everything pets + a tiny human
August is probably one of Zara’s favourite months of the year… Not only is it her birthday month but it is also the month where our weather starts warming up, which means only one thing in Zara’s mind… SWIM TIME!!
We hope you enjoy your month of August just as much as we will.
Download your August calendar here
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by 
Zara’s flavour of the month this month is Acana Yorkshire Pork which is another flavour within the Singles range. Acana Yorkshire pork is suitable for all life stages of your pooch and is loaded with fifty percent pure pork! What’s not to love…
It’s no secret that Zara absolutely LOVES her food! In fact Zara lives for food. Most times I watch her eat and think to myself, did you actually taste that? I love how much Zara enjoys her food because it means I can use her food as a means of rewards for training and good behaviour.
Zara gets fed twice a day, morning and night. When it comes to meal times she will do a back flip if you ask her to. Her excitement level goes through the roof when she sees me start preparing her meal each time. It was through this excitement that enabled me to teach her how to eat appropriately because for a good few months with us Zara guzzled her food in less than 30 seconds-yes we timed her!
To start off, I placed a big clean blanket on the floor and I would scatter her food all over the blanket. At first she panicked and vacuumed her pellets at the speed of light, but slowly she learnt that actually her pellets don’t have legs and will not go anywhere. Then I introduced an interactive food dispenser ball which meant she would have to work to get to her kibble. At first she got immensely frustrated and she would throw it all over the place, but she slowly learnt that by being gentle and slow she gets more kibble out. And finally I introduced her to a slow feeder bowl. Again she was seriously frustrated by the obstacles in the way of her gobbling her food, and slowly she learnt the technique.
Fast forward almost three years and she eats like a true lady! She even pauses during bites and if I call her she happily stops to look at what I want or what I am asking her to do, this of course gets her extra treats! I am so proud of how far she has come with her eating habits.
Acana Singles range means each flavour is a single protein based food. Acana Yorkshire Pork forms the main base of this food along with other hugely nutritious ingredients such as garbanzo beans, whole green and yellow peas, red lentils, fresh pumpkin, dried brown kelp, whole blueberries, turmeric root, burdock root and milk thistle just to name a few.
I love being able to change up Zara’s food and give her different flavours. Acana sure does have a variety to choose from so stay tuned for next months flavour!
If you would like to find out more information on the entire Acana range, you can contact PackLeader South Africa on Facebook or Instagram or simply visit a reputable outlet.
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by On 30 September last year, we found out that we were going to be parents to a tiny human! Nothing can describe that feeling of utter happiness and excitement. That day will always be extra special to myself and my husband because that same day is Oscar’s birthday, and it will always be Oscar’s birthday!
Our biggest wish was to make Oscar a big brother, unfortunately the universe had other plans but I now understand why. In Oscar’s eyes I belonged to him and only him. My husband will even admit to that-haha. I am not entirely sure Oscar would have been able to share me, let alone get through the eleven weeks of separation.
Most of you know that we live in Zambia, but I travel to South Africa fairly regularly for various business and personal engagements. Because the medical facilities are not up to scratch in Zambia, we decided as a family that I would give birth to our nugget in South Africa. This also meant that we would all have to endure eleven weeks of separation…
On 17 May, our beautiful daughter Gia came into this big bright world! We could not be happier and more proud of our little angel. Gia means “A gift from God” and I do believe she is our gift from God and Oscar, who is by my side making sure I look after our tiny human in the best way possible.
Zara on the other hand is going to be the best big sister we could ever have asked for. Zara is extremely intelligent, loyal and a little OTT on the affectionate side, but we love that about her. From the moment we found out about our little Nugget, we spoke to Zara and explained what was happening inside my tummy. Believe it or not Zara would just sit and listen to every word. She stopped body slamming me in the middle of the night when she jumps on the bed for a cuddle. She became mindful of my growing tummy and was careful not to bump me or push me. That’s how clever she is.
We wanted to prep Zara for what was about to happen, because ultimately her life is about to change forever too! So here are the things we did to help ease Zara into the role of becoming a big sister…
We had to shuffle things around and swap the spare rooms to make Gia’s room closer to ours. While sorting through a pile of things we didn’t need anymore, Zara was right beside us! We never once chased her out or got mad because she dug through a pile of rubbish we just sorted through. After all this is a readjustment for her too. Once the nursery room was cleared out we painted and began furnishing it-the fun part!
We decided to buy a doll and introduce it to Zara. We wanted Zara to get used to us holding something in our arms quite a lot. She needed to learn that sometimes there will be an extra person in the bed in the form of her baby sister, and she needed to be a little careful. At first Zara was unsure especially when the doll made a noise. But with patience and time Zara began to recognise that this little thing is quite special and lives in the newly decorated room.
When I left Zambia in April, I left behind a shirt that I had worn to remind Zara of my scent. My husband says she loves sniffing that shirt! After Gia was born I sent my hubby home with another shirt that smelt like me and baby Gia. We decided to do this so Zara can get used to the scent of me with someone else. Zara is so intelligent she knows exactly what we are trying to do, I just know it!
Often articles will tell you to separate your pets from your baby and to never allow pets into the nursery. We have been the total opposite with Zara and have allowed her to walk in and out of Gia’s room as she pleases. As a result, Zara now delivers one of her toys (her most prized possessions) and leaves it either on the rug, the chair or in a corner for her baby sister. When Zara gifts you with one of her toys, you know she loves you! It is something she started doing all by herself, we did not teach her to do it. So by Zara leaving presents for Gia I know that they are going to be the best of friends!
Of course this chapter is not complete yet because Zara still has to meet her tiny human. I am in South Africa until the end of June so I will be sure to post an update when Gia and I have settled back home…. But for now we continue to video chat, where Zara is most intrigued by her baby sister especially when she moves or makes a sound.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram for all the goings on.
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by I have always been a firm believer in feeding Oscar the very best dog food I could find. I looked at it from my point of view, if I were him. I love good tasty food with a variety of ingredients so why should he be given anything different.
Oscar was an extremely fussy eater, making meal times often stressful and unpleasant for us both. It wasn’t until much later in his life that finally an amazing kibble was being sold in South Africa. From the first scoop he was hooked which as you can imagine made my heart explode with happiness! It was then that I started doing loads of research into dog food and the ingredients used.
Enter Zara, a food guzzler from day one! I could have given her anything and she would have gulped it down in less than thirty seconds, as she did when I gave her her first Acana meal at home. It was a no brainer to feed Zara Acana kibble from the beginning. I will be honest, I did not transition her as they say you should, simply because I didn’t agree with the food she was being fed in her previous home. I believed in the power of Acana and I knew she would be totally fine. And guess what, I was right!
I don’t think Zara has a favourite flavour of Acana kibble, simply because she absolutely LOVES her food no matter what. So it is up to me to read the signs of her excitement and of course look out for any physical differences I see.
Zara’s flavour of the month is the Acana Pacific Pilchard which falls under the Acana Singles range. This means it is a single-protein food and suitable for pups of any breed or age and it’s great for pups with food sensitivities.
Acana is a grain free diet made up of biologically appropriate foods specifically for our beloved pooches. It’s packed with nutritional proteins and fats, plenty of vitamins and minerals that are essential in your pups overall health as well as important amino acids.
The Acana Pacific Pilchard ingredient list is pretty spectacular to say the least, it is made up of 50% wild caught pilchard, which is an easily digestible fish, green peas, red lentils, kale, spinach greens, butternut, cranberries and blueberries just to name a few! It’s hard to believe any pooch would turn their nose up at this food…
If you would like to find out more information on the entire Acana range, you can contact PackLeader South Africa on Facebook or Instagram or simply visit a reputable outlet.
Your pooch deserves the best!
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by January seems like it just flew by. We blinked and the first month of the year is already gone….
We did have quite an eventful January. We found out the gender of our baby, which is a girl. We couldn’t be happier for Zara to have a tiny sister to look after.
At the end of January, Zara underwent her second TPLO surgery. She had her right leg done last year July. It’s said that when one leg goes there’s an eighty percent chance the other one will, and well it did.
It is currently five days post op and I would like to say recovery is going better than before. Perhaps this has something to do with her being 6 months older or perhaps we as her parents are better prepared this time around. Zara of course is in full patient mode and loving every minute of it!
While Zara was away in hospital I found myself completely lost to say the least. Last operation I had my boy Oscar to not only keep me company while Zara was overnight in hospital but to help look after her at home too. So to keep myself busy I decided to make my princess a Get Well Soon cake. She absolutely loved it and knew it was something special for her to feel better. Due to popular demand from my Instagram friends here is the recipe:
Cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup flour
1 Squish sachet, apple flavour (baby food- it’s my cheat 😆)
1 egg
1 table spoon peanut butter
Drizzle of honey
Splash of vanilla extract
Splash of milk if needed to loosen the batter up a bit
Directions
Place all the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl, using an electric beater mix all the ingredients together. Then add the flour and beat again. I added some milk at the end to loosen up the cake batter because it was quite thick and gooey. The milk made it like proper cake batter. Place the batter into two small silicone cake molds and bake at 180 degrees for 20mins.
Icing
Ingredients
4 tablespoons of plain thick yoghurt
2-3 teaspoons of peanut butter
Directions
Using an electric beater, whisk together the yoghurt and peanut butter until light and fluffy-have a taste too it’s delish!! Then spread some between the two layers of cake and the rest of the cake once it’s cooled down properly. You can refrigerate your cake for up to 5 days or even cut into small portions and freeze it.
We hope your pups enjoy this one!! As you can see Zara sure did…
I am in awe of how resilient our princess is. Despite everything she has been through she still has a smile for us each and every day… I guess we can all learn a little something from our furry loves.
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by Happy October everyone. I cannot believe we are in the last quarter of the year. It’s scary stuff!
Zara decided she wanted to be part of the flamingo craze, so here she is looking absolutely gorgeous in her very special mingo bandana.
Download your October calendar here
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Yay! Summer is back and we’re having tons and tons of water fun again. Zara is one big water obsessed pup! She absolutely loves any water, be it the pool, the sprinkler, the bath or shower-with us in it! She loves nothing more than getting her fur soaked and having a bit of fun.
When we got Zara there were two things I insisted on, one was proper puppy training which she still does two years later. And the second was she would not be scared of water. Our perseverance paid off, and now she is a total water baby.
Not all doggo’s love water, Oscar was one of them! He hated having a bath even though I bathed him from a tiny pup. I would also take him into the pool and hold him tight so he could get used to it but he absolutely hated it and that never changed. He would sit and watch from a distance as Zara would behave like a complete loon with the sprinkler. He would watch her swim in the pool while he lay on a beach towel soaking up the sun instead. She would try and get him to join her but he was having none of it-haha!!
If your pup hates water but you would like to try and get him used to it here are some simple tips for you to try, but remember do not push your pup too hard. It could have the total opposite effect, so tread carefully….
Start small
Fill a kidies pool with a small amount of water to start off with and gently encourage your pup to climb in. Reward them with a treat and or some praise for any interest in the pool he might have. Never splash the water at your pup or make loud demonstrative moves. The aim is to show your pooch there is nothing to fear here. As your pooch gets more comfortable you can fill the pool with more and more water.
Make it fun
Make water fun by adding in his favourite toys. Because Zara is so food driven, I added chopped up apple pieces to Zara’s little pool. They were floating treats teasing her as they moved around. She soon got the idea that she would have to put her head in slightly to get the treat. She learnt and its because of that, that she now submerges her whole head to get a pool toy! She has even learnt to blow bubbles through her nose so the water doesn’t go in. One clever pup I tell you 🙂
Moving to a bigger pool
Once your pup is comfortable playing around and splashing in a small amount of water, it’s time to move them up to a bigger pool or lake. If your pup cannot stand comfortably in your pool then it’s a very good idea to invest in a doggy life jacket! (Click here to shop) Our pool is a steel structure and canvas pool so luckily Zara is able to stand in it. Gently bring your pup into the water and continually praise him for being so brave. Encourage him to swim, with you right beside him holding his under belly. Show him that swimming can be fun. Slowly build up his confidence as you did with the small pool.
Swim together
Once your pup is totally confident you can both enjoy swimming together. You can swim out and ask him to come to you or even throw his favourite toy or ball and ask him to bring it back for you. It’s important to continue to praise your pooch for doing so well. The more you praise and make swimming fun, the easier he will understand that it’s not that scary after all.
When it comes to swimming, your pups safety should be your top priority. Never push your pup too hard. Keep the lessons short and sweet, any progress is great progress. Take breaks and keep it fun. Our pups love having fun with us. Never leave your pooch unattended near the water, no matter how well they’re doing. Your pooch can panic if left in the water and you leave his sight.
But most importantly have fun with your pup. We love nothing more than swimming with Zara on a hot summers day.
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Wow, my baby girl is two years old today. Time flies. Zara has grown into a beautiful mature young lady. I am so proud of her and how she handles situations, both stressful and exciting ones. Her ability to listen and learn is incredible. And of course she is extremely pleasing to the eye, even if I am a little biased-haha.
Just seven weeks ago Zara underwent TPLO (tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy) surgery on her cranial cruciate ligament in her knee. The surgery was big, but all we wanted for our girl was to give her back playtime and swim time. Recovery has been long, slow and intense but she has handled everything like the princess that she is and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She will be swimming and running after balls again very soon. Even while she hobbled around she still had a huge smile on her face! She is the ultimate happy girl.
So it’s Zara’s second birthday and of course the day is filled with tons of spoils and excitement. Her birthday theme this year is ‘colours’. Anything bright and fun goes! She loves new toys and presents, she is grateful for anything she receives but she usually has a favourite amongst her new goodies. This year I decided to round up Zara’s birthday favourites from Amazon. Yes Zara loves shopping on Amazon 😉 and here’s what she got: You can shop each item by clicking on the image!
(this post contains affiliate links)
Happy Birthday Plush Toy
Everyone deserves a plush toy on their birthday.
A Benebone
She loves her chews and things and Benebone makes a wonderful range.
Five Senses Ball
This ball is fantastic because it stimulates all five senses.
Petstages Sling Sock
Because Zara is the sock thief queen!
Chuckit! Ball
Because all her Instagram besties have one and she needed one too…
Kong Squiggles Toy
I love the durability of Kong toys.
And a few other goodies I found on my shopping rounds. I love spoiling my babies especially on their birthdays. They need to know it’s an extra special day, and Zara sure does know today is different from any other usual day.
Zara’s Birthday Pupcakes
Of course Zara has a birthday cake to devour. I decided to make little pupcakes this year, instead of one big cake. Keeping with the colourful theme, here they are…
Birthday Pupcakes:
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 shredded coconut
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup organic peanut butter
1 cup grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup water
Directions
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Prepare your pupcake holders-either silicone or paper and lay them out. In a large bowl, mix together all your ingredients and stir until well combined. Scoop the cake batter into each pupcake holder and into the oven for +-20 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down totally.
Pupcake Icing:
Ingredients
1 cup natural greek yoghurt
1 cup peanut butter
Can of whipped Cream- because yes it’s a special day!
chopped fruit, different colours (strawberries, kiwi, pineapple etc)
Directions
To make the icing whip together the natural yoghurt and the peanut butter. Then spoon over and decorate your cooled pupcakes and top with different fruit of your choice.
When it’s your pooches birthday we sure do hope you celebrate and spoil them with these awesome present suggestions and yummy homemade pupcakes! It’s safe to say Zara is loving her birthday and all her spoils. Her smile truly is infectious.
We are running a giveaway on Instagram for Zara’s second birthday. Be sure to follow us and join in for a chance to win an awesome gift box of goodies. Head over to @stylish_paws and let’s have some fun together!
This is the first celebration without Oscar. He never leaves our minds and we all had birthday treats in his honour! Happy second birthday to Zara…
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It’s take your dog to work day! This has to be the best day in the calendar. Well lucky for me I get to take Oscar and Zara to work with me everyday and that’s because I am blessed enough to work from home.
Working from home sure has its benefits but it also has a downside… According to Zara I am constant entertainment! I’m always there to play ball or frisbee or give a never ending supply of treats. Oscar believes he can never let me out of his sight and therefore must sleep on top of my feet whenever I am sitting in my chair. In fact, the position under my desk is a hot commodity and it’s on a first come first serve basis but if you get up for whatever reason, your spot is lost instantly to the pup eagerly awaiting it. This carries on for as long as I’m in my little home based office each day. It sure is wonderful but it can often be distracting if I have a deadline or something very important to get done. When working from home you need discipline and routine, that way both Oscar and Zara know the order of events for the day.
So here are some tips when bringing your pups to the office and still manage to get a decent amount of work done…
A comfy bed is a must. After all the office hellos your pup will want somewhere comfy to have a power nap. I say power nap because the office is far too exciting a place for a long dreamy snooze. They’ll be up and wondering around in no time… click here to shop our range of stylish beds.
Fresh water supply. This might seem obvious but in all the excitement you might forget to bring your pups water bowl from home. It’s very important you offer your pups a fresh supply of cold water throughout the day. Often offices get hot and stuffy and usually our pups feel the heat first. You don’t want them dehydrating. Spoil your pup even more by buying him a new water bowl… click here to shop our bowls.
A few toys. These are equally as important because you need your pup to entertain themselves to some extent throughout the day, after all you have work to do. Some of my office favourites for Zara are a nylon chew toy. Petqwerks offers a wide variety of these chews and are Zara’s absolute best. They keep her entertained for hours! Another favourite which keep both Oscar and Zara occupied is a Frozen Kong. This is something you can prepare the night before, pop it in a cooler bag and back into the freezer when you get to the office until you’re ready to give it to your pup. There are endless recipe ideas for these too (read my blog post on Frozen Kong ideas). A fun but tiring game to play is tuggy. Zara absolutely loves her tuggy toys and a quick session of tug-of-war seem to tire her out. You could play this in a passage or office garden or balcony. It gives you a break from work and some engaging fun for your pup too. Zara has a new favourite tuggy toy- her Monkey RopeTugz which you can buy in the online store… click here to spoil your pooch!
Some yummy Treats. Because let’s face it coming to the office is a treat for your pup if you work in a regular office. Have some treats on hand in your desk drawer to spoil your pups just a little bit more! You can buy some healthy treats in the online store too… click here to treat your pup!
We hope your experience at work with your pups is a fabulous one! Remember to have fun and respect everyone’s pups.
Follow us on Instagram to see what we get up to today! @stylish_paws
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Easter, that holiday time where there is an endless supply of chocolate. Chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, chocolate chickens, chocolate-chocolate-chocolate. I have quite a sweet tooth and I absolutely LOVE chocolate so these holidays are definitely one of my favourite to celebrate!
We all know the serious dangers when it comes to dogs and chocolate! Ours is always packed away in a sealed tub on a high shelf. Oscar has zero chance of reaching it with his little legs-haha… And being in a tightly sealed tub Zara has zero chance of getting to it too. But did you know that dogs can enjoy some carob chocolate? Oscar and Zara absolutely love it and I make little carob treats for them on special occasions so they feel extra special and included in the celebrations. My Easter blog post last year focused on carob doggy Easter treats (read here), so this year I am using it in a different way.
Carob comes from the carob tree. Inside the carob pod is a sweet pulp that is then dried, roasted and ground into carob powder. It is naturally sweet and has a slight nutty taste. Carob is completely free of the toxic compounds that are found in chocolate and has a moderate amount of fibre, potassium and vitamins. Carob is also a great healthy alternative for chocolate for humans and boasts a range of health benefits. You can find carob chip and carob chocolate bars in selected health stores.
I like to keep carob powder in the pantry because it has such a variety of ways I can use it for Oscar and Zara. I love experimenting with it and seeing what they love and what they don’t. Zara usually loves everything, it is Oscar that I need to impress 😉
My Easter recipes are pretty simple and seriously yummy this year. There is one for us humans-which is a little different to the traditional way and one for the pups… Enjoy
Humans only Giant Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Hot Cross Bun
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
4 tbs soft butter
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (because raisins are the devil hahaha)
Depending on how sweet you like them you can add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar.
Syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 sugar
Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tbs cream cheese
1 tbs soft butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbs water
Directions
Doggy Hot Cross BunsIngredients
4 cups flour
1 tbs honey
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbs baking soda
1 cup milk
1/2 cup organic greek yoghurt
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbs butter
Carob chips
Syrup
The same as above
Cream Cheese Icing
The same as above
Directions
Along with enjoying these yummy hot cross buns and spending quality time together, Oscar and Zara of course had to dress up. Oscar decided he wanted to try become a chicken and Zara became a bunny-weiler… And of course the three musketeers wish you all a very Hoppy Easter too.
Whatever your Easter plans are, stay safe and enjoy precious family time!!
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