Merrick Happy Dog treats are awesome

Merrick makes this awesome bag o' treats for dogs. It's a variety pack of all of their chewie products. Texas toothpicks, hooves, flossies. It's like Christmas in a bag for dogs. My friend and fellow dog walker gives these to her dogs too. If you buy this bag in Alexandria or the surrounding area, you'll easily spend at least $14.99. However, if you google "merrick happy dog" you'll find a few online stores that sell them as low as $5.97! I totally just spent $15 and a notoriously overpriced pet store. Don't make the same mistake.

Try something different.

Happy Thursday. Just 1 more day of work for the Monday through Friday crowd. Me, well, I'm always working but walking dogs is pretty fun, I can't complain.

I wanted to post something different today and came across this video that I thought was really quirky. Here is the link:

http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/the-power-of-the-unexpected/

Check it out.

Today is safety day.

I witnessed something that I need to share with my readers and clients.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't leave your dogs collars on while they are playing with other dogs or when they are home alone. My Teddy was playing with one of his friends and I although we were watching them, they got into trouble. While running around and roughhousing, the other dog got his tooth stuck in Teddys collar. Both dogs started screaming and freaking out. My friend and I tried to get the collar out of the dogs mouth but it was twisted and we couldn't get it off. Teddy was choking and I was trying so hard to get even a finger between the collar and his neck but I couldn't. He just started to lay there calmly probably hoping that we could fix it.

Teddy is fine and his friend is fine.

I am writing this because I want it to be a lesson to everyone to please remove your dogs collar when they don't need it on. Also, if you go to the dog park or anywhere where you need it, buy a break-away collar. You can buy one here: www.breakawaycollar.com

If we wouldn't have been there Teddy definitely would have died. And that would suck. Majorly.

Welcome Oliver!

Oliver is a handsome little fellow who just moved to the area with his brother Atticus.

Oliver is 9 and Atticus is 2. Oliver is having a little "me time" right now because his brother is off learning how to be a city dog at the trainers house for a bit. He will return shortly but in the meantime Oliver is hamming it up and soaking up all of the attention.

Isn't Oliver so darn cute? He didn't really want to get his picture taken. I dont know why, I told him that men get more handsome with age. And he does have a bit of a Richard Gere thing going on with that grey hair.

Check him out and say hi if you see him rockin' those eyebrows around the neighborhood.

Teddy is rather unconventional.

I took Teddy to the local dog park today for a little running around and swimming. He just LOVES going there to cause trouble and get his energy out. It was a successful trip with the exception of a little tumble he took while running. He slid on the mulch and landed on his head. Thank God I'm not one of those helicopter moms (google it- haha) because he hot a little gash near his eye that got swollen and doesn't look so hot. But we brushed it off and kept on going.

Here is a picture of him using the water bowl as his personal pawdicure station. He always does this, such a brat!

bonus

I have to post this because I think its a great deal. 1 year of Real Simple magazine for $5!!!! My life is anything but real simple but maybe if I invest $5 and some light reading I'll suddenly become suzy home-maker? I'll try. How about you? Wouldn't you love to learn how to create napkin rings out of seaglass? lol

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Simple-1-year/dp/B00005R8BR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=magazines&qid=1247633117&sr=8-1

Rome wasn't built in a day.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my customers for their support and for being so sweet to me all this time. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you giving me such beautiful gifts and recommending my services to friends and family.

It's always been my goal to provide my clients, both human and animal, with the highest possible service and care. My business is one of the most important things to me and I would do anything possible to maintain every aspect of it as long as possible. My 5 year plan is to open a dog day care and boarding resort but I'm not going to go into the details of that now. I'll stay on task for once.

Like every business, at times the workload becomes too much for 1 person to comfortably handle. I will still be personally performing the majority of the care and I would love to be able to clone myself to do all of it. Unfortunately that's just not possible yet,... thanks to non-compliant stem-cells and regulatory agencies. But that's besides the point. Gosh I really have ADD huh? Anyway, without further adu, let me introduce my new fabulous dog-loving helpers Kwame and Josh.

Kwame is my husband and Josh is my friend. Kwame and I have known each other for more than 5 years and Josh and I have been friends for almost 2. I can confidently say that these two guys can handle any dog-related task that will come their way. Josh has visited China and fed pandas and lions at a sanctuary! How cool is that?! I plan to have Kwame help me on the weekends and Josh will help out during the week.

For those of you that are curious, Kwame is in grad school at Howard and Josh is in grad school at GW. Both of these guys are very smart and incredibly responsible. In fact, I'd be comfortable leaving my dog in their hands and you all know that Teddy is my babydog. I will be leaving more details about these changes for my current clients and will be available to answer any questions by phone or e-mail. Should you wish to meet Kwame or Josh, please contact me and we can arrange a time/date.

Thank you again for your business!

Mobile dog spa + info about blog changes

I hope my readers don't mind but I'm going to start adding some extra, non-business related stuff to the blog. The focus will still be the dogs (because they are awesome) but sometimes I feel like talking about other things and this is the perfect outlet. So, read on and hopefully you'll enjoy the changes. Thanks to everyone for supporting me and for your continued business!


I went home this past weekend accompanied by my baby, Teddy. Home is in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania where the pizza is fantastic and Turkey Till iced tea flows like the Niagara. While I was there I went to a flea market that sells anything you can imagine. They even sell chickens and goats! Anyone who wants a goat can buy one for $75. You can also buy puppies (though I wouldn't recommend it), iron knuckles, swords, used shoes, half-empty spice bottles, expired Christmas candy, etc.

The last time I was there I purchased a nifty pair of crocs (yes, I know they are ugly) for $2. The crocs were brand new with tags attached and so pretty - adorned with little satin bows. Yeah, sounds fab right? um, hello - bows people! BOWS! I've never seen this style of crocs before. Maybe they wound up at the flea market because they were discontinued due to toxic plastic or lead paint? I didn't care. They were awesome and only $2.

So, I took out my $10 bill and happily handed it to the lady in charge of the booth. She was 400 pounds and had major chin hair. If I remember correctly she was also eating a hot dog and had on one of those oversized tweety bird shirts on. I am saying this because you'll never guess what happened next. Go on,...guess.

She pulls out a wad of cash from her NASTY BRA and hands me $7 dollars in change!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh! Ewwwww! I didn't know what to do. I couldn't act fast enough and in my head saw my hand in slow motion half-heartedly moving towards the cash. In my head I thought quickly "do I really want this $7 that badly? I mean yeah, its $7 and who wants to pay $10 for crocs, it was a good deal for $2..." Thank God I always carry hand sanitizer! Oh God I still get chills when I think about that.

Anyway, it usually takes awhile for trends to get to this part of PA. Last time I was there some women were still wearing stirrup pants. The first Starbucks just opened like, last year. At a farmers market there I once asked if the fruit was organic and the farmer replied with "whats that mean?" so, yeah. So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this mobile dog spa at the flea market. Check it out...

This is the perfect representation of this part of Pennsylvania. At first glance its easy to say that the town is backwards and crappy and horribly depressing. It's easy to see why something like 90% of college graduates leave that area and never come back. However, its got a silver lining somewhere beneath all of that. The people are genuine and never ask "What do you do" like our friends here in DC. No one really cares about money or how prestigious of a title you have. You can shoot fireworks on the 4th of July and go to a drive in movie theater that has new movies and only charges $5 per car. There is a really cool place called the Tubs that you can swim in. It's literally an old mine shaft that might collapse at any second but if you don't think about possibly dying its a lot of fun.

All in all its a great place to visit but for now I'll stick to the city. Teddy has a social calendar here that we can't disrupt either. ;)

I love presents.

I know that I'm bragging but how cool is it to get thank you presents? I just had to share my newest gifts because I'm so happy about it and ridiculously thankful for having such wonderful customers.

Thanks so much for being so sweet!

Do I have to work today?

I really really want to just hang out with Teddy. And he had a bath yesterday so he smells good and he's so warm and cuddly. Teddy and I love watching TV on days like this. Look at that cute belly, so adorable. zzzzzzzz

a day at the beach

After all my dog walks today I thought I'd take my little Teddy to the dog beach. He just loves this place! The only problem is that he gets car sick on the 45 minute ride there. Once we get there though he forgets all about feeling bad and gets right to playing with his friends. Today we went with Rowdy and Bean, two dogs who live in my building.

The three of them chased tennis balls, sticks, and 1 dead crab in the waves. After the ride home the dogs got baths and beef marrow bones on the porch.

They certainly have a good life!

Alexandria Animal Shelter gets 2 paws up!

Alexandria Animal Shelter is the best place to go for pre-owned pets or fab dog/cat toys. They are doing a really cool "Pre-Owned Cats" promotion now where all cats come free with a 5-point inspection. Inspection? It includes FIV test, Rabies shot, spay/neuter, etc. Basically its the neatest marketing idea ever and I really hope its working because they have some amazing animals! Check out this gorgeous cat!!!! She's 5 years old and loves being pet though she's a little shy right now because, frankly, she's freaked out. I can't blame her, living in a metal crate doesn't sound too fun. Anyone looking for a cat should haul azz over to the shelter and pick up one of these cuties.

Also, if felines aren't your thing, then get over there anyway because they have a load of dog toys for insanely reasonable prices. Kongs are $5-6 dollars, Busy Buddy Bristle Bones are $12, and much more. They have very high quality toys for half of what other stores charge.

Here's Teddys playing with his Busy Buddy Bristle Bone and the cat I fell in love with.

Happy 4th from Ivy and Uncle Sam!

Ivy loves any toy that is stuffed, rolls, squeaks, bounces, tastes good, smells good, or even just hangs around the house looking tempting. Ivy has a brother Anton and they are both Samoyeds. They are inseparable though he gets tired of her sometimes. She likes to play much more than he does, he's really more of a sleeper.

Ivy and Anton are my parents dogs. They live in Pennsylvania and see Teddy from time to time. Last time Teddy was there he was about 4 months old? Maybe younger. It's been awhile. Actually I've been back many times since then but Teddy gets carsick and doesn't really enjoy the scenery too much. So, until he grows out of it, he, Ivy, and Anton will be pen palls.

Thats Ivy with Uncle Sam and Anton with the football. Ivy and Anton wish you a Happy 4th!

Frank the Tank

Meet Frank. He's not really a tank, it just rhymes. He's so chubby and makes the cutest snorking noise when he breathes. He's got a little stubby tail that he attempts to wag though it doesn't really budge. If that's not cute enough, he's got little teensy puppy teeth and has the most laid-back, easy-going personality for a puppy. He'll just follow me along on our walks and sometimes he'll jump up for me to carry him. Frank is the newest member of Teddys Friends and officially the smallest.

Welcome Frank!