If you own a dog, especially a small breed like I do, you know they bury their little mugs in their food, slop it all around, push the bowl everywhere and basically make a mess of their face and your floors. It’s not the dog’s fault, it’s because most feeding dishes aren’t designed from a dog’s POV.

Introducing the Hugx Pet Feeding Bowl and Stand. It’s unique contoured bowl and arched stand make it easier for dogs to eat by placing food at near eye-level and eliminating the deep grooves/corners in traditional bowls that make dogs want to bury their heads in the first place.

The Hugx Pet Bowl also won the 2008 Lifestyle Innovation Award at New York Pet Fashion Week (yes, there’s a NY Pet Fashion Week).

Hugx Pet Bowl – Large

The FroliCat BOLT is the gift that keeps on giving. This pet toy automatically projects red laser patterns onto any surface, providing endless entertainment for your feline. Just hold the BOLT in your hand or set it on any flat surface. Turn it on and watch your cat go into attack mode as it tries to keep up.

Auto mode generates random patterns and manual mode lets owners control the action. You can even adjust the mirror to project the laser across various surfaces, like floors and ceilings.

The FroliCat automatically turns off after 15 minutes of play and also includes a manual on-off switch. Good for dogs too, but I find cats funnier to watch. Check out the video here.

FroliCat BOLT Automatic Laser Toy via The Green Head

We’ve seen Snuggies for humans, now there’s a Snuggie for your pet! A machine-washable fleece doggie blanket with sleeves, Snuggie For Dogs is available in pink and blue and a variety of sizes to fit your furry friend.

Adjustable tabs let you modify the fit to make it even more, uh, snuggie.

Snuggie for Dogs, Small Pink

Part of responsible dog ownership is making sure your pet gets enough exercise. But even I must admit that some days it’s tough to get off the couch. For those days, there’s the Automatic Canine Fetch Machine.

This invention does the work for you, while still giving your dog the exercise he/she needs. Owners can set the Fetch Machine to launch balls automatically or, for the truly lazy, use the unit’s remote control to pop one into the air.

Users can adjust the launching distance (from 15′- 30′), as well as the timing intervals (7 – 15 seconds).

If you’re really lucky, eventually your dog will learn how to bring the balls back to the Fetch Machine himself, as seen here. Now that’s really lazy!

Automatic Canine Fetch Machine

The WaterDog provides fresh water for your dog while your away.  Sure, you can leave the bowl full before you leave but, it bakes in the sun all day and fills with dog slobber.  The WaterDog uses sonar to trigger the fountain on and off.  When your dog comes within 3 feet the water fountain turns on and then turns off when he or she walks away.  For only $47 dollars, you can provide your pet with on demand, cool, fresh water all day long …  Hook up the the pooch!

Highlights:

• Automatic outdoor pet drinking fountain with sonar proximity sensor
• Turns the water on when the dog is near and off again when it leaves
• Installs easily on any outdoor faucet; fully adjustable height; no tools required
• Made of ABS plastic; low-battery indicator; emergency-lockout function

Contech Water Dog Automatic Pet Fountain

Makers of the Neater Feeder recently sent us a model to try out. This practical feeding system is designed to contain food and water splashes while separating spilled water from food in one compact unit. Given that my dog is prone to serious splashes and all-out warfare on his kibble, I eagerly gave it a try.

I even placed it on my beautiful new hardwood floors, which just about gave me a panic attack, but hey – all in the name of testing.

The two-part system works by channeling spilled water through a sloped filter and into a lower reservoir, so any spilled water stays clean and doesn’t wind up all over your floor, causing a potential hazard or water damage to floors & walls over time. It’s also meant to be more sanitary, since your pet isn’t lapping up discarded water from the floor, which could carry harmful debris and bacteria.

If your pet knocks out some kibble from the bowl, the unit’s protective walls and filter are designed to contain it, which means spilled food stays dry and can be reused or picked up and thrown away more easily.

After a week of testing, I’m happy to report the Neater Feeder does work. I gave it a few good kicks (the kind that would occur if you accidentally bumped it) and the spilled water stayed within the unit. I was pretty surprised, since I didn’t exactly go easy on the thing.

There was one instance where a piece of my dog’s kibble wound up in the adjacent water bowl, but I can’t really blame the Feeder for that, since my dog charges at his food at 90 mph. The only way to remedy that problem would be to place the bowls several feet apart, and that would make for awful design! But otherwise, most of his food remained in the feeding dish, and any food that did happen to pop out of the bowl was indeed caught by the unit’s filter.

I especially liked the quality of the materials and non-skid base, which really helped to keep the Neater Feeder in place.

The Neater Feeder was even sent to the U.S. Presidential Office for Bo to test out. No word yet on what the Obama’s think, but we give it two paws up.

Neater Feeder

Gone are the days of the metal chicken wired pet crates.  The Soft Sided Portable Dog Crate is the way to go for anyone that has a pet to transport.  It looks much better, its much more comfortable for your pet, it’s lightwieght and it folds into almost nothing in seconds.  That’s a lot of wins in my book.  It comes in five different sizes to accommodate just about any size pet.  Prices range between $89 and $149 depending on the size.

Highlights:

• Tightly woven, heavy-duty mesh fabric provides optimal ventilation
• Easy to carry
• Convenient top, front and side entry doors add versatility
• Extra-strong steel frame offers sturdy support
• Durable water-resistant base protects floors and keeps the interior dry on wet ground
• Heavy-duty zippers and a door lock secure your pet
• Rounded corners protect car interiors and home decor

Soft Sided Portable Dog Crate

Sometimes I wish my dog could understand English. That way, I could explain the benefits of chewing your food slowly so you don’t choke on your kibble or wind up vomiting all over the floor. But since that isn’t going to happen, there’s Brake-Fast Pet Bowls.

This simple feeding dish has three elevated prongs that keep your dog or cat from lapping up their food at 90 miles an hour. By having to work around the prongs, it forces the animal to slow down and thereby eat their food at a more leisurely pace.

A smart, simple solution to a common pet problem.

Brake-Fast Pet Food Bowl