As we enter the second last month for 2018, it’s hard to believe how fast this year has gone! We wish you a wonderful November.
Download your November calendar here
Thank you for reading
by 
November
categories: Calendar
by by by Fit Pets Activity Monitoring Device Product Review
categories: Product Reviews
When Fit Pets wanted to collaborate with us, I was seriously excited and intrigued as to what we would receive and how this device would work…
Fit Pets is an activity monitoring device for your pets. Very much like a human fitness tracking device. It tracks your pets sleep, activity for the day, provides you with insight into their mood and you can set fitness goals for your pets to achieve.
Once you get your Fit Pets activity monitor, you put it together and download the app. This is how you get all the readings and insights into your pets overall fitness and activity levels. With Zara having had knee surgery almost three months ago, I was extremely intrigued as to what the device was going to tell me. The moment I received it, I put it all together, put the device onto Zara’s collars and then waited patiently. I waited 48 hours so I could get a good reading and a full understanding of the app and how it works.
I was wonderfully surprised with Zara’s results. Although we are keeping her quiet and calm for the most part because of her knee recovery, she still does seem to get enough daily activity to keep her happy. I also learnt that she doesn’t necessarily get all that much sleep during the day. She may be lying down and resting but it doesn’t mean she is getting her much needed quality sleep. With me being at home, I often disturb her sleep. Luckily she seems to sleep really well at night and falls into her deep sleep a lot.
On the activity front, Zara has only managed to reach her daily target twice. This is because we are trying to keep her calm because of her knee recovery. To reach your daily target you need to include daily play and a walk or outing of some sort. On the particular day that Zara did reach her goals, she swam for most of the day and we played in the garden with her a lot. But she missed her daily sleeping goal by a long way. Balance is key to a happy and healthy pup so I am loving learning how to balance Zara’s sleeping and activity better.
Reading the results is very easy. The app is user friendly and everything is explained to you. Your pets sleep is split up into light and deep sleep, it explains the difference and why each one is important for the overall health of your pets. There is also a calorie burn calculator so you can monitor how many calories your pet burns each day versus what she eats. The mood tracker is an interesting one, because the more activity your pet does the happier she is. To give you an example, over the past weekend we were out and about, and Zara was home alone resting. Her mood was rated at a low 60. On the day where she met her daily activity goals her mood was at a high 84. The perfect balance of course is to fulfil your pets activity goals and for them to reach their sleeping goals for the day.
The best feature on the Fit Pet device is the fact that it is completely waterproof! That means Zara can swim with it and I can still track her activity. Zara’s happy place is when she is swimming in her pool and it certainly shows on the mood counter! She loves playing with all her toys in the pool, throwing them around and swimming after them. The fact that her Fit Pet device tracks all this is amazing for me.
The device itself is small and pretty, easy to assemble with a battery that’s similar to a watch battery so you don’t have to worry about charging it. It clips onto your pets collar with ease and I have had no issue with it falling off. Not even in the pool when Zara is quite rough with her play. She sleeps, eats and plays with it and it does not disturb her at all. I simply love this little device!
I will continue to use our Fit Pet device to track and compare Zara’s progress. Being a Rottweiler she is naturally an active pup and I love reading the data each night to see if she could have overdone her activity for the day and in turn feel sore in her leg that was operated on. Both myself and my hubby have fitness watches so now it’s awesome to compare who has been the most active between the three of us, it sure does provide us with some giggles and motivation.
Thank you Fit Pets for Zara’s activity monitor. I absolutely love it and as her recovery improves I look forward to watching her overall fitness improve too!
To order your Fit Pet activity monitoring device visit the Fit Pets website www.fitpets.co.za
Don’t forget to follow them on social media for all the updates and new products
Thank you for reading
by K9 Connectables Product Review
categories: Product Reviews
When the Petbound team contacted us to review the K9 Connectables toy range, I was so excited! Zara sure was going to love this one.
K9 Connecatables are a group of toys that connect together forming an interactive toy for your pooch. You can stuff them with treats or smear peanut butter inside and your pooch has to use her brain and work out how to get to the treat.
When we received our K9 Connectables I was immediately impressed with the quality and the durability of the toys. Remember that no dog toy is indestructible, but these are strong and I know Zara is going to have hours of enjoyment with them. The colours are also bright and fun making the toys visually appealing.
We received the K9 Connectables 3 pack. Is Zara spoiled or what! In it includes ‘The Original’ which are two ball like connectables and they also fit into ball launchers for you to throw, ‘The Dentist’ which are bigger than the balls and promote dental hygiene, and then ‘The Tech Bone’ which is the bone shaped one which all the others can connect to.
It was time to get creative and make Zara work for her treats. Zara is extremely intelligent and catches onto things really quickly. But this she had to think about… Each connectable has levels of difficulty. As you connect them together you can click them in once for easy, twice for medium, three times for hard and the Tech bone allows you to click four times which is super dog hard.
I started with the easiest setting on The Original connectables, I placed a treat inside and connected them together and just watched how Zara thought about how she was going to get to that treat. It was a total disaster on my part because I put treats that were small enough to slip through shapes on the side. So my princess learnt very quickly that rolling them got her treats… Now it was time for me to rectify that and teach her she needs to break them apart to get the treat. So I showed her the two separate balls, changed the treat, clicked them together and watched as she frustratingly tried to get her treat. She soon realised that rolling it this time was not getting her a reward so she tried a different tactic, us using her paws and jaw to pop them apart. Success!
The K9 Connectables are different from any other interactive toy Zara has ever played with. These are awesome! Even on the easy setting it is challenging for your pup, and so it should be! Zara is hugely food driven so once she knew there was a treat inside she did not give up until she broke the K9 Connecatbles apart. And i’ll be honest it took her a while, which I love because it really made her think about what she needs to do for her reward. These are without a doubt fantastic mental stimulation toys for your pooch.
Then it was time to enjoy them in another way… When I read on the packaging that the float, my heart skipped a beat because I knew this would be another way Zara would love these toys. Everyone who follows us on Instagram will know just how much Zara LOVES to swim! It is her happy place for sure, being in her pool. So now it was time to put these K9 Connectables to the test in water. I didn’t use treats or anything like that. I simply used them as some fun pool toys.
Zara couldn’t get enough of them. They were all floating around her, she grabbed them, flung them around and literally had a party for one with her K9 Connectables.
She began biting down on them and I for sure thought they would split but they didn’t. It turns out they are made from a special soft but durable material called TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer – essentially a soft plastic) and this makes them super awesome for your pup to bite down on. They are also certified to be completely non toxic, BPA and phthalate free, another tick of approval!
All in all these K9 Connectables are fantastic toys. I absolutely love them and so does Zara! I am blown away by how much they made her use her brain to figure out how to get her treats. She will be getting these toys everyday to keep her mind stimulated. Thank you to Petbound for sending us these super fun toys to review. Zara gives them a five paw rating and so do I!
You can view the full range of K9 Connectables on the Petbound Website www.petbound.co.za
They also offer a variety of other goodies to spoil your pets!
Follow Petbound on social media too | Facebook | Instagram
Thank you for reading.
by Happy October
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
Thank you for reading
by FlipChap Photo Book Product Review
categories: Product Reviews
Wow. Just wow. To say that I am blown away by our FlipChap photo book is a serious understatement!! Our photo book is filled with the most beautiful memories of Oscar and Zara and us as a family of four.
When FlipChap asked us to collaborate with them, I didn’t even hesitate. Having just lost Oscar just a few weeks prior, I knew this would be an extra special way to keep him close and an extra special way to remember him by. The two years that Oscar and Zara spent together were the best time of our family life, and now I can look at those memories every single day and reminisce.
FlipChap is an online based photo book company. Their website is so user friendly, I loved it! You begin by creating your account and choosing your book size, material and your display box.
I chose the sixty page square book in an artisan flip box covered in hazelnut fabric, but there are so many beautiful choices to choose from. Once that’s all set up, it’s time to get creative.
This was the best part. You upload the images you want to be in your book and you play around and get creative with the layouts. You can add backgrounds and text and stickers and banners and just have a fun time creating your memory photo book. Everything is online based and your progress is saved as you go along, so you do not need to create your entire book in one sitting you can log in and out as many times as you like.
There are so many options to make your book look pretty with new items constantly being added. It’s all about getting those creative juices flowing and making a beautiful photo book that you will cherish forever.
One of the most difficult parts for me was actually choosing and deciding which photos I want in the book out of my hundreds and thousands that I have of Oscar and Zara-haha! I am so happy with the choices I did make though. Our book is beautiful and extremely special in so many ways.
The quality that FlipChap promises online shines through in the actual product. The paper quality that your photos are printed on is smooth and soft yet durable. The dust jacket protects the actual cover of your book and the quality of that too is thick but smooth and soft to touch. The print quality of the actual images is amazing. What you see on the screen of your uploaded image is what you get on the paper in your book. It’s outstanding.
Not to mention all the little extra’s we received too… The cutest little mini book which I will be putting next to my bed so I can browse through it each night before bed. I find this mini book extremely special because you can take it anywhere with you! Little book marks for my book I am currently reading, a 2019 box calendar and printed out polaroid snaps. These little items are perfect.
Everything about my FlipChap experience was amazing. If I had a question or concern, they were there immediately on hand for assistance. Nothing was too much trouble.
So if you’re looking to create something very special, create a photo book with FlipChap! They are incredible with worldwide shipping, so it doesn’t matter which continent you’re on.
Thank you FlipChap for this beautiful photo book, I will cherish it forever. And that’s a promise!
Follow FlipChap on social media:
@flipchapofficial
And browse their website at:
Thank you for reading.
by Does your dog love water?
categories: Holiday fun, Zara
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.
Thank you for reading
*this post contains an affiliate link.
by Hello September. Hello Spring.
categories: Calendar
Happy first day of Spring to all my Southern Hemisphere readers! Spring is such a happy time of the year.
For me, this September will be a little different. September is Oscar’s birthday month and this will be the first one without him. I decided to feature him on his birthday month, and I probably always will, because it will forever be a special time of year to my family and I! So happy September everyone.
Download your September calendar here
Thank you for reading
by Zara Turns Two
categories: Zara
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…
Thank you for reading
by Paw Box : Product Review
categories: Product Reviews
Yes please mailman, we’ll take that thank you! We finally received our Paw Box from Greece and boy o boy do we love it… Zara couldn’t wait for me to unwrap this rather big delivery and expose the contents.
Paw Box is a subscription based box for your pets that comes out every two months. Each box is a different theme and is filled with gorgeous goodies for either your dog or cat. At Paw Box, they love all things natural, homemade and eco-friendly and each item is tried at tested by their beloved pooch Persa and two cats Leo and Naya. Proceeds from each box sale goes towards rescue dogs too, so what is not to love about this subscription box!
The box we received was the summer Flamingo box. Yes flamingos are my favourite thing right now and should be yours too. In our box was… A flamingo toy that is too precious to play with. A jar of natural, homemade beetroot doggy treats which Zara totally loves and left her drooling for more. Pet perfume which smells like bubblegum. A gorgeous flamingo bowtie which Zara decided was her favourite item in the box, she picked it out and went to lie on her bed to cuddle it. Perhaps she knew that would have been Oscar’s choice. A nose, paw and stress rescue kit. Some organic doggy shampoo. Organic beard oil for fluffy pets, maybe I can use this one on Peaches when I brush her bunny fluff. A super cute bandana for Zara to rock when she returns to puppy school. And a rope toy. Yes we got spoilt with lots and lots of stuff!!
I was particularly excited to use the paw balm because Zara has always had quite dry paws. I have tried putting organic coconut oil on her paws but she either licks it off or slides all over the place since our house is tiles right through. As you can see in the before and after photo featured below, the difference is huge! I am so happy with this paw balm, and surprisingly Zara didn’t really lick it off and it soaked in enough for her to walk without slipping.
Subscription boxes are hugely popular and if you have not tried one, my suggestion is sign up today! You can follow Paw Box on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest and subscribe via their website www.pawbox.gr
A huge thank you to Paw Box for all our spoils!
Thank you for reading
by Oscar.
categories: Oscar
How do you say goodbye to your best friend? I still don’t know even after losing you.
You were my best friend and at times my only friend! We were together for almost fifteen years, and I would say the most important fifteen years of life. I was sixteen years old and trying to find my way, you gave me purpose and responsibility.
This tiny bundle of excess skin, ears and paws came into my life and it was without a doubt love at first sight. I was literally obsessed with you. I guess I felt like a new mum does after giving birth to her child, I was proud of you, showing you off at every chance I got and one hundred percent devoted to you.
The cuddles we shared were endless and of course the best. No ones cuddles can compare to your cuddles my boy. You wanted to be on top of me all the time, at the very least right beside me. Nicknamed my cuddle bug for a very good reason, we would snuggle under the duvet for hours. In those moments my heart was completely at peace. As you got older your cuddling intensified, as if that was possible. Spoilt with an Egyptian cotton duvet set because quite frankly I wouldn’t have it any other way! The way your tail would wag when you were dreaming made my heart burst with happiness. I always hoped you were dreaming of me 🙂
Our time in South Africa, and most of your life, we enjoyed quite a few beach holidays together. Those holidays were my absolute favourite ones. You even managed to escape out the gate of my grandmothers house and I spent two hours looking for you in the pouring rain sobbing my heart out, convinced you were gone and a cane rat had eaten you! Listening with your ears was never your strong point so luckily I found you, harnessed you up and took you home. Phew!
You loved our holidays at the beach, well the beach sand in particular. Digging trenches for days and managing to get yourself totally covered from snout to tail. It was all such fun.
When your dad came into our lives thirteen years ago, you were not sold on the idea of having to share me. In fact I don’t think you ever were, haha! You were convinced I could only cuddle you and give only you my undivided attention. Of course I was on your side and it was definitely a ‘Love Me Love My Dog’ kinda situation… Luckily that didn’t put dad off at all. I think it made him love you even more because he knew you would protect me no matter what. It showed your loyalty towards me.
Then it was time for our Zambian adventure to commence. With you by my side I knew I could handle anything. Our flight to Zambia was the longest two hours of my whole life. I was a nervous wreck. So many thoughts were running through my mind. Were you scared, were you warm enough, was it too loud for you. We landed, I rushed through customs, collected our baggage, gave dad a half hearted hug and kiss and immediately said “We need to get Oscar NOW”. Bearing in mind it was about forty degrees celsius outside and now I was worried you would overheat or dehydrate. Dad firmly told me to wait in the car while he goes inside, he didn’t want me to get upset if I saw something I wasn’t happy with. Dad came rushing out the cargo hold to call me, I bounced out the car because I thought something was wrong… I peered into the hold and saw the most gorgeous boy sitting so proper and so calm in his specially made flight crate. A wave of massive relief and happiness flooded over me. My boy was totally fine. He handled that plane trip like a champ! Our new adventure had just begun…
You were never the ‘fetch’ kind of pup and as a result your toys just piled up until your toy boxes were overflowing. Enter Zara… All your toys were gone within a few weeks! I was a little apprehensive about getting Zara because we had been kicked out of two different doggy schools for your apparent aggression towards any other dog in your need to protect me. Ooops…
Needless to say, you were a fantastic big brother to Zara. You don’t show your emotions like Zara does, but in your own way you adored her and she knew it. You taught her so much, how to eat like a lady, how to model like a beauty queen and most importantly how to cuddle.
You were an amazing big brother to our bunny babies too. So kind and gentle towards them. You taught Zara gentleness too. She watched how you loved your bunny babies and copied you.
To say that I miss you is a serious understatement. In fact there are no words to describe the feeling of loss that I have. I wake up every morning and see your empty bed, and the pain in my heart from the day before returns. At night I still make your bed in the exact way you loved it. I don’t think I will ever stop making your bed. Zara sniffs your bedding, does some twirls and then settles down for a while before going off to her own bed. She misses you too.
Stylish Paws and everything about it was created because of you. It started off as just a small website selling one item, now I have a beautiful online store that showcases stylish and unique pet goodies plus this amazing blog. I am so proud of Stylish Paws and what I have made it into, but it’s all because of you my boy! You will always be the face of Stylish Paws. I will never stop sharing you with the world. I will push through the pain and promise to keep moving forward. Product reviews and photoshoots will never be the same without you but I promise to showcase Zara in the best way I know how. I promise to carry on for you.
The love and support I have received from the amazing Instagram community that I find myself in has been overwhelming. I continue to get messages asking how we as a family are coping, genuine messages of love and concern for us. Instagram is a wonderful thing, I have made some beautiful friendships thorough the app. It was the place I started sharing Oscar first. The place where people started falling in love with him, people from all over the world. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Life goes on and for the time being we are adjusting and learning how to do life without Oscar. It’s tough, extremely tough. I have only known life in Zambia with Oscar. We started this adventure together, now I have to carry it on. Zara has brought immense joy into our family and I do believe that she has helped me with this huge loss. I thank my husband for her. I thank him for having the foresight of knowing and understanding I would need her to get through this.
Oscar, I will never stop loving you.
Until we meet again…
Love always
Mom
xoxox
by