food

Freshpet Made me Do it! Contest time!

Hello internet friends! Happy Thursday! I think someone told Basil it’s almost the freakin’ weekend because he has been seriously crazy today. It started with breakfast and I’m sure it will continue until bedtime. Silly boy!

Also, fun news today our favorite pet food brand Freshpet just launched a new contest. Does your pet love Freshpet food or treats? Do they dance, sing, or act crazy to get their paws on it? Post a video on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the #FreshpetMadeMe for a chance to win a role in an upcoming Freshpet viral video. The grand prize winner also gets flight and hotels accommodations at the shoot location as well as a custom Freshpet fridge filled to the brim with all the Freshpet goodness!

Check out their website for more information and make sure to watch the video below. Can you spot a well know Boston terrier and his adorable kitten brother?

Basil and I have so many ideas and can’t wait to see all of yours. Make sure to summit your entry on social media or at freshpetcontests.com/freshpetmademe before April 1st.

If you haven’t tried Freshpet yet click over to their website for a $2 off coupon.

Let me know when you enter so I can check it out! Big thanks to Freshpet for including us in this contest video and good luck to everyone that enters!

What are your plans for the weekend? Check out any new pet friendly locations? Let me know!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

 

We love FreshPet! 

Hello Monday people! How was your weekend? Around here we are having a “heat wave” or it’s just the Deep South and this is what June is. Who knows! With temps at almost 100 degrees and high humidity it’s really hard to get out and leave the comfort of your air conditioned home.

We’ve been hanging around the house getting ready for our cross country move and enjoying each other’s company. And let me tell you, being stuck in the house is so much easier when it’s not smelling like puppy toots! I owe this clean air to FreshPet

FreshPet Baked Kibble FreshPet Baked KibbleBasil, Willow, and Sebastian have been on FreshPet Select for about 3 months now. You may have seen it in the fridge in the pet section of your local Target or grocery store. Recently the fresh pet food experts released a new baked kibble recipe.

Basil had the pleasure of trying this recipe this last week and he loves it!

This first thing I noticed when receiving the bag is how it looks almost identical to the fresh from the fridge variety. You can really see the dehydrated carrots, oats, and other superfood right in the kibble. This was very encouraging knowing we hadn’t even opened the bag yet.

Once the fresh seal was opened Basil was hooked. He doesn’t know what makes good dog food, but I do.

Photo courtesy of FreshPet Facebook
Photo courtesy of FreshPet Facebook

FreshPet is a made in the U.S.A, natural, no artificial preservatives added dog food. This kibble is made with 100% fresh chicken, whole grains, and essential vitamins. Chicken is the main ingredient listed and I can actually read (and understand) the remaining ingredients. This makes a good dog food!

FreshPet Baked also comes in turkey and grain free chicken.

Also, you know how I mentioned our toot free air. Well, FreshPet is the first pet food Basil has tried that stops all that stinky tooting! This super common Boston terrier problem which is caused by sucking in an excuse of air while eating or by digestive issues has become a thing of the past. Although Basil is very excited by his new food he seems to enjoy it at a reasonable rate and its easy on his sensitive tummy. Basil loves FreshPet Baked Kibble!

We highly recommend this new baked kibble recipe for all dogs. You can find it exclusively at Target stores.

Make sure to also check out all the other FreshPet products like their straight from the fridge food for dogs and cats and treats.

Let me know if you have tried FreshPet and if your dog loves it just as much as Basil!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

 

Make it Monday! Peanut Butter & Carrot Dog Cupcakes!

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope your weekend has been fun and you are spending today relaxing.

For todays Make it Monday! I thought we would make one of Basil favorite “sweet” treats, peanut butter & carrot dog cupcakes! I’ve made these a few different times and they are always a hit. They are dog and people friendly and super simple. Peanut Butter & Carrot dog cupcakes

The recipe!

Peanut butter & carrot dog cupcakes1 cup white flour (For gluten-free use coconut flour!)
1 top baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey (If you don’t have honey on hand, I have left it out a few times, no big deal!)
1 egg
Mix flour and baking soda together and then add all other ingredients.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
I frosted these dog cakes with non-fat cream cheese and toped with a chunk of carrot.

Makes 9 cupcakes but can be doubled or tripled if you are having a real shindig!

Let me know if you make these and if your dog loved them as much as Basil does!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Basil Presents Dog Friendly Destinations – Asheville, NC!

Travel Poster Dog Friendly AshevilleAsheville, NC is one of our favorite places to go and visit. There are so many great places to check out and this is only a fraction of them. Have you been to this amazing city? Where to do you like to take your four legged friend? Let me know! Also, tell me what city we should do for next weeks Travel Tuesday!

Travel well, live well, nap well!
-Abbey & Basil

Basil Presents Dog Friendly Destinations — Philadelphia, PA!

Travel Poster Dog Friendly PhiladelphiaIts another #TravelTuesday! This time our featured city is Philadelphia, PA. Beautiful, history filled city with a lot to offer. Highly recommend every location on this list. If you are looking for a family friendly, dog friendly, east coast vacation destination think Philadelphia; you will not be sorry!

Tomorrow I’ll post more pictures from our last Philadelphia trip so make sure to check back! Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

The day of rest!

“Can’t Get out of bed!
SEND HELP or waffles 
Just send waffles!”
-Leslie Knope (Parks & Recreation)

Happy Sunday! The sun is shining and the birds are chirping outside my window, and I have yet to get out of bed! Nate ventured off the the grocery store in search of waffle mix and Basil, Sebastian, Willow, and I are still snuggled up in the sheets. I foresee the rest of this beautiful day being filled with waffles, more Philly trip planning, and Doctor Who on Netflix.

Are you doing anything exciting today? Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend… We will! Xoxo

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Happiness is a rainy summer day in Asheville!

Its been a little stormy around these parts the last couple of days. We woke up Saturday morning and decided to embrace the cooler temperatures and “light” rain and head up into the smokey mountains for the day. We really didn’t have a plan but found ourselves in our favorite North Carolina city, Asheville. What we thought was just going to be a short stop for lunch and to pop are heads (and paws) into The Three Dog Bakery turned into a full day of shopping, eating, drinking, and socializing. Basil, like aways, had a lot of fun and made more than a few new friends.
Special thanks to Posana Cafe, The Southern, and Wicked Weed for giving us shelter from the rain and being beyond welcoming of Basil and his ever so slight wet dog smell!

Rainy dog days of summer! Rainy dog days of summer!Rainy dog days of summer! Rainy dog days of summer! Rainy dog days of summer!
Hope you are enjoying your Monday! Stay dry!
Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Basil’s Favorite Things — The Honest Kitchen

Have you ever decided to take a casual trip to the pet store but once there found yourself standing in the pet food aisle dazed and confused?! Why is that aisle so long? Why are there so many pet food options? Every bag, box, tube, or container has a colorful logo and is doing everything it can to convince you that theirs is the best for your dog. How can you know what is BEST for your dog or cat? Who do you trust? I had all these questions and I wanted to be sure that what I was giving Basil was the best.

For today’s Basil’s Favorite Things I am going to share how we found Basil new dog food and why we truly think its the best pet food on the market. This is Basil’s Favorite Things — The Honest Kitchen. The Honest Kitchen

It all started a little over a month ago at the BlogPaws 2014 pet blogging conference in Lake Las Vegas, NV. (You may have heard me mention it…) The conference was full of pet blogger and a ton of brands. There was a whole huge conference room full of booths featuring brands from many pet food companies as well as everything else awesome for your dog and/or cat. This is where we met The Honest Kitchen. Their large booth and smiling faces first drew us in. Also, the fact that Basil somehow knows who has treats and will give them to him, also helped. Once at the table we met Kate, the digital storyteller for The Honest Kitchen. Kate provided Nate, Basil, and I with all the information about this unique pet food and let us go home with a lot of samples.

The Honest Kitchen is a dehydrated raw Human Grade pet food. It is the only U.S pet food company that is certified by the FDA to use the Human Grade seal on their packaging. This means that 100% of their pet food is produced in a human food production facility not a pet food plant.

This really stuck out to me. This mean all their ingredients are natural and if you wouldn’t eat it, your dog shouldn’t be eating it either. The ingredients used are real (free-range) chicken, real (cage-free) turkey, real fish, and  real beef. They use natural whole grain, as well as fresh produce like potatoes, celery, carrots, and green beans. Kate also told me the all there food is personally taste tested by The Honest Kitchen’s employees. I don’t know about you but I’m 100% positive I would not taste test Basil’s old food but I would try The Honest Kitchen.Basil loves The Honest Kitchen

Once home from the BlogPaws conference we immediately switched Basil over from his old food (dry kibble) to The Honest Kitchen. We received a few different samples while at the conference so everyday Basil got to try something new.

For Basil, he receives 1 cup of food a day. 1/3 at breakfast, 1/3 at lunch, and 1/3 at dinner. So when we were making the transition from dry to dehydrated we just started with dry for breakfast and dinner and THK for lunch. Slowly we switched over and now we are completely off the dry kibble. Once the samples ran out, and we were convinced by THK, the plan was to find a local store that sold it. Lucky for us our favorite local little “mama & pop” pet store, cafe, and day care, Happy Dog Cafe, is a preferred seller of all things The Honest Kitchen.

The first box we brought home was Keen. A food made of cage-free turkey, low gluten oats, and garden vegetables. Basil doesn’t have a wheat or gluten allergy (knock on wood!) like many dogs of the bully breeds, so, our options are wide open. But if your pet does has a specific allergy, like gluten, or just does better without eggs or beef, The Honest Kitchen has a type of dog food that would best suit your needs. Basil loved Keen but knowing of all the great options THK has to offer we wanted to try something else as well. The next box we received is Force. The Honest Kitchen - Force

Force is a little different. Made with free-range chicken, fresh fruits and vegetables, and it is grain/gluten-free. The Honest Kitchen website says “Force is moderate in protein and fat so it’s perfect for adult maintenance, senior dogs and dog who need a lower calorie diet.”
This is perfect for Basil because at 25 lb. he is a little over the average for a fit Boston terrier. We would love to have Basil lose 2-3 lbs. just to become a little more health and little more crazy!Crazy face!

Another great thing about The Honest Kitchen is how simple it is to prepare. Being a dehydrated raw food it does not require refrigeration and just needs to be stored in a cool, dry place. To serve THK to your four-legged friend all you need to do is add warm water, stir, and wait. I think the waiting is the hardest part for Basil. From the second I get the box out of the closet and start running the water he knows its game time. The next 5 minutes are filled with crazy eyes, and sad cries. But once his full dish hits the mat he goes to town. One of my favorite things now is watching him eat. He loves his new food so much he actually lays down to fully enjoy his meal.I lay down to eat! - Basil

So, its been about a month since we started this new pet food journey and we couldn’t be happier. Basil already looks like his has slimed down a little bit and once his next vet appointment rolls around I’ll share with all of you our weight loss progress. We highly recommend heading over to http://www.thehonestkitchen.com and checking out this amazing food for yourself. You can also find a local store near you that carriers The Honest Kitchen or order online.

So recap: What is The Honest Kitchen?

  • Dehydrated raw pet food
  • Human grade
  • Nature ingredients
  • Gluten-free options
  • Honest company
  • Simple solution to homemade pet food

If you would like to win a free 2 lb. sample box of The Honest Kitchen leave a comment below (using a current email address) telling me what makes your dog or cat special and I’ll pick 1 lucky winner at random. Giveaway closes at 11pm on Friday June 20th, so get your entries in now!

Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday and enjoy your weekend… you deserve it!

Travel well, nap well, live well!

-Abbey & Basil

Black & White Sunday — Just Another Day at the Beach!

I am calling this, wet dog… wonky ear… a beach story. Its art!
Basil b:w beachTo those of you that are enjoying memorial day weekend from the beach, I hope the sun is hot, water is warm, and beer is cold. We are spending the rest of our weekend with friends, family, BBQ, and bonfires. Hope everyone has a great start to summer 2014! On ward and up ward!

Travel well, nap well, live well!

-Abbey & Basil

 

 

More Love, Less Hate!

This is the story from last Friday, Basil’s favorite BlogPaws day.

Friday was the day of new friends, famous and otherwise. We got to met Tillman, the skateboarding English bulldog as well as Manny the frenchie, of Instagram stardom. This day was only made better by the meeting of a new (“average joe”) friend, Jake. Basil and Jake Blogpaws 2014

We met Jake, a 10 month old pit bull terrier/mastiff mix at a social networking event at BlogPaws. The event was full of people, dogs, food, and drinks. The whole thing was centered around a off leash dog park. The dogs could “mingle” while the people could also mingle.

We got our snacks and starting searching the area for a shady space with friends and chairs. Basil, Nate, and I rounded a corner and found what we were in search of. A few people had also found this little oasis and were grouped together on the lawn. I spotted a set of chairs free next to a women and her dog, Jake. We quickly move to meet them and have a seat.

Basil and Jake hit it off almost instantly! They shared the same high level of energy and love of laying in the cool grass. Jake’s mom and I chatted while these two “wild bucks” ran circles around us and each other. I learned that they were at the conference working for the sponsored PetSmart booth and was giving out information about their pet adoption program.

We talked and they played and I started to notice something. Some people (This was not everybody! Just a few!) were making an extra large arch when passing the two hooligans. I found that strange because usually no one can avoid Basil cuteness/charm. I mentioned this to Jakes mom and she told me that she has come a crossed a few people in her short time with Jake that said they didn’t want their dog around Jake because he is a ” big, scary pit bull.” Now I can understand being worried for your dogs safety and looking out for warning signs, that is just being a good pet parent, but just to make a judgement solely based on the dogs breed is not cool.

This is breed discrimination and unfortunately it is a big problem. The idea that some dogs are just “born bad” is wrong. All dogs are born good and can be taught to be a good dog or a bad dog. Any dog, not just pit bulls, can be aggressive and can attack. I found a great website called BadRap.org. Check out all the information that can be found over there. It really did open up my eyes to how bad this problem really is.

So, next time you see a pit bull walking down the road, on a leash of course, with that goofy smile and not a care in the world, maybe stop and talk to the owner. Ask if you can say hello and give the pup some love. I can tell you that Jake was just a love-bug. His smile was  contagious and he was as sweet as can be with Basil.

We had a blast at BlogPaws and we wanted to thank everyone that we met while we were there! I’ll be posting a lot more photos soon so make sure to check back.

Travel well, nap well, live well!

-Abbey & Basil

 

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