Friday Favorite - Harnesses

Harnesses are definitely becoming more popular with dog owners, particularly ones who have the smaller breeds. When a dog is wearing a harness, the risk of damaging the windpipe or throat is eliminated. I also like the safety feature of being able to 'reel' my dog up into my arms quickly if there is a threat from another dog. I would never want to jerk my dog up quickly if the leash was attached to a collar around their neck for fear of damaging their throat.

So, for today's Friday Favorite, I would like to share my two favorite brands of harnesses.

Chihuahuas in particular are very tiny when they are puppies. It is always a challenge to find a harness that fits their little bodies, yet you want to start leash training them early. I have found the Li'l Pals brand to be the perfect fit. Yes, this is the same brand as the grooming tools that I love. They just make great items for these tiny pups!

Here is Tallie, who still fits into her original Li'l Pals harness, although it is a tight fit now.

I have been able to find these harnesses (and they have very narrow, lightweight leashes also!) at a few local pet shops, but Amazon is always a great source. Their price is very reasonable, which is nice as it is often a temporary harness if your dog outgrows it. 

The color options of the Li'l Pals harnesses are limited, but you can usually find one that you like. These harnesses are constructed of lightweight mesh, which I like for it's breatheability factor, which is nice for not overheating your dog. They fit nicely underneath a shirt or jacket also. They wash nicely and maintain their shape and do not fade. They come in only one size, which isn't always convenient, but has worked ok for my needs with puppies.

My very favorite harness, hands down, is the Puppia brand. All my adult dogs have Puppia brand harnesses, with spoiled Miss Tallie having quite the vast collection. Her very first one was the pink polka dot design. She wore it at her first public appearance last year and received so many compliments, although it was still just a little big on her.

The Puppia harnesses come in soooo many varieties and colors and fabrics. They are extremely well made and very easy to slip on and off your dog, yet when buckled on, are pretty near impossible for your dog to wiggle out of. They are adjustable, which makes it easier to get a snug fit for your pup.

The Vivien design of the Puppia harness is our current favorite for Tallie.

Aren't these just adorable????

I have found it difficult to find this brand at any pet shops in our area, so once again, I turn to Amazon. Puppia does have a fabulous website, which you can find here. However, they only sell wholesale to businesses. But, I love to peruse the site to see what new items they have and then seek them out on Amazon, if I cannot find them in any of my local stores. 

Depending on the style, they come in sizes XS through XL. 

While I personally prefer the narrower harnesses, they also offer a style that is more vest like, such as this:

Lest you think that all of their harnesses are for girls only, rest assured that there are plenty of options for the boys too.

I currently have my eye on their line of holiday harnesses. Sooo cute!! Complete with a warm, snuggly lining!

The Puppia brand of harnesses are more spendy than the Li'l Pals, but I definitely feel that they are worth the expense. Many of their designs have matching leashes also. They wash nicely, retaining their shape and quality.

So, there you have it, my harness picks for this Friday Favorites post.

***Please note that I receive no compensation for my Friday Favorite posts. I am simply sharing my personal favorite items and do not receive any free items, nor monetary compensation. I will always make it very clear in any review if that is the case.***

Friday Favorites - Grooming Tools

My Favorite Grooming Tools

Grooming your pet is a necessary task. Even if you take your pet to a professional groomer, there is still some 'touch-up' work that needs to be done in between visits.

I do all the grooming of our six pups here at Cody and Company. It now takes a little longer than it did when I only had three dogs, but it can still be a good task without a lot of fuss and drama.

The most important thing is to have the correct tools. I am very impressed with the Lil Pals Grooming Tools. I like the way they are perfectly proportioned for grooming my little dogs. I think they are calmer during grooming because the brushes are small and not overwhelming them with a brush that is as big as they are.

You may be able to find this brand of grooming tools at some pet supply stores, but my usual go-to place is to get them from Amazon.

My favorite brush is the Slicker Brush. It slides through the hair of both smooth coated Charm, as well as the others with their longer hair. It has little rubber tips on the ends of the bristles. Over time and use, they do tend to lose these, but it has been my experience that it takes a long time and a lot of use for this to happen.

Next up in my grooming favorites is the Bristle Brush. This one tends to be my favorite for Charm, with her smooth coat and shorter hairs. It is also good to use around the dog's faces, without the worry of possibly poking them in the eye with one of the metal bristles of the Slicker Brush. The bristles are very soft on this particular brush.

I don't use the comb a whole lot, but will use it most often on the leg featherings and back bloomers, after I have run the brush through these areas and I am confident that there are no tangles. The Double Sided Comb is nice because it has two size options for the spacing of the teeth, giving it a more comfortable tool for your dog.

No grooming kit would be complete without tools for clipping your pet's toenails. I personally prefer to use clippers, rather than a Dremmel tool or other pet nail grinder. Trimming your dog's nails can be a stressful thing for both you and the dog, but the Lil Pals Nail Trimmer makes the job an easy breeze. I love this trimmer because it's small size works perfectly on the tiny nails of my dogs. There is nothing worse than trying to wrangle a large nail clipper while trimming tiny little Chihuahua nails. They make clipping the nails too short a thing of the past!

There is also an accompanying Nail File that can smooth out any rough spots left on the nail. 

The only thing that this brand lacks is a good pair of small scissors to trim the hair on the pads of the feet, or any other trimming you may need to do. I recently purchased this set from Lily's Pet and have been quite satisfied with it. They come in a variety of colors.  Some of the scissors are much larger than what I need to use, but it is nice to have them, just in case. The thinning shears are also nice to have on some occasions.

I try to do a simple brushing and nail trim of the dogs each week, with a full grooming that includes the paw hair being trimmed up and any trimming of excessive 'floofs' and a bath, once a month. While many people like the 'grinch toes' of long hair on the paws of their Long-haired Chihuahuas, my personal preference is for them to be trimmed neatly. It is probably a carry-over from my dog showing days, but I also feel they help to not drag in dirt and wetness when the dogs come in from outside.

Some of my dogs have very long hair on their tails and back bloomers and I will trim that up some, for the same reason, as well as for some bathroom hygiene reason. This is where I like the longer blade scissors in the Lily's Pet set. 

My dogs do not dislike their grooming sessions. As soon as one is done and set back down on the floor, the others are dancing around me, practically saying "Pick me! Pick me!" Finn has been known to actually fall asleep while being groomed.

Baths are not a favorite activity, but they usually have a lot of fun running around afterward!

I hope that this has been helpful for those of you who are looking for a good set of grooming tools for your pet!

Cheaper By the Half Dozen..???

If you had told me a few years ago that the day would soon come that I would have SIX dogs, I would have shook my head and walked away laughing. Laughing hard.

But, life has a way of turning the tables on you, now doesn't it???

We have grown our little pack to a sizeable pack of six Chihuahuas, almost overnight it seems.

I wrote a blog post called It's Been A While that brought everyone up to speed on Charm and Tallie joining our family, as well as the passing of Shimmer. We were now a happy little family of 4 - Cooper, Scarlett, Charm and Tallie. 

There is a saying that no one can eat just one potato chip and the same sort of thing obviously works for acquiring Chihuahua pups. In the last year, we added two more boys to our family. They both came all the way across the country from Florida to make a life with us here in Oregon.

First came Finn, just a few days before Christmas. Best. Christmas. Gift. EVER. I mean, when you find out that this little cutie could be coming to live with you, how do you say anything except Yes, Yes, YES?!?!

So, come he did and he settled in perfectly.

Finn is the sweetest dog I have ever met. He is so gentle and good natured. He loves to play, loves to chase squirrels and most definitely does NOT like to model clothes for me! He will be a  year old next month and has grown into a beautiful boy with a gorgeous fluffy coat.

Five felt like a pretty good number. I even managed to get a not-totally-crazy photo of everyone for Mother's Day! We dubbed them the Fab Five and we were happy!!

But, I soon fell in love with a little fluffball that was born to Finn's mother, way over there in Florida. Oh, he was irresistible and in no time at all, just in time for my birthday in fact, we had suddenly jumped to that magical number six!

Meet Tucker!

He was so fluffy, it was like holding a cloud! A walking fluff ball with tiny little legs. He is beginning to lose some of that extreme fluffiness and become a little taller and lanky. Don't get me wrong, he is still just the cutest thing, but sigh, he is growing up, having just turned 4 months the other day. He has the shrillest bark you have ever heard! It can seriously make your ears ring. He loves to torment his brothers and sisters into playing with him. He plays till he drops, then he wants to be held by Mom to take a nap.

This is the closest I have come to a group photo, but I need to start working harder so that I have one for our Christmas card!

Despite all this influx of cuteness, I am still managing to keep sewing and creating new designs for our shop. Tallie is a top-notch model (despite her sticking her tongue out at me in the photo above), loving to pose for the camera and puts up with my crazy ideas.

There is a never ending supply of dog hair on the floor, nose prints on the patio door, and toys constantly strewn everywhere. But, I love it. I love these pups and couldn't imagine life without a single one of them. They all have different personalities, but together we make a family. We are now the Sensational Six. 

Hang on for the ride -- the fun is just getting started!!

Organizing A Multiple Dog Household

I get lots of comments and questions on my social media accounts about my organizational abilities. Organizing is a hobby and a passion for me, as well as a survival standard. Many of you may not be aware that my husband and I are the parents of seven (yes, SEVEN!) children. We were foster parents and adopted several of the children we were caring for, as well as two biological sons. So, for many years we had six children that had a wide age spread and our household was very, very busy. We adopted one of our grandchildren a few years ago and she is now seven years old and the only one living at home with us as the others are all adults and some even have families of their own. If I hadn't been organized through those years I literally would have gone insane!

So, having five dogs now doesn't seem so bad, huh?

Because I get a lot of questions, I have decided that I will start an organizing series to share what I do to keep our house running smoothly, as well as not look like it is being run by the dogs.

Firstly, being organized is more for my sanity than the dogs. I have two great passions in my life: a clean, organized home and dogs. Those two battle each other on a daily basis. 

To start this series, I am going to share with you a cupboard in our kitchen. This cupboard did not originally start out as The Dog Cupboard, but has evolved over the years.

It is an unassuming looking cupboard next to the trash compactor. (Please note the chewed corner of the cupboard to the left, proof that we have indeed been growing out three puppies in the last two years. There are several corners that look that way). Behind this door are three drawers that keep the bulk of our dog necessities.

Because I love to label things, and because we have a vinyl lettering machine, you will often see that there is rarely confusion over what goes where.

The first drawer is, obviously, the dog food. This is the kibble that is the base of our dogs' daily meals, to which I add various homemade supplements (that is a whole other blog post!). The kibble is stored in this drawer, while the homemade items are kept in the refrigerator.

This bank of drawers and cupboard were built by my husband, lovingly referred to as Shawn-the-Wonder Guy. This first drawer is divided into two sections. I am currently trying to treat a possible food allergy to chicken protein with two of our dogs, so they are eating a salmon based food, which is in the back section. The front holds the food that the two other adult dogs currently do well on. Usually the puppy food is in the back, but has been moved down to the next drawer until I can get this situation resolved.

This is the second drawer. Another thing I am greatly fond of is baskets. I like to corral things together and not have a drawer of chaos rolling all over. One doesn't have to spend a lot of money on baskets. These two came from the Target Dollar Spot and were $3 each. You can also find great ones at The Dollar Tree. A cut down to fit box works just as well also. The Baggie on the right has Finn's puppy kibble. The front basket holds everyone's go-to walking harnesses. Underneath them is a plastic box that holds my grooming supplies of brushes, nail clippers, scissors, etc. 

The second basket has the tiny harnesses for Finn and Tallie. It has been a challenge to find ones that fit them, but I am very pleased with the Lil Pals brand! I believe Finn will mature into a size that fits the Puppia ones that the other adult dogs wear, but Tallie is only 3.2 pounds and the smallest size Puppia is still too large for her, so the Lil Pals is working great.

Within this basket is a smaller basket in the back that holds the tooth brushing supplies, the pill cutter, a travel pill box and various other items. The little oval blue basket holds some Cranberry pills left over from a bout of UTI that one of the dogs had last year as well as some tiny collars, again for Finn and Tallie. You will also see not one, but TWO bottles of Bitter Apple. Refer to earlier statement of three puppies in two years....

The last drawer holds clean dog blankets and potty pads (again, three puppies, two years. I should buy stock in these things).

We have a very large kitchen/dining room open floor plan and the dogs are primarily in this area, so to have all of these supplies there makes sense. I realize that I am very blessed to have a large enough kitchen that I can dedicate a whole cupboard to dog-related items, but if you think outside the box, you may find solutions for your needs. Free standing drawers that are available in anything from plastic to wood are available and can sit in a corner.

This is an idea from Pinterest. It looks like it might be in the garage. The supplied link on Pinterest goes to a dead address, so I cannot provide any other information, but I have seen similar type drawers at Ikea, Target, and Walmart.

via A Polished Habitat

This cupboard is located in a laundry room. The link for more info about it is below the picture. 

Obviously, since I have five dogs, the amount of space I need to store their items is greater than a person with one dog. My hope is that this gives you some ideas, as well as an insight into how I have organized for our household.

As this is the first of a continuing series, I would love to hear from you on anything specific that you would like for me to address. I am always happy to talk dogs or organizing!

Does My Couch LOOK Like a Fire Hydrant To You???

Life with male dogs can be fun. It can also be very frustrating if your dog is 'marking' the furniture and walls of your home. Today I thought I would address the subject of male dog marking.

Marking in the house is usually done to an upright surface such as a doorway, table leg or piece of furniture. Dogs often mark on objects. Quite often the object is something new or different with unfamiliar smells that has come into the house.

Dog urine marking is not a toilet training issue but rather an issue concerning a whole range of instinctive behaviors. Your dog may be fully house trained and would never think of peeing in the house, but to a dog, lifting his leg to scent mark is not the same as wanting to have a pee.

If you have a female dog in your home that has come into heat, you may find that your male dog, if not neutered, will start marking on  furniture and walls as his testosterone reacts to the girl.

We as humans tend to think of dog urine as something unpleasant but to a dog it is something of great interest. A dog leaves it's scent in urine to tell other dogs a message. This message could be about whose territory it is, about the dog's social order or advertising mating availability. Dogs use urine marking to show their dominance or to claim something as belonging to them. Dogs with feelings of insecurity or who have separation anxiety may also mark, as territory marking builds the dog's confidence.

Interestingly, this is not completely a male dog only trait. Female dogs will urinate on a spot that another dog has peed. I see this some days when I take my girls out to potty. Most days they will roam the yard and find their own spot, but if they have been having 'issues' with each other on a particular day, I watch them run over to the spot where the 'offender' just urinated and they will urinate on top of that spot.

Sort of a "Ha! I'll show you!" type attitude. I have mentioned that they are Divas, right?

Dogs who have never had a problem with marking in the house before can suddenly start doing it if there is a change in their environment such as a new dog, or new person that has come into the home, even a new baby's arrival. If there is a big change in their environment, this will make a dog insecure and can bring on the marking. We have even seen Cooper doing some marking lately, since we brought a male puppy into the house this last month. Kind of unusual as he has been neutered for a very long time now.

But, what can you do? For most dogs, early neutering is the best way to prevent it from ever occurring in the first place. Those macho hormones never get the chance to develop if the dog is neutered at an early age. This is not always a guarantee, but if is the best deterrent. If you have had another dog in your home that previously marked furniture, doorways, etc., it will encourage future dogs to do the same.

Kind of a "Oh! This is what we do here." attitude. We like guests to feel comfortable in our homes, just not THAT comfortable.

Some dogs will mark when you take them to visit in another home. This can be very embarrassing for you and doesn't put you and Fido high on the invitation list.

A popular way to prevent this bad habit from becoming a problem is to have your dog wear a Belly Band. Belly Bands are made of a thick absorbent type of fabric, such as fleece. They are wrapped around the dog and fastened by means of a velcro strip sewn at each end of the wrap. Usually a good fitting belly wrap requires no elastic and will stay in place quite well. The idea behind wearing the belly bands is that when the dog releases urine to mark on something, it instead is retained in the fabric of the band. Dogs usually do not like the feel of the wet fabric against them, so they learn to quiet marking. 

You can also use a self adhesive feminine pad inside the belly band. These will hold more urine than the belly band alone, and you won’t have to launder as often. Belly bands should be machine washable and reused as needed.

Belly Bands are a very popular selling item at Cody and Company Pet Products as more people are learning of their great value. We design them to be a pleasant fashion statement as well as a training aid. Many people have had success in ending the problem completely after their dog has worn them for a while.

Dogs get very used to wearing them and it solves a lot of problems!

Our good friend, Kilo, from The Cheeky Chis (found on both Facebook and Instagram), always looks so dashing in his belly bands. Or wrestling trunks, as he prefers to call them.

Some other good friends, the Stardom Chihuahuas, (also found on both Facebook and Instagram - go check them out!) look great in their belly bands too!

We will never completely eliminate the marking that the boys do. It is a dog's form of communication. However, it is something that can certainly be left for the outdoors!