A Treasure for a Lifetime!

Have you ever gotten a gift from someone and knew that you were going to have that gift forever? I got something like that recently from a company called Makebooksonline.com.

Makebooksonline.com is an online scrapbooking company that caterers to pets and their families. Online scrapbooking is a wonderful way to celebrate the love of your dog. I received a beautiful hardcover book, but you are also able to make posters, calendars or cards.

By just logging onto Makebookonline.com, you are able to get a Basic Studio account for FREE. You can also choose to upgrade your account to their amazing Premier Studio membership, which allows you to have access to over 30,000 pieces of digital artwork. There is a membership fee of $20 a month or $99 for 6 months for the Premier Studio upgrade.

With scrapbooking all the rage right now, you can't go wrong on this site. Online tutorials are available and if you have other questions, a simple email to the founder of the company will get you your answer right away. As a bonus, if you subscribe to the 6 months of Premier, the founder will transfer a pre-designed templated 8X8 book, "I Love My Dog". All you'll have to do is plug in your pictures and add whatever words you want. After you purchase the Premier, send an email to the founder through the Makebooksonline.com site, and tell her that you are a Swanky Pup reader. She will send over the template.

If you love to scrapbook or you think that this is something you could do, send an email through the Makebooksonline.com site. The founder is looking for other consultants to join her team.

I love my book and those who come to visit always pick it up and look through it. It has all my favorite pictures of my dog in it and I know that I will treasure it for a long time to come.

Dear Diary...

Many people love to keep a journal or diary around so they can write things down that are of importance to them. So, why not have one for your dog too?

At Uptowndog.net you can buy a journal to write down things that happen in your dogs life. It's similar to a baby book, but for your dog. There are pages for photographs of your dog, small envelopes to store your dogs important papers and keepsakes in, and pages after pages of information to fill in about your dog.

We all consider our dogs as members of the family. It's important to document their lives as well -- the good and the well... not so good. This book will guide you to do just that and more. You'll want to leave it out on your coffee table for all to see.

When you are purchasing your copy of the doggie journal on the Uptowndog.net website, be sure to write in the "special instructions" section, "FREE GIFT". In addition to your new journal, you'll also receive FREE doggie notecards.

If only dogs could talk...

Do you ever look into those big brown eyes of your dog and wonder just what in the world he is thinking? You are not alone! Most people have no idea what their dog is thinking considering we do not speak the same language. In Stanley Coren’s book How to Speak Dog he helps break down this language barrier to give us humans insight into what’s going on in that furry little head.

This book is very well written and a great resource for the average dog owner with lots of examples and a handy translation section in the back. It breaks down dog communication into barks, growls, howls, whimpers, body language and ear, eye and tail signals so you can decode the noises that come out of your dog and the body language he uses. Not only is this book a great resource and tool, it can improve your relationship with your pooch since you will better understand what he is trying to tell you.

For example, my un-cuddly sheltie Buster would often turn his face away from me and yawn when I would get down on the floor to snuggle with him. Now, thanks to Stanley Coren, I know he is not just getting ready to take a nap but basically telling me he is uncomfortable and to go the heck away. I am pretty sure Buster is happy I finally got the point and your dog will be glad that you understand him too once you learn how to speak dog!