My dog Teddy is a nervous sort who would have a stroke if his leash started blinking, but this would work for other, calmer dogs.  You probably take a flashlight when you take your dog out for nighttime walks, and that helps motorists, bicyclists, and other pedestrians see you.  If you don’t keep your dog on a tight leash, they may not see your companion.  The NightSafe Flashing Dog Leash from Gadgets and Gears has blue LEDs (and reflective tape to make the lights more visible) that can blink or stay on to clearly show where your dog is.  The 47″ leash is made of reinforced nylon and is powered by 2 R2032 button cells that can provide 50 hours of continuous lighting.  The leash is visible up to 100 yards.  The NightSafe Flashing Dog Leash is $34.95.

Filed in categories: News, Pet Gadgets

Tagged: Dogs, Lighted leash

Make Your Dog More Visible on Nighttime Walks with the NightSafe Flashing Leash originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 11, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

Soggy Doggy Doormat is not just for thresholds any more. Microfiber chenille can soak up to 7x its own weight in water.

If you live in the midwest, you’ve had a rotten winter.  You’ve had snow upon snow upon a solid three to five inch thick rink of ice.  You’ve had issues with melting, leakage and if you live in Indiana, you’ve just been hammered with what feels like one gallon of rain a minute. Now compound that situation with dogs.  You have a mess.  Not just any muddy, doggy, melty, track it all over the place mess, you have a serious five-alarm mess. Except me.  I have Soggy Doggy Doormat. 

With two dogs and any number of foster dogs traipsing in and out of my house,   I’ve tried every single method of entryway rug known to man. I’ve tried towels, industrial restaurant rugs, indoor/outdoor carpets, the braided rag rug things, nothing really truly worked.   It got to the point where it just didn’t make sense to wash the floor until after the spring thaw was over.   Soggy Doggy Doormat solves the problem of wet pet feet.  That’s it.  It’s that simple.  It sucks up the water, snow, rain, mud and whatever else my dogs track in.  It sucks up the yuck I track in for crying out loud!  I’d call it the Sham Wow of doggy mats, but this product actually works!  The Big Secret is that the mat is made of microfiber chenille.  I like microfiber.  I like ANYTHING microfiber because it makes no bones about drying up spills and water and wet stuff and it does it without complaining.  It’s advertised to hold seven times its weight in water but honestly, I think it absorbs more than that.

Soft and comfy and has a no slip backing that truly does not slip.

It’s also solidly made.  Most rugs I’ve used do not have any sort of backing and the ones that do have a backing that I swear is engineered to make me slip and fall on my back.   Soggy Doggy has a no-slip backing that grabs your floor and doesn’t go anywhere.

But aside from using it as a pet floor mat, you can pretty much use Soggy Doggy for anything else pet related.  It’s deliciously soft and comfortable.   If you like your pets to snuggle but don’t want to vacuum up pet hair from the couch, Soggy Doggy makes a great couch pet blanket.  A lot of us who have dogs, have crates for them and Soggy Doggy makes a fabulously, soft, warm and comfy crate bed.

When testing out Soggy Doggy, my intention was to use it for it’s intended purpose… as a doormat for wet pet feet.  My dogs decided differently and it performs double duty as both doormat and snooze blanket.  I love it.  I want more of them.  I’d like to see these mats come in larger sizes as well.

Peace Accord: Only Soggy Doggy Doormat could bring my two Corgis together on the same mat. Demonstrating Soggy Doggy Doormat's many uses, my dogs use it as a snooze mat.

You can buy Soggy Doggy doormat right off of the website (www.soggydoggydoormat.com) but I would love to see these in pet stores, Tractor Supply and any other store simply because I don’t want to wait for it.   $39.99 sounds a bit pricey but this is a product that is worth every cent.

Filed in categories: Pet Gadgets, Reviews

Tagged: Dogs, Home

Soggy Doggy Doormat Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 3, 2011 at 10:30 am.

Whether you have a mutt or a supposed pure bred, The DNA Breed Identification kit from Viaguard, Inc. will show you which breeds your pooch has descended from along with possible genetic health concerns and personality traits. They send you the kit for free, but the processing will cost you $71 and some change. If you’re not interested in your pet’s family tree, this company provides human DNA tests as well… including some non-standard ones that allow you to send in some pretty freaky items for testing.

Filed in categories: Pet Gadgets

Tagged: DNA, Dogs, Genealogy, Pets, Spotlight Gadgets

Check your dog’s genealogy with a DNA kit originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 2, 2009 at 10:19 am.