Last Minute Gifts for Animal Lovers

With Christmas Eve being tomorrow there sure are a lot of people out shopping still. I'm betting some people will continue shopping right up until the stores close tomorrow night. I'm thinking some of these last minute shoppers may have an animal lover on their list so I decided to compile some last minute gift ideas for such folks.

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• A Calendar with the recipients favorite breed/animal on it

This may seem a little cheesy, but it's something that is usually pretty easy to find, especially in a pinch. Not to mention that most people use a calendar, whether in their personal or work life.

• Gourmet pet treats (specific to the animal they own)

Even if this seems more like a gift for the recipient's fur baby, I know that if I received gourmet cookies for Olivia I'd still consider it a gift for me because I would get to enjoy feeding those cookies to Olivia. 

• A gift card to a pet friendly restaurant

I love to take Olivia to restaurants with outside patios when the weather is nice, and I have a lot of friends who do the same with their pooches. You could even write a cute note with the gift card about how you thought the recipient could enjoy a fun meal out with [Fido]. Just be sure to ask ahead of time and make sure the chosen restaurant allows dogs, don't assume.

• Board Games

I don't know about other brand games but I know there is Cat-opoly, Dog-opoly, horse-opoly, and even dog breed specific -opolies. If you only know your friend has a dog and not the specific bree, you could just purchase the generic dog version. Even if they never play the actual game, it will still look cute on a game or coffee table!

• Tree Ornament

If you know the recipient's dog/cat/horse/bird/etc's name you can have it written on an ornament at one of those Christmas stores/kiosks that are at most malls. This makes a cute personalized gift that is relatively in-expensive and doesn't take long to make.

Thinking About My Christmas List

With Christmas fast approaching, I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping. I keep threatening Olivia that she will have coal in her stocking on Christmas morning because she's been rather naughty. We live in a neighborhood of horse farms and we have 13 acres of our own that Olivia loves to play on. But she and my parent'd dog, Fern Louise have gotten in a horrible habit of chasing squirrels. That in itself isn't bad, it's the ear splitting barking that causes us a problem. My mom is worried about upsetting the neighbors (even though they all have barking dogs as well). Fern Louise will come when my dad goes out to tell her she's being bad. But Olivia.... she won't make eye contact, and then she turns and runs away. You could ( and we have) easily spend an hour trying to catch her. She's just so darn stubborn. And this is why I keep telling her she won't be getting anything but coal for Christmas.

But there's one thing I'd love to get her (okay, I'd enjoy it way more than she would). The GoPro Fetch camera mount. It's GoPro's dog harness that has two camera mounts, one on the chest and one on the back. It looks so cool, and I already have the GoPro (it was my Christmas present last year). I jsut love tech-y toys, especially when there is a dog spin on them! Check out the promo video below and let me know what you think!

(And let's be honest, even with all the talk of not buying Olivia anything for Christmas... there will be many gifts under the tree with a "To Olivia, Love Mommy" tag loving taped to it. I can't stay mad at that adorable squishy face for any amount of time.)

Olivia's Souvenirs from Florida

Brian and I were in Fort Walton Beach, Florida this past weekend visiting his 90+ year old grandparents. We left Friday and got home Monday (yesterday). I missed Olivia terribly. I didn't buy a single thing for myself as a souvenir but she got some new stuff (some she likes better than others, haha).

If you guessed this new ensemble is not Olivia's favorite gift from my trip, than you are correct! But Easter is coming and it was too cute to pass up! I found it at Petco which I do have here at home but it's an hour or more away.

As you may (maybe not) be able to read on the label these are K9 Candy Buttons, made from vanilla yogurt, carob, and peanut butter. I bought them at a privately owned dog store called 3 Dogs & a Chick, which was part bakery and part pet products. They even make and ship their baked goods and you can order your dog a birthday cake (they overnight them, I asked).

If anyone has a recipe for these or something similar I'd love if you would share it!

I also bought these at Petco, Olivia hasn't tried them yet though (but she does like their peanut butter). I got them buy 2 get 1 free with my Petco rewards card. I like this brand because they are made in the USA (yay!) and the fact that they are sort of like Toms Shoes where you buy one and they give to a dog in need.

You can check out their website with their mission and what they do here.

The next thing I really want to do is plan a vacation that Olivia can come on too, because while our trip was enjoyable, I would have had a whole lot more fun if I could have brought Olivia along too!