GIVEAWAY Winner Announced!

This morning, thanks to a highly complex mathematical equation, I have determined the winner of the Taste of the Wild giveaway!

(Okay, truth is, I had a few friends pick a number between 1-11, and then averaged those numbers to get the winner. That's about the extent of my math skills. And I used a calculator.)

Anyways, the winner is....

Wyatt!  

Congratulations! Please contact me at ElementBCs (at) gmail.com within seven days to claim your prize! If the winner does not email me within that time frame, I'll choose a new winner.

Lists

I don't know what it is about this winter, but I've really been dragging my feet, at least when it comes to training the Border Collie women to do anything productive.

What we have been doing:

1) A lot of snuggling.

2) Lots of walking, and even a bit of hiking, now that the weather has warmed up a bit. 

3) Disc dog!

4) A little bit of agility.

5. Twitter. Yes, Twitter, as in tweeting, hashtags, and all that shizz. Turns out it's pretty fun! Follow Ember @EmberBCracken here! 

A few "official" things before I bring this rambling to an end:

1) The Taste of the Wild Giveaway ends Saturday. If you haven't entered yet, check out this post for details on how to win some free stuff! Winner will be announced Monday, 2/25.

2) Speaking of free stuff, I have a couple more reviews, and yet another giveaway coming soon, so stay tuned!

Review (AND GIVEAWAY!): Taste of the Wild Southwest Canyon Dog Food

Last week, I received an email from one of my favorite dog food brands, Taste of the Wild, asking if I would be willing to review their newest dog food, Taste of the Wild Southwest Canyon. The Southwest Canyon formula uses red meat (beef, lamb, wild boar) as its main protein source.  It also uses chickpeas and peas instead of potatoes as the main sources of starch/carbohydrates, creating a food lower on the glycemic index. This helps to stabilize blood glucose levels in dogs. From  the ToTW website:

Southwest Canyon was made specifically for those dogs that thrive on a red meat diet. This new Taste of the Wild formula was developed to provide a food that featured a unique protein source, wild boar. This red meat alternative was chosen to help satisfy your dog’s instinctual cravings.

Because I love and have fed ToTW (and, okay, I'm a sucker for free stuff LOL),  I wrote back immediately expressing my interest in doing the review. Within a few days, the samples arrived.... just in time for dinner!

Of course, Ember had to come check out the new stuff when I was taking pictures outside. She assumes that everything that comes in the mail is for her.... and really, most of the time she's right ;)

The dogs went absolutely nuts when I opened the sample bags, jumping up and sniffing.  The kibble is lighter in color, and has a pleasant (well, for dog food) smell. 

All three dogs absolutely loved the food and inhaled it even quicker than usual!  Cedar, my pickiest eater, liked it, too. And, a few days later, I can tell you that the food was good to their systems as well...if you catch my drift ;)

I would definitely recommend giving ToTW Southwest Canyon a try if you're on the market for a new, high quality kibble to feed your dog. Thank you so much, Tara, for the opportunity to do this review!

If you aren't sure where to find Taste of the Wild close to you, visit their dealer locator here.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS!!!!!!

And now.... the reason y'all are probably here in the first place, the giveaway!

In exchange for my review of Southwest Canyon, Taste of the Wild has offered to sponsor a prize pack for my readers. That's you!  Well, one of you anyways ;)

This prize pack includes samples of Southwest Canyon, a $25 gift card to PetFoodDirect.com for your dog, and a $25 gift card to Omaha Steaks for you  (a little red meat for everyone!).

To enter, all you have to do is:

1) If you haven't already, "like" Cedes of Change on Facebook.
2) Leave a comment on this post!  
3) If you "share" the link to this post on Facebook, you'll receive an additional entry.

Winner will be chosen by random draw on February 23rd (two weeks from now!)

Wintertime Blues

Womp wommmmmpppp. It's still winter.

Dark.

Cold.

Dreary.

Needless to say, winter has never really been my favorite season. I don't particularly enjoy winter sports... my one experience with snowboarding was a hilariously epic fail.

Here in the Tri Cities, this winter has been pretty mild in comparison to much of the country.  We've only had a few days of snow, and even then, it hasn't been too bad. I don't know about y'all, but what really gets me during the winter is the darkness. Up here, at its darkest, it wasn't light out til after eight, and then got dark again around four. Thankfully, there's a bit more daylight these days, and along with the extra hour or so of sun, my motivation for dog training and exercise has grown.

Please, Mama... train us!

Ember and I are currently enrolled in a Novice Rally class, and that has been a lot of fun. She is great, of course. Still very much a puppy, but great. I am hoping to have her ready to compete in the spring or summer.

I've been teaching classes for the local dog club up here for almost a year. The current session is five weeks in. I am teaching a CGC class and an agility class, and also assisting a friend with her STAR puppy class. So far, classes are going pretty well. I am enjoying teaching agility the most, obviously. This is the second time I've ever taught an agility class, and the first time teaching this particular class (Beginning Directional Handling). It's been really interesting transitioning from being an agility student to teacher. The hardest thing has been dealing with my insecurities. Part of me still can't believe that I have anything of value to say! Ah well, it'll come :)

In other news, we have a couple of really awesome reviews and giveaways coming up on the blog!!!!!  Trust me, y'all will definitely want to put in for these!  More details coming soon :)

I leave you with the song that's been stuck in my head since the Super Bowl:

Oh yeah, and Go Ravens! In my defense, I'm normally a Patriots fan. I just had a good feeling about the Ravens this year.

And that's my daily dose of random!

This is what happens...

...when I don't pay attention to Cedar for five minutes ;)

In case you were wondering, yes she did collect all these toys and sticks and put them at my feet in the hopes of playing a little fetch.

Border Collies....