Easter may now be a thing of the past but bunny rabbits are still causing a stir thanks to an unusual new sport hopping! up all over the world.. rabbit show jumping. Bunny Jumping (kaninhop) which orginated in its Scandinavian homeland has recently sprung up in several European countries, Canada, Japan and even the US!



Rules are simply, the more jumps a rabbit clears the higher the score. Courses include; dressage, long-jump and high-jump challenges. World jump height bunny record is a whopping 99.5cm while distance is 3 meters, Wow!! Go Bunnies!! 

Our favorite day of the year has arrived, yeah it's Shrove Tuesday! and after much searching we've found the perfect recipe suitable for your canine friends because dogs love pancakes too! When using sweet potatoes in a dish for your dog it is best to leave on the skins. However you should nick off any sprouting buds and green parts as they contain toxins.

Ingredients
3 medium sweet potatoes
Tiny pinch of Salt
½ cup low fat milk
2 medium eggs
2 tablespoons butter
Sour cream or cottage cheese
Carob chips (optional)

Boil the sweet potatoes with their skins in salted water for about 30 minutes or until tender. Mash and mix in the egg yolks and milk until smooth. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mashed sweet potatoes.

In a frying pan melt half of the butter when hot spoon a ping pong ball sized lump of the mashed potato mix into the pan. Flatten slightly with spatula and allow to brown well on both sides. Continue until all of the mixture is cooked adding butter as needed to avoid the potato pancakes sticking. Add a desert spoon of carob chips if you really want to splash out! Serve with sour cream or cottage cheese.. Ummmmmmm.. Enjoy!!!!

Tailwaggers are opening a new boutique in Oranmore, County Galway where they will carry all the great pet products they have in Kilcolgan, plus a very exciting new ‘Chic Boutique’ collection. Grand Opening is scheduled for Saturday April 2nd from 10-6pm. 



There will be a raffle basket full of great stuff for your pet and a coupon for a free grooming in the Tailwaggers salon in Kilcolgan (just 10 minutes away from Oranmore). Plus grab bags and Justin from Petpics.ie will be there to capture all the great moments of the day. Planning more great surprises too! Don’t miss your chance at winning the raffle, hope to see you there.

Uh ohhhhhh!! We've got an epic battle brewing here... It's kitty vs puppy but which is the more adorable sleepyhead? We're not prepared to make that call so it's up to you, who get's your vote?

"It's kind of like raising a dog," says Felicia Frisco. "If you raise a tiger, it's normal to you."

Does your pets play favorites in your family? Let us know in the comments section below!

You might think you have found a great unique name for your pet, but is it really? Petfinder surveyed over 300,000 pet posts on it's website to put together a list of 2010's most popular pet names. For the fourth year running, Buddy won the top spot for most popular dog name. For cats, Lucy once again purred into first place just about beating Midnight for top cat position. Bella has rose in both canine and feline categories and we're guessing this may have something to do with a certain twilight movie!

Top 10 Dog Names
1.Buddy
2.Max
3.Daisy
4.Bella
5.Lucy
6.Jack
7.Molly
8.Charlie
9.Sadie
10.Rocky

Top 10 Cat Names
1.Lucy
2.Midnight
3.Bella
4.Molly
5.Smokey
6.Tiger
7.Oreo
8.Max
9.Princess
10.Charlie

And what is the most popular celebrity name for pets last year? Well ladies and gentlemen, Elvis is in the building!
  
2010's Top 10 Most Popular Celebrity-Inspired Pet Names
1.Elvis
2.Houdini
3.Cher
4.Madonna
5.Twiggy
6.Oprah
7.Lady Gaga
8.Beyonce
9.Coco Chanel
10.Shakira

Have you got an unusual pet name? If so tell us in the comments below!

Around the world, pet businesses are booming. In America, it is estimated that pet owners will about $47 billion in their animals this year. Among the businesses that are reaping the rewards are pet franchises, according to a report from Franchise Direct.

Franchise Direct, one of the world’s leading franchise opportunity websites, has a lot of expertise when it comes to assessing the state of the franchise industry. They have published many unique reports on franchising, and their pet franchising report examines the Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) of 17 different pet franchises, across seven different subcategories.

The first thing to know about pet franchises is that they make up a diverse and growing industry. Businesses from pet supply retailers to dog-sitting franchises have all been successfully franchised. In a developing industry like the pet business, consumers tend to trust established names, and this fact partly underlines the rapid success of pet franchises.

The industry owes its explosion in part to the fact our love for pets continues to grow. Consider America, where 62% of US households own at least one pet.  Today, you’ll find a pet in 71.4 million American homes, which is an increase of over 20 million pets since 1998. In line with the rise in pet ownership is the growth of niche pet franchise markets. Pet owners now spend lavishly on expensive pet hotels, vet care and upscale pet products. But the best indicator of the strength of the pet industry is this: when then US economy went into recession in 2008, consumer spending on pets remained steady.

As for the pet franchise market, food continues to be the engine of the pet economy, but as pets live longer, owners are also spending more on vet care, grooming, supplies and medicine, and pet franchises have been created to work with nearly every niche in the industry.

Many entrepreneurs come to pet franchising with no previous experience working in the pet industry. While anyone can be successful with a pet franchise, we find that people who love animals often enjoy the most success in this field. Their passion for pets drives them to better things both in life, and ultimately, in business.  As the Franchise Direct pet franchise report outlines, pet franchises are in a robust state and primed for bigger things.  


About Franchise Direct: Franchise Direct (www.FranchiseDirect.com) is one of the world's leading portals for franchise and business opportunities. Started as a single website for the promotion of franchises in the US market in 1998, Franchise Direct now operates a suite of six multilingual sites targeting North America and Europe.

Roo, a Chihuahua who was born with only two legs, has found a forever home just in time for Thanksgiving. It’s a big feel-good story over in the Los Angeles area, where he's spending Thanksgiving. He sure is a cutie. Click here to view the video of when the puppy that stole the hearts of people across the US meets his new forever owner. Keep the kleenex handy!

If you'd like to buy this raga muffin calendar please click here!

Ever since the skateboarding dog pedalled its way to Youtube fame, pooches everywhere have been in training to become the next big athletic sensation. We came across the new king of doggie sports and would like to introduce you. His names Pete and he can throw some amazing moves, HEY even Tony Hawks would be in awe of.. Pete's Pawsome! - Enjoy 

Wow, we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw this, really sad to watch but in a strange way kinda cute too!