Bring on the new year with a new way of organizing your dog items!! Dog lovers know first hand how toys and dog accessories can go from neatly organized to a disaster, like a bomb just went off in your home.

We’ve included some tips and tricks to help you contain the clutter, whether it’s your endless leash collection or your dog’s favorite toys.

How to get organized:

Choose one designated space. When you get a dog, you don’t realize all the extra ‘stuff’ that you accumulate over time. We love this organize bin—it’s the perfect size for storing brushes, shampoo, comb, balls, and bones.

Store toys in a decorative basket. If you don’t have a toy bin for your dog’s toys, you need one. NOW. It has been a lifesaver in our house. If you have had a dog for any length of time, you know that the number of toys for them quickly adds up. An efficient thing that we have found is to collect all the toys and put them in a large storage basket. We keep a decorative basket in our living area that holds all of our dog toys. It is so convenient for our dogs to grab as well as convenient for us as we clean up.

Put food and treats in a container. We use these food storage containers to store all of our dogs goodies in. Not only do these keep food and treats fresh longer, but also reduces the amount of space a bulky pet food bag takes up. Another feature that we love about this container are the wheels, it makes it so easy to move so you can clean around it. As a bonus, these adorable chalk labels make it easy to identify exactly what is in each container.

Create a dog walking station. In the mudroom or garage is the best location for leashes, harnesses, walking treats, and poop bags. It is nice having everything there and ready to go so you can walk out the door and not forget anything (like the poop bags).

Print out vet records and keep them in a binder. Click here to download a free printable pet information and vet record. Not only are these printable vet records helpful for you, they also come in handy for pet sitters. It’s always a good idea to have emergency contact information handy for whoever is watching your dog.

Via Kikki.K

Do you have any tips for organizing pet supplies? We would love to hear!

-MLF

On a hot summer day there is nothing better than having a popsicle or a scoop of ice cream, am I right? Well what about our dogs? They deserve a treat to cool down! We have compiled 5 of the best dog friendly summer treats. These treats take a few minutes to make, are nutritious, and will give you all the summer feels while keeping your dog cooled down.

Here are a few tips to keep your dog healthy and safe:

• Give these treats in moderation. It is important to not let your dog overindulge.

• When it comes to greek yogurt or peanut butter be sure it does not contain Xylitol, which is very harmful for dogs.

• If your dog is on a certain diet please make sure to consult with your vet.

Strawberry Delight

Ingredients:
5 strawberries
1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt
4 tbs water
1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Remove stalks off of strawberries
2. Put strawberries, greek yogurt, water, and oil into blender
3. Pour mixture into molds and freeze for 1-2 hours

---

Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Ingredients:
1 cup of peanut butter
1 ripe banana

Directions:
1. Peel and cut banana and place into mixing bowl
2. Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth
3. Add to molds and freeze for 1-2 hours

---

Frozen KONG Peanut Butter
What dog doesn’t love peanut butter! Have you tried freezing it before? We love putting it inside a KONG toy.

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter
Kong Toy

Directions:
1. Put peanut butter into a Kong toy
2. Put in freezer for 1 hour

---

Frozen Carrots & Celery

Frozen carrots and celery are a nutritious and affordable treat to give your dog. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, and fiber, among other vitamins. Celery is very low in fat and is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C, K, and potassium. Both vegetables will help with your dogs teeth and breath.

Ingredients:
Large carrots
Celery

Directions:
1. Place bag of carrots or celery in the freezer. Then give to dog when desired.

---

Cucumber Watermelon Pupsicle

Ingredients:
3 cups of seedless watermelon
1 cucumber

Directions:

1. Peel the skin from the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds with a spoon
2. Cut the watermelon and remove any seeds.
3. Put cucumber and watermelon in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into molds and freeze 3-4 hours.

With the weather warming up here in Utah (finally!), we are so anxious to enjoy the beautiful Utah scenery. I don’t know about you, but my summer bucket list is starting to fill up quickly and taking the dogs hiking is on the top.

If you don’t have the AllTrails app we highly recommend you downloading it. This app allows you to find local trails, view the route, elevation gain, difficulty, and see if they are dog/kid friendly. The app is free and is very simple to navigate.

We also recommend bringing plenty of water for both you and your dog. Always keep your dog on a leash or trained to stay near you to avoid dangerous wildlife. 

Our favorite items to bring while hiking:

• Collapsible Dog Bowl

• Hydroflask

• Henry Elliot Leash All of our followers receive a discount use “MatthewsLegacyFarm10” at checkout

• Snack Containers

• Poop Bags

We have put together a list of parks, trails and hikes that we recommend as well as other dog owners.

Northern Utah:

Tanner Park

Porters Fork in Millcreek

Muller Park

Stewart Falls

Three Sisters

Duel Creek

Elephant Rock

Dog Lake 

Southern Utah:

The Wahweap Hoodoo

The Sand Hills Loop

The Vortex

Gardner Peak Trail

Cottonwood Trail

3rd Ravine Loop

Southeastern Utah:

Mary Jane Canyon

Fisher Towers

Grandstaff Trail

Jeep Arch

South Fork Mule Canyon

**Additional information about the Moab trails can be found on Zukes website.

What trail are you going to do first? Be sure to tag us on instagram so we can see where you are going this summer! We hope you love them as much as we do!!

-MLF