Welcome to the Fine Dog Living weekly newsletter – curated content from the FDL Facebook group + a little editorial riffing by me, Lisa Murnan.
Man…you guys. Ka-ching! 💸💸💸 That’s me, adding FDL recommended products to my cart right now, while my money flies away. Donut dog bed, power mop, pooper scooper extraordinaire. You’re a bad influence. But my floors and yard sure will look nice (and my back will feel better). And my dogs can watch me from their donut beds.
Sold!
I’ve ordered several cave-type beds over the past few months and the cave aspect is totally lost on all my dogs. They just sleep on the top, and the bigger dogs get the smaller bed while the Jack Russell takes the bigger bed.
This is Glock, in a too-small cave bed
So when I saw this post by Paige K. and all the positive comments, I perked up!
Paige wrote: “Does anyone use these? Do they wash well? I would need the biggest one, do they fit in a standard washing machine.”
This bed has (so far) gotten 100% approval ratings (rare for FDL!):
My dogs love them and yes they wash well!
I have that exact bed and my dogs *love* it
I have four of them and yes they do. I have a HUGE top load washer and they do well in it and my dryer.
My dog loved hers to death. Literally
Just echoing – our dogs love these! We’ve had one for just over a year and it’s held up well
Big fan since day 1 ❤️
The favorite bed in this house. I wash it once a week and I’ve had it for a while!
My kid stole it from the dog to use as a pillow. So now the dog sleeps right next to her head because they fight over it.
I have a couple of them – throw the whole thing in the washer. I either dry on low or line dry. They are holding up well. The large size fits in my washer just fine. My dogs absolutely love them.
Guess what I’m buying this afternoon? (The XL size is on sale right now, too!)
Fancy schmancy
Lisa B. asked: “I have 6 dogs and I foster... so there’s a lot going on in my little house. I’m on a mission to make my house look less like a kennel... so show me your crate setups / multi-dog living spaces! Inspire me... please.”
Annie K. provided us all with some serious inspiration. Check out her beautiful setup:
Reactions:
This is so freaking fancy. I love your wainscoting.
Omg. Did you build the bed over the crates or does it just fit perfectly like that?
So fancy! Love it! Did you custom build the wooden frame? What crate sizes do you have?
Annie replied:
I had someone build the crate topper. It has seen better days. Once I get through this last round of pups, I want to have another made. I had it built for the dogs to look out the windows but also for my kids to sit on it with the dogs and watch tv if they want….Those are all 36” crates.
Training treat ideas
Cora P. wrote: “Training treats! They’re expensive. Is it okay to just cut up cheddar cheese into tiny tiny pieces? Are there other cheapish, quick, and not-too-messy ways to fill a bait bag? For context, we have 3 little boys and an-almost-4-month-old ACD puppy. Please send any and all ideas! ❤️”
Top ideas:
Bags of sample kibble from stores/expos/kibble brand websites is a go to for me! The dogs' kibbles too. Otherwise I lurk dog item deal sites and stock up on things when they're super marked down
Little bits of cheese and hot dog are great training treats. I have a friend who uses mini goldfish crackers as trainers.
I like to use Acana's 6 fish kibble because it's extra stinky and the dogs work hard for it. Also, ZiwiPeak sog food is superb as a training treat.
You can put the cheese uncovered in the fridge for a few days too. It’ll make it hard and not want to stick to themselves.
I use air dried raw dog food (food, not treats) from either The Real Meat Company or Only Natural Pet MaxMeat as training treats. Both are nearly identical to ZiwiPeak but less expensive. I get the largest bag sizes for the best price per ounce. Compared to any commercial dog treats both of these are much less costly on a per ounce basis. These air dried raw foods are very healthy, easy to break into smaller pieces, not oily or messy in the pocket, AAFCO so nutritionally complete and balanced and every dog I’ve ever met (I taught competition agility for over 20 years so I’ve met many dogs) adores them. So many treats are carb heavy which is not in the dog’s best nutritional or health interest and especially if you train heavy on rewards as I do....Both of these foods are available on Amazon or the manufacturer websites. TRMC offers free shipping on the 10 pound bag and ONP offers free shipping and reduced pricing on their auto-ship delivery...their 7.5 pound bag is the most cost-efficient.
I use regular dog kibble. Like different brands than their normal food. They love it.
I use fresh pet cat food. It’s itty bitty so I don’t have to spend time cutting it and much better ingredients than many treats in the market so I don’t feel bad about giving it to my dog. (I feed raw normally.) I’ve also been able to find it all over the country while I’m traveling. It is refrigerated but I keep it in the freezer when I’m home so it stays cold all day.
Hot dogs chopped up into tiny pieces and then baked in the oven.
My dogs like flavored Cheerios. $4 for a family size box, rotating flavor with each box –berry, Apple cinnamon, pumpkin spice – just not chocolate. They also like rice and corn Chex. I usually use cereals for the simple things and save the meats and cheeses for high value rewards.
Cheerios. My dogs work for Cheerios.
Mars works best for string cheese. I line my bait bag with a ziplock and turn down the top so it's the right height and wide open when I open the bait bag. I rip it into strips and then pinch off pieces as needed or feed to him from the strip for things like heeling where you want sustained attention.
Cheerios!! Plain. I have some agility friends that lightly coat them in bacon grease and slow cook them in the oven to dry it in. Our dog lines them plain. Cheap and healthy.
If you’re in a bind charge your kibble. Fry a piece of bacon. When it’s cool cut it up into a few pieces and put it in a ziplock with a cup of kibble. Seal bag. The kibble will smell and taste like bacon and you’ll have a few pieces of bacon in the bag for jackpots
That last idea was genius. 🥓🥓🥓
Plus, I’ve never heard of the Cheerios thing. Huh!
All in one vacuum & mop
Natalie S. asked the group: “Bissell Crosswave – is it all it's cracked up to be? We just put down vinyl plank downstairs and I need the best and (hopefully) easiest way to clean them. But I don’t want to spend so much if it doesn't work well... also, looks like there are a couple different kinds and the pet one is $400?! Tell me all you know!”
This product definitely got mixed reviews:
I have the pet one and loveeeee mine but I’ve heard better about the TINECO.
I am very happy with my Crosswave!
I loooooooooooove mine!! Worth the money!!
I have a Crosswave and love it. Just the regular one in a house of 7 dogs.
I have one and it is OK but it is not the end-all be-all that folks made me think it was. If I could do it again I would get a new Braava instead. I think my old one from iRobot does better even though it is very small.
No I hate it..... it gets gross super quick. I prefer a mop that I can wash the head on.
I don’t think it’s worth the money. The convenience of mopping and vacuuming in one is offset by the time it takes to clean all the parts.
Maybe when the cost comes down a bit 😬
Those of you who have the Crosswave and love it, does it ever get clogged with hair in every crevice? I’m ready to toss mine because every time I run it I have to stop and rip hair off the edges and take a butter knife to unclog the hose the sucks the hair into basin.
Look up the TINECO!!! If you have TikTok then look it up there too to see the side by side comparisons, it’s under 200 and it clearly out wins all Crosswave style vacuums every time!
I love mine but I use it on our basement floor which is a flaked epoxy concrete. I can’t stand thinking that I’m just mopping with more dirty water and sloshing it around on the floors. It smells good after the floors are cleaned as well. It’s quick to dry to. I got my pet one on sale at Lowe’s in the spring.
DO NOT BUY. I bought this vacuum (Crosswave Pet Pro) – to my great disappointment. Small water reservoir requires frequent changing for even a relatively small space. Clogs very quickly and most certainly cannot handle dog fur. Is VERY difficult to take apart and clean – which has to be done frequently. I have hard floors so got a cheap Bissell for ~$50, which I use daily and a steam mop, which I use about once a week or as required. This might have been my most foolish purchase of a household appliance to date.
I have a TINECO - fraction of the cost and adore it. I tell it every day it’s my favorite dog.
I bought the SpinWave and love it. I bought it after having vinyl plank installed and was the only thing that got the residue up. It buffs and dries right away. (Note: this is a mop only, not an all-in-one vacuum + mop)
We have a hard floor cleaner by Hoover….We really like it a lot. Super Easy to clean and refill. Plus a big bottle of the cleaner for this one is almost the same price as a smaller bottle of Bissell cleaner.
I spent 6 hours cleaning the house yesterday, about half of that was cleaning floors. We have 11 dogs and a ton of hardwood with area rugs. I use a shop vac to get all the crevices and corners, then a regular vacuum (the purple $50 Bissell) everywhere else, but mopping the floors is always a hassle. I don’t like water to sit on the wood at all. I think I’m going to try the SpinWave and report back.
Snowman or Kong?
Alyssa L. wrote: “Fine dog living is when you think you're making snowman holiday cookies but then you realize nah you're really just making Kong cookies 😂😂”
