Typist: Bethany
Like every good pet friendly traveler, I cart way more stuff for the dogs than I do for myself. Being super organized with where all the hit the road items are stored in the house, I still spend a few hours packing up everything all three dogs need for a road trip. The most time consuming of the packing process is preparing dog food especially because I am very careful about what and how much food I pack. Nothing spoils a road trip faster than dogs that won't eat, dogs with upset stomachs or a possibility of running out of dog food. So I have begun a quest to find grain-free, made in the USA, natural dog food in cans that easily toss into a bag for an adventure and, most importantly, that the dogs love to eat.

Besides comfort in knowing the dogs get help staying hydrated and will happily eat a complete and balanced meal while traveling with PowerStew, bringing along the wholesome canned food offers many other conveniences. PowerStew cans are easy to pack and I know the dogs will not be able to get into the food before or between meals. While a bit heavier than other traveling food options, I can recycle the cans as I go making space for the inevitable expanding items as a road trip drags on and also for souvenirs along the way. With simple math and without breaking the bank, I can calculate exactly how much food we need, grab the right amount of cans and go.  PowerStew is also available in variety packs so I can easily mix up protein sources and flavors as we travel. I always love getting ready for a road trip but as I begin the packing preparations for our next trip, I look forward to the ease of tossing Canine PowerStew into a bag and hitting the road. I get the feeling from the happy, healthy PowerStew meal sated dogs looking at me as if they are ready to go as soon as I close my laptop that they agree.

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Typist: Bethany
The majority of Americans have freshwater fish, dogs and cats as pets and most of those pet owners are knowledgeable about what supplies are needed before bringing one of these new pets. No one would bring home a new dog without a dish, a cat without a litter box or a fish without a bowl or tank. Since reptile ownership is not as widely popular, it is more difficult to know what supplies are necessary for proper reptile care when bringing home a new snake, turtle, bearded dragon, tortoise or lizard. When I stupidly bought my chameleon on impulse, I naively believed that the pet store had sold me a complete habitat as advertised and that the feeding instructions they had given me were all I needed to know about the pet's health. But reptile pets are not that simple. No proper care of a living thing is. I did my best to learn more about caring for the special little reptile I had fallen in love with but I was always a step behind. By the time I learned more about how I needed to do to properly care for my pet, it was too late. Very important things to consider when choosing the right reptile pet and preparing to bring the pet home are appropriate

• housing size needs now and as it grows
• enclosure type (some reptiles need mesh and air, others glass, others are jumpers and need proper security)
• tactile environment (substrate, bedding, rocks, branches, etc)
  
• heat and an accurate way to measure enclosure temperature
• lighting and an accurate way to control the lights
• humidity and an accurate way to measure enclosure humidity
• water (drinking water, bathing water or both, necessary filters and pumps)
• diet and supplements
• veterinary care (locate and contact the nearby exotic veterinarians as well as learn what nearby emergency veterinary clinics will see reptiles)
  

Not only is it vital to make sure that all of these essentials are covered but having the ability to cover the cost of each and every item before bringing the new pet home and for the entire life of the pet matters. When I learned that the cage my chameleon had been sold in was not the ideal healthy living situation for my pet, I began a search for the best enclosure. This was many years ago, before simple internet shopping, and ordering a chameleon enclosure from a specialty store over an hour from my home was my only choice. That order cost hundreds of dollars and took three months to fulfill. Three months that I struggled to keep my chameleon healthy in inferior conditions.

How do you prepare to to bring home a new pet?
What kind of research do you do before choosing a pet or to help the pets you have now thrive?

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Typist: Bethany
On a routine visit to the pet store for the usual pet supplies, I fell in love. Rocking slightly on her branch as she stared at me from her cage on the counter next to the cash register, the perfect spiral of her tail was the same soft green with blue and reddish brown speckles as the rest of her fabulously bumpy skin. The bright red "Sale" sign taped to the cage bars clashed with the peaceful scene of plastic plants, wooden branches, water fountain and viridescent chameleon it contained. I brought this chameleon, her cage and all it's contents home on an impulse. I had cared for dogs, fish, rodents, snails, insects, cats and birds as pets, so I thought to myself, how much different could reptile care be? Yeah. In my defense, I was a young college student just beginning my journey as an adult pet owner. But there is no excuse for taking reptile ownership or any pet care lightly. Everything about this chameleon impulse purchase set me up for failure. Among those was that the pet store sold me the wrong enclosure for the environment this pet needed and I had no idea what I was doing. It is in honor of the chameleon who I failed to properly care for that I am writing about responsibly caring for reptile pets. When I did my best and failed at caring for my chameleon, there was no easy access to information on how to successfully care for a snake, turtle, bearded dragon, lizard, tortoise or chameleon. I want anyone and everyone who falls in love with bumpy skin, beady eyes and cold blood like I did to never have to experience my heartbreak.

Are you considering a reptile ownership?
Have you had a reptile pets that would have had a better or longer life if you been more informed about proper reptile care?

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Typist: Bethany
When I was a child, I eagerly watched out the window for the mail truck and skipped excitedly to the mailbox to see what had arrived. That same elation about the mail carriers ascent up our porch steps every day lives on in my dogs. Well, two of my dogs. Wilhelm and Brychwyn love to say hello to the mail carrier and are happy dogs when they see whatever he or she leaves, even if it isn't for pets. Huxley exuberantly greets any delivery person but when it comes to what they have left behind, he is less enthused. Of course, I think it is wonderful that Huxley is such a people puppy but I yearn for him to gain enrichment through the wonder of opening what the delivery people bring. So I seized an opportunity to have a BarkBox® delivered in hopes of teaching Huxley that a box on the porch means more than greeting whoever left it.

As our family shepherd, Huxley gets a little nervous when the entire family is not together. He excels at job of keeping us all safe and together but everyone needs a little time off. After greeting the mail carrier, I sat down on the floor with the box and waited patiently for Huxley to settle down my side. It was finally time to see what was inside the BarkBox but at this point it didn't matter to me what had come. I was elated to be enjoying this one on one time with my youngest dog and that he was allowing himself a break from his family duties.

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