two spoiled pugs: monthly review: April Pawalla Mini!

Our Pawalla Mini box came so late this month! It was shipped out on April 20th and didn't arrive until today. It was very hard on me because I'm very impatient. I contacted Pawalla about the delay yesterday and apparently it was a problem throughout the east coast with Pawalla. Something about storms? It's been sunny here but I haven't paid attention to what's been going on in the rest of the country weather-wise so I'll trust what they say.

How Pawalla works: You can get a standard box or a mini box. Standard boxes come 6-10 full sized products that include wet food, treats, supplements or vitamins, essentials and a toy. Standard boxes range from $21-29 a month depending on your subscription plan. Mini boxes come with 3-5 products that include treats, a toy and surprise item(s) but NO wet food. Mini boxes range from $12-17 a month depending on your subscription plan.
We get a mini box simply because we also get BarkBox and because I don't want them to get picky and only eat wet food :) You fill out information about your dog's age, size, and such so that they can tailor it to your needs.

Ginger and Luna knew what was up. Ares was trying to be dignified for the picture. Basically, all of my pictures were a mess because they all forgot what "sit" means. (Ginger doesn't know her own name, much less any commands. It's hard to get her to do anything and Luna follows her lead.)

Ares loves getting the first glimpse of our haul!

First up: In Clover - Grin Dental Chews. Pawalla says "Grin is a licorice dog treat (one of the first I have ever seen), with a flavor/taste that dogs tend to like. Along with the flavor, this is a grain free product that contains the anti-oxidant green tea. It also contains inulin, a prebiotic that works to feed the good bacteria in the intestinal tract. Dried seaweed meal contains chlorophyll which helps to freshen breath. These clover-shaped treats contain 16 calories each. The chewy texture of the treat encourages chewing to clean teeth." They're roughly $4.99 and can be found here.

The shapes are super cute!

Silly puppies didn't want pictures, just treats.

Next up was their favorite treat: Locomotion Pet Treats (cheesy flavor). Pawalla says "Quick production and delivery to store shelves allows this company to use no preservatives in the making of their treats. Their products are so fresh that they don't need any. Oats are great for GI health, cheese powder, nonfat powdered milk and egg powder all provide healthy Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium and all of the B vitamins. The garlic powder will make the treats a hit with all dogs." We got a 6 oz box but a 1 pound box costs $5.99 and can be found here.

Now here's a potential dilemma for some people: garlic powder. It's kind of controversial in the dog world, some people think it's just fine in small amounts for dogs, some people think it's something dogs shouldn't have at all. I'm actually quite surprised that the Pawalla nutritionist approved the treats to go in our monthly box for this reason. My dogs have never had treats with garlic in them but I figure that in small amounts, they'll be fine.
For real, here's what happened when I opened the box. I tried to take a picture of one treat on the blue chair that all of the product pictures are taken on. Luna snagged that treat as soon as I put it down and hauled ass to find a spot to eat it. After she ate it, this picture happened:

We also got Grizzly - Pollock Oil. Pawalla says "Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are part of the daily nutrient recommendations for cats. The omega 3s keep the heart and kidneys healthy for cats. We think of omega 6 fatty acids when we think about coat quality in cats. However, you will find that great contributions come from omega 3 fatty acids like those found in Grizzly Pollock oil. Pollock fish is a great source of the omega 3 fatty acids we commonly associate with salmon oil. There is a good ratio of 1.3:1 of DHA to EPA. Because of the high level of polyunsaturation in the product, it is preserved with rosemary extract." I can't read what size my bottle is, but an 8 oz bottle is about $8 and can be found here.

You guys, I didn't write the above wrong - the whole paragraph was written by Pawalla about how good Pollock Oil is for CATS, not dogs. Rest assured, with a little research I found that Pollock Oil has the same benefits for dogs that it does for cats. I think they might have forgotten to switch "cat" to "dog." :)

You may or may not remember that we got items from Grizzly in our February Pawalla Mini. They loved those Salmon treats they got then and they loved the stuff they got now! Luna got about 1 pump because she's about 10 pounds in her food and I put 2 pumps in Ares' dish because he's about 20 pounds. The wet spot on Ares' food is the Pollock Oil. They LOVED it and licked their bowls completely clean (although they do that every night anyway!)

And finally, their toy. They got the Amazing Pet Rope Ball. Pawalla says "This ultra-durable, rope ball promotes healthy play while also helping keep your pup's teeth clean." I can't find this toy online ANYWHERE. I would low-ball estimate it to be about $3.00. It will probably be on the Pawalla shop page in the next month or so.