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Before Christmas pet website Zootoo published a list of new holiday pet products. None of the items are explicitly Christmas-themed, however, so I thought I’d share them now; maybe you might even be able to find some of these at post-holiday discount prices.
The Walking My Dog Kid-Sized Leash is the latest product meant to make those dog walks easier. My little 20-pound shepherd/beagle mix gives the leash such a hefty pull that I use a Gentle Leader with her on walks, so I can imagine how difficult it might be for children to hold a lead for many dogs.
The kid-sized leash employs ergonomic design to give kids greater control over their dog while on walks. I wonder if the leash’s design is based on weight or size; one day I want to get a larger dog that I know would likely pull me all over the place on a walk, so I’m curious if the Walking My Dog leash would work for me in that case as well. The leash is available for $14.99 from Pet Acoustics.
Weeks ago I posted about pet pheromone products and their calming effects on cats and dogs. If you have a frequently nervous dog you’ve now another calming option: a Thundershirt. The Thundershirt’s name refers to the anxiety many dogs feel during thunderstorms. It’s a shirt that, while worn by the dog, exerts a gentle calming pressure over the canine.
I admit that I’m a little skeptical about the Thundershirt’s claims. The official website is full of recommendations from vets and stories about how veterinarians use calming pressure on farm animals, but I’ve never heard of pressure treatment before. Still, if your dog suffers from various kinds of anxiety (or even barking and leash pulling, according to the website) at $36.00 the shirt might be worth a try.
The most unique pet product on the list is for a fish. I’ve never seen anything sold for fish that wasn’t meant either for general care or tank decoration, but Fish School just rolled out a fish game training kit. That’s right: each kit contains a miniature basketball, soccer, and football court complete with a fish-sized relevant ball.
Fish School’s website has instructions for how to train your fish using the kits. To prove its claims it provides more than just testimonials; links to photos, videos, and even live webcams of trained fish in action litter the site’s front page.
I’m also unsure about the veracity of Fish School’s assertions, but I have to say that it would be rather cool to have a fish trained to play soccer. If you’re an intrigued fish owner, a fish school kit containing several games is $29.99.
The final neat new pet product may not be specific to the holidays, but it is seasonal. As snowy and icy weather descends upon the country, many of us may put salt down on our driveways and walkways to keep them slip-free.
Sometimes the salt we put down on the pavement isn’t good for our pets. Some dogs might be stung or harmed worse (if they try to eat it) by the rock salt put on the ground; friends of ours had the paw-stinging problem with their beagle.
Enter Morton Salt’s Safe-T-Pet Ice Melt. The melt doesn’t actually contain any salt; it’s a non-toxic sodium-and-chloride-free substance that you can use around your house that won’t hurt your pets in the way traditional rock salt might. It’s $14.99, and if you’ve a pet that’s experienced problems with regular melting salt, you should check out the Morton Melters website for more information.
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*(This image by tanakawho is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
