A new adventure at Thorndon Country Park.

Hi, it's me, Zeek. I just wanted to tell you about my new adventure with the hoomans today at Thorndon Country Park. We went in the car, I like car rides now and don't make weird laughing noises for the whole journey any more. It was huge and there was even a nice lake for me to take a swim in. We saw a few horses who I obviously had to say hello to and tried to find the rabbits in the holes but I guess they didn't want to come out and play. It was full of friendly dogs and their hoomans and they all wanted to play! I even made a few new friends. 



This is Molly. She's an 8 months old yellow Lab and loves everything I do. We hit it off right from the start! We had great fun chasing sticks and diving into the water. We even played a bit of tuggies in the water and I helped her carry her stick back to the edge. I could jump much further than her but she was much more graceful when climbing out than me. We both thought it'd be a good idea to shake next to our hoomans, they looked like they could do with cooling down to me! Molly had to go home after a little while so we set off to explore the park.

After a long walk round the park we got back to the start where there was a charity stool with a load of cakes for sale. They smelt yummy and I just couldn't resist getting a closer look! I resisted doing a taste test, I didn't think my hooman would be too happy if I did. That's when I made my next friend. He was helping out his humans on the stool and was taking a nap when I came over. He was quite a bit older than me so he couldn't run too fast. We just decided to walk around sniffing together, I was tired from all of the swimming anyway. I shared some of my treats with him and then it was time to head back home. I never did find out his name but he sure was a nice dog. My hooman thinks I'll look just like him when I'm older. 

I definitely want to go back there one day. Hopefully I'll make some more new friends on my next trip to Thorndon Country Park. 

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What and what not to feed your pooch.

Most of us like to give our dogs a little of what we eat from time to time, especially when they look at you with those big puppy eyes! This is fine in moderation and there are lots of foods that actually benefit your dog, however there are some foods you really should avoid giving your dog or leaving it in reach of doggy tongues. Here's a small list of both and why you should or shouldn't feed the foods to your dog.

Do

• Unsalted peanut butter - This is a good source of protein for dogs and contains heart healthy fats. I like to put it in Zeek's Kong with some banana and kibble. It's a great treat, especially frozen in the hot summer months.
• Baby carrots - These are great for teeth as well as being high in fibre and low in fat. 
• Salmon - Great for the coat and immune system. I like to give Zeek salmon and scrambled eggs as a dinner treat as scrambled eggs are a good source of protein.
• Some fruits - I give Zeek most fruits but first making sure he won't be eating the pits or inedible leaves. Apples are good for cleaning teeth. Bananas and strawberries are good to put in Kongs. 
• Yoghurt - It's great for the digestive system and again is a good source of protein. Be careful not to get one full of additives though. I also like to put yoghurt in Zeek's Kong with some strawberries. He loves it as a frozen treat! He also loves to lick the pot out after we have finished with the yoghurt. Trouble is he now sits there with his eyes fixed on the pot waiting for your to finish and leaning forward with every mouthful. 

Don't!

• Raisins & grapes - They are toxic for dogs and can actually cause renal failure in dogs, raisins more so than grapes. 
• Chocolate & caffeine - It is toxic for the heart and the nervous system. Giving your dog these can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Take it from me, if your dog just so happens to drink half of your coffee you left on your side it is likely to bark for three hours non stop.
• Any sugary foods -  These foods basically do to your dog what it does to us. It can lead to obesity, tooth decay and the onset of diabetes. 
• Fruits that have pits - These pits can obstruct the digestive system. They also contain cyanide which is poisonous to both us and dogs. 
• Macedamia nuts - These nuts can actually be fatal for dogs. They're poisonous and can cause increased heart rate, vomiting, muscle tremors, weakness of the hind legs and a temperature.

Most of these things can only be a problem if they are being fed to the dog often. However things like pits can cause problems straight away so it's good to have an emergency vet number ready for these situations. 

It's your turn! Please leave your thoughts and experiences on this topic in the comments section below.

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Thanks for reading. Bye for now.

Tailor made dog food from tails.com.

About tails.com.

Tails.com is a dog food company that tailor makes your dogs food from a range of 40 different quality kibbles. They make it based on the breed, age, lifestyle, gender and health conditions your dog may have. By taking all of these things into consideration they work out what your dog does and doesn't need in their diet and then send you the amount you'll need for 31 days. They then send you more dog food every 31 days automatically unless you decide to cancel it or don't start feeding your dog the food within the first few days of it arriving. In theory you should never run out or have too much food. If you find that you have too much or too little you just have to contact them via the website and they will adapt the next batch to suit you.

Why I ordered from tails.com.

I am very fussy with what is in Zeek's food. The three main things I look at when choosing a type of food is ingredients, colour and smell. I don't like to feed give Zeek food that has less than 20% meat content and look for natural ingredients to bulk it up. The food I fed him before had 26% meat and I was very happy with that. I was amazed to find that Zeeks tailor made food would be containing 49% meat and a good amount of natural foods. I have not seen this in dogs food at this price before. Luckily for me I am still paying the same for tails.com dog food as I was on the previous dog food and with the added benefits of great ingredients. Obviously this will differ depending on what you already feed your dog. I don't like giving Zeek food that has all different vibrant colours added to it to make it look good. Your dog doesn't care what colour it's food is, the fancy colours are just for us humans to make it more eye catching. I feel more comfortable when it is a meaty brown colour. I also like his food to smell strong of what is meant to be in it. I feel if I can smell it well then he must be able to taste it. Filling in all of Zeeks information was quick and straight forward and the food arrived within 4 days of ordering. 

My first impressions.

So far I love everything about it and have no complaints at all. The package came in a neat box with Zeeks name on it aswell as on the bags of food and an info leaflet. I know this isn't relevant to what is in your dogs diet but I thought it was a nice touch. I also know lots of people that would like to see their beloved furry friend's name on their food. 

Inside the box was two resealable bags of dog food equating to 31 days worth of food, three different leaflets and a measuring cup that can be adapted depending on how much your dog needs. The cup was a great feature for me. It came flat and was super easy to assemble into a cup shape with handles. In the booklet it showed you what setting to put it on for your dogs needs and that was it. Up until now it's always been a bit of a guessing game. I love the fact I know how much to give Zeek now and it's so easy to measure out. They also give some tips on helping your dog adapt to the new food. It is a good idea to mix your dogs current food with the new food to make it easier on the stomach, especially if your dog has a particularly sensitive stomach. I was happy with the colour and size of the kibble. Zeek's consisted of kibble of all different sizes but mostly of large chunky kibble. I assume that the size of the kibble would be adapted to suit the size of the dog but I'm not sure on that. The colour is how I like it. No crazy oranges and reds that have absolutely no connection to what is in the food itself. The smell is strong and not that appealing to me which probably means all the better for Zeek.

Overall it ticks all of the boxes for me. Good ingredients, great packaging and information leaflets, good smell and colour and all for a reasonable price! As I said before I do not have any complaints on the food and I don't think Zeek does either. Zeek is certainly not a fussy dog but he will take a second look if he isn't impressed. No second looks here and clean bowls all round. A high five on that one from Zeek I believe. If you'd like to try it out go to tails.com. The first order is 50% off!

If  you are going to order or have already ordered from tails.com or if you have any more questions please leave your thoughts in the comments box below.

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Thanks for reading. Bye for now.