Get Yourself a Pee-Finder

Suspect your dog is freely emptying his bladder in the house when you’re not home? (Sneaky little punk.) Well, now you can get all David Caruso/CSI with a Urine-Off LED Urine Finder. Yes, this actually exists. When you flash the UV blacklight over carpets, it illuminates urine spots so you don’t have to wonder where that skanky smell is coming from. (Of course, you could also just bust out the blacklight you used for your Grateful Dead and Bob Marley posters in college.)The Urine-Off Urine Finder

My favorite part of the product website reads: “Focused beam reaches 5ft-6ft, so no more getting on your knees to search for urine.” Ah yes, I set aside at least 10 minutes a day to get on my knees to search for urine, obvi.

If you’re interested in getting yourself a Urine-Off LED light, the product is $12.95, and you can find it here.

Do Dog Pheromones Really Work?

“Have you ever tried dog pheromones for her?” my vet, Dr. Johnson, asked when I mentioned that Riley tends to be a nervous, clingy dog. “No,” I said, awkwardly pausing to make sure he wasn’t joking. “Seriously?”

Shortly thereafter, he prescribed my dog with The D.A.P.™ (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) Diffuser. It basically functions like a Glade Plug-In and emits pheromones into your apartment or house for up to four weeks. It’s supposed to reduce or prevent stress-related behavior (eg, separation anxiety, destruction of your stuff, freaking when new visitors come over, etc.).

After Dr. Johnson handed it to me, I half-whispered, “It’s not going to make me act weird, is it?” (I had visions of myself getting inexplicable cases of the munchies or nodding off during Real Housewives, which would clearly never happen under normal circumstances.) Um, no, he assured me, they would not have any affect on me whatsoever. (I know, in retrospect I was embarrassed I asked.)

So, I took home the D.A.P. and plugged it in, and…nothing. Riley acted exactly the same as she had every single other day. Then, about a week in to my experiment, I realized the diffuser was leaking a hideous oil stain down my wall. So, I unplugged it, and that was that. The whole episode was along the lines of what I call “the Pedi-Paws incident.” Totally anticlimactic. 

I’m curious, has anyone else ever tried dog pheromones for their pet?

Underdog to Wonderdog Casting in NYC!

If you haven’t seen the Animal Planet series Underdog to Wonderdog, you have got to check it out. Each week, the show’s team rescues a stray dog from a local shelter and helps place the animal into a permanent home. On the show, the dogs are rescued, trained, and basically given a dog makeover.

Underdog to Wonderdog's "Wonder Team"

The show is currently casting for its next season, so if you’re interested in becoming the new owner of a homeless dog, call 212-239-7919 ext 214 or 212 or email jessicaw@sharpentertainment.com.

To catch an episode of the show, tune in to Animal Planet (or set your DVR, obvs) at 6 pm on Saturday nights.

Birthday Cake for Dogs

If you’re someone who celebrates your pet’s birthday, at least one company now has cake for dogs. Puppy Cake comes in two flavors—banana and carob—and each box makes 6 cupcakes with frosting.

The company uses all-natural, human grade ingredients including whole wheat flour, banana, carob powder, honey powder, salt, baking powder and yogurt powder. (Yes, you can eat it; No, they don’t recommend it.) If your dog has some sort of gluten issue, Puppy Cake is planning on launching a wheat-free peanut butter version this fall.

For buying information, check out their website.

A Social Networking Site for Pets

There’s basically zero chance it will rival Facebook, but Petizens.com is a truly hilarious site. It allows you to create a profile for your dog (complete with location, breed, sex, and age) and post comments, photos, and videos on his behalf. There are no words for some of these profiles.

Speedway, one of the dogs who has a profile on Petizens.com

While parts of the site are downright bizarre, there are actually some pretty interesting service-y posts on the forums like “how to brush your pet’s teeth” and “how to make your own dog food” (if you’re so inclined. I’m not.).

Apparently, there are tons of pet networking sites, including Doggyspace.com (which is hugely popular), Dogster.com, MyDogSpace.com, Dognamic.com, and MyPetChat.com. Has anyone ever created a profile page for their pet? Do you think this is funny, or just totally weird? Please post your comments!