I just want to remind everyone that the 5th Annual World’s Coolest Dog & Cat Show has begun. You can enter your pup’s photo or vote on someone else’s.  Earn zealies just for voting!

Here are more details from Dogster HQ’s.

* The contest is open to anyone registered at Dogster or Catster. It’s free and only takes seconds to join.

* Submit photos in as many categories as you want.

* Vote for your favorites. The more you vote, the more Zealies you’ll get.

* Entries and user voting will run from October 14 to November 18.

* The top five vote recipients in each category will be named finalists, and the winner in each category will then be chosen by our esteemed contest judges.

* Finally, the vote goes back to the people. From November 18 until midnight, December 16, you can vote for your favorite finalists to determine the Best Dog and Cat in Show!

Don’t wait, there are great prizes up for grabs, get those photos entered.

* Kensy getting ready to enter the Costumes & Shades category.

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She’s back! This week, Pupstyle.com’s, resident Pet Style Expert Dara Foster is stepping in again as a guest tipster on The Daily Dog Tip, the Dogster blog that serves up a juicy tidbit of canine information every weekday. We’re excited to have Dara join our team of talented pet experts and can’t wait to see what she’s got in store for us this week. This week’s first tip is live already, you can check it out here.

And if you’re looking to see more of Dara, she’s got an E! Special going on July 1st and will be on TODAY with Kathy Lee and Hoda on July 6!
(Check your local listings for times and show details.)

More about Dara: Dara Foster is a world renowned Pet Style Expert best known for her humorous,”taste-making” pet style blog PupStyle.com, and as a regular pet style contributor on NBC’s TODAY show. She is also he resident Pet Fashion Expert on Tibesti.com and host of her own radio show “The Pet Set” on PetLifeRadio.com.

In 2003 Dara jump-started the luxury dog products movement with her own brand of boutique dog collars – Dara Foster New York LLC and blog, Pupstyle.com. Preferring to critique and write about other people’s cool designs, her full-time attention was turned to sourcing and writing about great pet product design for Pupstyle.com.

If you’d like to sign up to receive The Daily Dog Tip via email, so that you don’t miss tips from Dara or any of our other grrreat pet experts, you may do so here, or to add the RSS feed to your reader, click here. Want it all? You can also get them via Twitter when you follow @dogster.

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For anypup who missed the news Dogster is having a fun contest. All the details are on the Unleashed! Notes from Dogster HQ page.

We are always amazed and impressed at how creative everyfur gets on Dogster and Catster with their spectacular pet pages and profile pictures. That’s why we decided to have a special contest for all you creatives out there: We want YOU to make the next new virtual gift for the gift store! We are outlining some guidelines below for creating the artwork for the gift, and the winner will receive a bowl-ful of Zealies, a badge to show off on their pet page and of course, props from HQ. When the gift is available in the gift store the creator will get credit so that all the Dogsters and Catsters out there will know who made it!

If you love giving and getting gifts this contest is for you. Be creative and come up with your own unique design. If you’re one of the winners you can sit back and enjoy your zealies.

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In December we had a contest to win a FURminator, a great deShedding product for your pet. It’s a tool we use here on a daily basis, with three dogs and a cat we can’t live without it.

FURminator Inc. manufactures products to address the number one complaint of pet owners, SHEDDING. We also love our pets and understand the frustration fellow pet lovers feel with the problems of shedding. The embarrassment of hair all over the house when guests come to visit. The endless vacuuming and cleaning. The constant checking and wiping of their hair off our clothes.

The FURminator reduces shedding up to 90 percent by removing the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat.

# Brings out the pet’s natural oils, promoting healthier skin and a shiny topcoat.

# Guaranteed to reduce shedding better than any brush, comb or rake.

# Works great on all shedding, long and short-haired dogs and cats.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Dogster had a fun poll last week to find out what professional canine sports your pooch would be best at playing. As always, there were five choices to choose from. Stuffed toy shredding trumped the other choices coming in at 47.99%. We had over 1,500 Dogsters join in the poll.

Frisbee catching (10.70%)

Cat chasing (19.52%)

Stuffed toy shredding (47.99%)

Lawn decorating (9.92%)

Other sport (tell us!) (11.87%)

Our boy Bo fell into the “Other sport” category. Bo’s best sport is begging, always has been and always will be. He has a master’s degree in begging, he could teach the pups out there a few things.

Let’s have some fun, we’re putting 50 zealies on the table. Share what your dog’s favorite sport is, any of the above or something unique. On Monday, June 1st I’ll choose one lucky winner and reward them with 50 zealies.

This week’s poll has to do with Michael Vick. He’s out of prison and is asking for forgiveness. Should Vick be given a second chance? Go to the Dogster poll page to find out your choices and vote.

* Butter wants to know what you’re looking at, cause if you didn’t see it happen you can’t prove who did it.

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Dayna Dreger is joining us to share some dog tips this week on The Daily Dog Tip, the Dogster blog that serves up a juicy tidbit of canine information every weekday. We’re very happy to have Dayna on board this week to join our team of talented pet experts. We’re looking forward to everything she’s got in store for us for the rest of the week. Two of her tips are up already – you can see her tip on mental exercise here and her dry nose tip here.

More about Dayna: Dayna Dreger BSA, M.Sc. is a research technician in canine molecular genetics by day. The rest of her time is devoted to dog training and competition. She is a trainer with Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club, where she focuses on training Rally-O, and River Runners Canine Association, a NAFA flyball team. She is also an assistant evaluator with the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program.

She trains and competes her own dogs (two Dogster Shelties, Gio and Romeo) in CKC and CARO Rally-O, CKC obedience, AAC agility, NAFA flyball, tracking, herding, and therapy dog work.

Dayna is the author of a popular dog blog, Life is Better With Sheltie Hair, where she provides entertaining stories of her adventures in dog sports as well as informational articles on canine epilepsy, positive training, raw feeding, and dog-specific issues.

If you’d like to sign up to receive The Daily Dog Tip via email, so that you don’t miss tips from Dayna or any of our other grrreat pet experts, you may do so here, or to add the RSS feed to your reader, click here. Want it all? You can also get them via Twitter when you follow @dogster.

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Last week Dogster’s poll was to find out the most endearing thing that your pooch regularly does to show affection?  There were five options to choose from. As you can see, “Follows around the house” came in first with a big lead over the others. A little over 1,500 Dogsters participated in the poll.

Greets me at the door (25.13%)

Licks my face (17.82%)

Follows around the house (37.63%)

Gives me puppy dog eyes (8.31%)

Other (Leave a comment) (11.10%)

The only reason Bo follows us around the house is in case we drop food while we’re walking. I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with affection. To find out what qualifies as “Other” you’ll have to go read the comments.

To have a little fun I’m going to throw out a zealie contest.  To be entered for a chance to win 50 zealies leave a comment in the comment section and share a story that has to do with affection.  It can be anything, doesn’t matter. On Monday, May 25th I’ll choose a winner.

This week’s poll wants to know what professional canine sports your pooch would be best at playing?  You need to check out the poll to find the choices.

* Maggie showing some love to a little cutie.

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Dr. CJ Betancourt is joining us to share some of her great dog tips with us this week on The Daily Dog Tip, the Dogster blog that serves up a juicy tidbit of canine information every weekday. Having CJ on board this week and joining our team of talented pet experts is a real honor. We can’t wait to see what else she’s got in store for us this week. She’s out of the blocks with two great tips already – you can see them here and here.

More about Dr. Betancourt, Executive Director of The Foundation for Service Dog Support: CJ Betancourt is a retired physician and a service dog team member. She has lived with physical disabilities since 1973. She has 34 years of experience in the medical field including the practice of medicine, medical directorship, research, statistical analysis, database design and education. She also reads Braille and is the Foundation’s Braille material editor. CJ is actively involved in setting up the Puppy Raising and Canine Safety Programs.

If you’d like to sign up to receive The Daily Dog Tip via email, so that you don’t miss tips from Dr. Betancourt or any of our other grrreat pet experts, you may do so here, or to add the RSS feed to your reader, click here. Want it all? You can also get them via Twitter when you follow @dogster.

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This week, we’re super pleased to be able to offer up tips from trainer and pet expert Casey Lomonaco who is stepping in as the guest tipster on The Daily Dog Tip, the Dogster blog that serves up a juicy tidbit of canine information every weekday. We’re excited to have Casey join our team of talented pet experts and can’t wait to see what else she’s got in store for us this week. Parts 1 and 2 of her Responsible Dog Ownership: Good Human and Canine Citizenry are live already and can be seen here and here.

More about Casey: Casey is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, and a business partner at Clicking with Canines in Endicott, NY; where she teaches classes with Steve Benjamin and Abbie Tamber, also KPA CTP.

At this stage in my training career, she focuses on family dog training; with a goal to eventually specialize in the application of scientifically supported behavioral modification techniques to save the lives of aggressive and reactive dogs while promoting improved and safe relationships with the humans who love them.

Continuing education is a vital factor in her ability to continue offering her clients innovative, effective, efficient and scientifically sound training techniques. She enjoys reading every training book and watching every training video she can get her hands on, observing and networking with other trainers, attending conferences and seminars given by many of the world’s most respected trainers and behaviorists. She also values the opportunity, as a KPA graduate, to continue assisting Steve Benjamin at KPA workshops and watch the training development of future KPA CTP.

She is a published author of training material for both professionals and the pet owning public, available on www.clickertraining.com (Karen Pryor Clicker Training).

AND, as if all that grrrreat stuff wasn’t enough, she’s also the proud human who’s owned by Dogsters Mokie and Monte! So with tips coming from a fellow Dogster, you know you’re in good paws!

If you’d like to sign up to receive The Daily Dog Tip via email, so that you don’t miss tips from Casey or any of our other grrreat pet experts, you may do so here, or to add the RSS feed to your reader, click here. Want it all? You can also get them via Twitter when you follow @dogster.

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Last week’s poll on Dogster questioned how you think of your relationship with your dog.  You could choose from the five categories below. As you can see, the Mommy/Daddy choice blew away the competition.

Mommy / Daddy (69.56%)

Sister / Brother (4.38%)

Best Friend (14.08%)

Owner (5.40%)

Guardian (6.58%)

Over 2,300 Dogsters participated in the poll, and over 100 left comments in the comment section. I thought it was an interesting question and I’m not surprised to see the top choice. I have to admit, Lisa and I chose the Mommy/Daddy category.

I think most people chose that answer because we are the caregivers for our dogs, they rely on us for everything. It’s up to us to ensure their good health and well-being just like any good mother or father would.

If you want to read some of the comments that were left you can check out the Dogster poll results page. The poll for this week has to do with the AKC letting mixed breeds enter the competitions, have your say and then check out what others think.

*Ringo and Webster with their mom on Mother’s Day

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