Photo: Penny Sanford Porcelains

Home sewing fans know the satisfaction of making their own fashions. Now you can doll up your dog with the leftover fabric remnants, and set out in matching style!

Embellishment is the key word for high-end handmade dog clothes, so download Penny Sanford’s easy free pattern and sew a variety of these slip-on bandana scarf or tube-type covers… then decorate them up to be one-of-a-kind works of wearable art.

Your dog may not go out of his way to thank you, but this could be a wonderful fun project to do with a young pet-lover, if you have a young friend who wants to learn how to sew or do embroidery, etc., over the summer holidays. (And don’t skimp on the sequins!)

Now all I’ve got to do is figure out a variation on this pattern to dress up my greyhound’s martingale style collar that slips over the dog’s head in one piece instead of unbuckling…

Geocaching? Hiking? Camping? If you’re having great outdoor adventures with your dog these days, you might want to think about a bit of high-tech help in case Rover goes roving and gets lost in the woods.

Hear Now makes a dog collar with a GPS system and 2-way radio built right in — just think, you can call your dog from a range of up to 12 miles depending on the terrain! And of course the GPS system lets you pinpoint his location and bring him safely home.

For urban runaway pups, where buildings and radio interference can get in the way of tracking, there’s the Pet Cell.

Don’t laugh! Yes, it looks about as silly as anything I’ve seen in the pet supplies line, but that’s mostly because it’s pink. Basically, the cell phone on the dog’s collar will automatically answer when you call from one of several pre-set numbers, and you can talk to your dog.

Imagine — “Get off the couch, Rover!” Or, if the dog is lost, “Come home now!”

No, seriously, for a dog that suffers from separation anxiety when you’re away at work during the day, this might prove to be a useful tool.

Again, there’s a GPS system to help track a lost dog, but the PetCell has an added feature that looks like a practical idea — three “speed dial” buttons so anyone who finds your lost dog can call up your home number, your cell number, or an emergency contact, all with the press of one button.