Tricky Trainers Do the Trick - Giveaway

I have three smart dogs. Smart because they have figured out that they don't have to do tricks to be spoiled rotten.
I have tried, at times, to get them to do certain things, like sit, stay , lay down, roll over. But basically they look at me as if to say "hey, this ain't no circus". Now, they do mind. But it seems like that only happens when I am being stern and they know to "go get in your bed" or " get out of my chair, before I sit on your head". They will move, reluctantly, but they will move. Well, all except one little stubborn all white doggie who will remain nameless. He talks back. Always has to have the last word.

But the times, they are a changin'.

TRICKY TRAINERS HAVE ARRIVED !

Gosh I love these things. I have made my boys treats, but they have never gone crazy like this over anything I have made.Mikey and Ricky Pickles sit for a Tricky Trainer.
***
Cloud Star sent a bag of the Cheese Flavor and the Salmon Flavor. And you know how when you read a food label the ingredients are listed in order of the amount, from the most to the least. Well in the Salmon ones...Salmon is the FIRST ingredient. WOW. No wonder Larry calls them "stinky trainers". My boys are nuts over these.Mikey "speaks" for a Tricky Trainer.

And the great thing is, I can actually pronounce everything in them. The only thing on the ingredient list I did not know was "tocopherois". So I looked it up.
It is a series of organic compounds consisting of various methylated phenols. Many of which have vitamin E activity. And are used in pet foods to keep oil from going rancid. Okay,I am good with that.
I love that they are small. So you can constantly reward without the fear of too much of a good thing.
Their products are also geared towards pets with allergies. It was Jennifer and Brennan's pup Samantha, back in 1998, who inspired starting Cloud Star. The first Buddy Biscuit was made for Samantha because of "allergy issues". They started making all her treats and food with just the goal of bring her back to health. In 1999 Jennifer was volunteering at an Animal Shelter that held a bake sale and instead of making something to sell for human treats Jennifer made up a few batches of the treats she made for Samantha and their other dog Nala. These treats were a hit, they started getting calls asking for more, and the rest is dogstory.

I first became aware of Cloud Star last year when I signed up on their facebook page and received a free fold-able water container that I keep in my purse. It has a handy pouch and is a really good size. They also sent me a bumper sticker with their motto "Wag More, Bark Less" and I just fell in love with that. It's a great motto for all of us. And this is printed on apparel and accessories they sell on their website.
They also have quite a few other treats, kibble and grooming products. (The Holistic Baked Kibble Dog Food is back after being out of stock due to being mentioned in Costco Connection magazine and thus bombarding Cloud Star with orders).


I like Cloud Star very much. I like that they give back at least 10% of their net profits to support and assist non-profits organizations that benefit animals, women, children and the environment.
I like that all their products are made in the USA (all ingredients are USA grown too) and I like that they truly care about animals.
Oh, and I like that my boys are crazy about Tricky Trainers.

(I received two bags of product for review purposes. I was pleased with the product very much so I wrote about it)

WIN SOME:
Cloud Star wants to send some Tricky Trainers to a lucky reader of this here blog.
To win a 3 pack of Tricky Trainers Liver flavor, Cheese Flavor and the Salmon Flavor please do the following:

MANDATORY ENTRY: Go visit Cloud Star and come back with something you like about their site, blog or products.

Extra Entries (do the MANDATORY first please): leave seperate comments for each,

• Leave me a comment about your pet. Something funny they do. Or how wonderful they are, anything about your pet.- 1 extra

• Follow my blog publicly, or tell me you already do - 2 extras

• Subscribe in a reader - 2 extras

• Tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link - 2 per day

• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post - 4 extras

This giveaway ends at midnight April 3rd. Open to USA only.
Winner will be notified by email. And will have 48 hours to send me shipping info.
Please make sure email contact is in your comment or your blog profile if you have a blog.
Cloud Star will ship prize.

Total Library Score, You May Be Able to do the Same.

Larry and I live outside a very small town, so the people who work at the library know us. One of the women there has brought in beads for me to use in my jewelry and she orders books for me because she knows my reading habits and knows I will like what she orders.

So this past week when we went, she told me they had put some books on the sale shelf...Cookbooks!

The sale shelf is an area they have set aside with shelves going floor to almost ceiling that holds books they have replaced with newer editions, books that are outdated or have slight damage.
But still great books.
There is an honor box that you can slide a few bills or some change into to support one of the few free public services we have left. ( a pretty wonderful public service)

Anyway, here is the Library Love I scored this past week.




So if you love books, please support your local library. And if you like to collect books, ask if they have a discard cart or a library sale or shelf.

Also another thing I do, I check out books from the library and if I love the book, I go to Amazon or half.com and buy it.
A great way to get a list of books that you may not have heard about like craft books or cookbooks is to go to Amazon and do a search. I search in the book category for "jewelry" and page after page of jewelry making books pop up. I copy down the titles, then go to my library's online site and order the books.
If my local small library does not have it on their shelves, they will order it from another library to be delivered to my library and call me when it comes in, or they can email you.

Now, I'm not saying "kill the Kindle", but it is mighty hard to curl up in bed with your four year old and look at the pretty pictures in a book when they are on a 5" screen.

A Sweet Romantic Blog Anniversary

I was out Blog Hopping as I do to relax sometimes and came across this oh so sweet blog.
Robin's Egg Blues blog is the type of blog that if it were a book it would be a real "page turner". Glimpses into Linda K's life, her beautiful family, doggies made from flowers, tutorials, vintage finds, and just sweetness.

Linda is hosting an Anniversary Giveaway. Please stop by her blog and wish her a Happy Anniversary. And then follow the directions to maybe win a beautiful pile of black, white and ivory romance and elegance.

Winners of the Follower Love Giveaway.

It was a complicated, drawn out, exhaustive, scientific method that provided the 3 winners to my giveaway.
But we came together and went through the extensive process of gathering all the names and extra entries. Compiling them into a vessel worthy of the occasion.










Then bringing in the team of experts , who would use their expertise in studying the varying degrees of variables and make their recommendations.
So basically Ricky Pickles and Mikey pulled names out of a bowl.



One of the experts became so engaged in his work that he refused to give up his findings, and received a stern warning from one of his superiors.
After accepting that his findings would instill joy in the happy recipient of those findings he graciously released them to become public knowledge. Sharon.


Mr. Pickles then stated, after regaining his composure, that he sends his best regards to the recipient, and that he hopes she will enjoy all the components of being the Grand Prize Winner.

While all this excitement was taking place, Mr. Mikey, our resident floor patroller, quietly chose 2 other deserving recipients. Although he likes to remain in the background, he said he felt it his duty to lend a paw.














Mr. Mikes findings. Bison61 and Makeetis.

All winners have been notified.
Thank you all who entered and thank you all so much who follow this here blog. It means so much to me. And the theme of this contest was to show how much you mean to me.
The prizes put into the box represent things I blog about, and items I enjoy using and having around me.

Another Great Thing To Do In Bed.

A new blog friend The Redhead Riter had this on her blog. Check her out, what amazing blogs she has. I just had to pass it on to share. I too say this is art.