Friday, June 7, 2013

5 great summer dog products, plus Kumfy Tailz giveaway

UPDATE:Congrats to Patricia O.! You've won the Kumfy Tailz Harness. Kumfy Tailz will be in contact with you soon!

Lulu lounging in her Kumfy Tailz harness. 
Summer is here for folks in the northern hemisphere (feels like it's been here in Florida since April). That's pool parties, vacation trips, park visits and more. And if you are like me and bring your dog almost every where (ask my friends), that means your dog needs to have fun and keep cool too.

So here are 5 products we've checked out that we like, and we think you will too. And we're giving one of the products away too!

1) Modgy traveling dog water system. It looks like a Capri Sun pouch with a matching water bowl, but this collapsible system makes sense for keeping on-the-go pets cool.



Fill the Modgy bottle with cool water for the dog. The matching collapsible bowl and the bottle (more like a pouch with a squirt top), both clip onto a heavy duty carabiner. Use the bowl for food or for water. It zips up and reopens when you need it. And when you're done, you can roll it up and sock it away.

Lulu slurps down the water bowl at the Modgy booth at Global Pet Expo.
The material is BPA-free, so you don't have to worry about it being toxic or breaking down in the heat. Each set comes with a bottle and two resealable bowls, so if one needs to be thrown out, you have another one. The bottle also keeps water a little cooler than just a regular plastic bottle.

This is great if you are at the beach, or hiking, or at places where packing light is a plus, and doggy hydration is necessary.

The H2FidO system is $10.95 on the Modgy website.

2) Doggles -- Insect Shield Bandana. I love bandannas on Lulu. So when I spied this at Global Pet Expo, I knew I had to get one.



The bandanna is made with permethrin, a natural repellent used in everything from lice shampoos to flea dips. It's meant to protect your pet against all kinds of bugs: mosquitos, ticks, ants, flies and fleas. And it's supposed to last through dozens of washings.

Lulu has been on flea stuff, so I don't know if it stopped fleas. But it certainly did keep the bothersome gnats away from her at the park on a few outings. Thinking of getting one for myself.

The bandana sells for $10.50 on the Doggles website. You can also get an insect shield t-shirt for your dog.

3)Bottle Buddy by Pet Links. Worldwise is the company behind such brands as Petlinks, Pooch Planet and SmartyKat.


This year they introduced a line of eco-conscious products. One of them is the Bottle Buddy toy for dogs, which give new life to empty plastic bottles. There are many types of Bottle Buddies, but I like the ones that allows you to connect several bottles (known as the Bottle Buddy ball or the cross), creating something that looks like a plastic bottle jack.
Photo courtesy of Worldwise.

Now, the bottle buddy is not a toy Lulu is interested in. She's not one for crinkle bottles.

However, at Global Pet Expo Worldwise had videos of dogs playing with this toy poolside. The toy is light and has great buoyancy, so it pretty much glides on the water. Great for dogs. So I think this could be a great summer toy. Find the Bottle Buddy on Amazon.

4) Microchips. I cannot stress the importance of making sure your pet is microchipped. Even if you have a collar with tags on your pet, microchipping ensures you always have a way for people to reach you.

June happens to be Microchip Month, so now's a great time to make sure it's done. There are a number of microchip registries out there, and lots of places to get your pet microchipped. Found Animals.org just opened a FREE registry that accepts all microchip brands and frequencies. You can sign up on the group's website. Make sure you have your pet's microchip number when you do.

5) Kumfy Tailz cooling harness. Here's an invention that is designed to keep your dog cool (or warm) right where it counts.

The Kumfy Tailz comes with a heating/cooling pad...

It fits inside a pouch where the red part of the harness is. That piece is meant to help keep the pet's core cool, or, warm, as needed. Kumfy Tailz's invent says a lot of a dog's system is regulated through their core.

It definitely cools Lulu's torso. It also fits really well.

The only issue is the harness clips to the leash on top. Lulu is used to her Easy Walk harness, so she pulls on the other harness. Kind of annoying. But if it keeps her cool, I'm happy.

Pepper the pomeranian just did a very thorough review of the harness. You should go and read it!

KumfyTailz is available in several sizes and colors. It is available for sale on Amazon.com.

HOWEVER -- you can also win one now!

Kumfy Tailz will send one of their harnesses to the winner. The giveaway starts midnight June 8 and ends June 30 at midnight. To enter, you MUST leave a comment on what you and your pet do to stay cool in the summer, and YOU MUST LEAVE A CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS. You get additional entries for joining me on Facebook or Twitter, and spreading the word about my giveaway. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received the Kumfy Tailz harness, the Bottle Buddy, The Insect Shield Bandanna and the Modgy water bowl system from their respective companies. However, I am accepting no money from these companies.

27 comments :

  1. These are some great pet products for Summer!! Dog knows down here in Florida we could use all of them...at once! I would love to get my paws on the KumfyTailz cooling harness since it is generally sweltering here all Summer long (and into Fall...and starting in March).
    Happy Saturday!
    Oz

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  2. make sure there's plenty of shade and plenty of h20. pocket.saki@gmail.com

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  3. Shiloh keeps cool by staying in the a/c. If he had one of these he would probably go out more. shiloh_acres at yahoo dot com.

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  4. Lots of water and fun baths.

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  5. Bru LOVES eating ice cubes!

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  7. Candy our beagle loves to keep cool in our kiddie pool.

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  8. We run thru the sprinkler, swim in the pool, and make doggie pupsicles.

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  9. These are all great finds!! So glad you shared them. I'm intrigued by the insect shield bandanna. I will definitely have to check that out!

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  10. There are some fun products for the summer! I love empty water bottles...so you can guess which one is my favorite!
    Maggie

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  11. We let him run around with the sprinkler running!

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  12. Summer is always welcome here in Vancouver or, as we call it, "Raincouver". Thanks for sharing these great products!

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  13. Wow!! These are some great products! I loved the Bottle Buddy... will definitely have to get one of those for the Boston!

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  14. This is a fantastic summer line-up! I love the Harness! I walk with my pug Star and pugs do not tolerate the heat well! So we have to stop often and take a lot of breaks for her to cool down. This would benefit her on our summer walks. Not just for the walks but for our outdoor camping/boating trips as well! She LOVES the outdoors! Thank you for showing us these products.

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  15. Oh, this sounds FABulous! I saw Pepper reviewing hers and it looked so amazin' I had to stop by and see what other summer stuffs there were! Thanks bunches for the reviews!
    I usually end up puttin' my hinnie up against the ac vent, butts that does no good on walkies!! BOL
    That harness would work great!
    Kisses,
    Ruby

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  16. Thanks for including us! We are super excited for everyone to learn about our product this hot summer! Equally thrilled to give one away to a lucky winner! Woof!

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  17. Oh I need two of EVERYTHING for Vlad and Barkly. The neighbors laugh at how we'll "hustle" fast from tree to tree here in the summer on our hill. Tornado in '08 took out most all the trees, and it left us very little shade to work with in the hottest part of the day.

    Thank you so much for showing us these GRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT products!!!

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  18. I bring cold water and a handtowel on all our walks, if my oldest seems to be getting over heated before i can get her home, i soak the towel and rub her down with it, just to wet her skin , i don't even know if this technically helps, but it seems to help

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  19. I just bought a baby float tube with netted bottom and canopy for the pool so I can put my boston terrier in it during the summer. BTs don't cool themselves very well. I was looking online for a product she could wear when we weren't near water and found this vest. It's more than my budget allows so I'm really hoping we'll win. Thank you for this contest. It might just be a real life saver!

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  20. I have eight dogs, including three rescues. We do a variety of things to keep cool in the summer. The three youngest enjoy when I put a kiddie pool on the deck filled with water and a bucket of ice cubes dumped in from the ice maker. It starts as a bobbing for ice cubes game with them and turns into jumping in and out of the water followed by the final fun of standing and or sitting in the water just enjoying it. And I should mention these are shelties who enjoy this silliness.... All eight of the dogs enjoy eating chunks of crushed ice from the ice maker throughout the day to keep cool and sitting in front of fans and under the ac vents. My oldest dog hates to go outside in the heat so I have a cooling collar that she wears when she must go outside to potty, and she is the one that id most like to win this great product for as she would enjoy it. My dogs also enjoy when I put a cool pack in a pillow case and allow them to lay with it and I also make sure their undercoat stays brushed out so their coat can breathe and help keep them cool naturally. Another favorite thing for cooling off on hot days is when they get doggie ice-cream or other cold treats. And I freeze water in their bowls so they can enjoy it as it thaws.... Those are just some of the things to keep my fur kids cool when it's hot... Thanks for the chance to win.

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  21. They always have fresh water and stay inside most of the time.
    lazybones344 at gmail dot com

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  22. Awesome products! We have the Modgy product and it definitely comes in handy. Simba stays cool in the AC! Also stays cool by going in the shade and taking our H2FidO along on walks! ComeWagAlong[at]gmail[dot]com

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  23. I live in Southern Tennessee and it already has been up in the 90s here. I have ten dogs and compete with my Dachshunds with tracking rabbits and so on and am always open to learning new ways to keep my babies cool but right now they freak over ice cubes!! All I do is fill up their pool and put a ton of ice cubes in it and you can find almost every dog just standing there cooling off or trying to catch the ice cubes in the water! My email is waterlilly at bellsouth dot com or waterlilly0515 at gmail dot com

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  24. Huffle has a hard time sleeping at night if he's hot so I made sure to position all his sleeping gear nearest to the airflow and we keep a fan on for him. He also gets me up every time he runs out of water in the middle of the night!
    dogmama@hufflepup.com

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  25. It get so hot where we live that we always make sure that our beagle Rusty is inside all the time. Although we have central air, I always put a fan on where he sleeps next to the bed in his own little bed so he stays completely cool. I walk him when it is cooler outside later in the evening and he always has a big bowl of cold water day and night.
    lauraemerson17 at yahoo dot com

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  26. we have a collapsible bowl that we bring with on walks - we also make sure to never forget the water at home!

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  27. We run the ac in the house. and run a fan all the time. When I am outside with them. I pull out the hose and play with them. they love the water

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