Shaggy Dog Stories

Archive for the ‘shout-outs’ Category

Don’t look now! Not only are we giving away this book…

and this gift basket of wonderful grooming products…

…but over on the Dog Show Newbie blog, we’re giving away a pair of free passes to the Bay Colony Cluster dog shows and Canine Pet Expo in Providence, RI on December 8-11! If you want to see your favorite breed in competition, watch dog sport demos, meet and greet with the dogs at “Meet the Breeds” and at the rescue booths, or just shop for doggie stuff from the 40+ vendors, then go on over and enter!

Debbie Larocque has a huge passion for three things: her pack of three MinPin girls, quality, and the work she does creating unique, cool products for people who are crazy about their “furry kids.”

THREE DOGZ LLC carries apparel for dog, cat, and horse lovers in sizes from kids all the way up to adults wearing sizes 5-6XL. The Pet Parents’ Pledge/Spiritwear design line comes in 67 different print/color combinations. Some designs have bling. Some come in organic cotton. Most have matching shirts for your best friend. Practically everything can be customized with names or breeds. Best of all, THREE DOGZ even offers classy, coordinating tissue and ribbon for wrapping, or you can have your gifts packaged for you in a very classy presentation box.

Christmas Came Early For Us Testers

When the evaluation packages arrived from Michigan, we were just amazed. Not only had Debbie sent us a shirt and a towel to try plus more to give away, but she included all manner of cool stuff — including some items so new that they hadn’t made it to the website yet. (Read on. I get to give some of those away, too!)

When I opened the “Wild About” Zebra Inspired long-sleeved shirt, I nearly cheered. Debbie had customized the shirt for me with a “Wild About Beardies” design. As a bonus, she tucked in a set of new “Wild About My Mom” bandanas — one for the girl and three for the boys! We can really look like a team wherever we go! (Sorry. I did have Greg take pictures of me modeling this fantastic shirt, but they didn’t come out well.)

This particular shirt comes in 15 different colors for men and 18 different colors for women, with a choice of three different colors for the central paw and stars/hearts on the design. The zebra print design really pops on black! Debbie can customize this shirt to read “Wild About [dog's name]” or “[breed] Mom/Dad,” too. Beardies have now been added to the THREE DOGZ list of breeds, so ordering a shirt that says “Wild About Beardies” is no longer a custom order. Woohoo!

The Clean PawZ™ embroidered towels are all black for a very good reason: you won’t have to worry about the dirt after you wipe muddy paws! All towels come beautifully embroidered with clever sayings and the THREE DOGZ trademark hearts-and-paws motif. The thirsty ringspun cotton gets even thicker and thirstier after repeated washing.

What’s even better than having a towel that doesn’t show dirt? Being able to hang that towel by the door or on the fridge for easy access! Debbie included magnetic PawZ Keeper™ towel clips for the towels. (The standard PawZ Keeper clips have a hole at the back for hanging into a hook or nail.) These clips will hang on tight to the towels, even when wet. (Look on the magnetic clip page for Debbie’s video demo.)

We love the shirts and towels — and you have to admit, the bandanas are really cute! Not only are they nice-looking and well made, but every article from THREE DOGZ LLC comes with excellent, personalized customer service and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Lots to Give Away!

Debbie sent a treasure trove of items to test and give away — so this time we’re having four giveaways in one! Prize #4 is suitable for dog or cat lovers, so more people can play.

Wicked Simple Rules

Here’s all you need to do to enter:

1. Like THREE DOGZ LLC on Facebook. Enter their current contest for an extra chance to win something direct from Debbie.
2. Visit their website.
3. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite product on the THREE DOGZ site is, and which of the giveaways is your favorite. I can’t guarantee it’s the one you’ll win because the drawing is random, but you’ll definitely be in the running. Note: Facebook comments, while fun and appreciated, don’t count as entries.
4. Entries close on Monday, October 24.
5. Winners will be drawn at random by comment number. Prize number will also be drawn and assigned at random. Both drawings will be done by a very neutral party who has no personal interest in the proceedings.

Giveaway #1

This prize is for Beardie lovers only. The lucky winnah of this giveaway will receive…

• a Women’s size XL “Wild About Beardies” T-shirt in black with pimiento red and white design
• a matching “Wild About My Mommy” bandana for your dog — these are so new that they’re not even on the website yet!
• a Paw Print Rhinestone necklace

Giveaway #2

Here’s a prize that any dog owner would like — not just those of us with Beardies. This lucky winnah gets…

• The “Greatest American Dog” towel pictured above
• Magnetic PawZ Keeper clip
• a “Love Me, Love My Dog” window decal
• a Paw Print Rhinestone necklace

Giveaway #3

Any dog lover would like this prize, too, since it’s not breed-specific. This lucky winnah gets…

• Carabiner water bottle holder. You have a choice of the black “Dog Crazy” or the pink “Dog Mom.” These are also so new they’re not even on the website yet!
• a “Love Me, Love My Dog” window decal
• a Paw Print Rhinestone necklace

Giveaway #4

Any dog or cat lover is welcome to join this giveaway, since the prize is “species-neutral.” The prize is…

• a Paw Print Rhinestone necklace

No matter which terrific prize you win, you’ll be sure to hear people ask, “Wow — where did you get that?!” THREE DOGZ LLC will be happy to provide the answer to that question!

Congratulations to Dianna Anderson of Minnesota and her mom! Dianna had the winning comment number in the giveaway for the Purina ProCare products. Dianna will keep the cleaner for herself (for her cats, actually) and share the pads with her mom’s Chihuahua. Those Minnesota winters can certainly give any of us pause when considering whether to answer Nature’s call outside.

While you’re here, go on over and visit Dianna’s blog, Memoirs of a Pet Groomer. You’ll gain a whole new appreciation for what groomers go through.

The Other Giveaway — It Ain’t Over!

Srsly? Only 4 people want to read Follow My Lead? It’s not too late to add a free, fabulous, brandy-new copy of Carol Quinn’s book to your reading list. Come on! The weather will be getting colder before you know it, and you’ll need a good doggie book to curl up with. I liked the heck out of this book, and you know how picky I am.

Entries close tomorrow, Wednesday, September 28.

Thanks so much to Kim at This One Wild Life for picking me as the lucky winnah of a copy of W. Bruce Cameron’s Emory’s Gift. I really enjoyed A Dog’s Purpose — which we are currently reading in my doggie book club. Since Emory’s Gift is about a bear, we probably won’t be able to sneak it into a dogs-only book club, but I’m looking forward to reading it.

The good folks at Forge/Macmillan spared no time in getting the book to me, and included a nice request to post an online review. Looks like Shaggy Dog Stories will share a Shaggy Bear Story sometime soon.

Thanks again to Kim for making this happen!

Our friends at Pet365.co.uk have done it again — they’ve created a fascinating new graphic depicting how puppies grow into dogs, and a timeline showing when certain critical events in development take place, both before and after birth. (Developmental biology was one of my favorite classes in college. I just love this!)

The graphic below is just a banner designed to fit the columns of this blog, Click on it, and you’ll be magically transported to the real thing on the Pet365 blog!

While you’re there, you might want to have a look at the Pet365 store. They have dog toys and other pet supplies that I’ve never even seen here. Sure, they’re based in the UK, but they ship. If you want to give your pet — or your friends’ pets — fun toys that you absolutely aren’t going to see in the local stores, then give them a try.
 

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Dog Development graphic created by Pet365 – a UK stockist of brands like Dublin Dog and Hamish McBeth. Click below to see the full size version.

We’ve all grown up knowing certain factoids about how humans and dogs measure up against each other. People have better color vision. Dogs have much keener senses of smell and hearing. Those are just a couple of examples.

Our friends at Pet365.co.uk have created another in their continuing series of entertaining infographics, and this one explores some of the other ways that human and canine anatomy compare.

The graphic below is just a teaser. To see the entire graphic in all its glory, click on the graphic below. You’ll be sent to the Pet365 blog. (While you’re over there, why don’t you take a look in the shop? Pet365 stocks supplies for your pets that we just don’t see here in the States, especially the cool pet toys. If you’re based in the UK or Europe, have a look anyway. Where else will you find a pirate ship for your hamster?)

Created by Pet365 – a UK supplier of pet accessories. Click below to see the full size version.

I’m not the kind of person who appears in anyone’s thoughts alongside the word “award.” They’re for other people, not for me. I don’t shill for them, I don’t get nominated for them, and I tend not to think much about them. I have won a few for some of my professional efforts, but those pieces were submitted on my behalf by someone else (my boss or my editor).

Imagine my surprise, then, when I received this from Sue over at the Talking Dogs Blog:

Hey, it might be a small thing, but it really made my day! Thanks, Sue!

Of course, the honor does come with some obligations. The first of these involves revealing Seven Things About Me, so here goes:

1. I acquired my first Beardie in 1990. I’ve had 9 of them in all, and Dinah is the first and only girl (so far).

2. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

3. If I won the lottery tomorrow, the first thing I’d do is enroll in art school.

4. I collect manuscript pages from books from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A few could rightly be called “illuminated” since they have a few gold initial letters, but most of the ones in my collection are from music books (monastic choir hymnals). The largest page in my collection is about 2 feet x 3 feet. The smallest is about 3 inches by 4 inches.

5. The book that got me started in dog performance events was Champion Dog Prince Tom by Jean Fritz and Tom Clute. I have no idea how old I was when I first read it, but I wanted ever since that time to do obedience work with my dogs. Many years later, I found a copy at a yard sale and bought it for a quarter. I still have that book.

6. Other hobbies/manias of mine: the Boston Red Sox, college hockey (Go Maine Black Bears!), Cherry Garcia, classical music, knitting and needlework, meteor showers, Guinness, quilting, the ocean, buying pairs of sneakers (I am the Imelda Marcos of sneakers), bonfires, daffodils, sushi, craft and agricultural fairs, history, Comedy Central.

7. Stuff I can’t stand: wasps and hornets, country music, inattentive drivers, fried chicken, rude or pompous people, winter weather, Fox News, fanatics of any stripe, bogus charities, basketball, romance novels.

The Magnificent Seven

And now, for my next stunt, I’m supposed to nominate seven other blogs for the award. Here they are, in no particular order…

1. My Brown Newfies
2. Bounce Bark Run
3. Caratunk Girl
4. All Things Brittany
5. Life with the Horde
6. Masakado Shiba Inu/Too Naughty Shibas
7. Sheltie Times

I wish I could give out more, but maybe the seven winners will nominate other folks whom I would have nominated. Congrats to the new winners and thanks again to Sue for thinking of me.

You like to save outrageous amounts (sometimes 50-75% or even more) on food, adventures, and merchandise through Groupon and LivingSocial, right? Don’t you wish you could get similar deals for your best friend?

Online mega-coupon sites are beginning to emerge for pet owners. There’s Barking Deals, along with its sibling site Meowing Deals. Barking Deals is establishing relationships with bloggers, shelters and rescues (including those for local Florida rescues for Dachshunds, Siberian Huskies, pitbulls, and Beagles), worthy groups such as Guiding Eyes for the Blind, other pet product makers, and pet publications. They offer up plenty of deals you can use for stuff with brand names you recognize, and few if any repeats.

PetSimply.com is another coupon site; it says it donates money to animal charities. It’s awfully hard to determine which actual charities PetSimply donates to, and the images of puppies behind chain-link fencing on the PetSimply website feels more than a little AR-icky to me, as does the fact that their Facebook page lists HSUS and In Defense of Animals among their friends. If you really love animals (not just in theory but also in practice) and care where your dollars go, stick with Barking Deals, or come see…

The New Guy in Town: Bamzilla.com!

Bamzilla.com is the latest entry into the Doggie Daily Deals market. A lot is going on behind the scenes as they prepare for their launch. Bamzilla will work in a way similar to Groupon, where a certain number of people need to purchase the daily deal in order for it to “tip,” but once tipped, the deal is on! You have a given period of time to snap up your deal and then enjoy it. The more people you can bring to the deal, the sooner it will tip for all of you.

Bamzilla really wants to launch with — well, a BAM! The friendly folks over there want to start out with as many friends as they can find, and are calling on you and your social circle to join their invite list. You could win a $500 PetSmart gift card! Here’s the information they’ve shared about the pre-launch promotion:

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Bamzilla.com is launching soon! To celebrate their upcoming launch, they are giving away a $500 PetSmart gift card to one lucky winner! Yes, you heard it right… $500! That is enough money for a year’s worth of food and toys for your furry friend.

So what is Bamzilla?

Bamzilla.com is a members-only website for pet lovers, offering pet products from leading online pet retailers & manufacturers at discounts of 50-90% off retail prices!

So how do you enter to win? It’s easy!

1. Head over to Bamzilla.com
2. Enter your email address to join their invite list so they can let you know when they launch
3. Let your friends know about them via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

To be eligible, at least 5 of your friends need to enter the contest from your unique link. The more friends you invite, the better chance you have! You can track how many people are signing up from your unique link by putting your email address back into Bamzilla.com and clicking “Go.”

More information on the contest can be found here: http://bamzilla.posterous.com/58043389.

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The rules on Bamzilla’s Posterous site say that the gift card will be awarded on or before August 22.

Go ahead — ping your friends and get ready for Bamzilla’s big launch! I’ll be waiting with you to see what each day’s bargain will be. In the meantime, you can also be thinking about how you’d spend that $500 gift card!

Our friends at pet365.co.uk, the same folks who posted the Doggy World Records, now have a graphic on their blog on the subject of dog training — a graphical display of the responses given to a survey in the UK regarding training their dogs. Matt and the gang at pet365 sent along this graphic to share. I had to shrink it to fit my narrow little columns here, but click on the graphic to see it in its full glory, or visit pet365 to see the original post in all its glory. Enjoy!

Created by Pet365 – an online stockist of dog collars, leads and accessories. Click here to view the full post.

The media barrage is everywhere: “Today is Earth Day! What are YOU doing to make the earth a better place? We’re coloring our logo green for a day to show how conscious we are!” That’s all very well, but what about tomorrow? And the next day? And the next? We’ll all still be here, on the one earth we’ve got, on May 22 and July 3, and every random Tuesday this fall. Perhaps the best way to celebrate Earth Day is to not just pay lip service to it every April 22, but every day throughout the year.

DogTime Media sent out a survey this April to see what other people are doing to celebrate. The top 10 survey responses were:

1. Spay or neuter their dog(s)
2. Keep their dog leashed at all times except in designated off leash areas
3. Reuse leashes, collars, and other dog accessories (seriously? People throw these away?)
4. Use eco-friendly cleaning supplies to clean dog messes
5. Use natural/organic shampoos to keep dog(s) clean
6. Use biodegradable or flush-able poop bags (here’s a shout-out to GreenDoggieBags.com for doing the good work!)
7. Dog is on a raw, organic, or holistic diet
8. Make homemade dog food and treats for their dog(s)
9. Use natural/organic flea medicine
10. Use eco-friendly dog accessories

Source: DogTime Media, 4/11

DogTime’s Editor-in-Chief Leslie Smith has posted an article about some of the green measures some people and groups are taking, including earth-friendly animal shelter buildings. While I tend to disbelieve that there are long lines of pet owners standing outside the vet’s today waiting for speuters (“Come on, Fluffy. We’re gonna celebrate Earth Day!”), I do agree that the responsible thing to do is to know your pet and to fully weigh the risks and the benefits of any procedure.

That’s something else people can do to celebrate Earth Day every day: Think. Just Think. A new bandwagon will roll by tomorrow. In the meantime, take some steps to tread more lightly on the earth, and live with them every day, not just on April 22.