The 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Dog Lovers

Searching for the perfect gift for the dog lover in your family?  People who love dog lovers often have trouble finding the perfect Christmas present.  It’s easy to assume that your dog lover already has everything they need to care for their dog (because they probably do!) and don’t know what they might like.  Don’t worry–I’ve put together this great guide to some of my favorite dog-related finds.  This gift guide for dog lovers has art, really neat gear, and home decor that your dog lover doesn’t know they want.

Just click on the pictures to visit the merchants for these gifts.

Prevent Dog Bites Before Your Dog Hurts Someone

Most people fear dog bites at a primal level.  Yet, somehow, dogs exist peacefully in our world, at least for the most part.  Prevent dog bites to keep both your family and your dog safe.

How To Remove Skunk Smell From a Dog (And House!)

Living out in the sticks, I grew up seeing lots of wildlife.  Deer, foxes, raccoons (oh, so many raccoons!), woodchucks, and even a few possums.  One night, I let the crew out for their just-before-bed potty, and I heard it.  They had cornered something.

A few seconds later, and I discovered what they had cornered.  I now had one of the least pleasant tasks in dog ownership.  I had to remove skunk smell from a dog–actually three dogs.  (One had realized this was a bad plan.)

Teaching Kids Pet Care

In any family with pets, providing safe and responsible care needs to be a priority.  Children, especially, learn empathy and responsibility by caring for the family pet.  Teaching kids pet care is easy, so long as age-appropriate tasks are chosen.

Teach Your Dog Manners: Why Your Dog Should Wait To Eat

Dogs love food.  Well, most dogs do.  Some have better manners than others, but most treat dinnertime as a free-for-all.  Dinnertime is a great opportunity to teach your dog, and using that time to teach your dog manners means they won’t be knocking the bowl out of your hand, or fighting with each other.

Learn about why your dog acts up at dinner time, and how to get him to knock that nonsense off.  It’s important in the long-term respect that your dog should have for you, as well as keeps your kitchen clean and family safe.

2017’s Top Dog Christmas Gifts

What does your dog want for Christmas?

Finding the perfect Christmas gift is tricky.  I know that for me, I have to find something that the recipient doesn’t have, and maybe doesn’t even know they want.  My brother & his family always get us the best Christmas presents.  They’re always gifts we didn’t even know we wanted, but use all the time.  This list has that kind of gifts for your dog.

How to Stop a Pushy Dog

As a life long retriever person, I know a lot about pushy dogs.  Labs love everything.  They are not known as a breed with impeccable manners. When my Labs want something, they go for it with much enthusiasm and not much forethought.  I haven’t met a Lab that wasn’t a pushy dog in some way.

So, when trying to maintain a pack of them, I had to teach them all to wait for my command, because otherwise anarchy reigned.  I learned these techniques to keep my pack in order and my sanity intact.

How to Keep Chocolate Toxicity from Killing Your Dog

Last week, we talked about things that can hurt your dog during the holidays.  With the holidays fast approaching, your home probably has much more chocolate in the cupboards than normal, with more coming in just a few weeks.  Chocolate toxicity is a real danger to dogs, especially small breeds who don’t have enough body mass to metabolize the chocolate before it kills them.

Luckily, most times a dog eats chocolate, it’s both large enough to metabolize the chocolate safely (since it’s harder for small dogs to get on the counters or in the cupboard), and it’s diluted as milk chocolate.  I’m going to walk you through the steps to take if your dog does eat chocolate, and how serious the situation may become.

9 Things That Can Kill Your Dog This Holiday Season

The holidays are, in my opinion, the best time of year.  You get to see your family, even those from far away.  The food is amazing.  I have a cousin who bakes the most amazing cookies, and dozens of kinds.  She uses my grandmother’s recipes as well as her own, and it’s amazing.  And everyone else makes their own specialty, so it’s all the family favorites at the table.  I also work in retail, and love that the store is crazy-busy, and the customers are stressed but perfectly happy to stand in long lines.

But this season is dangerous for your pets.  Many foods that we enjoy can kill dogs.  Guests inadvertently leave the door open, and dogs escape.  Hot kitchens lead to spills, and winter weather approaches.  Use these tips to keep your dog safe this holiday season.

Five Great Puzzle Toys for Dogs

Do you think your dog might be bored?  Dogs need more than physical stimulation.  Regardless of their intelligence, all dogs need mental stimulation to stay active and happy.  Most dogs love to use their nose to solve problems, and these great puzzle toys for dogs will help your dog keep his mind sharp.

These toys also work great for dogs that eat too fast or are prone to bloat.  They have to work to get the food, so they can’t gulp it all down in one bite.