Sophie's Journey with #AvoDermNatural Revolving Menu

This post is sponsored by Avoderm and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Avoderm Revolving Menu but Lapdog Creations only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Avoderm is not responsible for the content of this article.

Last month we introduced you to AvoDerm® Natural Pet Food and their new Revolving Menu line of dog food. While it was my intention to have Teutul begin the six week trial, his pancreatitis diagnosis caused a foul and Sophie is now pinch hitting for her big brother.

  

Cleary, she was not disappointed when asked to step up to the plate and take on this six week challenge!

I was a little hesitant to put Sophie on the challenge, as she has had several food sensitivities in the past and switching food brands for her can be compared to playing roulette.  My main concern was the avocado, as my girl seems to be sensitive to many vegetables.  Then, I looked at her report and quite literally did the happy dance when I realized Avocado oil was actually one of her "green" (aka good!) food items!  We still need to be careful when it comes to proteins, however, so we started with the Turkey Recipe since she was already on a turkey-based food. 

 

"AvoDerm® premium dog food formulas are loaded with high quality meat proteins, wholesome grains, antioxidant nutrients plus vitamins and minerals for inside health and California avocados for healthy skin and coat on the outside." - AvoDerm

I've been vigilant in watching for any increase in itching or scratching, as well as checking her ears which seem to be one of the first signs of any intolerance. So far, I'm happy to report that everything is going wonderfully! And... Sophie loves the Revolving Menu Turkey Recipe!

Sophie's food sensitivities are not at all uncommon, as so many dogs (and dog parents) are dealing with issues these days. AvoDerm Revolving Menu is grain free, gluten free, and LID (limited ingredient diet), making it a great choice for dogs with food allergies or sensitivities!

The line was actually designed to help pet parents avoid food sensitivities. Varying your pet's proteins can help to avoid a development of allergies, and the LID formulation helps to avoid stomach and digestive upset when switching between proteins.

AvoDerm even includes Small Breed formulas in the Revolving Line... meaning there is, quite literally, a formula for nearly every dog!

 

Benefits of AvoDerm Revolving Menu

• Vary your dog's protein to prevent boredom and possible food allergies
• Grain Free, Gluten Free
• Limited Ingredient (LID) list to help further minimize sensitivities
• Switch proteins without causing stomach/digestive upset
• Meat protein is always the first ingredient
• No white potatoes or fillers added
• Made in the USA (specifically in California, using only California avocados)

We look forward to telling you more about Sophie's journey with AvoDerm Rotational Menu next month, so stay tuned!

Would you like to see your dog have a healthier, shinier, smoother coat? Join us and take the AvoDerm six week challenge!

Where to Find AvoDerm Revolving Menu

AvoDerm products are available at independent pet stores nationwide.  Click here to use the handy store locator tool. 

While we are fortunate enough to have several stores within a reasonable driving distance, we do realize that many of you may have trouble finding a local store who carries AvoDerm.

  

If you cannot find a store in your area, just ask your favorite local store if they can special order AvoDerm for you. Many local pet shops do this for customers all the time. Perhaps they don't have enough shelf space to stock every brand, or they just haven't been turned on to the benefits of AvoDerm Rotational Menu yet.

You can also purchase AvoDerm Rotational Menu through online retailers such as AvoDerm Revolving Menu at PetSmart.

Connect with AvoDerm: Facebook - Twitter
Sign up for the AvoDerm Newsletter and receive a coupon for $5 off

Howloween Fun with #PetGiftBox + 25% Off Coupon

Disclosure: Pet Gift Box sent September and October boxes to Lapdog Creations, free of charge, for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Who doesn't love having a box of toys and treats show up in their mailbox every month?  I know I do (yarn clubs are amazing), and if you haven't already figured it out, the Lapdogs sure do as well!

We were all very excited when we got the opportunity to try out Pet Gift Box and received a September box. The human over here was feeling a bit frazzled as we did not get our review posted last month (things got a little hectic with a sick dog) and as I was getting ready to post, an October box showed up on our doorstep. So, I decided it would be best to tell you about all the fun in one post!

I think everyone knows by now how monthly subscription boxes work... you sign up your pet (or give a gift subscription) and the postman brings a big 'ole box of goodies to your doorstep.

Some boxes are can be pretty pricey... 

Some boxes are full of items that look like they came from the Dollar Store... 

Some boxes are hits...

Some boxes are complete misses...

Pet Gift Box was a hit!  

 

use coupon code Lapdog for 25% off your first Pet Gift Box

The first thing I noticed when we received our box was that it was addressed to Penny, Sophie & Teutul (ladies first?)! Their names were also handwritten on the box in a cute gift tag graphic.

How's that for attention to detail and being made to feel like my dogs were not just another number on the list?

"At PetGiftBox, we screen all of our selections for quality, ingredients and taste, and then we put them to the real test – we give them to our pets! And, we always make sure we get their “Paw Print of Satisfaction” before we send our monthly gift boxes to your pets." - Pet Gift Box

Once we opened the boxes, I couldn't help but smile.  Each month is a different theme, and each month you received a nice assortment of treats, toys and a bandana. 

September's theme was Hawaiian Lu-arf and featured:

• Tiki God Rope Toy
• Cool Treats Pina Colada Smoothie
• Cocotherapy Organic Coconut Chips
• Ultra Chewy Passion Fruit Tropical Bone
• Hawaiian Bandana

October's theme was Howloween and featured:

• Spooky Dog Toy
• Peek-A-Boo Toy
• Pumpkin Smoocher Drops
• Spooktacular Cookies
• Halloween Boo-Dana

I absolutely love the monthly theme idea, and am especially happy with October's box!  All paws are crossed we will get to review November and December as well, because I know I can't wait to see what the themed goodies are!

All of the treats in both boxes were brand new to us.  The two plush toys (Tiki God and Frankenstein) were the biggest hits with our pack, especially my girls.

 

The Peek-A-Boo toy from this month's box is still being carefully investigated.  You see, when you squeeze the little rubber toy, it screams (a very loud squeaker toy) and a ghost pops up from the middle.  Penny wanted to stomp on it, while Sophie immediately ran away and Tut had zero interest as he was too busy stealing Frankenstein from the girls. Penny has slowly warmed up to it, but the plush toys are definitely the big winners!

I love that each box includes a fun bandana and that they are styled with an "indent" around the neck area to fit nicely.  I wish they were slightly bigger however, as while they do fit my kids, it would be nice to have a little more "wiggle" room.

All in all, we give Pet Gift Box a big paws up when it comes to the contents!  And, the humans give Pet Gift Box two thumbs way up when it comes to price.  As I mentioned above, some of the subscription services being offered can be rather expensive, but I find Pet Gift Box to be very wallet-friendly with the four subscription options offered:

• Single Month for $28.99/month
• 3 Months for $23.99/month
• 6 months for $20.99/month
• 12 months for $18.99/month
• *All four options come with free shipping! 

Click here and use coupon code Lapdog for 25% off your first Pet Gift Box

For those of you with multi-species households, you'll be happy to know Pet Gift Box (notice the name... pet, not dog or pup?) is available for our our feline friends as well!  That's right, Pet Gift Box is available for both dogs and cats (I wonder if horses and guinea pigs will be next?)! 

Dog boxes are available in three sizes: Petite Pup (up to 20lb), Mid-sized Pup (20 - 50lb) and Hefty Hound (50+ lb).  Cat boxes are one-sized fits all, or rather "purrfect size."
Sign up is simple...

1. Enter your pet's name
2. Select Dog or Cat
3. Select size (for dogs only)
4. Select your pet's gender (there's even an option for multiple pets sharing a box - which certainly stands out for this multi-dog Mama)

Once you complete those four quick and easy steps, you will get to the screen to enter your shipping and payment info.  And that's it - quick and easy!

Order a Pet Gift Box for your pup today - and use coupon code Lapdog for 25% off your first box!  The holidays are coming and Pet Gift Box makes the purrfect, pawesome gift for any cat or dog on your list! 

Connect with Pet Gift Box: Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Pinterest

Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Lovin'

We're getting wordless with our love of all things fall...

Check In On Tut's FortiFlora Challenge #Chewy

Disclosure: Chewy sent a 30 day supply of FortiFlora to Lapdog Creations, free of charge, for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Teutul is just over half way through the FortiFlora challenge!

To refresh your memory, our friends at Chewy asked us to participate in a 30-day challenge with Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets FortiFlora. We began our challenge at the beginning of the month - ironically timed with Tut's pancreatitis diagnosis.

For the past few weeks, we have been adding a packet of FortiFlora to Tut's dinner every night. I'm not sure if he can taste the FortiFlora or not, but he happily gobbles up his food, then will spend at least an extra 30 seconds licking the bowl clean.

One of the things I love most about FortiFlora is the fact that it is so incredibly easy to use - whether you're at home or traveling. There are no pills to conceal in peanut butter, and no dosages to measure out. FortiFlora is conveniently packaged in single dose packets that you simply open up and sprinkle on your dog's food once a day.

Yes, it is as easy as that! 

Some Key Benefits of FortiFlora

• Helps reduce flatulence in dogs (and let me tell you - just after we received Tut's diagnosis of pancreatitis, he had the most awful gas ever! Not sure exactly what caused it, but I'm happy to report it's gone!)
• Contains guaranteed amounts of live active cultures
• Microencapsulated probiotics, which guarantees that they arrive alive in your pet's digestive tract
• Proven to promote intestinal health & balance
• Contains antioxidant vitamins E, C and beta-carotene which have been shown to support a strong immune system
• Tastes great and has excellent palatability (like I said, he loves it, so who am I to argue with this claim)
• Easy to feed - just sprinkle on your pet's food

In addition to incorporating FortiFlora into Tut's daily diet, we have also been working on a slow switch from a bland diet to a new low-fat kibble, which we will tell you all about in an upcoming post!

The verdict at the half-way point of our 30 day challenge: using FortiFlora on a daily basis has proven to be beneficial! Whether your dog has been diagnosed with digestive issues or not, this is a wonderful product to use regularly. The supplement has been proven to promote intestinal health and balance - a benefit to everyone!

Grab a box for your dog (or cat, as there is a Feline version available as well) at Chewy where 1-2 day shipping is always free on orders of $49 or more! Plus, you can set up an auto-ship of FortiFlora (and thousands of other items, including food and treats) and not only save time, but money as well!

Thank you again to our friends at Chewy for setting us up on this 30-day challenge!  We'll report back with our final thoughts in a couple of weeks.

Halloween + Racing = Mischief

While the real mischief going on around here this weekend was the fact that the humans had the nerve to be gone all day on both Saturday and Sunday (and yes, left all three Lapdogs at home... sorry Penny, the race track was just too crowded and it was way too cold), the fun mischief was our Halloween card photo shoot.  Here's just a little tease...

For those of you wondering about the humans' weekend mischief (from which at least one of us is struggling to get through her Monday without falling asleep at her desk)...

 

This past weekend was the US Legends Road Course World Finals...

 

Since the big event was at our home track this year, the man got to participate.  We had a blast competing with teams from all over the world, including the UK, Finland, South Africa, Sweden and Russia!

While we did not participate in the open practice on Friday, we did drive up to the track to drop off one of the cars.  Penny came along for the ride and met our garage mates from the UK (who went on to win our Masters class and the World Championship!).  I'm not sure who had who wrapped around their finger/tail, but they had lots of scratches for her and she obliged with lots of kisses and tail wags.  I wish I thought to snap some photos... my girl had the biggest smile ever!  They begged me to bring her back on Saturday, but because of the long, cold days and so many teams at the track, we decided it was best that our race girl sat this one out.

Arriving at the race track before sunrise...

The Masters class that Matt runs in had the largest field of the weekend, which made for some exciting racing!  While he participated for the experience and fun (meaning we weren't expecting to go out there and run Top 5 or anything), he was thrilled to race hard with some great guys towards the back of the pack and picked up over a second on his best lap time prior to the event! 

On Saturday, he finished 16th in his Qualifying race and 8th in his Heat race... which equaled a 16th place starting position for the Feature race on Sunday.

We met a lot of great people from all over the world, spent time with good friends, and just plain had an amazing, yet tiring, weekend!  Our garage mates, Mickel Motorsports (aka those Brits who loved Penny) were some of the nicest guys around.  We were happy to see them take home the Masters win, and not just because they gifted us with all sorts of goodies before they left.  They gave some racing stuff to Matt, but I was most excited about them leaving me the electric kettle I'd been coveting all weekend (we brought a crock pot for lunch, but having hot water in the pits on a very cold weekend was genius).  Thanks guys! Penny is still bummed that she didn't get to go to the track Saturday and Sunday to spend more time with you!

We parked next to this guy for the official on-track group photo of all the cars, drivers and team members.  Matt was already chatting with him when I got over there, as he was hoping he didn't "mess Matt up" during the heat race on Saturday.  I got in on the conversation when he was telling Matt about all of the tracks he races at, and how he races mostly on dirt.  I said "man, that's got to be fun!" and he responded with a very enthusiastic yes!  As he was telling Matt where he was from, I noticed the name on his car and it clicked. 

 

If you're into racing, you probably know who Matt had a blast racing against this weekend. Such a nice, down to earth guy who's been around racing for years and just having some fun out there like the rest of us!  Unfortunately, his race ended early yesterday due to an oil leak.

Did I mention that it was a cold weekend?!  I think it was around 35 degrees when we arrived yesterday morning.  We had not one, but two hail storms on Saturday... and snow flurries yesterday.  Funny how it was in the 70's at the beginning of the week and will be back up in the 60's later this week...

Here are more pics from the weekend, although I still need to download the best ones off of my camera....

The weekend ended with a p12 finish in the Master's class.  So very proud of him!

So, what kind of mischief did you get into this past weekend?