It’s hard to believe that Christmas is around the corner, but it is. And to avoid that last minute shopping rush, This gift guide has the perfect Christmas gifts for your pup. These are some of Zara’s most favourite things, so happy shopping.
*please note that Stylish Paws is an Amazon Affiliate member. Should you decide to purchase one of the items mentioned above, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you at all. Thank you for your support.
September is probably one of my favourite months of the year simply because the days get warmer and flowers are blooming everywhere. Our family loves the warmer months and after our really cold winter, we are welcoming this spring with open arms 🙂
September is also Ollie’s Gotcha month so of course we will celebrate our little nosey cat!
Today is Zara’s birthday. Six whole years of loving our sassy Zara! And there’s been a whole lot of love in those six years, a kind of love I never imagined but a kind of love that I am so grateful for.
I often get asked how we ‘trained’ Zara to be so gentle and kind towards her baby sister Gia, how she tolerates her brother Ollie the cat and how caring she is towards our bunny girls Misty and Clover. And my answer is always the same… we never ‘trained’ Zara to do anything. We simply showered Zara with a whole lot of love and respect and taught her our ways.
My husband and I had a conversation the other day and I asked him if he thinks Zara would be as gentle, loving, kind and loyal in someone else’s home or is she as amazing as she is because of us and the love we have for our family and each other. His answer to me was that every dog is brought up in a different home and different environment and so their level of love and respect is different. Zara found her way to us for a reason and that reason is so we could show her what our love is and for her to be the best version of herself with us. I was pretty satisfied with that answer…
And so today we celebrate Zara in all her glory…
Zara’s Pup Cakes
It’s a tradition in our home to make something special for Zara to enjoy on her own so this year baby sis Gia helped make some yummy blueberry birthday pupcakes for our pup 😉
Ingredients- cake
1/4 cup blueberries (we used fresh but frozen would work too)
1 egg
1/3 cup plain yoghurt (we used plain double thick)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
Ingredients- icing
3 tbs plain double thick yoghurt
3 tbs plain cream cheese
*Fresh blueberries to decorate if you want
Directons- cake
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare a cupcake/muffin pan with paper cupcake holders. In a mixing bowl using a whisk or electric beater, mix well the yoghurt, coconut oil and vanilla extract. Then add the flour and baking powder and beat for 2 minutes. Then gently fold in the blueberries using a spoon. Add some blueberry bater to each cupcake holder and bake in the over for +-12 minutes or until cooked through and golden in colour. Once cooked leave the pupcakes to cool down completely before icing and decorating them.
Directions- Icing
To make the icing beat together the yoghurt and cream cheese until light and fluffy. The spoon onto your pupcakes or pipe the icing. Decorate with blueberries.
Zara’s Presents
Zara also gets some new toys and special things on her birthday and this year baby sis Gia helped me choose some goodies she thought Zara would love. Some of them can be found in our amazon storefront so click here if you would like to shop any and some of them are local South African brands who we love 🙂
We will be sharing all of Zara’s birthday fun on Instagram so be sure to follow along @stylish_paws
Thank you for enjoying Zara’s 6th birthday with us!
Happy August everyone! August is one of our favourite months because it is Zara’s birthday month and this year she will be a whole 6 years old. Stay tuned for some awesome birthday celebrations 🙂
Welcome to July. We are pretty cold down here in the Southern Hemisphere but luckily we have plenty snuggles going on which help keep us all warm and toasty 😉
Happy May everyone, the month my tiny human and best friend was born! This year we celebrate my baby sis Gia’s 3rd birthday. Time really does fly when you’re having fun.
Zara has had TPLO surgery on both her back knee’s. It’s been a few years now however I am constantly looking out for new products or supplements that will help ease Zara’s discomfort she experiences from time to time. So when PetieTec asked us if we would like to review their new heated therapy braces we jumped at the opportunity.
PetieTec heated therapy braces use targeted heat therapy to reduce stiffness, increase blood flow and relieve pain in the area the braces cover. This is exactly what Zara needs to help maintain her comfort and keep aches and pains away.
PetieTec gifted us the full set which includes the hip heated therapy brace, two elbow or knee heated therapy braces plus the spine heated therapy brace. Each brace targets the specific area to help increase blood flow to the area and ease pain and discomfort.
With our colder days starting to make an appearance, Zara starts to show a little extra discomfort too so I am excited to see how these PetieTec heated therapy braces help Zara cope this winter season… yes that means I will do another full review after our winter season 🙂
But for now what I can tell you is that I am extremely impressed with the PetieTec heated braces. I have been using them for a week and I have tried them all on Zara. Surprisingly she is happy to lay down and enjoy the heat therapy sessions. When all the straps are attached correctly it is possible for your dog to move around and train while the heat therapy is going on but to be honest I want Zara’s heat therapy sessions to be calm and enjoyable for her. I want it to be something we can do quietly together with no other interruptions.
I can tell we will use the knee and elbow ones daily followed by the hip brace every second day as Zara does have slight hip dysplasia and I will probably use the back/spine brace about twice a week. I will of course see how it goes and if I have to increase the use of them I will.
Each PetieTec heated brace is powered by a power bank. I opted to use my own (PetieTec can supply you with one if you want). The fabulous thing is that any power bank and micro USB cable fit perfectly so if you have more than one power bank you can do more than one brace at the same time. So far I like to either do both elbows or both knee’s at the same time or one knee and the hip brace. Zara is happy to sit and relax during her sessions and I often give her a LickMat or filled Kong to take her mind off the actual heating. Zara has never shown any discomfort or irritation towards the braces while they are being used.
You can choose between three different heat settings which I think is great! Depending on how cold it is will determine which heat setting I go for. At the moment it hasn’t been too cold so I have only used the ‘coolest’ of the three settings. As the days and nights get colder I will adjust to the hotter options. It’s probably not a bad idea to start with the coolest setting and work your way up to the hottest.
Overall the PetieTec heated therapy braces are very easy to use once you master all the straps and where they go – haha! I am very impressed with the quality of each brace and how it has been made oh and did I mention you can hand wash them gently- impressive right! They do not take up much space at all so if you travel with your pets they are very easy to pack and take with you wherever you go.
If your pup suffers from any kind of discomfort relating to joint stiffness, sore muscles, hip dysplasia or arthritis then I strongly recommend these PetieTec heated therapy braces! You will not be disappointed.
Please use our discount code ZARA10 for a 10% discount when you check out.
Follow PetieTec on instagram and Facebook and don’t forget to tag us @stylish_paws and @petietec in your posts. We love to see how amazing products are helping puppers all over the world.
We love Santa in our home. He’s the big fat guy who brings presents and looks after reindeers and our new family member Coco Puff the elf. As Gia gets older, Christmas becomes more fun because she understands a little more and we can just enjoy the make believe world that Santa is. Life is too short not to have FUN and not to eat Christmas treats!
Zara loves Santa Paws too and she picks up on all the excitement and knows when his delivery has been made. She knows exactly which gifts are for her and loves to sniff them out.
So Santa Paws is almost here and what better way to celebrate his arrival than with some yummy homemade Christmas treats for the whole family.
Candy Cane Dog Treats
Ingredients for the red dough
1 cup beetroot puree
1 egg
2 cups flour
Directions
Mix together the beetroot puree and egg. Then add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Set aside.
Ingredients for the white dough
1 cup apple puree
1 egg
2 cups flour
Directions
Mix together the apple puree and egg. Then add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Set aside.
Take little portions of each dough and roll them into long thin strips then on a greased baking tray gently plait them into a candy cane shape. Repeat until all your dough is finished. Bake at 180 degrees for +-25 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked allow them to cool before your pup enjoys them.
Gia helped make the Christmas cookies for Santa. She loved being involved!
Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 cup butter – room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the egg and vanilla together then add it to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat well. Then add the flour one cup at a time and mix well. Eventually the dough will form. Put it in the fridge for about an hour to chill. Once chilled roll out and using Christmas shaped cookie cutters make your Christmas cookies. Place on an un-greased baking tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for +-15minutes or until golden. Allow biscuits to cool completely before decorating.
You can bet we will be leaving a candy cane out for Rudolf and a Christmas cookie for Santa!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2022.
Thank you for following us on our journey that was 2021!
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