thrive ProReward 100% Liver

Name: ProReward

Make: thrive

Description:  100% Dried Liver cut up into small pieces and intended to be used as a high value treat reward for dogs.

Nutritional analysis: Crude Protein 64.4%, Crude Fibre 0.2%, Crude Oil and Fat 14.6%, Crude Ash 4.8%, Moisture 4.6%
Information above taken from product packaging.

Where purchased: London Pet Show
Price Paid: Free sample

Darcys Comments: I like these as they are very smelly and tasty.

Darcys Mum Says: I was given a free sample of thrive ProReward at the London Pet Show at Earls Court and have since been using them as a reward during training sessions. The treats are dried and therefore as long as they are kept in a sealed container they have a long shelf life. Darcy seems to like them and I am sure she must find them very flavorsome as even I find them smelly when I open the container. Having said that she does prefer the more moist treats as a reward however they do not keep as long, especially in the warm weather we have been experiencing recently, so from that point alone the dried treats are preferable.

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Halti Harness

Darcy wearing her Halti Harness. 
You can see the slightly baggy front strap 
with the all important collar connection.

Name: Halti Harness
Make: The Company of Animals Ltd
Description: Designed by Dr Roger Mugford, the HALTI Harness has a unique patented front attachment system that controls the dog from his chest and shoulders - an effective point of control. The HALTI Harness stops pulling, calms over-boisterous dogs and simplifies training and behavioral therapy. (Official description taken from Halti website http://www.halti.co.uk/haltiharness.php)
Where purchased: Amazon
Price Paid: £10.42 (including p&p)

Darcys Comments: There isn't much to this harness really. 2 main straps - one round my chest and another connecting the two sides of the chest strap running around my front. It isn't particularly comfortable as it rubbed on either side behind my front legs.

Darcys Mum Says: Darcy has always tended to pull when walked with a lead attached to her collar and so due to a shoulder injury I decided to try a harness designed to prevent pulling and one of the trainers at our dog club recommended the Halti Harness as the only one they had found worked. I ordered the medium size based on the sizing guide on the Halti website. This suggested a medium should fit everything from a cocker spaniel to a labrador and I consider her to be somewhere in between. There was only one colour choice available black and red which was a little disappointing but I suppose not overly surprising for something designed to primarily be a training aid rather than aesthetically pleasing. When it arrived we set about fitting the harness which as described on their website is very easy to put on. The chest strap was a perfect fit with Darcy being somewhere in the middle of the allowable range however the front strap despite being as small as it allowed seemed to be a little on the loose side. On first appearance this didn't appear to be a problem but it soon became evident that it was since the idea of this harness is that one end of your lead should attach to this part in addition to the standard back area. When ever any pressure needed to be applied for "steering" as recommended in the accompanying training guide the looseness of this front part of the harness resulted in the whole thing moving from side to side. This problem aside I should note that the practice of having a front attachment did work in terms of improving Darcys lead walking considerably but the amount of movement in the harness meant that it rubbed behind her front legs.The training guide suggested that once the lead walking had improved the front attachment could be removed and the dog walked primarily on the standard back attachment which I though would alleviate the problem of the harness moving which it did. However this then brought to light another problem with the design of the harness. If for whatever reason the dog tries to back away from you in fear or disobedience the harness easily pulls forward over the dogs head. Mild panic ensued, however at this point I discovered the relevance of the small attachment provided to connect the harness to your dogs collar.
Overall I don't think it is a great design but then perhaps if it had been a better fit some of the other issues would not have occurred I think they need to look at the sizing as I really can't see how this would have fitted a cocker spaniel. However the harness did demonstrate the usefulness of the front attachment which is something I will look for in future harness'
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Connollys Red Mills Engage Beef

Name: Engage Beef
Make: Connollys Red Mills

Description:
Our Beef Recipe is a fully balanced diet that provides your dogs with the best of nutrition for sustained health and vitality. This food is suitable for dogs in lighter work, or with lower energy needs. Engage Beef, with a high meat content, offers dogs all the necessary dietary requirements to maintain a good, healthy condition.
Ingredients: Maize, Dehydrated Meat Meal, Wheat, Poultry Fat, Whole Linseed, Beet Pulp, Fishmeal, Chicken Gravy, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Chloride, Mono-Dicalcium Phosphate, Yeast Extract, Chicory Extract (in descending order by weight)

Nutritional analysis: Crude Protein 20%. Crude Oil 8%, Crude Fibre 2.2%, Crude Ash 7%

 

Information above is taken from the Connollys Red Mills website.

                    
Where purchased: http://www.redmills.co.uk/uk/pet/shop/
Price Paid: £18.39 for 15kg bag (not including p&p)
Darcys Comments: I would prefer wet food but my mum says the dry stuff is better for my teeth. Not complaining though as it tastes gooood!

Darcys Mum Says: I intially decided to try this food out as I had recieved a pamphet on Connollys products, some free samples and a discount voucher at the Hertforshire Game and Country Fare last year. It actually makes life a bit easier ordering and having delivered to home the 15kg bags as it means there is one less thing to drag home from the supermarket on a weekly basis. We get through a 15kg bag in approx 2 months.

According to the information supplied with the food Darcy should be having approximately 300g per day. This is split over 3 meals and supplement with various extras like pigs ears, rawhide bones etc.
She seems to be doing really well on it and has nice firm stools. Connollys also produce Engage in several other flavours which we have tried as samples (aquired at the same time as the initial introduction to the product) and Darcy seems to also like. However I haven't purchased any of them as they have higher protein levels than I believe Darcy requires (she is bubbly enough as it is) and also they have higher purchase prices.

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