Let your dogs go for gold with this Olympic-inspired gear
LOS ANGELES - On the trail, in the water or happy on the lawn, let your dogs in on some Olympic-inspired fun with new gear and activities that will have them going for gold.
Safety is key when investing in summer fun or recreational sustenance for your pets. Let the games begin:
Summer Games
You like old-fashioned lawn games and so might your dog. Kurgo Products in Salisbury, Massachusetts, sells versions of stick ball, badminton, bowling, lawn darts, horseshoes and others made just for pets.
The toys are rubber and include a "durability meter" on packaging. Other pet suppliers also sell such toys as bowling pins and dog-safe flying discs.
Life preserver
Numbers on how many dogs drown each year are hard to come by, but Lynne Peters, president of Hedz UP Pets Inc., in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said exhaustion plays a role.
Peters watched her dog, an inept swimmer, tumble into a pool several times. She came up with the water collar life preserver. The flotation device attaches to the dog's everyday collar and will keep the nose and ears above water.
Meal replacement bar
Kristina Guerrero went hiking with her dog Dunkan five years ago. They had been out a couple of hours when she stopped for a food break.
"I was eating a burrito as Dunkan stared me down. I realized he had expended much more energy than I had and was probably starving," Guerrero said.
She went in search of meal replacement for pets and came up empty-handed. That's how TurboPUP Complete K-9 Meal Bars were born.
Dog goggles
Aiden Doane and Jesse Emilio have two dogs and spend the bulk of their time outdoors. So when veterinarians told them that both dogs had serious eye problems that could only get worse if they continued playing in the sun unprotected, the couple went looking for goggles.
They were unhappy with the offerings so now sell their own: Rex Specs.
The lenses are shatterproof and the goggles are used by the U.S. military for their K-9 units.
Online:
Games: http://www.kurgo.com/
Life preserver: www.hedzuppets.com, www.savedogsfromdrowning.com
Meal replacement bars: http://www.turbopup.com/
Goggles: www.rexspecs.com