How much is that Doggy in the window?

At some point in your life, or your kid’s their main Christmas/Birthday request has been a new puppy! I use the same response, "We will see".. but it gets old and they just keep asking. Why not really, a dog is one of the great pleasures of life. If you are considering giving in to your kids and getting a new puppy there are some things to think about before taking the big plunge!!!

• Think about what your family wants and what their needs are. What is your lifestyle? Make sure that when you go to pick out a doggie that you match your family to that particular pup. If your family is laid back and mellow, choose a dog that is low maintenance and doesn’t require hours of brushing, grooming and exercising. If you have a small apt or small house or space, choose a smaller dog. There are many articles about breeds of dogs and which ones are best for your family.

• Make sure your family is aware of changes that will occur when Fido enters the family. There are responsibilities that come with being a pet owner. Set guidelines for the kids and make a list of who feeds him on what day and make it a family chore. Make sure that the kids know that life will no longer be the same for the good and the bad when you own a pet. Who will have Poo Poo pickup? Who will walk the dog? Who will wash the dog?

• The fun begins! Time to go and buy the items that the little pooch will need. If buying a puppy, try great housebreaking items, and you may need a crate if planning to crate train. You will need dog food, treats, bedding and a dog brush to brush him with. Buy your collar (there are some great ones out there) and your leash and please don’t forget clothes! Doggies require fashion too!

A dog is a blessed addition to families~ and kids get many hours of enjoyment and friendship from a pet. Think of adopting a pet from a homeless animal shelter or buying from a rescue group, I think in the long run your family will be so happy to have saved a dog and got a best friend at the same time!

Start spreading the News!

New York, New York! Positively New York is the place to be on August 22^nd and 23^rd if you are a pet owner and love pet fashion. Pet Fashion Week NY 2009 will hold their 4^th annual fall event to be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC.

Pet Fashion Week NY is “market” or “tradeshow” of pet accessories, apparel, and lifestyle items from all over the world! You can purchase and sell the top pet products in the pet world.

Each applicant goes through an application process to ensure the integrity of this event.

In 2008 Pet Fashion Week NY 1800 buyers and nearly 200 media outlets and number of exhibitors reached an all-time high of 158. Hundreds of merchants come to share their products:

• Jewelry and Accessories
• Collars and Leashes
• Toys
• Foods and Treats
• Bedding
• Fragrances
• Grooming and Health Products
• Apparel and many more vendors!
  
  

If in the NYC area August 22^nd or August 23^rd check this pet friendly event out! Pet Fashion doesn't get any better than this!

Check out what others are saying about this upscale pet fashion extravaganza!

Get Off!!

Tired of trying to keep the family pet off the furniture or having pet hair all over you when you get up from the couch? Or... little dents in the leather couch from their nails? We NOW carry the product that everyone is talking about, The Petzoff Furniture Protector!

This great new product looks like a beautiful blanket on one side and a foil like material on the other side. The Petzoff Furniture Protector is 56"x72" and made of 100% cotton . For some reason, pets do not like the “foil” feel of the on the other side.Comes in great designer color choices and is affordable and safe, what a deal!

Harrison Forbes, the Pet Talk host and an internationally recognized animal behaviorist named Petzoff Furniture Protector as the "best pet product of 2008" and this wonderful safe product for dogs was chosen among thousands of pet products for the Editor's Choice Award by Pet Business, one of the top publications for the pet industry, in its June 2008 issue.

And something that makes me feel better about this product is that the company donates a potion of their sales to no-kill shelters and to help support pet owner education. I like when my money is put to good use~

Go ahead, give it a try and let us at Doggie Couture Shop know what you think of this great new safe product for dogs and cats!

"Tell a friend" and so on and so on and so on.......

We all know someone that is disable or might have someone in our family that is disabled, all the way from being blind to having a learning disability.

Disabilities come in many fashions and affect people of all shapes and sizes. When walking down the street you might find yourself staring for a bit or maybe your child stops and looks for awhile, that is because we often don’t teach our kids about people who are disable and what it might be like for them. Its not necessarily a bad thing, its a human thing.

On August 22, 2009 a wonderful event is being held to that will benefit all to understand disabilities and what it is like to have a disability. A Touch of Understanding (ATOU) has a wonderful Youth Force that is having an event Paws with a Cause from 11-1pm at Mahany Park, 1545 Pleasant Grove Blvd in Roseville, Ca. This event will help raise money in the Youth Force’s mission to spread the word about disability awareness to all.

Admission to the Paws with a Cause event is free and there are a variety of things to do to help support this mission:

• Cake Walk
• Food and Drinks
• Face Painting
• A “working dog” demo
• Disc Dog Demonstration by Steve Teer & The Flyin' Irish - featured on Animal Planet and a Raffle!

A special Thank You to our very own Jennifer from Posh Puppy Boutique for donating to this wonderful time!

Grab a friend and head to the park for a day of fun~ if you can’t come, please consider donating to a great organization or Volunteer to help the Youth Force on their mission to spread the word about Disability Awareness.

When your pooch has a big pooch…

Knowing first hand about overweight dogs, this is easy for me to talk about but not easy to solve. My weiner dog, Cookie is quite large. She is a precious and loving dapple dachshund that honestly weighs more than my 8 year old. We inherited her from my grandmother and started loving her too much by giving her treats, and as much food as her little legs could hold up. She didn’t exercise because honestly they family at that time was way too busy so I honestly understand the sadness and the frustration when you dog is overweight. We just didn't take the time and then we woke up one day and she was so big!

It sounds simple enough, just slow down on the feeding, and exercise your dog more, but it isn’t as simple as you think. When you have kids and a family and you are trying to keep up with them and balance them, walking in the 101 degree heat isn’t top priority as bad as that sounds.

Obese dogs can have many problems: just to name a few here

• Joint problems

Symptoms of joint problems are not limited to:

1. You might notice limping
2. Not wanting to use stairs
3. Less energy

• Diabetes

Symptoms of diabetes include but are not limited to:

1. Drinking more and urinating more resulting in dehydration
2. Weight loss
3. Sudden cataract formation

Most of the major dog food makers do make a reduced calorie dog food but make sure which one is right for your little chunky one first by taking him to the vet. Your vet may want to try other dog foods first such as Science Diet or Iams Weight Control.

You want to start taking some action to help your overweight dog:

• Start to measure his food (if you have more than one dog, feed separately because if your dog is like my Cookie, he will eat whatever food he can get to)

• Exercise I guess this means that you don’t really have to be out in the heat to get them up and going. Play around with your dog inside if it’s too hot or cold to go on their walk. BUT.. Walking is still best and I shouldn’t talk.. I have packed on some pounds too.

• Keep a record of progress

• Take before and after pictures, keep and keep a diary of what you are feeding him/her and weigh in.. yes.. Weigh your dog.

So, when your chunky puppy starts to whine or cry for more food or treats, we must practice tough love!

For more information on helping with obese animals, please visit your local vet or http://www.iams.com/iams/pet-health/canine-obesity.js

Laying around the house, swimming, playing outside, watching TV… that was such good times this summer for your dog and your kids. We (parents) are not the only ones who feel the "empty nest" when the kids go back to school.

There are some signs to watch for when your dog experiences the "doggie back to school blues". The kids are with their playmate most all summer and suddenly their gone, you need to watch for signs and symptoms early on.

Some symptoms of dog separation anxiety are:

~Digging

~Chewing

~Scratching at the doors or windows to come in or be back with you

~Howling or crying

~Following you around while you are at home ~Displaying over excitement when you come home

More serious symptoms of canine separation can be:

~Not eating

~Depression

~No energy

~Trembling

~Vomiting

Things you can do to help keep doggie depression down:

~Start early paying less attention to him early making the transition easier.

~Give them something to do during the day.. leave toys such as the Kong and the and then rotate during the week. Make sure the toys are high quality and indestructible so that he cannot hurt himself during the day and the toy will hold his interest.

~Create a “home” or “place” for your dog to call his own - get a dog crate, or make him a bed (with “his” blanket) in the laundry room and/or get him a nice doghouse. Pets must feel as if they have a “retreat” to go to.

For more information on pet separation anxiety visit the ASPCA website and in the meantime, please remember that Fido is not mad or acting in anything other than separation anxiety and missing you and the kids.

Be patient, this too shall pass.

Helping others, one dog at a time

I love reading about good organizations and exceptional people that do things for the good of others, and I stumbled upon a article about Lori Stevens.

Lori Stevens~ a award-winning certified pet trainer (CPDT) in Rockwall,Texas has a heart of gold and is passionate about helping others through her work with the Disabled Veterans. She founded an organization in February of 2006 called the Patriot Paws Service Dogs (a 501C3 organization) and has great success. Her goal is to “give back the freedoms that were lost to the disabled veterans and help them in their struggle to live as independently as possible”.

Lori has paired up with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the inmates are trained and supervised while training the dogs. It is a great way to keep the inmates interested in something, help humanity and do good and maybe make up for some of the decisions made in their lives.

Training these dogs does not come cheap as it runs about 20,000 to train one dog from start to finish and they soley rely on donations. All training is approved and supervised by Lori and her Patriot Paws staff. It takes over a year to train one service dog and the recipient will have to travel to Rockwall to spend some time with the dog and Lori before being given the dog.

Lori has been on the David Letterman show and Animal Planet’s “Pet Star”. I am sure there are a million stories done on this great woman and wonderful organization and I just wanted to be a part of sharing it. She also had a story done on Nightly News with Brian Williams May, 2009.

If you are interested in helping Lori and Patriot Paws, please feel free to donate and or visit their site. If you are a a Veteran and would like to fill out an application for a service dog, please do. If you would like to volunteer your time, Patriot Paws needs dog walkers, dog bathers, errand runners and volunteers to help raise money.

Vaccinate your animals, a decision you won't regret

In Pontiac, Michigan breaking news today was regarding the outbreak of Parvo (parvovirus) in dogs and about how Parvo has taken the lives of hundreds of dogs this summer.

The Detroit Free Press reports that shelter workers in Detroit and Flint have also had outbreaks and it is the worst she has seen in years and even Houston, Texas is showing signs of the outbreak.

Parvo affects dogs by contact with feces (pet waste) from other contaminated dogs and most of the time die after several days after symptoms appear. Parvo is a viral disease and can be highly contagious and should be prevented by a regular vaccination by your vet. Puppies get Parvo more often than adult dogs and is carried by one dog to another. The vomit and feces of an infected animal can live outside the dog’s body for as long as 10 months. Some adult dogs can have this horrible disease and show no symptoms but be a carrier transmitting to other dogs and animals.

Families that are lower income are more susceptible to their pets having diseases because they tend to skip vaccinations and regular dog upkeep and care. There are many vaccination clinics and many of the pet stores in your area that run “specials” on vaccinations, so if you cannot afford your dog to have their shots, please visit one of these portable pet care events. Call your area’s animal shelter and find out what event's are going on in your area. The Humane Society of Southern Arizona offers vaccinations twice a week for $10.00.

Without treatment 80% of infected animals will die of Parvo.

Some symptoms of Parvo are below but if you want more information regarding Parvo please visit: http://dogparvosymptoms.net/

• Depression
• lethargy
• No eating
• Vomiting and diarrhea

Bottom line is ~ no one (even animals) should suffer especially if you can keep it from happening ~ Have your dog vaccinated, do the right thing :)