Bella the Pomeranian strikes a pose for the PPP Puparazzi!!!
Meet Bella, our newest featured dog! Bella, the Pomeranian, is back at the PPP after a brief stint in Chicago. She has been known to wear shoes and dress up for holidays and support the Minnesota sports teams. Some of her favorite pals include other Pomeranians, Jeepers and Murphy. Bella is very cuddly, and has been known to jump up in our staff’s arms for hugs! We are glad Bella is back in Minneapolis so she can be part of our pack again!
Trixie the Pug will be going trick or treating tonight dressed as a bumble bee.
Halloween can be a frightful time for your pooch, and the number of lost dogs greatly increases on Halloween. Here are a few tips to keep your pooch safe tonight.
1. No tricks, no treats: That bowl of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also cause problems. If you do suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets who nibble on them.
3. Wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations should be kept out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet might suffer cuts or burns, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.
4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.
5. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn’t annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal’s movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also, be sure to try on costumes before the big night. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go au naturale or donning a festive bandana.
6. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he could choke on. Also, ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.
7. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.
8. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn’t dart outside.
9. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver, increaing the chances that he or she will be returned to you
Have a good night.
Keith
Puddin' is rocking a Bark + Biscuit collar this week!
Each week Puddin’ picks a new collar to feature in our lobby! This week Puddin’ is sporting a great collar from Bark + Biscuit which is a Minnesota company! Purchase any Bark + Biscuit collar or leash and receive 20% off. Just mention the Puddin’ discount!
Happy shopping!
When he is not playing with all of his doggy daycare friends, little max loves the beds!
I think Max is one of the most popular dog names, so sometime we get creative when describing which max is which. Meet “Little Max”, while he might not be the smallest Max who comes to doggy daycare, everyone know which Max he is! Last Friday he celebrated his Birthday at Pampered Pooch Playground with all of his doggy daycare friends! When not playing with all of his doggy friends, he loves to lay on the bed in the Canine Cove.
On a side note, we try really hard to treat our doggy daycare staff like family and create a fun workplace! One of our past employees (Erin O), moved back to Chicago this past summer and she was looking for jobs. My friends doggy daycare was looking for a new employee, and today is her first day working there! How cool is that?!
Have a great day!
Keith
This week Puddin' is sporting a great collar by Mimi Green!
Today I spent most of the day organizing and cleaning stuff that our customers never see. For example we put a new couch in our staff break room. Out staff work hard and they deserve a great room where they can take it easy for a few minutes. We also installed some new shelving in our food prep area and one of our storage areas.
Today we started a new feature on our Facebook page called Puddin’s Pick. Each week Puddin’ (Our new boston terrier model in the lobby) will feature one our collars. If you purchase the collar Puddin’ is wearing, we will take 20% off.
Have a good day!
Ollie the yellow lab puppy LOVES doggy daycare. He very rarely lays down!
Those of you that are on our email list found out about the update to our photo gallery where you can download the pictures of your pooch. We do charge for this, but the money raised will be donated to local pet rescues! One thing I did not mention in the email is our new Android App. Just log on to the Android App store and download “Pooch Vision”. We are proud to be the first and still one of the few doggy daycares in the country with an iPhone and now an Android app. What is next?? BlackBerry!
Have a good night.
Keith
I am so sorry that it has been such a long time since I have blogged about the happenings at doggy daycare. Wow, yesterday was a really funny day. I was at the gym and saw I missed a call. So I called the daycare back to make sure everything was ok, and it was one of the funniest stories I had heard. Satchel who is a yellow lab that comes all the time was having a bath. They were able to get him in the tub just fine, but would not get out. They tried just about everything they new, but it took 3 people to get him out of the tub. They said, he just wanted to keep playing with the water because the bath was so much fun! How funny!! I wish I had a video of this.
Say hello to Kato who is spending a few nights with us in the hotel.
Have a good night.
Keith
Cheena the Maltese loves to take a nap while she spends the night in our pooch hotel.
It is great to be back from our trip to Seattle! We were gone for 4 days, and it seemed like a lifetime of being away from the doggy daycare. We visited Seattle with Sarah Beth and she has a friend that lives out there who is also an amazing pet photographer. We went out with her photographer friend and asked what daycares we should check out. She named a few and we went to look at them. I had always known that some doggy daycares are in it for “money and to get rich”, rather for the “fun and love of the animals” like we are. We visited a place that looked like $1 million and I have to give it to them, they had a great lobby, great branding, and an amazing looking building, but once we took a tour it was very obvious that all the money goes into the front of the building and not to the dogs or staff. I really believe that a good amount of money needs to be put into equipment and fun things for the dogs and the staff. We also visited another doggy daycare that reminded me of Pampered Pooch Playground. From the look and feel to they run the daycare, I felt like I was walking into Pampered Pooch Playground, the Seattle version. The owner was super cool and we have a great time talking with him for a few hours and sharing ideas.
Today,I went to our daycare and got to hang out with the dogs for a few hours. I guess I can’t stay away. Meet Cheena, who is 13 and blind. She is spending the night in our pooch hotel for the next few nights. Cheena might be blind, but that does not stop her! She knows some pretty cool tricks and will do just about anything for a treat!
Have a great night!
Keith
