I’m always looking for creative ways to exercise my dogs because my big girl Anna needs more than a walk around the block can offer. For awhile now, we haven’t lived close enough to a good off leash park to play with other dogs much, so it’s up to me to come up with entertainment and things to keep her mind busy.

Something that has worked before during the summer are bubbles! We used to just use regular bubble soap, but now the pet stores have caught on and actually offer flavored bubbles for your canine friends!

You can click here if you’d like to see the bubbles offered for dogs at the Crazy Pet Shop!

I have a very special soft spot for pugs. I ADORE pugs and I think they are just about the cutest creatures on earth.

Imagine how much I squealed and giggled when I found this interactive animation with cute little farty pugs at the Puggy Day Care!

Click on the image above to visit the site and see what I’m talking about! Make sure you click those little puggies!

Chublet was running towards me, super excited, full speed ahead. When he reached me, he kind of turned and skidded and FOOOMP, out popped some poop! Suddenly he was stopped and finished the job. He had literally taken a flying poo right in front of me!

I’m always worried about what will happen should my dogs wander off and someone else find them. Will the people have the sense to get a vet to check for their microchips? Will the information on their tags be information enough?

And then it kind of sucks when I take them to the dog sitter and have to take two huge folders of information with me regarding their care and vet information, plus emergency contact information.

Well I saw this really neat tag for dogs called the Top Tag Pet ID. It’s a little USB device that you can use to store all kinds of information about your dog. It fits inside a little rubbery tag holder and you just stick it on your dog’s collar. Anyone with a computer can plug in the device and access the information. Pretty neat!

The information the tag lets you store fits into a few categories. When someone plugs in the Top Tag, the first page always loaded is the contact information. There are other categories too such as Main Diet, Photo Album, Words and Commands, Medical Information, and Behavior & Personality.

Visit the official website if you are interested in learning more.

via Big Paws Only

Yesterday, the pug meetup was held at a dog daycare that also runs a pet store. Chublet really needed a harness because he pulls a lot when I take him for a walk and I felt a harness wouldn’t pull on his neck as much. I was also concerned about him pulling out of his collar.

I had looked at our regular large chain pet store, but all they had were the usual nylon harnesses. They didn’t look too comfortable, and didn’t really seem to have the correct size.

While at the pet meetup, I nipped next door and checked out the small store. They had these wonderful little harnesses, made for smaller dogs, that have a stretchy mesh body to them. It looked so comfortable and fit Chublet well. He had plenty of comfortable room for his fat little neck, but the harness was still snug enough to fit.

I’m really pleased to have found this collar and now that I’ve looked them up online, I see that the company has a website. I thought I’d share the link with everyone in case you are having trouble finding a comfortable harness for your smaller dog.

Click here to visit RC Pet Products!

She was SO HAPPY to run around wearing this new collar. She’s always eccstatic to have something new and it’s pretty funny to see her walking around the house so happy. Check out the pics, I think it’s hilarious!

While searching for a new meetup that my large dog could attend, I discovered a large breed meetup with a photo of a dog that looked much like her. I found this odd as I have never seen another dog with brindle markings quite like hers. Looking at the photo, the dog almost looked exactly like her. I realized that this could actually be one of her littermates, as she had a sister that looked almost identical to her.

I wrote to the woman who had posted the photo and asked if she had adopted her dog from the same rescue foundation or not, and what the dog’s name was. Turns out this dog is actually my dog’s sister!

I went to the meetup this week, and it was SO cool to see this other dog who is related to mine. It was so weird how many similarities there were between the two of them. I had forgotten my camera, but luckily a friend was able to snap this one and share it with me via email.

Check it out! My dog Anna is on the left:

Does your dog pace up and down along the fence, dying to get a good peek at what the neighbors are up to? Do you have a massive fortification along your property line and want to give your dog a look at who is on the sidewalk?

Do not fear, the Pet Peek is here!

I’m not sure this would reduce barking, scratching, or digging like the product description claims, but it sure looks hilarious!

Unfortunately, stock is out at Amazon, and they have no idea when they are getting it back in. Boo-urns.

These dogs were fearful, shy, and aggressive. They would freeze and cower when approached by my dogs, and were quick to growl and snap when anything got too close. Sometimes it would take three days to get a dog like this to warm up to playtime.

What was the common ground that these particular dogs shared? They were all unsocialized. Sometimes the owners had warned me in advance that their dog hadn’t really played with other dogs before, but others thought that taking their dog to play with a friend’s dog once in a blue moon had been enough.

A dog needs to be exposed to all kinds of dogs in order to be properly socialized. You want them to meet dogs of different sizes, shapes and colors so that they will not be fearful on meeting a dog that is new.

It’s especially important for owners of small breeds to realize that their dogs are perfectly capable of learning how to play and socialize with dogs that are much larger than they are. In my daycare, the small dogs are the most likely to be unsocialized, probably because they require so much less activity than larger dogs, and due to their owners fears of large dogs hurting them.

My dogs have played at offleash parks since they were just a few months old, and we go to meetups where owners get their dogs together to play. Of course the doggie daycare means that we constantly have new dogs coming into our home, which is something most owners can’t do. However, you can take your dog to attend a dog daycare once in awhile to give them a chance to play with other dogs.

Socialization is an extremely important part of a dog’s life, especially when they are a pup. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for exercise and mental stimulation.

If you have a dog, remember to take them to play with other dogs! It teaches them some very important manners for future encounters and friendships.

In New Zealand, a song that can only be heard by dogs, topped the charts at Christmas. The song, A Very Silent Night, was released to raise money for the SPCA.

I’m not sure how a track that’s completely silent gets to the top of the charts, but I’m glad that they raised a lot of money for the SPCA.

I’m wondering if my dogs would react to this song at all. I’m betting Anna would completely ignore it. She doesn’t notice the television or even raise an ear to weird sounds of the radio. Chublet on the other hand pays more attention to such things and might just like the song. Who knows!