Keep Fido from tracking snow and dirt into your home this winter

I wrote this review last winter for a local website, but I thought I'd share it earlier in the season so you all can be prepared before the snow starts falling!  Remember last January when we seemed to get a foot of new snow every week?!

Snowy Daisy

Another storm dropped 11" of snow on Boston this week and yes (big sigh) another storm is on its way promising a similar amount of snow. Walking the dog is hard enough in winter, but with all this snow it seems Fido is also constantly tracking snow, mud, salt and dirt into the house. Should you just give in to the mess and hope for an early spring? No! Try a "doggie chamois" instead.

After checking out options at local Boston pet stores, I decided to test out the "BowWow Pet Shammy", $6.95 at Fish and Bone (Newbury St., Back Bay). It was the least expensive option that still came with a sales rep recommendation. The official product description states: "The Bow Wow Shammy (20" x 27") is a super absorbent shammy made in Germany that has endless uses for your pets! Variety of Uses: Holds up to 20x its weight. Great crate liner. Keep pet entrances clean and dry. Dries your pet fast after a wet outdoor activity. Makes pet clean up quick and easy."

I was admittedly hesitant, but tried out the Bow Wow Pet Shammy in two scenarios: first, after taking my dog Daisy on a one hour walk through several snow banks and a snow-covered dog park and second, after giving Daisy a bath.

The Bow Wow Pet Shammy was extremely absorbant and big enough to wipe down my 50lb dog after a snowy walk. Bigger dogs would likely need multiple shammies though. I liked that I could see the dirt come off of her and onto the towel.  The towel felt damp after one use, but felt dry thirty minutes later after I hung it up. After the bath, the shammy took significant moisture off Daisy but still didn't prevent my couch and bed from becoming damp after she climbed on them. In that scenario it also felt dry after thirty minutes. The packaging claims the product is machine washable (line dry only), but after washing I felt that the shammy lost a lot of its absorbancy. Not so much that I can't use it still, but enough that it's noticable.

Final take: At $6.95,The Bow Wow Shammy worked well enough to recommend. Not a home run, but significantly better than washing your floors every week. I recommend having dedicated shammies for different uses. Save one (or two) for after bathtime, when your dog is nice and clean, keep one in the travel bag so you can clean up spills in the car, and leave one by the door to wipe down Fido's paws after playing outside. Wash infrequently to preserve absorbancy, which is another good reason to have multiple shammies on hand.

Besides Fish and Bone, I also found the Bow Wow Shammy available online, with Amazon having the best deal.

DIY pet project: Doggie duvet

Is your pet's bed in need of some refreshing? Are you (minimally) handy with a sewing machine? If so, here's a great weekend project for creating a new cover for your pet's bed. A doggie duvet, if you will.

Here is my dog Daisy's bed before I went to work on it. The bed itself functions fine and Daisy seems to like it, but after 18 months the top has a few holes and is threadbare in areas.

BEFORE: A nice soft bed, but not exactly easy on the eyes

I went to my local fabric shop, Grey's Fabric & Notions, and picked up some gray cotton canvas to make the cover. Select a material that is durable enough for your dog's wear and tear (Daisy doesn't tear or scratch at her bed so I had that going for me) and one is durable enough to be washed over and over. Alternatively, if you think your dog will destroy ANY bed, you could make this cover and save it just for when you have company over!

Measure the bed. Daisy's was 36"X24"X5". The project is easier with a rectangular bed, unless you have better sewing skills than I do :) I needed 3 yards of fabric to cover this bed, you might need more or less. Important point: make sure you wash and dry the fabric before you start measuring, cutting or sewing. This canvas shrank a LOT but I'd rather know that beforehand, not after I've put in a lot of work.

You'll likely need 5 pieces of fabric cut to make your bed cover. A "top" (the dimensions of the top of your bed), 2 overlapping "bottom" pieces (these should be the dimensions of the bottom of the bed, except for the length, which should be about 4" past the midpoint. The bottom pieces will overlap so that you can fill the bed cover with the actual bed (no zippers required!) but it will still look nice with no open gaps), and 2 gusset pieces (if you're lucky and can make a single gusset piece do that. My gusset needed to be 60"X5" -- 36" + 24" + 36" + 24" -- and it didn't make sense to buy that much extra fabric just to keep my gusset in one piece).

Now here's the sewing part. Pin your fabric good sides facing in and sew your bed cover together. Take your time and back sure your angles and dimensions look good. You can use a decorative hem on the overlapped bottom pieces for a nice added touch.

When you're done it should look like this!

AFTER: A doggie bed I actually want to look at!

For added flair you can stencil your dog's name or cute phrase onto your bed cover. I thought "Lazy Daisy" seemed appropriate! Since my stenciling skills are much better than my sewing skills, I stenciled after completing the bed cover, but it would probably be easier to do it the other way around. Do whatever makes you feel confident.

I created the stencils by first using MS Word to create the desired font and size of my letters. Once printed, I taped a transparency sheet to the page and then used an Exacto knife to cut the transparency in the shape of my letters, thus creating the stencil. There are easier ways to do this, including using freezer paper, printable transparency sheets or even buying stencils from your local craft store, but I went with what I had on hand. Once you have your stencil, tape it securely to the fabric. You don't want it moving. Place a piece of paper or cardboard inside the dog bed so the paint doesn't accidentally seep through to other pieces of your fabric. (With a heavy canvas like I used that's not likely, but better to be safe than sorry!) Use a textile paint, preferably once that is labeled "for dark colors" or "opaque". These paints are thicker, giving you better coverage with less effort and IMO will wash better. Here's a close-up of my stencil.

Close-up: I actually slipped the bed onto my ironing board to do the stenciling. It provided a nice, flat surface.

I used a sponge brush to do the stenciling, which was nice because after I pulled the stencil off (let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before pulling off so the paint has time to set) I could go back and dab some paint on in areas I felt needed it. Don't get greedy though - I make 90% of my mistakes because I can't leave well enough alone!

The final step for the stenciling is heat setting it. Put a piece of plain paper below the stenciled portion (inside the bed) and one on top. Using the highest setting the fabric will allow, press an iron over the painted area. Try to press straight down on the paint and not the typical sweeping motion we all do when ironing. Heat literally seals the paint to the fabric so you want to make sure you do that evenly and completely.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it is actually a pretty easy project for a weekend. Daisy gets to keep her comfy old bed and I get something that I can leave out when family comes for Thanksgiving. It cost about $30 for all materials.

DIY Halloween costumes for your pet

Perhaps you want a truly unique costume for your pet this Halloween, or perhaps you just know you'll wait until the night before and scramble to put a costume together. Either way, a DIY costume for your pet is a unique, fun and usually inexpensive way to get ready for Halloween. Here are a few ideas for how to make a DIY costume this year.

 

1. Flower

Last year, Daisy was a daisy! (I couldn't resist.) To make a flower of any variety:

- Buy some felt in desired colors (it has more structure than most fabric)

- Cut a strip that is as long as your dogs collar when laid flat and a little more than twice its width

- Hot glue or sew the strip along the long edge into a tube (eventually you'll slide this over the collar)

- Cut "petals" out of felt and glue or sew them to your tube and enjoy!

Daisy as a daisy!

2. Super hero

There's a lot of options with this one. Super hero, devil, vampire, grim reaper, etc. Have fun with it!

- Buy some fabric in desired color (black for BatDog or red for SuperDog!)

- Cut the fabric into a trapezoidal shape, leaving a wide strip at the top to tie around the dog's neck (see image). Alternatively you could create a "tube" to slip around the dog's collar as in the Flower costume above

Pattern for dog cape

- Use markers, puffy paint or textile paint to draw your dog's super hero emblem on the cape


3. Dice

This is a great costume for a pair of dogs (since dice typically come in pairs!) but you could also take the basic shape and turn it into a lot of other costumes (juice box, box o' wine, computer, etc.) Keep in mind this costume requires a dog that is comfortable getting dressed up as there is a lot of measuring and if not cut perfectly could be a little restrictive for the dog.

- Find a cardboard box that fits comfortably around your dog's belly and roughly from its neck to its hind legs

- Cut off the bottom of the box and top of the box so your dog's head and hind legs have a place to go.

- Cut holes for the front legs in the bottom of the box. This will keep the box secure on the dog's body so make sure your dog is comfortable.

- Cut off enough of the bottom edge of the box to make sure your dog can pee and poop comfortably!

- Paint (spray paint, acrylic paint, even markers all work well) the box for your desired costume

Product Review: FURminator Conditioner

Hair got you down?

Shedding is part of having a dog, but that doesn't mean you need to throw up your arms in defeat and give in to the hair. As an owner of a double-coated, year-round shedder I'm always on the lookout for new ways to reduce shedding. So when I noticed that FURminator, makers of my favorite deshedding brush, had a shampoo & conditioner on the market, I was game to give it a try.

These products claim to "release the undercoat", taking more hair off the dog during and immediately after its bath. The price tag was not insignificant ($16 each) so I opted for the conditioner only.

The bottom line? It definitely took more hair off the dog than not using it, but I'm not sure it was enough to support the price tag. I got about a baseball-sized amount of hair, and I noticed that for a few hours after the bath she seemed to shed like crazy (another post-bath brushing helped). But I was hoping that, after that initial period, I'd noticed less hair coming off and I unfortunately I didn't. I did notice that she felt the softest she's ever been, so that was a plus.

I know I didn't use it in conjunction with the shampoo, and who knows, maybe I didn't have the application down as well as I thought, but overall I don't think this product lived up to the hype. I'm sticking with regular FURminator brushings instead.

Pick of the Week: Pucks & Paws with the Worcester Sharks

You and Fido are probably currently enjoying the beautiful fall weather here in New England. Hiking, biking, leaf peeping and the like are all fun activities for you to enjoy with your pet. But soon fall will turn to winter and you'll be bundling up just to take poor Fido for a walk around the block.

Yes, winter poses some difficulties for finding ways to exercise your pet. Here's one great idea for a fun winter night out with your pet. On January 15th, the Worcester Sharks are hosting "Pucks & Paws" at the DCU Center in Worcester. That's right - bring your dog to an AHL hockey game! I found out about the event at a fundraiser this past weekend, and here's a few things I learned that you might not find just looking at the Sharks website:

- A special section (likely the upper level) will be sectioned off to allow owners and dogs to spread out and enjoy the game. And yes, if your dog fits on a seat, they can have one!
- The corresponding section of the concourse will also be set up for owners and dogs, with specialty treats available for your pooch while you pick up a hot dog and beer
- If Fido needs to do his business during the game, dogs and owners will be allowed to exit the arena and come back in (very rare!)
- Human tickets will be $15; canine tickets will be $10
- A few vendors will be stationed on the concourse handing out information & samples about local products & services (no sales are allowed however)

For more information visit the Sharks website at www.sharksahl.com. To be honest, I couldn't figure out to purchase these special tickets from the Sharks website (or anywhere else online), but they might just not be available yet (FYI, they are playing Syracuse that night). And as a special bonus, there will be a local high school double header the same night and your ticket provides entrance to all three events.

So if the winter weather has you down, and Fido is chasing his tail around the living room, enjoy a night out January 15th. Pucks & Paws for all!

Pick of the Week: Instagram

You exist in the Twitter-sphere. You post (at least) hourly updates to Facebook. You've been the mayor of anyplace on Foursquare. If these statements describe you, then this post probably isn't for you.

For everyone else, I want to introduce you to Instagram. Instagram markets itself as a fun and creative way to share photos with friends and family. In my opinion the value of Instagram is less about creating a photo-centric social network (is there anyone NOT trying to build a social network these days?), but about turning the average photo-taker into an artist. You see, Instagram offers instantly-applied filters for your photos. From your smartphone.

The easiest way to explain is to do a demonstration. Here's a photo of Daisy I took on my phone recently:

 

Not a bad photo, but nothing to write home about. Now, here's the photo using one of Instagram's 16 filters:

Instagram let me zoom in a bit, and then updated the photo with hypersaturation and a bit of a vintage feel. Much better right? Here's another example:

Again, not a bad shot, but the cars on the street and too much greenery at the top make it not worth framing. Here's the photo using Instagram:

This filter added sepia tones and a cool, washed out border. It also blurred a lot of the background with a watercolor effect so the cars are less noticeable. Now it looks like something I'd hang on the wall!

This app will never replace professional photography of course, but it's pretty cool to feel like you can take photos worth sharing with the world. The only catch with Instagram is that it's only for your smartphone (visit your phone's App Store or Instagram.com for details). So if you don't have one, well... you've got bigger fish to fry than photo-editing software ;)

This is what happens when you don't read my blog...

If my neighbor had been up to date with Daisy's Picks, he wouldn't have needed to write this email:

"Ok - so I went to Kickass Cupcakes at their truck on Columbus yesterday. They had something called a pupcake (cupcake with a dogs head on top.) My wife loves all things in the shape of dogs, so I got her one. I got home and she was about to eat it when she asked me if it was for humans or dogs. Ridiculous question, right?

Apparently not. I called the store immediately and asked them. It is for a dog.

Anyway, long story - we have a cupcake for Daisy!"

Smart lady to ask that question before digging in. At least Daisy made out in this deal. This will be her third pupcake in a week!