sutton075

We've had dogs of all ages--seniors, puppies and in between--and our go-to toy has always been the Kong. It keeps them busy and helps alleviate boredom when they have to be home alone. Now I've discovered that there's a different Kong for every stage and need! Classic     Puppy     Extreme     Senior As a Chewy Influencer, I got the opportunity to test and review one Kong for each dog, to see how that particular Kong worked out for them. Ernest is 10, and pretty mellow. He's facing a lot of challenges of older dogs. So we chose the senior Kong for him. At one year old Petey is still basically a puppy, but he is rough on his toys and chews everything in sight, so we chose the Extreme Kong for him. Today we'll take a look at Ernest and the Kong Senior.  Ernest may be a senior, but he can chew his toys with gusto. I was a little worried that the senior version, made with a rubber formula that is gentler to again teeth and joints, wo...

Most cats I know do not like getting into their carrier. They also yowl and cry and thrash at the mere sight of a harness. Most cats don't like to walk on a leash. But most cats are not Maui. I recently met Maui at an adoption event. His cage was right next to where I was selling books, and he seemed to be curious about everything around him. He caught the eye of Erin, who was there to find a companion for herself and her 15 year old mixed breed dog, Merlin. Maui was one of the lucky ones. He found his forever home! Not only does he adore his new companions, but he also gets to explore the big, wide outdoors with them. They all take daily trips to a nearby park where Maui can safely climb trees and stalk squirrels. Such fun! Maui took to being transported in a backpack and walking on a leash easily. Here's some of Erin's tips how you can train your cat to do the same. 1. Gather treats you know your cat loves, and rank them from mildly exciting to mind-blowing! Treats may be...

Wouldn't a road trip be that much more fun with your faithful friend along? I think so! That's why I'm so excited to tell you about this new book by my good friends at Go Pet Friendly . Petey and Ernest are packing their suitcase for a trip. The Ultimate Pet Friendly Road Trip takes you on a 15,000 mile journey across the country to visit a popular site in each state. The best part about the book is that Amy Burkert not only wrote about the destinations--she and her husband and two dogs traveled the entire distance and road-tested everything first. Ernest wishes he was at the beach too. Some of the sites you'll explore are: Carmel's Dog Beach (California) The Grand Canyon (Arizona) San Antonio Riverwalk (Texas) Monumet Rocks (Kansas) Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) Central Park (New York) Acadia National Park (Maine) Trip planning together. Each chapter has help for planning your trip, suggestions on where to stay and eat, and most importantly rules you need to kn...

One night last week we walked our golden retrievers past two kids riding their bikes on the other side of the street. A man stood on his porch watching over them. The little girl saw us and ran up to her dad and asked if she could pat the dogs. "You have to ask their owners," he replied.  We don't know very many people in our neighborhood. It's a small city, and people tend to stick to themselves. Everyone is busy and has their own problems, it seems. The most time we get to interact with the neighbors is when we are walking the dogs. We've gotten to know other dog lovers, and we also have learned who is afraid of dogs so we try to respectfully keep the dogs in close when we pass by. The girl just looked, so I stopped. "Would you like to meet Petey and Ernest?" I asked. She nodded. My husband and I crossed over. The girl's brother stopped riding and came over too. They were a little hesitant, but soon they were happily patting the dogs and giggl...

Let's see, Petey's at the door. What has he come home with?   Seresto...seresto....seresto... Petey! Not the garden! Seresto...seresto...seresto    Oh, Petey! Yup, Petey's digging up flowers and bringing home who-knows-what again! Whatever Petey brings home with him, though, it shouldn't be fleas and ticks, right? So we tried out this Seresto collar from Chewy.com. All we had to do was put it on once, and it provides eight months of flea and tick protection. That's great, because we were always forgetting to apply our dog's topical treatment every month. If we missed just once, that's all it took to get those pesky bugs biting. We love that we can put this collar on the dogs and know they'll be protected month after month. My dogs have had Lyme disease before and I haven't found alternate methods of tick control that have worked for me. Seresto is a good choice for those who opt to use a chemical treatment because the ingredients are released slo...

With Labor Day weekend approaching, there's still time this summer to enjoy a great getaway or family vacation. And if the family includes a dog (or two or more!), it's easier than ever before to take them along--pet friendly businesses are more and more common. Your getaway just requires planning, flexibility, and quite possibly a sense of humor. Here are a few tips to bark your way. We didn't forget to pack Petey! Where are we going to stay? If you plan on camping, or staying with friends or family who love dogs, great! Otherwise you'll need to find a pet-friendly hotel. We recently took our two golden retrievers, Ernest and Petey, along on a getaway to Vermont. The hotel was "pet-friendly" and indeed the staff seemed happy to welcome our dogs. But the pet-friendly rooms were tiny. There was only enough space to walk around the sides of the bed, and no seating area or place for the dogs to stretch out. It made for a very uncomfortable weekend. So when you bo...

While camping last weekend at Parker's Creek we had a beautiful site right on the lake, a terrific climbing log and lots of cool mushrooms.  Riley and I tromped through the woods collecting all the different kinds of mushrooms we could find.  It was great fun, smelly slimy but fun. I dutifully did research for the proper methods, there are many sites about dyeing wool with mushrooms. I placed my chopped up mushrooms into jars, filled the jars with water and let them "steep" in the sun for two days. Strained the extremely slimy and smelly mushrooms and placed them in cheesecloth.  Scoured and mordanted 40 grams of wool yarn. Brought mushroom/ yarn up to 170 degrees and held it for one hour. Soaked overnight and VOILA! Five of the most uninspiring shades of beige yarn ever produced. Bonus, it smelled so bad even after multiple washings... I threw it out!