Animal Planet's Portable Pet Bed with Zipper

Last week, Stella and I went on an outing to just get out of the house! We BOTH needed to get out. I took her to the store HomeGoods. I've found that stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, and other discount stores have awesome pet supply sections. It can be a total hit or miss!

When we went, HomeGoods had an AWESOME variety of pet products. Our particular store had a ton of these Animal Planet Portable Beds for $5.

Today, Overstock.com selling the same bed for $27.49.  So we got a good deal for sure! The design is shaped like a briefcase. In order to get the full 20" x 27" bed, you must unzip the bed and lay it out flat. So basically it folds up in half and is secured with a zipper. It has 2 handles so it can easily be transported-just like a lightweight handbag. For the outside cover, it comes in a baby blue with stripes and a brown with swirls. I chose the brown with the swirl design because the outside covering is what touches the floor. I figured the brown would show less dirt. The part that the dog lays on is fleece and is washable.

I suppose the bed is for smaller dogs (like the one pictured on the packaging). However, it is just enough for Stella to lay her chest and head on the soft mat. I would not want to carry anything bigger, as this is the perfect size and weight for me to carry around in the cases where a mat would be appropriate.

As a service dog, Stella is frequently laying on floors in public. Movie theatre floors give me the creeps! So, that would be a situation where I'd want a mat/portable bed for Stella to lay on.

Stella does like the bed :-) and before I opened the box for her to try it out...

I am very happy with this bargain find and so is the doodle!

Virbac's Preventic Collar

This is one of those products that keeps Stella healthy, so she can continue to be her happy and healthy self. The Prevntic collar works exceptionally well for us. No matter what part of the state we are in, Stella is tick free. The collar comes in an 18" for dogs up t0 60 lbs and a 25" for dogs over 60 lbs. If your dog's neck is smaller than 18" you can cut the collar so that it fits appropriately. I would recommend you leave an inch or two extra for adjustment purposes. Also, if you have a small dog, you could cut the collar in half and have 90 days of prevention for each piece. The second 90 days you'd have to figure out another way to attach the collar since it only comes with one buckle. You could use anything to attach the collar w/o the buckle part. It surely isn't rocket science.

I purchase them for Stella at www.healthypets.com because they have the best prices I've found. They also sell them in bulk, which allows me to save a little additional amount of money. They come to approx $10 to $12 depending on the size or if you buy in bulk.

The collar is supposed to last up to 90 days. I find this to be an accurate time frame. The collar is NOT supposed to get wet. If it does get wet, you probably will need to replace the collar. A wet collar will loose its effectiveness.

I have found this collar to be well worth it. Having a dog with a full coat means I need to be extra careful watching out for  ticks on her. Some peple do not like the idea of the chemicals associated with a tick collar. I however, find that I need to have a Preventic Collar on Stella at all times while she is outside. The ONE time she didn't have a collar on, right after she had a bath- she came in with a tick that just started attaching to the inside of her ear.

The collar is very easy to put on and take off. It has a simple attachment mechanism that works effectively. (See the pic of the attachment part of the collar below.)

This product is very overall wonderful and provides 90 days of tick prevention. My only reservations would be for multi dog households where the dogs like to chew eachother's collars. There could potentially be a problem if a dog ingested the collar.

Multipet International's Nobbly Wobbly

Good afternoon! Above Stella is pictured with her Nobbly Wobbly. Please excuse the bed head! oh and also the unfolded laundry in the background. smiles. I purchased the 3" which is the medium size.  It also comes in the following sizes:  small (2.5") and  large (4") .The packaging says it is a "Zany Rubber Dog Ball!" Stella and I find the toy to be just that-zany! The  ball bounces and has an unpredictable bouncing pattern.  The ball is made up of various colored flower/star shaped pieces of rubber. Each of these rubber pieces are weaved together to make  this  fun ball. The dog has an interesting texture which makes it easy for Stella to grasp in her mouth. The packaging also advertises the ball as a "Chew Toy" and a "Fetch Toy." I am sure Stella would love to make this toy a chew toy, but I'm not letting her try that feature out. We're using it as a fun fetch toy!

I personally like this fetch ball because 1) my dog likes it! 2) it easily can be cleaned after getting muddy outside.

The only downside to this ball is- you might want or need to wash it down quickly when you get it because it seems to have a strong rubbery smell. Stella didn't seem to be bothered by the rubber smell, but I would imagine that some dogs would probably think the smell was funky and not be interested in the toy. I don't think this is a reason to not try the toy out because with a quick rinse with water the rubbery smell is almost gone.

For price comparison, Amazon offers the  medium size ball for $3.99. Petco.com offers the same ball for $7.49, as the internet price. Petco.com is having a sale and is offering the ball on sale for $5.61.

We like this toy :-)

Popware for Pets Collapsible Travel Cup (1 cup)

As much as I love the idea of the Popware for pets collapsible travel cup, it hasn't turned out to be what I was hoping for. I needed a collapsible bowl that would fit in Stella's service dog vest. It is the first collapsible and resuable design that I've found that actually fits in Stella's vest pockets.

Here is what the bowl looks like in the package:

 Here is a view after a few uses:

I purchased a handful of these for Stella. Pretty much all of them are cracking like the one in the picture above. They all seem to be consistently cracking in the same place- right below the brim. I guess it is a weak spot. It is definately a design flaw. Stella carries this bowl around when we walk to the water fountain at school. I thought maybe Stella's grip (holding it in her mouth) was the reason for the plastic cracking. Since the first one that broke, I've been attaching the clip that comes with it (see the first pic). Now Stella will carry the bowl by the clip and the bowls still are cracking. It is too stinking cute to watch Stella carry "her bowl" around campus.

So all in all- Darn! This product ended up being a bust. The idea of it is wonderful! and its the perfect size to fit in Stella's vest pocket. Hopefully they will update the design with a more durable plastic like the rest of the popware pet products.

Let's start with... Outward Hound Pet Pocket Collar ID Bag

Our first product review is going to be the Outward Hound Pet Pocket Collar ID Bag. I know, it isn't exactly the 'fun' part that I promised, but I LOVE THIS product! This ended up being a great find!

This product is not only a tag silencer, but it also has a little pocket to insert additional information or possibly a key and a clear pocket for ID info. I suppose you could put your house key in this lil' pocket and go for a walk with nothing extra to carry or keep track of.

So why am I such a big fan? Jingling tags drive me nuts. Stella recently got her city license tag which would wake me up everytime she moved her head during the night. Everytime she moved during the day and night I heard*jingles.* Since she is required by law to wear this tag, I HAD to come up with a solution. A lot of options exist for tag silencers, but I chose this one because of the clear pocket (see picture below) that you can add additional ID info on a paper insert. This works great since Stella and I frequently are traveling up and down  the east coast of Florida. Also, as a student, I tend to move each school year to a new place. So whether I'm at home with my parents that are located in North FL or I'm at school in South FL- Stella always has current ID info. All I need to do is switch out the paper insert. Stella's collar has a stainless steel plate with phone numbers and her trainer's sd school info. The info on her collar is permanent info that doesn't change.

The tag silencer has a strip of elastic on the back. All you have to do is slip the collar through the elastic loop and it is on! The edges are smooth and I don't see any evidence of the tag rubbing Stella's neck causing any kind of irritation.

So overall this product gets an A+ from us :-)

The Outward Hound Pet Pocket Collar ID Bag ^

First Post on Our First Blog!

I am hoping this blog will serve to provide product reviews for dog gear and other pup related stuff. While writing about doggy products, I hope to share with readers my service dog, Stella. She is in everyway a working dog, but when the vest and equipment come off ...she is a comical labradoodle. I have to give her credit and say she is always ready to help me, even if she is 'naked.' Stella lives to work and play! Here readers will get to read about the 'play,' as we try out new pup gear.

I am looking forward to sharing our finds and showing off my service doodle.