New Spring Styles in Bloom at Dog Collar Boutique

Stripes and Ginghams by Yellow Dog

Stripes and Ginghams by Yellow Dog Designs

This Spring at Dog Collar Boutique, patterns and florals are in full bloom.  We’ve added everything from polka dots in eight different pastel styles, to eye catching leather flower decorations, to sleek embossed “elements” patterns in vibrant spring colors.

Shabby Dog Lady Bug Ensemble

Lady Bug Ensemble

At our Spring Style page you can find designers that specialize in affordable and fun patterned collars perfect for dog park playtime, as well as magnificent hand-crafted haute couture collars to grace the necks of the poshest dog party attendees!

Check out Marityn Dog for New York-made collars that won’t break the bank.  Visit Shabby Dog’s designer page for handmade doggy “dresses” and more, in the latest cuts and styles for 2010.

Not digging the flowery stuff?  In addition to eye-catching, fashion forward spring offerings, we have plenty of ruff-and-tumble collars for the outdoorsy dog who’s just begun to get his paws wet (and muddy) again.  Waterproof, reflective, and heavy duty collars and harnesses abound, as well as outdoor gear for those upcoming dog-included camping trips, road trips, and city rambles.

Kurgo Tru-Fit Harness

Hit the Streets in Style with a Tru-Fit Harness

Night Visibility: A Summer Dog Safety Concern

Reflective Mesh Harness

Reflective Mesh Harness with Reflective Dot Lead

You wouldn’t go out for a nighttime stroll wearing black.  You wouldn’t ride your bike at night without reflectors or even a set of lights.  Why let your dog go invisible after dark?

Spring and summer mean warmer nights, and for many of us active dog owners, that means more time to get outside.  Taking longer walks on city streets, venturing into the woods for a hike, or just staying at the dog park until the sun goes down are all fun ways to spend those extra hours of daylight.  However, the only way to stay safe and fun in these situations is to make sure your dog is visible at all times.

Reflective Weave Collars

Nylon Reflective Weave Collars

For city dogs, a reflective harness or reflective collar coupled with a reflective leash is a good idea.  The collar helps you and motorists see the dog, and the leash gives both of you a long strand of added visibility.  In cities, where night lights are plentiful, the two (or three, or more) of you will be hard to miss with just a little bit of reflective material setting you off.  For areas where street lighting is poor, glow-in-the-dark or LED options are also available for your dog.  These enable you to see the dog even when no car headlights are approaching.

For country dogs, or just those of you who like to spend time out in nature, LED collars are a great option.  You can see them without any additional light, they will be visible even at dusk before all the sunlight is gone (you should really get out of the woods by then, or bed your dog down at camp!).  For dogs spending more time in the woods or on hikes, there are dog pannier packs trimmed with reflective materials.  The bright colors of the packs are especially important when hunters may be out.  With a doggy day pack and an LED collar, you’ll be ready for a safe adventure — Fido can carry his own supplies and remain visible to you day and night, by flashlight or around the campfire.

Argyle LED Collar

Argyle LED Collar

Finally, even if you keep your dog safe at night by keeping him off the streets and out of the bush, summer events like dog park outings and backyard barbeques can end with a lost dog or two, especially when dogs and people have been having fun and don’t notice daylight slipping away.  Reflective, glow-in-the-dark, or LED collars can keep your dog visible after hours, ensuring he won’t disappear off into the sunset.  Worst case scenario, if he wanders off, the lighted collar will make Fido visible to passers-by who can tell he’s a cared for dog (not a scary night wanderer!) and they can look for his tag and information.  With “high-visibility dogs,” everyone can safely collect their pup at the end of the day, and get some much needed rest for the next fun filled summer adventure.

Check out Dog Collar Boutique to outfit your dog for a safe summer of outdoor adventures.  Our “Outdoor”, “DogeLites”and “Kurgo” categories contain some great collars and accessories, and “Cloak & Dawggie” features reflective and glow designs for smaller pups.

Dog w/Wander Pack

Reflective Wander Pack

Win Prizes at Leashes and Lovers Book Launch and Party

leashes and lovers

Sheryl Matthys of Leashes & Lovers, a dating and networking site for dog lovers like us, is releasing her new book Leashes and Lovers, What Your Dog Can Teach You About Love, Life, and Happiness on March 31. The book launch will be celebrated with a booksale on the Leashes and Lovers website, with many opportunities to win prizes, as well as a gala launch party at nightlife hotspot Blvd. in New York City.

In her book, Sheryl Matthys, The Dog Expert® reveals how to attract the life you want, and improve your relationships whether with a special someone, a spouse, or your friends and family.  She shares stories with dog lovers like YOU and of Celebs like Cesar Millan, Richard Belzer, Howard Stern, & Rachel Ray.

Some of the prizes available when you buy the book before March 31 include doggy eye exams and correction, dog birthday parties, website creation, and more, all valued at over $250. There are many more opportunities to win prizes and snag goodie bags at the party, with proceeds benefiting The American Humane Association.

So far, critics are loving the advice in Matthys’ book. Matthys says it can help you with any number of relationship issues (dog or human), including making the right match, making the best of a break-up, dealing with your emotions when others just aren’t into your dog, and even mourning the loss of a best friend.

Visit the site to see a book trailer, to learn more about the online book sale, and get tickets for the NYC party.

Weekly Collar Giveaways at Dog Collar Boutique

Sophie Harness in Burberry Pattern

One of many $50 styles!

Starting this week, DogCollarBoutique.com is giving away a $50 gift certificate every week!  Apply it toward your favorite haute couture collar or buy a bundle of doggy basics!  You can even use it toward shipping.

This week’s contest is a Facebook photo event — post a cute pic of your pooch on our Facebook fan page wall and your fellow fans will choose the winner with “likes” and comments.  Get your friends to fan us so they can vote too, and stack the odds that your fuzzy (or hairless…) guy walks away with the prize!

We’ll also be mixing it up with other types of contests — trivia questions, dog “favorites” lists, you name it.  We’ll run these by picking a winner at random from the first ten respondents.  We’ll also do other fan-based wins for contests like doggy drawings and funny dog stories, so make sure you get those friends on there to vote for you!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the lastest updates on weekly contests.  We’ll post weekly winners there, and do an archive of winners on the blog once a month.

“Bone” chance!

Dating for Dog Lovers

Living the dog-loving, dog-led lifestyle may be the only way to go for many of us.  We hardly think about the extra measures we have to take to accomodate our best friends.  Whether it’s scoping out a restaurant that lets little Lola sit at the table, finding a job where pet hair-covered attire isn’t just for casual Friday, or buying the car that fits all our pooch’s latest dog travel safety gizmos, it seems we are always willing to put Fido first.

There is a sphere of life, however, where putting a dog’s wants before one’s own can be more than an inconvenience — it can be downright painful for both of you!  The dating scene is one area where dog lovers may have struggled with making a heartbreaking choice between a certain human and a certain pooch.  Turning to the internet to find a person with similar dog-driven interests is a first step for many, but it can be hard to tell when you’ve found a quality (well trained?  well behaved?) human online!
Leashes and Lovers website
Fortunately for love-seeking dog owners there is an amazing website called Leashes and Lovers that brings dog owners together through social media, singles mixers, no-pressure outdoor doggy events, play dates (for the dogs…), and other great dog and person meet-n-greet ideas. Of course you can still use traditional dating site tools like messages and forums to interact, but you’ll be off on the right paw knowing you’ve already got something very important in common with your new online friends.

Users can browse humans by their photos, or look for owners of similar dogs. Whether you simply want a companion whose furrier companion is a sporting dog or a city dog like yours, or if you need an exact match — if only Goldendoodle owners will do! — you can find your date by the breed they bond with. The dog and person events work well for meeting similar personality types too.  You and your dog can go to a book signing at a posh hotel, crash a mixer at a local pub, or take an 8 mile wilderness hike, all sponsored by Leashes and Lovers.  You are bound to meet some very different sorts of people (and dogs!) based on the events you choose to attend.  Even if an outing doesn’t land you a date, you’ve expanded your network of dog loving friends and shown your first love (the fuzzy one) a great time.

Sheryl Matthys, founder of Leashes and Lovers, just published a book by the same title on “What your dog can teach you about Life, Love and Happiness.”  Sheryl shows us how relationships with four-legged friends can lead to better relationships with everyone in our lives.  The book launch party and book sigining are being held March 30 in New York City.

We are frequent visitors to the site too!  So if you stop by Leashes and Lovers just to take a look, or to find a leash-toting lover, be sure and stop to say “Hi” to us on there.