Pet Accessories

I’m sure you’re as tired as I am of placing upturned laundry baskets and heaping pillows on the couches at night so the dogs don’t sleep up there. It’s a pain in the neck to clean couches, and even despite my best efforts to keep the dogs clean, they still leave a lot of dirt and grit wherever they sleep.  Then I found a website selling a dog couch.  I thought it was kind of an outlandish concept, but if I had to shampoo the couches one more time I was going to pull my hair out.

So I bought two dog couches and put them in the living room near mine. After a few more nights of upturned laundry baskets and heaped pillows, the dogs slept on their own couches and didn’t want to sleep on mine anymore!

When bringing home a new dog, it is important to introduce her into the household in a way that makes her and any existing pets feel secure. Have your new dog meet any established pets, particularly other dogs, on neutral territory. Have them meet on the street on leash and walk together with the width of the road between them for a few days until they are quite familiar with each other. Bring them into the home one at a time, preferably with the new dog inside first and then the other. If things look a bit iffy, put your new girl into her own room gated but with the door open so they can see and smell and hear each other. It is also a good idea to get a crate for your new pet so she has her own safe place to retreat to when she wants. The crate door can be left open with a nice cozy crate mat to snuggle up on if things get hairy-no pun intended!

Dogs are innately attracted to areas where their masters have sat down or rested; it’s predominantly a scent attraction. This is the reason that dogs will often frequent your furniture or bed, despite your best efforts to keep their fur and hair off your fabric. There are a few steps you can take to keep your pets from sleeping on the furniture. First, designer dog beds will often attract an animal to sleep at the same location. After your dog has slept in their bed a few times, they will associate it as ‘their space’. There is a variety of small dog beds available, but most of the time pets aren’t too picky (but obviously a Great Dane won’t fare well in a bed half their size!).

If your dog continues to sleep on the furniture or your bed even after you’ve given them their own bed, try disciplining with a whistle if they get up on the furniture, and remain consistent with the practice. After a time your dog will come to understand that they’re not supposed to be on the furniture.

Its no fun getting sick these days. Used to be a good cold or bout with the flu was good for a few days rest at home, lots of television and sleep. Now, with H1N1, regular Influenza and the ever lurking pneumonia, a person can get really, really sick. Symptoms to pay attention to are fevers, vomiting, excessive fatigue and overall pain.  A persistent cough could be a sign that things have gotten nasty in your lungs too. Because everything is so contagious it is best to just stay home (not like you’ll feel like doing anything else anyway!). Curl up with your four legged friend who can’t get sick from you and wait for it all to pass. At least even the dog bed will feel comfy. In fact you could probably sleep on a picket fence. Feel better soon!

When a puppy comes into a new family, definitely aside from love, the pup needs proper dog supplies in order to make sure that he grows healthy and well. Here are the essentials:

~ An appropriately sized dog bed

~ A bowl, sized to match your dog

~ A collar like this can also serve as his identity tag

~ Health products and supplements

~ Variety of toys to keep him busy and entertained

~ Dog clothes, especially for breeds with thin coats as it protects them during cold season

If you do not have the luxury of time to go to a reliable dog supply store and shop for these items, you can access the internet and order the needed dog products.

Like people, some dogs cannot be comfortable on a stack of worn down pillows or a hard, cold floor with sheets. Canines require the a reasonable amount of sleep and rest like humans, so purchasing a dog bed for your furry little friend would be a great idea; after all, you wouldn’t want to sleep on a cold floor yourself, would you?

There are several luxury dog beds on the market that give you the perfect way to pamper your pooch.. To some, it may seem a bit farfetched to buy a dog a luxury bed, but why wouldn’t you do that for your best friend?

While all of the powers that be haggle over public options and death panels, no one is noticing an obvious addition to this volatile  subject. Many studies have shown that owning a pet can help with stress management, lower blood pressure and increase exercise. All of these would have a positive effect on health care costs, while at the same time providing so many deserving pets a wonderful home to live in.

Why doesn’t someone propose to include in the health care bill a clause that would encourage, through lowered insurance costs, the adoption of a homeless pet. Proof of the adoption could lower premiums, which would free up funds in the household for things like food and a dog bed. At the same time scores of homeless pets would find a home and provide a health benefit to their owners. Sounds like a win/win to me!

Several of the banks that received money in last year’s TARP bailout funds are making significant headway in repaying those funds. Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all seemed determined to quickly repay the government, thereby escaping imposed restrictions on bonuses and possibly other spending.

Its pretty amazing that institutions that were in such trouble not so long ago could repay such a large amount in such a short period of time. I would say that makes these bailouts a smart investment for the federal government, with good return in good time. What does that mean for President Obama? That I’m not really sure, but maybe he could get a really great dog bed for his family puppy, Bo, with all the extra cash that is floating around now.

Each day more information comes out about Tiger Woods and his extra-marital pastimes. It seems that making millions of dollars doing the thing that you love is very stressful and can lead to poor choices to help relieve said stress. Poor Tiger. Maybe his advisors should steer him towards other hobbies that are rewarding and fulfilling and do not put him in a negative public spotlight (or hurt his family).

What might some of those hobbies be? There is always the abundance of charities and organizations available to get involved with and as many people already know, helping others and making a difference always takes our mind off ourselves and creates a great feeling of well being and satisfaction.  Another good choice is adopting a pet which provides companionship and unconditional love (so you don’t have to find that from other sources!) and helps fill down time which can keep mischievous boys out of trouble. I’m sure all of this will eventually settle down in the media, and I certainly hope his family withstands the storm and comes out stronger than before. In the meantime, he did make his bed so he has to lie in it, but hopefully he will switch to a luxury designer dog bed with an adorable, sweet puppy that sweetens his image.