10 Fabulous Christmas Gift Ideas For Your Pet

So even though Christmas is the same time every year, it never ceases to amaze me how it just seems to pop up out of nowhere, leaving me (and so many others) scrambling for last minute Christmas gifts!

This year I'm being proactive. Statistics show that over 85% of pet owners buy their pet a Christmas present. This doesn't surprise me. After all, our pets are family too, right? Buying gifts for my pets for Christmas (and birthday, for that matter) is not a new phenomenon to me - I've been doing it ever since I can remember - from collars, toys and new beds for my furry friends to seed treats and buckets of fresh vegies for my birds and chickens, I always make sure my pets never miss out!

With this in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to come up with a list of Christmas gift ideas for your pets too! I have tried to feature a range of products and price points - something to suit everyone.

10 Fabulous Christmas Gift Ideas For Your Pets!

1. Mimi Green collars and leashes (Collars $34.95; Leashes $29.95)

•  Available in a range of colours and patterns; individually crafted; durable & stylish

2. Cain & Able Paw Rub ($15)

• All natural; protects, heals and moisturizes; perfect for irritated/dry skin; safe for humans!

3. West Paw Design Eco-Nap (from $40)

• Crafted from recycled materials, available in a range of colours & sizes; perfect for cats & dogs

4. Caterpillar Catnip Toy ($12)

• Super soft; crafted from recycled materials; filled with catnip - cats will go crazy for this toy!

5. Jollie Gourmet Beef FIX treats ($12.95)

• Tasty beef treats packed in a resealable pouch; all natural, human grade ingredients

6. Molly Mutt & Molly Meow Duvets (from $30)

• Stuff them with old clothes & blankets to create a soft & eco-friendly bed (or simply cover an old bed!); stylish fabrics; available in a range of sizes; available for dogs & cats!

7. Harry Barker Rope Tug & Toss Toy (from $20)

• 100% cotton; dyes are completely pet-safe; available in a range of colours & 2 sizes

8. Solstice Bowl & Feed Mat (Bowl $30; Mat $30)

• Stylish and sophisticated for feeding time! Ceramic; hand painted - matching mat available to stop slipping during eating time!

9. Ragdoll Cat Collar ($17.95)

• Durable, cute, designer cat collars; available in a range of colours/patterns

10. West Paw Design Tux Chew Toy ($30)

• Interactive; highly durable; non-toxic; 100% recyclable material; hide treats inside! 

All gifts are available through www.petshopgirls.com.au. Remember - shipping is FREE and delivery is always within 5 business days - so you can enjoy simple and convenient shopping without the hassle of bustling shopping centres and dirty, smelly pet stores!

Happy shopping xo

Where did your puppy come from?

As a life long pet owner and self-proclaimed animal lover, I struggle to read articles such as these. I promise you, it's worth it and the message is such an important one.

Where did your puppy come from?

I truly admire people like Debra Tranter, who have the strength to put themselves in situations which lead to exposing the unimaginably inhumane and incredibly sickening mistreatment of dogs in puppy farms. Oscar's story has a happy ending (trust me, read the article) but many of his fellow in-mates were clearly not as fortunate.

These commercial breeding facilities need to be shut down, and the first step is always education. The more widely exposed this practice is, the better the chances are of putting this cruelty to an end!

Show and Tell ...

I absolutely need to post this and I promise it will brighten your day!

Check out our latest satisfied customer - the gorgeous Molly (a boxer mastiff x) - thoroughly testing out her brand new bed from PetShopGirls! Isn't she the cutest?

We tweeted this pic last week to an astounding response from the Twitterverse! Molly is a star!

You can check out our entire range of MollyMutt (for dogs) and MollyMeow (for cats) by visiting our website - SHOP NOW.

What's more is that we're currently the only online retailer of MollyMutt in Australia that offers a selection of designs that are not available for distribution in Australia (meaning if you want it elsewhere, you're going to have to order from overseas and incur additional charges for shipping and taxes!). Do your research and you'll find we also offer the cheapest prices for these gorgeous, eco-friendly beds, so do yourself and your pet a favour and invest in a MollyMutt (or Meow) bed today! 

Meet Gus!

In need of a little pick-me-up? No matter how hard my day has been, my pets always brighten my mood! This little gem is no exception!

Meet Gus - I like to think of him as PetShopGirls' youngest and newest ambassador (in actual fact he's my friend's new Golden Retriever puppy).

Such a gorgeous video and so sweet - enjoy!

PetShopGirls' Facebook Page Featuring Gus

Study: Pets Give Us the Same Warm Fuzzies That Friends Do

An article well and truly worth sharing. Safe to say devoted pet owners like you and I already knew this, but it is interesting nonetheless!

Study: Pets Give Us the Same Warm Fuzzies That Friends Do

My favourite quote from the article?

'Long after your kids have left home, your dog will still run to the door to greet you when you get home from work'

That statement in itself gives me the warm fuzzies!

Your pets are irreplaceable and play such an important role in your life. Whenever the need to spoil them silly arises, we hope you stop by PetShopGirls - the perfect pet gift awaits!

What is GAP?

Meet Ken. 
(My apologies - you need a Facebook account to access this)

Ken is a gorgeous Greyhound and a new addition to the Thompson family. Ken has recently been spoiled by his new family - being the recipient of a gorgeous Molly Mutt bed from PetShopGirls! 


While we are so happy to have played a small part in helping the Thompsons welcome Ken into their home, I feel it is only appropriate to share some details about GAP - the organisation that helped to find Ken his 'forever home'.


The Greyhound Adoption Program, or GAP (Queensland) "is an initiative of Racing Queensland Limited, dedicated to finding homes for Greyhounds that are no longer suitable for racing" (GAP 2011).  

Adopt me? Pretty please!

The GAP programs exist in every state (Ken is from Queensland) and aim to find suitable, 'forever homes' for former racing Greyhounds. GAP also aims to educate the public about Greyhounds and clear up any misconceptions regarding their temperament and suitability as domestic, family pets. 

Nice and cozy in their doggy jumpers!

Contrary to popular belief, Greyhounds are quiet, lazy and gentle dogs, and just like humans, you can find them in a range of temperaments (!) so there will always be one to suit your family or situation. GAP pride themselves on their ability to successfully unite suitable families and greyhounds with one another.

Plenty of information is available through the respective websites, but GAP assures potential families that every dog entering their program is subject to thorough temperament testing, desexing, micro-chipping, worming, dental examinations and vaccinations. Following this process, each dog spends time with a volunteer foster carer who helps them adjust to life as a pet by exposing them to various situations they are likely to encounter in their new life. Foster carers are also responsible for implementing basic obedience training before the Greyhound is finally made available for adoption.

What a wonderful initiative! 

Aw! How can you deny this face?

If you want to learn more about the wonderful work of GAP (Queensland), or if you want to learn more about adopting or fostering a Greyhound, visit their website. 

Other States:

GAP (Victoria) http://gap.grv.org.au/
GAP (New South Wales) http://www.gapnsw.org.au/
GAP (South Australia) http://www.gapsa.org.au/
GAP (Western Australia) http://www.greyhoundsaspets.com.au/
GAP (Tasmania) http://www.gaptas.org.au/

Congratulations Ken, your taste in families is impeccable! ;-) 

Perfect picks to brighten a dreary winter's day

Well, what else can I say - what an exciting week! (for all the wrong reasons!!).

This week our host website went down for three days which meant ... no PetShopGirls!! Fortunately everything has been sorted out and not to worry - there are definitely no problems with the site and everything is running as normal once again.

As for the great news - our featured products are now able to be updated for this week and how better to brighten your pet's (and your) day than with some gorgeous, bright, stylish & fun gifts from PetShopGirls!

This week we're featuring another of our favourite beds from the Molly Mutt collection - Mr. Postman! This gorgeous deep purple pet bed will be sure to brighten even the dreariest winter day and what's even better is that it's eco-friendly, comfy and warm to boot!

Mr. Postman is available in sizes Small, Medium & Large. Stuff sacks are also available in all three sizes to help you organise the inside contents too! If your kitty is in need of a new duvet, we also sell a selection of Molly Meow beds too!

Mr. Postman Duvet.

As for our LUST have product of the week? Brighten up your decor with this bold and stylish feeding bowl - hand painted stoneware that is dishwasher safe!

Solstice Feeding Bowl.

Happy winter shopping!!

Are you tired of wasting money on toys that are destroyed in minutes?

This week we're re-featuring the West Paw Design Reknitz sweater for dogs as our LUST have gift. Why? Because I've been hearing non stop complaining about how cold it is at the moment. It is winter after all, so we should make sure our pets are rugged up nice and warm too!

Our MUST have gift of the week is a product I can't speak of highly enough. My dog Ruby is lucky enough to own one herself and believe me, it is never out of her sight! The product? West Paw Design's Zogoflex Huck fetch ball.

I haven't met a dog that doesn't love to play fetch. I must admit, I've met a few that don't quite understand the concept of fetching and returning an item, but nevertheless they still love to try their hearts out. Bless them.

West Paw Design's Zogoflex products impress me for a number of reasons. First, you will not find a more durable toy on the market! They also come in a fantastic range of shapes, sizes and bright colours. If that's not enough, they're also buoyant (great for dogs who love water!), dishwasher safe and recyclable.

If you dog has a particularly strong jaw, Tux is the most indestructible option for you, followed by Huck and Hurley. I would recommend Zisc as the best "active" toy - not designed for destructive chewer's but more dogs who love to run, jump, fetch, return .... sometimes ... 

PetShopGirls is very proud to stock the Zogoflex range in various colours and sizes. You can view our current selection HERE.

Finally, a little video to showcase the versatility of this product - for dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Tales of Jett & Sachi

Clearly we're making up for lost time!!

This week I am happy to share the stories of a couple of very satisfied PetShopGirls customers!

Earlier this week treat enthusiast Jett Nichols received a supply of gourmet lamb, mushy pea & mint cookies courtesy of PetShopGirls! Of course fellow dog lovers would understand being a treat lover is in Jett's nature - after all, he's a Labrador! I am happy to report the treats were a 100% hit (never a doubt in my mind). Jett's humans were kind enough to post a few pictures on our Facebook page and I thought I'd share my favourite with you too.

Mmmm...delicious!

You can see the rest of the 'photo shoot' by CLICKING HERE.

I was also really pleased to receive some more positive feedback on the customer service front earlier this month. A customer in Melbourne purchased one of our gorgeous cotton rope mouse toys (in pretty pink) for his new female kitten Sachi (which means 'princess' in Indian). He had this to say about PetShopGirls -

“Your service is fantastic, the toy arrived very quickly & had been beautifully gift wrapped, I’ll be stopping by again, thank you!”
- Angus, Melbourne

The best part of the entire story? Angus tells me Sachi loved her little pink mouse ... and then he took her in to be desexed. As it turns out, 'she' is a HE! What a classic story! Angus has a chuckle every time he sees that pink mouse but Sachi doesn't seem to mind. In case you were wondering (as I was), they never did change his name because, as Angus puts it "he is a bit of a princess!".

Pets in the workplace? What a fabulous idea!

Happy Thursday PetShopGirls enthusiasts! I must say we're feeling pretty good this morning after a Queensland victory in the first State of Origin clash last night!

Just stumbled across this interesting article worth sharing. An interesting read indeed and I can definitely see the benefits. I think if my day job was to allow pets into the workplace I would definitely be a happier, more productive employee (not that I don't already think I'm fairly productive!) willing to work longer hours and take a few less sickies ;-) To be honest (and just between me and you) I can think of a couple of sick days (work, uni & school) I have taken in years gone by in order to spend a little more time with Ruby or George or Sammy ... back in the day!

Enjoy! And stay tuned for this week's MUST & LUST have gifts!

Winter Warmers

Winter is on the brain this week as the weather starts to get a little 'fresh' ...

Spare a thought for your pets during the cooler months and remember you need to keep them warm too!

With this in mind, our featured MUST & LUST gifts for this week provide some helpful recommendations.

If you have a small to medium sized short haired K9 companion that tends to feel the cold, PetShopGirls has just the thing for you! Preppy-chic, eco-friendly and available in three stylish colour combinations, the Reknitz sweater is one very popular dog jumper -

'I couldn't be happier with this sweater. The fit is fantastic and the fabric is so soft. Our Shih Tzus are now snug as a bug during winter outings'

And for those pampered pooches who need just a little more luxe in their lives? Why not try our all natural, moisturising paw rub. Yes, body butter for dogs (and cat's too!). 

Formulated to protect, heal and moisturise, paw rub features human grade ingredients including aloe, shea butter, vitamin E and cocoa butter which means it is absolutely safe for your pet and for you too!

And the verdict? ...

'Is it weird that I've stolen my dog's paw rub for my own lip balm? Maybe. However, that should tell you how AWESOME this product is. (I'm going to have to buy another tin for my dog since I don't believe in sharing.)'

Happy pet pampering!!