We love our pets at Shelterrific, and often wonder what the world looks like from their point of view. Thanks to the Pet’s Eye View Camera from Fred Flare, $50, now anyone can get a sneak peak into Fido’s world. The water-resistant, lightweight camera clips onto your furry anipal’s collar. A timer can be set to snap a photo every one, five, or 15 minutes. The internal memory can hold over 40 pictures for you to gush over (and for Fluffy to use to update her Facebook page). There’s already one animal ahead of the proverbial pack. Our furry friend Cooper, a four-year-old American Shorthair cat who lives in Seattle, has been photographing his day-to-day adventures for more than a year now — he’s even had his work exhibited! My favorites are the portraits the portraits that he’s snapped of his human family — especially his new baby brother. — Katie D.

The Animal Blueprint Company has a passion for design, architecture, and animals. The natural outcome of that is these great “blueprints” of a variety of dog breeds. Dachshunds, labs, bull mastiffs, goldens — now you can display the perfect blueprint of your favorite canine pal. Prints are $95 matted and $145 matted and framed — not bad at all. New breeds will continue to be added, but if your dog is perhaps of slightly less standard lineage, the company is happy to make a custom blueprint of your pal. It will cost a bit more at $475 each, but for a one-of-a-kind, custom-made piece featuring your dog, that really doesn’t strike me as outrageous at all. See all the animal blueprints here. — Mary T.

Our five-year-old fluffy mastiff Sofa is a beloved, drooly soul, but for as long as we’ve had him, he’s had some anxiety issues. If he’s separated from us for longer than a couple days, he’s been known to actually scratch or chew himself raw — bad enough to require a trip to the emergency vet on more than one occasion. To add to his issues, he recently started to develop leash aggression after being charged by a neighbor’s dog. Our wonderful vet, Barbara Gomez DVM, has been working with us on these issues through standard means like medication and checking for food allergies. But because she’s also training for her certification in acupuncture, she offered to come over and give Sofa a session for free. Dr. Gomez says:

“Acupuncture can treat anxiety, skin issues. It can treat liver problems, kidney problems. It can treat a lot of things, and it’s good just as general health maintenance too. It’s good for arthritis and also good for digestive issues if they have chronic vomiting or diarrhea.”

Sofa seemed to think the whole procedure was pretty chill. I suspect he loved the attention, and I know he definitely could not feel the needles — no reaction to them. Afterward, he sure seemed a lot calmer on a walk — even the following day, when we tried a fairly crowded route with lots of dog interaction. Click for more on acupuncture for animals as well as a few more photos. — Mary T. (more…)

It’s not that it looks like a scaled-down modern couch (though there’s that). And it’s not that our 125-pound mastiff Dahlia (she’s the “small” one of our two) has suddenly taken to hopping up on our real couch, and this would give her one of her own. It’s actually that our bedroom is small, and I love the idea dog beds that actually look tidy. And for that, the Rodeo dog bed from Chiasso would fit the bill. The price, alas, is a little steep, at about $400 each — sheesh, I’ve bought real couches for that. With my luck, Dahlia would just pull the stuffing out of it anyway. — Mary T.

Super Cool Pets caught my attention with a cat box that recently won an Editor’s Choice award from Cat Fancy magazine. The Out of Sight Litter Box is slightly similar in idea to a litter box we wrote about here before, but with a very cat-person-friendly twist: a built-in ramp helps get stray litter off the paws before kitty returns to your rug, an elevated platform means no leaning for cleaning, and a door not only hides an unsightly box, it keeps it away from curious pooches! Read more about it here, or purchase it from outofsightlitterbox.com, $200-220. — Mary T.

Growing up, it always drove my Dad nuts when we opened a box of packages and there was a Christmas gift for our dog. It’s not that he didn’t care for our pets — he made our ducks a pond from the ancient tub he tore out of our 1840s house one year and, to this day, he still stops at the butcher shop to pick up bones for his dog as a special treat — but Christmas was and is a people day to him. With a new pup at home, I have to admit Bauer is not on our Christmas list. However, there may be a bone or two on the grocery list for him. Do you give holiday gifts to your pets? — Sarah L.

I live in an apartment entirely too small to house the dog I intend to someday own, but that hasn’t stopped me from finding just the right accessories for my pooch. I’ve already got the leash in mind, but now I’m obsessing over these amazing designer hanging feeders from These Creatures. Not only do these funky feeders provide a stylish and ergonomic dining station for your dog, but a percentage of the company’s profits goes to the support of animal rescue organizations that make the world a better place for animals and the people who love them. Now I just need to convince them to create a Vizsla version. —Erica P.

The random number generator has spoken! Congratulations to the winners of the Crypton Fabrics giveway: you’ve each won a Gipsy Doodle Dog Apron in pink, designed by William Wegman.

Melissa, who says: “I LOVE the dog harness vests! I have two small dogs, and they need harnesses instead of collars when we go on walks (delicate necks don’t do well with pulling collars!) These look terrific!”

Sarah, who says: “I like the Wiltshire Pillows. Very sophisticated.”

Katie, who likes, “hands down, the Throvers. Fantastic.”

Wendy, who agrees, saying: “Crypton Throvers are my favorite products from the website.”

And Ellie, who shares the Throvers love, saying: “I’d want a Throver to protect my car from my own doodle dog. And their designer totes would make a great gift for any new moms this year.”

Congrats to our winners (we’ll be in touch) and thanks again to Crypton Fabrics for the giveaway!

Our dog Buster recently passed away after nearly 17 years as the star of our family. My dad named his home brew after him, my mom shared an omelet with him every morning, and I even took him to college with me once for a wild weekend where a piece of pizza literally fell from the sky onto the street right in front of him (which I thought was a pretty good canine equivalent of what college can be like). I know that somewhere in dog heaven, Mr. B is smiling down on us with his neverending bowl of tomato sauce (his favorite food), but it’s still hard to adjust to the new everyday without him here. Our vet wrote a kind note and a family friend has even offered to immortalize the B Boy in a painting like the one shown of her own beloved dog. We greatly appreciated these gestures and are looking for more creative and meaningful ways to remember him. So tell me: how do you say goodbye to a beloved pet? — Sarah C.

I have serious puppy lust. I can’t walk past a dog on the street without my heart going into full on meltdown mode. Spotting Found My Animal collars and leashes is not going to make this an easier. The beautiful rope leads are exactly my style. I’m almost considering buying one and putting it away until my doggy day finally comes. The best part about Found My animal is this: 25% of ALL their profits go directly to the Louis Animal Foundation, a unique non-profit group dedicated to spaying/neutering and providing homes for animals who have not yet “found” their people. –Erica P.