Bark & Beg Gourmet Dog Treats

Dogs May Have A Craving For Greens!

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:06:24 +0000

Dogs May Have A Craving For Greens!

Most dogs love to chomp away on grass, and some will head straight for the nearest grassy patch, eat a few mouthfuls, heave, and then throw up. If you are like me, you’ve asked your dog why are you eating grass, and if it’s so tasty why throw it up. If only our dogs could talk.

So, why exactly do they gobble up that green stuff in your yard?

I turned to experts and chuckled to know there are pooches out there that graze just like a cow. Our pooches are explorers by nature. The use of their nose and mouth leads them to the attractive, sweet-smelling, and ever so accessible grass; it’s right there, so why not?

Dogs are omnivores, which means they eat meat as well as plants. The modern dog’s ancestors frequently ate their prey entirely, including the stomach contents of plant-eating animals. Since the evolution and domestication of dogs, they don’t need grassy nutrients anymore because all natural dog foods are nutritionally complete. Dogs are kind of like big furry kids, they don’t know or care that they’ve already received their daily quota of vitamins and minerals. Heck, for many dogs, a mouthful of grass clearly tastes great, like a yummy salad – they eat some, and want more.

Is your dog trying to tell you something?

Maybe your dog doesn’t usually eat grass unless feeling sick. Vets aren’t sure if your dog eats grass because his/her stomach is upset or the stomach is upset because of the grass. But they feel it’s the former because dogs that are vigorous and playful seem to eat grass without getting sick afterward. The dog’s tummy has all kinds of neuro-receptors; they react to acidity, chemical content, & texture. Now the texture of grass has a tickle effect on the stomach, this may be why healthy dogs can chew away with no reactions, while a sick furry baby may seem anxious to eat the grass and throw it up along with whatever was irritating his/her tummy in the first place.

Nutritional Necessity

Whatever the reason is that your pooch is munching on grass, most experts see no danger in letting your dog eat grass. In fact, grass contains essential nutrients that a dog might crave, especially if it’s on a commercial diet. If you see your dog grazing on grass or houseplants, then consider the type of dog food you are feeding him/her, you can also introduce natural herbs or steamed veggies into his/her diet. Serve Bella or Max some Broccoli!

Watch Out What Grass Your Dog Is Eating

When grass has been treated with insecticides, herbicides, or other chemicals, your grass eating pooch will get sick! Most products state on the label if they’re dangerous for pets. In any event, you should certainly keep dogs away from grass soon after chemicals have been applied. Most lawn products break down rapidly, but they can be quite dangerous if your dog eats them while they’re fresh.

You may want to buy a small tray of grass just for your dog, or start an herbal home garden. This will give your pooch an alternative to the outdoor grass and landscaping, the eating of which could lead to accidental ingestion of pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals that have been used to treat your (or your neighbor’s) yard.

So, when you think about it, grass munching isn’t that bad after all, less grass you have to mow.

Bark & Beg in Cobb Life

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:57:55 +0000

Cobb Life Magazine article about Bark & Beg Dog treats & bakery. August 2010

All natural dog treats vs the others

admin — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:04:42 +0000

We get a lot of questions about our treats. The most prevalent question we receive is,”What makes our treats so special?” We usually give the standard response: they are all natural, no sugar, no salt, no artificial anything, and human edible. But for some people they really need to compare us side by side with the competition. So we did the work for you, see for yourself and then let us know which one you would rather eat.

No Sugar, No Artificial Flavors, No Artificial Colors, no chemicals, No corn. No salt, and No By-Products.

Corn-YES, Sugar-YES, Glycerine-YES, Salt-YES, also contains Artificial Smoke Flavor, Phosphoric Acid, Sorbic Acid, and added color Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Yellow 6

Milk Bone brand is owned by Delmonte and if you want to find the ingredients for Milk Bone Brand you either have to look at the packaging or do some digging on-line, because they do not list the ingredients on their web sites. WHY? Salt-YES, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide-YES, and the ever popular Meat and Bone meal – from the rendering of animal bones and offal, It is typically about 50% protein, 35% ash, 8-12% fat, and 4-7% moisture.

Also owned by Delmonte, so we researched to find the ingredients. 1st ingredients is Meat By-products-The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents, Sugar-YES, Salt-YES, Chemicals-Propylene Glyol,Potassium Sorbate,Sodium Nitrite, and RED 40

Sugar: Dogs do not need sugar in their diet and the big companies add it so the dog will eat it!

Artificial Flavor: If you have to add it then your dog does not need to be eating it!

Artificial Colors: Do dogs really care if it has color, they make it colorful so Humans will by it!

Chemicals: Just gross, if you can’t pronounce it, then why feed it to your best friend?

Corn: Zero nutritional value for the dogs!

Salt:Big comanies add this to the treats so the dog will eat it!

Enough Said

Rawhide Dog treats….Big No no

admin — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:37:36 +0000

Do you feed these to your dogs?

Before you feed anything to your dog please do some research and don’t believe everything the big companies tell you.

Dog love to chew and chew and chew. So giving them something to chew on besides your, house and personal belongings is a good idea. But what you give them could kill them.

Dogs usually eat until all the food is gone. Instincts tell them that food must be gorged upon because they never know when their next meal will be. In the wild, dogs live in packs and it is first come, first serve to survive. While this is not the case for most domesticated dogs, the instinct to eat everything fast is still there.

Which is exactly why those rawhide treats are so dangerous. They can get caught in the throat, go into the stomach andswell, which can kill you best friend. As always you should not leave your pet unattended with any toy or chew.

Do you know what they are made of? Uggg …Rawhide is the dried out raw hide of an animal. Usually made from bulls, pigs, cows and sometimes horses. The hides are bought from slaughterhouses, and are a by-product, the bad word for dogs. The hide is scraped of all meat, hair and fat.Then a caustic Lye soaking of the hide for a few days. To remove the poisonous lye, the rawhide is cleaned in a bleach solution. After the bleaching, the rawhide is shaped and sent for adding other artificial flavors or colors to further entice your best friend. Sounds like something i don’t want my pup eating.

There is a lot of information out there on this topic and we just wanted you to be informed. Do your own research.

Alternatives are Naturally shed deer antlers, which we carry in our store or just plain old raw bones from the butcher.

Puppy Love

admin — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:39:51 +0000

FEEDING YOUR NEW PUPPY

WHAT GOES IN MUST COME OUT

For your puppy, you will want a water bowl, food bowl, and some sort of mat or tray to place these bowls on to keep the area clean and for the puppy to easily recognize its feeding area. It is extremely important to feed a good quality puppy food and not some “cheap” food. A low quality food will usually not be nutritionally complete and it will cause the puppy to have to defecate more, making housebreaking more difficult. Considering that you actually feed less of the good quality food over a “cheap” dog food means that in the long run you will spend approximately the same amount of money anyway. And your puppy will grow up to be a healthier dog and that will help avoid those expensive trips to the veterinarian. Remember to buy only dry puppy food that is best for your particular puppy breed. For instance, a puppy that will grow into a large dog should only be fed large breed puppy food, because a regular puppy food will not take into account the great amount of growth a large dog breed will experience in the first year of life.

WHERE GOOD FEEDING GOES BAD

It is also very important not to change foods around on your puppy but to stick with one good quality puppy food like Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals. Giving different types of puppy food and giving people food can cause a puppy to vomit or develop diarrhea. Puppies are not like people and don’t get sick of eating the same good quality puppy food everyday and in fact can be turned into a picky eater by feeding them too many types of foods. Don’t spoil your puppy with food but with praise and play!

LEAVE THEM HIGH AND DRY

It is best to feed only a high quality dry puppy food (Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals), and no canned, to your new puppy unless it is extremely small or young, and only as long as needed. Canned food is mostly water, therefore more has to be eaten to get the nutrition they need and that means they will need to go out more frequently! Another important benefit is that dry food keeps the teeth cleaner and for puppies is extremely helpful when they are losing their baby teeth and feel the need to chew more to help the adult teeth come in. Puppies do not need to eat any canned or moist food especially as they get older.

WHAT’S YOURS IS ALSO MINE

Normally a young puppy of eight weeks of age should be fed three to four times a day depending on the size of the puppy. The food should be placed on the floor for fifteen minutes or so and then taken away. In the beginning, and even throughout the first year, you should take the food away once in a while for a moment or so after the puppy begins eating so that they will not get territorial about their food. You can also feed a few pieces from your hand first before offering the bowl. Pat the puppy after you take its food away, when you are giving it some from your hand, and when it is eating from the bowl. This is important for training so that the puppy will not get aggressive toward you, like growling or snapping, if you get near the puppy when it is eating.

DON’T LICK THE PLATES

Giving your puppy people food is a definite no-no! First, people food is not nutritionally correct for a puppy or dog and so it can badly affect their health over time. Secondly, and maybe even more importantly, giving your puppy people food can lead to very bad behaviors like begging at the table or stealing food from the kitchen. A puppy will not know any better that it doesn’t have the right to take it when it appears “available” to them. To avoid any of this, never feed people food to your puppy or dog. In fact, when everyone is sitting at the table eating, the puppy should be placed away from the table in a secure area, like a crate, so that it will not have the opportunity to beg or eat any of the food, which may be dropped by accident.

Supplies Checklist: Water bowl, Food bowl, Food, Food mat, Dog toys, Chews, Treats, Brushes/combs, Collars, Leashes, Cleaning supplies, Crate/ blankets, Training aids.

Pooch Housebreaking Do’s and Don’ts

admin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 16:52:54 +0000

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE, AND A NECESSITY

New puppy owners want their puppy to learn one thing as quickly as possible, and that is where it should and should not go to the bathroom. Housebreaking is the most important thing you can teach your puppy. Using certain training tools, lots of praise, and being consistent will help your puppy learn rapidly, but remember to also be patient!

MESSINESS IS NOT NEXT TO DOGLINESS

Puppies have very short memories. If they have finished going the bathroom in a corner of your living room and you catch them after the fact, then it is too late to do anything with the puppy. Clean up the area with a cleaner made especially for cleaning dog messes and neutralizing the odor. This is so the puppy won’t be able to smell anything that will make it think it is okay to go there again. Never put their nose in it! They will not understand that it was wrong to mess in the house but can lead to them messing in very hidden places or eating their mess, which is not something you want to encourage! If you catch the puppy starting to mess, say no in an angry tone, but do not yell at the puppy. Grab it quickly and go outside. If the puppy then goes to the bathroom outside, give it lots of praise after it is done as a reward. A small treat can also be given as an award, along with some play.

KEEP IT ON A SHORT LEAD

Most owners make the mistake of letting the puppy have too much freedom in the house so they cannot observe when the puppy needs to go, as puppies will give signals like circling and sniffing an area when they are ready. It is best to keep the puppy in a small area or even better to keep it on a six foot leash that you need to keep a hold of at all times. This way you can observe the puppy for any signs that it needs to go out and then take it out before any accident occurs. The important thing is not to let the leash go so you end up chasing the puppy, which could make the puppy fearful or shy of you. When you cannot keep a good eye on the puppy, place it in a crate. Crate training is the best way to housebreak your puppy.

CRATE TRAINING 101

Puppy owners sometimes feel they do not want to use a crate because they don’t want to “cage” their puppy, but puppies don’t think of a crate as a cage. To them, the crate becomes their den, a safe and secure place for them. The crate should only be large enough for a puppy to turn around and lie down comfortably in. It should have something soft to lay on like a dog blanket that fills the floor space available. A toy that is only offered when the puppy is in the crate is a good idea, and even a small treat can be given to entice the puppy into the crate the first few times before it gets to know the crate as its home. Also use a command like, “Crate,” so they will learn to go inside on command. The crate should never be large enough that the puppy can go the bathroom at one end and sleep in the other. This will defeat the purpose of crate training. The point of crate training is that a puppy does not want to soil the area that it must sleep in, so it will try hard not to go to the bathroom in its own crate.

IT’S MY TURN IN THE BATHROOM!

A young puppy at eight weeks of age can only hold on for three to four hours before it must go to the bathroom. Therefore a puppy must not be left in the crate for any longer than that except at night, when normally they can go about seven to eight hours. It is important to keep the puppy on a feeding schedule and to be aware of when the puppy needs to go out. Normally this will be first thing in the morning, about 15-20 minutes after eating a meal, every three to four hours, and just before bedtime. A puppy’s last meal for the day should be given approximately 3 hours before they will be going to bed, with water taken away around one hour before bedtime, especially if you want the puppy to sleep through the night. No food or water should be offered in the crate, as it will make it harder for the puppy to hold it until they are taken outside.

WHO LET THE DOG OUT?

When the puppy is let out of the crate, quietly put the collar back on (which is NEVER left on when the puppy is in the crate!), attach the leash, and calmly walk the puppy out the same door to the same spot every time when you want it to go the bathroom outside. Do not play with the puppy or move from the spot chosen as the area for the puppy to go, and wait for the puppy to do its business. You can use a command, saying it quietly to the puppy like, “Go to the bathroom,” but do not give the puppy any other attention until the puppy goes to the bathroom. Once the pup is completely done, wait to be sure, then give the puppy lots of praise and even a small reward. Puppies will learn quickly that when they go inside, they get nothing or even worse, an angry sounding no said to them when they are beginning to go. But when they go outside, they get praise and maybe a treat so they will want to go the bathroom outside. Then play with the puppy outside for a while as another way of rewarding your pet. Keep the “bathroom” area clean because puppies don’t like to step in their own waste either, but do keep one stool in the area at first so the puppy will smell it and be reminded of what it is doing in that area.

THE GREAT CRATE

Be sure when crate training a puppy that the crate is made a safe, quiet, and secure place for the puppy to go. It should be placed in an area where people are close by but not in the sight of the crate. The puppy must never be forced into the crate and it should never be used as a form of punishment. When you are home, the puppy should be out with you most of the time. But it is okay to put the puppy in once in a while when you are there but cannot give the puppy the attention it needs, like when people are eating at the table. In fact, it is a good idea to put the puppy in the crate for short periods of time when you are around because the puppy will then not associate you leaving with being put in the crate, which can cause separation anxiety.

SIT, STAY, AND BE QUIET

Do not speak to the puppy when it is in the crate at any time, even if it is whining or barking! If you do, even to shush the puppy, it will take that as attention and will whine or bark even more. Of course be sure your puppy is not hungry or needs to go to the bathroom before putting it in the crate, so you know that it does not need anything at that moment. Talking to the puppy while it is in the crate will only excite it or make it nervous, especially if you are doing it before leaving, and this can also lead to separation anxiety. So please, do not speak or react in any way to the puppy once it is in the crate and you know there are no problems. Be sure the collar has been removed, and when you let the puppy out, do so quietly and take it outside right away if the stay in the crate has been long enough that the puppy will need to go to the bathroom.

A REALITY CHECK

Puppies are very smart and can learn quickly, but like young children they can also get into trouble very fast. Remember to keep your puppy in a small area or with you on a six-foot leash at all times when you can give your attention to them. When you cannot, put the puppy in the crate or a small secure area. Puppies can be a lot of work at first, and new owners must realize that they need to put the time in early so that their puppy will learn important behaviors like where they can go to the bathroom. If you do not have the time in your life right now to devote to a puppies’ needs like being trained, socialized, and played with, besides being let out every three to four hours, you may want to wait until a time you can do all this. The number one reason puppies and dogs are brought into an animal shelter is due to behavior problems like not being housebroken. But if you have the time, and are patient and consistent with your training, you will end up with a wonderful dog!

Supplies Checklist

Water bowlFood bowl

Food

Food mat

Dog toys

Chews

Treats

Brushes/combsCollars

Leashes

Cleaning supplies

Crate/ blankets

Training aids

Santa is coming!

admin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:19:17 +0000

We would like to invite you out to see the arrival of Santa, at the Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA.

We will also be introducing the newest member of our Bark & Beg team, Sir Barks-a-Lot!

You can see both of them on November 5th from 6-8 pm. Check out this link for directions and more info.

http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=211

Sniffing around looking for Dog Treats?

admin — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:40:22 +0000

Bark & Beg Dog Treats in Metro Atlanta

One that makes fresh dog treats, cakes, cupcakes, and stuff to help with that terrible breath?

I think we have found it at the Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA. Don’t worry New York or Hollywood, we ship too!

It’s a full service Bakery for the DOGS. Yes, I said DOGS. Got a new puppy? You can stop in and get him a new bowl, new collar, some all natural food, organic puppy shampoo, and of course fresh baked gourmet dog treats.

Most of the items in our store are hand made by local artists, including the treats. We bake from scratch and hand press each treat with love .

Eat Fresh and Think All Natural

Bark & Beg Dog Treats @ Autumn Fest 2010

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:55:10 +0000

This weekend October 23 and 24 we will be at the Avondale Arts Autumn Fest. http://avondalearts.org/

We are going to have fresh baked dog treats like Peanut Butter Belly Treats, Howlin’ Honey, Grandma’s Chicken Biscuits, and an Autumn favorite Pumpkin Bones.

In celebration of the upcoming Howl-o-ween holiday, we will have Witch Cookies, Ghouly Ghosts, and Harvest Pumpkin Cookies. Don’t be to scared to stop by and say hello

All Natural Dog Treat Kennesaw Ga

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:41:12 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Hi it’s Jeff with Bark & Beg. At this time I wanted to let you know if you love your dog like I love mine you would never feed him or her any type of treat from the store.

That is one of the reasons I opened up this store so that Dog owners in my town have a choice of what type of treats they are feeding their dogs.

We use all natural ingredients! These are so safe they are not only human safe they are the same ingredients that you and I eat!