Editorial Policy

Trial Windows

Food subscriptions get four to six weeks minimum before a review goes live. The first ten days of any fresh food transition are the adjustment period; the data that matters comes after the gut has settled and portion sizes have stabilized. Stool quality gets graded daily for the first two weeks of every new food using the Purina 1-to-7 fecal scoring scale: scores of 3 to 4 are optimal on a fresh or mixed diet, and anything below 2 or above 5 gets flagged explicitly in the review. Weekly weight checks happen on the OXO kitchen scale every Sunday morning before the first meal, tared to zero with the same stainless bowl each time, recorded in the 'Bowls & Numbers' notebook in pencil the same day they're taken.

Supplement trials run for the full recommended cycle on the label, typically four to eight weeks depending on the category. Pet telehealth services get tested with actual questions (nutritional follow-up, symptom triage, monitoring check-ins), not a staged walkthrough of the interface.

What Goes Into a Review

The Google Sheet is the source document. Weight by week, energy level by day on a five-point scale noted against exercise and sleep quality, stool grade by day for the first two weeks of any food transition. Brands have no input into the numbers. Data goes into the sheet the day it's observed, not after writing begins. When a billing dispute or cancellation problem came up during a trial, the email back-and-forth and the time between complaint and resolution appear in the review. A clean unboxing experience does not make a review. Sixty days of bowls and numbers does.

Affiliate Relationships

Some outbound links earn a commission if you subscribe or buy through them. Commission rates are standard affiliate program tiers set by each brand and are not negotiated in exchange for coverage, ratings, or editorial treatment. A service that billed incorrectly after cancellation gets that noted in the review regardless of affiliate status. The spreadsheet is the editorial agenda.

Scope

Two dogs. One household. Asheville, NC. Banjo's responses and Pickle's responses are specific to them, and breed, age, individual health history, and activity level all affect how a dog responds to a formula switch or a supplement protocol. The tracking methods described here are replicable, but the numbers are not universal. Nothing on this site is veterinary advice. If something looks medically off in your dog, that's a vet appointment.

Corrections

If a post contains an error (a misquoted ingredient, an outdated price, a factual claim that no longer holds), flag it through the contact page. Corrections get made and noted directly in the post.