Various Other Purchases after JayDee Arrived

Obviously, I made any number of additional purchases after JayDee joined our household. I've included those that were particularly helpful. Unless noted, I purchased these things at Walmart.

10 Gallon (rectangular) plastic container with lid to hold dog toys.

21 Gallon (rectangular) plastic container with lid to hold dry dog food.

13 inch by 32 inch under-bed plastic (rectangular) storage box. I put this on top of JayDee’s crate in the kitchen to hold all sorts of doggie accessories. It’s a bit messy, but at least the mess isn’t all spread out. I always appreciate the fact that Pam is so accommodating!

Rawhide chews. Much to my dismay, JayDee did not go wild over these.

Ol' Roy Treats Snack Sticks Beef Flavor Treats, 26 oz. The unit price for these treats are $3.05 per pound. They come as slender sticks and I found that I could cut each stick into pea sized treats so that I get about 18 treats per stick. If I don’t use the cut pieces relatively quickly, they stale out.

Ol' Roy Treats Grilled Strips Made W/Real Chicken Treats, 22 oz. The unit price for these treats are $2.16 per pound. They come as slender rectangular wafers and I found that I can cut each wafer in half lengthwise and then into pea sized treats so that I get about 18 treats per stick. Although these treats are also subject to becoming stale, they seem to stay fresh longer than the Ol' Roy Beef Flavor variety. It is my observation that JayDee prefers the Grilled Chicken Strips to the Beef Flavor. Maybe this proves that she is a gourmet, or perhaps that she is not!

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Redbarn Braided Bully Sticks. JayDee absolutely loves the taste of these 100% natural, dried muscles; definitely a home run! They become chewy when wet, making them a healthy way to care for your dog's teeth and gums. Nutritious beef chews are 100% digestible. There are two potential problems, first is the obvious odor. The second that if the dog is allowed to consume too much of this treat at a particular sitting, diarrhea is a potential consequence. I bought these at a local pet store.

Redbarn sterilized 6” bone. Although these come pre-filled with various food choices, I bought one without any filling and I smeared a little peanut butter around the inside of one end. JayDee thought she had scored a jackpot at Vegas! I also tried soaking some kibble in water and then stuffing all of this into the bone, and then freezing it. I was not particularly pleased with that outcome. Next I mixed peanut butter with kibble and used this as a stuffing before freezing. Since JayDee is a peanut butter fanatic, this became the ultimate frozen treat. I bought these at a local pet store.

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Furminator – with the wide 4” blade. The cheapest point of purchase was amazon.com. This device is all that it promises to be. It pulls out dead coat until you give up trying! The funny thing is that when I told everyone that I was going to get a Golden retriever pup, my son-in-law, Nathan, immediately sent me an email with a picture of the Furminator from the amazon.com website. His comment was: “You’re going to need this! Ha, ha!” He had a Golden retriever when he was a kid and although I did not buy the Furminator at that time, Nathan turned out to be prescient!

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Rolled leather collar. I bought this at the local Petco store. I was not happy with the way the flat nylon collar was affecting JayDee’s coat and I wanted something that had a smaller dimension. It was a bit pricey, but I expected that it would last a very long time, thereby justifying the expense. Over several months, I noticed that the edge of the buckle began cutting into the leather at the point where metal tongue goes through the hole in the collar. I ultimately had to replace this collar, and I wasn’t a happy camper!

6 gallon, galvanized pail. I used this a as poop receptacle. I used two plastic trash liners and when it filled up, I took the plastic bag out and put it curbside to be collected and hauled off to the landfill. This particular pail had a handle that would lock the lid in place. Most of the time it was too much trouble to engage the handle. One night it was so windy that the cover got blown off, but the cover was only a few feet away. Months later, the cover again got blown off, and this time I couldn’t find it. I was about to buy another pail – it is not possible to buy only a lid, when my neighbor drove up with the lid in tow. I wouldn’t have believed it, but the lid ended up on her property, about 300 feet away! That was some wind! The obvious solution was to tie an 18 inch piece of string onto the lid handle and to the side of the pail.

Frisbee by Dogzilla. This was on an end-cap at Walmart and was priced the same as the human Olympic Frisbee. The unique feature was that there was a large circular hole in the center. The major short fall was that this sucker would not fly worth a lick. It would always turn to the right (perhaps in the southern hemisphere it would always turn to the left) and then when it would hit the ground it would roll like a wagon wheel. I didn’t like it at all, but JayDee seemed to enjoy the challenge of snagging the wagon wheel during mid roll. She would then pick it up by grabbing it through the center hole and then she would flip it up so that the top of the Frisbee contacted her forehead. This allowed her to see through the center hole as she scampered back to me. It was a comically cute picture! The plastic was harder and less compliant then the rubber of the Kong Frisbee. It did not take too long before JayDee’s young, sharp teeth destroyed it. Wal*Mart is so good at taking things back, but I did not think it was worth the trouble. The Frisbee by Dogzilla melted in the burn barrel where it was vaporized.)

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Traffic leash 1 inch x 18 inches. This is quite heavy duty in that the nylon is double thickness throughout and the clasp is substantial. Once JayDee was 1 year old, this became my preferred leash for our twice a day walks, unless I was wanting to actively incorporate training activities into the process. I put the leash handle around my left wrist and could walk casually, swinging both arms. Usually I did not even need to touch the leash with my fingers. A testament to JayDee’s good Heeling abilities.

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Dogtra Remote Collar. I bought this from leerburg.com subsequent to watching their DVD – Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner.
 

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Cinch-it collar. The concept of this collar is the same as electrical zip ties. This collar was recommended by leerburg.com to allow for a very fine tuning of the fit of the remote collar. This collar is quite excellent.

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Flat, 1” wide, leather collar. The rolled leather collar I had purchased several months previously, which I expected would last years, was deteriorating faster than I had expected. I obtained this collar from leerburg.com. It appears to be excellent quality and the buckle has a roller arrangement which should prevent the tearing of the collar at that juncture which is the reason the previous leather collar failed. Since this collar was way too long, I trimmed it using a tin snips – I was very pleased with the finished result.
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