The Muttropolis Blog

Stuff My Pet Ruined: Holiday All-Stars

Our friends over at Sh*t My Pets Ruined - a hilarious site dedicated to documenting and showcasing the stuff our pets have destroyed, or "..otherwise made filthy, distasteful, gross or painful" have come out with their top pics for holiday "Sh*t My Pet Ruined!" 

[Related: Got an aggressive chewer at home? Check out tough toys your dog can't ruin.]

With the site's permission, we've picked out our absolute favorite Sh*t My Pet Ruined submissions, featured below, along with commentary from the submitter.

Show Us Your Pics!

Do you have a pet that has creatively chewed, chomped and repurposed your carefully arranged holiday decorations?  Please feel free to share your pics with us on our Muttropolis FaceBook page or submit them to Sh*t My Pets Ruined! 

[Related: New Year, New Gear! Check out what's new for 2012 at Muttropolis]

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Janet McCulley, The Daily Treat at AnimalPlanet.com

 

Awkward Holiday Family Pet Photos

AAwwwk-waarrrd!

The holiday is upon us, and, like clockwork, with it comes the (welcomed) barrage of well-wishing Christmas and holiday cards featuring everything from picture-perfect families in matching dockers and smartly dressed tots with toothless grins to dogs stuffed into Santa Suits. Then there are those other cards - the ones that are simply awkward...just plain wierd. As in, 'I-cannot-believe-you-sent-this-out-as-your- holiday-card-weird.' You know the ones we are referring to?

A whole lot of awkardness in one place

The genius minds behind the hilarious site Awkward Family Photos - which features cringe-worthy, embarrassing photos of fairly creepy, fashion-challenged families  - take awkwardness to a whole new level with their hysterical collection of awkward holiday family pet photos! Here are some of my favorites and check out their whole collection at AwardFamilyPetPhotos.com

All photos courtesy of AwkwardFamilyPetPhotos.com 

1) Oy Vey!

 

2) The Giving Tree

 

3) That sure is one ugly baby.

Top 10 Most Awesome Dogs of 2011

The year 2011 was absolutely brimming with historic, hilarious and downright heart-warming moments of doggie awesomeness! Stories of heroic hounds, comedic canines and doggie Dilbert's certifiably made life so much richer this year and we've selected some of our favorite four-legged stand-outs of 2011.

It was not easy, sifting through the incredible, insane, inane and sometimes hair-brained dog stories of 2011, but for you, dear readers, we will stop at nothing to keep you on the cusp of mutt's hot and mutt's not.

Our Top 10 Most Awesome Dogs of 2011

1) Loyal Dog, Hawkeye, Lays at the Casket of Fallen Navy Seal: A beautiful tribute and demonstration of a dogs loyal and unconditional love. Reportedly this story alone is responsible for a 32.36% increase in Kleenex's stock price in 2011. : )  Full story here >

 

2) The Amazing Commando Dog That Helped Snare Osama Bin Laden: This special four-legged soldier was a heavily-armored, explosive-sniffing pooch who was strapped to an assault team member and lowered into Bin Laden's hideout from a Black Hawk helicopter! To ensure their safety, these special four-legged forces are given oxygen masks for helicopter jumps as well as helmets with videocameras for remote monitoring. Read story here>

 

3) Eco-minded French Bulldog Saves Water with Inventive Pup Pre-wash Cycle. Read story here >

 

4) Dog Saves New Family Only Six Hours After Being Adopted: Gentle giant Hercules proved his worth as a loyal canine companion only six hours after being rescued from an animal shelter by chasing after an intruder who was attempting to break into his new adoptive family's house. Read the whole story here >

 

5) Static Cling Dog Channels a White Porcupine: Combine super dry air, a fluffy white dog, a synthetic fiber blanket and a monotone voice-over narrator and you've got a nugget of YouTube gold. See for yourself in the video below and read the full story here >

 

6) Uber Happy Dog Plays Hide-n-Seek with Bouncy Sheep: The most adoro interspecies love affair between a bouncing, fluffy sheep and one scrappy happy dog. Dingleberries and all, watch what a good ole time this sheep is having clomp-a-clomping around the barnyard with a dog that seems to have decided "...to hell with the whole herding thing."  Read the full story here >

 

 

7) Greece's Riot Dog: Allegedly present at nearly every importantGrecian riot since in 2008, and even braving police with teargas, it is unknown what this tenacious yellow dog, Loukanikos, was protesing, but he is deserving of a nod for getting up out of his tent and getting into the action. Read the full story here>

8) I Lean: Seeing-Eye Goose Befriends Blind Dog. This heart-warming animal odd couple shows that love really is blind! A blind boxer named Baks got a whole new lease on life this year thanks to a good samaritan goose named Buttons who leads  vision-impaired Baks around everywhere either by hanging onto him with her neck, or by honking to tell him which way to go. Read the full story here >

 

9) Tenacity Defined - Brave Terrier With Knife Stuck Squarely in Head Chases Robbers. Bella, a brave terrier mix,  happily chased robbers down her street earlier this year despite the ginormous Ginzu protruding from her forehead ! She survived the ordeal with flying colors and gets extra kick-ass doggy awesomeness points for her selfless heroicism! Read the full story here>

10) Determined Pit Pup Harper, Rescued from Trash Bag, Learns to Walk. Severely deformed, yet darling pitbull pup Harper was abandoned to die in a trash bag, but angelic shelter workers rescued her and provided her with proper therapy and now she has a new leash on life! Today, Harper is a frisky, happy pup who is gaining more and more mobility each day, to the astonishment of onlookers and medical professionals. Read the full story here >

 

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White House Decks the Halls With All Things Bo

Buttons and Bo's!

By Janet McCulley

First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed military families to the White House yesterday for the first peek at this year’s holiday decorations. Celebrating the season with the theme “Shine, Share, Give,” this year's holiday decorations, hung by volunteers from 37 states, feature none other than our fave first family dog Bo Obama in many of the festive designs. The centerpiece of Christmas at the White House is the official tree, an 18½-feet tall balsam fir in the Blue Room. The tree is decorated with holiday cards created by military children, medals, badges and patches from all the military branches.

[Just for fun: Do you know Bo? Take a quiz!]

What do marshmallows, trash bags and buttons have in common?

The Obamas' famous Portuguese water dog is represented in nearly every room of the public tour, and the whimsical Bo 're-creations' range from small ornaments to life-size topiaries made from everyday materials like buttons, licorice and even trash bags!  My favorite is a felt 'Bo' design that stands 4½ feet tall.

Mad props to Heather Cooper the floral designer who designed and assembled the amazingly creative Bo statuaries. A 'Bo' made of bits of licorice or trash bags?  How cool is that?! (In fact, watching the video below kind of makes me want to plug in my glue gun and get all crafty...at least for 10 minutes until the feeling passes and I regain consciousness.)

Check out all the holiday 'Bo's' in the video below and be one of the first to get a glimpse of how all the Bo decorations throughout the White House were made! Thanks to Megan Slack and The White House Blog for sharing this story!

What Is Your Pet Thankful For This Thanksgiving?

by Janet McCulley, Muttropolis Co-founder 

With Thanksgiving just hours away, it's important to step away from the stove, put down the gravy ladle and remember that the Thanksgiving holiday is really about expressing gratitude for the blessings and goodness in our lives  … in addition to consuming mass amounts of food and slipping into a food coma by 5pm.

In addition to reflecting upon the goodness in our own lives that we are thankful for, we thought that it might be fun to think about what our pets might be thankful for this Thanksgiving season!

20 Things My Dogs are Thankful for This Thanksgiving

To find out what my dogs Lulu, Zazou & Kiki ( pictured below) might be thankful for this season, we *snuck a peek* in their gratitude journals this week and here’s what we discovered they are thankful for...any of this look familiar?

From the Gratitude Journal of Zazou, Lulu & Kiki - "Wot we r tankful four dis howliday seeson."

1) A warm cozy dog bed to curl up into every night

2) Morning cuddle time when everyone first gets up in the am

3) The joys found within the dirty clothes basket

4) Tasty, healthy dog food that doesn’t taste like cardboard

5) That the scary, loud purple machine that mom pushes around the carpet is kept in the closet most of the time

6) Petfinder – for bringing us together

7) Dirty dishes for us to prewash in the dishwasher

8) For the tall fence that separates us from the big scary dog next door

9) That we successfully scare away the hot air balloons that hover over our house by merely barking at them

10) For the many porcelain petting stations in the house.

11) Dogswell Vitality Treats - particularly Happy Hips Chicken

12) Houseguests that leave their purses on the floor, preferably unzipped

13) The Sirius 'Coffeehouse Music' channel for when mom and dad are not home

14) When the internet connection goes down …because then our people have to get up and play with us

15) Soiled dinner napkins accidentally left on the floor

16) When our people finally get off the phone or when their phone battery dies...which means they will pay more attention to us

17) Car rides (to anywhere but the vet)

18) The mysterious delicacy that is cat poop

19) Warm clothes straight out of the dryer

20) That dad inadvertently drops a lot of noms on the floor when preparing food in the kitchen

 

Do any of these sound familiar?  If your pet had a gratitude journal, what might it say? Share your comments below or on our Muttropolis Facebook Page!

Best Halloween Costumes for Metrosexual Dogs

Do You Have 'Metro Mutt?'

Do you have a male dog that has an extra spring in his step? Is he occasionally mistaken for being slightly gay? Does he particularly enjoy being groomed or shopping for gluten-free dog treats at the nicer doggie boutiques in town?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, (I did!) then you might just be the proud parent of a metrosexual mutt. In fact, my dog Zazou the Vizsla waves his 'muttro' flag quite high and we fully embrace and encourage his special fido flair.

Best Halloween Costumes for Metro Mutts

With Halloween right around the corner, you might be asking yourself - what is the best costume choice for my princess boy? Look no further - here are a few of our top Halloween costume picks for the muttro mutt. From do-it-yourself to store-bought-- we've got you covered.

1) The Ambigously Gay Duo  - Batman and/or Robin. The tighter the unitard the better. 

2) Hipster Pup: Decorative specs and artfully tied scarf complete this hipster holier-than-thou look. Photo - HipsterPuppies.com

 

3) Pirate Boy Costume: Nothing says "Ahoy Matey!" like a satin jumpsuit and sassy red sash...right? Muttropolis.com

 

4) Sailor On Leave Costume: Land 'ho! A fitted jumpsuit and smart stripes will definitely bring out the soldier in your boy.

 

5) Rave Party Fairy Costume- Just add glow sticks and some techno trance and you've got yourself a party! Muttropolis.com

6) Prehistoric Triceratops Dog Costume - What metro mutt doesn't appreciate a beautifully designed headdress? 

 

7) Prince Charming Dog Costume: No metro mutt would turn down an opportunity to wear a faux-fur lined cloak AND  bejeweled crown. Muttropolis.com

Reprint courtesy of Janet McCulley & The Daily Treat @ AnimalPlanet.com

Loyal Dog Mourns, Lays at Casket of Fallen Navy Seal

The dog of slain Petty Officer Jon Tumilson refused to leave his side during the Navy SEAL’s funeral earlier this week in Rockford, Iowa. The heartbreaking photo taken by his cousin, Lisa Pembleton, shows Tumilson’s dog Hawkeye lying by the casket.

Navy SEAL U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson was among the 30 American troops killed August 6 when Taliban insurgents downed their Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. At his funeral in Iowa, his dog Hawkeye paid his last respects by walking up to the casket, laying down in front of it, and heaving a sigh.

[Canine Comrades: Read about a loyal dog who wouldn't leave his injured friend behind] 

Pembleton wrote on Facebook that Hawkeye was Tumilson’s loyal pet who wouldn't leave his master’s side during the funeral in Rockford, Iowa.

“I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle,” Pembleton wrote.

[Read about another loyal dog who remains faithful to dead owner & waits by the road everyday for him to come home]

Tumilson's family and/or friends also posted this looping, time lapsed video of Hawkeye at the service...commencing application of kleenex tissues now......

Thanks to our friend Maria Goodavage at Dogster for sharing this with us.

Source: Janet McCulley, Muttropolis Co-founder & AnimalPlanet.com 

 

Pets Behaving Badly: Stuff My Pet Ruined

What stuff has your pet ruined? Show us your pictures!

If you have ever visited the hilarious site Sh*t My Kids Ruined, a website asserting to be the "strongest visual birth control on the market today," then you are going to absolutely love the website Sh*t My Pets Ruined - a site dedicated to the stuff that our pets have destroyed, or "...otherwise made filthy, distasteful, gross or painful." Whether your pet has ruined your car interiors, your social life, your couch, your ability to travel or simply the smell of your home, the clever creators of this site invite you to tell your story...the good, the bad or the ugly.

[Encourage pup to gnaw on these all-natural teething rings instead of your Manolos]

With the site's permission, we've picked out a few of our favorite recent submissions, which are featured below, along with commentary from the submitter.  

Do you have a pet that has creatively chewed, chomped and repurposed your home decor or otherwise?

If so, share your pics with us on our Muttropolis Facebook Page or submit them to Sh*t My Pets Ruined! As well, be sure to check out their hilarious book, Sh*t My Kids Ruined  - it's sure to make your kids, nieces, nephews or siblings look like complete angels. 

[Nearly indestructible, your chomping champion will meet their match with this super tough Tuffy Toy]

 

 

Gus the Bulldog Gets An Indoor Pool [VIDEO]

Let there be no doubt that Gus is one tenacious Bulldog! With summer temperatures soaring, Gus the Bulldog has no interest in lounging in his baby pool in the heat of the great outdoors - but instead opts to take the fun indoors! 

[VIDEO: Check out Snowboarding Bulldogs]

What is Gus really thinking?

Knowing how dogs operate - my guess is that Gus's true intentions is to make this HIS personal pool and likely intends to take the pool into his bed to chew on in solitude...away from his accomplice. What do you think?

[VIDEO: Check out the "Running, Rolling & Strolling of the Bulldogs]

Cool Your Canines: Top Tips to Beat the Summer Heat

Maximize Canine Chillaxation

Nothing makes a summer adventure more enjoyable than having our beloved four-legged companions in tow! However for animals, the summer heat can be quite uncomfortable as our furry friends are covered with fur and walk directly on hot surfaces that can severely effect their body temperature. 

To help keep our critters safe and comfortable all summer long, check out the following  tips, ideas and products to keep summer from being a bummer for our pets!

1. Car Heat: Avoid heat exhaustion and DO NOT leave your pet alone in the car during the remotely warm weather. During warm weather the inside of your car can reach 120° in a matter of minutes, even if you're parked in the shade with the windows opened a little. Pet owners that carelessly leave their pets unattended in a hot car are now subject to hefty fines and possibly jailtime, so don't even think about it!

2. Let the Fur Fly: Dogs with extremely thick or long fur should be trimmed during the hot summer  months. Regular use of a deshedding tool, such as the FURminator deshedding tool can remove tremendous amounts of undercoat hair.

3. Creative Cooling: Water or gel-filled cooling mats, cooling vests and cooling collars are great for dogs that are kept outside or if you do not have air conditioning in your home. As well, an elevated pet bed can help keep pets cool and comfortable and the raised sleeping surface keeps your dog off the hard ground, away from bugs and has an added bonus of great air circulation.

4. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: Provide plenty of water and shade for your pets so they can stay cool. Be aware that water will vaporize on extremely hot days. Collapsible Water Bowls and Gulpy Water Bottles are convenient portable water sources for your pet, especially if you're on the road. 

 5. Exercise at Dusk & Dawn: Pets need exercise, but on very hot days it is best to limit exercise to early morning or evening hours. Keep in mind that asphalt and beach sand gets very hot and can burn your pet's paws. Consider protective booties to protect sensitive paws from hot pavement.

6. Avoid Sunburn: Pets can get sunburned too, and your pet may require special dog-friendly sunscreen his or her nose and ear tips. Especially pets with light-colored noses or light-colored fur on their ears.

7. Be aware of the Signs of Heat Exhaustion: Heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid pulse, unsteadiness, a staggering gait, vomiting, or a deep red or purple tongue are all signs of possible heat exhaustion.  What to do in the event of heat exhaustion: Move the animal into the shade or an air-conditioned area. Apply ice packs or cold towels to their head, neck and chest or immerse them in cool (not cold) water. Let them drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes and consider taking them directly to a veterinarian.

Do you have some favorite tips to share to help our pets beat the heat? I welcome you to share them with fellow pet parents in the comments below!