Review: Smart Bones

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Photo by Lisette Brodey

Dog owners have been looking for a healthy treat to replace rawhide. Rawhide, aside from being messy, has proven fatal to some dogs. Finding a good substitute and not having to worry about the ingredients that might be problematic. For years now, owners have been wary of anything made in China and that seems pretty common among rawhide products. When I was invited to test Smart Bones, I turned to author Lisette Brodey for this product. Her rescue dog, Bentley, is the light of her life and a pretty popular little guy around the neighborhood. The product was sent directly to her.  Here's her review:

When I was asked to review this product, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. I’d never heard of the product, but I had long wished for its existence. My dog, Bentley, like most dogs, loves to chew. But rawhide is not good for dogs and I didn’t want him to have any of it, not even for a special treat. Several times, at the pet store, I looked for a product that would provide the same chewing pleasure without the unhealthy qualities. But I could’t find anything. SMART BONES (vegetable and chicken chews) is just what I needed.

When I gave Bentley the first one, you can see he was delighted to have it. As he often does with special treats, he takes possession of them for a long time before he consumes them.

When it was time to go for a walk, even after I put his harness on, Bentley was “standing watch” over his “bone.”

Photo by Lisette Brodey

After we got home, an hour or so later, he finally got down to the business of enjoying the chew, finishing every last bit of it.

I’m so happy this product exists. For me, it’s not an everyday snack choice, though it might be for some. I will use this product as a special treat, and most importantly, as something to keep him occupied when we are not at home (which isn’t that often.) Just having something healthy to chew like this, in my opinion, really helps a dog like mine who does suffer from a bit of separation anxiety.

Photo by Lisette Brodey

This product has brought lots of happiness to Bentley and to me. I would definitely encourage dog owners to give it a try.

Thanks to Lisette Brodey and her boy, Bentley for their candid review of Smart Bones.

Smart Bones are made by PetMatrix and can be purchased at Walmart, Petsmart and Petco

Website: http://www.smartbones.com where you will find a list of flavors and a new stick coming in September as well as another style. Surf around the site for more information on how Smart Bones are made and their concern for safety.

Walmart, Petsmart, Petco,

Making Shelter Pets More Adoptable. Plus Contest Winner

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Photo by Rabi Dixon

Walking into a shelter and seeing all of those sad faces is heartbreaking. Dogs that are trying to get your attention or, conversely, are frightened and shaking in the back of the cage. Cats that either reach through the bars to get your attention or are lying in a bed, totally shut down. It is probably one of the most depressing places to be. It's hard not to want to take them all home. Unfortunately, because of lack of the right kind of interaction with volunteers, many of these dogs and cats are either ignored, adopted and then returned to the shelter or just lead lives of hopelessness until they are put down or put to sleep, or whatever words are used by the shelter to replace death and killing. It's gut-wrenching.

If you have been thinking of volunteering at a shelter, or even if you haven't, I have a couple of suggestions for you. I hope you will seriously consider them.

The first is for those of you who know how to clicker train. The idea originated with Karen Pryor who created dog and cat clicker training kits for shelters who wanted to adopt the program. I really don't know how many did but I do know that clicker training works. 

Photo by  Lisette Brodey

Some years ago, to honor the memory of my late friend, Karin Winter, I contacted the Albuquerque City Shelters and arranged to teach their volunteers to clicker train. Albuquerque was the last place that Kari had lived and she was an ardent supporter of rescue dogs and the most remarkable volunteer I have ever met.

I brought along enough of Karen Pryor's iClicks so everyone got one. I taught them the basics of loading, or charging, the clicker so the dog or cat would understand that click means treat and we could teach the pets the basics.  Once they had that down, we started with the dogs.

They had chosen some rowdy teenaged dogs, the type that pull your arm out of the socket when you walk them and jump on you in greeting, potentially knocking you down. Not exactly endearing characteristics for the potential new owner who may not know how to deal with this.  They offered me the opportunity to choose other dogs. I'm sure they were convinced that these dogs were impossible and I would look like a fool. No, I said, these dogs are fine.

That particular shelter was set up in a shopping mall to attract attention.  We took the dogs into the mall and I broke them down into small groups of volunteers and we worked, initially, with one dog at  a time. The first out was a bouncer. The dog looked like he had a built-in pogo stick.  It wasn't long before he was sitting nicely. Dogs want to please, they just have to understand what you want. The clicker is an event market and tells the dog he did something right.

By Nancy Ross

Next we brought out one of the dogs who pulls on a leash. None of this is uncommon, by the way, if a dog hasn't been trained.  It didn't take long before each dog was walking politely beside me. I showed them how to stop and wait if the dog ran ahead, how to talk to him and pat me leg as we walked, and how to reward good behavior.

The dogs were turned around before I left.  

Then it was on to the cats, using a pencil for each one since we didn't have chopsticks to use for nose touches. Everytime the cat showed interest and touched his nose to the pencil, he got a treat. One sad little one had never come our of his bed, he would barely look at anyone. He was completely shut down. The normal treat didn't work. I didn't think it would and the volunteers felt vindicated, convinced that he was impossible. Just a sad case.  I asked a volunteer to go in back and bring me a can of the smelliest cat food she could fine. Guess who became interested? Guess who got out of his bed and came forward? Volunteers were calling each other to come and see!  It was heartwarming. Only one volunteer, an older man, refused to learn. He just came in and cuddled the cats. I think he was doing it more for himself than for the cats but at least they were getting some human interaction.

By Nancy Ross

Another idea for volunteers involves groomers. I know two different groomers living in two different States who set aside one day a week to groom shelter pets, usually dogs.  This, too, helps make them more adoptable.

Everyone can do something to help. How are you helping?

LAST WEEK'S CONTEST:

The first winner drawn who was one of the "unknown" commenters whose link I followed: Alicia Heindorn.  Congratulations!  I hope you enjoy BUDDIES as much as I did.

The Publisher is providing the book and will send it directly to you once I have your address.  Please contact me through my website.  www.darlenearden.com

About That Published Paper Stating Cats are More Independent Than Dogs & Contest Winner

Photo Courtesy: Gordon Brice

There was a flurry of publicity surrounding an article about cats and attachment to owners published this week in Plos One, a Journal of published "research" that states on their website: There's no stress waiting to find out if your article meets subjective acceptance criteria. Read that again. Carefully. When research is published in a Peer Reviewed Journal it takes a long time and passes through the hands of several researchers in your field. From what I read, that's apparently not so with Plos One. They go on to assure that Every article published by PLOS ONE is thoroughly assessed by an Academic Editor and an average of 2 reviewers drawn from an expert global network.  Then they brag about an academic network and go on to say how much publicity they can crank out for your paper.  You can find links for Publication Fees, Media, well, you get the idea. Those fees, by the way, can range from just over thirteen hundred dollars to nearly three thousand dollars. Check it out for yourself. They also have some support for those who cannot afford to pay the fees. I had seen articles from this publication which does show that they get a lot of publicity. I will admit that I have never read anything in this Journal when researching an article for publication.

Photo Courtesy: Frank Incremona

This takes us to the aforementioned Domestic Cats (Felis silvestris cats) Do Not Show Signs of Secure Attachment to Their Owners by Alice Potter and Daniel Simon Mills Animal Behavior Cognition and Welfare Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It was received on June 5, 2013, Accepted on June 18, 2015, and published on September 2, 2015. It was not externally funded, but was undertaken in partial fulfillment of the MSc of Alice Potter.

The paper goes on to detail how they devised research done on a small number of cats based on research that is done with dogs to determine their attachment to their owners. Cats and Dogs are two entirely different species with very different norms of behavior. One thing that you do not do is remove cats from their home environment and expect them to behave as they normally would when plunked down in an entirely new place. They need as much time as it takes to adjust to a new place, a new home. They prefer to watch from a place of safety where they can observe but not be seen, emerging when they are comfortable. This was not provided for them. Dogs are completely different and unless the dog has a behavior issue with shyness or fear, they don't care where they are. One place is as good as the next. 

Photo Courtesy: Lisette Brodey

Dogs tend to view a room as a human does, on one level. Cats view a room on many levels. The floor is the first, the chair is on the second level, with levels increasing as higher places are found in the room. 

These "researchers," using this design, then brought in cats to see if they were attached to their owners and how they responded to strangers in the room. How were the people standing or moving? Why were the cats observed in a strange place and expected to behave the way another species would? Few of the footnotes mentioning other research concerned cats. One was about Monkeys, far more were about dogs.

I don't mind saying this: I'm not impressed. 

The truth about cats, which any behaviorist or behavior consultant can tell you, is that cats are Independent Hunters but they are not Independent Animals. They seek out affection and attention. This is why a cat is often on the book you are reading or your keyboard while you are at the computer. He is soliciting attention. Cats often greet their owners at the door when they come home and some are quite vocal, using a number of sounds as they "talk" to their owners. Many cats will follow their people from room to room, engage them in play and behave as one would expect a loving companion to behave. They headbutt and give slow eye blinks as a display of affection, rub up against their owners, some kiss and snuggle in for a cuddle. If that isn't attachment then someone is going to have to come up with a different definition of the word.

Photo Courtesy: Jayne Lewis

Sadly, the pseudo-science is confirming Old Wives' Tales about cats that many of us have been working to dispel and replace with the truth. Comments to articles based upon this paper range from clear descriptions of cats who do not behave that way at home but are, indeed, attached to their owners, to those saying it confirmed how awful cats are!  

Frankly, I'm disgusted. I would welcome real, peer-reviewed research. If I'm wrong then I want peer-reviewed research by experts in the field to prove it.

What's your opinion?

Now, to announce the winner of this past week's contest. The lucky winner of a copy of The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie, published by Hay House, is Sue Werkheiser! Congratulations! Please contact me through my website: www.darlenearden.com, with your mailing address which will be sent along to the publisher so you can receive the book.  Thanks to everyone who entered.