The Missaroo

The Missaroo
Ready to Take on the World

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Sample Size

As I wrote in my last post, I was inspired after attending last weekend’s pet expo. This will be the first in a series of posts I’ll be writing that will focus on product reviews! I will still have the adventure blog posts as well but this special series will be mixed in as well. Remember, I’m just a dogmom with two adorable pups I would move heaven and earth for, not a paid blogger or expert of any kind. So with that being said, first up Acana dog food.

Acana promises to be “biologically appropriate dog food” so when I hit up the both at the expo I had to ask “what does that mean?” The thought is dogs are naturally carnivores; they crave protein first and foremost. So Acana loads its food with protein rich meats first and foremost than adds fruits and vegetables. This is great for Missaroo because she has to be on a limited ingredient diet and has to stay away from chicken protein, including chicken fat which is a main ingredient in a lot of bargain brand foods but not in this one. ((I know this from my vet and from reading a lot of labels right after adopting Missaroo)) Missy is also grain free which was another bonus of this food. ((They also carry other brands that have grains which Mister will try exclusively at a later point in time))  Acana also boasts freshly delivered Canadian ingredients.  I can say this much, I could pronounce every ingredient and I knew exactly what about 90% of them were, the other 10% I could probably make a good guess. As far as dogmom approval, it gets a thumbs up from me, but the real product testers are the ones without thumbs.

Again, full disclosure I mix their current food with the sample because Missy especially cannot jump from food to food and it’s really not good for any dog to do that ((again, according to my vet)) I’ve never seen Missy take to a flavor of food so quickly. We tried the “Pacifica Regional Formula” which had several fish including salmon and herring. She really loved it and actually looked forward to meals which don’t always happen. In fact, the two were boarded over the weekend and Missy ate all of her food there, which again I don’t think has ever happened. She usually won’t eat that much when I’m not with her. The other test is their poop. Missy pooped without any problems, it was always a great color and good texture. Mister’s poop looked equally as healthy. He’s a harder test subject in general because he pretty much eats anything and ALWAYS looks forward to meal time. But Acana gets the Miss the Priss approval which is pretty high praise.

So will we make the switch? I think that has yet to be seen for a couple of reason: We still have several samples to go through of other food and I haven’t priced it.
So here’s how this will work. We’ll keep trying foods and letting you know why we picked them in the first place ((i.e. biologically appropriate, grain free)) and then give you a dogmom approval and a Missaroo approval along with a poop description. Then when we’re all done I’ll write about whether we’ll be making switches and include prices. If you have any questions that we don’t answer in our posts LET ME KNOW! And if this helps you in anyway LET ME KNOW! We love hearing from you guys.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Great Lakes Pet Expo 2014

I spent more than two hours wandering around the Great Lakes Pet Expo at Wisconsin State Fair Park this Saturday. It was a great way to start the morning and end my weekend.  It also helped me get inspired for the blog. I’m always looking for new things to blog about and new places to take our Miss-Adventures. I loved taking it all in, from watching the rescue dog agility course and the K9 demonstrations, to listening in on a cat behaviorist and helping to salute our veterans, the 10th year for the expo was fun and friendly. I also enjoyed walking around and checking out all of the vendors. I must admit, I usually talk the most to vendors I’m already semi-familiar with thanks to Facebook; so I stopped by Central Bark, The Barking Lot, and Residents for Off-Leash Milwaukee Parks or ROMP. But I also made quick conversation with a few new vendors like Pet Journal, Petlicious, Acana, and Nutri Source Premium Pet Foods. Really these new faces, perhaps mixed in with some of the better known to me are what will inspire a series of blogs I’ll be starting.

If you follow our adventures regularly, you know that Missy has an especially delicate stomach. After years of guessing and overmedication, we finally realized it’s her diet. So now every time I head to a conference or expo, I’m always on the hunt for someone to talk to about grain free, limited ingredient treats and food. I found three such places this time around in Petlicious, Acana, and Nutri Source Premium Pet Foods. I was lucky enough to score free samples at the latter two. So my plan is to put these foods to the Missaroo test and blog about it along the way. I also want to try some of the places mentioned above as well and blog about how things go for us. I think it will be a great way to continue to share our perspective and life adventures while giving more to our readers than just another Missaroo story.

So the dogs and I are up for the challenge of trying out these products and businesses. I hope you will get a kick out of our blogs and maybe even want us to try out a product or place for you. We’d love to hear from you!