The season of giving and gifting (and hopefully getting some in return) is on us. Make this year special for your best friend, your pet dog. Surprise him with a gift he’ll cherish. The look of love in his big brown eyes and that joyful wag of his tail will surely tell you how much he appreciates your gesture. Lest this sound like a sales pitch let me tell you I am serious. Our pets deserve something special every once in a while and what better time to get something nice for Rover than now.

Here are 10 great gift ideas for your dog

1. Booda velvet bones – Dogs love to chew bones and Booda velvet bones are just perfect for your dog. These are an excellent alternative to rawhide, rubber, plastic bones and bones that have animal byproducts in them. Booda bones are made from corn starch, they have a velvet texture. Dogs love to chew on these. It helps dogs fight plaque and maintain healthy gums. They are available in a range of flavors like Bacon, Chicken, Roast Beef, and Carrot.

2. Designer dog collars – If you’re looking for a useful yet different gift for your dog, you could consider giving him a customized, made-to-order collar. A personalized collar with metal buckles, it can be embroidered with information you desire. It effectively eliminates the need for metal dog tags and looks way cooler too. You can choose from eleven color combinations including camouflage. A great dog gift, these personalized dog collars are crafted from sturdy, washable, nylon webbing.

3. Dog dresses – A gift for those special occasions when your canine friend has to look his best. The latest designer duds for your pet. Let him strut in style in a coat when you take him for a walk or lounge at home in a cool t-shirt. Pamper your pooch with threads to suit every mood. Custom-made sleepwear, walking harnesses, dog sweaters, and even hair accessories can be gifted to your pet.

4. Dog beds – Gift your dog a comfortable night’s sleep i.e. if he is not a guard dog. Designer dog beds, wooden dog beds, and pet tents offer your dog a spacious sleeping area that is very much his own. These beds are excellent complements to your room’s décor and your fur kid is going to love your for it.

5. Grooming Fido – Choose from a range of dog grooming products; herbal ear care, herbal dog shampoos, nail clippers, paw cleaners, shedding blades, de-shedding combs, flea combs and much more. The assortment of grooming devices and cleaning liquids has something for every dog lover who wishes to keep his dog’s fur clean and nails trimmed.

6. A tipple for your dog – This might sound like it’s straight out of Ripley’s but Happy Tail Ale is actually beer for dogs. Marketed as the ultimate liquid refreshment for your canine, this product is non-alcoholic and made with artesian water and malted barley. The ingredients used in this beverage are human grade and include beef drippings, glucosamine, and vitamin E.

7. Footwear – Yes, let’s take “crazy pampering” a little further. There is a range of footwear out there that you can choose for your dog. Footwear to suit the size, personality, and temperament of your pet. Wild West boots, slippers, cozy boots, Mary Janes, Gingham boots and much more.

8. Let his attitude show – If your dog feels that a tee or a coat does not go well with his species; we suggest you gift him a bandana. He’ll love it. And you’ll love it too coz’ dogs with bandanas do look cool. Choose from a range of sizes and designs such as paisley, patriotic prints, holiday bandanas, seasonal bandanas, and many more.

9. Glares for your dog – Protective eyewear for your dog. Doggles are doggie goggles designed to protect your dog from foreign objects and wind. Ideal for your pet when he’s riding pillion on your bike. Doggles offer protection from UV rays and the lenses are shatterproof. A useful accessory at all times for your dog and even more so if your pet happens to suffer from Pannus.

10. A gift basket – A little bit of everything for your dog. Gift baskets are always in fashion and well received by humans; there’s every reason to believe that our canine companions will also appreciate a gift basket created specifically for them. Each wicker basket is unique and contains items such as a spa towel, soap on a rope, conditioner, a bag of treats and much more.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Come!

by Jenny Gill

A well trained obedient dog is something all dog owners desire. Training a dog to come when it is called is a vital, and potentially life saving, part of any successful dog training program.

All properly trained dogs must learn to respond instantly to the owner’s voice, and the sooner this lesson is learned the better.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

How to Socialize your Dog to other Family Pets

by Paul P. Duxbury

Socializing your dog to accept new animals into the household is not always an easy task. We all read the biblical account of Noah and his Ark and wondered just how he got the animals to survive in the ark together for five minutes let alone 40 days and nights of rain.

The dog usually has its own ideas of its territory and home and is generally not a generous creature when it come to sharing but would much rather chase the intruders away. We have to reprogram the dogs thinking to make it understand that chasing the cat or iguana or whatever other pet you may have, is not acceptable. So how about some instruction on just how it is done?

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Popularity: 34% [?]

How to Choose your New Puppy’s Name

by Bart LeToad

One of best things about buying a new puppy and owning a dog is the fun you can have with your family in choosing a name. If your pet dog is going to be just a family pet and you have no intentions of trying to train them to be a show dog. I personally like to stick with simple, one syllable names.

Your dog is going to learn several voice commands during its lifetime, and it’s always best to keep their names simple. For example, I personally have three dogs and their names are Norm, Bob and Gus. Now if you decide that your dog is going to be a show dog, there’s a little bit more to consider when choosing a name.

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Popularity: 82% [?]

What are puggles, labroodles and dorgis’? No, not characters from a Tolkien or a Harry Potter novel. These are designer dogs and the norm for naming them is to give them portmanteau names, i.e. a Daschund/Corgi combination gives you a dorgis.

Advocates of breeding designer dogs justify the idea saying that hybrids are carefully bred to display desired characteristics and weed out undesirable ones. Thus, if you are looking for a hybrid that sheds less and is gentle with kids, you would go for a cross obtained by pairing a poodle and a labrador. This, according to some, justifies the premium price that designer dogs attract.

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Popularity: 39% [?]

The internet has led to the mushrooming of large-scale dog breeding operations or puppy mills that are fast becoming a concern for animal welfare activists.

The reason for this is that online pet sellers do not classify as wholesalers and can therefore skirt federal licensing and inspection issues. This leaves the prospective owners with no-one to turn to should their new acquisition have a health problem. The absence of puppy lemon laws in many states does not help pet owners either.

Poor breeding practices and unhealthy kennel conditions lead to sick pups that buyers get suckered into buying. When buying pets, it is important that buyers go and check out the operations on-site; this is however not easily done when conducting online purchases. The most we can do is look at pictures, read testimonials, and get in touch with those who have made an online pet purchase.

Popularity: 91% [?]

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole - whoever said that got it right about man’s best friend.

Competition and comparison are a human foible; dogs don’t have the time for this. As an exercise to learn something (and I did learn a lot of interesting stuff) I have prepared a list of canines that are generally considered to be the most famous ones of the last century.

Here goes – in no particular order.

Fala – By popular opinion, the most famous dog in the world and one of the most famous presidential pets, Fala was the beloved Scottish terrier belonging to FDR Roosevelt. Born on April 8, 1940 Fala was christened Big Boy and then Murray the Outlaw of Falahill by FDR himself. This was later shortened to Fala.

When a dog is named an honorary private in the US army and has a series of political cartoons devoted to him, then it’s fair to say that it was indeed a popular and well-loved dog.

Togo - A dog hero by any standards, a poster-boy for masculinity amongst canines. A Siberian husky with a coat of black, brown, and gray, Togo was born in October 1913 and weighed 48 pounds at maturity. He was the lead sled dog during Leonard Seppala’s 1925 relay from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. Togo and Seppala weathered temperatures as low as -40°C and gale force winds in order to make diphtheria antitoxin available at Nome. Togo is single-handedly responsible for the recognition of Siberian Huskies as an official dog breed in the US. Togo left for dog heaven on December 5, 1929.

Today, he stands on display in a glass case at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Museum Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska. The Nome serum run is commemorated every year by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race .

Snoopy – “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement.” The owner of this quote and many other gems is Snoopy, without doubt one of the most loved and popular comic character ever created. Charles Schulz based his drawings on his childhood dog Spike. In his fantasies, Snoopy is a novelist, a beagle scout, a WWI veteran, champion player in Charlie Brown’s Little League team, and many other things. In real life, his is a humdrum existence and he is a failed lover who takes solace in food when he’s down.

Snoopy began his life at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, his dad ran with the hunting dogs and his mom made a mean tapioca pudding. In the real world, Snoopy is a huge icon with the US armed forces and NASA.

Rin Tin Tin – A German Shepherd with his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1623 Vine St. I guess that’s sufficient claim to fame for any canine. Rin Tin Tin was found shell-shocked in a dog kennel at Lorraine during WWI by American Lee Duncan. The dog took its name from wooden puppets called Rin Tin Tin that French kids played with.

In the US Rinty, as he was now called, was soon jumping almost 12 feet in air. He caught producer Charles Jones’ eye and his first brush with fame was in the 1922 film The Man From Hell’s River. Rin Tin Tin was a successful act and he spawned several successors in the film business.

Rin Tin Tin’s bloodline continues at the Rin Tin Tin kennel in Latexo, Texas. The current Rin Tin Tin is the 10th descendent of the German Shepherd pup that made its way to the US from France.

Lassie – Finally! A bitch in this list of top dogs. Of all the fictional dogs that have gained popularity, Lassie has probably had the longest run – since 1938 – and also across all media forms, be it films, TV, radio, or books.

This female Rough Collie is the creation of British-American author Eric Knight and ever since the first short-story in The Saturday Evening Post; Lassie stories have warmed the hearts of children and grown ups alike. Interestingly, all Lassie characters in films have been played by male dogs which are larger and do not lose their coat; thus the film shooting is not affected.

Scooby Doo – Thanks to Cartoon Network, today’s kids are well aware and some quite in love with Shaggy Rogers and his Great Dane Scooby Doo. Yet, it will come as a surprise to many that Scooby Doo has been around since 1969 entertaining kids with his gaffes, cowardice, and appetite.

Scooby also has relatives with the most rollicking names and defined characteristics – these include Scrappy Doo-his nephew; Dooby Doo-his triplet brother; Mumsy and Dada Doo, and Howdy Doo-his brother.

Balto – Balto was an Alaskan Malamute sled dog and he took part in the historic 1925 serum run to Nome from Anchorage.

Along with Togo, Balto ensured that the team of mushers managed to deliver the diphtheria serum in time to the residents of Nome. Balto’s feat led to his statue being erected at New York City’s Central Park, the statue was sculpted by Fredrick Roth. Balto’s stuffed body is on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Eddie – Eddie Spaghetti, because he had worms, was supposed to be one of the many minor characters on the sitcom Frasier. Yet, at the height of the show’s popularity Moose the Jack Russell terrier which portrayed Eddie, received more fan mail than any of the human actors.

Moose passed away in 2006 and was replaced by his son Enzo, who earlier worked as a stunt double. The long-running gag of Eddie taunting Frasier with an unremitting stare was a popular one in the show.

Old Yeller – The lead character in the 1957 Walt Disney production of the same name, Old Yeller is for many their ideal of a dog and also their best loved Walt Disney film, the ultimate “one boy and his animal” tale.

The film was based on a book of the same name and was set in the old post-civil war Texas. Old Yeller’s appeal lies in the manner in which the Mountain Cur dog gains a family’s respect and then makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the family.

Gidget– The Taco Bell Chihuahua that was responsible for boosting the brand’s sales as well as the interest in the breed. Apart from this, Gidget is also famous for the phrase “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!” Gidget is currently living a retired life in La Grange, Texas but it sure had its moments under the sun when it did its bit for Mexico and Tacos in the United States.

Popularity: 27% [?]