February 4, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for September 2009

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Review

September 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Over the last few weeks we’ve been reviewing dog bowls specifically dog food bowls for fast eating dogs.  I had perfect test subjects: Stetson and Derby my two Labrador Retrievers.  If you know Labrador Retrievers then you know these guys love to eat.  If you’re interested in checking out the bowls we reviewed then go to this page: Dog Bowl Reviews.

As a Guide Dog puppy raiser we are out in public all the time and we need dog food and water bowls for traveling.  Well, dog water bowls aren’t always “dog water bowls.”  In the case of today’s review our “dog water bowl” is actually just a device used for dispensing water out of an ordinary plastic water bottle.  Confused?  Well let me enlighten you with this weeks Dog “Product” review…The Pet Top Portable Drinking Device.

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Review

We first saw the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device at the OC Pet Expo a couple years ago and used it quite a bit with both Stetson and Derby.  Here are the specifications on the device:

Product: Pet Top Portable Drinking Device
List Price: $5.99
Product Features:

  • Designed to supply a neat and clean water supply to your pet when your on the go.
  • Fits most standard water bottles.
  • Unique ratchet-action keeps the Pet Top® portable drinking device open at your desired setting while in use, so your pet gets the right amount of water throughout!
  • Dishwasher safe

Product Description

Our unique patented Pet Top® portable drinking device for pets is designed to provide a neat and convenient water supply for your pet when you’re on the go and can’t be bothered with the mess, hassle and waste of pouring water into a bowl.

Take the Pet Top® portable drinking device with you to the park, in the car, on a walk, or anywhere your pet needs a drink. It’s small enough to fit in a jogging pack, purse or pocket when not in use. And since it fits most standard water bottles, you’ll always have a ready source of water nearby. You can even reuse a water bottle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028CJ6X0?ie=UTF8&tag=minlikwat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0028CJ6X0

Puppy In Training Product Review

Pet Top Portable Drinking Device Video Review

Once again Stetson is our trusty test subject.  He was pretty thirsty on this day and did a great job licking away at the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device.  Take a look at the video:

What did you guys think of the video?  The Pet Top Portable Drinking Device worked as advertised and I can confirm that it does fit on pretty much every water bowl I’ve tried.

My Thoughts on the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device

What are my final thoughts on this product.  Well for starters it worked great and is very portable.  One of the main features I like about the Portable Drinking Device is the fact that I can grab this little orange cap, a couple water bottles, Stetson, Linus, and I can share the water very easy and conveniently.  It’s easy to keep clean and my dogs required very little training to use the device (I just had to wait until they were thirsty).

The one thing I didn’t like about this device and actually a bit of a deal breaker for taking with my Guide dogs was the fact that the water dripped outside Stetson’s mouth.  This was really unavoidable even after adjusting the water flow by tightening up the cap.  If I’m in doors with one of my guide dog puppies I can’t have water dripping all over the floor or carpet I need something better suited for indoors.  Also, another negative about loosening and tightening the cap: if the cap is too tight very little water comes out and it takes forever to quench your dogs thirst.  If you loosen the cap then you end up with a bigger mess of water on the floor which is not that big a deal as long as you’re outside.

To sum up:

Pros:

  • I love how portable the device is.  It’s fits easily in your pocket (in my cargo shorts)
  • It’s great how it fits on most any water bottle
  • Easy to keep clean and interchange water bottles between people and dogs

Cons:

  • Water drips on the ground.  How much depends on how much you loosen or tighten the cap for water flow
  • Even when you have the Pet Top on very loose for maximum water flow Stetson sat there for minutes drinking water (I time lapsed the video to speed things up)

It’s great that it fits on any water bottle, but we’re trying to be more green and eco-friendly by avoiding the plastic water bottle – I originally had this as a con, but in reality I’m sure you can find a used water bottle just about anywhere from anyone of your friends which does promote recycling.

Overall we really enjoyed the Pet Top Portable Drinking Device and we would recommend it to people as long as they know that some of the water will drip to the ground.  Of course this is not a problem if your just taking your dog to the park, camping, or hiking.  However, if you need to give your dog water indoors you might need a device or dog water bowl that does not drip or cause a mess.

Filed Under: Dog Products, Shelter Dogs Tagged With: , , , ,

Roomba…Pet Dog…And My Eperience…The Roomba Review

September 24, 2009 By 1 Comment

I have a Roomba, Pet Dog, and small condo.  The question is does it all work?  Does my condo get clean?  Does the Roomba work?  and Does the Roomba freak out my dog like all other vacuum cleaners? The answers are yes and no.  We’ll cover all of this and more below in my Roomba Review!

Today we’re going to take a break from dog bowl reviews and review a different kind of dog product: the Roomba for people with dogs.

Roomba Review For People With Dogs

First of all what is the Roomba?  The Roomba is a revolutionary new (well not that new anymore) vacuum cleaner that cleans your floors independently.  That is you don’t have to push around the Roomba…it goes from room to room on it’s own navigating using it’s own little electronics and navigation.

There are different styles with varying amounts of technology, but the main purpose of the Roomba is that it can clean your house without you.  The Roomba I ended up getting was the iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot.  It was definitely one of the higher end models and came with more bells and whistles then I knew what to do with.  Here’s the Roomba 560 product information:

Product: iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot
List Price: $349.99

Product Features

  • Vacuuming robot picks up dirt and debris with the touch of a button
  • Easy-to-empty bagless dustbin; fine-filtration system traps allergens
  • Anti-tangle technology; gentle-touch bumper system; built-in cliff sensors
  • Self-charging Home Base, 2 Virtual Wall Lighthouses, an extra filter, and more included
  • Measures 16-3/4 by 21 by 5 inches; 1-year limited warranty

Product Description

Cleans routinely, so you don’t have to. 500 Series robots offer the latest innovations from iRobot with unprecedented efficiency, coverage, and cleaning performance.

Product Image

Roomba

My Thoughts On The Roomba

I absolutely loved the Roomba for the three months it worked. I never did program it, but as far as I know you can program it to clean at specific times.  I would just push the button on the top, leave the house for work, and when I returned it cleaned up all the fur in dust in my house…EXCELLENT!  It even returned itself to its charging base so that it would be fully charged for the next days work.

Did it scare my dogs?  Linus was hesitant at first, but eventually got used to it and just watched or avoided it as it move around the house.  Stetson was still in puppy mode and thought it was a toy as he bounced around thinking it was something to play with.  It is slightly quieter then my regular vacuum cleaner and I think that is why Linus got used to it so quickly

Unfortunately, after about three months it broke down and was no longer usable.  So what was the probelm?

The Roomba worked absolutely great, but one day a stubborn piece of long dog fur got tangled in one of the gears.  The little plastic gear would no longer turn however the roller that  sweeps the floor continued to turn and stripped the gear rendering the Roomba unusable.  I tried several times to get it to clean the house and it still did circle each room, but no longer picked up the dust, dirt, and fur.

Another drawback I found with my dirty house was that the little dust bin could not collect much lint, dust, dog fur, etc. before it was full.  If you have a heavy shedding dog then you might have to run the iRobot 560 Roomba Vacuuming Robot several times a day.  Once a day worked fine for me, Linus, and Stetson.

Pros:

  • Cleaned the floors at the push of a button while I was away at work!
  • Returned to charging base ready for the next days work
  • Simple to use and easy to clean
  • Not long before both my dogs were used to the Roomba roaming the house

Cons:

  • Not very durable – broke down in 3 months
  • The dust bin is very small and might not work to well with heavy shedding dogs
  • The Roomba can’t navigate it’s way down stairs.  Lucky for me my one story condo is perfect and the Roomba easily cleaned all five rooms and two bathrooms.
  • The price – at $349 this thing is a bit pricey.

My parents have three cats and a dog and several years ago we bought them a Roomba.  They loved it and theirs lasted several years.  As I mentioned earlier I loved my Roomba too.  However, the one drawback that I had was it’s durability.  My suggestion to you: If you want to purchase a Roomba then make sure you get the extended warranty.

What about you?  Do you own a Roomba? Pet Dog?  Give us your Roomba Review for people with dogs in the comments section below?

Filed Under: Dog Products Tagged With: , , , , , ,

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

September 22, 2009 By 3 Comments

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means time to talk dog bowls.  This week Stetson and I review the DogPause Dog Bowl for fast eating dogs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my High Definition camera for the video, but I’m not too sure it matters since we’ve been uploading to low resolution videos to YouTube.  Instead of my regular handy dandy Canon HD Video Camcorder I used a simple point and shoot digital camera: Nikon Coolpix S60 Digital Camera.  The Nikkon is not much for shooting video, but it does shoot some decent still images and has a touch screen.  I use my Nikkon for most of the still images on this site and now my first video.  Overall, I’d say it’s a slightly above average digital camera.

Anyways, back to the DogPause Dog Bowl Review!

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

As mentioned earlier today we are reviewing the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Of course the purpose of this bowl is to slow down fast eating dogs.  Below are the specifications on this dog bowl.

Product: DogPause Food Bowl
List Price: $12.95
Product Features:

  • Divides the bowl into 4 feeding zones
  • Each feeding zone is 1/2 cup in capacity and designed to “block” the dog from putting his full snout into the bowl; this slows down eating pace as your dog needs to use his tongue for each bite
  • After your dog finishes each zone, he must re-position himself for the next zone
  • The bowl is designed to slide a little on the floor, further slowing down the dog as he needs to re-position for each bite
  • DogPause Food Bowl comes in two colors (Red and Blue)
  • Clinically proven to slow down fast-eating dogs.
  • Virtually eliminates the risk of choking.

Product Description:
This bowl is sized for dogs between 15 and 100 pounds and most dog breeds ranging from Beagles to Rottweilers. It’s particularly effective with Labs and Golden Retrievers!

Dog Pause Food Bowl

Puppy In Training Product Review

DogPause Bowl Video Review

Our trusty speed eating tester…Stetson was up to the challenge and ready to demo the DogPause Dog Bowl on camera for the benefit of our readers.  Check out the Video review below of the DogPause Dog Food Bowl.

As you can see in the video it took Stetson approximately 10 seconds longer to finish the food in the DogPause Bowl versus his regular stainless steel bowl.  This is good, but not a great result and we have tested the DogPause Bowl extensively with similar results each time Stetson eats a whole meal of food.

My Thoughts On The DogPause Dog Food Bowl

This bowl does slow down Stetson’s eating and does appear to keep him from gagging and vomiting.  Although he still has done both on occasion it’s not nearly as frequent as when he uses his standard stainless steel bowl.  The main problem I’m having with this bowl is similar to the issues I’ve had with the regular Brake-Fast Bowl.  Over a period of time Stetson develops canine acne while using the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Stetson’s canine acne really makes it’s impossible to use the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl as a permanent solution for slowing down Stetson’s fast eating.

Pros:

  • The bowl does work as advertise, but in our test it only extended Stetson’s eating time by 10 seconds.  However, if you check out the video on the DogPauseBowl.com website you’ll see a video of Hank.  It took him nearly twice as long to finish his food with the DogPause Bowl going from 1 minute 5 seconds with a stainless steel bowl to 2 minutes 1 seconds with the DogPause Bowl.
  • Stetson has been better with his gagging and vomiting when using this dog bowl.

Cons

While the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl does do it’s job I think the main problem we have is that Stetson scoops food out like a shovel and swallows.  The DogPause Bowl helps a little, but not has much as we’d like.  My thoughts now turn to a giant dog bowl that would just spread all his food across so he can’t do his usual scooping action.  I’ve seen several great suggestions that I might try in the future that doesn’t really involve a special dog bowl.  First, I like the idea of trying a muffin pan.  The DogPause Bowl is very similar to a muffin pan and I think a muffin pan might work even better for Stetson as he won’t be allowed to scoop as easily with the little muffin holes.  A second option is to purchase a large stainless steel bowl and drop one of Stetson’s toys in the middle like his Kong to obstruct his eating.

I’ll probably try both of these at some point and time and report my results back here at Puppy In Training.

Do you have any suggestions that you use to slow down your dogs eating?  Let me know in the comments section so I can test it out with Stetson.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls Tagged With: , , , ,

Brindle Labrador Retriever – Dixie

September 21, 2009 By 18 Comments

We received some more pictures of Brindle Labs and decided to keep posting them to the website.  Take a look at the images of Dixie below…she sure does have an interesting color for a Labrador Retriever.  I hope you enjoy!

Dixie The Three Year Old Brindle Lab

Dixie is a 3 years old brindle lab. Her mother is Chancy a dark chocolate lab, and her father is Sam a black lab. She was one of two fully brindle colored pups in the litter and she is the only surviving one. Five of the pups in this litter had some brindle coloring.

Dixie has had one litter of pups after she turned two and we kept her son who is chocolate, there were some that had a patch or two of brindle however none with her coloring. She is a very happy playful dog who loves water and Frisbee catching.

We love this breed and have five wonderful dogs. Two black, one dark chocolate, one chocolate and Dixie our brindle. I have included pictures of her below.

Brindle Labrador

I hope you enjoy the beauty of her color as we do, however we enjoy her more for her temperament and loving demeanor. J.N. Orleans, Michigan

Filed Under: Pure Bred Dogs Tagged With: , , ,

5 Tips On How To Save Money On Your Dogs

September 18, 2009 By 1 Comment

It’s a tough economy out there and we’re doing our best to save a little money here and there.  Lucky for us we still have our day job although we did receive a cut in pay a few months back.  So that brings up the question How Can You Save Money On Your Dogs? There are a number of things you and I can both do to help save money on our dogs.  Here are five areas where I try to cut my expenses:

5 Tips On How To Save Money On Your Dogs

Puppy Bath

Photo by jsmjr

  1. Buy your dog food in bulk.  This one is a no brainer for me because I have two large dogs.  However, if your dog only eats a cup of food a day you might be buying the smaller dog food bag.  We buy the large 30 pound bag of Natural Balance Potato and Duck allergy formula because we suspect Stetson has dog food allergies.
  2. Grab your old stuffed dog toys and sew them back together or better yet start making your own dog toys.  We’ve been rebuilding our stuffed ducks, rabbits, and squirrels for years.  More recently I’ve been pondering the idea of making a plush toy snake (built out of a sock) or a stuffed clam made out of an old pair of blue jeans.
  3. Exercise, train, and give your dog plenty of attention.  Make sure you do these things and you won’t have to come home to a chewed up TV remote, piece of furniture, or your favorite baseball cap.  Believe me I’ve witnessed the demise of all these items.
  4. Are you looking for a new dog?  Try dog adoption.  There are so many homeless dogs out there why waste money on buying a dog which can cost up to several thousand dollars.  Adopting a dog is a great thing to do and you can also save money.  When we picked up Linus the adoption fee was only $37.  I just checked the LA County website and the fee to adopt a dog is $50 or $30 depending on how long the dog has been at the shelter.  The fee includes Microchip, rabies, and animal wellness vaccinations!
  5. Stop taking your dog to the groomer and take care of grooming yourself.  After all grooming is a great time to bond with your dog.  A groomer can cost $100 or more for one visit.  Head on over to Amazon.com and purchase the necessary grooming products including a brush, shampoo, nail clippers (or Dremel), etc. A few hints on grooming:

    • Make sure you thoroughly rinse all the soap out of your dogs coat.  I rinse my dog’s coat once until there’s no more soap.  Then I rinse him again for good measure.
    • The FURminator works great at getting to your dogs undercoat.  We highly recommend it for heavy shedding dogs.
    • When it comes to nail clippers I don’t like the Guillotine version as much as the regular clippers.  This pair has worked well for me in the past: Nail Clippers.  Make sure you get the correct size for your dog.
    • Lately we’ve been using a Dremel instead of nail clippers.  We like the Dremel 750-02 Minimite 4.8-Volt Two-Speed Cordless Rotary Tool over the PediPaws Dremel because it has a rechargeable battery, has different speeds, and comes with several sander bands.

Those are just a few simple hints on how you can save money on your dogs.  Hopefully this list helps you during this rough economy.

Do you have any hints on how to save money on your dogs?  If so, please leave us your pointers in the comment section below.

Filed Under: Dog Adoptions Tagged With: , , , , ,

CCI Puppies In Training

September 17, 2009 By 1 Comment

I follow a lot of blogs in my RSS reader and too no surprise one of my feeds are simple images and descriptions of adorable puppies.  Every once in a while they (The Daily Puppy) highlights a puppy in training.  In this case we are lucky enough to see Puppies In Training.

I’m sure The Daily Puppy receives tens of thousands (if not more) visitors a day some I’m very happy to see they are highlighting a great cause like Canine Companions for Independence (CCI).

Here’s a little excerpt from the The Daily Puppy:

Canine Companions for Independence is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly-trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. Canine Companions assistance dogs are trained in up to 50 commands designed to make everyday life easier for adults and children with physical and developmental disabilities. They open and close doors, retrieve dropped objects, and turn on and off lights. Outside of physical tasks, Canine Companions assistance dogs provide immeasurable emotional support to their human partners.

And of course they included some adorable pictures of their Puppies In Training.  Here’s one:

Puppies In Training

For the full article and more images of these adorable CCI puppies visit the Daily Puppy.

If you’re interested in becoming a puppy raiser and raising a CCI puppy then visit their website at http://www.cci.org.  If you don’t have the time for puppy raising then they offer many other volunteer activities and also accept donations at their website.

Of course my last two puppies, Stetson and Derby were both puppies in training for Guide Dogs of America.  If you’re interested in puppy raising for GDA then visit their website at http://www.guidedogsofamerica.com.

Filed Under: Puppy In Training Tagged With: , ,

Visiting Tucson And Support A K9

September 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I’ve been pretty busy the past couple weeks.  Two weekends ago I was at a wedding in San Francisco and last weekend I met up with my college buddies in Tucson, Arizona to reminisce and have fun at our old hangouts.  We even caught a football game in the middle of rain and thunderstorms.  I looked up at the banners along the stadium and thought back to our glory days and some of the great players on our football team during our college years.  Most football fans have heard of Tedy Bruschi who just retired this year after a stellar career with the New England Patriots.  Also, a big part of our Desert Swarm defense was standout defensive tackle Rob Waldrop.  I don’t remember too much about his NFL career so I decided to look him up on Google.

After Googling “Rob Waldrop”  I found out he did have a short pro career however one thing that came to my attention was his involvement in a program called Support a K9 and decided to write a quick post about it since we’ve been talking about K9′s quite a bit over the past few weeks.   Here’s some information on the program:

Support A K9

21 AUGUST 2007 TUCSON, Arizona — A little over a year ago, two local businesses purchased a trained police K9 for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department … A unique donation for sure, but the intent was to be far more reaching …

A trained police K9 provides long-term value — seven years to be exact — to the community and department far beyond the price tag of $11,500. In the time since the donation, “Rudy” (The K9) and Sgt. Greg Bargar (The Handler) have combined to accomplish the following:

They’ve recovered over $735,000 in drug money … Seized over 40-lbs of Cocaine; 25-lbs of Methamphetamine; 2-lbs of Heroin; 7400-lbs of Marijuana; And been involved with the search and arrest of numerous felony suspects for various crimes ranging from: Car Jacking, Kidnapping, Auto-Theft, Robbery, and various others.

One of the two local business men mentioned in the article was the aforementioned Rob Waldrop.  After the success of the first K9 “Rudy” Waldrop is attempting to duplicate donations in order to purchase another K9 for the Sheriff’s department.  For more information on how to donate to Support a K9 visit the website at http://www.supportak9.com.  If you click on the “I’m Interested” link in the horizontal navigation bar you can fill out the form with your information and the amount you’d like to contribute.

Thank you Mr. Waldrop for all the great football memories during the early 90′s and thanks once again for supporting your community with the Support A K9 program.

Filed Under: Working Dog Tagged With: , , ,

Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl Review

September 15, 2009 By 1 Comment

Does your dog drink water too fast?  This week we have the Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl which was designed to slow down fast drinking dogs.  Both Derby and Stetson have choked on water trying to drink too fast so lucky for us we found the DrinkBetter Dog Bowl.  This bowl matches the Contech EatBetter Dog Food Bowl and together the two make a great matching set.  As I mentioned about the EatBetter Bowl this water bowl is very solid and made of a more durable heavier plastic then the other bowls we reviewed.

Without further ado here’s our Tuesday Dog Bowl Review:

Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl Review

Today’s dog bowl is not for food, but instead we are reviewing a dog water bowl that is meant to slow down the fast drinking dog.  The Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl is designed with a floating plastic object that slows down water drinking.  Did the DrinkBetter do as advertised and slow down our fast drinking Labrador Retrievers?  Check out the video below to find out.

Product: Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl
List Price (Amazon.com): $26.10
Product Features:

  • Prevents dogs from drinking too fast.
  • Helps dogs avoid soaking their ears and muzzle.
  • Minimizes the mess left by a sloppy drinker.
  • Ensures your dog’s comfort with a smooth and ergonomic design.
  • Sturdy non-skid design, constructed of K-Resin SBC — a high-quality food-grade polymer.
  • Capacity: Approximately 16oz or 500ml.

Product Description:
The Drink Better® pet bowl encourages dogs to drink at a slower, healthier rate, and make less mess while they’re at it. Besides making a wet mess, dogs that drink too fast can experience digestive problems such as indigestion and vomiting, and light-haired dogs may experience staining of the muzzle (from chlorinated water).

The Drink Better bowl uses a floating obstacle to control the flow of water, encouraging dogs to drink slower and take only as much as they need, without soaking their ears and muzzles or slopping water around the feeding area.

Product Image


Puppy In Training Product Review

Product Video Review

Both Stetson and Derby decided to put the Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl to the test.  Does the floating obstacle actually slow down their drinking?  Unfortunately, this time around we don’t have a stainless steel bowl for a direct comparison.  However, I think after watching the video you will get the idea of whether or not the bowl is slowing down their water drinking.

My Thoughts On The Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl

Now that you saw the video what do you think?  I know you can’t decide conclusively until you compare next to a regular stainless steel water bowl.  Well, trust me when I tell you that the Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl definitely did slow down both Derby and Stetson.  However, the bigger issue was the fact that they spilled a lot of water each time we tested the bowl.  Labrador Retrievers aren’t the most gentle dogs and both Stetson and Derby make a mess with their regular water bowls (they drool well after they’ve finished drinking water).  The problem was that the DrinkBetter Bowl was much messier then their regular water bowls not from drooling, but from poking at the floatation obstacle.

By the way, I must point out that I let Stetson and Derby use the DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl for about a week before filming the video.  When I first introduced the bowl Stetson and Derby both practically flipped the bowl trying to get to the water.  They did much better in the videos and over time I think they would both get used to drinking properly and slowly from this bowl.  However, that brings me to my next point…

The Contech DrinkBetter Dog Water Bowl is too small for large dogs like Stetson and Derby.  The capacity is 16 ounces and if you fill it too high you will definitely have a messy floor.  I experimented with filling it the bowl to different heights settling in at about 1/2 full.  The more water you add to the bowl the bigger mess you get.  Unfortunately, I did not get extended use out of this water bowl because it’s just too small for my dogs.

Pros:

  • Just like the Contech EatBetter Dog Bowl the DrinkBetter Dog Bowl is a very solid construction.  I wish all the bowls I reviewed were made like these two Contech Dog Bowls.
  • This Dog Water Bowl does slow down fast drinking dogs.
  • The DrinkBetter and EatBetter Dog Bowls make a nice matching set.

Cons:

  • My dogs made a serious mess drinking water out of the DrinkBetter Bowl – this can probably be alleviated by added less water and submerging the floatation obstacle a bit, but my dogs are stubborn and like using their paws and noses to make a mess with the floating obstacle.
  • It took a few days before my dogs figured out how to get water out of the bowl.
  • This is the medium DrinkBetter bowl and it is too small.  At the time of this writing their is no larger DrinkBetter Dog Water bowl.

Overall we liked this dog water bowl.  However, because the bowl is too small for our Labradors we only tested it for a couple weeks as we have some thirsty dogs.  Also, we have read that larger breeds would do better with this bowl if we kept the floater at a lower depth.  Unfortunately, we did not test a deeper floatation which may have caused the mess we were getting on our floor.  We’ll try that in the future and report back our experience.  However, if you do watch the second half of the video you can see that Stetson is clearly getting used to using the DrinkBetter Dog Bowl.  As I mentioned earlier I think it just takes some training and time to get a dog used to this bowl.

Have you tried the Contech EatBetter Dog Bowl?  Tell us about your experience in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls Tagged With: , , ,

iPhone Puppy Raisers, There’s An App For That

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Are you an iPhone user?  If you’ve seen the commercials then you probably know there’s an iPhone app for just about anything you can think of.  Guess what?  There’s now even a free app for Puppy Raisers.  Guide Dogs of Texas Inc. has released a silly iPhone app for Guide Dog puppy raisers.  It’s very simple and probably meant to promote their program.  The app is called Pocket Puppy Raiser Lite and as far as I can tell all the app allows you to do is rub your puppy’s belly while he’s sleeping.

Pocket Puppy Raiser

Here are the instructions on how to play Pocket Puppy Raiser:

  • Tap the Guide Dog Logo for more info about guide dogs!
  • If the puppy is asleep, try rubbing its belly!
  • If the puppy is looking at you, with its big puppy eyes, try touching his nose for some kisses!  Wipe the drool away by rubbing the screen!
  • If the puppy has its toy out, play with it by dragging the toy back and forth!

As I mentioned my puppy only sleeps and all I can do is rub his belly. I have the lite version of the app. However, for an additional 99 cents you can get the full version which allows you to do more than just rub the belly.

For more information about Guide Dogs of Texas visit their website at http://www.guidedogsoftexas.org

Filed Under: Guide Dogs Tagged With: , , ,

How To Puppy Proof Your House

September 11, 2009 By 2 Comments

We miss Derby and were watching some of his first videos and thinking about our first few days together a little over a year ago.  It reminded us of some of the things we had to do in preparation of a new puppy.  In particular I’m talking about how to puppy proof your house.

It’s very important to puppy proof all parts of your house not just the inside, but also your yard and garden.  I live in a condo with a small patio and I don’t let my puppies onto the patio unsupervised or without leash.  So, today we’re not going to talk about puppy proofing your yard or garden, but just the inside of your house.  However, we did want to point out that there are definitely many potential dangers for a puppy in the backyard.

Derby Head

Puppy Proof Your House

I’ve don’t have any children, but I think that puppy proofing your house is probably very similar to preparing your house for a toddler.  Remember that everything in your house is new and exciting to your puppy and he will most likely investigate and get into everything using the equivalent of a toddlers hands…his mouth.

  • Make sure all wires and cables are kept out of reach.  Puppies can and will chew and gnaw on most things they can get their mouth around.
  • Some very curious puppies may try to get into cabinets by nudging them open with their noses.  You might consider putting locks on all the cabinets to keep your puppy from getting into things he shouldn’t.
  • You might consider buying puppy pen (XPen) or A Baby Gate to contain your puppy in certain to play rather than allowing him to roam the entire house.
  • Keep items like remote controls and cell phones out of the reach of your puppy.  If you’re like me then you’ll learn the hard way.  Linus chewed through two remote controls and one cell phone before we wised up.  He was a real gadget geek.
  • Keep all poisonous household items out of reach or locked away.  Household cleaners, insect poisons, antifreeze just to name a few.
  • Check your indoor and outdoor plants and make sure they’re not poisonous to your new puppy.  Check out this list of plants poisonous to dogs.
  • Close toilet bowl covers.  It’s a good idea not to let your puppy get in the habit of playing with toilet bowl water.  You may add chemicals that can be harmful and even if you don’t if you and your puppy visit friends they may add chemicals to the toilet.
  • Keep trash cans out of reach – small waste basket can often times contain harmful items to your puppy.  Keep them out of reach.
  • Cover unused electrical outlets.

One final test is get down on your hands and knees and take your puppy’s point of view.  Do you see any potential dangers?  Hanging nails, dangling electrical cords, etc.

One thing I learned after raising several puppies is to keep a constant eye on your puppy.  If he’s roaming the house then you should be roaming right along side him.  I kept a constant eye on both Stetson and Derby and neither of them got into much trouble.  Of course the occasional potty accident, but not half eaten remotes or cell phones.

Have you raised a puppy?  Do you have any hints on ?

Filed Under: Dog Training Tips Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts