What do you get when two dog-loving ladies put their heads together? A 60-page full colour book about canine life lessons designed to raise money for animals in need.

With great pleasure, enormous excitement and almost too many nerves to handle, I would like to present Take Paws: Whiskered Wisdom About Life & Love — a book written by myself and photographed by the insanely talented Liz Bradley. It will be available IN PRINT next week.

Take Paws is a narrative interpreted through canine expression about slowing down and appreciating the fleeting moments that make life a wonderful, ridiculous and unexpected adventure. The tone of the book, although powerful enough to inspire adults, is also simple enough to be enjoyed by children, especially little ones who have a best friend with four legs and a waggy tail. Come face to face with a moving collection of photographs that showcase genuine canine personalities and portray a fresh whiskered wisdom about life and love.

From now until March 31st, 2013, we will be donating $2 from every sold copy of Take Paws to Humane Society International — a global organization that works tirelessly to help animals around the world. But that’s not all! Our wonderful printing partner, Blurb, will be matching our final donation to double the amount that we can give to help animals in need! (Thank you again Blurb for the incredible support you have given to this project!)

Whether you find a copy under the tree or pick one up for the dog-loving person on your holiday shopping list, please know that you are making a difference. Together we can make the world a better place for all animals.

Take Paws will be available for purchase through Blurb next week! Read more about it here!

Merry early Christmas everyone! Much love, much love! xo

Caesar

Ladies and gentlemen, a bit of bittersweet news this morning — this is the last Pet of the Month contest for 2012. But don’t worry, Pawsh holiday giveaways begin next week to keep us all busy for December!

Take a look at November’s furry nominees and vote for your favourite by writing their name on our Facebook wall. The pet with the most votes will win their choice of BlanketID tag plus a free three year membership! Voting closes Sunday, December 2nd at midnight and the winner will be announced on Monday! Keep reading to meet the nominees…

Milly and Gracey

Maddie

Cowboy

Thank you all for participating in our little monthly contest this year! Hopefully you had as much fun as we did! And special thanks to BlanketID for their overwhelming support sponsoring this contest!

Source

Let’s give a warm welcome this morning to Pawsh’s newest columnist, Becky Valentine from The Barkitect! Becky comes from an architecture background (see her beautiful house here) and her gorgeous blog marries her passion for dogs with her affinity for design. Her eye never fails to find uniqueness in the design or art world and she will be bringing you some pretty awesome things once a month here on Pawsh!

{by Becky Valentine} I’ve seen a lot of dog art in my day, but this has to be one of the most unique and eclectic forms of dog art ever! Artist Peter Clark, uses scraps of found papers with various colors, textures, and patterns (such as old maps) to “paint” dog shaped collages.

I love the detail in the eyebrows and beard of the Scottish Terrier. Clark’s shading technique through the use of pattern density and color layering is just genius!  I would love to frame one of these for my office; it would definitely inspire me to think outside the box and get creative with my designs. Check out more of Peter Clark’s artwork HERE.

Dental hygiene for dogs is extremely important, but scrubbing those pearly whites and keeping bad breath at bay is often much harder than it sounds. Finally, a toothbrush has been invented to perfectly suit the canine mouth — introducing the wonderful QuadBrush.

Three bristle heads surround the tooth so that all surfaces can be tackled at once, while a fourth bristle head on top encourages your dog to open wide while also acting as a soft cushion should they accidentally bite down. Owners and dogs alike will love this product, because it cuts down on scrubbing time and gets the job done without any unnecessary fuss! Plus, it comes in pink — just saying!

PAWSH PERKS: More dog dental tips and easy plaque prevention!