Fisher-Price, creator of iconic toys for children, has now launched a line of pet toys inspired by their classic collection. The Chatter Telephone, the Snoop ‘n Sniff, the See ‘n Say – they’re all represented in Fisher-Price’s new line for pets.
I totally remember fighting over the xylophone (now the Xylobone) in preschool.
You can fetch Fisher-Price Pets at Petsmart.
(via PetSugar)
Tags: toys
Have you gotten the September/October issue of The Bark yet? It’s all about dog-friendly home design. Interior decorating + dogs? Why am I not writing for this magazine? Come on, Bark, gimme a call. I can relocate.
Anyway, toward the back I spotted a little ad for artist and sculptor Melissa Ferreira. Ferriera is the creator of Paper Pets, delicate and whimsical sculptures made with cardboard, paper bits, tape, glue, and other mixed media.
You can see more of Ferreira’s work on her website and read more about her process on her blog.
Tradition would have us believe that dogs and mail carriers can never be friends – but my dogs will love our postman forever if he continues to deliver packages that smell as tasty as the one that recently arrived from Minneapolis’ The Barkery.
Thanks to April at The Barkery, Mingus and Dottie had the pleasure of taste-testing a selection of The Barkery’s flavorful treats, namely molasses & granola cookies, salmon & yogurt snacks, chicken & apple cookies, salad bar snacks, and peanut butter & cheerios.
I can tell you that Mingus and Dottie loved the treats, but they’re crazy about treats anyway (I mean, saying my dogs “like” treats is like saying Don Draper enjoys a drink and a smoke now and then) — so I should probably also explain why I like treats from The Barkery. First, they’re handmade with love rather than in some ol’ dirty factory somewhere. Plus, they’re baked from scratch to order from wholesome, human-grade, organic, fresh, local ingredients and packaged in earth-friendly materials, meaning they’re good for dogs and for the planet. Plus (again), The Barkery’s packaging and web site boasts really nifty graphic design. (Hey – these things are important to me.)
Fetch The Barkery treats (plus cute treat jars!) directly from their web site.
I saw Marnie Vollenhals’ work on Under the Blanket a little while back, and I was instantly charmed. Vollenhals’ paintings, prints, pillows, and the like chronicle the adventures of “a little suburban dog named Hawk” and his pals.
You can check out more of Vollenhals’ sweet creations at her Etsy shop, J Austin Ryan.
If Mickey and Kayloo look familiar to you, you might know them from the hilare blog their mom writes, Fido & Wino. Mickey and Kayloo hail from British Columbia, Canada (our first Canadian Best Phriends!) and are a ridiculously cute and ridiculously hilarious pair.
Name: Mickey
Age: 2 yrs 2 months
Breed(s): Chihuahua cross
Arrival story: We (ignorantly) bought Mickey through a broker. It was after this experience we learned of the importance of adopting from a shelter/rescue.
Favorite food: Cheese
Special talents or skills: He is the perfect gentleman on leash
Best trick: “Buddha” (sitting pretty) and then he falls straight down into “down.” It’s hilARious.
Best friend: Kayloo
If your pup were in high school, who would he/she sit with at lunch? Jocks, nerds, freaks, preps, gleeks, etc.? Mickey would sit by himself because other people are stupid.
Name: Kayloo
Age: 1 yr 8 months
Breed(s): Pittie/collie cross (she’s a rescue, so we’re not exactly sure of her mix)
Arrival story: After we got Mickey, we knew we wanted to get him a buddy. We spent lots of time on Petfinder.com… and then we saw Kayloo’s picture and fell in love, went to meet her and all her gangly goofiness, and fell in love some more. Then she came to our house for a home visit and puked all over our floor, and we fell in love a hundred times over.
Favorite food: All of it
Special talents or skills: She can tilt her head so far she almost twists it right off
Favorite toy: She likes chewing on Mickey
Most annoying habit: Farting
Best friend: Mickey
If your pup were in high school, who would he/she sit with at lunch? EVERYONE. Seriously. All the kids would invite her to their parties, the toughest teachers would give her extra marks so she would pass, the lunch lady would give her free jello…. and she would love them all equally. AND she would make sure Mickey always got an invite.
Kayloo inspired a project called the R.O.A.R. Squad. It stands for Rescue Owners Are Rockin’, and the whole idea is to make adopting a rescue THE coolest thing around. We’re looking for at least one rescue owner from every state in the US and every province in Canada by April 2011. Have a rescue? Join us!
If you’d like your pup(s) to be part of our Best Phriends gang, just send an email with your name and the name(s) of your pup(s) to bestphriends[at]gmail[dot]com.
Tags: adoption, Best Phriends, Canada, rescue
I just saw this yesterday, which means everyone else in the world probably saw it a month or so ago.
Whatevs. It gave me hearty belly laughs, so I’ll pass along the funny.
This post is part of an ongoing series here on phetched called Barkworthy, where we highlight organizations and groups that are doing good things for dogs and dog lovers.
As shelters across our state face massive overcrowding situations, North Carolina’s Pet Foster Network serves an invaluable purpose: they help to connect willing foster families with pups who need a temporary place to stay while they wait for their forever homes. Knowing that every open space in a shelter or rescue saves a life, the Pet Foster Network (based in Raleigh, NC) strives to educate citizens on the crucial role that foster families play and support those who are willing to open their homes to an adoptable pet in need.
For residents of North Carolina, there’s information on the Pet Foster Network web site on how you can sign up to help. For those who don’t live in North Carolina but wish to foster, PFN encourages you to search your ZIP code on Petfinder for local rescues and shelters in search of foster families.
Tags: adoption, Barkworthy, charities, fostering, rescue
The temperature here in the mountains has been hovering around a chilly 80 degrees the past few days, and I’ve got the 726-page September Vogue sitting here on the table beside me, which means my mind is on one thing only: fall fashion. I don’t necessarily have $128 lying around to spend on a sweater right now (and if I had money to burn, I’d be getting these sunglasses), but if I catch this Anthropologie Dog Trot cardigan on sale, I might snatch it up.
Tags: anthropologie, clothing, for humans, Human Stuff, scotties
Can we talk about a little problem we’re having here? It’s not pretty. Mingus has apparently decided he now has to poop twice on every walk. Is it his food? Is it a seasonal thing? Has he simply found yet another way to be jerky? It’s hard to tell. But the sad truth is we go through a lot of poop bags these days.
How about a spiffy little walking vest that would allow him to carry his own poop bags, both empty and, er, used? Excellent idea.
Tree Parlor, a wonderful little Etsy shop based just down the road from me in Greenville, SC, features Saddle Wags™, awesome little walking vests and jackets (many made from upcycled clothing) with expandable pockets for carrying poop bags, cell phones, house keys, or whatever else you might need on your walk. Tree Parlor also offers some cute but classy winter coats for when this heat (finally) passes on.
Fetch Saddle Wags™ at Tree Parlor’s Etsy shop.
Tags: clothing, Etsy, gear, handmade, Mingus, outdoors, walks
Yippee! It’s time for another installment of Best Phriends! Today we’re happy to welcome into the fold siblings Bruce and Maddie (not actual biological siblings, in case you were wondering) from big ol’ Dallas, TX. Bruce and Maddie’s mom Claire is a pet photographer – aren’t these photos delicious?
Name: Bruce Wayne
Age: 4
Breed: Siberian Husky
Arrival Story: Bruce came from a Champion bloodline (and boy does he know it), but we didn’t get him from his breeder. We adopted him when his original owners didn’t think his personality was a good match for the show ring (he was way too stubborn, even by Husky standards). As it turns out, he’s stubborn all right, but also smarter than most people I’ve met. After some battles of will, he will now do anything I ask and is a complete Mama’s Boy.
Favorite food: Cap’n Crunch cereal, tuna fish sandwiches, Mother Nature Carrot Cake biscuits
Special talents: Bruce understands about 50 words and short phrases, including two Russian words that my friend taught him. He can also open doors.
Best trick: Bruce knows a million tricks. Aside from all the obvious obedience commands, he can Spin in a circle (both ways), High Five (both paws), Shake (both paws), Speak, Back Up, Touch, Target, Watch Me (We call this one “Look at the camera”), and of course he will howl with you.
Hobbies: Bruce enjoys long walks, indoor dog parks, squirrel-chasing, and drinking water out of unapproved receptacles (sinks, puddles, toilets). Oh, and having his picture taken, of course.
Most expensive item ever chewed: When Bruce was super young, he managed to chew/dig a hole in our concrete floor in the kitchen. We covered that part up with a rug and pretended it never happened.
In a movie about your pup’s life, what actor/actress provides his/her voice?
I’ve decided that Bruce has the voice of Stewie Griffin, so Seth MacFarlane would be the obvious choice here.
Name: Maddie
Age: 6.5
Breed: Boston Terrier
Arrival story: I had Boston Terriers when I was younger and wanted another one as a companion for Bruce (they’re the only breed I could think of that could keep up with Bruce’s shenanigans). I noticed an ad on Craigslist one evening for a 4 year old female Boston Terrier in need of a home and I instantly knew she was the girl for me. We drove to Oklahoma that weekend and snagged her. She immediately beat the crap out of Bruce and they’ve been inseparable since.
Favorite food: Maddie will eat anything. She once ate an entire bowl of coconut Hershey’s Kisses–wrappers and all–and emerged unscathed. The kid has an iron stomach.
Special talents: Maddie can break a sprinkler in about 3 minutes if left out there alone with it. I still don’t know how she does it, but I’m on my third one this summer.
Favorite toy: Maddie loves her squeaky toys. I think her favorite right now is a squeaky rubber gecko that’s almost too big for her to carry around. She also loves the JW Ruffians toys and the Charming Pets Balloon Animals. I have had to put a stop to anything stuffed coming into the house; she leaves little piles of fluff throughout the house as she decapitates them mercilessly.
Hobbies: Maddie enjoys sleeping on my husband’s pillow, eating things off the ground, and ruthlessly attacking any electronic device that makes noise (vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, dishwashers, etc).
If your pup were in high school, who would he/she sit with at lunch? Jocks, nerds, freaks, preps, etc.?
Maddie would totally be the scrappy little tomboy who sits with all the boys and puts gum in girls’ hair.
If you’d like your pup to be a part of our Best Phriends, just send an email with your name and your pup’s name to bestphriends [at] gmail [dot] com, and we’ll send you the deets!
Tags: Best Phriends, Boston terriers, huskies
Here at phetched we’ve got our noses to the ground, tracking down the coolest dog stuff we can find and offering up a daily dog treat just for you. (That “we,” by the way, is ME — I mean, I — Katherine, and my trusty canine sidekicks, Mingus and Dottie.)
We’ve got a big ol’ dish full of doggie goodness for you here, so come, sit, and stay awhile. We hope you’ll sniff out something you like. 
Bark @ us
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I don’t make any money writing this blog. I am not paid or compensated to express the opinions in this blog. Occasionally I am sent free products for review, and in all such cases I state clearly what I received and from whom I received it. If no source of a product is stated, it means I either do not own the product or purchased it myself. Receiving a product free of charge will not influence my opinion or review of that item or whether that item will be featured on my blog. Any opinions expressed on this blog are solely my opinions and are not the result of any gifts or compensation from, or other material connection to, any vendor, manufacturer, or other third party. Even if you promise to be my best friend, it won’t earn you a positive review. All reviews are solely the result of my experiences and observations and should be verified by readers independently. If I receive a product sample I do not like, it is returned without public comment. Most of the items I feature on this blog are just things I find and admire as I’m obsessively shopping for dog stuff.
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