So for Christmas I got two gift cards. One for petco (HATE petco...) and one for Petsmart. With the Petsmart I'm buying Oxbow (!!), but I don't know what to buy at Petco. It's worth $25, and they don't sell Oxbow, so that's a no-go. And you can't return a gift card, so I have to use it. What do you suggest I get? (P.S. aside from the piggies, I have a mini schnauzer)
What kind of food do you feed your schnauzer? Petco has a pretty good variety of decent to 5 star dog food. Alternatively you could donate it to a local animal shelter or rescue to help them out. They're always in need of donations!
You can by your dog some nice toy or a new bed or something.
Stock up on the fancy treats for your dog. I'm not sure what Petco has in stock, but my late dog (miss you, Buffy) was addicted to Greenies Dental Bones, a little pricy but good quality. Smart 'n Tasty also has dental bones with a minty center to help that oh-so-lovely dog breath. Buffy also loved those gross-looking knuckle bones or Red Barn filled bones—she got many more hours of play with those than any dog biscuit.
Good ideas. @Ibbet He gets Iams dog food. I'm not sure if that's the best, but it's one of the only brands he will eat. I don't know if my parents will let me donate it, as much as I want to.They would see it as me being ungrateful... @SpazticNerd He already has too many toys! @Icarus_Hermes Good idea. I tried a different kind of dental type stick, but he didn't like them. I'll have to start experimenting.
Thanks guys! I'll have to make a trip within the next few days.
Be careful with the dental sticks. I've known a few dogs who have choked on them, including my Min Pin about 10 years ago. She choked on a Greenie, and working in a pet store I've had multiple run ins with others who have had dogs choke too. My ex's parents dog got a Greenie stuck in the back of her mouth and they took her to the vet trying to figure out why she couldn't closer her mouth.
IAM's is a poor quality food. The company's ethics alone are enough to keep me from ever even buying a single IAMs product.
Poor puppy! I wasn't planning on buying the Greenies anyway.
Oh I didn't know that! I thought Iams was fine! I guess we'll have to go food searching again... Come to think of it, he hasn't really been eating much of it lately...
Aww, I've heard bad stories about feeding small real bones, but I didn't know Greenies got on the naughty list. Buffy was a big dog (lab mutt), so the choking hazard was less, but I will keep this in mind for the future. I've always supervise my pets, no matter that size, while the eating as a precaution.
Dogs can choke on anything. As I found when researching my first puppy if we combined all the lists and reports on the internet we'd be feeding them nothing but mush and maybe black kongs. There are also all the dogs who break teeth on harder items. You should always supervise your dog with a new toy or food item for appropriate chewing behavior and know your dog when you buy new items for them. Gulpers need special care to the size and texture of their chewies. Sometimes freezing an item can make it harder to get apart and come off in smaller bits for a gulper and sometimes because it's harder to chew they decide to try harder to swallow it whole. Know your dog.
Petco.com does have APD hay and if you aren't just trying to boycott kaytee some of the herb kaytee hays would likely be fine for a treat. They have timothy with marigold and timothy with mint. Both are things I regularly feed fresh. I might see if they are good enough quality for the chinchillas. I buy them oxbow botanical hay for a treat when possible.
I would just go and look around. I buy a few toys and such from Petco for the piggies. That is where I buy the wooden bendy tunnel things. They are natural color and only $3.99 I believe. Or go look on their website. It will give you some ideas. I bought my glass water bottles there, as well as some toys (willow chews, wooden chews, food dish, etc.)
I second getting some guinea pig accessories. They have decent hideys (my girls have a wood one from Petco that they love), and there's a round ferret bed thing that makes a perfect cuddle cup. Tunnels are usually a piggy favorite, too.
Of course dogs can choke on anything (even mush and black Kongs). People can choke on anything. But there is an increased risk with certain things. For example, it's not recommended to feed young children hot dogs because it's perfect size to get stuck. Everything you feed has a calculated risk, and everything you eat has a calculated risk. Remember Bush v.s. pretzel. One of the nice things about my time in a pet store was that I heard all the horror stories about treats and toys and it gives you an opportunity to gauge what you would recommend to others. There are a lot of things I tell people to stay away from. It does take a certain level of critical thinking to not condemn everything that has a horror story. A lot of times human errors cause problems (like a few years ago when people were feeding jerky treats like food to dogs and dogs were dying and the bag said 1 or 2 a day). I have 8 dogs currently, and in my life have had dozens. I've seen them choke on pretty stupid things (i.e. horse poo).Originally Posted by aqh88
If you google IAMs you'll find two different tales of what happens to their test dogs. Most believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle, because IAMs says a certain number of dogs are adopted, where are the others? The ingredients of the food itself is considered the lowest tier of quality.
My suggestion would be to check out Halo, Nutro, Wellness or Natures Variety. Nutro is the cheapest on the list. Castor and Pollux is pretty decent too, but they seem to have some quality shifts here and there.
I figured out (mostly) what I'm going to get. The dog shampoo leaked out while I was on vacation, so I'm getting more of that. I'm getting the pigs a hidey, and maybe a few chews. I was thinking about getting guinea pig shampoo, but I don't know if the stuff Petco sells is okay. Is it? Any other suggestions will be welcome.
You can use that online too. You also do not need to use it right away either. Check out some of the ferret stuff that can be used for guinea pigs.
http://www.petco.com/N_83_4294956692...eepersHideouts
What do you guys think of this tunnel thingy? http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.as...lated_Products It's supposed to have a 6 inch diameter. Is that big enough for a 3 1/2 inch tall and wide piggy? that's the measurements for my biggest, so I used him. I will probably use it for the girls, though and they are smaller. Or I could just sew another one out of fleece.
I would try it. It's very cute too.
Thanks! that's one thing I will definately get.
@PeanutnCookie, I just wanted to say that I have a Mini Schnauzer too! His name's Chester.
Cool! How old is he and what color? Mine is named Bandit and he's 1 year sometime this week (we don't know for sure.) He's black and white.
Buy some chewies, toys, vitamin c drops I guess? New hideys/pigloos. Whatever you want......Enjoy
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