Dog Blog: BarkBox (Nickel's Story)

November's BarkBox!

My friend Eri told me that she's subscribed to BarkBox for her doggie. : ) Shoutout to Eri and her cute little doggie!

Some funny comics to made the packaging feel anything but ordinary!

 Let's see what's inside!

Dog swag!

Continue on to see pictures of the boys!

There's a little illustration on the inside corner of the box too [The dog is lifting his leg on the tree! haha!] : ) I love attention to detail; it gives the box some character through humor. ; )

BarkBox goodies!!

Uno, Dos.

Uno, Dos, Tres!

Breaking News: Uncle Nickel is moving soon! He's moving into a fabulous condo in a fancy nearby city to live with his mommy. [She couldn't have him for a while because she wasn't allowed to have pets prior.] I sometimes call him Uncle Nickel because he's 6 years old, in dog years (6x7) he's 42! When you compare him to the puppies who are currently 2 years old (and not really "puppies") or (2x7) 14 in dogs years, Nickel is pretty much their Uncle. : )

(Wally is in the process of making a getaway with his chosen item!)

Nickel has moved a lot in his 6 years of life. lol He's lived with pretty much every family member on Minh's side. He has lived with the parents, brother, brother-in-law, cousin, and then us! We have had Nickel for 2.5 years, and it will be bittersweet when he moves back in with his mommy. Nickel has an obnoxious barking problem, AND he dislikes men for the most part. He barks at bf, bf's dad, my dad, my cousin even if he knows them and plays with them. He's obnoxious like that..he always barks at them when they come home from somewhere. 

Here's one of my favorite videos of Uncle Nickel interacting with Timmy & Wally when they were actual puppies. Nickel used to be so big compared to them, but now they have doubled him in size and completely out numbered him as well! Team TW!

He's a strange little guy (as you can see from the video)...pretty much he's all about the ladies. He's a very smart and obedient Chihuahua. He does some of the strangest things too. lol He loves attention, cuddling, and wrapping himself in a warm blanket. He's pretty independent, he didn't like the puppies at first, but now he absolutely loves them and plays with them. He still does get in growl fights with Timmy over dominance. I always have to break it up. That's the problem with three male dogs even if they're all neutered. Wally is our little omega, he's a follower and will always pick his brother Timmy's side and bark at Nickel while Timmy and Nickel are in their growl match.

There he goes! Wally made way with a chewy this time! As well all know, he's always gone for the toys! You know he ran away pretty fast since the picture is a little blurry! The guy has speed in his step!

That is innocent Wally face!! He has these big black beady eyes that I can't resist. I always feel sad when I tie my shoes and he gets his hopes up thinking we're going on a walk! I actually feel uber guilty.

He's absolutely loved his chewy.

Nom nom nom

Under the Queen Anne table (which I bought/negotiated for $30 or $35 at a moving sale!) is one of Wally's favorite treat eating places. : )

Timmy was like, "What's up? What ya got there?" and Wally gave him a little friendly "bug off" growl.

Timmy got the hint. lol Even though Timmy is the more dominant of the two, he respects Wally a lot. They are brothers from the same litter and have been together since the day they were born. (I always remind everyone of this because they look different. hehe I don't mind). Timmy seems to tolerate Wally a lot more than he does with Nickel. Nickel and him are always snatching things from one another. Sometimes when they do that, Wally ends up with the toy, treat, or chew! It's like, "while you two battle it out, I'm going take this treat if you don't mind!" Haha, he's pretty clever like that. ; )

Timmy went back to the box and picked out the Rope Antler Chew from Acadia Antlers.

This was true, Timmy spent a good amount of time with his toy chew.

He eventually got the rope out from the antler. All the dogs spend a lot of time on the couch now days. Initially, when we moved to the new house the dogs weren't allowed on the couch or upstairs. They were really obedient for the first few months and then our hearts started getting soft. We would pick one up to sit on our lap from time to time, and then with 3 dogs...they all just ended up on the couch. lol

But Timmy and Wally until this day do not come up those stairs to the second floor unless invited. Timmy is especially obedient when it comes to the stairs. Mischievous Wally sometimes would climb half way up the stairs and sit, sleep, chew on his toys. But Timmy, never ever. Our stair case is one of those where there's a break and it turns a different direction kind of stairs. If that helps anyone visualize lol. We didn't train them with any baby gates either! #proudpetparents

If there's anything Minh's proud of when it comes to the puppies, it's training them not to go upstairs. Nickel, however gets free roaming privileges. He's older and past his chewing stage. All he does upstairs is sleep in my room during the day. We didn't want to take any chances with the 2 year olds who we still til this day call puppies lol. Just last year, Wally chewed up my Tory Burch sandals, AGL flats, and the heel of a few pairs of Minh's expensive work shoes...so yeah..he's not trusted upstairs just yet. The good news is Wally doesn't chew on shoes anymore though because we leave our coat closet open and he doesn't drag out any shoes from the shoe rack or any shoes laying on the floor in the house.

p.s. I love you chewy.

Wally still gnawing away on his chewy.

Time to get into a little detail of what was in the boy's November BarkBox.

 Mr. Barksmiths

While you're busy in the kitchen baking up a delicious pumpkin pie, pop this Cool Treats smoothie in your freezer so your pup can get dessert too! He

althy and delicious.  

There hasn't been a treat in any of the boys' boxes that they haven't eaten. Two thumbs up for the dog box curators!

Curating isn't just for art galleries & museum exhibits anymore! lol I've noticed "curated, curator" are the the big it words among these subscription boxes. It really does you make feel a little extra special that some totally savvy person in the know of the products are putting together these boxes for you or your pet.

Fruitables

Made of 100% natural organic ingredients, Fruitables' treats taste as delicious as they smell. From crunchy to chewy, Fruitables come in a range of texture, flavors, and varieties - try them all!

I noticed that fruits are becoming more popular in dog treats! If you remember back to my Dog Blog on Pawalla, we received a full size bag of by Nature Mixed Berry flavored biscuits.

I feel so on trend with dog toys and treats now that I'm dog blogging."I feel like so cool, right now."

Holiday Offers:

Mr. Chewy $10 gift card for any item on the site! Food, treats, and more.

Rover Find the perfect dog sitter and get $10 off when you book.

DogTV One month subscription, FREE! It's TV your dog will love.

I'm definitely going to check out the Chewy website, but I'm not so sure I'll be using Rover or DogTV any time soon. If anyone is interested in those coupons in the US, let me know. I'll mail them to you with a holiday Christmas card and all! ; )

If you remember back to one of my first Dog Blog on PawBox, there was a coupon for a free Primal Starter Pak of frozen dog food. I actually called around my local pet food stores and Pet Pros carried the Primal brand. They were able to order the starter pack in for me. I used my coupon from PawBox and only paid the tax! I think it came out to be 47 cents! The sales person told me it was a valuable coupon and thought it was pretty cool of PawBox. : ) The coupon to me, was an added bonus. It did take a little bit more effort to get my free sample or trial pet item(s), but it was well worth it, and the dogs got to try a new product I didn't know about. That's probably one of the best parts of the dog and pet subscription boxes. You get the opportunity to try new, potentially awesome brand.

Someone's noisy.

Bionic 

A bone unlike any you've seen before- we challenge any super-chewer to try and take a chunk out of this one. Pro tip: Slip a treat inside the middle!

It's like a Kong, but more tough! I know it will be entertaining Timmy (my chubby baby) while I away.

Hey, that's mine!

Acadia Antlers

A BarkBox Exclusive! These Rope Antler Chews from Acadia Antlers are perfect for chewing, tugging and keeping your pup amused for hours..literally!

It was Timmy approved!

There's Wally's nose..lol 

He's like can I have my chewy back now, pleaseee!

BarkBox, a monthly box of dog goodies.

As low as $17/month, free shipping!

10% supports a rescue group! I like any business that's for a good cause.

www.BarkBox.com

As low as $17.50/month with free shipping.

10% supports a rescue group! I like any business that's for a good cause.

The BarkBox website is really cute and easy to use. Check it out! 

The longer your subscription, the better deal you get per box!

I hope to be able to offer you a coupon code for BarkBox! [They have a box for coupon codes at checkout so you know they exist! :]  I'll contact BarkBox today (December 7th) and with luck the friendly BarkBox Team can offer my readers something after seeing my pretty awesome BarkBox review *pats self on back.* ; ) I do put a lot of labor and spend a lot of hours putting together one Dog Blog post. I hope it shows!

I couldn't pull any string to have BarkBox sponsor a giveaway, but I got a coupon code for you! It's a link from my BarkBox profile that can offer my readers $5 off Box Box.

$5 off BarkBox: https://barkbox.com/r/Dl7k8JqjJ1/

One day soon, I will write a post with my picks for best dog boxes. I can already tell which boxes are good, great, or super awesome. I might just list them in order of favorite one day so pet boxes step up your game! jk. But I think I have a good idea of which boxes are my favorites so far. I think my pet parent readers (you all) can tell as well.

 With my efforts, I want to be able to get my DSK Steph blog pet parent readers something cool!

I'm all about paying it forward. If I can make another dog out there happy, I sure will. You can count on it. :D I always try to make Penny's day by bringing her Dingos when I visit. Or making my dog nephew Ty happy by bringing his cousin Wally over for play time! You see, my dog nephew Ty is an only child. He's awfully lonely. I think he needs a new brother or sister, Vannie. :P

In any case, I'm really enjoying reviewing these dog boxes! I hope you enjoy seeing them. It's one of the most rewarding things I've gotten out of my blog next to nail polish, of course! 

One new to me pet subscription box has contacted me because they saw my Dog Blogs and dog box reviews somewhere the internet! :D The boys should be receiving a crate of goodies soon, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be sharing it here.

Just for fun,

Idiom: "You (can) bet your bottom dollar." = You can be very sure.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of bottom dollar (your last bit of money, which you would not risk losing)

& in case anyone didn't yet know the meaning

 

(*Technical difficulties! This is supposed to be a video of the puppies! I will fix this when I get to my MacBook. I'm not very good at blogging on a PC. Sorry everyone!)
I'm so glad I have so many Youtube videos of the puppies to look back on and to share. They were the cutest little guys! They bring my life so much love and joy. :D

 

Be Sure to take part in my Love With Food Gift Box Giveaway!

They have already given me the coupon code for a free Love With Food box to gift one of my readers. The giveaway ends on December 15th, so give it a shot! There aren't that many comments on my post yet [50% of the comments are my replies!] so your chances of being picked is pretty good. ; )