Tag Archives: Cider

Cider Reviews: Voyage of the Dogs

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Voyage of the Dogs by Greg van Eekhout (HarperCollins, 2018)

Review by Cider: Hi, there. I’m Lis’s service dog, Cider. Lis finally got me a book for me to read and review.

 I’ll just say this up front, because I’m one of those readers for whom this is important: No dogs die in this book. We do get the story of Laika*, told by one of the dogs to the others so that, at a critical point, they can make an informed choice, but Greg Van Eekhout kills none of his fictional dogs in the course of this story.

Lopside, Bug, Daisy, and their pack leader, Golden retriever Champion, are Barkonauts, dogs specially trained and equipped to be part of the crew of Laika, the first Earth ship to head out to start a colony on an alien world in a distant solar system. There are four human crew as well, and we only meet two of them before one, Roro, helps the dogs into hibernation for the FTL portion of their travels.

When the dogs wake up, the humans are gone, having taken the lifepod, and the ship is badly damaged.

They’re on the outskirts of their destination star system, but with the ship’s drives not working, too far from their destination planet, Stepping Stone. The dogs struggle to make repairs. They manage to redirect the communication antenna, and send a call for help to Earth.

They are good dogs, and they are Barkonauts. Barkonauts complete their missions, and their mission is to get to Stepping Stone.

There are real personalities at work. There is both conflict and cooperation among the dogs. Lopside, a little terrier mix, the only non-purebred, is our viewpoint character. From time to time he reminds us that unlike the others, he wasn’t bred to please everyone. (Champion’s a Golden, Bug is a Corgi, Daisy a Great Dane puppy. All bred to work with people, not to consider people’s opinions and then make their own decisions.)

Looming over their efforts is the name of the ship, Laika. They know Laika was the first dog in space, the very first Barkonaut, but for some reason, her story is missing from The Great Book of Dogs, the book Roro read to them, full of the stories of heroic dogs. Lopside really wants to know that story. He’s sure it would help inspire them to even greater heroism and ingenuity.

But with or without the story of Laika, these dogs love their people and their jobs, and are determined to succeed They don’t quit. They don’t fail.

This is a very satisfying story.

Recommended.

Lis bought this book.

*Considering how long it’s been, and how much younger than Lis are the people raising young children today, I think I have to say outright what Laika’s story is. She was the first dog in space, yes. She went up in Sputnik 2, on November 3, 1957. There was never a plan to bring her back, but she died within hours, when a malfunction caused the Sputnik cabin to overheat. This was the result of the Soviet space program taking barely four weeks to design Sputnik 2, and that wasn’t enough time to make a reliable temperature control system for Laika. Laika’s story is one of humans behaving badly. Greg Van Eekhout, on the other hand, is a good human, who gets well-deserved cuddles from his dogs.

Cider Carey Review: Greenies Dental Treats

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Greenies Dental Treats

Hi! Cider Carey back, with another treat review.

This time it’s what Lis says is a seasonal treat, that won’t be available after Halloween supplies run out. I’m not sure what Halloween is, except that some humans dress up funny for it.

As always, I tested whether I could get the package open myself, and as always, I couldn’t. I had to ask Lis. She got it open quick, and says it was easy to reseal.

You maybe saw on the package that these are the “petite” size. What that means is, really for dogs bigger than me, as much as 13 pounds bigger! Like, bigger than me by as much as I actually weigh! Normally, I get the “teenie” size, which is for my proper weight class. 

The size really confused me at first. I sniffed and examined it with great suspicion. Why is it so big? Does it smell a little different than the regular, nonseasonal Blueberry Flavor Greenies?

After a couple minutes, though, I decided it only smelled a little different, and the difference was nice. Also, it would be pretty silly to complain about getting a bigger treat than usual! So I settled down and went to work on the important part — chewing it. It chews every bit as nicely as the regular Greenies.

Lis says I should be embarrassed at finishing it off even faster than my regular “teenie” size Greenies, but I don’t see why. It was tasty, a good chew, and a Seasonal Treat I won’t get again after Halloween is over!

Vital Essentials Freeze Dried Rabbit Bites for Dogs, reviewed by Cider Carey

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Cider’s friend in the Netherlands, another Chinese Crested dog named Menina, recommended rabbit treats, and Cider asked to try them—strictly for review purposes, of course!

I got more mail today, a new package of treats. They’re called Vital Essentials Rabbit Bites. I don’t know what that “bites” is about; they didn’t try to bite me or anything. Very nicely behave treats; I did all the biting.

The packaging, as you can see, is pretty dark. Lis says they want to look Very Serious, because they are pitching themselves as “healthy treats.” She says that’s a bit much, but as one-ingredient rabbit treats, they’re better than some treats, and dogs who are allergic to other things (like chicken! imagine being allergic to something as wonderful as chicken!) can usually eat rabbit.

So, this is where I inspect the package. You can almost see the package:

As usual, I could not find my way into it by myself and had to let Lis do it.

She got into it pretty easily this time, and the place they said to cut actually did leave enough space that it was easy to both open and close. That’s a win over the Max and Neo packaging, but let’s check out the treats.

Lis offered me one and managed to get a picture (barely!) before I had it in my mouth.

Tasty! Couldn’t wait to eat it.

And, turns out, these are training treats. Small ones, which means you can keep getting more, as long as you keep turning out Behaviors Lis likes. Or, sometimes, just get several because she wants to treat you! (Can you tell I love training treats, even when they aren’t rabbit?)

Here, I got three just for sitting still so Lis could get a picture of me sitting next to them.

Okay, a picture of my feet near them, but it’s really hard to sit near treats like that. Lis had to move fast and didn’t quite get the shot she wanted.

Here’s a picture of me with a little pile of them, after I didn’t dive on the ones Lis put near my feet till she told me I could.

These are really good, tasty treats. The package is easy for Lis to manage, so that’s something you credentials of any meat-eating species can tell your humans. Yes, they do make rabbit treats for cats, too!

I hope you enjoy this review, and the treats.

Cider Reviews Lamb Tripe Treats

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Happy Fourth of July! A dog who is mostly indifferent to fireworks helps make it so.

Review by Cider: Lis got me this packet of Lamb Tripe Treats from our friend Paula, who does important stuff for the Greater Derry Humane Society. I could tell right away it smelled really good, but despite my best efforts I couldn’t get it open myself. Lis did it easily; I think she cheated this time. This kind is called “green tripe,” but I don’t know what other kinds there are.

So then she let me sniff one of the tripe thingies.

As I had suspected, it smelled really yummy! Lis says it’s made from a lamb’s stomach lining, and lots of humans don’t like it, but most dogs do. Cats, too. All I can say is, if you humans don’t like it, more for us hardworking service animals, mousers, credentials, and household companions.

Turns out they also break easily into smaller pieces, so “it will spoil your supper” will never be a valid excuse for not letting me have some!

With any luck, Lis won’t get much better at breaking them up. What are my chances, do you think?

I decided to go for the smaller piece first,

but I kept a close eye on the packet and the bigger piece, and got the bigger piece, too.

Fortunately, it turns out Lis wasn’t kidding about not liking it herself, and I got to finish off the whole stick!

It’s good to know that this is a healthy, chewy treat for both dogs and cats, who are I think the two most popular credentials and household companions here. I honestly don’t know if it’s good for birds. I suppose it might depend on what kind of bird.

But dogs and cats can enjoy it safely.

Cider Reviews Max and Neo Freeze-Dried Chicken Breast Treats

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I, Cider, in my quest to make sure every dog gets the best treats, decided to review my favorites, Max and Neo Freeze-Dried Chicken Breast treats, when I received a gift of a new package. I hope you enjoy the review, and all your dog friends enjoy the treats!

Review by Cider: Hi, folks! It’s Cider, back again with another tasty dog treat review. Just a warning, I had to promise fewer pictures and no videos this time.

It’s another package of Max and Neo treats, this time the freeze-dried chicken treats. I’ve had these before, but I just got a new package from a friend, and thought it would be good to give these a spotlight, too.

As you can see (better than I can!), it comes in a bright, cheery, yellow package. Lis likes the package, as long as there’s only one in sight at a time. Too much bright yellow is too much, she says.

I carefully examined the package, to be sure all was well.

You’ll maybe remember that Lis had trouble getting the salmon treats open, because they changed the way they make the opening part. Lis did remember, and this time, she was really careful, and got it properly open only the second time.

The smell is really good, letting you know this is a really tasty chicken treat.

Here’s me working on the piece Lis gave me, a good size, bigger than she gives me when it’s just a treat, and I don’t need good pictures for the review.

They’re crunchy and tasty, and give good chew, a little less chew than the salmon treats, but they’re chicken, and how can you top chicken? Yes, folks, chicken is my favorite!

I recommend these to any dog of your acquaintance. They are well worth it, and will definitely inspire your companion to dance. I promise.

Cider Reviews Sockeye Salmon Dog Treats

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Introduction: Did you know that dogs can’t eat tuna? Well they can’t but they certainly can eat salmon. (No, I don’t know why one fish is good and one isn’t.) And that brings us to Cider’s review of Max and Neo Sockeye Salmon, a treat that the companion of Lis likes quite a bit. Well she liked that quite a lot after her companion got the package open… Read her review complete with photos and a video to boot.

Max and Neo Freeze Dried Wild Caught Sockeye Salmon Dog Treats – Single Ingredient, Wild Caught Pacific Northwest Sockeye Salmon, Human Grade

    Review by Cider. I, Cider, received this package of Max and Neo Sockeye Salmon Treats, from a friend. Lis says the package is a pretty blue color. Me, I don’t get much beyond, “it’s blue,” because dogs don’t have all the same stuff in our eyes.

    I carefully checked out the packaging.

    Next, I asked Lis to open it. That proved to be a challenge for her! Why? Pro tip! Don’t cut where it tells you to cut! You’ll still have a sealed bag! Turns out, Lis found, you have to cut just barely above the spot where you can feel the thingy that makes it resealable. Finally, she got it, though.

    Then she got me a small piece.

    And I started right away, eating it. As you can see, it was unexpectedly chewy, but it was really tasty.

    I put it down for a few seconds several times, but I didn’t stop!

    When I was done, what I had was this little piece, that was small and thin — Lis calls it “paper thin.”

    Lis asked me a couple times if I wanted to eat that last bit, but I thought it had a wrong texture, and Lis wondered if it was like the rind on an orange — not there to be eaten!

    Overall, I found it really tasty, and it gave really good chew quality. There are lots of different size pieces, too, so you can take different size pieces depending on how long you want to keep busy with it. Just tell your humans you want they need to pay extra attention opening it the first time, and that they’ll probably need to pick up that rind piece when you’re done.

    As I said at the beginning, this was a gift from a friend.