French Bullevard- Classy Collars for Canines

So I know it's been a while since we've talked fashion (there's just something about spending 18+ hours of the day chasing a toddler that kills any desire to have nice things...), but we just had to post about these spectacular collars from French Bullevard.

Designed and made in New York City and inspired by the founder's adorable Frenchie, Kumi, their collections are ever so chic and beautiful.

Our favorite collars are those more suited for special occasions and honestly are more jewelry than utilitarian-- check out the gorgeous Duchesse ($48), which features small glass pearls, or La Marquise ($42), which incorporates leather lacing (we are partial to the light blue, obviously!).

La Marquise

The Duchess

One day we'll be able to have nice things again.... but in the meantime there's no reason you shouldn't treat your pup to one of these stunning collars! Head over to their website to learn more about their story and check out the gorgeous collections.

xoxo

Smart Cookie Custom Dog Treats

Over the past year we've received lots of emails about personalized dog food blends that are tailored to your pooch's specific dietary needs. And now it looks like that trend is moving into the treat market! Smart Cookie, which is based out of Colorado, lets you choose the your pup's favorite protein, carb and fruit/veggie and combines them into handmade, freshly baked cookies. Made and sourced in the USA, and all of Smart Cookie's ingredients are human-grade, and include doggy favorites like salmon, flax seed, quinoa, green beans and blueberries. They contain no wheat, no corn, no soy, no by-products and are free of preservatives.

To get started, head to their website to get started customizing your dog's own custom treats. If you're feeling overwhelmed, they've also got some pre-created cookies to select from. Each 9oz box (roughly 50 treats) costs $10, which seems very reasonably priced to us.

Have you gotten on the custom dog food/treat band wagon?

Fruitables Snowflake Dog Treats & Cloudstar Gingerbread Men!

Nom. It's holiday treat time!

Two of our favorite brands have introduced limited edition special treats to spoil that nice (or naughty) pooch in your life.

We have to admit, we're fascinated by these Vanilla Snowflake Treats from Fruitables. Made with REAL snowflakes from the Rockies, each pouch contains over 300 "sustainably harvested" (haha) snowflakes. Combined with pumpkin granola and yogurt, each crunchy treat has only 9 calories making it a more sensible indulgence.

Here are the folks at Fruitables harvesting their snowflakes!

Fruitables Snowflake Dog Treats from Fruitables on Vimeo.

This season, the folks over at Cloudstar have added Gingerbread as a flavor to their popular Buddy Biscuit line. Available in XXL gingerbread man biscuits, soft & chewy and regular crunchy, Buddy Biscuits are made in the USA and are corn free. We are particularly partial to the giant gingerbread man, which in our opinion would make for an excellent stocking stuffer. 

All treats featured are available from your local pet stores and online from sites like Amazon.com. Does your dog have any favorite holiday treats? 

TailMix Grilled Sirloin Burgers - A Review

It is very rare in this household that we finish a bag of treats. It's not that we want to be wasteful (in fact, we often end up sharing the leftovers with our other canine pals), but what it comes down to is our Morkie is a super fussy eater. (My husband claims she gets this from me…. that is up for debate)

However, the ONE treat that never goes turned down are TailMix's Grilled Sirloin Burgers. Grain and gluten free, these treats are basically freeze dried little patties of USDA certified hormone free ground beef sirloin from Washington state. Made in the USA, you can serve them as is, crumble them on top of your pup's food or even rehydrate for a softer texture.

While Paddy is a big fan of the flavor (I swear she can hear the bag open from across the apartment), we love the transparency into what is in these treats. They're also the perfect size for special rewards (a little bit bigger than a quarter, but smaller than a half dollar). We were going to try and take a photo of Paddy with said treat to provide a sense of size… but she was overwhelmed by the deliciousness before we could snap a pic.

Available from national pet stores and online from Chewy.com. One bag lasts us about a month and a half.

WOOF New York - Luxe Collars & Leashes

New year, new collar. Why not?

Especially when there are beautiful bespoke collars available from WOOF New York! 

Designed in NYC and made in the USA, WOOF offers hand-crafted Italian leather collars and leashes in a variety of colors and finishes for the discerning canine. Elegant enough for Park Avenue, but durable enough to survive the dog park, each accessory is fitted with solid brass hardware. In addition to being very reasonably priced considering the quality and craftsmanship of each piece, a portion of each sale is donated to the Best Friends Animal Society. Yay! 

Our favorite set? The Central Park Collar (from $59) and Leash (from $89) of course which come in a beautiful emerald green! And if green isn't your thing, there are seven other options to select from, all named after different NYC neighborhoods. Collars and leashes also are available in a variety of sizes for big and small dogs alike. 

Head over to their website to take a look and treat your pooch to a little New Year present. Why not? 

Beckky Board Review - Walk On Nail Filing Mat

Hi Barkistas!

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2014-- from what we can tell already, this is going to be a good one!

One of our New Year resolutions is to be better about getting Paddy's nails to a reasonable length. (Such an exciting resolution, right?) Since she's a mostly indoor dog (though this is soon to change, spoilers!), she doesn't get the usual wear and tear that helps to keep nails to a healthy length. While we are absolutely petrified about trimming them ourselves, we recently stumbled upon the Beckky Board.

A walk-over nail-filing mat for dogs, its abrasive surface helps to wear down your dog's nails every time they walk on it. Think of it as a giant sand-paper mat. Gentle enough that you can walk over it in bare feet, Paddy barely noticed it when we put it down for the first time. In fact, she actually enjoys playing with her toys on it since she doesn't slip around as much as on our wooden floors.

Since we're in a small apartment, finding the ideal spot for the Beckky Board has been a little tricky, but if you were in a "normal" home there are definitely lots of spots where it would get ideal traffic (ex. front door, between kitchen and living room). There are two sizes, and we've included a picture below of Paddy (who is currently 6lbs and 2oz) on her Beckky Board. We've currently got ours between our "living" and "dining" space, so she has to cross over it in its full length several times a day. We also play fetch in this area, which helps to get her running over it a few times.

According to the website, we should hope to see results in about two weeks or so. While ideally using the Beckky Board will help the quicks of her nails to recede, we'd settle for less trims. Paws crossed!

Available directly from their website, we received our board about a week after ordering it. And even better, it's made in the USA. Yay :)

How do you keep your dog's nails in check?