Wyatt turned 2 over the weekend!
“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.” – Roger Caras
This post is sponsored by Ollie and contains affiliate links.
"I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom"
Guess what guys! This cute little eskimo followed me home, so I decided I'd just him stay. I kid! It's just Wyatt in disguise. It's actually started to get chilly down here, and Wyatt needed some winter wear to hang with his buds outdoors.
As I always say, I can't really remember what life was like before I got Wyatt.
Before he was even home I envisioned being this super laid-back dog mom. That's pretty laughable to me and my friends now. I quickly morphed into the kind of dog mom that happily dotes on him; calling him my beautiful baby 100 times a day, and buying doggy birthday cakes and matching pajamas without a second thought. So, a touch more helicopter than cool, if you will.
Finding Food For A Sensitive Stomach Pup
From the minute Wyatt leaped into my arms (I'm serious it was just like a movie), he's been my smiley happy, goofy guy. Although, he has had some serious tummy troubles from the very beginning. Once we visited the vet for a full check-up, I found out how truly sick he was. My poor babe was riddled with four different strains of intestinal parasites, which explained why he was so thin and couldn't seem to keep anything down. Once the parasites were eliminated, we still struggled to find food that wouldn't upset his naturally sensitive tummy. Around this same time, Wyatt and I were becoming regulars at the dog park, and the topic of conversation between dog parents would inevitably turn to diet.
"So, what do you feed your dog?"
This may be the equivalent to the "where does your child go to school?" question parents of little humans face. I learned about the ongoing grain-free debate, which seemed to changed weekly depending on who you spoke to about the latest study, or what their vet was recommending.
I had been wanting to try a fresh meal delivery service like Ollie, but was honestly worried after so many poor experiences trying different dog foods. One rather expensive brand actually caused Wyatt's fur to molt off (clearly an unforeseen allergy), but I was horrified and felt awful for him nonetheless. After much trial and error, we ultimately settled on a brand for sensitive stomachs and skin, and I would cook for him one to two times a week. If someone had told me I'd happily be doting this much on a man, I would never have believed them.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with Ollie, but for those of you that aren't, they are a subscription dog food company that creates personalized formulas with canine nutritionists.
My Subscription Addiction received this subscription at no cost. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
Creating Wyatt's Profile
When you sign up for Ollie, they have you create a profile for your pup based on weight, age, breed, activity level, and allergies (I really liked that this portion of the profile was free-form so I could detail Wyatt's sensitivities). After this, they recommend a customized ideal plan for Wyatt, including how many calories he should be consuming in a day.
Scheduling Delivery
There's an option to select a regular or flexible schedule, to ensure you always have the right amount of food for the week. Ollie arrives in food packs that you place in the freezer initially, and based on when you plan to serve them, they just need to thaw in the fridge for about 24 hours.
How Ollie's Pricing Works
Ollie prices their subscription based on the size of your dog. They will calculate how much food your dog needs based on the exact number of calories they need to consume daily, this ultimately will dictate your subscription cost. Shipping is always free. Take Wyatt for example - factoring in his profile details (2 years old, lab/hound mix, extremely active, sensitivities), his meals run about $50.00 per week (excluding the current or ongoing promotion).
Wyatt Knows The Ollie Box
This is our second Ollie order and when I brought it upstairs, he was ready for me to open it.
- When the box arrives, it has insulated ice packs to keep the food packs cold until you are ready to transfer them into the freezer.
- Wyatt's packs arrived in their pre-portioned packages ready to store until it’s time to thaw in your refrigerator (which usually takes a full 24 hours to de-thaw).
- Your shipment will also include a feed guide on how to best transition to the new food.
- A "pup-tainer" and scoop will also be included, to store leftover and keep things fresh. Both of which have actually been super useful for travel.
Our Recent Delivery
Since Wyatt is a sensitive guy we were sent two specific recipes based on his age, weight, breed and activity level: Beef and Chicken.
Wyatt has also gotten to try the Turkey recipe before in the previous order, which he loved, but because of Turkey Day coming up they were running low. Here is Ollie's full menu if you want to explore each recipes ingredients: Ollie's Recipes.
Sharing Is Caring
Last year my friends and I had our own version of Friendsgiving that included all our pups, which was pretty entertaining but not for the faint of heart. I also declared the weekend of Thanksgiving as Wyatt's birthday, since the rescue could really only guesstimate how old he was when I adopted him back in April 2020.
This Thanksgiving (and Wyatt's birthday) was looking a bit quieter with people traveling again, so not all of our puppy pals were available to celebrate, but we got to spend time with two of his BFFs and brought some Ollie for them to taste test.
The Taste Testers
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- Chrissy is 1.5 year old lab who Wyatt loves dearly
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- This is Steve a 3 year old lab mix who is super sweet and into fitness as you can see.
We stopped by Steve's house before he headed off to his road trip for the holiday. We brought the Chicken and Beef recipes for Steve to try.
Wyatt making sure Steve eats everything. We brought a party hat for Steve, but he isn't a party-hat kind of guy.
Steve enjoyed both recipes without any tummy issues during or after.
On Sunday, we celebrated Wyatt's birthday at one of his favorite places, the baseball field!
1 of 5 | Gimmie the Ollie mama!
We brought the Beef and Sweet Potatoes for Chrissy because she has a notoriously sensitive stomach just like Wyatt used to. Chrissy also enjoyed this, and there were no tummy issues afterward.
Have you ever considered trying Ollie or another a food subscription for your pet? Share with me your experience below!
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