Is Peticure for Real?

While watching the Dog Whisperer lately, I have noticed a new infomercial for the Peticure Nail Trimmer. The infomercial looks like all the pets are easily handling a grinding machine so close to their toes but then I realized that the pets in those infomercials for the vacuum deshedding devices also look at home and relaxed.

My mind wandered to the Lab Brats. How would they handled such a device getting close to them and allowing me to stick their nail into this motorized device? The Dog Trick Academy Blog states: "The Peticure does produce quite a bit of noise; it’s not heavily noisy but to a dog, can be quite scary."

I started to laugh as I remember back to my childhood when my father introduced me to a sander-grinder. My father was an awesome carpenter by trade and the first thing he told me was to never, ever, get my hands too close to the device as I could easily grind off parts of my hand if I were not careful.

So if I would not stick my own finger or hand near a high-powered, extremely fast moving device, why would I stick my own dog's paws near it? I mean, it is difficult enough to see the whole nail and quick area while cutting with a good nail trimmer. So - 1) What dog in their right mind would allow their owner to go near them with the buzzing device in hand? and 2) What is there to protect the dog's nails from trimming too far and hitting the quick.

Sure, the infomercial mentions that the device is like what professional dog groomers would use and, I don't know about you, but I don't have professional dog groomer training. Heck, even my own vet technicians cut my Labrador's quick from time to time with a nail trimmer and this is second nature to them.

I don't know about you but I think the Lab Brats would be livid if I ever tried to use such a device on them. What do you think about this device? Have you tried it or is it something you can see wrestling with your large breed dog to use on them?

(Honestly, I can see even a Chihuahua biting off a finger if their handler got near them with one. *laugh*)

Homemade Dog Treats

What Labs can turn down free dog treats?

When we received an email from a woman that was working to break into the homemade dog treat scene, our doggy ears perked up. All she wanted to do was send us some free samples of her dog cookies and get our feedback. Well, the Lab Brats don't just reply to an email, we bark it out to the entire blog community! *laugh*

Conni's Pampered Pooch (http://www.connispamperedpooch.com) is a home based business where Connie herself makes all her own dog treats with natural ingredients and by hand. There are no fancy contraptions in Connie's kitchen; just love!

The amount of care and love she puts into her products is obvious. Upon opening the bag, the Lab Brats automatically smelled the doggy goodness and Cheyenne was climbing on the counter to get a closer "look" even though I didn't open the box fully. The little brat actually grabbed the bag of Beef-N-Cheddar biscuits from the counter and tried to run away with it! Not to worry, with one "drop it" command, the bag was released from the Jaws of Life and equally shared between both dogs.

So, what do we think about Conni's Pampered Pooch dog treats? The Lab Brats love them! We received free samples of both the Beef-N-Cheddar as well as Apples-N-Cinnamon. Although they loved both and woofed down even last morsel, the Beef was definitely more a hit in our house.

Awesome doggy cookies Connie! Keep up the great work!

Labrador Proof Tennis Balls?

We may have found a tennis ball that outlasts Dakota! Normally, she will get a tennis ball in her mouth, only to pop the ball in half not even 10 minutes later. She just love to pull the fuzz off the balls and pop them in half! We thought it was only a fuzzy ball thing so we tried to get her handballs and those were popped right in half as well!
So, we went to our local sports store and found a bag of Wilson Tennis Balls that included 12 balls for $9.99. Heck, that is a lot less then the tennis balls at the pet store! We figured - why not! So, we brought them home and noticed they are a bit different then other tennis balls. These ones have a bit of "give" to them. Meaning, they are slightly squishy. Since they aren't as hard as regular tennis balls, Dakota can bring the Jaws of Lab down on them and they have enough give to not pop in half but still bounce like a regular tennis ball!

If you have a dog that breaks through tennis balls but is a ball fanatic, we recommend these highly. Just make sure they aren't the ones that are rock hard (like a normal tennis ball) and that you never leave your pup to play with them while unattended as they can become a choking hazard if your pup is able to break them into pieces.

The Lab Brats hope you have a ball! :)

Product Review: FURminator

You've probably seen it in numerous places but do you truly know what the FURminator is?


For our house, it is one of the best products ever invented. Sure, there are loads of dog brushes out there but none of them even come close to the FURminator! This brush reduces shedding up to 90 percent by removing the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat. We have put it to the test by first brushing our Labrador Retrievers with the "Shedding Blade" and then going over them with the FURminator. What happened? Well, we ended up with two large bags of dog hair! That was after we had already brushed them!

Needless to say, the FURminator has a permanent place in our house. There is one thing we should mention though - do not use it all the time as it can strip the top coat of hair and make it dull and thin. We use ours about every 2 weeks during the shedding season and alternate with the Shedding Blade. During the colder months, we use it about once every month or two (depending on their shedding).

We give the FURminator 8 Paws Up!

LabBrats Review: Purina Busy Bone Dental

Mom is not feeling very well today so it she gave us permission to do something we have wanted to do for a while now. A Labrador Retriever review!

What's that? Well, we know how picky Labs are and how many products either can't handle a Lab's mighty teeth, chewing ability, or stomach, so we decided to start reviewing some of the new stuff mom and dad bring home for us. Mom was waiting until she was able to update 8PawsUp.com so that user's can post their own reviews but decided to let us get our paws dirty today. So, without further delay, we present our first Lab Review!

• Product: Purina Busy Bone Dental (for large dogs)
• Reason for purchase: Dakota's "alleged" bad breath
• Dakota's Notes: Tasty yummy. I started to drool before mom even put it on the floor. It took 15 minutes for me to eat and my breath was cleaner smelling after just 1 bone! Mom did have some crumbs to vacuum after as we ate it on the carpet. Best yet, I didnt have any allergic reaction to the ingredients!
• Cheyenne's Notes: I was jumping out of my skin while mom was trying to open the package. It took me 20 minutes to eat since I didn't want to drop even the smallest of crumbs. Dakota's breath was much better (because I didn't have a problem) that I kept trying to lick the crumbs from her mouth afterwards.
• Lab Brats Rating: 7 out of 8 Paws Up

Although the package says to feed one a day, mom said she will only feed us one every month. A package of 2 bones was over $5.50, which is too expensive for everyday feeding. Too bad because we really liked it but mom knows best and doesn't want us to have any tummy problems either.

Well that's our first and far from last review. If you have a product that you would like us to review, feel free to email our mom at shan[at]8pawsup.com.

Lab smiles,
Dakota & Cheyenne