Homemade holiday cookies - for dogs!

One of my favorite activities during the holidays (besides opening presents) is baking. I love to bake, and I love to eat baked goods, and there is just something about the smell of cookies that makes a home feel ready for the holidays. So I thought what better way to celebrate the holidays with our pets than to make them some homemade pet cookies! Making your own treats is also a great way to save money and provide your pet with a healthier alternative to commercial treats and snacks.

I came across this incredibly easy recipe online, and though it is called "Birthday Bones Recipe," I figured it could just as easily be called "Holiday Bones Recipe." Best of all it only requires 4 ingredients! Start to finish it only takes about 35 minutes to make these yummy sounding dog cookies. So grab your apron and get baking!

Sourced from Allrecipes.com

Birthday Bones Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted natural peanut butter
• 1 cup skim milk

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour and baking powder; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter and milk. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Thank you to Allrecipes.com for posting this terrific dog treat recipe!

Help shelter animals have a happy holiday!

Ever since I got my two kitties this past summer I have had a soft spot in my heart for shelter animals. I wish they all could have a loving home, but since some can't and my home is not big enough for more pets, the next best thing I can do is to support the agencies that work to provide care and shelter for those awaiting a forever home.

Over 50% of Americans buy their pets presents on Christmas (petfinder.com), myself included. Sadly, many shelters animals do not receive anything for Christmas. Shelters usually rely on donations to feed, house, and care for the animals, and those donations often leave little room for things like toys and treats. Three years ago the elves over at Santa Paws Drive sought to help change that.



Santa Paws Drive is the dream of Dorian Wagner, founder of YourDailyCute.com. Together with her elves they have created and maintained the first-ever online Christmas toy drive dedicated to pets. The mission of Santa Paws Drive is to bring holiday cheer to shelter animals around the world. "We know pets with homes are often showered with gifts and treats for Christmas, and we believe that shelter animals deserve a little holiday love, too," (santapawsdrive.com).

The program collects donations online in the form of cash donations or toys/treat donations. The organization then distributes the donations to needy shelters around the world. Their ultimate hope is of course that each of the animals in these shelters can find a wonderful forever home. But until that happens they want to make sure that each animals gets to wake up on Christmas morning to toys and treats. In the past 2 years Santa Paws Drive has managed to raise over $15,000 in toys, treats, and donations, and helped to support 12 shelters worldwide.

This year Santa Paws Drive is focusing on 6 shelters and rescues that help special needs animals. Sadly many of these animals are considered unadoptable even though they are loving, wonderful cats and dogs that deserve as much love as any other pet. These animals include black dogs and cats, FIV+ cats, blind cats, senior pets and retired greyhounds. Read about this year's shelters and learn about the special animals Santa Paws Drive is trying to help!

So how can you help? There are several options. The first and easiest way is to make a cash or toy/treat donation right on the Santa Paws Drive donation page You can choose to purchase either a specific toy or treat for a dog or cat, or make a cash donation. Donation options start at just $1, and every single dollar helps. Another way to help is to consider placing a banner or widget on your blog. There are several designs to choose from, so you can pick one that works best for your site. Santa Paws Drive also holds paw-ties on Twitter to help raise money and support for the cause. Check out the list of events to join in on the next paw-ty! There are always lots of laughs, fun, and prizes to win!

Every animal deserves lots of love, attention and kindness. That should not change if they have a home or not. Join Santa Paws Drive in helping to provide shelter animals with a Happy Holiday!

New Buy One, Get One Free coupon from Wellness!

I love buying Wellness food for my kitties, and was very excited to come across this coupon today! Print this coupon for Buy one can, Get one can free of any Wellness Brand dog or cat food. Pair the coupon with a sale and score some great savings!

Post-A-Day Holiday Event

For the next 28 days or so, I will be featuring a series of posts related to the holidays, pets, and saving money on both. This is not only to help support my readers with their holiday budgets, but also to challenge myself to write a post a day, something I am still struggling with a few months into my blog. The posts will feature a variety of topics, including DIY pet toys, treat recipes, and holiday deals, to name a few. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, the Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, join me as we celebrate the holidays with our favorite furry four-pawed loved ones!

NEW Holistic Select coupons!

Holistic Select has released their December coupons!

$1 off any Holistic Select canned dog or cat food
$3 off any Holistic Select dry dog or cat food

Right now Petco has the bags of Holistic Select dry food on sale for as low as $9.99! Be sure to print out your coupon to score some great savings on this terrific pet food! Save it for this weekend, and use with this Petco coupon for $5 off any $25 purchase, valid December 3 & 4 for even greater savings!

Printable coupon for Cesar Canine Cuisine

I love good pet food coupons, so I was excited to see this one come out. Get a printable coupon for Cesar Canine Cuisine, Buy 2 Get 1 Free. This food goes on sale quite often, so you may be able to score a good deal with this coupon. Target and Wal-Mart also tend to have good prices on this food, so if you are in need bring your coupon there. Coupon expires 30 days from printing, and remember that you can print 2 coupons per computer.

Adopt a cat for only $5!

For months we have considered adopting another cat, but one of the things that have kept us from doing so is the large adoption fees many shelters have. As much as I would love to open my home to a new kitty, the nearly $200 adoption fee at our local shelter was just too much. I understand that the fees cover vet attention and housing, and they are necessary for the shelter to remain open, but that doesn't make my wallet feel much better. Well now there is a way for people to adopt without the hefty fees. No More Homeless Pets® Network Partners across the country are participating in the $5 Felines Adoption Event to encourage people to open their hearts and homes to a new feline friend.

For one or more days, between Saturday, November 26 and Saturday, December 3, each participating rescue group and shelter will reduce their adoption fees to $5 for cats and kittens over 5 months. Go here to see a list of participating shelters in your state.

Shelters are currently overflowing with cats, many full or over capacity. Sadly many animals are surrendered during the holidays, as people decide they no longer want to or cannot care for their pets any longer. Give a shelter kitty a home, the best holiday present a kitty could get!

Watch the video below, and adopt a shelter kitty today!

Save $1 on any Simple Solution Product!

Keeping a house clean when you have pets can be a challenge, and finding pet-safe cleaners can be even more of a challenge. Thanksfully Simple Solutions cleaning products have put out a line of pet-friendly cleaning products for the home. PawSafe cleaners come in several formulas, including Floor Cleaner, Toilet Cleaner, Tub & Tile Cleaner, Mulit-Purpose Cleaner and more. Now you can Save $1 on ANY Simple Solutions product, including PawSafe!

To make this deal even better, many Petco stores are clearancing out some of their PawSafe products. I have found the PawSafe Toilet Cleaner at many Petco locations for $1.50, but with this coupon a bottle would only be $.50! I picked up a bottle the other day, and will be trying it out when I clean the bathroom tonight.

EDIT: I stopped in last night at Petco and I found bottles of PawSafe Toy Cleaner on clearance for only $1! So free with this coupon!

A wonderful giveaway from Life in the Lost World!

I love giveaways. I will admit, I spend about an hour a morning entering them (Is that extreme? Probably. Do they make a TLC show for it?), and I get so excited when I win one. Well the wonderful lady over at Life in the Lost Worl is having a giveaway that any pet lover would be lucky to win! Enter to win a great sample box filled with premium pet food from Newman's Own Organics. The winner can choose if they would like to receive a prize for a dog or cat! I won a prize pack from Newman's Own Organics from a different blog months ago, and was very pleased with what I received. It also came really fast, which made winning even more exciting! The giveaway ends on December 6, so be sure to head on over and enter soon! You can get a daily entry for tweeting, so the sooner you head over the better your chances!

While you are there be sure to check out the blog's other giveaways! There are more than a dozen to choose from, so take some time and have fun! And good luck!