Mr. Chewy's Shelter And Rescue Network: A Great Idea To Help Animals In Need!

Hear ye, hear ye, all animal rescue organizations! We're thrilled to be able to give a shout-out to Mr. Chewy's Shelter and Rescue Network that we think is one of the greatest ideas since...well, you name it!

The company's (now officially chewy.com) goal is to "create the largest shelter and rescue network designed to support non-profit organizations that help animals in need." Once you register your non-profit organization, you'll have access to all sorts of programs designed especially by Chewy.com to help your organization help animals through donations, fundraising and visibility opportunities (did we mention that Mr. Chewy is master of the social media universe?)

Chewy.com is so dedicated to helping animal organizations, it even has its own charity coordinator, the lovely and savvy Michelle Miller. And here's what she has to say about Chewy.com's Shelter and Rescue Network: 

"For me, the best part about being a part of Chewy.com is meeting the people and hearing the stories behind our Shelter & Rescue Network partners. They're the ones doing the hard work, giving shelter, providing care, and finding homes for animals in need. When you hear as many stories as I do, you realize that they're doing more than giving a cat or dog a place to sleep... they're helping build a family. I'm glad we have the opportunity to come alongside them and help in any way we can."

Here's how Chewy.com's Shelter and Rescue Network works:

1. You register your non-profit, animal shelter or rescue with Chewy.com (Of course, it's free and super easy).

2. Your organization will immediately have access to all kinds of cool stuff, like banners, icons and links to help promote your new partnership with Chewy.com and start funneling donations your way.

For every new customer referred from your organization who registers and orders a product, Chewy.com will donate $20 to your organization!

3. Your organization will receive it's very own "landing page" on Chewy.com's website to welcome your referrers, and will include your logo, name, location and brief description of your organization-cool!

4. You'll have access to all kinds of nifty printed materials, too, like posters, new adopter welcome kits and pamphlets to help promote your partnership with chewy.com and help drive even more referrals (aka donations), to your organization.

5. Chewy.com will help you increase your organizations visibility and social outreach through its hundreds of thousands of social media fans on a national level, and even "geo-target" your audience through e-mail and direct marketing to promote your upcoming events, like special adoption fairs or fundraisers.

And as an extra bonus, when your organization reaches 100 referrals, Chewy.com will issue a press release to both national and local media to further promote your joint partnership! And you know what all this free, expert marketing of your organization does, right? It helps you to achieve your goal to increase pet adoption! 

On this very important day, Be, Blog and Read The Change For Animals, we salute Chewy.com, the Be the Change for Animals organization and all of the animal shelters, rescues and bloggers who work tirelessly to help animals in need. Thank You!

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Antler Chews From Doggie Delicacy

We're thrilled to be able to review this really cool deer antler chew produced by  Doggie Delicacy, a small company based in New York that specializes in antler chews for dogs. We were kindly provided with the deer antler chew to test (see photo directly below), courtesy of our friends at Mr. Chewy.

First, let's chat a bit about how these "chews" are created-and we're pleased to say that they're more created than manufactured.  Even though Parental Unit is all about "natural this" and natural that" when it comes to purchasing food or treats for yours truly, she hadn't heard of these chews. The come in a variety of game: deer, elk and moose, and different antler sizes (small, medium, large and extra- large), which you choose depending on the size of your dog. We chose a size medium deer antler for my gnawing pleasure.

And in case you were wondering, they are 100% natural-and what that means in this case is that these antlers are shed naturally by our forest friends and are only from North American deer, elk and moose. They have not been chemically treated, flavored, enhanced, dyed or treated with preservatives. And because antlers are bone, they are rich in minerals and calcium which is good for us canines, in addition to the fun chewing action we get. I even played fetch with mine!

Can I finally get my mouth around this thing, Parental Unit? It smells delicious to me (although odorless to you humans)...

Oh, this is darn tasty.

As you can see, I clearly enjoyed chewing on my antler bone, and Parental Unit is happy because, well, it really is "natural" and besides that (to put it bluntly), no animals had to be killed to make something for me to chew on... So we give "Doggie Delicacy" deer antler chews an enthusiastic four paws and two thumbs up!

We extend a big fat thank-you to our favorite online pet retailer, Mr. Chewy, for letting us try this product! And if you want to purchase them for your pooch, just check out Mr. Chewy's page dedicated to Doggie Delicacy selections.

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Three Cheers For Biodegradable Poop Bags: How Cleaning Up After Your Pet Can Be Good For The Environment

We can't tell you how excited we were when our good friend,  Mr. Chewy, asked us to try one of their new products: an array of biodegradable and compostable bags for picking up after your pet, created by a small Canadian company, Earth RatedTM Poop Bags. "Why that's right up our environmentally conscious, sustainably-minded alley!" exclaimed Parental Unit (Sometimes she is soooo embarrassing).

Anyway, that's how we came to receive this variety of magnificent biodegradable and/or compostable bags from Mr. Chewy.
In the foreground from L-R: Compostable poop bag, Biodegradable poop bag with handles, and "regular" biodegradable poop bags. We'll explain the differences below.

               Yep, those are my new poop bags alright!

We just happened to receive this awesome package just as were leaving for a day hike in one of our metro parks, so we took some along to try out. 

       Big Darby Creek                                                                                                       

Fast forward to Prairie Oaks Metro Park, one of our favorite places to hike in our area. It was an old mining site that the city of Columbus restored to its natural prairie landscape. And indeed, a mighty river runs through it. Well, it may not be all that mighty, but Big Darby Creek, despite the name, is a nationally protected scenic river with one of the highest biodiversity rates of any protected river in the country, which means that it has lots of different varieties of fish, birds, insects and wildlife all in one area-and that's a good thing for our planet.

I don't know about you, but I get so excited riding in the car, that the first thing I do upon arrival is...you guessed it, poop! And "you know who" was there to scoop in right up with our new biodegradable bags. 

Why is Parental Unit smiling while holding my nicely wrapped poop, you ask? Because these particular bags are lightly scented with natural lavender, which makes them a pleasure to use, and even a pleasure to carry for long distances.

   Parental Unit showing off her regular biodegradable bag filled with my...

 

And here she is properly disposing of the bag, with my assistance, in a receptacle just for dog poop. And she's still smiling! For all other waste in this park, it's "carry in, carry out".

In case you were wondering about the differences among the bags, here's an overview of  the three different varieties of  Earth Rated TM  Poop Bags:

__ Biodegradable, lavender scented bags on roles: they're large enough (9 by 13 inches) so you only need one, even for large piles of poop. But if you had to use two, there's no need for guilty feelings because these bags are completely broken down into carbon dioxide and water in as little as 24 months-that's as opposed to regular plastic bags that can hang around in landfills for about 1000 years-give or take a century or two.

__ Biodegradable bags with handles-or "BioHandle Bags": These come in a box rather than on a role, are also lightly scented with natural lavender, and harmlessly degrade in about the same time as the regular biodegradable bags.

__Compostable bags: For the truly green, these unscented bags are made from 100% corn-based renewable resources and fully degrade in as little as 40 days. You can use these bags for more than poop! We tried them three times and in our opinion, they are just as strong and easy to use as the others.

All of these Earth friendly bags are available for purchase at 1,163 stores and counting in Canada and the United States, and of course, at our favorite online pet retailer, Mr. Chewy. Why not have them delivered right to your door, right now?!

But why should we make the effort to purchase biodegradable or compostable bags like these to pick up our dog's poop, rather than use those plastic bags we get in the grocery store? Because plastic bags are a near-permanent pollutant, and there are so many in use, that all of them aren't disposed of properly. And that's when bad things happen; for example, over 100,000 sea turtles and other marine animals die every year because they mistake plastic bags for food. Why contribute to the problem when a simple solution like purchasing bags like these "for just pennies a poop", that will quickly and harmlessly degrade, will help solve the problem instead?

And it will make it that much easier to preserve natural areas like Prairie Oaks Park for everyone to enjoy.

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Welcome Mr. Chewy... And Yum, Yum, YumZies!

First, we'd like to give a hearty welcome to Mr.Chewy as a new sponsor of Bocci's Beefs! Through our research and recent work with this delightful new online pet retailer, we have come to agree that Mr. Chewy does indeed "deliver pet happiness". How does "he" do this, you ask?  Through his excellent and ever-expanding line of pet food and product offerings, incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff (just waiting by their computers and phones to make you and your pet happy), and lightening fast and accurate delivery. We're thrilled to be able to bring you regular product reviews and company updates and goings-on, right here on Bocci's Beefs. And by the way, is that little guy, er, Mr. Chewy, adorable or what?

But let's not tary with such pleasantries any longer...let's get right to our review of YumZies, a new treat for dogs created by Nootie, a company that had it's origins developing fragrant and appealing pet shampoos. After launching a successful line of pet grooming products, Nootie, according to its website,"began looking into other products that could beneift from their dedication to quality ingredients and the love of their pets." And so it came to pass that Nootie launched its latest product, YumZies dog treats, at the 2012 Global Pet Expo.


We were asked by Mr. Chewy, who's recently added YumZies to it's line of dog treats, to try out these  soft morsels, and give you our opinion (I did the tasting and Parental Unit did the scrutinizing of the ingredients and label).

We chose the peanut butter-flavored, mini YumZies because:

1. I like peanut butter, and

2. This smaller, "mini" size is supposed to be "perfect for training" and well, Parental Unit is a hopeful person.

YumZies come in three other flavors: Cheese, Hickory Bacon, and Barbecued Chicken, and each flavor comes in full and mini sizes. And let's just say that the ingredient list passed Parental Unit's strict standards. The first ingredient in all of the flavors is real chicken, followed by pea powder for extra protein and to help with digestion. The treats also contain fish oil, garlic powder and ginger powder, each contributing its own helpful properties, like aiding digestion, maintaining the immune system, fighting arthritis-you get the picture. But truthfully, Parental Unit is more concerned with what these treats don't contain: No wheat, corn, soy, gluten, or other grains of any kind, and no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.

But...did I like them? The problem is that the only way to determine if I "like" food or treats of any kind is whether I actually eat them, and I've been known to turn up my nose at a number of prepared dog treats as well as samples of fresh fruit, popcorn, and even pieces of human cookies. And much to Parental Unit's dismay, I even buried a raw, meaty bone rather than pass a few hours gnawing it to clean my teeth.

               Here I am waiting expectantly for my "review".

O.K., give it to me already! (Blurry object in left bottom corner is Parental Unit's hand with treat)

The verdict: I ate several of them during three different "training sessions", which must mean that I like them! There are no funny photos of me inhaling the treats because I tend to take them to other parts of the house to actually eat them-like under the dining room chair or my "man cave' under Parental Unit's bed (so much for that training thing).

Hey, we both enjoyed doing this review of  YumZies, the new dog treats by Nootie, and look forward to bringing you lots more information from Mr. Chewy!

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Holiday Gaffes With Pets And Humans: Older And No Wiser?

Drawing by PJ Loughran, courtesy of The New York Times

We enjoyed this round-up of holiday mistakes that took center stage in today's New York Times "Home" section, but we were a bit taken aback at the insensitivity of some of those interviewed for their tales of holiday woe. We've all made mistakes with our pets (and otherwise), but does common sense ever prevail?
A holiday tree decorated with swan feathers when you have three cats and an allergic husband? A dog electrocuted by the Christmas tree lights? Yikes! But there are quite a few stories that involve harm to no creatures and are wildly funny, albeit a tad pea-brained.

Are we being too tough on these folks? Let us know what you think...

On a more positive note, we thought we'd pass on these tips from professional photographer, Vincent Laforet, for capturing just the right firelight glow. Enjoy learning to take better photographs when friends and family are gathered 'round the fireplace right here: gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/seven-tips-for-better-photos-by-firelight/?scp=4&sq=Roy%20Furchgott&st=cse

P.S. Don't forget that you have till tonight at 9:00 pm EST to enter to win a copy of Roam, that inspiring story of one intrepid canine and the human lives he touches. Don't miss it!
We'll announce the winner later tonight so stay tuned.

And tomorrow we'll bring you the scoop on a new online retailer of pet food and treats that we're particularly excited about, so check back with us tomorrow, too!

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