rottweiler Archives - Page 8 of 9

Tag: rottweiler

11
Oct
2018

Fit Pets Activity Monitoring Device Product Review

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

Facebook | Instagram

Thank you for reading

05
Oct
2018

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.

01
Oct
2018

Happy October

categories: Calendar, Zara

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

21
Sep
2018

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.

28
Aug
2018

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

24
Aug
2018

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

01
Aug
2018

August

categories: Calendar

Happy August everyone. August is a particularly happy and exciting month since it is Princess Zara’s birthday month. She will be two on the 28th! Time sure does fly by.

So here she is in her beautiful flower crown, because she is after all a very pretty flower princess. Enjoy.

Download your August calendar here

Thank you for reading.

25
Jul
2018

Cheat Treats

categories: Recipes

It’s no secret that I love making treats for Oscar and Zara. Be it baked biscuits, frozen lollies or stuffed Kong’s, I love finding what they love and being creative. But sometimes life gets a little crazy and I don’t always have loads of time to spend in the kitchen thinking of ideas, baking hundred of biscuits.

The thought occurred to me while browsing the isles in the grocery store, don’t ask me what I was doing in the baby food isle since we don’t have any two legged babies just yet… But I thought to myself if the food is good enough for a baby, surely it’s good enough for the babies I do currently have? Of course I looked at all the ingredient lists and made sure there was nothing unsafe for Oscar and Zara to eat. I chose a few flavours I thought they would enjoy and started thinking of ‘short cut’ ways to make them treats…..

You can choose which ever brand you love, I chose these Squish ones simply because I know some moms who have given them to their babies, but I will be on the lookout for some organic ones.

When you start thinking about it, the ideas are endless! But here are a few which will satisfy your pooch:

Frozen Kong:

Squeeze the entire packet into the Kong, top up with yoghurt if it doesn’t fill it completely and you’re done! Pop it in the freezer over night and there you have your frozen Kong for the next day. If your pup is like Oscar and prefers a fresh Kong, simply squeeze the Squish into the Kong until its full and then give it to your pooch. You might want to put a towel down since it can get a bit messy!

Ice Cubes:

Squirt a little into ice trays and freeze. These are great little treats for your pups to enjoy, especially when it’s hot!

Lollies:

You will need an ice lolly maker tray for this one. Simply squeeze the Squish into the lolly moulds and pop them into the freezer until frozen.

Of course you can add frozen berries, coconut oil or peanut butter to any of these ideas to spruce them up. All of the above ideas will take you less than 10 minutes to make!

Biscuits:

Making baked biscuits using the Squish eliminates you having to think of a flavour for your pups treats (banana and peanut butter, carrot and apple etc etc..) The flavours are already made for you!

Ingredients

1 Squish packet

1 cup flour

1 egg

Directions

Mix together all your ingredients in a bowl. If the dough is too sticky then add extra flour, if it is too dry then add a splash of water. Once you have a nice dough, roll it out onto a floured surface. Now because time is of the essence here, I skip the cookie cutter part and simply cut the rolled dough into small squares using a sharp knife then scoop them up and place them onto a greased baking tray and bake for +-20mins or until cooked through and golden in colour. Store the cooled teats in an air tight container for up to four weeks.

I hope you can now find the time to make some yummy treats for your pups. Life gets hectic for all of us but our pups deserve wholesome, healthy teats too. And remember to be creative and try different ideas and combinations. Have fun!

Thank you for reading

05
Jun
2018

Product Review: Titan Ink!

categories: Product Reviews

You may know them as @mixlamprecht7 on Instagram, I know them as Titan and Mom. Mom is Michaela and together they formed Titan Ink!

It’s hard not to fall in love with Titan, his squishy face and adorable fun-loving attitude and of course he is a rottie. Mom is pretty fabulous herself, always offering friendly advice to anyone who needs it. When we were asked to be apart of this amazing collaboration, of course we said YES!

Titan Ink is special. Not only is this one for my fellow South Africans but it offers so much more than t-shirts and hoodies. Each item that gets sold, proceeds go to a certain charity, let me explain further…

You all know that I am a Rottie Mom and a very proud one at that! For every ‘Rottie Mom’ shirt sold, a percentage goes towards the Rottweiler Rescue of South Africa. Oscar is a basset cross bulldog but gets more “oh he is a cute basset” comments than “he looks like a super cute bulldog” comments, so I went with being a proud ‘Basset Mom’ for his t-shirt. Proceeds from this go to the South African Basset Adoptions Foundation. At the moment, Pretoria Animal Buddies and Underdogs are the other recipients.

Most of us animal lovers much prefer our furry friends over the human type. This is exactly what inspired Michaela to create Titan Ink, which is aptly named after her best friend Titan. Currently on offer are t-shirts and hoodies with writing in gold, copper and the oh so stunning rose gold. Each order is custom made as you order. Whatever your fur babies breed is, Titan Ink will create your t-shirt or hoodie. The range is looking to expand very soon so keep an eye on them for new and exclusive items.

Dog lover clothing is a big hit overseas and slowly creeping into the South African market too-YAY. Titan Ink garments are 100% quality made! I am totally in love with my two t-shirts and I am proud to wear them.

Michaela lives by the mantra “If you follow your passion you will never work a day in your life.” You can support Titan Ink by following their Facebook Page and Instagram account. For orders email titan7ink@gmail.com

Or you can shop online at the Stylish Paws online store by clicking here.