Thursday, April 21, 2011

Pedigree Canine Nutrition Summit: Behind the Scenes

I couldn't keep from smiling when entering the Mars Petcare headquarters
when I saw all the happy dogs who come to work here every day!
During a recent trip to Mars Petcare Headquarters US in Nashville, Tenn.,  for the Pedigree Canine Nutrition Summit, we had the opportunity to learn a whole lot of great things about the Pedigree brand and what it's like to work at Mars Petcare, including:
  • Poop is a daily topic of conversation (more on that later)
  • The science behind the newest Pedigree Dry Recipe
  • Employees bring their dogs to work. Yay!
  • There's an endless supply of chocolate (the next best thing to dogs)
  • The new X-shaped kibble tastes a little like a Triscuit. Not too bad, I might add...
Along with 11 other bloggers, we got the chance to tour headquarters and meet with lots of knowledgable folks from Pedigree US and the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. Here's a behind-the-scenes peak at our visit!
How can you not love coming to work everyday, when you get to bring your favorite four-legger! Everyday is bring your dog to work day at Mars Petcare HQ, and they even host pet adoption fairs on-site!  At Pedigree, they say "pets make a better world for us and we make a better world for pets." That came through loud and clear during our visit.

Pets even got to attend our sessions during the summit! During one of the sessions, Dr. Ralph Merrill, left, told us all about the 4 Universal Needs of Dogs, a breakthrough in canine nutrition developed by the Pedigree Brand team and the researchers at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in Leicestershire, England. On the right, that's Lisa Campbell, a Pedigree senior brand manager, and her pup Sweet Pea! Campbell explained how the new Pedigree dry recipes were formulated based on the 4 Universal Needs so that all dogs have access to leading nutrition.

On one of our favorite topics, Merrill explained that poop should be almost kickable. Thanks Maria Goodavage for summing up the scoop on poop on Dogster's For the Love of Dog Blog

We played some fun games to learn more about pet nutrition, and of course had an endless supply of Mars candies from which to choose! 

A few of my favorite things: Dogs and Candy...

Then, we got a closer look at the new Pedigree dry food formulations...

And even got to taste the new X-shaped kibble, which which helps reduce plaque and tartar build-up.  Not everyone opted for the tast test... but believe me, it's pretty darn palatable!

We met the fabulous Rosie, a rescue dog who was featured in a Pedigree Foundation poster during last year's pet adoption drive. Rosie has since been adopted by a Mars Petcare employee!
And we got to visit with some fabulous bloggie buddies and the Pedigree folks we met at BlogPaws last year.  Bloggers in this photo include, Felissa Elfenbein, Two Little Cavaliers; Paris Permenter and John Bigley, Dogtipper;  Deborah Flick, Boulder Dog; Debbie Jacobs, Fearful Dogs;  Ashley Niels, I Love Rescue Animals;  Maria Goodavage, Dogster Dog Blog; Michelle Maskaly, My Tail Hurts from Wagging So Much; Ryan Rice, Houston Dog Blog; Sharon Castellanos, Grouchy Puppy; Janet McCulley, The Daily Treat: Animal Planet, and of course me, Diane Silver. 

Can't wait to see you all again real soon. And thank you Pedigree for sponsoring this trip!


12 comments:

  1. WOW dat iz one pawsum trip u did hab. I seed sum familiar faces in ur group too! It so nice to lern more about Pedigree and seed wot goes on there.

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  2. That looks like so much fun!!! What a fabulous place to work..It was great reading this..

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  3. It was a fun trip Blizzard and all. Your post reminded me I need to speak to Mark guess I will email him tomorrow.

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  4. Sorry, but in no way, shape, or form does dry dog kibble help to clean teeth. The makers of Pedigree are kidding themselves if they believe that (and also if they believe their food is "good quality").

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  5. Awesome! Looks like a really cool trip.

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