The Brain Twister is a nifty toy from Canine Genius:
- it’s got a squeaker in each flower
- it makes a great fetch toy
- the spiral shape makes it much more interesting—Saffron likes inspecting the whole “stem” and shaking it so it flaps around
- the inner seam is very well reinforced, so it also makes a great tug-of-war toy, it stretches to 46 in.
- it also comes in neoprene for a water toy
- it can be wrapped around your dog’s torso for a game of “how do I get this thing off me”—Saffron loves this game as you can see below
Summer is almost here and that means humans and their dogs will be on or around the water. We often ask our dogs to do things that their instincts haven’t prepared them for, like boating. I don’t think dogs come equipped with sea legs or the ability to judge whether it’s safe to jump in a river to go after water fowl. Most dogs can swim, but even the best swimmer can be crippled by strong currents, hypothermia, or panic and end up drowning. A good life jacket could make all the difference. Keep those pups safe!
We like the K-9 Float Coat because:
- it’s one of the few with foam under the body & under the head, providing much better buoyancy than jackets with foam just on the back
- it fits very snuggly & securely with wide sections across the chest and under the belly, 3 adjustable straps/clips, and velcro at the chest. This jacket won’t twist or cut into your dog the way jackets with unpadded nylon straps can.
- it has a handle on the back making it possible to grab a dog to lift it from the water
- the different foam thickness and the ergonomic tailoring makes for a comfortable fit and allows for good rang of motion, in particular, the front legs (Saffron actually seems to like wearing hers even out of the water.)
- highly reflective piping and bright yellow material makes your dogs more visible (I recommend the yellow instead of the red, since yellow provides a stronger contrast)
- there’s a D-ring for a leash and a loop to attach a light beacon
- fabric on underside has tight weave so dog’s fur won’t get knitted into fabric
- super easy to keep clean and dries quickly
I wrote about Prairiebird’s wonderful brains cat toy a while back. Well, she’s now offering a set of Little Dead Things cat toys. I just love her macabre sense of humor.
As one of the humans in our house, I’d much rather find a pretend dead thing thoughtfully tucked in my shoe than a real dead thing. Our feline crew is hoping Santa brings them some wonderful Little Dead Things if they’re really good.
I found these wonderful prints on Etsy. Rachelle’s watercolor pet portraits aren’t like a lot of the portraits I’ve seen. For one, they’re not acrylics or oil, so she captures some different nuances than I’ve usually seen. Like those puddles of lips on the Pointer above.
She captures the softness of a Lab’s gaze, the focused stare of an orange tomcat—you just know there’s a bird he’s caught sight of, and that otherworldliness of Weimeraners.
Saffron loves the felt tomato and sunflower made by A Cheerful Pet that we got her. In fact she couldn’t wait while we were taking photos of the new toys.
These are different from any dog toys I’ve seen before. They’re made of boiled wool dyed with natural dyes. The result is lots of durable, fun, pretty toys. (Note: Saffron “pruned” the stem & leaf off the tomato pretty quickly, so the tendrils and fringes on some of the toys may not last, but the remaining felt ball isn’t going anywhere. These toys are surprisingly strong. They’re washable even, just hand wash and air dry)
The sunflower is a favorite for shaking and biting. I think the wool smell also makes the toys attractive. The tomato rolls and bounces like, well…a ball. And those are fun! The humans here think the toys look really nice, in fact, they look like art. Which I like to see lying around the house a lot better than frighteningly colored rubber hamburgers.
A Cheerful Pet toys are designed by 19 year old Rebekah Steubing and her mom Cheryl and are made in Nepal, where the Steubings first learned about the craft of boiling wool.
A Cheerful Pet has so many fun toys—colorful fish, jack-o-lanterns, Frizees (frisbees), Tugzeez (the green one looks just like a big piece of bull kelp!), balls, and the tomato & sunflower we got. They also have pet throws and coats in all sorts of wonderful colors. Proceeds from the sale of the PUMA collection benefit the PUMA orphanage in Nepal.
I’m waiting to hear back on who manufactures these fun toys. It’s my understanding this is also part of the company’s outreach to Nepal. I’ll let you know what I find out. (Update: Unfortunately, I haven’t heard back from them, so I can’t tell you who makes the toys.)
