Month: March 2017


Mar
2017

Product Review: Dognition Assessments

categories: Oscar, Product Reviews

When our Instagram besties Anya, York and Ro or @yorkthebully as you may know them, gifted us our Dognition assessment I was beside myself with excitement! Not only had no one ever gifted us anything before, but certainly nothing like this. So thank you Anya, York and Ro for this very special gift!

Dognition is a series of games that you play with your pup and each game assess something different. The assessment categories are, Empathy, Communication,Cunning, Memory and Reasoning. After each game you record what you experienced with your pup and that gets saved and at the end of the entire assessment it gives you a full report of how your pooch approaches each of the categories. There is no right or wrong answer in this test so there is no percentage mark. The report explains in great detail how your pups brain processes different information in different situations.

For our first assessment I chose to do it with Oscar. I absolutely LOVED every minute of this experience with him. Oscar and I have always had a very special kind of bond, and Dognition has brought us even closer! Oscar came out to be an Ace Dog-I am so proud of my little man!! I have often received negativity from strangers towards Oscar, saying he looks like a silly couch potato that can’t run faster than a sloth. Well, to all the haters out there, Oscar will outsmart you any day!!

As an Ace, his report showed me some things I was aware of and others I would have got wrong had I had to fill in a written test about him. His Empathy skills were off the charts meaning the two of us are 100% bonded. He is my little side kick for sure. His communication skills were slightly self-reliant but he mainly looks to me for communication in certain situations. He was more trustworthy as opposed to cunning, meaning he doesn’t do things behind my back. His memory is absolutely brilliant, and what surprised me the most was he actually used his memory over his sense of smell!! Being a hound I thought his sense of smell always came first. His reasoning before doing something was quite logical, and this was because his memory was so good. All in all a fabulous report on how my baby boy deals with situations and how he solves problems.

I cannot wait to do the assessment with Zara and see how she chooses to play. Stay tuned for her results.

If you would like to do the Dognition assessment with your pup, here is a 20% off unique discount code: RAFLZD6EQG
Simply go to www.dognition.com and sign up using the unique code above. You can also follow them on Instagram at @dognition

I would love to hear feedback from your assessments and how your pups chose to play. We hope you have as much fun as we have had!

Thank you for reading.

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Mar
2017

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

categories: Holiday fun, Oscar, Recipes

Happy St Patrick’s Day to you all. It just so happens that I decided to try a new recipe of treats for Oscar and Zara this week that are bright green so I thought it fitting to share the recipe with you on St Patricks Day. Not only are they super easy to make-less than an hour! But your pups will love them, unless they are as fussy as Oscar when it comes to trying new food groups-haha!! Somehow he knows exactly when I am up to something and his basset hound nose works overtime šŸ˜‰

Zara couldn’t wait for the treats to cool down so she could be first in line to taste them. She nearly ate my fingers off, thats how good they are in her eyes. As for my little man Oscar, he sniffed them for about 10 seconds, took one into his mouth then decided he wasn’t sure of this new taste and spat it out again. Zara of course was there to vacuum it up, slobber coated and all!! I had to offer him a few which he turned his nose up at before he noticed that his sister was actually totally fine eating these new green things so maybe he should have a go too…. Now he loves them-success!!

Here is the recipe for my awesome green St Patricks Day doggy treats:

Ingredients

1 cup frozen peas thawed and blended to make a paste

1 egg

1 tbs coconut oil

1 cup wholewheat flour

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. In a bowl mix together the pea paste, egg and coconut oil until combined. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms. If it’s too sticky simply add more flour, if it’s too dry simply add a drop of water. Once you have a perfect dough consistency, roll it out onto a floured surface. Using cute cookie cutters, cut out and place the treats on a greased baking tray. Bake in the oven for +-20 minutes or until cooked through and slightly golden. Not too much-you want to keep their bright green colour. Let the treats cool before allowing your pooch to tuck in! Store them in an airtight container for on hand treats.

I hope your pups enjoy this recipe as much as Zara and eventually Oscar does šŸ™‚

Thank you for reading.

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Mar
2017

Say Cheese…

categories: Oscar, Zara

I am by no means a professional photographer. In fact, I am such a newbie it’s frightening!
Watching Oscar grow-up and taking photographs of his every move, I have over 30 000 of him saved to my hard-drive-and no I am not exaggerating at all. Oscar came into my life thirteen years ago. There was no Facebook, Instagram or Snap Chat and my photography skills were less than desirable-haha!! Hence the reason I am a newbie with a new camera. But over the years photographing my soul mate growing up, our fun and lazy moments together has been amazing and I continue to capture those special moments of my baby boy.

Then we added baby Zara to our family. Who doesn’t love photographing a gorgeous fluffy puppy? Zara being Zara would pose only long enough for you to get one photo and then demand to do something fun like attack the camera. It took a lot of patience and care to get the cute puppy photos and moments I did capture. She is now eight months old and has had her fare share of thousands of photos taken. She is becoming more and more comfortable in front of the camera.

It’s all about getting that perfect photograph. But what is the perfect photograph? When photographing pets, you soon realise to accept any photo as the perfect one šŸ˜‰ Of course there are pets out there that seem to listen and pose in any position with any prop for the camera… I have clearly not inherited those pets-haha! But I wouldn’t have it any other way, both Oscar and Zara make me work very hard to get a photograph I am happy with, a photo that’s worthy of sharing with the world.

So here are my top five tips for achieving the perfect photograph of your furry love…

Natural lighting.
It is always best to try and photograph your pup in daylight. There is no better flash than the sun. Wherever I choose to photograph Oscar or Zara, I always make sure it is a well lit area. Flash photography can often affect your desired look of a photo-and not in a good way. It can cause the dreaded ‘red eye’. White fur often looks washed out, and the flash can also scare your pet!

Add a prop or two.
Adding props incorporates so much fun to a photoshoot, especially with pets. It can be a chalkboard with a quirky quote, their favourite toy, funky hat, their cutest outfit, or simply their favourite bed. I love getting Oscar all dressed up for photoshoots. He on the other hand can think of a million other things he would rather be doing. Zara is new to the dressing up scene and she would rather attack the princess crown I would like her to wear-but it is a work in progress and we will get there.

Treats.
Now this I find is particularly important!! Oscar refuses to work unless he receives a treat for his good efforts. Of course this is cute, but it also means I need a load of homemade treats on hand. Zara very quickly caught on that when she sees the camera, it means “do what mom asks and I get a treat”.
Here is a yummy recipe that will get your pups attention:

Ingredients
1 apple-grated
1 banana-mashed up
1 egg
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour

Directions
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Mix together your apple and banana then add the egg. Add the oats, flour and cinnamon and mix together until a dough forms. Roll your dough out onto a floured surface and use cookie cutters to cut into cute biscuits. Place them onto a greased baking tray and bake in the oven for +-20 minutes or until cooked through and slightly golden. Remove from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool. Store the treats in an air tight container.

Studio vs Outdoor setting.
This is obviously a personal choice, however I recommend both! Oscar has done several professional photography photoshoots in a studio as well as photoshoots outdoors. I honestly cannot say which photos I adore more because I believe every photograph of my baby is a wonderful one! Being in a studio is a bit more formal and adding props is a must! Being outdoors allows Oscar to be a little more relaxed and enjoy his surroundings. Zara has not had a professional studio photoshoot before and perhaps I should book one for us all, but her natural outdoor photos that I have taken are wonderful. I absolutely love looking back and seeing the crazy moments with her tongue hanging out, or her flying through the air because she runs so fast! It is often the natural non-posed photo’s that turn out the best.

Your subject-of course.
Of course you need your pooches! I always like to bath Oscar and Zara the night before a big photoshoot to make sure they are looking their best. For our little mini-photoshoots that happen almost daily I just like to give them a quick wipe down and a nice brush. This always makes them feel extra special, like they know I am about to take photos of them.

All in all, I believe you can never have too many photographs of your furry loves! Remember it takes time, patience and a lot of love to get a posed photo. Enjoy capturing those special moments, after all “no one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget- anonymous”

Follow us on Instagram for daily crazy fun moments of us all @stylish_paws

Thank you for reading.

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