March Bark Box Review and Discount

March Bark Box Review and Discount

Last month I decided to splurge on a frivolous product and I joined the rank as “one of those dog owners” by purchasing a Bark Box subscription. O.K., so I probably already hold that title but this definitely seals the deal.

So what is a Bark Box? It is essentially a gift of the month club but for dogs. On the 15^th of every month the people at Bark Box ship a box full of Canadian or USA made dog treats, toys and/or various supplies to your door. You get to specify the size of your dog and you can even give it as a gift to a friend or a shelter dog in need. Bark Box also helps dogs in need by donating 10% of their profits to various dog causes such as city and county shelters, rescues, breed specific rescues, sanctuaries, search and rescue organizations, military dog organizations, shelter volunteer training programs, and low cost spay and neuter programs. To learn more about what they do click HERE. 

 The pricing varies on how many months you sign up for but the jist of it is, the more you spend the better deal you get. You can sign up for $29/ month for 1 month $24/month for 3 months (you save over 17%) or $19/month for 6 months (save over 34%). There is a $5/month charge for shipping if you live outside the contiguous 48 states, which I do (Canada). Below is a copy of what I paid for my subscription, you will notice a $12 discount, this was the deal at the time,  if you are interested in a discount of your own click  HERE

6-month BarkBox $114

1 Shipping Add On $30

Subtotal: $132

Discount: $-12

Paid: $132

Don’t let this number discourage you, you essentially get back what you spend every month. The value of your box will far outweigh the price you are paying so if you are one to spoil your dog on a regular basis you will actually be saving money. For example, including shipping the boxes cost $22 a month and the retail value for the items I received this month is $63.17. That is a saving of $41.17 on the same types of products that I will probably purchase anyway.  

The other complaint people has was that they were disappointed with the length of time the product takes to ship but I totally disagree. They ship the box on the 15^th and I received my box on the 18^th, I was really shocked because I was expecting an extra-long wait considering that the company is based in the USA and I live in Canada.

The truth is it is a fairly big chunk of money to spend at one time, but it is also worth the price not to mention,  ridiculously exciting and fun.

March 2014 Bark Box Rating: 4/5

From the second I ordered it I couldn't wait to get it in the mail. I have always been a sucker for surprises and I was not disappointed. Khazi was pretty happy too, it was like she knew the box was for her. The second it came into the house she was sniffing it and prancing around, it must have smelled good because that isn't normal behaviour for her.  Our box contained two toys, and three bags of treats all of which fit the breakfast theme of the box.

I apologize in advance for the state of the products in the pictures, we were too excited to play and try the treats to take nice pictures. Hopefully next month I will be more prepared and you will get to see Khazi going through her box.

Aussie Naturals Bacon Toy: This was Khazi’s favourite item, as you can probably tell. She grabbed it the second I opened the box and immediately dug in like it was a real slice of bacon. It lasted about forty second before I had to take it away from her. I think I will be able to mend it and in the future it will be a toss around toy not a chew toy. It was made out of soft leather and coconut fiber and had a squeaker as well as being multi scented. This toy seems to be made specifically for the Bark Box so I can’t put an exact price on it but the average price for their toys is about $13.

Twistix Yogurt and Banana Oral Chews: Khazi has always loved oral chews, usually more than she likes regular treats. If you give her the choice between an oral chew and a treat she would definitely choose the chew. She was apprehensive to these at first for some reason but after I ripped off a piece to give to her she dived right in. These chews are supposed to freshen breath, and remove plaque and tartar, they are made in the USA and cost $21.23 from Amazon.ca.

Baker’s Best Wild Pacific Maple Glazed Salmon with Blueberries: O.K. this was the one let down of the box and the reason the rating was 4/5. Khazi hated these, I have no idea why because she has other treats with the same ingredients and she likes them but I guess when you mix them together they don’t taste good. They were also very hard and she usually likes chewy treats. She sniffed it and backed off then took the treat and spit it on the carpet. This item is not one we will be keeping; it will be going to Khazi’s Miniature poodle friend Kiya.These treats are made in Canada and they cost $5.99 on Amazon.ca

Wagatha’s Apple, Banana and Maple Organic Breakfast Biscuits: Khazi tried to open this box up her self, she was ready for some delicious breakfast treats. She is a big fan of apple treats so this was a great addition to our box. These treats are made in the USA and cost $10.95 on Amazon.ca

The last item in the box was one that was not on the Bark Box info card. We got a little business card note inside stating that there had been a change. So instead of getting a Safemade Biggie Bone which costs $20 (Plus Shipping) from safemadepet.com I got a Bumi from Zogoflex.

Zogoflex Bumi: This is a toy that you can tug, pull, flex, throw and float and the best part is that it is made out of 100% recycled materials. It also says on it that you can have it replaced once for free and the product you return will be recycled into becoming another toy. You can also send it in for recycling when it has seen its last days. This is the large toy and I am very happy with it. My girl is really into tug so I think we will be using this toy more than she would use the Biggie Bone. The one flaw that it has is that it is a bit too floppy so if your dog is a beginner at tug or if they have a soft grip it may not make the best tug toy. Not to worry though, you can use it in one of the many other ways I previously listed. This product is made in the USA and costs $15 from Amazon.ca

                                         

WE CAN"T WAIT FOR NEXT MONTH"S BOX!!!

*If you find your dog doesn't like something in your box a great alternative to giving it to a friend is to donate it to a shelter. 

Pet Party Printz Wrapping Paper Review - Khazi's Birthday Series

Khazi just had her birthday yesterday so I thought this would be the perfect time to do a review on Pet Party Printz Premium Gift Wrap for your Pet.

I found out about this product just before Christmas because I was reading an article about dogs getting sick from eating wrapping paper. I was scared of that happening to Khazi because she has always had a love for eating paper and I really wanted her to participate in unwrapping Christmas gifts. I had read that newspaper usually works because of it's soy based ink but tape and string is still a problem. I did some Googling and found this product at petpartyprintz.com. (warning to head phone users, the site has music in the background) It is non toxic soy based formula that is safe for your dog if they accidentally ingest it, it even comes with it's own pet safe adhesive. You can order from their site but I chose to go through Amazon.ca it cost me $4.95 a pack. Each pack comes with 7 square feet (39x26 inches) of wrapping paper.

 I bought two packs one for Christmas which was the "red nose doggie" design and one for her birthday, the one in the pictures called "doggie treats". I got free shipping because I ordered $25.00 worth of other items. If you wish to buy wrapping paper for Christmas with a Christmas theme I would suggest ordering it a few months early because they do sell out fairly quickly. My requests were put on back order because they had run out of all the Christmas designs but luckily they came in the day before Christmas eve.

 As much as I love this product, it does have two flaws and both are related to the adhesive. The strip of adhesive they give you looks very wide (3 cm, sorry I don't know this in inches) but the actual sticky part is only 1/2 a cm wide. This means it is harder to keep your paper secured and wrapped nicely. Wrapping a few days ahead of time is out of the question because the tape unsticks and the wrapping opens, it does this even if you have used a lot of the adhesive. This being said I think I will still continue to purchase this product, it ends up costing me about $10.00 a year and it gives me peace of mind about her safety. Unwrapping gifts is part of the fun of getting gifts, it is something she loves to do and I love watching her do it. I tried to film her unwrapping her gifts for her birthday so I could post them unfortunately this time she was so excited about getting her pupcake she paid less attention to the gifts.
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Instructions on using the adhesive

Khazi got most of her birthday gifts earlier in the week because I couldn't wait to play with them. I still wanted her to have something to unwrap that was a surprise on her actual birthday so I went to Pet Smart and got her three squeaky plush toys on clearance from valentines day for about $3.00 each.

The brown strip is the adhesive 

Wrapping...

All wrapped and ready to go!

Pupcake Recipe - Khazi's Birthday Series

Today was Khazi’s second birthday (the first birthday she has had while living with us) so I decided to make her a special dog birthday cake a.k.a. a pupcake. This was my first time cooking the recipe and I am happy to say she LOVED it! I actually hate baking so it goes to show how much I love her, it also helps that she begs to eat my cooking while the rest of my family begs me to keep it away from them :P. Although I did see my brother walk away with a pupcake because he said they smelled good, he brought it back when I told him it was a dog treat. This recipe will make a dozen standard sized cupcakes and your pup (or maybe your brother) will want every last one.

Pupcake with icing

Pupcake Ingredients

2 cups shredded carrots
3 cups spelt flower (I wanted to use gluten free flower but I ran out)
½ cup spelt flakes
2 apples or ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1-1 ½ cups of cranberries

Icing Ingredients

2 ½ tbsp. sun butter (I am allergic to peanuts)
2 Tbsp. plain yogurt

Making Apple Sauce

There is nothing wrong with using store bought apple sauce for this recipe if it is unsweetened. I didn’t have any on hand so I made my own. Making apple sauce is very easy, all you need to do is to wash your apples and put them in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Check your apples regularly because one of my apples cooked faster than the other, obviously the larger the apple the longer the cook time. I used one large apple and one medium apple. The apple will start to leak juice and split a bit, the skin should be a bit firm but when you poke underneath the skin needs to be mushy. Once you have found the proper consistency you can either mash it by hand or put it in a food processor. I just used a fork and pressed down on the skin, it fell apart right away so I mashed with the skin intact. I chose this method to save myself from having to do extra dishes and the mashing process only took a minute or two anyway. I removed the seeds as I found them, and when I was finished I was able to scoop the sauce right off of the skin.  You can also add the skin to the recipe if you wish but my dog doesn’t like it.

Making the Pupcake Batter

Preheat the oven to 350

Lightly oil your cupcake pan

Thaw frozen cranberries in the microwave for 30 seconds with a tiny bit of water.

Mix together the carrots, eggs, and apple sauce in a large bowl

In a separate bowl, mix together the flower, spelt flakes, and cinnamon

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until the batter becomes doughy and sticky. It is easiest to use an electric mixer.

Put the batter into the pan, filling it to the top. Don’t worry about over filling because the pupcakes don’t rise very much.

Next add your cranberries by pushing them into the top of the batter. I used four cranberries in each pupcake.

Bake for 20-23 minutes and let them completely cool before icing.

How to make the icing

The icing is the easiest part of the Pupcake, all you have to do is to put the sun or peanut butter into a bowl with the plain yogurt and mix until smooth. If you find it is too thin you can add more peanut butter and if it is too thick add more yogurt. Put the mix into a freezer bag, cut the corner and you are ready to ice your pupcake. Make sure your pupcakes are fully cooled before adding the icing or it will melt. 

Pupcakes straight out of the oven

Iced Pupcake

My pup is growing up. Don't worry we didn't light the candle, or even give it to her, this was for picture purposes only.

She licked all the icing off first then managed to eat the entire pupcake in one bite. She was loving the icing so much the floor got a bit messy, I need to remember to give her a plate next time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KHAZI, I LOVE YOU!