Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Tips, Tricks, and Safety Advice for Buying Dog Gifts this Holiday Season

Copyright (c) 2010 Trey Markel

Do you need some help selecting dog gifts for
this holiday season? You're not alone. There are
only so many different kinds of balls, chew toys,
and Frisbees that you can buy. Sure, the dog
doesn't care if you get him the same thing you
bought last year, but there has to be something
different, maybe a gift that you can appreciate
as much as the dog does. Get him the chew toy and
maybe get a dog picture for the wall. Both are
popular with dog owners and make great
conversational pieces. Gather a group of pet
owners together in a room where they can examine
a detailed and unique picture of your dog and
you'll be certain to have a stimulating
discussion.

Many pet owners leave the animal presents till
last, so not much thought goes into the selection
process. A typical dog owner will choose
something that is on the shelf in the dog food
isle when he's buying that batch of food for the
holiday week. If you shop at a pet store for
food, you have more of a selection to choose
from, but most folks that go to pet stores for
food only do so every so often. If the holiday
you want to buy gifts for isn't right around the
corner, you probably won't pick something out
that day. You'll figure you'll make at least one
more trip to that store before the holiday, so
you hold off on buying the gift.

Planning Ahead instead of Buying the First Item
Seen

If you plan ahead, you won't need to just grab
the first item you see that classifies as a dog
gift when you go shopping. Remember, you're
buying for the dog, but you also want to find
something that will be enjoyed and appreciated by
you and other family members. That's why balls
and Frisbees are so popular. The dog will be
playing with someone and not alone, though many
dogs do like to bring their ball into a hiding
place with them. They crawl into a cubby hole or
their dog house and keep it close where they can
get to it. It's possible that you might get the
privilege of playing with that ball again, but
that is entirely up to the dog.

When buying a ball for your dog, make sure it's
not small enough for him to choke on. Dogs will
eat anything you put in front of them and the
purpose of a ball is to give them something to
play with, not a snack. Smaller balls can be
dangerous because a dog will, get over-zealous
and choke on it if you're not careful. Ask at the
pet store when you go which ball to get for a dog
your size. You can even bring the animal with
you. He won't know it's a dog gift for the
holidays. Make the trip early enough on the
shopping season and you will have a larger
variety of toys to choose from. Pet stores sell
out during the holiday season just as quickly as
human retail stores.

Safety Tips on Frisbees and Chew Toys

Your dog will destroy anything he puts in his
mouth eventually. That's what dogs do. If you've
given your dog a Frisbee or chew toy in the past,
you know that the life expectancy of those toys
is not long. For that reason, you need to be
careful when you select a Frisbee or chew toy. If
the item is going to come apart into little
pieces, are those pieces a danger to your dog?
Can he swallow and choke on them? Is the paint or
dye harmful to your dog? If you buy a standard
Frisbee and expect to use it as a dog toy, are
you buying the one that was made for that
purpose? They do exist, you know. If you go to
the pet store you can buy a disc that is
specifically made to play catch with your dog.
That's a dog gift you'll both appreciate.

Not all chew toys are a good bargain and some are
even harmful to your dog. Some of the chew toys
marketed specifically for dogs have toxic foam or
small beads inside which can be harmful or even
fatal to smaller breeds. If you're looking for
safe chew toy, try plain cotton rope or go to the
infant isle of a supermarket and buy chew toys
made for children. They need to go through more
rigorous testing and inspection before they're
allowed on the shelves. Our pets are very much
like our children in that they need us to take
care of them, so make sure the toys you're buying
for them are safe.

Dog Pictures

Dog pictures, and we're not talking about the
famous "Dogs Playing Cards", are another item
that sells pretty well around the holidays. One
of the trends this year, with digital cameras
being the rage these days, is to have a print
created from an existing digital picture you took
of your dog. This is easily done by any art
gallery or photography studio that utilizes
digital technology. You don't need to have the
taking of the picture itself done professionally,
but the printing and mounting in a frame should
be left to the experts if you want to have a
clear, sharp picture of your dog on the wall.

----------------------------------------------------
Robert Redding is the owner and CEO of Animal
Blue Print Company. Robert was the former VP of
Design at Quicksilver for more than 12 years.
Robert today owns his own design firm and has a
passion for Dogs. You can learn more about
Animal Blue Print Company at:
http://www.animalblueprintcompany.com/

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