Jan
2018

Product Review: The Nooshel Dog Diary.

categories: Oscar, Product Reviews, Zara

Wow, just wow! The Dog Diary from Nooshel is nothing short of spectacular. From the packaging to the paper quality, this diary is a must for every dog lover out there.

Our Dog Diary arrived in a beautiful box, neatly wrapped up. I couldn’t wait to open it. For a change the delivery was for me and not the pups.
Page one | “Hi… I’m a dog person” | I giggled at this because it is just so wonderful to have an everyday diary that incorporates my love for Oscar and Zara! Each month begins with a new quote that is pooch related of course, and I adore each one of them!

This sophisticated and modern A5 diary fits perfectly in any handbag or laptop bag, with a hard cover to protect it from getting bent and damaged.

Throughout the year the Dog Diary let’s you know of important “dog days” for example, dress up your pet day was on January 14th. Sadly we missed out on this fun “dog day” but future days are diarised so we won’t miss out on a thing-stay tuned.

I wasn’t expecting a pen or decorative stickers with my Nooshel Dog Diary, but that’s exactly what I got! I love crafting, a lot, and I have already whipped up my own personal stickers to go with my cute Nooshel ones, and filled my Dog Diary with loved ones birthdays, vacations and public holidays! It looks fantastic to say the least.

Nooshel is a brand that loves four legged creatures as much as I do, and that’s A LOT. So it’s no wonder I adore my Dog Diary the way I do. It has been made with loads of love and care, and for pet parents who want their fur babies incorporated into their everyday work life. Nooshel believes that every dogs life matters, and proceeds from all their products are donated to charities who share this same vision!

We could all use a Dog Diary in our life, it helps us stay organised and on track. I know I always feel so much better if I have a daily diary I can refer to for my list of things to do and achieve for the week. The Dog Diary certainly is special, you won’t regret placing your order…

Order your Nooshel Dog Diary here
Follow them on Social Media | Facebook | Instagram

Don’t forget to follow us for daily fun and cuteness | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Thank you for reading.

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Jan
2018

FriendshipCollar_SA Instagram Take Over: Stylish Paws in the Kitchen.

categories: Oscar, Recipes, Zara

So this is a first for us and we are very excited about it…. We are taking over Friendship Collar_SA Instagram story for the day.

Firstly, we are huge fans of FriendshipCollar, we of course have our own set of The Top Dog range. It’s bright, colourful and cheerful and looks great on us all 🙂

The Top Dog set is all about being “playful, boisterous and cute as can be, when playtime is over, it’s cuddles next to me”. This description fits us perfectly! Those of you who follow us regularly will know that Zara is a super happy and energetic pup who absolutely loves swimming and playing with all her toys. Oscar on the other hand is a huge snuggle bug and loves to spend his days sleeping right next to me. Zara has learnt a thing or two from the snuggle king and she now loves to snuggle up too, usually on top of me!

For the Instagram Story take over, the theme is “Stylish Paws in the kitchen”. Those of you who know me might laugh hysterically at this. Cooking for myself is not something I love doing at all. In fact I find it a chore. BUT when it comes to finding yummy recipes for my furry loves, i’ll happily spend hours baking, creating recipes and yummy treats for them to enjoy- of course they love it when I’m in the kitchen because they know I am usually cooking or baking for them 😉

Today’s recipes and treats are a winner in our house. They’re super easy with ingredients found in most kitchens and most of all they’re quick! Here goes…

Fresh and Frozen Kong recipes:

I have two totally opposite pooches when it comes to food. Zara literally eats anything and everything! She loves tasting new fruits and veggies and so far the only thing she isn’t keen on is raw eggplant-who eats raw eggplant anyway- and zucchini. Oscar on the other hand will sniff a piece of meat for about thirty-seconds just to make sure it is in fact something good enough to put in his mouth. He is by far the fussiest pup I have ever come across. So, for the two of them to get the full fun experience of a KONG toy, Zara gets a frozen one which keeps her busy for a few hours, and Oscar gets a fresh one because he doesn’t enjoy the ‘coldness’ of the frozen one and would leave it to melt before eating it…

Zara’s Frozen Kong

Ingredients

Scrambled egg-cooked and cooled completely

Cottage cheese

Coconut oil

Chick peas

Directions

You can either layer each ingredient or mix everything together and stuff it inside the KONG toy. Then freeze for a few hours or over night.

Oscar’s Fresh Kong

Ingredients

Mashed banana

Peanut butter

Strawberries or blueberries

Coconut oil

Directions

You can either layer each ingredient or mix everything together and stuff it inside the KONG toy, give it to your pooch straight away. Fresh Kong’s are a lot messier than frozen ones so you may want to give it to your pooch somewhere comfortable outside.

The combinations are endless when it comes to Kong toys. You don’t need to rush out and buy special ingredients. Use what you have and be creative with it. Of course please be very mindful of what is safe for your furry love to eat and what’s not!

Baked biscuit recipe: Green Pea

This biscuit recipe is one of my favourites to do because it is so quick and easy to make a batch and we always have the ingredients. Plus the colour of these treats is just awesome…

Ingredients

1 cup frozen peas blitzed up into a puree

1 egg

A handfull of fresh parsley chopped up (optional)

1 cup flour

2 tbs coconut oil

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Mix together the pea puree, egg and parsley. Then add your flour and combine until a dough forms. If it is a bit sticky just add a little extra flour. Roll your dough out onto a floured surface and use cookie cutters to cut the treats. Place them onto a greased baking tray and bake in the oven for +-20 minutes or until cooked and just slightly brown (you want to keep their bright green colour). Allow the treats to cool, and store in an airtight container. Your pups will love these!

So that’s our kitchen experience for today, of course we did all this while wearing our super stylish Friendship Collars! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @stylish_paws and @FriendshipCollar_SA and watch the story take over- you’ll love it!!

You can also browse the Friendship Collar collection in the Stylish Paws online store | click here to shop. 

Thank you for reading.

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Jan
2018

Product Review: Geopetric Personalised Pet Products

categories: Oscar, Product Reviews, Zara

When Geopetric contacted us and asked us to be apart of their affiliate programme I was of course over the moon with excitement! I chose what I thought would look good on Oscar and Zara and waited patiently for their new items to arrive.

Wow, I was blown away by the quality of both the personalised collar and the softness of the bandana. Both are absolutely gorgeous products.

I love that the collar is personalised with Zara’s name on and the bandana has a very African theme to it-Living in Africa of course that speaks to my heart. The pinks and purples of Zara’s collar looks gorgeous against her black fur and Oscar just looks so good in green with bold colours-but then again he looks good in everything 🙂

Each product sold in the Geopetric store has a unique pattern, the materials used are made with bright and bold colours with geometric shapes and patterns to decorate. The outcome is of course stunning in every way. You won’t mistake a Geopetric collar for any other!

Geopetric offers a wide variety of pet accessories including personalised collars, harnesses, gorgeous bandanas, fun bow ties, collar tags, yummy treats and super cute puppy starter kits!! And not forgetting us humans, there are some lovely goodies for us too in the form of t-shirts, bracelets, hats, tech accessories and personalised key chains.

The Geopetric brand provides, charitable, cruelty free and eco-friendly products for both you and your pets. They only use eco-friendly materials including recycled bottles and vegan cork-leather. They have partnered with and continue to partner with animal rescues across the globe to promote animal adoption.

We’re all trying to make a positive difference in our world, with your help Geopetric is doing just that. I love the fact of knowing I can make a difference in a shelter dogs life simply by spoiling my own pups, Oscar and Zara!!

Our partnership with Geopetric gives you a fabulous 20% discount whenever you decide to shop online with Geopetric. Simply use the code OSCAR&ZARA when you check out…. So what are you waiting for? Shop TODAY, spoil your pets and help pets in need!!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook @stylishpaws and Instagram @stylish_paws

Thank you for reading.

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Dec
2017

Christmas fun.

categories: Holiday fun, The Three Amigo's

For us Christmas is about spending quality time with loved ones and of course that includes our four legged children! This year will be Charlotte, Duke and Peaches’ first Christmas so it needs to be a special one.

The big fat man dressed in red will be making a delivery for them too… Since it is difficult to find nice bunny goodies where we live, I like to make homemade gifts for them using bits and pieces I found around the house. The goodies I did find in the shops include a children’s ten-pin bowling set, because bunnies actually love playing interactive games with you. A doggy interactive toy, a new cat tunnel, an outside enclosure play pen and I made some homemade bunny treats (recipe below).

Homemade Bunny Crackers:

These are by far the easiest bunny toy to make. You simply take a toilet roll holder, fold in the one side, fill it with whatever your bunnies go crazy for like pellets, dried flowers and dried herbs or fill it with fresh goodies like carrot sticks, celery bits and herbs. Then fold in the other edge. Your bunnies will love throwing this around while trying to get the yummy stuffing out. I like to use different size ones (some toilet roll holders and some kitchen roll holders) to make things more challenging for them.

Bunny Treats:

I enjoy making homemade treats for the babies because that way I know exactly what is in them. No hidden dyes or preservatives, only ingredients I know are safe and healthy for them.

Ingredients

1/4 cup bunny pellets, blitzed up

1/4 cup blitzed oats

1 mashed banana

1 large carrot cooked and mashed into a puree

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until everything is nicely combined. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Spread the treat mixture evenly so it is about 1cm thick. Bake in the oven for +-30 mins or until the treats are cooked and hard. Take them out the oven, cut into small bite sized squares and allow to cool. Store them in an airtight container for on hand treats. Your bunnies will LOVE these… You can play around with the ingredients, choose your bunnies favourite veggies, fruit and herbs but please be mindful of what is safe for your furry loves to eat!!

We are at a comfortable stage where the bunnies can be around Oscar and Zara, so this Christmas is going to be lots of fun. Both Oscar and Zara love opening their Christmas gifts so they are going to have to show the bunnies how it’s done, perhaps even help open theirs!

Whatever your Christmas plans are this year, we hope you have a wonderful and safe celebration!

Thank you for reading

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Dec
2017

Product review: Vagabond-Dogs: Luxury Dog Accessories

categories: Product Reviews

When we got asked to do a product review for Vagabond-Dogs we were over the moon with excitement! Not only are their dog accessories super stylish in looks but they are hand crafted and designed with so much love and care too.

Vagabond-Dogs is a brand that is all about the love of dogs. They are using Vagabond-Dogs as a platform for advocacy and charity, and being a new brand they are building up their network of advocates, so if you know a dog charity that needs support please contact Vagabond-Dogs directly on hello@vagabond-dogs.com

In our brief email conversations, I instantly knew that Ted and Nelly are the real deal when it comes to loving animals. They have put everything they have into creating Vagabond-Dogs as well as into supporting animal shelters and rescuing pups in need.

When I opened our delivery box, each collar was neatly wrapped in tissue paper. It looked so neat and tidy I didn’t want to ruin it by ripping open the tissue paper and causing chaos. But I did because I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer! What we received were four beautiful collars. We received the Born Free range that has a boho signature design engraved absolutely perfectly into each collar. The quality of each collar is outstanding and guaranteed to last a lifetime. The inspiration behind each collar comes from life. Be it architecture, design, fashion or nature. The Born Free range was inspired after many trips that Ted and Nelly look to Joshua Tree National Park in California.

It was hard to decide which colours for which pup. I feel they are unisex and once I began photographing Oscar and Zara wearing their new gorgeous collars, I was right! All four collars look fantastic on both Oscar and Zara. I will definitely be mixing up who wears what on our outings and adventures.

Who doesn’t love a brand that works hard to give back and support the dogs out there who are less fortunate than our own. So go on, support Vagabond-Dogs. Help them achieve their dream by heading to www.vagabond-dogs.com and spoiling your pups, it’s totally worth it!! Oh and did I mention they offer worldwide shipping….

Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Thank you for reading

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Dec
2017

December

categories: Calendar

December is the most wonderful time of the year. Everyone is getting ready for their Christmas celebrations, and over all it is quite a cheerful month! Whatever you and your family get up this December, we hope it’s a magical one. Be merry and stay safe.

Download your December calendar here

Thank you for reading.

 

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Nov
2017

Meet the babies.

categories: The Three Amigo's

A very warm welcome to my three musketeers, Charlotte, Duke and Peaches. A month ago we adopted these three gorgeous babies who needed a loving home and a family to call their own. Finally my heart felt strong enough to welcome more fluff balls in after the sudden loss of Valentine and Duchess earlier this year. If anything, these three have reassured me just how much I loved, and still love Valentine and Duchess!

Naming them was a little tricky. When I got Valentine and Duchess, I had wanted a bunny for so many years and knew I would name him Valentine. Duchess just came to me after we found out that he was in-fact a she-haha! These three had me stumped. Until I started to see their personalities come through and as I got to know them they each reminded me of animated movie characters. Charlotte became Charlotte because she is shy but very regal-just like Charlotte from Charlottes Webb. Duke became Duke because he is very pushy and forces attention on himself-just like Duke the dog from The Secret Life of Pets. And Peaches became Peaches because she is a little different from the other two, it took her a while to fit in and become comfortable in her environment-just like Peaches from Ice Age. And that is how my three musketeers were named 🙂

Oscar as usual is great with his babies. All he wants to do is kiss them and slobber on them. They come up to him too and give him a good old sniff then go about their business as usual. Zara is very intrigued by these little fluff balls. She was very young when we had Valentine and Duchess and she just wanted to run after them, which of course was not the way to behave. With these three she is a little older, has been to puppy training so she listens and understands things a whole lot better. She sits and watches them for hours through the glass door that leads into their play room. Her interaction with them is supervised at all times and we are slowly building up what she can and cannot do around them. She is rather funny, when Charlotte, Duke and Peaches come up to her for bunny kisses she freezes like a statue! Does not move a whisker. It is quite funny to watch. I am confident we will get to a stage where Zara will happily lie and watch over these three as they run up and down the passage and explore the house just like Valentine and Duchess did. It’s a learning process for us all but so far her progress is unbelievable and I am immensely proud of her!

All in all life with three baby bunnies is amazing. They trash their room every single night, which I believe is their way of showing me just how much they appreciate all the hay, treats and toys they get. I get special bunny kisses all the time, and recently Duke and Peaches have taken to the idea of having power naps in my lap. It is just the best!! I am loving being a bunny mom again…

Thanks for reading.

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Oct
2017

Howl-O-Ween.

categories: Holiday fun, Oscar, Recipes, Zara

In Africa, we don’t typically celebrate halloween like the USA does but that doesn’t stop us from having a little fun of our own, in the form of dressing up and enjoying some yummy Halloween treats! For those of you that have followed us for a while, will know that Oscar LOVES to dress up and Halloween is one of the best times to dress up in funky fun costumes. Last year Zara was a tiny tot just learning the ropes in the beginning stages of her modelling career. This year she is a real show stopper in her Halloween outfit!

Everyone goes pumpkin mad during the month of October and I managed to get my paws on a lovely one. I gave it to Oscar and Zara as is, to see what they would do wth it… The usual Mr Fusspot decided it looked good enough to eat as it is and went straight in for the kill, much to his disappointment he couldn’t break it open at all. Zara was not sure what it was and happily posed for some gorgeous photos instead!

Since we don’t get all the yummy halloween treats you get in the USA, I promised Oscar and Zara I would turn this pumpkin into something yummy for them, and this is what I decided to make….

Pumpkin Spice Puppachinos 

Not so long ago I made some puppachinos for Oscar and Zara which they LOVED! (you can see the recipe by clicking here) So I thought why not make a Halloween pumpkin spice puppachino for them. A few of my USA Instagram friends have expressed their love for pumpkin spice latte’s- for humans only. So I decided to make a human pumpkin spice latte for me to enjoy and a pumpkin spice puppachino for Oscar and Zara to enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Latte-Human only version:

Ingredients

To make pumpkin spice you will need-

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp all spice

Mix these spices together and store in an airtight jar. This makes 1 tbs of Pumpkin Spice mix.

To make the latte-

1 cup coconut milk

2 tbs cooked pumpkin puree

1 tbs syrup

1/4 tsp of the pumpkin spice mix you made

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of your favourite brewed coffee

1 can of squirty cream-to use as a topper

Directions

Pour all the ingredients into a saucepan besides the coffee. Heat over a medium heat until hot but not boiling. Keep whisking the mixture so you get a thick and frothy milk mixture. Pour your freshly brewed coffee into a mug, then add the hot coconut milk mixture. Squirt some squirty cream on top and sprinkle over a pinch of pumpkin spice. Put your feet up and enjoy your Halloween treat!

Pumpkin Spice Puppachino

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup cooked pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Squirt of honey

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Squirty cream

Directions

Pour all the ingredients into a blender and blend until thick and creamy. Then scoop out the mixture and place it into cute cups for your pups. Squirt some cream on the top-because which pup doesn’t love squirty cream… And watch your pups enjoy!

If you have any mixture left over you can spoon it into ice trays and make little frozen treats or fill a Kong toy and freeze for a boredom buster the next day 🙂

Pumpkin Pancakes

Everyone loves pancakes so I decided to make some Halloween pumpkin pancakes for us (the humans) and the pups (Oscar and Zara) to enjoy…

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix- Important: When making for the pups please leave this out and replace with plain cinnamon!!!

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs melted butter

1/2 cup milk

Syrup and squirt cream to garnish

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until completely combined and light and airy. Heat up a pan on a medium heat and spoon the desired amount of mixture into your pan. Cook until golden brown on each side. Serve warm with syrup and squirty cream drizzled over the top. Enjoy!

If you have any pancakes left over, place them in air tight containers and freeze them for another day. Remember to clearly label which are safe for your pups and which are for humans only!!

Happy Howl-o-ween to you and your furry loves! We hope you enjoy these simple and easy Halloween treats as much as we did.

Thank you for reading.

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