Me & my bright-eyed girl!   Do you have a therapy dog? Yesterday, I took Sophie for her annual free eye exam. She’s a Therapy Dog, and the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) offers a free National Service Animal Eye Exam. Last year in New York, we just moseyed into Blue Pearl Veterinary Hospital, waited our turn and had our exam. But this year in Florida, it was a whole to do! It’s National Therapy Animal Day and I’m celebrating my girl!     We arrived to see Dr. Robert Swinger at the VCA Animal… [Continue Reading]

Affiliate Links     Losing a pet is an awful, awful thing. For National Pet ID Week, I’m bringing back an older post I wrote, with tips on preventing pet theft from happening to you. It’s one facet of how we can lose our furry loved ones; there are more, of course. But in general, having your dog microchipped, having a comprehensive ID tag and implementing some common sense measures can help to protect them. Read on for our special offer for my Bark & Swagger family!     I use PetHub for our dogs… [Continue Reading]

Affiliate Links       Call me crazy, but some of the best training advice I’ve received are these three simple words: Keep it fluffy. That’s how dog trainer, Justin Silver, puts it when he talks about the energy we communicate to our dogs. The CBS-TV Dogs in the City star sat down with me recently to talk about how our dogs think and learn, topics he covers in his new book with David Donnenfeld, The Language of Dogs. What follows is how Justin helped us and his top dog training tips.   How Justin Helped Jasper Get… [Continue Reading]

I aimed for it; that spur-of-the-moment head cocked in full tilt,I’m quizzical pose. Maybe aimed too high today? Instead, we got a bit of Zen meets “mommy, take this thing offa meeee!”   I’m taking creative license; Sophie is, indeed, looking quizzical…meets Zen. ok. Whatever this is, it’s still cute. When I look at Sophie, my little munchkin, I want to eat her up! 🙂     I missed last week, where the theme was Blessings, so I thought I’d post a pic I love that says it all to me. This is my husband, napping on the couch, with the babies by… [Continue Reading]

Affiliate Links       We just ran a giveaway on the site with Dog Fashion Spa, the brand making beautiful-smelling grooming products for dogs that use gentle ingredients and are vegan, too!  I think they’re some of the best spa products around. Three winners were chosen at random to receive a Dog Fashion Spa item to try for themselves. But we want everyone to win! So, Dog Fashion Spa was generous enough to exclusively offer us this great deal: For three days only – April 2, 3 and 4 – any purchase of over $25.00… [Continue Reading]

Affiliate Links     Does your dog have dry skin? Rough paw pads? Do they develop gunk in the corners of their eyes? You don’t have to be a diva to think any of this is for the dogs!  Sophie and Jasper have experienced these conditions and more, at one time or another, and my go-to brand from experience is Dog Fashion Spa. I love and use several of their products because not only do they work for us, but they are made with gentle and responsible ingredients and they smell great. To me, they’re the best… [Continue Reading]

  Jasper fell into the pool. Luckily, he’s a strong boy and he pulled himself out. But, what if he didn’t know how to get himself out or fell into the ocean? Can dogs drown? Yes! Thousands do each year. And, with swimming so much a part of our lives now, I was really interested in learning more about the HedzUp Watercollar™. Here’s what it does: Shaped like a hexagon, it attaches to your dog’s own collar and prevents it from drowning by keeping its nose and ears above water, even if the dog is unconscious. When a dog swims or… [Continue Reading]

Affiliate Links What better way to say I Love You to your pet on Valentine’s Day than to be sure he or she is protected from theft? Pet Theft Awareness Day is, indeed, on Valentine’s Day this year, and we’re going all out to keep Sophie and Jasper secure. Love is…our fur kids sleeping together   Some of you may know we’re moving to Fort Lauderdale shortly. Yup, we’re in packing purgatory, but we’ve also been looking at ways to protect our fur kids in this new suburban environment. Unlike New York… [Continue Reading]