Grooming industry leader,   GreaterGood.org created this very cool program to help transform the image of shelter and rescue pets from the sad, dirty animals we see in pictures or on TV to the beautiful creatures they really are. Wahl enlisted the support of shelters nationwide for this initiative, donating more than 1,000 bottles of pet shampoo and grooming products, and the results have been powerful. See for yourself at their online before and after photo gallery. This Dirty Dog Makeover Gallery is an extension of the One Picture Saves a Life campaign, a collaboration among pet industry leaders to change public perceptions about rescued animals and provide grooming and photography resources to shelters. It consists of a five-city tour with celebrity dog grooming expert, Jorge Bendersky, and award-winning, renowned pet photographer, Seth Casteel. At each stop, Bendersky will help teach shelter volunteers, who often groom the animals, how to properly do it, and Casteel will document the process.

And for us, it also consisted of a giveaway! The entries have closed and we have two winners I’m excited to announce!

Congratulations to Rita S., better known as @MissStellyBean, and to Trish H.!!

The Wahl Grooming Prize Pack will go to good use. Rita has a gorgeous pup named Stella, and two beautiful kitties named Jack and Jameson. Trish has two beautiful babies, puppy Ohana and German Shepherd cutie, Little Joe. Check them all out; they’re gorgeous!

The famous Stella of @MissStellyBean

The gorgeous Jack & Jameson

The precious Ohana

The cutie pie, Little Joe

This beautiful brood will be the cleanest, softest and best groomed in the neighborhood. Wishing Rita and Trish a grand grooming adventure and thanking them and all of you for entering the giveaway.

What’s your favorite grooming product? Tell me in the Comments!

Doggy Mom & her little charge
Photo credit: Louis Holingsbee / The Sun

Dog mom’s, Bark and Swagger has a Mother’s Day gift just for you! We are partnering with a very cool company called Dog is Good, which celebrates all things dog and the wonderful things they do for us everyday. Before I tell you what dog lovers gift Dog is Good is donating, I have to tell you a bit about this company, because I love the work they are doing.

Dog is Good (D.I.G.) makes a variety of products featuring dogs, clever sayings pertaining to dogs, and inspiring messages about dogs, like tee shirts, hats, coffee mugs and more. They also offer products for our dogs, including toys, dishes, water bottles and waste bags. For some of their products, the company has created partnerships with other brands, like PetHub pet ID tags and Victoria Stilwell dog-related apparel. Company founders, Jon and Gila Kurtz, recognize what we all know; that dogs make our lives better (cats and other pets make our lives better, too, but this brand focuses on canines, so we will, too!)

But it is The BOLO Project that I really want to tell you about. D.I.G. has launched a year long initiative,  benefiting Leader Dogs for the Blind, to raise a Yellow Lab pup, aptly named BOLO, from 8 weeks old until he is ready to begin his guide dog training and become a Leader Dog. BOLO stands for Be On the Look Out, and its tag line is One puppy will change how you see the world. The project kicked off in September of 2013, when Jon and  Gila first picked BOLO up. A bit about Leader Dogs for the Blind: they are a non-profit whose mission it is to empower people who are blind, visually impaired or Deaf-Blind with lifelong skills for independent travel through quality Leader Dogs, highly effective client instruction and innovative services. It’s a great mission, and we can all participate by donating what we can to them through D.I.G. D.I.G. has partnered with high profile companies like Office Depot, Kurgo, John Paul Pet Shampoos and more. Here’s a photo of BOLO:

BOLO

On to the giveaway! Dog is Good is sponsoring this giveaway, donating a really cute and useful dog-centric tote bag. We can never have too many totes, and this one will remind you everyday how wonderful it is to be a Dog Mom! Awash with smile-inducing sayings, including activities we do with our dogs and how we feel about our dogs, this sturdy poly bag, retail value $24.00,  is roomy at 18″ x 18″, making it a great carry-all accessory.  It’s features dark wash blue lettering on a white background, and is also available in blue. The giveaway starts now and will end Tuesday, May 6th at 11:59pm. This is the fabu tote in blue:

Dog Mom Tote

How to enter:

It’s easy and you generate extra points for each item you do!

1) Join the SwagTeam by entering your name and email address to the purple email list banner in the right sidebar. Not too difficult, right? 

2) Like the Bark and Swagger Facebook page and post or tweet the message below about the giveaway on your Facebook or Twitter page:

Win an adorable Dog Mom tote for Mother’s Day on BarkandSwagger.com. #DogisGood #BarkandSwagger #giveaway #giveaways

3) Please supply your mailing address. This is to ensure we get the winner their Dog is Good Dog Mom tote asap. Your address will not be used if you don’t win, and the winner’s will only be shared with our Dog is Good rep, who will be mailing out your prize.

That’s it!

Once entered,  a random winner will be selected through GiveawayTools.com and I will email that person the good news!

Rules of the giveaway:

* no Bark and Swagger family member may enter

* must be 18 years or older

* must live in the U.S.

What are you waiting for?? It’s cute, it’s practical, it declares how much you love your dog. The triple-threat tote that keeps on giving.  Dog moms, unite! 🙂

What will you do on Mother’s Day to celebrate your love for your dog? Tell me in the comments below.

(Disclosure: I am a PetHub affiliate. Please refer to the Disclaimers & Disclosure page on this site for more info. Thanks!)

I love getting a surprise in the mail, don’t you? It’s fun to open the box, peel away the tissue and see what’s inside. If it’s a present for Sophie, she knows. She’s rocking that little tush back and forth, ears perked expectantly, eyes wide, as if to say, ‘Me? That’s for me? Quick! Open it, Mom!’ So, imagine how much fun it would be to get a cool assortment of treats, toys and accessories for your baby every month. PetBox offers a goodie box to howl about, and you can have it your way.

PetBox were kind enough to send us a sample box, which had some great stuff, including a plush toy Sophie really likes, a bottle of Vetericyn Wound and Skin Care that may come in handy and a bunch of treats. But what I really like about PetBox is, I can leave it to them to curate the box, or I can choose exactly what I’d like myself. Because I’ve very particular about what I give Sophie, with her sensitive tummy, if I want only certain treats or no treats at all, I can do that! And they have so many great products, some I’m already a fan and customer of, that each month Sophie wouldn’t be the only one anticipating the arrival of her treasure chest! 🙂  With options like dog fashion spa luxury skin care and scent products, which I love love; Earth Heart Canine Calm, which works well for Sophie and Earth Heart Guard Well, a completely natural immune system booster made from high quality botanicals, PetHub all in one pet safety identification and location tags, plus lots of fun toys, Sophie and I are in doggy/mom bliss. 

How it works

When you become a monthly subscriber, the folks at PetBox want to learn all about your pet. Do you have a dog or cat? How big or small? It’s gender and what he or she likes. If you are going to curate your pet’s box, you choose the number of products based on a point system, with 6 points to a box. Each individual item is 1 or 2 points, so you get between 4-6 items per box. The value of the box is never less than $50.00 retail. You have the option to curate or let PetBox curate your baby’s box each month. There are several  plans to choose from, starting as low as $29.00/month, which is pretty on par with other services of this kind. And they have free shipping within the U.S., which is awesome. And what’s even better is, with every one shipped, PetBox feeds a rescue animal, and partners with a variety of shelters and rescue programs to care for neglected animals throughout the country. Yay! They even host a special #PetBoxFridays program on social media, where the social media community gets to nominate shelters to receive that week’s shipment of food and supplies. PetBox has teamed up with BOGO Bowl to supply hundreds of pounds of food to shelters and rescues each week. We love that!

With so much goodness to be had here, it would be very selfish of us to keep this all to ourselves. Bark and Swagger readers, welcome to the PetBox Giveaway! PetBox is sponsoring this giveaway and will be earmarking a PetBox for a Bark and Swagger winner!

The giveaway will run from today, April 14 until Friday, April 25th. If you just can’t wait for your pup or kitty’s PetBox, you can start your monthly subscription right away by clicking the photo or PetBox link above.

How Sophie looked when she got her PetBox

‘Scuse me, but what’s in the box?

Your PetBox will include a yummy assortment of dog or cat treats, depending on which pet(s) you have, as well as appropriate toys and accessories. And the winner can choose exactly what’s in the box! An example of what’s available to you includes treats from Honest Kitchen, Sojo and CloudStar, so they are healthy ones. For toys, there’s a great selection including Aussie Naturals and Unique Petz, and grooming/accessories include Organic Aloe Vera Shampoo, John Paul Pet Ear and Eye Wipes, and the dog fashion spa, PetHub and Earth Heart products I mentioned above. That’s just a sampling; there’s lots more.

How to enter:

It’s easy and you generate extra points for each item you do!

1) Join the SwagTeam by entering your name and email address to the purple email list banner in the right sidebar. Not too difficult, right? 

2) Like the Bark and Swagger Facebook page and post or tweet the message below about the giveaway on your Facebook or Twitter page:

Win a goodie box to howl about from #PetBox at #BarkandSwagger valued at $50. #giveaway #giveaways

3) Please supply your mailing address. This is to ensure we get the winner their PetBox asap. Your address will not be used if you don’t win, and the winner’s will only be shared with our PetBox rep, who will be mailing out your prize.

That’s it!

Once entered,  a random winner will be selected through GiveawayTools.com and I will email that person the good news!

Rules of the giveaway:

* no Bark and Swagger family member may enter

* must be 18 years or older

* must live in the U.S.

So, don’t delay! Get in on the goodies. Do we love anything more than to make our babies happy? It’s the best kind of high. 🙂

What are your pup’s favorite kinds of treats or toys? Tell me in the Comments below.