthy treating really depends on your particular dog and his unique health and activities. Below, I'm going to share some of the best #TreatRight tips from the #TreatRight Twitter Party, held Sunday, October 27 by Event Barkers on behalf of Merrick Petcare:

Choose treats with no artificial colors or preservatives.
Your dog will love fresh fruits and veggies and lots of real meat.
Know where your treats come from. Like Merrick pet food, Merrick treats are USA-made with NO ingredients from China.
Look for treats that are grain- and gluten free with no corn, wheat or soy.
Healthy treats can help reinforce good behaviors. Look for treats with nothing artificial.
When selecting a chewy treat, look for ones with no corn, soy, wheat or sorbic acid.
When seeking high-proten treats, choose ones with meat as the #1 ingredient, with wholesome fruits and veggies, too.
Remember that even dental chews count as treats in the calorie department. Merrick Dental Chews clean dog’s teeth with fresh ingredients like alfalfa and parsley to help freshen breath naturally.
Further, the Merrick Dental Chews are grain free and gluten free with no sorbic acid or sodium copper chlorophyllin.
When choosing dental treats, choose ones recommended for the size of your dog.
For the safety of your pets, observation is recommended when giving your pets treats or chews.
Treats can help boost brainpower, build confidence, reinforce good behaviors and provide bonding moments. They're perfect for encouraging
your dog to join your for yoga practice! Join us for the All Things Dog Blog yoga instruction that includes your dog as a partner. Grab a mat and your dog; then click the link to join in!
Use the Merrick Pet Care Store Locator to buy near you: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/find-our-products
Finally, remember that a good variety of treats keeps your dog interested in the activities you train him for, making for all around better performance and bonding.

Join us next Saturday for more tips on how to build a better bond with your dog.

Happy tails,

We are worked with Merrick Pet Care through our partnership in Event Barkers to produce this Twitter party and share product news with our readers.

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Fido's Freebie Friday Opens the Holidays

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Did you happen to be anywhere near a mall last weekend on November 1. Apparently, the

day after Halloween is now the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season. I saw police officers directing traffic in and out a nearby mall, making me shiver when I considered what December could look like. Note to self: Get started now!

Now let's get to today's Fido's Freebie Friday. Bloggers are invited to list below

Happy shopping!

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Win a Barkworld Expo Swag Bag

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Wake Up to a Barkworld Swag Bag

I put Oliver in charge of guarding the swag bag until I grabbed a quick shot before packing it into our travel bag. Looks like he's slacking a bit. I'll admit, though, I did work him pretty hard this weekend. There was so much to see and so many people and dogs to meet. We even attended a K9 Fit Club demo class, taught by our Event Barkers buddies, Diane and Rocco of To Dog With Love. Oliver got to revisit his agility days:

Thanks @dianesilver for a fun #FitDog class at #Barkworld
A photo posted by Carrie Boyko (@allthingsdogblog) on Nov 11, 2014 at 7:38am PDT

Ever wonder what pet bloggers get to bring home from conferences and expos like Barkworld Expo? This prize includes most of the goodies that were able to make it home in my bag. There's always a few items that don't fit. Most of the conferences have a trade table where we can place unwanted items and take another goodie that better fits our readership. It's a win-win!

This bag of sponsor items includes 2 tote bags, pet food samples, a pet food scoop and bag clip, a flying disc for dog park fun, a children's storybook by best-selling author Dean Koontz, and 2 bags of top name dog treats that are US-made.

One lucky winner will score this fab bag of goodies when I draw the winner via Random.org. Entries are open now and will remain open through midnight on Thursday evening, November 20. I'll announce the winner sometime Friday afternoon, November 21.

The Rafflecopter entry form is tucked down at the bottom of this post. If you don't see it there, you can coax it back into view by clicking on the blog post title to call it back into action. Best of luck to all of you.

Happy tails,

The items in this surprise bag come from various pet industry companies. All were acquired as a conference thank you gift and will be sent to the winner of this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The Cost of Owning Pets

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

I'm on the road traveling back from Barkworld Expo today. Oliver and I have had a good time reconnecting with industry folks and pet lovers in all areas of social media. There will be lots of great new information coming your way soon. Let's start here:

Thanks to Dog Breed Identifier for preparing this educational and insightful infographic. Let me know what you learn here that is new information to you. Enjoy!

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