If you’ve had a dog before at any point in your life, you know that amazing feeling of having the puppy or dog greet you when you’ve been gone, either for an hour or a whole day. They’re so excited that their whole body can shake with enthusiasm.
But there’s a flip side to that puppy’s happiness. Dogs can worry so much about where you are and when you’re coming back that they can have horrible separation anxiety. This can lead to either self-destructive behaviors or behaviors that are destructive to their surroundings. And that, in turn, can lead to a dog that isn’t any fun to be around.
Separation anxiety isn’t all that uncommon with puppies and grown dogs and can be triggered by any number of changes to their environment. There may be a move or a new family member, for example. So what can you do to help combat this? This graphic explains it.
Somewhere along the line pet ownership got complicated. Between grooming equipment, travel items, medicine, and toys a pet-friendly home can get pretty cluttered! Don’t waste that valuable time allotted for the dog park trying to find the leash! Check out our top tips to organize your pet-friendly lifestyle this Spring!
Organize Now!
Accessorize – I know, you’re thinking “the last thing I need is more pet stuff!”, but hear me out! When it comes to grooming your pet you’ve got a brush, nail clippers, and shampoo – if you’re a bare minimalist! Maybe you have a moisturizing winter shampoo and a flea & tick summer shampoo? What about a toothbrush? Ear swabs? Conditioner/lotion? Things can add up fast. Instead of cluttering these things up in your bathroom, laundry room, or kitchen, why not consider a pet grooming caddy? This handy little one below from Everything Mary is under $30 and has room enough to accommodate and organize all your pets grooming needs and more!
Health Needs? Even a healthy pet may need to take medicine from time to time, or even a vitamin. You’ve seen those day-of-the-week pill organizers? Check out this cute pet version from ForgettingthePill.com!
This keeps pills organized, is great for travel and easy to slip into a grooming caddy, first aid or emergency kit, or a medicine drawer or bag.
Have a Car Kit! Don’t waste time looking for the leash, water bowl, or any other travel accessories your pet may need – keep an extra in a travel kit for your pet! Travel kits that are kept in your vehicle are a great idea for quick trips to the dog park, road trips, or to double as an overnight bag if your and/or your pet are staying away from home. You can include a few treats, food, fresh bottled water, toy, leash, and anything else specific to your pets needs!
Consider a Toy Box! Always stepping on a squeaky toy, or even worse, a spiky toy? You put them “away” in whatever area of the home your dog “owns” yet they always get drug back out? Consider a toy box! Adorable and functional for that pet that has everything!
There’s no having a pet without eventual pet odor. Even the cleanest pets can offend our senses from time to time. Tackling pet odor is an age old past time (I bet even the Egyptians tried!). Methods, formulas, and tricks vary from pet to pet and different owners styles. Check out our list of awesome tips for the battle!
Pet Odor Be Gone!
Prevention – The most effective step is to nix pet odor before it begins! If you’ve got a kitty be sure to scoop frequently! Like, as soon as there is something to scoop if you can. Change the litter weekly and each time you do, give it a wash with some hot water and soap. It’s a good idea to replace the box annually to as plastics can retain odors… Rabbit litter boxes don’t need scooped multiple times a day, but you should change their woodchips our daily and give the box a rinse! They key to prevention is making the pet maintenance a daily habit. For some pets, like dogs though frequently do their bathroom habits outside, odor sort of finds them regardless. If you think your dog doesn’t smell, just send them out into the rain for a bit! Regular baths are a big help, but in some situations, even the most diligent pet owners are going to end up with pet odor. So, let’s see how to fight it!
Natural Products – If you’re a pet parent who likes to take a natural approach to those pesky smells in the carpet or on the furniture, you’re in luck! The product lines for natural pet care have grown exponentially over the last decade! Most of these products use natural enzymes to break down the source of the odor, getting rid of it entirely! Products like Odormute and Sunny & Honey are two great options!
DIY – There are tons of do-it-yourself methods out there for pet odor removal. Most of them contain varying amounts of vinegar (no, the vinegar smell usually doesn’t linger), baking soda, hydrogen peroxide (don’t let your pets get into a bottle of this!), and citrus. This site here as three recipes for pet odor eliminators made out of common household items!
Top In Its Class – Angry Orange Pet Odor Neutralizer. This stuff is industrial strength and it means business! If you’ve got multiple pets this might be the stuff for you. It was designed for the farm industry and is a favorite for kennels.
Have your own fool-proof product or recipe? Share it with us!
Pet ownership in the era of smart phones brings can be a pretty wonderful thing! Smart phones aid in helping pet owners in everything from researching poisonous plants, finding the closest vet or dog park, to charity apps that let you help raise money for homeless and abused pets! If you’re tech-minded and looking for some great ways to enhance your relationship with your pet while helping other animals, check out our list of mobile apps for the pet owner/animal lover!
Mobile Apps for Pets
PetMD’s Dog First Aid – Use this app to check symptoms for potential pet emergencies vs less dangerous situations. Know what you can do to help your pet while seeking professional help!
Dog Whistler – This app lets you turn your smart phone into a dog whistle! Adjust the frequency of the tone to one that works best for your dog and save it!
Puppy Coach 101 – Helps keep you and your new puppy on a schedule that will ensure training goes smoothly and quickly! It even lets you print out a personalized diploma for your puppy once they pass all the tests! There are lots of other pet training apps out there so find one that suits your needs!
Tagg – A two piece mobile app that allows you to place a tracker on your pets collar and track them on your phone. The app lets you set boundaries for your pet and will send you a text when you pet leaves those boundries. Great for keeping track of your pets whereabouts and for preventing lost pets! With apps like this and microchips, never loose a loved pet again!
Pet To Give – This awesome app allows you to “pet” virtual animals on your smart phone and turns those cyber pets into donations of food to animal shelters! Turn the time you spend looking at cute animals into something productive!
Mobile Apps and your pet
Do you have your own favorite app that makes your life easier as a pet owner? Share it with us and we’ll do another feature!
Pet Hub, a company that specializes in current technologies to help locate pets and get them home safer, have teamed up with Dog Fashion Spa, to help pet owners pamper their pets this Valentine’s Day and beyond. Pet Hub and Dog Fashion Spa have introduced new gifts for pets that include all-natural grooming products, and “a heart design dog ID tag with PetHub QR code technology that ensures lost dogs get home faster.” For ideas and gifts for your pet, check out the full collection by copying and pasting the link into your preferred browser below:
For just under $30, pet owners can purchase Dog Fashion Spa eye pads, dog paw and nose moisturize with brush, and even a glass nail file for your dog, and these can all be paired up with Pet Hub’s I’m Loved ID tag. A really good deal is purchasing the dog shampoo and conditioner, because the ID tag comes with it, and is a great way to introduce your pet to baths and protect them.Dog Fashion CEO Elena Volnova commented, “The collaboration with PetHub that developed the best technology to find a lost dog strengthens our commitment to provide Quality Life for Dogs. The ‘I’m Loved’ Digital Dog ID tag was a perfect choice to show the bond between the dog and the dog parent and to complement the beauty and quality of Dog Fashion Spa products.”
The I’m Loved ID pet tag can be sold separately, and comes in two sizes for a perfect fit for your pet. The features of the ID are “the back of the tag features a QR code and 24/7 phone number to help locate dog’s profile and owner.” PetHub’s Director of Marketing Lorien Clemens commented, “We are thrilled to share PetHub technology with dog lovers through these new gift sets. PetHub’s award winning lost pet recovery system has helped hundreds of furry family members reunite with their loved ones. In fact, our technology, which allows quick access dog’s most up-to-date critical data using a smart phone, has helped over 96% of our recovered ‘PetHub Pack’ members get home in less than a day. Knowing that one in three pets will go missing in their lifetime and, unfortunately, less than 20% of missing pets returning home, a digital pet ID “Powered by PetHub” greatly increases the chance of a joyful reunion should your furry Valentine ever go missing.”
This Valentine’s Day, remember to keep your pets happy and healthy. Are you doing anything special for your pet? Let us know!
The American Red Cross has released a new mobile app for your pet if they are sick or injured. The app guides pet owners through first-aid treatment for 25 common emergencies. Says Kelly Hudson, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of West Michigan, “pet owners learn how to recognize health problems and when to contact their veterinarian.”
The app is only 99-cents and enables users with access to photos and videos, showing owners how to perform a variety of first aid procedures, including treating wounds, control bleeding, care for burns and much more. Included in all of this is even helping a pet ailing from excessive cold or heat, injured in a car accident, and numerous others.
Pet owners also can use the app in other ways:
Create a pet profile that includes a list of medications
Learn early-warning signs of illness and when to call a veterinarian
Find nearby veterinarians in an emergency
Set up a “click to call” connection with their vet
Locate pet-friendly hotels
Take quizzes on pet care and share results on social networks
Because of owners not wanting to leave their pets in the midst of a disaster, the app includes resources to aide with help in emergency plans involving pets and their safety. The app is available on iPhones and Androids. For more information about the application, visit the American Red Cross website at http://www.redcross.org/prepare/mobile-apps.
During these very cold, frigid winter months, it is a necessity to keep pets warm during low temps and freezing weather. With most of the country varying in extremely cold temperatures, with wind advisories, and precipitation, it is important to keep your pets safe and sound. Your pets are also susceptible chemicals on the roadways used to clear them. Therefore, it is crucial to be mindful of their health and safety. A Brooklyn, New York based company has created Pawz dog boots, which are “made of a latex material that fits over dogs’ paws like a sock,”says the company’s Michael Friedland. He also claims that these boots do not interfere with your dogs movements, “because they are not bulky.” Apparently, this company has been around for 8 years, and are very popular in surrounding cities, as well as various places in the country. Some stores have even sold out of the products in the Northeast.
More tips to keep your pets safe from the cold:
Always bring them inside when there are freezing temps, snow or ice.
Provide plenty of blankets for them.
Puppies are especially vulnerable to the cold. Keep them inside as much as possible. If you can, provide puppy training pads for them to relieve themselves on.
Don’t forget to bring your cats in too; they are just as vulnerable to the cold weather as dogs are. Stray and feral cats hide under the hoods of cars often, so tap your hood before you get in and start your engine.
In our first part post, we provided some ideas with Christmas gifts for pet lovers that were unique, homemade and fun. Today’s post will focus on gifts for our furry and feline friends. Check out these ideas for those hard-to-shop-for pets:
Music and Dancing for your Pets:
Via MusicPetsLove.com, you can purchase soothing music for your pets, including cats, dogs and birds. Pretty interesting!
Have an inkling to re-create those images of dancing dogs you see on YouTube? Well, you can do just that with dogscandance.com, where they will teach you how to dance one on one with your dog. Your friends and family will be impressed!
Gifts of Luxury and Pampering:
Give your pooch a day at the spa with mobile grooming, or at a pet boutique in your area that will give them a bath in an invigorating scent like blueberry or lavender, clip their nails, brush them out and dry them off with a blow dryer.
For those cold, winter nights: get your pet a self-warming dog bed. It’s also great for dogs that are older, and have muscle and joint problems.
Perfume your pet with a great smell with Mungo & Maud Pettite Amand Dog Fragrance, which is also safe for pet owners.
Of course, a grooming kit is always an essential tool to give your pet a pampering day at home.
Gadgets:
Have a pet that sheds way too much and you want to eliminate or reduce your pet’s amount of shedding? Try the Furminator de-shedding tool.
Your pet can have their very own water fountain with the Platinum Pet Fountain.
Your pet’s old collar getting rusty and worn out, grab the Super Collar, which also has a retractable leash.
Disperse solid amounts of food at different times throughout the day for your pet with the Large Automatic Pet Feeder.
Have any new gadgets or luxury items to share with our fellow readers?
Let us know in the comments below! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 🙂
It’s that time of year again to determine what gifts we give our pet lovers, including family, friends and colleagues. It’s difficult enough to decide what gifts to give to our friends and family, so here are some suggestions for the avid pet lover in your life, including your furry friends! This will be a two part series, with the first-half’s focus on gifts for pet lovers and the second part will be featured on gifts for our furry and feline friends.
Ornaments, Tags and Dog Collars:
Etsy.com is a really cool place to get nifty and unique items, including:
Custom dog or cat ornament
Custom ID dog tag
Personalized Dog Collars
Custom pet and/or with couples ornament
Portrait Pendants, Paintings and Watercolors:
Custom portrait
Custom pet portrait sterling pendant
Watercolor pet portrait
For more ideas, visit the following Etsy link via http://www.etsy.com/browse/gifts/pet-gifts
UncommonGoods.com have several gifts for the enthusiastic pet lover that are different and quirky, including:
Unique Gifts
Dog & Cat necklaces
Dog Silhouette
Dog and Cat Pillows
Funny Dog Toy; Tongue & Mustache
For more gifts and information about each one, visit http://www.uncommongoods.com/home-garden/pets/dog-gifts.
Stationery and Photos:
Folks who really want to brag about their pets, can personalize photos with:
Cards
Stationery
Stamps
Calendars
Stickers
Coasters
Magnets
To personalize and edit, visit http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/photo-gifts/personalized-pet-gifts to start your costumizing today!
Do you have any ideas that have been a big hit with your friends and family, with their pets? Let us know!
During the holidays, there are always extra knick-knacks around, including objects such as collectibles made of ceramics, mistletoe, Christmas tree (fake or real), wreaths, and much more. We tend to become abundantly festive this time of year, and become in the holiday spirit mood. However, there are items that pets become endangered around. Check them out and remember to keep your pets safe:
Aromatic candles/potpourri– Candles can be knocked over, starting a fire, and birds can die from inhaling scents from candles and/or potpourri.
Chocolate and nuts– Always keep chocolate away from pets and should never be left out (even if it’s for Santa), and inhaling nuts can cause paralysis and other detriment’s to your pet’s body.
Holiday plants– Poinsettia’s are not likely to be harmful to your pet, but lilies can be deadly, along with mistletoe (keep both very far away from your pet).
Baubles and/or ribbon– Cats and kittens love to play with string, such as ribbon, tinsel, and any other material thing that’s dangling and piques their curiosity. However, this type of curiosity can really be deadly, so please keep all loose items on the tree away from their reach.
Tree needles– Pick out a pet-friendly tee, such as a white pine or Douglas fir, because their needles won’t stick in your pet’s paws, and tree needles that fall off of trees can be easily ingested and very harmful, especially to puppies.
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