Pet Product News Recognizes The Wild
With Retailer of the Year Award
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We are so excited to be sharing this news with you at last!
The Wild Pet Stores has been honored by the national pet publication, Pet Product News, as their Retailer of the Year for Customer Service and Education. We have dedicated ourselves and our stores to this mission: Serving you and your beloved pets with the best resources and products for total health and wellness.
We are extremely appreciative of this support and recognition. Most of all, we are grateful to each of you for making The Wild your choice for all your pet's needs. We are honored to serve you.
You can read all about the Pet Product News awards here.
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We visited the set of Lowcountry Live at ABC News4 twice during the past few months where we discussed what we do here at The Wild and what makes us so different from other pet stores. If you missed it, fear not! You can still catch these segments on our YouTube Channel: The Wild Pet Stores.
Or...you can just click below!
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In our first segment, Christina and Jordan shared a selection of our more exotic chews from our treat bins. But as you know, these are just the tip of the iceberg here at The Wild. |
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In our second segment, Christi and Frasier shared more in depth information about the origins of The Wild and our pet food philosophy. |
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Invite Your Friends to Our Sniffari |
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Do you love shopping at The Wild and want your friends or family members to come experience all that this store has to offer? We would love for them to join us! You can now purchase TW gift cards, starting as low as $5, and invite your friends to bring their own pets in for a "sniffari" through our treat bins.
Know someone in need of nutritional help for their pet with health issues? As you know, that's what we specialize in. Send them on in to get a personal consultation with one of our on-staff pet nutrition experts.
We love what we do! Spread the Love this holiday season with a gift card from The Wild.
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Does This Harness Make Me Look Fat? |
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The Truth About Weight Management for Pets |
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Many pet owners are concerned about their pet's weight. "Is my pet too fat or too thin?" "Should I be able to see ribs or feel ribs?" Since our furry loved ones rely on us as their sole source of nourishment, it's no wonder these questions weigh (no pun intended) heavily on our minds. What is the right weight for your pet? Maybe we have all been asking the wrong questions.
What if instead of focusing on a number, or a body chart that some human determined was the way all dogs and cats should look, we focused on how our pet is living? Is your pet happy, can they move okay, are they joyful? Then we need to be far more critical about what the numbers say. It is one thing if your pet is visibly struggling with his size, unable to move around without pain or getting winded from average activity. However, it is a different story if we decide our pet has a weight problem simply because they don't fall into a certain number range or look exactly like some chart says they should. Do people have a one size fits all standard? Of course not, but we do get sucked into a standard of opinions which seems to change from year to year. So why do we think this would be normal for our pets? What if we stop worrying about size and start concentrating on true health?
Let's start by seeing calories differently. We all know our pets need a certain amount of calories to maintain a certain weight. But what if, instead of focusing on the number of calories, we look at the quality of the calories? If you were to eat 2,000 calories a day in Twinkies, do you think your body would react the same way it would to 2,000 calories of broccoli? There would be a big difference in how we felt and how our bodies processed those calories. We need to feed our dogs and cats what they were designed by nature to eat. If we feed our pets high quality food and treats that their body is designed to process, then their weight should take care of itself. Let's give our furballs a break -- they don't look in the mirror and think, "I wish my waist was more defined!" They just know how they feel, and if we give them the right nutrition, they should be feeling great.
Now, if our pet is showing signs of not being able to move with ease, or not enjoying life to the fullest, and we suspect it is related to their weight then we can work from there. Here are some questions that will most likely come to mind if your pet is not functioning at an optimal level:
Should I be feeding a prescription or high fiber diet?
- No. High Fiber diets are sometimes encouraged as weight management tools, but these foods contain an unnecessary amount of fiber that dogs and cats don’t need and don’t satiate them. Wild canines and felines have no physiologic requirement for the plant fibers used in most processed pet food. A wild dog or cat’s fiber intake is less than 5% in most cases.
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Most prescription weight-loss diets are high in carbohydrates, low in fat, and low in protein, a combination that makes it difficult to lose weight and is the opposite of what they should be fed. They are designed to make a pet feel fuller faster, without providing a lot of calories or nutrients.
How can I help my pet lose weight?
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The first thing to remember is dogs and cats are carnivores, so they require meat. Processed foods contain carbohydrates that our pets don’t need. Make sure you are feeding your pet a fresh, species appropriate diet like Steve’s Real Raw Food, K9 Kravings, Answers, Primal, Tucker's, Northwest Naturals or Stella & Chewy’s raw diet. The ideal weight loss diet is high in protein and moisture, and low in carbohydrates. You can also try Open Farm Freeze Dried Nuggets, Stella & Chewy's Freeze Dried Meal Mixers or Patties, Steve's Freeze Dried Nuggets or Primal Freeze Dried Nuggets, Open Farm Gently Cooked or Honest Kitchen Dehydrated foods to help cut down carbohydrates.
- Scale back on treats or try breaking their favorite treats in half. You can also supplement with low calorie treats such as carrots or green beans. With any food you feed, ensure that you are feeding the right amount. To prevent over or underfeeding, measure your pet’s food and have them on a feeding schedule. Do not allow them to graze.
- And last but not least, exercise them through play! This can be done by long walks or runs, swimming and playing with toys.
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Seasonal Treats and Holiday Goodies |
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Since we're on the topic of food and species appropriate nutrition for our cats and dogs (when are we not?), it's a great time to talk about healthy ways to include your pets in the upcoming seasonal festivities! While baked goods, heavily salted or seasoned cooked foods, and the cooked bones left over from these events can be unhealthy at best and hazardous at worst, there are many healthy and safe options that you can have on hand to provide your pets during these events.
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Pumpkin Spice or Cranberry Blast Goat's Milk - We know many of your dogs and cats are already obsessed with goat's milk. While these two goat milk options are fun and festive ways to treat your pets during the holidays, they make an excellent addition to their diets year round! The added pumpkin in our Pumpkin Spice goat's milk is especially helpful in soothing digestive issues while the cranberry and apple cider vinegar additions in the Cranberry Blast are not only tasty but great for urinary health.
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Gently Cooked Food: Turkey Recipe - Give your dog all the goodness of a holiday meal in a format that she will not only love but will do her body some good. Our gently cooked meals can be found in the freezer section to be kept fresh. Place in the refrigerator to thaw ahead of time and then it's ready to feed. These are complete diets that also come in beef or chicken.
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Holiday Cookies - Keep an eye on our bakery case for ever changing seasonal cookies. You'll see some adorable Thanksgiving and Fall themed cookies out now, and you'll find doggie Christmas cookies and Christmas Cookie Box Sets out soon! Who says your pets can't be part of the holiday cookie exchange fun?!
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Frozen Raw Turkey Necks - Now THIS is a real chew treat that your pets can go Wild for. While these are whole turkey necks with all the meat, bones and cartilage intact, they are completely raw which makes them pliable and highly digestible. Cooked bones can become brittle resulting in breakage leaving sharp, jagged edges that can be hazardous for pets to chew and consume. With raw chews, this concern is eliminated.
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Raw Marrow Bones - These bones are another great option for a healthy, safe bone that your pet will derive a lot of nutrition from. Like the raw turkey necks, these treats provide live enzymes, moisture, calcium, and dental health benefits, not to mention mental stimulation for your pet. We have them in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit everyone from the small breed to the mastiff.
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Don't forget: We have over 180 treat bins which are filled to the brim with an incredible variety of flavors, textures, and durability to treat your pets with a snack or provide them with a longer lasting chew to keep them occupied during these busy times.
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So many of you have seen your pets' lives transformed by addressing their health through nutrition. We LOVE hearing about your success stories! Samantha MacDougal is a James Island customer who kindly shared her story with us via social media. Here's what she had to say:
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Thank you, Samantha! Hearing these stories is what makes everything we do so worthwhile. We are SO thrilled to hear about your pets' turn around and ongoing success. |
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We also LOVE hearing your feedback on our wild treats and seeing your sweet pets enjoying all the goodness that The Wild has to offer. Stephanie Smith is a West Ashley customer with two cute Yorkies who adore our Large Spanish Fish Tails imported from Australia. These guys don't even care that the fish tails are almost as big as they are! She reported to us:
"Eddie and Gabby love the fish tails and all the products I buy there. Eddie couldn’t wait to get home and started chomping on it in the car!"
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Gabby enjoying her fish tail...yum! |
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Eddie made it home with his fish tail after all. |
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Would you like to share your story about pet health and nutrition at The WILD? We'd LOVE to hear it! Just go to our website and click on the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page. Fill out the contact form and select "Testimonial" as your subject heading.
If you have feedback, comments, or suggestions about your experiences in our stores, we would love to hear that too.
We value and appreciate your feedback!
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We would like to take this moment to thank you all for your continued support of your local Mom & Pop shop The WILD. We go out of our way to keep a small piece of old Charleston intact and the days when a shopkeeper would know you...by name.
Appreciatively Yours,
The WILD Faces,
Keith, Ryan, Christi, Arlene, Jordan, Christina, Frasier, Blue, Erin and Haleigh
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