You’re barking up the right tree when it comes to choosing a dog lovers’ gift from our Man’s Best Friend Collection. We have fetched a fabulous group of home accents that salute your favorite breed, or just your mixed breed pet. Choose from the incredible designs of Linda Pickens’ Pedigree Collection of throws and pillows, intricately woven to do justice to the artwork and the subject. Celebrate puppy love with a fun kitchen apron, or a totally frivolous lamp. Fill your home with images that will stay in your heart, right beside man’s best friend.
Find aprons, ceramics, parasols, wall hangings and other miscellaneous items for dog lovers.
Doggone Good Pets
Decorating with Dogs
The moniker “man’s best friend” has been applied to dogs for so long, nobody really knows where it originated. Theory holds that domesticated dogs are descended from wolves, although at what point that occurred is still hotly debated. There is existing research that places that divergence at 15,000 years ago, and other DNA or fossil evidence that goes back nearly 100,000 years. And yet more studies maintain the true domestic dog of today is itself a divergence from the wolf mutation, and has been around only a few thousand years.
Without a doubt, the first instances of domestication were likely pure accidents. When a bond of trust developed between early dogs and Man, dogs began to follow their masters into the fields, woods and jungles as they hunted or worked, becoming essentially working dogs. In the last few centuries, Man has taken the best of a dog’s traits, and built upon them by crossing the breeds that had evolved, to arrive at a dog that fulfilled specific physical and instinctive requirements, including dogs for hunting, protection, and purely as pets. Because the oldest known breeds count among them the Shiba Inu, Basenji, Chow Chow, Shar Pei and Akita Inu, it is strongly believed that the modern domestic dog originated in Asia, and was carried back to Europe, and then North America by explorers.
Today we have a dizzying array of wonderful breeds and plain mutts that are the heart and soul of many families. A dog teaches children responsibility and unconditional love for another living being, a relationship that matures and deepens as they become adults. Dogs as companions, pets and soul-mates are celebrated by all ages with everything from beautifully woven tapestry wall hangings to breed themed tapestry throws and matching pillows that lend a touch of warmth to the dog lover’s home.
