5 Gifts for Your Dog This Christmas

That delightful nip in the air and the sudden proliferation of cakes and other treats hints at the eagerly awaited arrival of Christmas soon. A delightful time to unwind and celebrate with your near and dear ones, Christmas is also a time when you should be spoiling your beloved four legged friend silly! While thinking of gifts for near and dear ones, do not forget to pamper your dog and your task is made considerably easier with the huge variety of gifts available online.

There are some fantastic gift ideas that you can take stock of this season. Attractive dog jackets will be just what the doctor ordered to help your pet move about in style this season! There are a wide range of jackets online that you can shop for in this regard including the specially crafted Pawsh and Gladiator jackets, both of which are representative of superlative comfort and will give your four legged fashionista the perfect fit. Your dog will also love the exclusive quilted and Bella jackets in addition to the innovatively created Wrapped in Love dog jackets for outings and everyday use.

You can also buy designer dog sweaters that also go a long way towards keeping your dog warm and snug throughout winter. A perfect blend of style and functionality, there are multiple options to choose from like the Cable and Striped sweaters which keep your dog warm without a trace of discomfort. Opt for bright colors like red, pink, orange and blue in addition to letting your pet enjoy the soothing experience provided by materials like fleece, cotton, wool, polyester and nylon.

The attractively customized Wag Box is another special gift that your dog will never get enough of! All you need to do is provide ample information about your precious companion and receive a thoughtfully arranged box containing everything from grooming products to apparel, toys and other accessories. This should be a smashing online Christmas gift for your dog!

Is your dog a sucker for cute toys? Indulge him/her with special puppy toys this Christmas! Take your pick from premium rope toys, balls, rubber toys, chewable toys and more! From plush soft toys for cuddling up to and safe and ergonomic rope toys to an assortment of Frisbees, bone toys, ring toys, fetch sticks and dumbbells, there is something for every pooch here!

Thinking of buying utility gift items for your dog this Christmas? You can try comfy dog beds that will keep your pet nicely tucked up even during the harshest winters and ensure that he/she gets peaceful and comfortable siestas at all times. Check out beds in a variety of colorful designs and templates that promise to be welcome additions to every cool pet's arsenal.

Nikita has worked in dog care shelter for more than 4 years. She regularly writes articles related to pets. Currently she is busy working with leading Indian Pet Store that sells dog clothes including dog jackets and dog sweaters, dog accessories, and other related products.
Check out the website now to experience the latest trends in dog fashion.

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Kids - How to Handle Allowance

Teens are fascinating. For parents, they can be a constant source of frustration and joy, shame and pride. Sometimes it feels like they can't be taught anything. It's probably a pride thing. They don't want to admit that you might actually know something, after all.

So how do you teach a teen to manage money? You have to be clever and let the teen THINK that they're figuring this out on their own, when in reality they're following a carefully laid plan.

The Plan: Introduce an Allowance

Here's your new plan: Give your teenager a new allowance. Let's look at the details.

Teaching kids about money involves several steps.

1. Learn how to spend money
2. Learn how to earn money
3. Learn how to save money
4. Learn the value of money
5. Learn to manage an allowance

As easy as this looks on paper, the steps aren't necessarily consecutive in the real world. Toddlers, for example, might start at phase one and move pretty quickly to step 3 or 4, but their scope of understanding is going to be limited. Teens have the opportunity to much more money and are thinking about buying cars. They can manage allowances of $200 per month or more. Teens will face new challenges as their financial opportunities and responsibilities grow - an allowance is a VITAL part of that growth. It is a great teaching tool, that allows the teen to revisit these five core lessons over and over as both their allowance, and responsibility, grows.

Anticipate Allowance Mistakes

Kids learn about money only when they make mistakes with money.

An allowance has several purposes:

• To give your kid a chance to practice making decisions about money.
• To give your kid a chance to make financial mistakes. It has to happen. When it does, it's your job as parent, and first financial advisor, to be caring and loving, not to point out the "lesson learned." Your teen gets it. If you point it out, the lesson is lost.
• Finally, an allowance will make your life easier. If your teen is going to manage most of his financial decisions, you don't have to. It's one less thing to worry about.

Starting your teen on an allowance

To make an allowance work, you need to realize:

1. An allowance is a teaching tool.
2. An allowance should cost you zero dollars.
3. An allowance is YOUR money, not the child's money.
4. An allowance needs to come with accountability.
5. Your kid is going to mess this up.

Done right, a kid's allowance will cost you zero extra dollars.

To clarify, I am not talking about "free" money allowances. I am talking about an allowance that isn't tied to specific jobs, but instead is a type of salary for doing the work around the house that is expected and asked of them without argument. Along with that is being a reasonable human being that doesn't talk back and roll his or her eyes at the "boss." If you're currently giving your child an allowance that translate into "free" money with no strings attached, you are likely doing more harm than good. They're not learning any responsibility; just that Mom and Dad are sources of free money.

For the sake of this discussion, the definition of allowance I will use is: it is the amount of the family budget a kid is allowed to spend. It's money in your own budget that you have been spending on them anyway. This is an important point to realize for parents reluctant to begin giving their kids an allowance. It seems like it's going to be really expensive to be giving kids $20, $50 or $100 every month. But it's not. This is money you spend on them anyway.

Over the course of a year, think about how much you spend on clothes, shoes, sports activities, school supplies, and other necessities for your kids. For most families, this could easily be a thousand dollars, or two, or more per child. What if, instead of YOU spending this money, you gave your kid $150 each month, and let them manage it, one category at a time?

Allowances can be amazing tools for teaching kids to manage their money. Used properly, kids not only learn how to budget and fund their own expenses, but also will realize quickly that money never goes as far as they would like. That can open up a whole new conversation about earning money to supplement the money they are receiving from you.

If you're still on the fence about giving kids money to practice with, think of it this way. When we want kids to learn any other skill, we encourage them to practice. Why don't we do this with money? After all, if as parents we don't teach them THIS skill, we are leaving the teaching up to banks and creditors. I'd rather teach them myself, wouldn't you?

Bret Shroyer is the co-author of "Investing in Your 401k Kid: From Zero to Little Financial Genius in Five Easy Steps," a guidebook for teaching kids to be financially literate. He specializes in teaching parents to ensure their kids understand money and how to be responsible with it.

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There's something very wrong with this photo of Kim Jong-un

This photo was released as part of a set by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency. But there’s something wrong with it.

Maybe it’s another botched PhotoShop job of which North Korea is notorious. After all, Kim Jong-un has rarely been in the public eye recently.

Maybe it’s because of the incongruity of the head of a brutal regime visiting a garishly decorated orphanage while apparatchiks studiously take notes.

Oh, maybe it’s because said leader is in fact surely breaching the no-smoking policy at the Pyongyang Baby Home and Orphanage.

It’s actually because of the act of supreme political dissidence being carried out directly behind Kim’s back.

Fight the power!

Source : i100.independent

The difference between Britons and Americans, in one chart

Respondents to the question in the above chart, from Statista, were asked about their views on the creation of the universe in light of the Philae lander successfully landing on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

As well as the marked difference in views on creation on opposing sides of the Atlantic, the YouGov poll found that the idea of our planet being seeded by organic compounds from comets - as Philae and its spacecraft Rosetta have been investigating - is yet to really take root.

source : i100.independent

The 10 countries where terrorist attacks kill the most people

Iraq suffered more deaths due to terrorist attacks than any other country in the world last year.

This graphic from Statista, using new data from the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), shows that over 80 per cent of global deaths from terror attacks occurred in just five countries.

GTI also reports that with a toll of over 16,000 in 2013, deaths had risen by 61 per cent from the previous year.

Russia is the most heavily policed country in the world

Russia is the most heavily policed country in the world, followed by Turkey, Italy and Portugal.

This graphic from Statista uses statistics from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime.

In Russia, police personnel represent 564.6 per 100,000 in the population, with Turkey having 474.8 per 100,000 and Italy 467.2.

Portugal and Hong Kong take the fourth and fifth places respectively with 454.2 and 450.7 police officers per 100,000 of the population.

It may be a surprise to see European nations such as Italy, Portugal and the Czech Republic, which is the tenth most heavily policed country in the world, all making the top ten, although the UNODC data notably excludes countries such as Belarus, North Korea and Uzbekistan.

Famous people reading mean tweets about themselves is still funny

Even at the eighth time round, Jimmy Kimmel getting a bunch of celebrities to read out mean tweets (ranging from the surreal to the abusive) about themselves is still very amusing.

This time the US TV show host has convinced Chris Pratt, Lena Dunham, Adam Sandler, Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ty Burrell and others to join in.

Source : i100.independent.co.uk