DIY Dog Crate Bumpers

Know what fits really well in 36" dog crates? Crib bedding. I have a variety of baby and toddler quilts that make fantastic crate bedding, they are very easy to wash and dry, and and can be layered for plenty of padding. Baby bedding is super easy to find at thrift shops and garage sales, and I don't think I've paid more than $3 for any of mine.

So cozy!

I recently found a totally adorable Pottery Barn dinosaur quilt that came with a matching crib
bumper. I had thought I would have to modify it a bit to use in a dog crate, but it had enough ties to secure it nicely in Brisbane's lair. I tied it in place all around the sides and just used scissors to chop off the excess and now Briz has the most adorable dinosaur-themed crate ever. I could probably finish the raw edge on my sewing machine, but for now it looks fine.

Crib bumpers are super easy to find used, most thrift stores seem to have at least three or four for sale. Though they are included with many crib bedding sets, a lot of parents dump them immediately. The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically states that bumper pads should not be used due to the risks of strangulation, entrapment, and suffocation they pose to human infants. Fortunately, dogs are a lot more capable of human infants.

I would not use a bumper pad in a crate for a dog that has separation anxiety or a tendency to eat non-food items. In general, I would rather be safe than sorry, so I would not use a bumper with a new dog, recent rescue, or puppy. However, for an adult dog that enjoys their crate, crib pads can be a nice cozy addition. We just moved last weekend, and Brisbane had been very unsettled. Even though he had the same crate with the same bed and the same blanket, it didn't feel like home. After I added the dinosaur bumper pad, he went right in and fell asleep immediately. I'm not sure what it is about the pad that makes him feel secure, but he definitely loves it.

Product Review: Coleman Brontosaurus Stuffy

This Coleman brontosaurus is one of our many dinosaur stuffies. It is a nice dark, slightly mottled color that stays clean-looking. The body is pleasantly floppy, and it crinkles just a little.

Photo by Erin Koski

According to Coleman's website, the dog toys under their brand are actually made by Unique Petz. This company has a very flashy animated website with very little actual content. They state that they manufacture products under several brands, but only show the brand logos and no actual products. I'm pretty sure Coleman-brand dog toys are not currently being produced.

I love dinosaurs with the fiery passion of a preschooler, and I was thrilled to find this adorable brontosaurus on Amazon.com. (In case you missed it, we have brontosauruses again as of April 2015.)

Unfortunately, Brisbane and Ru are not crinkle toy fans. I kept the brontosaurus around anyway because I love it, and now Sisci thinks it's pretty awesome.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Lovely dark textured color hides dirt so it always looks clean and pretty. Floppy soft body is a lot of fun to bite.

Cons: The brontosaurus is looking a tiny bit threadbare in places despite it's relatively easy life at the bottom of the toybox. I can't remember if it came like that or if it happened in the wash.

Bottom Line: I think this is our cutest dinosaur stuffy. I am pleased to have it laying around the house.

Ferocious Fun with the PetLou Purple Dinosaur

This PetLou tyrannosaurus stuffy arrived in our June Pet Gift Box, and has become a beloved part of our dinosaur collection. Upon perusing PetLou's site, I recognize several of their products from my local pet stores. I'm pretty sure Brisbane had a stuffed octopus from PetLou when he was a baby.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is my absolute favorite item from the two Pet Gift Boxes we received. I love dinosaurs with the fervor of a preschool child. As much as I loved our purple tyrannosaurus rex, I wasn't certain it would last. Brisbane immediately carried it off and has been known to pounce on it when the mood takes him. Sisci has also fallen in love with the purple dinosaur, and loves carrying it around.

My impression of PetLou is that they are a company that specializes in quantity of quality. I see a lot of their toys in stores, and they are both cute and cheap. This did not give me much hope for the purple dinosaur's survival. Cheap toys tend to develop splits quickly, and once the stuffing is exposed the dogs just can't help but disembowel them.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the purple t-rex has held up. Despite being tossed, fetched, gnawed, and left out in the yard, it remains in pristine condition. It went through the washer and dryer just fine, and doesn't seem to be collecting dirt or stains like some light-colored toys.

Pros: Durable! Will hold up to quite a lot of biting gracefully. Adorable! It's a purple t-rex. Inexpensive! Pet Gift Box said the  MSRP for this toy was $8.99, but they seem to be selling online for $6-7 mostly. Also, it squeaks/

Cons: Probably made in China. Uncertain brand/company integrity. The "About" page on the PetLou website is inexplicable in Latin. Not good Latin, either.

Bottom Line: I can probably be tempted to buy cheap stuffies from China if they're cute enough.

Raptor Trainer

I saw Jurassic World the day it came out, and it was amazing. I loved the raptor trainer, even if he used his clicker to get the raptors' attention rather than as a marker for good behavior. A friend has been sending me pictures of zookeepers recreating the dramatic scene where Chris Pratt's character leaps into the raptor enclosure to stop his animals from messily devouring an unlucky new employee.

Jurassic World has taught animal handlers around the world that there's nothing your charges will respect like dramatically standing with your arms outstretched.

Even if your animals aren't paying attention. It's the thought that counts.

The June Pet Gift Box: Jurassic Bark

On the recommendation of one of my readers, I ordered a Pet Gift Box for Brisbane last month. I had been thinking about canceling my BarkBox subscription and was looking at other options. Although this month's theme is Jurassic Bark, and I love dinosaurs, I don't think we'll be getting another one of these.

This is going to be good!

I actually knew what was going to be in this month's Pet Gift Box well before it arrived. This is because it took a total of 11 days to get here. Although I received the "your box has been shipped!" email on June 8th, the package was not processed until the 12th. It departed the original shipping location on the 13th, a full five business days after it had supposedly been shipped. From there it took another six days to arrive at my house.

Three days prior to the arrival of this glorious box, I received an email stating that the product information card might be wrong, with an image of the correct card included. Thus I knew well ahead of time that this month's theme would be dinosaurs. I approve. I think it goes well with the space-themed BarkBox.

What was inside? A bunch of cool stuff! It's worth noting that, although Pet Gift Box specializes in products that are new to the market, they do not put the details of those products on their information card. This means I actually have to have the package or tag in hand when blogging about them.

We got a purple Prehistoric Plush Pal stuffy by PetLou. Briz loves it, I think it's pretty cute myself.

 There are some adorable Dino Tracks Cookies with perfect little three-toes footprints in them. These are from Daisy and Oscar's Gourmet Bakery, or D.O.G. Bakery. Made from flour, oats, water, pumpkin, and peanuts, these are safe for Brisbane and made in the USA.

There are two different flavors of Beastie Bars in here, beef and chicken. These are made with fruits, vegetables, and honey so they are grain-free. I'm not certain my dogs need on-the-go snacks, but the idea of dog power bars is pretty cute. These are also made in the USA.

Is that a raptor claw? Nope! It's an XL Turkey Leg from Pet 'n Shape. I have serious concerns about this all-natural made in the USA chew. As an informed dog owner and experienced raw feeder, I know that raw bones in their natural moist condition are generally safe. I also know know that dry bones, whether cooked or simply allowed to sit out for too long, can splinter and hurt my dogs. This is a dry turkey leg, complete with great big thick leg bone. It is strong and solid and no doubt would splinter into sharp and nasty pieces when chewed. It looks pretty cool, but there's just no way this could be safe.

That purple bag (matched the dinosaur!) contains Paleo Tummy Health dog treats from I'd Rather Be With My Dog. These are grain-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and made in the USA with coconut oil and ginger. They are also made out of chicken. I will have to give them away.

This was a really fun box, and I'm glad I got this month's box since I really wouldn't have liked some of their more recent themes. The total value of this box is supposed to be $35, but I will end up giving away or tossing half of it. I paid $28 for this box, but only got $17 value out of it, and I truly think the turkey leg presents a serious safety concern. I have emailed the company to express my concern for the turkey leg. I don't think we'll be getting another Pet Gift Box anytime soon, but it was definitely a fun experience.

Knitting Fun: The Majestic StegasauRu

I knitted a little bit when I was in college, but as I live in a temperate coastal climate I had little use for knitted goods until I acquired a nearly naked lizard-dog. Ru has an extra-long back, and keeping him toasty often means making his clothes myself. Knitting is a great activity to keep my hands busy when I am watching a movie or doing something else passive, like standing in lines.

Photo by Erin Koski

I'm not very good at following patterns, so most of Ru's sweaters are free-knitted. This means I just sort of knit what I think will work and make it up as I go along. It also means I have to undo nearly everything at least once before I get it right.

This is Ru's stegosaurus sweater. I made it for him last Halloween, and it is still one of my favorite projects. Look how spiky he looks!

The trick to knitting a decent dog sweater is to make sure the neck is small enough. If the neck is too big, the sweater will slide down and get stretched out. After that I just knitted it big enough, and long enough. The spikes are doubled and sewn together, and anchored to a strip of buckram inside the body of the sweater. They don't stand up very well, and in the future I might make him a new Stegosaurus sweater with boning or buckram inside the spikes to keep them up.

Product Review:Made by Tawny Pink Dino Collar

Made by Tawny is my coworker's own collar company, featuring flat buckle collars with grosgrain ribbon trim. She makes collars in tons of different designs and three sizes to fit dogs with necks 10-24" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

I love dinosaurs with the fiery fury of a thousand death comets, and there just aren't that many cute dinosaur collars out there. The ones that I see are usually terribly cartoonish, or have a pattern so small that it's unrecognizable, or have a background in an unappealing color that is sure to look filthy right away. Enter the Pink Dino Collar. It's bright, it's bold, and it gets right to the point, which is dinosaurs.

This one was originally made for Josie, who went to work with me every day. As her neck was only a couple of inches larger than Brisbane's, he has inherited it. This is easily my favorite collar, so Briz wears it a lot. Josie wore it nonstop for several weeks. It still looks brand new. I like to wear a hot pink athletic shirt and my stegosaurus necklace to events like lure coursing so we can match.

Pros: Durable enough to handle scratching from Brisbane's death talons without taking any damage. Dries nicely and doesn't collect dirt easily. I'm pretty sure I've also sent it through my washing machine by now. Also, dinosaurs.

Cons: Doesn't quite come small enough for Ru, though I may just get him a 10" collar and have it be 2" too big because seriously, dinosaurs.

Bottom Line: This is definitely my favorite collar, I am absolutely delighted that it has held up so well.

Product Review: Mighty Dinosaurs

The Mighty and Tuffy dog toys, by VIP Products, are unusually sturdy stuffed toys with squeakers. The Mighty toy line is extensive, with several different themes and multiple sizes of toys.

That's a stegosauRu.

I love dinosaurs with the passion of a four-year-old boy. I am also remarkably picky about dog toys because my dogs aren't terribly destructive, and I know those toys are going to be laying around my house for years unless I donate them to the shelter or gift them to a dog friend that is harder on stuffies.

Enter the Mighty Dinosaurs. VIP Products actually has two different toy lines featuring prehistoric creatures.

Now stop biting them for a second and pose, ok?

The Tuffy dinosaurs are as tough as they come. I fell in love with the bright orange Tuffy Pterodactyl when Brisbane was just over a year old. It's huge a heavy with rugged black seams. Little Brisbane enjoyed hauling it around a bit, but he's mostly ignored it during the last couple of years. I waffle between gifting it to a friend with a seriously destructive dog, and tossing it on my couch and calling it a throw pillow.

The Mighty Dinosaurs are a little bit cuter, and a little less sturdy. We have a full-size Brachiosaurus, and the Jr T-Rex, Stegosaurus, and Spinosaurus. Ru's favorite is the Brachiosaurus, most of his favorite toys are bigger than himself. Brisbane prefers the Jr dinosaurs, and likes to hoard them in his lair. This is the only non-edible, non-food-containing toy he considers high enough value to hoard. I assume this is because he knows I love them, therefore they must be special.

Pros: Squeaky, machine washable, and incredibly sturdy. Ours still look brand new, including Pterodactyl at 7 years old. Brisbane says these are very pleasant to bite, for dogs that enjoy biting rather than gnawing or destroying things. Also completely adorable and double as home-decor for the dino-obsessed. (I might actually enjoy these more than the dogs...) There are also dragons, wildlife, a Hydra, and a near-infinite number of other toys in the Tuffy and Mighty lines.

Cons: The Tuffy toys are particularly expensive, though there is a product-tester option for owners of Tuffy-addicts to buy new toys at a discount. The big ones will set you back $50-100 retail. I'm told some of the more elaborate Mighty toys are prone to splitting at the seams, which shouldn't surpise anyone. There's a reason the Tuffys have those ridiculously overbuilt seams and simplified construction.

Bottom Line: These will last longer than any other stuffy out there, and look seriously adorable at the same time. There are dozens of options, make sure you buy some that you like looking at because you'll be seeing them for a very long time.