Morgan's Dog Boutique review!

"Sorry for the absence of posts from me, we've had an incredibly stressful few months, which thankfully has calmed down! But I'll need a whole separate post for that!"

I was lucky enough to receive a package from a lovely online boutique who sent me one of their products to review. 

Morgan's Dog Boutique is a recently set up business who sell a variety of luxury dog accessories which includes a wide selection of products that can be personalised, they also offer free uk delivery which is nice. A personal fave of mine is their specific dachshund section! :-)

I was sent one of their most popular items, the Union Jack retractable lead. It came in candy pink coloured packaging which was a really unique touch! 

The lead itself was a much higher quality than I was expecting! All the crystals are very well attached and I actually prefer the mechanism in this lead to the one used in the Flexi Vario! It locks really easily and is really comfortable to use which is a bonus! 

It extends to 3meters and is designed for smaller breeds making it perfect for Sevy, my 18 week old miniature long, I did attempt to try and take some outdoor action shots that showed just how sparkly it is, but Sev was having none of it! 

(Please excuse the less than brilliant photos, my SD card decided to die on me, deleting all of my better photos!) 

This lead would make the perfect gift for a dog-loving friend or family member, the sparkle definitely adds a bit of glamour and luxury to your dog walks! I absolutely love the sparkle! :-)

I'd definitely recommend that you check out Morgan's Dog Boutique, their range is gorgeous and I've definitely got my eye on their adorable duffle coats! So cute! 

Thank you for reading,

Jaime, Lils & Sev xo 

Ruby & Duke box review!

Monthly subscription boxes have been quite popular for some time now and until I found the Ruby & Duke box I hadn't seen any that really stood out to me! 

R&D is a British company that provide a selection of four to six different high quality items that vary from toys to treats which are selected for you after submitting what size dog you have (I clicked the 10kg and under option as Lily is only tiny!) without waffling on anymore, here's our review! 

The Box itself:

My first impression of the box when it arrived this morning was that it was bigger than I was expecting which is a bonus! Inside the box is a pamphlet which explains the contents, the box is filled with wood shreddings which Lily enjoyed poking about in! 

The Box's contents:

Billy + Margot popcorn for dogs

I was especially excited to find b+m products in this months box, anyone who's been reading my blog for a while will know we love the brand! We've never tried it before but funnily enough I've bought them as part of a gift exchange with a friend! 

Double Knotted Rope Toy:

You really can't go wrong with a rope toy! This one is a variety of colours and is not too big or too small which makes it perfect for the girls to share 

Beco Spork

I found this incredibly amusing - who doesn't love a Spork?! Beco is a fabulous eco friendly company, we have numerous toys by the brand but I've never tried their other products, will test this out at dinner time! 

Rosewood Squeaky Cola Bottle:

This barely made it out of the box when Isla decided it was hers, she absolutely loves squeaky toys! The vinyl feels quite durable which is good, however after 45 minutes it was confiscated due to the noise, she's now only allowed it for short periods of time!! 

Lily's Kitchen Calming Treats:

Last but not least are these new treats from our favourite treat company, I was so excited when I saw these in the box! They are a perfect miniature dachshund alternative to the bed time biscuits as they are much smaller, I haven't found these in our local pet shop yet either! 

Overall I'd give the box a 4.5 out of 5! The girls loved all of the toys and treats and it was super good value for money and I'd totally recommend it! 

If you'd like to sign up there is a link here! 

Thank you for reading 

Jaime & Lily xo

Crufts 2015 Haul!

Last Saturday I was at Crufts and did a bit of shopping (okay quite a lot!) but not as much as I thought I would, I even forgot numerous things which I'm slowly ordering online :-)

But here's what I bought! I'll slowly be reviewing everything too! :-)

All of my stash together!

Goodies from one of my favourite brands, Pooch & Mutt! I was so pleased to finally get to meet Sam whom I've been speaking to for months! :-) 

Every time our groomer comes over to do Daisy she uses this spray which smells incredible! So I finally bought some! 

I picked up a selection of Woof'n'brew tea which I'm really looking forward to testing on the girls! 

I grabbed another Equafleece for Lily as where she's so close to the ground she always gets her current fleece grubby so I thought it'd be easier to rotate the two :-)

I grabbed the treat holder attachment for Lily's Vario - perfect for long walks!

I really wanted to try the dried equivalent of Lily's raw food and as this was on offer I picked up a box!

Another stand I was extremely excited to go to was Dapper! I order the majority of Lily's collars from them! The team are even lovelier in person! I bought each of the girls a new collar as Isla has outgrown yet another one!

One of my favourite purchases, a gorgeous, soft show lead for Lily! 

Here's just a few of the freebies we picked up!

Hope you enjoyed this!

Thank you for reading!

Jaime & Lily xo 

Bionic Biotic - First Impressions

Last weekend I received another package from one of our favourite brands, Pooch & Mutt!

I was sent one of their best selling products; Bionic Biotic which is a probiotic supplement for dogs. 

It's been designed to help skin and hair growth as well as dealing with digestive issues because it contains a combination of probiotics, prebiotics, oils and other vitamins that are beneficial to dogs' health. 

I was excited to try it, and due to Lily's weight she gets 1 teaspoon added to her evening meal, the packaging says that you start to see a difference so I will blog again to update you on how she's getting on!

The product itself comes in a powder form and smells really nice! I add the teaspoon into her food and mix well,  she isn't bothered by the smell and happily eats her food with it in!

Will update you with how we get, on I'm expecting good things from this product! :-)

Thank you for reading!

Jaime & Lily xo

Crufts 2015!

I'm so incredibly excited that we're going to Crufts this year! I'll be going on the Saturday (hound day of course!) and I can't wait! 

It's been three years since I last went and this year I actually have a dog of my own to spoil! 

I've written a rather large list of things for the girls ranging from show leads to vetbed! I'm especially excited about meeting the teams behind Pooch & Mutt, Dapper Pets as well as various others!

I plan on trying to post more frequently on the @Fachshund Instagram account, so look out for lots of photos both on there and on our Twitter page! I'm also planning on writing a haul post as well as various reviews on what I buy (which no doubt will be way more than we need!) :-)

Weekend Wishlist- Valentines Edition

Pink Heart Toy
Pink Heart Collar

Valentines Treat Hamper
Pink Trench Coat
Pink Heart Lead 
Posh Pooch Treats

We've gone all pink and heart shaped! Here's our Valentines picks! Aren't those collars just gorgeous?!

Thank you for reading,
Jaime & Lily xo

Pooch & Mutt Fresh Breath Review

I hadn't really heard that much about the brand Pooch & Mutt other than their range of treats which I buy all the time as they aren't full of rubbish and are a perfect size for Lily without them being to much! 

But when earlier in January I was contacted by the lovely and super helpful Sam from P&M asking if they could send us some food I jumped at the chance!

After some research I chose the Fresh Breath range as I clean Lily's teeth regularly and anything that can help her dental health is a bonus for me! 2 days later and a 2kg bag arrived, I've waited a little while to write this review because I wanted to let Lily try it properly so that I could give it a fair review! 

The first thing I noticed was the smell! I'm so used to the standard meaty smell that you get with dog biscuits it was a nice surprise for it to smell fresh and slightly pepperminty! The main ingredient of the food is chicken which is a gentle meet that is good for sensitive stomachs, as with all of their dry foods it's completely grain free which is something I look for in Lily's food. 

What makes the Fresh Breath food extra special is the mixture of Parsley, Peppermint and Citrus extract which all help to deodorise bad breath and the citrus extract is added to make the kibbles extra crunchy which helps remove plaque buildup- I also like the fact that the kibbles are bigger than what Lily's used to, which means she actually has to chew them rather than swallow them whole which she used to do!! 

But what really appealed to me was their unique supplement "Nutra-Bionic" which Omega 3&6 which is used for the skin and coat - since Lily's been on this food her coat has been so soft and shiney to the point I actually had a man who has top show dogs comment on how healthy and soft her coat was at Ringcraft - which is a massive compliment after how dry she was previously! :-) 

In conclusion we both really like this food! Lily always clears her bowl at breakfast and seems to really enjoy it, to the point that once she's ran out I'm going to order an 8kg bag! :-) 

There's a coupon code on their Facebook which gives you £2 of, which is brilliant if you're considering trying their food! 

I hope you found this post helpful! (and that I didn't ramble too much! - I could talk about the health benefits of good dog food all day!!) 

Thank you for reading,

Jaime & Lily xo

Adventures in Raw Feeding!

I feel that the whole raw feeding movement is something that's become far more accessible to people in everyday situations whereas before it seemed to be more niche to working dogs, the amount of brands and variety now offered is incredible anything from standard tripe, chicken carcasses to nuggets of raw food ready to defrost and feed!

Lily had been suffering from dry skin on and off since we've had her and every time I looked into it Raw was offered as a solution which without researching it fully the idea of the dog eating a chicken wing made me cringe!! 

So I decided to look into it in more detail, there are numerous companies that sell raw food in various different forms: tubs, blocks, cubes, minced the list goes on! But one brand that stood out to me was Natures Menu. The girls have had their treats for a while and love them so I did some more research. 

The Natures menu range of raw food comes in two main varieties; their regular selection and the Country Hunter range. Both types come pre-cubed which you simply defrost and then feed. I get 4 cubes out every evening and pop them in the fridge so by the following evening they're ready for Lily to eat (I should point out that she gets dry kibble in the morning and her main meal, the raw in the evening!). 

I bought a 1kilo bag of the country hunter Salmon & Raspberry nuggets, she as mentioned above has 4 a day which means that the kilo bag lasts ages and is super cost effective for her size! I've noticed that with her old dry food that she would rush it and I'm sure she didn't chew the kibble either! But watching her eat the country hunter food she really takes her time and enjoys it! 

Lily's only tried one flavour so far but she really likes it! I'll probably get one of the other flavours next time so she doesn't get bored, I'm also curious about the freeze dried treats they make, so that's another thing to add to the list! 

 

Thank you for reading,

Jaime & Lily xo

Weekend Wishlist #3

Thought we'd start posting these again as they're super fun to do! 

This week I've featured our 6 favourite products from the PetsPyjamas 30% off designer brand sale which ends on February 6th! So here's our top picks! 

1. John Paul Pet - Ear and Eye wipes

2. Love From Lola - Dog Bow Tie 

3. Dogs Department - Classic Canvas Collar in pink 

4. John Paul Pets - Tea Tree conditioning spray

5. Dogs Department - Round Lead in khaki and gold

6. Dogs Department - Round Collar in khaki and gold

Thank you for reading!
Jaime & Lily xo

Gettin' Fishy With It

Over the past few months we've been testing out various brands and types of fish skin chews, so in today's post we will be reviewing our three favourite types! I've been feeding these as a daily treat, each of the girls gets one chew each for their lunch - a healthy alternative to a dog biscuit and they love them! 

There are countless health benefits to the fish chews:

-  they are low in fat

-  they are rich in fish oils which is fab for the dogs skin/coat

-  due to their rough texture they're perfect for promoting healthy teeth 

-  all the treats we tried are 100% natural 

-  they're all completely grain/cereal free so perfect for dogs with allergies 

Lily's Kitchen "Truly Naturals" fish skin chews

These where the first variety of fish skin chews, these are made from 100% pure line caught Icelandic catfish. These are the longest chew that we've tried, they also have the strongest smell, it's not that bad but it is still noticeable! 

The packing is my favourite out of the three we've tried, they come in a resealable package which keeps the treats fresh. It's decorated with the standard Lily's Kitchen designs which is rather sweet. 

The chews last Lily a good 10-15 to chew due to the fact that they're quite hard, but she really enjoys them! 

Affordability: they retail at £3.99 for 75g 

Longevity: 10-15 minutes 

Moisture content: 8%

Overall rating: 4/5

Pet Munchies 100% Natural Dog Treats - Salmon Fillets

I found these after reading about them in a dog magazine, these treats have a different texture and shape the the Lily's chews, these are more flat and uniformed in size/shape. I was drawn to thse after reading about the benefits of Salmon oil for dogs, these are slightly smaller then the previous chews but appear to be softer as they only take Lily a short time to eat upon reading the ingredients I think this is due to a much higher moisture content. 

Unlike the usual orange Pet Munchies packaging the range of fish chews are packaged in black, they also feature the resealable top 

Affordability: £2.99 for 90g

Longevity: 3-5 minutes 

Moisture content: 25% 

Overall rating: 3/5

Billy + Margot - Fish Skin Cubes 

I was sent a box of these free with a larger order I made from Billy + Margot before Christmas, these are the only cube variety we have tried, they are all a similar square shape and are very hard. These are made from 100% air dried whitefish which are caught from only sustainable sources which is really good! Due to the smaller size, which is perfect for Lily I give her two, they keep her amused for ages and she always wants another one! 

They are packed in a small black cardboard box with the treats inside a plastic packet which isn't resealable unlike the previous two so I pop them into an air tight tub to keep them fresh. 

Affordability: £3.25 for 60g 

Longevity: 5-10 per cube

Moisture content: not specified 

Overall rating: 5/5 and our favourite! 

I hope you enjoyed the reviews and the new style of comparison! :) 

I will be doing a giveaway for a packet of the fish treats - check our Twitter for more information! 

Thank you for reading,

Jaime & Lily xo 

All About Isla!

This post is a slight deviation from our usual posts, but I thought I'd give Isla a proper introduction! (And plus, who doesn't like puppy photos?!)

We got Isla just short of five weeks ago from Telford, she is a 14 week old German Shorthaired Pointer or GSP for short, she is an absolute nutter who loves everything and anything! 

We intend to show her along side Lily so I will update you with how they both get on! But for now I'll leave you with some pictures of the German hooligan herself! 

Thank you for reading,

Jaime, Lily, Daisy & Isla xo