2012.02.01
A morning Hug
I got an email last week from Purina asking me if I would like a free sample of one its new line of dog snacks, Baked Delights. I liken that question to Starbucks asking me if I’d like a free bag of coffee, so the answer was, ” Well yes, please, send it right along.”
My dogs do love them some cookies. And the few basic commands that my treat-motivated pooches have mastered are all based around getting a cookie. Come in from playing outside and get into your crate in the morning, get a cookie. Get in your bed, get a cookie. Stormy knows that when “he sits, he gets”, meaning a treat, a toy or a cuddle. The hounds only respond to edible calls.
Anyway, since I have almost no time to bake them cookies myself, I like trying different store-bought goods to see what they like. And yes, there are some they like better than others. Only Stormy will eat the ones at PetSmart’s checkout lane and the ones at the vet. The greyhounds turn up their culinary noses at those cookies.
Last night when I “tested” the Beneful Baked Delights Hugs — crispy dog snacks with soft savory centers made with beef and cheese, according to the box description — I turned three otherwise lazy dogs into a pack of stalkers. I kid you not, they followed me everywhere. I think I could have held their full attention for hours, or until the 11 oz. bag was depleted. Guess which one would have happened first.
These snacks are small but they aren’t tiny, so they had to chew them verses just gulping them, a big plus in my opinion. A baked snack is preferable to a fried one for people, so I think the same should hold true for mutts. According to the news release I got with the box, the chef in charge of developing these snacks (there are four varieties) was following the “small plates” trend popular now in human food. So these cookies are like tapas for dogs.
They do include wheat and corn, so they aren’t for gluten-challenged dogs. The variations include Quacks, duck-shaped cheese bites, Stars, kind of a shortbread cookie, and Snackers, which looks like all those dried veggie snack bags you find in the produce section at Kroger.
Overall rating for the Hugs is a big thumbs up. We’ll add this one to the inventory at Chez Nelson Resort and Spa for Pampered Pets.
I get Friskies Party Mix treats for my cats and they go crazy for them. I usually use them to get them out of a room they are in. I shake the bag and they both come running for treats. Much easier than trying to coax them out from under the bed when I’m trying to get out the door to work in the mornings.
Comment by Susan — February 3, 2012 @ 9:00 am