Walk Fido

Bulldogs Who Eat Too Fast

He's eight years old, nearly nine, and still (STILL!) eats his kibble so quickly he coughs and sneezes. We've tried different bowls. We've given him wet food. We've moistened his kibble with stock, water, you name it. Oscar, our bulldog, eats his food so quickly he nearly always gets kibble dust or a full piece of kibble going down or up the wrong way which results in a coughing sneezing fit that can last up to ten minutes.

We also work with a lot of dogs each week who do the exact same thing. They are so excited to eat, they gobble it up too qiuckly. Sneezing and coughing ensue. You know the drill.

We've explored other bowl options in the past but the rivulets most bowls put in place to slow our guy down do nothing of the sort. So we're excited to see another (albeit strange-looking) option. The Green Interactive Slow Dog Feeder looks like it might be just the challenge our Bulldog needs to slow his chow down so he can enjoy his kibble and reduce the coughing. It's on order. We'll let you know how it goes.

Do you have any tried and true tricks for slowing your dog's chow roll?

Modern Retrieval

As we quickly move into full-on summer, we know you're all planning trips with your pups. Whether you're going to the mountains, beach or just hanging out at a house with a pool, we always find we never have quite the right toy to play fetch with...that works just as well as it does on land as it does in the water. 

Behold:

 

Imagine our delight when we saw this toy at DWR. (That's right, high-fallutin dog toys from your favorite high-fallutin home store.) Pretty as it might be, it's actually rugged and water-proof. Function and form at not a crazy price? We give this a thumbs up...way up. Just thought we'd share!

Ruff for Ruff

If you've been reading our blog for the past five years (five!), you know we're all about real gear for real dogs rather than fashionable gear for trendy dogs. We walk dogs every day and have tested every leash, every toy, nearly every brand of every thing that's out there. If it interests us at all, it has all the hallmarks of a product that will go the distance instead of disintegrating moments after your dog wears/chews/touches it.

So - we're thrilled to see that Ruff Wear, makers of some of the toughest gear our dogs have ever seen and some of the only toys that are still alive and kicking years after purchase, have a new line of dog collars. Reminiscent of climbing rope, these collars look tough and up to the challenge of multiple daily walks over many months.

They may not have cute mushrooms or flowers or birds on them, but we're digging the laid back style and the obvious utility. We'll be road-testing these soon. What do you think?

New Year, New Beds

It's a New Year and while you're making all sorts of resolutions on what you'd like to change & what goals you'd like to achieve in 2010, our dogs have much simpler aims in the New Year: more sleep!  Can't think of a better way to kick things off right than by getting rid of our ratty old, worn down, much loved but now falling apart dog beds and trying out the streamlined Doggy Boy beds from Fat Boy. 

We're not entirely convinced that our dogs will like these sleep mats without their rounded Bowser bed edges (they love their Bowser beds), but we're tempted to give them a whirl because they'd look so much better strewn about the floor.  

These great beds are available for all downtown residents at Pussy & Pooch or at their online shop.  Check 'em out and let us know what you think.  

Elevated Doggie Dining

 

 

How fantastic are these wall mounted water and food bowls?  These Creatures offers a wide variety of designs or you can go totally custom for the fido(s) in your life.  We know a certain bulldog who would definitely be down for taking his daily kibble dosage from this and a sweetheart of a pit bull who would love to sip her water in style with the white one above. (Via ohjoystudio) 

Wet & Windy & Wild

It's that time of year once again (it's raining in LA, it's raining in LA) and however fleeting it may be, our pooches tend to get sopping wet in downpours like today's if they aren't properly clothed.  We're strictly non-dog-dressing folks, but after walking soaking wet dog after soaking wet dog through downtown's streets today, we can at least agree that a covered up dog is a less soaking wet dog when the walks are over.  Yes, there are still paws to clean, yes their underbellies get wet no matter what they wear, but a little slicker here and there can make a big difference on all sorts of dogs. It can also reduce the amount of dry and fluff time after each walk!

We did a great rundown of cold/wet doggy gear awhile back, but this time, we're not fooling around with the fancy stuff.  We need solid doggie raincoats that we can easily put on, easily take off, and that allow dogs to do what they do best on walks: move around and have a good time.  Here's our first pick for favorite/easy/cheap/let's get one for every dog raincoats:

 

Available at dog.com for $9.99 - $11.99.  Can't beat that price!

What do you think?  We'll keep our eye out for more as the rain continues to pour.

Hemp Never Looked So Good

These Good Dog Dog Company hemp dog collars have been at the Pasadena Whole Foods for who knows how long...but they are new to us and we can't believe we've walked by them countless times without ever noticing.  What a stylish (and surprisingly cost-effective) way to go eco with your next dog collar purchase.  We've got our eyes on the green.  And the pink. And the orange.  You?

The Good Dog Hemp Canvas Dog Collar - from $16.99 - $18.00 at Whole Foods and many Los Angeles pet shops.

Slow Down the Chow Down

Our English Bulldog eats too quickly.  If you are in any way representative of our Walk Fido clientele, at least 50% of you have dogs that eat too quickly as well.  So we've been checking out the so called "slow down" bowls on the market and thought we'd do a round-up of what's out there.  We'll be doing some testing of our own with Oscar the bulldog later this month.

   

Have you tried any of these? Have they worked for you? If so, let us know. We're eager to see if it works with our scrunched up bulldog's face & other doggy clients just like him who have pushed-in faces and eat with a shovel-it-in speed that is astounding. 

Brake-Fast Bowl $17.65 at OhMyDogSupplies
Eat Slower Pet Dish $17.95 at Eat Slower Pet Dishes
Dog Pause Bowl $12.95 at Dog Pause Bowl
Eat Slow Bowl $28.90 at SitStay.com
Slow 'Em Down Metal Bowls $39 or $49 at Orvis
Durapet Slowfeed Dog Bowl $10.99 at JBPet

Modern Dogs Get Modern Troughs

Pet Sugar pointed us to the to the gorgeous Dogleg Diner at Barker and Meowsky and we're smitten.  It is just what we imagine many downtown dogs in fancy lofts aspire to and it would certainly solve our constant problem of water and food all over the ground after feeding time. 

Our only concern...are those bowls big enough for an English Bulldog's jowly face?

Brrr...

 
It's cold out there!  Luckily, J. Crew has their lovely dog sweaters on sale.