Ruby Reviews: The Honest Kitchen Sparkle Shampoo Bar

This doesn't smell like something to eat...

It's no secret that we're huge fans of The Honest Kitchen here at Rubicon Days. The Ginger Sisters eat their human-grade, dehydrated food for breakfast every day, and I regularly give them Beams, Quickies, Nudges and Smooches as treats. They use simple, all-natural ingredients and I trust that the company cares about my animals. I was therefore very excited to learn that The Honest Kitchen was branching out into dog shampoo with their new Sparkle Shampoo Bars. 

I don't remember "shampoo tester" being part of my contract...

The Ginger Sisters love being product testers when it comes to treats, and while they were long overdue for baths anyway, they did not share in my enthusiasm about trying the Sparkle Bar. I chose the apple cider vinegar bar for its simplicity. It has the fewest ingredients (Apple Cider Vinegar, Goat’s Milk, Saponified Oils of: Coconut, Karanja; Castor oil), and even though neither Ruby or Boca have especially sensitive skin, I know that vinegar is a natural deodorizer. I liked the fact that there were no superfluous fragrances. 

Good girl, Ruby!

The apple cider vinegar Sparkle Bar is definitely no-frills. It is a naturally colored soap-like bar that fits in the palm of your hand. It did not smell bad, but it isn't something you would sniff at repeatedly on purpose. This bar is all practicality, and I liked that about it. I coaxed the Ginger Sisters into the bathroom for their baths (Ruby was not falling for the cheese bribery and I ended up having to put her leash on and leading her in) and gave the Sparkle Bar a test lather. 

I was told there would be cheese.

I was very pleased with how many suds the Sparkle Bar produced, and also how easy it was to lather up the dogs' coats wherever I wanted, including their chests and bellies. It's awkward sometimes to try and juggle holding the dog and getting the right amount of shampoo out of the bottle. I again appreciated the lack of added fragrance, because I think the dogs can find them off-putting. Their idea of good-smelling is, after all, much different from ours, judging by the disgusting things they would like to anoint themselves with, such as Eau de Worm Mort. 

Silly little monkey. 

I can tell that the bar will last a long time (according to the product information, about 18 baths for a 30 pound dog) so I think it's a good value. I am interested in trying the two other varieties as well. The Ginger Sisters were happy to have their baths behind them for another couple of months. Ruby adores the drying-off part and wiggles around under the towel being goofy. Then came the best part of all: post-bath zoomies! 

The girls' coats have stayed clean, shiny and soft all week following their baths. The bar left virtually no scent behind - nothing fake, flowery or doggy. Ruby's fur just has that subtle, warm fur scent and Boca has been shedding significantly less, a difference that my dad even remarked upon. I let the bar dry out in a soap dish and then put it back in the box until the next use. I had a dog shampoo that I really liked previously but I think The Honest Kitchen Sparkle Bar is my new favorite. 

Disclaimer: I was provided a Sparkle Shampoo Bar from The Honest Kitchen in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and I only publish reviews for products I feel comfortable using in the day to day life of my pets.

Sisters On a Summer Evening

Watching Ruby and Boca interact is one of my favorite parts of life with dogs.

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Dog By Dog: Puppy Mills and The Blackfish Effect

With Christopher E. Grimes, the director of Dog by Dog at the Mayan Theater in Denver, CO 

On Thursday night I attended the premiere of Dog by Dog, a documentary that seeks to reach the general public with information about the reality of puppy mills and the politics and pocketbooks that continue to support them. It was incredibly uplifting to see the support the documentary received in the local animal welfare community. Hosted by Colorado Citizens for Canine Welfare and attended by famous football players and state representatives, the turnout in my favorite historic theater in Denver warmed this advocate's heart.

While it had extremely emotional moments (and in fact I saw most men in the theater wiping their eyes at the end), this is not a film filled with graphic footage of abuse. The shots of the empty cages and the tough guy cradling a filthy rescued puppy against his chest are enough. The real impact of the documentary lies in its informed interviews and shocking statistics, as well as exposure of the ways in which corporate agribusiness and the AKC fight against legislation meant to improve conditions for commercially bred dogs. The film was well-researched and effectively delivered, including interviews with rescue volunteers, politicians and heads of animal welfare organizations.

I already knew much of the information presented, but what I was most surprised by was the widespread lack of knowledge. One of the women interviewed sincerely believed that the puppy she bought online was coming from a loving family home where the dogs were frolicking in fields of flowers. This could not be further from the truth - internet retailers with payment plans and immediate shipment are more than likely puppy mills. According to the film, between two and four million puppies are born in puppy mills every year, to parents who will never know grass beneath their paws, a kind hand on their head or even shelter from the elements.

For my own reasons, I will probably always adopt from rescue. I love potcakes and podencos, and don't have any purpose for my dogs outside of companionship; however, I understand the purpose-bred dog and the love of purebreds, and the movie does, too - it does not vilify all breeders. During the panel discussion after the film, one of the audience members asked why the director and filmmakers didn't take a stand against all dog breeding and the answer was that this was simply not realistic, too polarizing, and essentially shooting themselves in the foot when rescue groups and reputable breeders can and should be a united front against large, profit-driven commercial puppy mills.

The most inspiring part of Dog by Dog - much needed after the discouraging illustration of just how deeply embedded the politics and bureaucracy surrounding legislation of puppy mills are - was the story of Mindi Callison Long, founder of Bailing Out Benji. Since 2011, Mindi has been educating and organizing peaceful pet store protests in her hometown, rain or shine. For a while now I have been considering joining a local protest group, and I think this was exactly the push I needed to get my hands on a sign and my feet on the pavement. If any one of us can get just one person to turn around at the door of a pet store and head to their local shelter instead, or to sign up on the waiting list of a reputable breeder instead of clicking "Buy Now" on that cute picture at the commercial breeder website, then we are making a difference, person by person, dog by dog.

The goal of this documentary is to reach beyond those of us who already know about the horrors of puppy mills. The Mayan Theater was filled with people who were already deeply aware and passionately supportive of this cause. While in this early stage of screenings around the country, the ultimate hope is for Dog by Dog to have the same powerful impression as Blackfish did, for the general public's eyes to be opened to the injustice of keeping loving, intelligent dogs in wire cages for their entire lives, churning out puppies to be sold behind facades of storefronts and webpages, dressed in ribbons and lies. If one by one, our family members and co-workers - potential puppy-buyers whose lives don't revolve around dogs as ours do - abandon pet stores and wholesaler websites the way families and sponsors and stockholders have been abandoning Sea World, then we will see the world start to change the way it should. Please spread the word about this important film - follow Dog By Dog on Facebook, share the trailer, and watch for it in a theater near you.