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How Important is it to Keep Your Corgi in Shape? – Petcurean

February 5, 2018

Disclaimer: We are part of the Petcurean Blogger Advocate program. However, we feed Rooney Petcurean every day. My Kid Has Paws only shares information about products we like and we believe our readers will enjoy.

A few months ago I was taking Rooney to a Corgi meetup in San Francisco and I heard someone say, “Look at that chubby Corgi!”. I wanted to turn around and say, “He’s just fluffy and his body condition score is perfect!”, but I refrained.

How Important is it to Keep Your Corgi in Shape?

Corgis are one of those breeds that can easily look overweight. With their fluffy double-coats and low-to-the-ground stature, it’s easy to seem chubby. Regardless of general appearance to the public, maintaining and managing your Corgi’s weight is one of the most important things you can do as a pet parent.

Obesity & Excess Weight

Obesity and excess weight are most commonly brought on by overfeeding, a lack of exercise, or both. Additionally, obesity and excess weight can lead to a variety of health issues for your Corgi including, but not limited to diabetes, arthritis, and a shortened life span.

Obesity is a significant risk factor for many life-threatening diseases that affect dogs and cats. For example, diabetes and obesity in cats often go hand-in-hand, and in dogs even a slight increase in weight has been shown to decrease their lifespan by about two years. – Dr. Jennifer Adolphe, Petcurean

For Corgis, proper weight management is especially important since they are prone to IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease) and DM (Degenerative Myelopathy).

In dog breeds that are predisposed to IVDD, keeping them at a lower weight will help reduce the stress on their backbone and neck. – PetMD

Body Condition Score

The proper way to determine if your Corgi is at a healthy weight is by measuring their Body Condition Score. A good Body Condition Score is characterized by a distinct waist line from above and the side, as well as, the ability to easily feel (but not see) ribs and vertebra.


To see what a proper Body Condition Score looks like for Corgis, please visit Little Cooper Bear’s blog where Cooper explains what a Corgi’s body condition score should look like, with photos which are really helpful!

If you are unsure of your Corgi’s body condition score, you should definitely ask your veterinarian at your dog’s next annual exam.

via GIPHY

 

Keeping Your Corgi in Shape

Now that we have established the importance of keeping your Corgi in shape, let’s discuss ways to do so.

  1. Exercise: Regular and consistent exercise is the cornerstone of keeping your pet in shape. Rooney gets his exercise on frequent walks, weekend outdoor adventures, and weekly doggy daycare. Even when the weather is bad, don’t forget that exercise includes stretching, training, and engaging with puzzles.
  2. The Right Food: In college I used workout DVDs to stay in shape during the offseason. Every DVDs said that you could workout as much as you want, but you have to eat the right foods to stay in shape. The same is true for your dog. Make sure you are feeding them quality food designed to fuel their activity. We feed Rooney Petcurean GO! SENSITIVITY + SHINE™ Duck Recipe, and at 7-years-old people still say he looks and acts like he is 2! Enter code: PS141ZW997 to get $5 off any bag of NOW FRESH, GATHER or GO!
  3. Reduce Table Scraps: If you take the time and invest the money in feeding your dog the best food, it doesn’t make sense to then feed them non-nutritious table scraps.
  4. Hold Everyone in the House Responsible: If you are increasing your dog’s exercise and feeding them a balanced diet, and their body condition score isn’t changing, often, there is a family member who is feeding your dog something they shouldn’t (or it could be a sign of hypothyroidism). I hate to point fingers, but its really important that everyone is on a fitness journey with your dog.
  5. Supplements: If you haven’t already, consider adding supplements to your dog’s diet to support digestive and bone health as they age. Glucosamine and Omega 3’s are very popular among dog parents, but I recommend working with your veterinarian before adding anything to your dog’s diet.

How do you keep your Corgi in shape?

All photos of Rooney in this post are courtesy of Pawpawrazzi Pet Photography. 

We Got a New Vacuum! – Investing in a Vacuum for Pet Hair

January 6, 2018

Our very cheap vacuum lost it’s 5 year battle with Rooney fur. As any Corgi parent knows (or pet parents of any double-coated dog breed for that matter), keeping up with the shedding in our house is a full-time job. Rooney is always shedding, now of course there are things we do to reduce his shedding (see the last section for details), but he will always shed a lot. Which means, we need to have a good vacuum in our house.

A few months ago, we started to notice that our vacuum was leaving lots of Rooney fur behind on the carpet. Rooney “fur streaks” to be specific. So I soon found myself on the hunt for a new vacuum.

Color me surprised when I learned how many types of vacuums there are. According to ConsumerReports.com, there are stick vacuums, upright vacuums, canister vacuums, robotic vacuums, and of course handheld vacuums. To be honest with you, I immediately got overwhelmed trying to determine what would be the best option for our house. But I knew I wanted the following; a vacuum that wasn’t uber expensive and didn’t require a bag. Because we vacuum up so much fur, it wouldn’t be environmentally friendly to use bags. And, we often have to empty a canister several times when vacuuming the house (or even a room!).

My total knowledge of vacuum cleaners included the following:

  • Dyson: as far as I know they have a reputation for being expensive and fancy, but also very good. I didn’t want to spend over $150 at the moment, so these were out of the question.
  • Hoover: I think we had one of these when I was a kid, but I don’t know much about the brand other than that it exists.
  • BISSELL: This is really the only vacuum brand that we are familiar with. Our other vacuum was also a BISSELL and fit into our very tiny budget when we moved into our first apartment and lasted 5 years even though we only paid $40 for it! Also, I happen to know that BISSELL puts a lot of resources and research into creating vacuums for homes with pets, as well as time and resources to finding homes for animals. So they are a brand I like to support.

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As you can see, my knowledge of vacuums is very limited, so I’m not saying that we found the best vacuum ever. However, we did find a vacuum that has a canister, was under $150, and had tools that would allow us to easily clean couches and chairs. Not to mention, it also cleans up Rooney hair very effectively, has different settings that allow us to vacuum all the different carpets and rugs we have in our house (including a faux fur rug in our room), and supports the BISSELL Pet Foundation. And we found all of this in: the BISSELL Powertrak vacuum.

How Often Should You Vacuum?

So, now that we know that we have a better functioning vacuum, I was wondering if we are vacuuming enough?

Martha Stewart recommends twice a week for high traffic areas, but may vary based on number of people and pets in your home. Upon my research there were several sources that suggested that high traffic areas should be vacuumed a minimum of 3 times a week and possibly as much as daily if you have pets.

I think at best we were getting to vacuuming twice a week with our last vacuum. I’m not sure that we will ever have time for daily vacuuming, but making sure that we vacuum our living room and our bedroom (the two places Rooney spends the most time in) three to four times a week is our goal for the future.

Am I Vacuuming the Right Way?

Additionally, Martha recommends in her book, Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook (a recent Christmas gift from a good friend of mine) the golden rules of vacuuming:

  • Dust the room before you vacuum so that the particles that float onto the floor can be picked up by the vacuum.
  • Move furniture out of your way before vacuuming the room.
  • Start inside a room and work your way out of it.
  • Vacuum in long, slow, overlapping lines, and be sure to get any small objects at of your way.
  • Don’t let the vacuum canister or bag get too full, Martha recommend 3/4 full.

I definitely have some room for improvement here. While I am pretty good about not letting the canister get too full, and I often vacuum my way out of a room, I can’t say that I dust before vacuuming every time, or remove furniture every time I vacuum.

How closely do you follow these golden rules of vacuuming? Do you find that it makes a big difference?

Ways to Decrease Shedding

While having an excellent vacuum and vacuuming methods is great for keeping your home with pets clean, there are also ways to manage your dog’s shedding. Dr. Marty Becker suggests following the 3 C’s: cut, collect, and clean, outlined below.

  • Cut back on lose hair by making sure that you are feeding your pet a high quality diet. If you aren’t sure, your veterinarian will be able to guide you on the best foods for overall health and coat health.
  • Bathe your pet regularly. Bathing loosens and removes fur that will eventually shed. Rooney sheds soooo much right after a bath especially if I am a week late on giving him one. But, I know that was all fur that was ready to shed. You can also use a grooming and shampooing brush, like this one from KONG to help get some of the fur off of your dog during bath time.
  • Between baths make sure to brush your dog regularly so that you can collect the fur before it ends up all over your home. I have started brushing Rooney almost every day to gather up the fur he is shedding, I find that this makes a big difference in how much ends up on our furniture and the floor. A tip I want to share with other pet parents is brush your pet before you vacuum. Often, some of Rooney’s fur will end up on the carpet when I brush him, so it makes for easy cleanup afterward.
  • Obviously regular vacuuming is recommended, as well as a Swiffer for hardwood floors.

Those are all the vacuuming tips that we have for today. I would love to hear how you decrease the dog hair in your home, or if you have any ideas, tips, or tricks regarding vacuuming!

Blooper Photo just for Fun!

Remember last year (April 2016) when I started writing a blog post series called, “30 Days to a Better Pet Home?“. I loved writing that series, but I didn’t quite finish it. (I wish life didn’t get in the way, but sometimes it does). So I am working my way through some of the topics we missed. We hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: We are Amazon Affiliates and may earn a small commission for any purchases you make through the linked products or services on this blog post. Your purchase helps support My Kid Has Paws so that we can continue to provide you with content.

14 Ways to Prepare Your Pet for Winter

December 31, 2017

This blog post was made possible by Petcurean Pet Food. 

Winter is officially upon us.

While many Californians are lucky, our hearts go out to the many people and pets who can’t play outside right now, no matter where you live, winter can pose a danger to your pet. Therefore, today I would like to share with you some tips for preparing for the winter season. Specifically, we will focus on how to keep your pets safe, happy, and healthy until Spring.

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Winter Safety for Pets

Petcurean, the food we feed Rooney every day, is recommending the following precautions to ensure safety for your pets throughout the winter:

Use a humidifier

Cooler weather usually brings dry air, so using a humidifier will help to keep the noses and throats of our dogs and cats from drying out. It’s the same for their coat and skin.

Taking care of your pet’s coat, skin, and feet might take some extra effort this winter. If you notice that your pet’s skin and coat are extra dry, talk to your veterinarian about switching to a soothing shampoo this winter, as well as changing the frequency of baths for the season. In addition to looking after your pet’s skin and coat, be sure to check their paws (especially if they are running in the snow) for irritation and cracking.

Use pet-friendly snow melters

Choose pet-friendly ice and snow melters that won’t irritate paws or stomachs, especially if your dog or cat licks its paws after being outside. 

Paw protection

Protect your dog’s paws with a wax product designed to protect their paws that forms a dense, breathable bond, which helps prevent snow buildup during outdoor exercise. After walks, wipe away any snow or ice from your dog’s feet, legs and belly.

For extended periods outside, you can purchase boots for your pup’s paws. The first time you put them on your dog, there may be a comical reaction. Some dogs decide they simply can’t move with those things on their feet. Others walk around lifting their feet up exceptionally high like a prancing pony. But don’t worry, it doesn’t take long to get used to the boots! Distract your dog with treats or a fun activity while he is wearing his boots and soon he will forget all about them. You could also try putting socks on your dog before you introduce the booties so he feels comfortable with something on his feet. Make sure the boots don’t fit too tightly so as to cut off the circulation and invite frostbite.

via GIPHY

Be safe and alert when walking at night

Poor weather and decreased daylight may cause limited visibility for drivers at night, so take extra precautions when walking your pets and make sure you use a leash. Nowadays there are all kinds of reflective aids to help drivers see you in the dark. Reflective collars, leashes, harnesses and vests for both you and your dog are great ways to stay visible.

When we walk Rooney at night, we are always sure to remain as visible as possible. We prefer to use reflective leashes and collars. I would also add that it is important to be very visible in the early morning hours as well. Specifically during the colder months when most people’s windows are still frosted.

Coat or no coat?

If you live in a particularly frigid zone, you may want to consider a jacket for an extra layer of warmth for your pup while outside. Cats generally don’t fare well in jackets but dogs who don’t have a ‘double coat’ may benefit from wearing a jacket while outside for their walks. There is a huge variety available, from a simple sweater to a full-blown waterproof jacket with hood. However, do reserve the wearing of such warm apparel only for when you are outside.

Rooney has a few different jackets. One is for the snow that we hope to use on a trip to Tahoe next month. However, we usually stick to a light weight fleece jacket for Rooney’s walks when it’s cold.

Gold Paw Fleece is the perfect solution to keep your dog warm through the Fall/Winter

Provide shelter

Some pets spend a lot of time outside, either by their own choice or by necessity. I used to have a Border Collie whom I would find outside in the worst weather, soaking wet or covered in snow, despite the fact he had several warm cozy places to choose from! His preference was to always be outside, regardless of the weather. No matter what the reason, a warm, dry, cozy shelter is a must for dogs who are outside on their own in frigid temperatures, rain or snow.

Place the shelter out of the wind, under shelter if possible, and up off the ground. Provide some type of bedding; old blankets or even a deep layer of straw will help insulate. It is key to check the bedding in the shelter daily. Wet bedding will only make your pet colder. Fresh water is also necessary and if the water freezes where you live, inexpensive water bowl heaters are available.

In addition to the awesome advice shared by Petcurean, I would like to add two more safety tips that the veterinarians from Trupanion recommended:

Mushrooms

Keep your pets from eating mushrooms that pop up on lawns, under trees, in fields, and on logs. While some won’t make your pet sick, a few are deadly. If your pet accidentally eats one, especially if they seem to have a reaction to it, or you know the mushroom is toxic, go to your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Because our winter season is also our rainiest season, many grassy areas in our neighborhood become overrun with mushrooms. On night walks these mushrooms are difficult to see, therefore, I am diligent about where Rooney sniffs at that time.

Car coolants

It’s important to note that our cars leak substances that can be highlight toxic to pets. Specifically, coolant and antifreeze are highly toxic to pets. Trupanion recommends cleaning up any spills immediately, keep any remaining new coolant or antifreeze out of reach, and dispose of used coolant or antifreeze. Additionally, multiple sources urge you to consider switching to a propylene glycol-based coolant or antifreeze — while not completely nontoxic, it’s significantly less toxic than other engine coolants.

Winter Health for Pets

Keep them inside

Lastly, if it is cold enough outside that YOU don’t want to be out in it, you should assume the same for your pet, especially the very old, the very young, or the sick. Keep them inside with you.

How do you know when it’s too cold outside for your pet? PetMD recommends assessing multiple factors before taking your pets outside:

  • Coat Type
  • Coat Color
  • Size
  • Weight
  • Conditioning
  • Age & Health
  • Windchill
  • Dampness Outside
  • Cloud Cover
  • Activity

Each of the above factors change whether your dog should be outside on specific days. If you aren’t sure, check with your veterinarian. Many veterinarians even offer guidelines you can reference for extreme whether. For reference, I want to share with you this chart from PetPlan pet insurance:

14 Ways to Prepare Your Pet for Winter

Indoor Exercise

One of the biggest challenges for both humans and pets is the decrease in exercise we all experience in the winter. Most of the year we spend time outside with our pets in the form of daily walks, hikes, runs, or even visits to the park. Unfortunately, extreme weather can really damage this routine. A few extra pounds on your pet in the winter may not seem too bad, but can be very difficult to loose and cause strain on your pet’s joints. A few years ago I wrote a post for the Guild of Collies & Shepherds titled Top 5 Indoor Activities for Your Athletic Dog. Here, I outline 5 different ways you can provide your dog with exercise without having to leave the house. These activities can help you battle winter blues and extra pounds on your pet.

Allergies

Trupanion recommends checking your pet for signs of allergies this time of year and I must agree. Rooney has been very itchy this whole week and I have managing his allergies to keep him from getting hot spots or each infections.

Just like people who have seasonal allergies, your cat or dog may also react to pollen, dust, or other allergens. Pet allergy symptoms can be similar to ours — sneezing or coughing, runny nose, itchy skin, ear infection, and itchy, red, or watery eyes. If you think your pet might be suffering from allergies, call your veterinarian to discuss testing and treatment plans best suited for your pet’s needs.

If your dog is new to you and you aren’t sure if your pet has the wonderful gift of allergies yet (that’s joke of course, allergies can be miserable), Trupanion outlined the 12 Dog Breeds Most Prone to Allergies:

Top 12 Dog Breeds Most Prone to Allergies

  • English Bulldog
  • French Bulldog
  • West Highland White Terrier
  • American Bulldog
  • Basset Hound
  • Rhodesian Ridgeback
  • American Pit bull Terrier
  • Shiba Inu
  • Bichon Frise
  • Boston Terrier
  • Miniature Poodle
  • Yorkiepoo

The flu season is not just for humans

Canine flu and bordetella, or “kennel cough,” are both airborne diseases. If you see a dog that is coughing, keep your own dog away and avoid cross contamination. If your dog develops a cough or high fever, contact your veterinarian immediately.

Additionally, make sure that your dog is up to date on their bordetella vaccine. So many pets are boarded during this time of year, which can increase exposure.

Winter Happiness for Pets

Show them extra love with Tasty Treats

The holidays are all about showing love and appreciation so give your cat or dog some extra belly rubs and treats to make up for the chilly weather and any cold shoulders you may receive due to holiday travel. Petcurean’s SPIKE treats for dogs are great because their packed with superfoods like Chia Seeds, Pomegranate and Kale, plus they’re portable. For Cats, try Petcurean’s new NOW FRESH Stews and Pates, you can feed these as a complete meal, but they’re also perfect as a topper or served as an extra treat. Added bonus – they’re made with 100% human grade, fresh ingredients including turkey bone broth, sweet potatoes, peas and carrots, and feature zero grains, gluten, wheat, beef, corn or soy.

We reviewed the new NOW FRESH Stews last month, and I can’t say enough how much Rooney loves these things! We even used them as an extra treat to get him used to his CleverPet Smart puzzle. You can read more about that here.

SPIKE Treats Stocking Stuffers with Petcurean

Spend Extra Time Training & Grooming

I would add that the winter can provide an opportunity to spend quality time with your pet. While you may feel a bit stir crazy at times, chances are your pet is feeling the same way. Take this as an opportunity to practice training and basic commands. Training your pet can strengthen your bond and provide your pet with a challenge.

Additionally, if your pet doesn’t mind a little grooming, take the time to brush them thoroughly and perhaps give them a bath and trim their nails. When Rooney wants additional attention, I use that as an opportunity to spend time with him and brush him (with treats of course).

We would love to hear how you are preparing your pets for the winter season! What precautions do you take? Do you make any changes to your routine? Let us know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: I am a Petcurean blogger advocate. I was provided with food and compensation so that Rooney and I could provide our honest opinion. However, Petcurean is the food we feed Rooney every day and My Kid Has Paws only shares reviews we believe benefit our readers.

Main Photo Credit from Unsplash:

Kate

CleverPet Hub – Getting to Know Our Smart Puzzle

December 11, 2017

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by CleverPet Hub. 

I have been so very excited to share with my readers more information about the CleverPet Hub, a smart puzzle and game console made especially for dogs. But, before I begin our three part series on our CleverPet Hub experience, let me give you a little bit of background.

Herding Breeds and Their Need for Mental Stimulation

We have all heard the phrase, “A Tired Dog is a Happy Dog” and that is most certainly true in my experience as a dog mom. I have been lucky to experience a variety of dog breeds in my life, everything from Chows to Chihuahuas, and Labs to Spaniels. But, keeping a herding breed at this tired/happy level, was something new I hadn’t yet experienced, until I met Rooney. Herding breeds need mental stimulation and physical exercise in order to remain happy, challenged, fulfilled. The work they have been bred to do is challenging and requires a level of intelligence that sitting around our houses does not. Of course that’s not to say that Rooney doesn’t get regular walks, daycare, and training. However, having a tool that can help us provide regular and consistent mental stimulation to our dogs, beyond our normal exercise, is imperative for the overall health of many breeds.

But, you don’t have to take my anecdotal experience with herding breeds at face value, you can also reference the research of Dr. Brian Hare, who leads the Duke Canine Cognition Center. According to Dr. Hare, it’s important to note that your dog (and all dogs) have different cognitive abilities:

  • How your dog communicates
  • How he/she remembers things
  • What he/she can infer (in other words, spontaneously solving novel problems that he has never been seen before)
  • and How he/she responds to the emotions of others

According to Dr. Hare, it is important that pet parents understand 1) what cognitive abilities our dogs have 2) how we can we stimulate these abilities to keep our dog’s mind in tip-top shape, especially as they age.

One of the best ways I can do this for Rooney is provide him with challenges to solve that are mixed with play. For this type of solution, I look to puzzles.

Rooney’s History with Puzzles

Rooney’s history with puzzles isn’t great. Mostly because he is impatient (like his mom). So, his solution to the puzzles available at your local pet store is to destroy them so that he can get to the treats faster. I equate this to the way I open a chip bag; effective, but messy.

So when I got an email from CleverPet I was really excited to try something much more high-tech and sturdy. I assured them of a few things:

  1. Rooney will try to destroy it. To that, they said they had tested the sturdiness of the CleverPet Hub on wildlife animals and it held up. To that, I said, touché.
  2. Rooney likes puzzles (I thought this was true before, but now I know), we just haven’t figured out how to get one to survive. They assured me that some dogs take time to get to know the CleverPet Hub, but once they do, it can provide a level of mental stimulation they need.

Our First Experience

So, I brought the CleverPet Hub home and I followed the instructions for set up, downloaded the app, and plugged it in. Even though Alex from CleverPet told me that some dogs take sometime to get used to the noise associated with the food delivery, I thought Rooney would have no problem with it because very few things startle him.

However, sure as the sun rises, Rooney was startled by the noise and began to vocalize his opinion of it (Corgi parents out there know what I mean by “vocalize”). Noises associated with “what the heck is that?!?”.

So my husband and I were giving Rooney treats by the CleverPet Hub and leading up to it (very high-value and yummy treats). But we couldn’t get Rooney to accept the noise yet.

My First Mistake

So then I thought to myself, my friend’s dog Grayson (Aussie Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix) will like this puzzle right away and when Rooney sees him playing with it, he will want to play with it too! See, Rooney is very competitive (again, like his mom), and I thought this might motivate him to get used to the food-delivery sound.

While all of that was technically true. Rooney did indeed want to play with the Hub because Grayson was playing with it, and the competition did work. It only worked while Grayson was present. Because we used my friend’s Wifi to link the CleverPet Hub, we left the Hub with Grayson for a few days so that he could play with it and see how he liked it.

Mind you, Grayson is definitely the “your dog knows 1,000 words” kinda smart and he went through the levels very quickly. He had no problem whatsoever with the noise associated with the delivery of food and very quickly got used to the Hub and figured out the lights.

My mistake was not taking the Hub to Grayson’s house, or using competition to try to get Rooney to like it. It was not taking the time to get Rooney used to the CleverPet slowly but surely in our home with some level of consistency right when we got it.

How do I know that was a mistake? Read on.

I Finally Got My Act Together

Rooney continued to vocalize at the CleverPet hub when we turned it on and tried to give him treats by it on-and-off for the next few weeks. However, we weren’t consistent with this. We were trying to get him used to it every few days with no type of plan or consistency.

Once I finally got my act together and said to myself, “Rooney will get used to the CleverPet, we just need to be consistent and do more research in order to be successful”.  So I emailed the CleverPet support team, you can even do this directly through the app, and said that I was having a hard time getting Rooney used to the food-delivery noise.

Their first suggestion was to feed Rooney by the Hub while it was off, and then start turning on the Hub and continuing to feed Rooney in a bowl next to the Hub. The whole goal was to try to build a positive association with something I knew Rooney would love and benefit from. So for the next week, we fed Rooney by the Hub in a separate bowl with the Hub unplugged. Then, we plugged the CleverPet Hub back in and continued to feed him near it for a few more days. While Rooney would jump a little at first, he ultimately would be too focused on his food to react to the CleverPet Hub food delivery sound while he was eating. “The Sound” that was so startling to him before was quickly becoming background noise.

On Thanksgiving Rooney would be getting a special meal from Petcurean, so we were sure to feed that to him by the Hub as well.

Success! – Almost

Positive association with the CleverPet Hub achieved. Now all we had to do was get him to eat out of the Hub.

So, then we started to use the Hub itself as a bowl. We would unplug the CleverPet Hub and pour Rooney’s breakfast or dinner on top of the feeding area. Then, Rooney became used to the Hub itself being a source of food. After a few days, we turned the CleverPet Hub on, and used a few high value treats mixed with kibble to get Rooney used to it.

The key to success here was for me to walk out of the room. I turned it on, and went upstairs to continue cleaning the house, and I heard Rooney eating out of it. I realized at that moment, if I was watching him, he wasn’t fully focused on trying to figure out the Hub, he was more like, “Mom, help me figure out how to get food outta this thing”. Which is probably because we are associated with Rooney’s food and have been for almost 6 years. However, once I removed myself from the equation, that was the final step in getting Rooney to interact with the CleverPet Hub.

Real Success

Rooney zoomed through the first two levels in a day, and then has been slowly working through the CleverPet Hub levels in the past few weeks. On weekends, and days I work from home, Rooney is fed his breakfast through the Hub which keeps him busy while I am working and also provides him with mental stimulation. Not to mention, he LOVES it! While I was writing this post, he started to fall asleep on it! I’m so glad we took the time and necessary steps so that Rooney could have something that makes him happy and fulfilled!

There are so many cool features associated with the CleverPet Hub and the app, but I’m going to go over those in the next post. However, let me know in the comments below if you have any further questions about our CleverPet Hub experience!

Disclaimer: Rooney and I were provided with a CleverPet Hub so that we could provide our honest opinion. My Kid Has Paws only reviews products that we believe our readers will enjoy. 

10 Black Friday Deals for Dogs

November 24, 2017

I know there are a lot of Gift Guides out there already, so rather than putting together another one for humans, I thought we could put together a gift guide with sale information for items your dog might actually need. Let’s get Started!

For Adventures

While all dogs spend some amount of time outside, some dogs and humans are more outdoorsy than others. If you take your dog on adventures, here are some things on sale today that they might need.

PrideBites Raincoat: To keep your dog dry on those rainy day walks, you might want to equip yourself with a raincoat if you haven’t already. Deal: Black Friday– Spend $50, Save $15 or spend $150, Save $50, 35% off Site Wide Code BF35– Friday Nov 24 (Black Friday) to Monday Nov 27 (Cyber Monday)

Kurgo Dog Lifejackets: Even though swimming season seems very far away right now. It doesn’t hurt to take advantage of sales while you can. This is definitely a purchase I will be making for Rooney since his lifejacket barely made it through the summer this year. Deal: Cyber Weekend- Take 30% off site wide with code CYBERWKND

Kurgo Step-N-Strobe Dog Shoes: We don’t typically hike on rough terrain with Rooney too much, so we don’t have experience with Kurgo Shoes, however, it is important to protect your dog’s feet if you do a lot of hiking, or for protecting their paws from frostbite. Deal: Cyber Weekend- Take 30% off site wide with code CYBERWKND

EarthRated Poop Bags: These are on sale on Chewy.com today, no code necessary (Get 270 bags for $11.99)!

Whistle GPS & Activity Tracker: I have had my eye on one of these for a very long time. I would love to know how much activity Rooney is getting while he is at daycare and use it to hold myself accountable for his activity goals. CODE: GIVETHANKS30 for $30 off a Whistle 3.

For Senior Dogs

Orvis Dog Beds: These dog beds are highly recommended among the senior dog community because of their memory foam design, which helps dogs who have arthritis. Some of their beds are up to 50% off today. No code necessary!

Dr.Buzby’s ToeGrips: These non-slip nail grips allow your senior or special needs dog to gain traction on slippery floors. You can receive 20% off by using code BARKWORTHY.

For Smarty Pants Dogs

CleverPet: We are really excited to share with you a new smart puzzle Rooney has been testing out recently. The CleverPet provides your dog with the mental stimulation they need throughout the day. While the CleverPet is a great purchase for most dogs, I think this is a particularly good purchase for dogs who are highly intelligent and looking for challenges. Their interactive puzzles advance automatically, to keep your dog challenged throughout the day. Additionally, you can stay connected via the app and keep track of your dog’s progress and play while you’re at work. You can use our affiliate code ROONEY-20 to receive $20 off your purchase.

For the Playful Pup

PrideBites toys: Rooney LOVES these toys. Here are their highlights in our opinion; they have a squeaker, they are very durable for Rooney, they float which is great for swimming, AND they are machine washable so they stay clean. Deal: Black Friday– Spend $50, Save $15 or spend $150, Save $50, 35% off Site Wide – Friday Nov 24 (Black Friday) to Monday Nov 27 (Cyber Monday) 

Chewy.com Toys: Chewy.com has a whole bunch of toys that are on sale, no code necessary. I highly recommend a KONG if your dog doesn’t already have one. Rooney gets treats in his KONG every time we leave the house which helps him love his crate and not focus on the fact that we are leaving.

What will you be buying your dog this Black Friday?!

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate codes for PrideBites and the CleverPet. Additionally, we are Chewy.com Influencers. However, all opinions are my own. My Kid Has Paws also makes an effort to make sure every post is relevant to our readers. 

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