Archive for April, 2021

• Exciting DIYs for Your Dog

  Rewarding Max from time to time for being such a good boy is bound to make him happy. In addition to toys and other products that you can get at the store, you can pour your heart into making a DIY accessory. It could be a couple of toys to boost his plaything portfolio or a comfy piece of cushion for him to snuggle up to. Sound like a plan? Then you should totally check out these exciting DIYs for your dog:

  1. Braided T-Shirt Toy 

  For this, all you need is a pair of scissors and 2-3 old T-shirts (preferably cotton). 

  • Cut the hems off the shirts,
  • Make even slits that are about 2-3″ wide along the base of the shirts, then rip them up to get the slits,
  • Tie off one end of the strips after you’ve gathered them together, and then divide the strips into thirds, 
  • Braid starting from the tied part and make your way down to the untied portion of the shirt, all the while ensuring that your braids are tight,
  • Once you’ve braided all the way to the bottom, tie it off there and cut off strips that won’t be useful. 

  And then you would have made the perfect toy for Max!

  2. A Chew Toy 

  Making your pup a chew toy is perhaps one of the easiest DIYs. It doesn’t require any cutting up, or braiding, or sewing. All you have to do is:

  • Find an old sock that is still pretty firm,
  • Wash if dirty. You don’t want Max tasting your feet, do you?
  • Get a clean tennis ball,
  • Stick it in the sock, and tie the open end up. 

  And voila, a great chewing toy for your beloved Max. 

  3. Suitcase Dog Bed 

  Your pup might have a bed in his designated room or corner, but does he have one in the room where he spends most of his time? The living room. A suitcase dog bed is a super convenient way to solve this minor problem. For starters: 

  • Look for a suitcase that your dog would fit into width-wise,
  • Get a regular density foam insert from a store that you trust,
  • Get fabric that would serve as a covering or case for your foam,
  • Cut your foam up so that it perfectly in the bottom of your suitcase,
  • Slip your mattress into your pre-sewn cover, make it removable so that you can wash it,
  • Fit the foam into your suitcase. 

  Watch Max turn this bed into his watchtower. 

  4. Dog Shampoo 

  Take a break from harsh chemicals and go a bit natural. All you need for your dog shampoo is one cup of dish soap, one cup of apple cider vinegar, two ounces of glycerin, and a bottle to pour your shampoo in. Vinegar has antibacterial and antiseptic properties that calm inflammation and skin irritations, glycerin also helps moisturize your dog’s fur and prevent irritation. You can get glycerin at a drugstore. 

  • Pour all your ingredients into a jar, starting with the dish soap,
  • Mix by shaking the ingredients thoroughly until even mixing has taken place,
  • Pour the mixture into your bottle and keep until the next time you want to wash your pup. 

• 5 Mind-blowing Dog Facts

  Beyond licking their food bowls clean and being a good sport at fetch (particularly Golden Retrievers), your pup probably boasts a range of capabilities that you don’t even know about. Are you sometimes surprised by occurrences like your pup picking up a scent that is very far off, or even detecting when you’re sad or scared? No, it’s not sorcery! It’s merely dog physiology, and here are 5 mind-blowing facts that you probably didn’t know about pups generally:

  1. Incredible Sense of Smell 

  Comparing the area of the human brain that is responsible for smelling to that of your pup, theirs is about 40 times larger. This implies that your dog can pick up a lot more smells than you can imagine. It’s no surprise that they are often used in airports for sniffing out drugs or even people during investigations. They can even pick up on your feelings by smelling a change in your perspiration when you become scared or nervous. It’s not unheard of for a dog to detect certain diseases and there are now cancer-sniffing dogs. 

  2. Some Dogs Can Outrun a Cheetah 

  This probably sounds far-fetched since you know the cheetah to be the fastest animal. And the Greyhound, the fastest dog breed alive reaches a top speed of 45mph in seconds, while the cheetah easily tops this at 70mph. However, the cheetah can only keep this up for about 30 seconds, while a greyhound can run at 35mph or more for up to 7 miles! So, in the long run (literally), a greyhound would end up overtaking a cheetah. 

  3. Super Sensitive Hearing 

  You know how you try to tread lightly around sleepy Daisy, but she still stirs, well, it’s because pups can hear much softer sounds than we can. Also, they can hear sounds from further away too! They hear amazingly high frequencies and this one feature contributes to why they’re great for search and rescue. Combining their sense of smell and super-sensitive hearing seals their status as the best trackers. 

  4. Doggo Intelligence is On Par With a Two Year Old Human’s

  Wonder why your toddler and your pup get along so well? It’s probably because they speak the same language! Studies have shown that your dog can understand up to 250 words or gestures, placing their intelligence on the same level as your two-year-old’s. But of course, your dog is easier to train than your two-year-old, and would probably do what you want her to more often. 

  5. Your Dog Has a Dominant Paw!  

  Yes, a few studies have centered around this and shown that just like humans, pups also favor a particular paw over the other. How to know your dog’s? Well, give him one of his favorite toys or games and see which paw he reaches out to pull it closer first. Also, look out for the first paw that your pup puts out when preparing to walk. This is another way of detecting their preferred paw.