1.  Metal Engraved Buckle Dog Collars by shopmimigreen on Etsy
I’m loving these collars by Etsy user shopmimigreen.  The bright colours, the engraved metal, the buckle that totally makes me think of old-timey seat belts…  I’m not a fan of Jack’s current collar, so I definitely see a replacement in his (near) future.

2.  Pet-O-Meter by Sharper Image
Is your pooch packin’ on the pounds?  Hit the pavement with your pup and this gold “pet-o-meter” by Sharper Image – follow the link above to purchase it from Fab.com at a 60% discount!

3. Crystal Dog Collars by The Shabby Dog
Add a little “bling” to your Bichon (or “sparkle” to your Shih Tzu) (or “glimmer” to your Golden) with these fancy-pants crystal dog collars.  Available from sizes XXS to XX-Large, beauties of every breed can flaunt these Swarovski crystals on their next neighbourhood walk!

4. Doggy Cake Mixes and Pans by Puppy Cake
Peanut butter… banana… carob.  Just some of the cake flavours available from Puppy Cake!  I know these are meant for dogs, but I can’t help it – looking at the picture of that cake, all frosted and adorned with a candle, makes me hungry.  And the bone-shaped cake pans?  So cute!  Plus, Jodi has a whole bunch of recipes you could make in those.  I mean, y’know… if you’re the baking type.  Me?  I’ll just stick with the boxed mixes.

1.  Bone Printed Doormats from Soggy Doggy Doormat, $39.99 and up
Clearly, these doormats are super-adorable… but they also claim to absorb 5x more water than your regular cotton doormat!  I’m going to have to try one out – the blue and brown one matches my decor perfectly.  XL versions are also available for $84.99, and they even sell dog-shammies to dry off your pooch!

2.  ”Cat Scratch” Cat Playhouse by SUCK UK, £20.00
Ah-mah-zing.  Bruiser needs one of these, stat.  Can you imagine the photo opportunities?  Plus, maybe he would like it enough to stop tearing the sides of my leather couches to shreds.  (Not likely, but… maybe?)

3.  French Bulldog Necklace by Chester & Company, $95.00 – $180.00
I want it.  I want it sooooo much!  And it’s not just available in Frenchie form, you guys – they’ve got boxers, beagles, doxies, pugs, labs, shepherds, and more!  They’re all so cute, and you can even add a little more sparkle with a ruby or diamond!  (I will admit, though, they get a little pricey…  A 14K gold version with a ruby can run you up to $515.00.)  But look how awesome!

1. Happy Birthday Dog Balloon Card by CheekyKumquat on Etsy

Wanna know what animal shapes I can make out of balloons?  None.  Most people would say “a snake” or something, but I can’t even get those stupid long, skinny balloons to inflate.  I would totally fail clown college.  Is there a trick to it that I never learned?!  Doesn’t matter, because apparently even hand-drawn balloon animals are fun, especially on the front of cards.  Everyone loves birthday cards.  And balloon animals.  It’s a match made in heaven.

2. Hand-Painted Dog Wine Glasses by PottyPittyBells on Etsy

My plain, dog-free, unpainted wine glasses just seem embarrassing now that I know these awesome ones exist.  *crash*  *smash*  What’s that?  Oh, you know, just cleaning out the cupboard so I can fit some proper glassware in here.

3.  French Bulldog Sweatshirt by nicandthenewfie on Etsy

“AJ, I don’t get it… how is a French Bulldog sweatshirt birthday-related?”, you ask?  Well, because if I owned this sweatshirt, I would definitely wear it to my birthday party.  But I don’t own it.  And now I have absolutely nothing to wear.  Now I hate everything I own more than Lu hates his toys after dark.

4.  Snoopy the Red Baron Cake Pan by Wilton

This is probably the coolest cake pan that I have ever seen in my life.  I don’t know how to decorate cakes, but I would learn if I had this cake pan.  And everyone who had a birthday would get a Snoopy cake from now on.  Because who doesn’t love Snoopy?  (Side note:  I couldn’t find this on the actual Wilton website.  And then I found it on Amazon and it was $100.  And then I found it on eBay and it was much, much cheaper, so if you decide you need a Snoopy cake pan too, eBay is the way to go.)

Did you even this was a thing? I did not. I was browsing one of those websites that lists like a million and twelve obscure holidays and found it. I don’t know what goes down at your house, but at Casa de Kolchak EVERYDAY is Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. We adore the stuff. It’s just so rich and gooey and peanutty. We go through a ridiculous amount considering that not many people live here. (Peanut butter and black current jelly sandwiches are a proper dinner for humans right? RIGHT?!)

It’s not just a good PB&J that gets me excited. It’s all things peanut butter. Last week, I made chocolate cupcakes with banana filling & peanut butter frosting and I thought I was going to DIE from pure delight.

One of my favourite human treats is peanut butter fudge.

It’s so good. Sooooooo good. I make this recipe all the time. Tonight, I got it into my head that I was going to make a dog friendly version. I was surprised how EASY it was! This recipe has only 4 ingredients, takes 5 minutes to mix up and 30 minutes to bake. If you’re as lazy crafty as I am, you can even mix them up right in a silicone cake pan. No dishes! Yesssssss!

Peanut Butter “Fudge” for Dogs

Ingredients:

1 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 cup gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill) or all purpose flour if your dog is grain tolerant

How we do:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl (or right in a 9×9 silicone cake pan), mix together peanut butter, eggs and yogurt. Make sure you get it all completely mixed together. Sift in the flour, stirring until combined.

If you’re using a metal cake pan, line it with parchment paper and fill with peanut butter-y mix goodness. Use the back of a spoon (or if you’re me, your hands) to flatten out the mix evenly in the pan.

Bake for 350F for 30 – 35 minutes.

While the fudge is baking, clean up! Kolchak recommends having your canine kitchen helpers get involved by licking the leftover peanut butter off the spoons and measuring cups.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut into small squares.

Enjoy! (I know my dogs did!)

How will you celebrate Peanut Butter Lover’s Day?

Want more peanut butter-y goodness? Check out our other peanut butter dog treat recipes:

Name: Stitch
Breed: Alaskan Malamute
Age: 5 years
Gender: Male
Location: Red Deer, AB
Shelter: ASH Rescue
Notes: Neutered, shots up-to-date, house-trained.

This gorgeous boy’s name is Stitch, and I have basically fallen in love with him from this one photo.  Look at his face!  Look at that luxurious fur!

Stitch is a 5-year old Alaskan Malamute who is friendly, well-mannered, and laid-back, but he does suffer from separation anxiety that causes him to become destructive when he’s left alone.

Stitch has come a long way since joining us and still has a bit to go but we feel that he is ready to start his life with his forever family and finish that journey with them!

Stitch is up-to-date on his shots, has been neutered, is house-trained, and just recently had his cherry-eye removed.  And now he’s all ready for his forever family!  If you are in love with this beautiful boy and want to know more about him, click here and visit his Petfinder listing!

1.  BarkBox, starting at $18/month
BarkBox offers snail-mail surprise goody subscriptions for every month, every 3 months, or every 6 months!  Items are carefully selected based on your dog’s profile, which you enter at registration, and 10% of the subscription fees go to support rescue groups – everybody wins!  Based in New York, BarkBox ships to the US and Canada (but while shipping is free within the United States, Canadians need to pay a $5 shipping fee each month).

2. PawBag, from $32.50 and up per bag
Aussie friends, we’ve got you covered with Australia-based PawBag!  A one-year subscription gets you six PawBags (shipped every other month), each containing five or more hand-picked products for your pooch.  While PawBag is currently only available in Australia, they’ve got plans for worldwide shipping, so keep an eye on their site for that announcement!

3. BestFriendBox, $30/month
BestFriendBox sends out a monthly box of vet-approved goodies for your pet.  Notice how I said “pet” and not “dog”?  That’s because BestFriendBox provides products for kitties, too!  10% of BestFriendBox’s proceeds go to animals in need… hooray!  Sorry, Canadians – this one’s only for our friends in the USA.

And we’re off!  Our first stop on PupLove’s Adoptable Dog World Tour is British Columbia, where we found this adorable little marvel named Sebastian:

Name: Sebastian
Breed: Dachshund
Age: 3 years
Gender: Male
Location: Vancouver, BC
Shelter: Dhana Metta Rescue Society
Notes: Neutered, shots up-to-date, no young children please.

Little Sebastian was hit by a car in May 2012, but his family couldn’t afford the surgery he needed to repair his spine.  Now that so much time has passed since the accident, Sebastian is no longer a good candidate for surgery on his herniated disc.  So instead, Sebastian’s got his own set of wheels to help him get around!  (But he likes to run around in the grass without them.)

Sebastian does use his legs to stand while he eats, and can walk on them ever-so-slightly, but needs to have socks on his back feet to protect them from sores from being dragged.  He’s looking for a very patient and loving family who will never, ever yell at him for having accidents indoors – his injuries have left him incontinent and he can’t help it!

It is evident that he has been reprimanded harshly in the past as he cowers and whines in fear at loud voices and stern correction, he is also handshy.

All he needs is unconditional love – for the rest of his life… he listens very well, and his recall is excellent.  All he wants is a warm lap to cuddle in as often as he can.  He just LOVES cuddling!!

Check Sebastian out on Petfinder for more information on how you can bring this special little guy home forever.

And that’s when I came up with the Adoptable Dog World Tour:

Starting today, we are going on a “world tour” of dogs who are waiting for their forever homes.  We’ll hit every province in Canada, every state in the US, and at least one city from countries all over the globe!

Are you guys ready?  Who knows where in the world your heart dog could be?  Let’s find out!

In honor of today’s special event, I’ve nominated some of the pet bloggers I love to receive some “PupLove Loves” badges.  Here’s who I choo-choo-choose as my Valentines this year!

Dear Rescued Insanity:

We love you for being so open and honest and heartfelt in your writing.  We feel your lows, celebrate your highs, and are inspired by your dedication to Shiva.

Will you be our Valentine?

Dear Kol’s Notes:

We love you for your amazing nutritional recipes for home-made dog goodies, for your fun Kolchak-voiced posts, and for your awesome DIY posts.  And for Felix.  We love Felix a LOT.

Will you be our Valentine?

Dear Something Wagging This Way Comes:

We love you for basically just being amazing.  You make us feel like failures at dog blogging, but we mean that in a good way.  In fact, you just win at dog blogging, forever.

Will you be our Valentine?

Dear No Dog About It Blog:

We love your thoughtful and well-researched posts about topics that can be difficult or controversial.  We are in awe of your fearlessness and we think you’re pretty amazing.

Will you be our Valentine?

Dear I Still Want More Puppies:

We love you for your fantastic blog post titles and your excellent puns.  And for just generally bad-assery.  (And for having the name AJ, because it’s a pretty cool name, if I do say so myself.)

Will you be our Valentine?

Dear Two French Bulldogs:

We love you, because you are TWO FRENCH BULLDOGS and we looooooove French Bulldogs.  We promise to try not to dog-nap you cute little Frenchies.  (We said “try”.  Felix, we’re coming for you, too.)

Will you be our Valentine?

Love,

PupLove.ca

Luckily, The Monkey has a little netbook that I can steal borrow for short periods of time while I wait for my computer to return to me.  You guys, it’s like I don’t even know how to function without my beloved Apple laptop.  And my web clients… well, I can tell you they aren’t thrilled about it, either.

Anyway, I’ve definitely failed at a “wordless” Wednesday post, but I saw this picture and it (mildly) brightened my spirits, so I had to pass it on. Hope you are all having much better 2013s!