5 Ways to Bond With Your Dog This Love Your Pet Day and Beyond

Loving your pet every day goes without saying but just like Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and lots of other calendar celebrations, February 20th is a day dedicated to celebrating our love for our pets on Love Your Pet Day. Undoubtedly dogs sense the excitement when a gift-wrapped package or delicious doggy cake is presented to them but nothing beats spending time with their VIP – you!

Just like our personal relationships, a strong bond with our dog is essential for a happy life together as human and hound. It helps with their training, day-to-day behaviour, builds trust and makes them feel safe, secure and most importantly, loved.

As an online destination dedicated to dog-friendly events, activities and hangout spots, you know The Dogvine are huge advocates for spending as much time as possible with our dogs, so when our friends at PET TEEZER – the dog grooming brush range from the makers of The Original Tangle Teezer – asked to collaborate with us for Love Your Pet Day, it was the perfect match.

Celebrating the latest colours of the Pet Teezer Detangling and De-Shedding brushes, we share five ways to bond with your dog this Love Your Pet Day and beyond.

1. Share a dog-friendly experience

We’ve never had it so good with countless venues and social activities such as brunching and the cinema now being accessible to our dogs. If you follow us regularly then you will know we are all about the fun experiences whether that’s a trip to a dog-friendly rooftop cinema, doggy paddle boarding or exploring a new neighbourhood. Making your pet part of your social plans is a win, win situation – you don’t miss out, they don’t get left home alone and they will love being your companion for fun. Plus, it’s a great way to social your dog on things like public transport and populated areas, as well as with other dogs.

2. Four-legged ‘me time’

For me personally, at home-grooming for Belinha and Moleque with our Pet Teezer brushes is definitely a great way for us to bond and is something I would recommend to other pet owners. Belinha knows that Pet Teezer time means a good tummy or behind the ear scratch! She just lies on her side and waits for me to get to work and then lifts her legs according to where she’d like the ‘groom’ or should I say massage. With Moleque, I use the Pet Teezer De-Shedding brush more, as it works better for his coat. Like Queen B he rolls straight onto his back to await his groom with a blissful look on his face often before falling asleep. I can only imagine the sensation of the Pet Teezer being like the head massages we get at the hairdressers.

The good thing with the Pet Teezer brush, is that you can sit there for quite a while and get into a rhythm, which you don’t get with some of the more traditional grooming brushes like the tough metal ones. I personally find this therapeutic and calming, as it gives me a chance to switch off and just be! In fact, sometimes I do it not just for them to enjoy or because they need a groom but for my own mental wellbeing, so we both get great benefit from this lovely way to bond! For more on the Pet Teezer, read our Pet Teezer review here.

3. Go away together

We don’t get to do this as often as I would like but when I do, a dog-friendly getaway is just the tonic for both the two and four-legged members of our pack. Holidaying with your hound offers your dog an abundance of one on one time with you away from life’s daily distractions and routines, along with fresh adventures that will only strengthen your bond. Thankfully we are now spoilt for choice with all manner of dog-friendly holidays to suit every taste and budget. In fact, only recently did we write about hiring a dog-friendly motorhome for adventures and the latest PetsPyjamas dog-friendly travel awards winners, which reads as a who’s who of inspiring getaways to enjoy with your favourite furry friend.

4. Make time for fun

A dog loves to cut loose and have fun like the rest of us and indulging them helps increase their desire to be spend time with you and more importantly pay attention to your commands! Whether it’s a game of hide ‘n’ seek with their favourite treat (I find a snuffle mat is great for this especially for older dogs), teaching them a new trick or even a dog-friendly activity such as agility, be sure to schedule in time each day for off-the-leash fun. We like to practice our commands in return for treats…both Belinha and Moleque have several tricks under their paws in both English and Portuguese as a result!

5. Treats for your sweet

Nothing says ‘I Love You’ to a dog than their favourite treat dispensed directly from your hand. Dogvine go-to high value treats for Belinha and Moleque include ByBenji Biltong and Rockster Super Treats. Sometimes (well, quite often) they get a little treat for treats-sake, but I also use it as an opportunity to stimulate their brain and create some fun (see point 4) by getting them to do a little trick or follow a command to earn the reward.

How do you bond with your dog? And will you be doing anything to celebrate Love Your Pet Day?  We’d love to hear in the comments below…

This post is in association with Pet Teezer to celebrate the latest colours of both their Detangling Brush (Navy & Orange)  and the Pet Teezer De-Shedding Brush (Blue & Pink), priced £12 each. Recommended by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home with royalties from the sale of each product going towards supporting the work of the charity – as featured in our Brands That Give Back Guide.

Shop Pet Teezer at PetTeezer.com.

We’ve teamed up with Pet Teezer so that several of our lucky readers have the chance to win a grooming brush set in the brand new colours. Just head over to our Instagram for how to enter…

GOOD LUCK!