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!!