'Twas the Fido's Freebie Friday Before Christmas

It's time for Fido's Freebie Friday, the weekly giveaway blog hop for all things pet!

Even though we're finished with holiday shopping, it still seems like there's not enough time to get everything done before the holidays!

But one thing I'm loving during the time when Rocco and I are relaxing are the Heat Holders socks that we're giving away at To Dog With Love! They'll keep your feet toasty warm while you're opening Christmas gifts or just laying around the house with your pets on a chilly day.

Check out all the pet-related giveaways below or add your own! We make it easy by linking them up all in one place! The rules are super simple. Here's all you need to know to link up:

• You have up to 45 characters to describe your prize and include an expiration date
• Fido's Freebie Friday Blog Hop is open to posts with prizes for pet products or services, including pet-related or pet-themed items for owners. Use your specific post url to link up.

Fido's Freebie Friday opens each Thursday afternoon for linkups at 4 p.m. ET, and renews each week at the same time with a new listing. Link up anytime during the week!

For more information, you can check out the help page. Your hosts are All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love.

Let's go shopping!


Individual rules of entry and guidelines for winning may apply to each listing. All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love take no responsibility for the legality of the rules governing the listings on other sites and giveaways that are posted here. We simply provide this forum as a gathering place for pet products to be offered. Fulfillment of each giveaway is done by the blog conducting the giveaway, not by the hosts of this giveaway hop; please contact the giveaway host with any questions regarding a giveaway or giveaway prize.

Fido's Freebie Friday: Holiday Shopping!

It's time again for Fido's Freebie Friday, the weekly Blog Hop giveaway listing for all things pet!

If you're like me, you're still playing catch-up after a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, which, for us, also included a lovely Hanukkah celebration.

At least we're pretty much done with our holiday shopping, and we're thankful for that!

We love the holiday gifts we're currently featuring in our giveaways from Petco and Petmate.

For more pet-related gifts, you'll find some great ideas in the Blog Hop links below. And you might even win something!

Rocco's first Hanukkah with me and his human cousins! 

Rocco already received plenty of loot during Hanukkah and he'll have some more gift ideas to share with you next week. 

Opening presents is exhausting!

Now, let's get on with the Fido's Freebie Friday giveaways!

Enter as many giveaways as you like or list your own. We make it easy by linking them up all in one place!

The rules are super simple. Here's all you need to know to link up:

• You have up to 45 characters to describe your prize and include an expiration date
• Fido's Freebie Friday Blog Hop is open to posts with prizes for pet products or services, including pet-related or pet-themed items for owners. Use your specific post url to link up.

Fido's Freebie Friday opens each Thursday afternoon for linkups at 4 p.m. ET, and renews each week at the same time with a new listing. Link up anytime during the week!

For more information, you can check out the help page. Your hosts are All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love.

Let's go shopping!

Individual rules of entry and guidelines for winning may apply to each listing. All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love take no responsibility for the legality of the rules governing the listings on other sites and giveaways that are posted here. We simply provide this forum as a gathering place for pet products to be offered. Fulfillment of each giveaway is done by the blog conducting the giveaway, not by the hosts of this giveaway hop; please contact the giveaway host with any questions regarding a giveaway or giveaway prize.

Fido's Freebie Friday: Early Holiday Edition

It seems the giveaway season has really picked up... and just in time for early holiday shopping!

We've got a few of them going on now at To Dog With Love, and I'm sure you'll find plenty of other fabulous giveaways in the Blog Hop list below!

If you missed it earlier this week, check out our GREEN interactive dog feeder giveaway. It's a nifty way to slow down dogs who gulp or inhale their food!

Here's Rocco with the GREEN mini in action:

You also may have noticed LOTS of Zuke's giveaways going on and there will be even more in upcoming weeks! Check out how you can enter the Zuke's #FueltheLove #BarkFriday pre-party giveaway now and keep an eye out for even more ways to win soon!

Now, let's get on with the Fido's Freebie Friday giveaways!

Enter as many events as you like or list your own. We make it easy by linking them up all in one place!

The rules are super simple. Here's all you need to know to link up:

• You have up to 45 characters to describe your prize and include an expiration date
• Fido's Freebie Friday Blog Hop is open to posts with prizes for pet products or services, including pet-related or pet-themed items for owners. Use your specific post url to link up.

Fido's Freebie Friday opens each Thursday afternoon for linkups at 4 p.m. ET, and renews each week at the same time with a new listing. Link up anytime during the week!

For more information, you can check out the help page. Your hosts are All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love.

Let's go shopping!


Individual rules of entry and guidelines for winning may apply to each listing. All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love take no responsibility for the legality of the rules governing the listings on other sites and giveaways that are posted here. We simply provide this forum as a gathering place for pet products to be offered. Fulfillment of each giveaway is done by the blog conducting the giveaway, not by the hosts of this giveaway hop; please contact the giveaway host with any questions regarding a giveaway or giveaway prize.

Give Cancer the Paw: How You Can Help

It seems we're loosing way too many pets to cancer these days.

I don't know if it seems that way because my awareness is heightened after losing Cosmo Havanese to cancer 10 months ago or if it's because cancer is truly on the rise. Either way, the facts don't lie. According the National Canine Cancer Foundation:

• 12 million cats and dogs are diagnosed with cancer every year
• Cancer affects one out of every three dogs
• Half of all dogs diagnosed will die from cancer

But even with these grim statistics there's hope. Cancer is not a death sentence -- amazing advances in treatments can provide some pets with high quality of life for years to come.

So when we heard about the Give Cancer the Paw Blog Hop, which kicks off today, we wanted to participate to help share some of the information we gathered from our cancer experience, and how you can help.

Fundraise for cancer research 

Just last weekend we participated in the Puppy Up! Atlanta walk to help raise funds and awareness for cancer research through the 2 Million Dogs organization. You can learn more about it and look for a walk in your area here.

Many of this year's walks have already taken place, but you can keep them on your radar for next year or start up a walk in your area.

Photo by ABJ Photography

We had a terrific time walking in the Puppy Up! walk with Rocco... who always has a terrific time!

Support the National Canine Cancer Foundation

This November, PetCareRx is teaming up with the National Canine Cancer Foundation to spread the word about National Pet Cancer Awareness Month.

You can join in the effort to raise $5,000 for the NCCF. For every "like" on the PetCareRX Facebook page, they'll donate 50 cents to the foundation. 

Fuel the Love to Fuel the Cure with Zuke's

Today, Zuke's announced a new social media campaign titled "Fuel the Love to Fuel the Cure"to help support The Dog and Cat Cancer Fund (DCCFund), a non-profit organization dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing canine and feline cancer. 

This campaign will invite and inspire Zuke’s fans to share photos and videos of their dogs in action and loving life. For every person who follows @ZukesPets on Instagram or Twitter and tags their action-packed photo or video with #FuelTheLove, Zuke’s will donate $5 to The Dog and Cat Cancer Fund up to $10,000.

Here are a few more resources to help with coping with cancer:

• Pet360 has started a pet cancer support group
• This quality of life scale helps pet caregivers determine the current state of their pet's day to day existence and can help guide future care
• This article I wrote on dealing with pet loss includes additional resources and support group

We're joining the first Give Cancer the Paw Blog Hop, co-hosted by Peggy's Pet Place and Pooches Smooches. Check out the blogs in the linky below for more helpful information about pet cancer.

Newest Fido's Freebie Friday Co-Host!

Since we love great deals on stuff, and even better yet, free stuff, we're thrilled to be the newest co-host of Fido's Freebie Friday!
We've been following the giveaway event/blog hop, hosted by Carrie at All Things Dog Blog, Paris at DogTipper and Doreen at Doggies and Stuff for ages, so we can't wait to get started and welcome you to our giveaway shopping party!
If you're not familiar with this event, here's your chance to find out about -- and enter -- all sorts of pet-related giveaways all in one place! And if you're a blogger, we hope you'll join us in linking up your own current giveaways to help spread the word and the giveaway fun.
The rules are super simple. Here's all you need to know to link up:

• You have up to 45 characters to describe your prize and include and expiration date
• Fido's Freebie Friday Blog Hop is open to posts with prizes for pet products or services, including pet-related or pet-themed items for owners. Use your specific post url to link up.

To help get even more awareness, feel free to share the Fido's Freebie Friday badge.  You can grab the image at the top of this post or use the code immediately below, your choice! You can add it to your sidebar, if you wish, but don't feel obligated!

<center> <a href="http://www.todogwithlove.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt235/cboyko/A%20Mommys%20Sweet%20Blog%20Design/91fc9adb.png" border="0" /></a></center>
Fido's Freebie Friday opens each Thursday afternoon for linkups at 4 p.m. ET, and renews each week at the same time with a new listing. Link up anytime during the week!

Why Thursday, you ask? We're giving you a head start to beat the crowds at our Friday giveaway shopping mall. And besides, this way Fido's Freebie Friday rolls right into FitDog Friday so there's more fun for everyone!

Got it straight? If not, you can check out our help page for more.  Your hosts are All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love.

Let's go shopping!


Individual rules of entry and guidelines for winning may apply to each listing. All Things Dog Blog, Doggies and Stuff, DogTipper and To Dog With Love take no responsibility for the legality of the rules governing the listings on other sites and giveaways that are posted here. We simply provide this forum as a gathering place for pet product giveaways to be offered. Fulfillment of each giveaway is done by the blog conducting the giveaway, not by the hosts of this giveaway hop; please contact the giveaway host with any questions regarding a giveaway or giveaway prize.

Wordless Wednesday: Pool Time

Rocco beats the heat with some pool time last weekend!





Wordless Wednesday: Running Partner

Running is better with a friend! Rocco Havanese, right, enjoys a backyard romp with his Hav pal Nicky!

FitDog Friday: Traveling Edition

Today is FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!) and to help combat pet obesity. Join in every Friday by linking up or visiting the blogs in the Hop. And be sure to comment and you'll be entered into a giveaway for great FitDog prizes!

Rocco chills out in his travel bag at home

We encourage you to join our Blog Hop by sharing your own FitDog adventures every Friday. And we want you to know it can be as simple as a photo, a quick tip or just some type of activity you like to do with your dog.  Then link up your posts to our Blog Hop below to share the inspiration! 

Our post today is about the adventure we're looking forward to this weekend as we head to Chicago for Mother's Day and  Rocco's first trip on an airplane!

Rocco has been preparing for this trip since he was a young pup... not too long ago! ... by getting comfortable with his travel bag and learning good manners!

While we're in Chicago I'm hoping to introduce Rocco to the beautiful walks along the lakefront and through Lincoln Park that Cosmo and I enjoyed so much.

Looking north at Lincoln Park and the Lake Michigan lakefront

A windy day at Oak Street Beach last year

Cosmo seems to be meditating during a peaceful Sunday morning near North Avenue Beach last year

We hope to see some of our bloggie pals in Chicago too! Stay tuned for more fun and adventure!

FitDog Friday Giveaways and Blog Hop

For a chance to be entered into our weekly FitDog Friday giveaway, link your FitDog Friday post to our Blog Hop or just leave a comment on one or all of our co-hosts posts -- SlimDoggy, Peggy's Pet Place and To Dog With Love!

Each comment (one each per co-host post) and each Blog Hop link counts as one entry, so you have many chances to win! (Winners will be chosen at random.)

This week's prizes are:

1. A cool waste bag dispenser with refill rolls for dogs on the go and a colorful pet bandana from Pruven by 3M
2. Dieting with My Dog bookmark & magnet
3. SlimDoggy food scoop

Grab a badge from our sidebar and come on and join the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!

Wordless Wednesday: Packed for BlogPaws

We're heading to BlogPaws just one week from today and ONE of us is already packed! Whether you're a first-timer or an old-timer, here are a few posts to give you an idea of what to expect and relive some great memories!

7 Things You Should Bring to BlogPaws
Best of BlogPaws West
The Best of BlogPaws 2012
A Dog's Guide to BlogPaws

... And some traveling tips if you are traveling with your pet!
Travel Bag Comfort for You and Your Pet
How to Prepare Your Dog for a Long Plane Flight

Rocco and I will see you at BlogPaws!

5k9 Walk Run for FitDog Friday!

This post is brought to you by FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop we co-host with SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to help promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!) and to combat pet obesity. Read down for our Blog Hop and giveaway!

Last weekend we participated in a fun event that not only got Rocco and I off to a healthy start, but it also helped to raise funds for one of our local animal rescue organizations. I call that a win-win for efurryone! 

The Petco 5k9 Walk Run presented by Purina ProPlan is a national 1-mile and 5k run series open to both people and their pets.

We did the 5K but started near the back of the pack so that Rocco would have room to run!

The Atlanta race was last weekend, but there still are a few more events coming up this year in cities across the country. Look here for some upcoming events in Austin, San Francisco and Portland. 

This little guy stayed warm before the race start

The 5k9 series was formed by Multisports.com, LLC, a team of dog lovers who are world class coaches and IRONMAN triathlon champions. The series mission is to promote healthy and fit lifestyles across the country while raising funds for the Petco Foundation, which in turn utilizes the funds to assist with local animal welfare groups.

The rainy day didn't slow down any pups or dampen any spirits!

The 5k9 Walk Run event also features a health and fitness expo, providing a showcase for companies and organizations from both the health and pet industries.

Rocco met the fabulous Melissa Heeter who gave training tips and a disc dog demo!

Melissa and her pup Glory

The Atlanta 5k9 Walk Run raised awareness and funds for Forgotten Paws through the Petco Foundation, though many rescue organizations exhibited at the event, and not just for dogs and cats.

Sweet bunnies from The Rabbit Center

Even bunnies were represented from The Georgia House Rabbit Society, providing home-like shelter and adoption services for over 200 rescues domestic rabbits each year. 

In spite of the rain, we had a great time at the event and put in a full day of exercise before 9 a.m.! Be sure to check out the 5k9 Walk Run or other pet-friendly walk/run events in your area. 

Time for a bath, Rocco!

FitDog Friday Giveaways and Blog Hop

Our FitDog Friday co-hosts have been hosting fun prize giveaways for our Blog Hop participants the past few weeks. Starting this week, we are opening the giveaway to EVERYONE who READS the Hop posts too!

If you are a blogger, you can still link your FitDog Friday blog post to our Blog Hop and you are automatically entered into the giveaway. And now, if you are a READER of the Hop posts, you can also be entered if you leave a comment on one or all of our co-hosts posts -- SlimDoggy, Peggy's Pet Place and To Dog With Love!

Each comment (one each per co-host post) and each Blog Hop link counts as one entry, so you have many chances to win! (Winners will be chosen at random.)

Our prizes this week are:

1. The Dog Diet by Patti Lawson and 1 bag of Hill's Sweet Potato & Pumpkin treats (donated by Patti)
2. Dieting with My Dog bookmark
3. SlimDoggy food scoop

You don't have to have a blog to join the Hop, all you have to do is read the posts and leave a comment or input on how YOU keep your pet fit. This is our way of encouraging everyone to read the tips and advice being provided so that we can keep our dogs in shape and help fight pet obesity!

Grab a badge from our sidebar and come on and join the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!

Black and White Sunday: Doggie in the Window

I'm participating in the Black and White Sunday Blog Hop hosted by You Did What With Your Weiner, My Life in Blog Years and Dachshund Nola. Want to join the hop? Link up below!

FitDog Friday: Quick and Easy Disc Games

Today we're participating in FitDog Friday, and we couldn't be more thrilled to announce we're teaming up with SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place as official co-hosts of this new, weekly Blog Hop!

If you're learning about FitDog Friday for the first time, we hope you'll join our effort to spread the word about the benefits of keeping your pet fit and healthy.  Share some tips or simply post a photo of your pup living a healthy, active lifestyle. It's up to you how you want to participate, but we hope you'll join our Hop each Friday and help inspire others to stay fit and healthy with their pups!

You can read more about participating in FitDog Friday here.

Everything sticks to Rocco during a backyard romp! Joys of a fluffy dog!

We love this topic because we're all about staying fit and healthy, and we have a lot of fun along the way. With plenty of exercise for the mind and body, and good nutrition, it's certainly a great step toward giving your pup the best life possible.

With a young pup in the house, I find myself looking for lots of ways to keep Rocco busy and out of trouble.  It doesn't have to be a big time commitment, and especially for young ones, I find attention spans can be short.

Sometimes the best game is a quick round of outdoor disc toss. When Rocco starts getting a little nutty inside, we head outside for 5-10 minutes of throwing and retrieving the disc with some fun tugging thrown in! We like the soft Floppy Disc style for small dogs.

Since Rocco's still a young 7-month-old pup, I'm careful to keep the disc low when I throw it.
No fancy leaping allowed until Rocco gets older! 

If it's dark out or raining, we'll even play disc toss, retrieve and tug indoors! Our indoor choice for tug and play is the Angry Birds Tuff Stuff Flyer.

Rocco zips around a corner with his flyer in tow!

Grab the badge from our sidebar, join the Blog Hop below and show us how your pup stays fit and healthy!

Now let's see what everyone else is up to at the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!

An Urban FitDog Friday with Rocco Havanese

Today we're participating in FitDog Friday, the new blog hop hosted by our pals SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place. The idea behind it is to share stories about staying fit and healthy with your dog, to help combat the all-too-common problem of pet obesity.

When we heard about this hop that launched last Friday, we knew we had to jump right in! We're all about activities and adventure that help both human and pup enjoy a happy, healthy life together!

Whether it's organized sports like agility or peaceful nature hikes, I enjoyed every moment of that time with Cosmo and now, with young pup Rocco Havanese!

We feel it's never too early, or too late, to get started on a healthy, active lifestyle. And now that Rocco's six-months-old we're starting to take longer walks to exercise both his mind and body! Last weekend, we started our adventure with a visit to the farmer's market at Atlanta's Piedmont Park, above.

We continued our walk through the park and discovered some fun structures in the children's playground, perfectly suited for a quick training opportunity! Above, Rocco practices "up-up" onto a small balancing pad... a nice stepping stone to learn the table obstacle in agility or to become a circus dog! We find playgrounds are full of fun items that can be adapted to dog play. Just be watchful of surfaces where dog nails can get caught or anything that may pose a danger to your pup. Safety first!

Speaking of safety, since it's getting warmer in Atlanta we also made sure to take rest stops in the shade as well as provide plenty of fresh water. Above, Rocco meets a new pal in the park.

We continue on for some wall-walking...

...and geese-watching. 

And pause again to cool off!

Rocco finishes his walk with some more urban wall-walking, another great training opp to prepare him for the agility dog walk!

All-in-all we covered about six miles, with lots of different adventures, surfaces, smells and sights along the way. 

Now let's take a look at more Fit Dogs at the FitDog Friday Blog Hop!

Backyard Behavior: Dogs vs. Cats!

You never know who will show up in our backyard. Yesterday, neighbor kitty Patches perched herself overhead while Rocco was oblivious to her whereabouts.

Rocco did a little crouching and hiding of his own...

... and then burst into motion!

Zooooom!

Kitty Patches maintains her composure, peering out at the zooming Rocco.

Rocco strikes a pose (for a millisecond)...

And then he's off!

Zooooom!

Wheeeeee!

Meantime, Patches is nonplussed. Why, she wonders, am I still pointing a camera at her when I could be feeding her instead?

We're participating in the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop. And if you're already planning  for your trip to BlogPaws next month, like we are, we dug up a few tips from last year that we hope you'll find helpful. 

Now let's see what everyone else is up to on mostly Wordless Wednesday.