Puppy Mill dogs need Help!

This is from the Humane Society of the Ozarks:

Last Friday, we received a call from HSUS regarding a puppy mill in Newton County with 36 small breed dogs that were being surrendered. Allegedly, two individuals were engaging in heinous acts of animal cruelty by videotaping themselves laughing and stomping a small dog to death at a neighbor's home. They then went to a relative's home who had a puppy mill and proceeded to torture small dogs with a cattle prod while the animals were enclosed in rabbit hutches in a room with no ventilation. The relative/puppy mill breeder agreed to surrender the animals to Newton County Sheriff's Department, who in turn released the animals to HSUS, who in turn released the animals to us.

Angie Kyser and several volunteers transported the dogs (35 of them-one of them ran away) from Newton County to Wedington Animal Hospital , where they are all being housed and treated for any medical condition s. As of right now, we have one shepherd mix, several Pomeranians, several Chihuahuas , one Papillion, one Poodle mix and several other s. . There are also three nursing mom s.


All this said, we are asking for help in several area s. First and foremost, we need volunteers to come and walk and exercise these dogs during the day. Wedington has been wonderful by agreeing to take in these dogs for us, and they need our help in making sure these dogs get out of their crates on a daily basi s. Specifically, we need help in the mornings, in the afternoons and in the evening s. If you are interested in helping, please contact Angie Kyser at (479)444-PETS, or you can e-mail her at amkyser@yahoo. com. Please contact her before going to Wedington as we need to get a set time and date for our volunteers


Second, please help us get the word out about these animals and the cruelty situation at hand. This situation is exactly why we should push for felony animal cruelty laws in Arkansas . We are going to be issuing a press release and we plan to get the local media involved. Finally, we are now ready to begin fostering and adopting these animals out to good homes, so please pass the word. If you would like to see the dogs, please call Wedington at (479)444-6600 to schedule a time.
I believe that we are in the process of posting these dogs on Petfinder. com via the Humane Society of the Ozarks.


Thank you to all who have helped thus far. We will do our best to keep everyone informed about the ongoing cruelty investigation in Newton County .


Thanks,

Christian Gunn

Changing of the Guard

Winner for 2007-2008, Paul Knutson

Winner for 2008-2009, Bonnie Martineck

Hey Everyone!

As you know, we had our second birthday party on Saturday. Each year at our birthday party we give away a year worth of free treats to one lucky winner. Our new winner, Bonnie Martineck of Bella Vista, came in to claim her prize today. Bonnie seems like a great lady. She told me she used to be a vet tech, which I know is a job that requires a lot of work and gets little recognition, so I'm glad she could be our winner. I look forward to seeing her each month as she comes into pick up her free treats.



As fate would have it, last year's winner, Paul Knutson, came in to claim his last month of free treats today as well. The coincidence of both of them coming in on the same day made me reflective of the experience of giving away a year of free treats and how Paul has become part of the Bigwag family over the past year.

Let me tell you a little about Paul - he is one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. He quietly gives to the animal community of Northwest Arkansas and never asks anything in return. He has several dogs, each of them rescues, and let me tell you, these dogs are fortunate to have found a home with Paul and his wife.

He has taken in dogs that no one else gave a chance - one was showing signs of aggression to the point that a trainer recommended that the dog be put down. But Paul never considered this option. Instead, he patiently searched for the cause of the aggression. What he came to find out was that the dog was born without hip sockets, which you can imagine caused him immense pain. That dog is now receiving medication to ease his pain, and because of Paul's patience and care, people don't even recognize him as the same animal. Paul also adopted one of the dogs from a raid made in Rogers earlier this year. The dog that was infested with ticks and fleas and had been eating bark from trees because it was so hungry. Paul has nursed this dog back to health and taught him that people can be good and kind. Paul also continues to foster dogs in need, even though he has gone far beyond the call of duty. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Paul is that he believes he is the lucky one in all of this - lucky to have found such loving dogs, lucky to share his life with such amazing animals.

For me, the remarkable thing about this whole situation is that when we gave away a year of free treats, I thought that the winner would be the lucky one. But the truth is, we were the lucky ones to have gotten the chance to know Paul. I hope he will continue to come in each month so that we can get updates on his furry clan. And I hope that Bonnie will become as much a member of our family in the year to come.

Lots of Love,
Erin

I'd like to thank the Academy...

Okay, so maybe there was no academy involved in making our birthday party happen Saturday, but there were a lot of great folks who worked really hard to make everything turn out just right. We had a fabulous birthday party - hot dogs and cake got eaten, dog treats got gobbled up and prizes were given away! We had a wonderful turn out, even though it was so hot. And because it was such a fantastic day, I really do feel the need to thank all the people who made it happen... (And fortunately for me, no music is going to start playing after a minute, so that means I actually get to thank the people who made it possible.)

First, I would like to thank everyone who made it out! Thanks also to all of you who dropped by Friday or sent wishes via MySpace or e-mail.

I would like to send an especially big thank you out to all the wonderful vendors who came out and supported us Saturday. These folks spent hours out in the heat so that our birthday party would be a great one. Many thanks to Angel Pet Sitters, Camp Bow Wow , the Bentonville Bark Park , Murphy Dog Park and the Humane Society for the Animals, the Dog Scouts, American K-9 Academy, Pets Rock Photography, New Hope Animal Hospital, Northwest Arkansas Animal Rescue, and Pug Rescue of Northwest Arkansas.

We were also fortunate to have great support from Taste of the Wild. We love this dog food, it's an entirely grain free food that Hannah and Sam love (and one that doesn't give Sam gas, which is REALLY good news) The folks from Taste of the Wild sent out 5 pound bags of food to give away as prizes and samples for everyone else. I know their donation was greatly appreciated. We were also given 15 pound bags of Canidae to give away as prizes. Both of these companies produce high quality foods that you can feel confident feeding to your dog.

I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you to Anna and Teressa, our employees, who put in a lot of hours before the event getting everything spic and span and stocked and who also got the joyous job of cleaning everything again afterward. These ladies are like family to us. We are very fortunte to have such caring employees.

And last, but not least, I have to say thank you to my in-laws (Cary and Toby's Mom and Stepdad) They were awesome enough to come out and cook hot dogs for everyone, which you can imagine was not an enviable job on a day as hot as Saturday. It was great to be surrounded by family on a day so important to all of us.

Seriously, we had a great time Saturday, and it made us feel great to know that Northwest Arkansas has embraced us so completely. We're looking forward to a great third year!

Lots of Love,
Erin

P.S. When I get pictures, I'll post them here too!

2007 - The Year in Review

As we ramp up to our 2 year birthday and the ensuing party, I would like to look back at the year and contemplate where we are at and what the pet community looks like to us. Our year ends and begins in the middle of summer , since we opened in July, so this might appear to be a weird time to look back, but it makes sense to us... Besides we are usually so busy during December that we have little time to think about anything.

First off, our blog (www.blog.bigwag.com) changed this year. We went from a post a month (if we were lucky) to multiple posts a week. We decided to change the format to embrace the community to which we belong. We moved away from quite so many educational articles to a this is who we are, these are our friends, this is your pet community approach. The response was overwhelming. Thank you for reading this corner of our world. This was a learning experience for us and we have enjoyed making this a publication that people come back to and learn from, not just about us, but about the pet community and its events as well.

As indicated by the image above, this year we have changed our logo. Many things predicated this change - mostly my reading about effective marketing, good logo design, plus many other things. I think the new logo looks good, and I hope you do too. I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys.

More important than that though, I think what Bigwag is all about is starting to catch on. The pet food recall of last year helped because it brought to light how important it is that you pay attention to what is in your pets' food and where it is made.

Next, we have broken out of Rogers. We now sell wholesale in Pea Ridge, Bentonville, and Fayetteville. We'd love to be in Springdale too, but there just isn't any place that this works well at the moment. If someone knows of a place, please us know. We haven't worked out all of the kinks yet, but we are hoping to move to an online replenishment system in the near future.

This time last year we hired our very first employee - Jennifer. You may know her from Cho Blu Studios. She got to showcase some of her art at our first birthday party, and was the feature artist of this months ArkanPaws magazine. She has since moved on to bigger and better things, and the sarcasm meeter has since dropped in our store. We'll always be glad Jennifer joined our little family - and we're still waiting on our portrait of Sam and Hannah!! It was quite the ordeal - trying to decide if we'd grown to the point of needing an employee. We debated and debated, and almost hired someone before Christmas in 2006, but chose to wait until July. I hope all of our employees stay in touch once they move on. We enjoy everyone who has worked or is working with with us - Anna, Brandi, and our newest addition - Terresa.

Pet businesses have also come and gone. Camp Bow Wow is having their grand opening the Saturday after our birthday party. A Petsmart has also opened at the Rogers Promenade. I have also heard the Jennifer is trying to sell Woof! Woof! at the Tuscany Square, and that her Little Rock location has been closed. Nancy has retired from New Hope Animal Hospital, and Dog Days Doggie Day Care came under new ownership this year. The building at Dog Watch in Bentonville partially melted in a fire. Bow Wow Pet Styling opened in a new location in Rogers this year also. You may also have noticed that we haven''t gotten any new Ceramatherapy dog dishes and treat jars in a LONG time. Thats because they have closed up shop. I don't know if they have sold it yet or not, but cited the demands of owning your own business as too much for them. I completely understand. I am sure there was other news, but my mind is overflowing, so you'll have to forgive my forgetfulness.

We also didn't get to have a Mardi Paws or a full-blown Halloween Carnival this last year either. If anyone would like to help plan or take the leads on these projects, let me know. I know some people ;) RDOD, the Easter Egg Hunt, Photos with Santa, Springfest, the Dogwood Walk - were all bigger and stronger this year. We love to see these events grow each year, and the new fresh faces and tails that find them for the first time. If you haven't seen "The Biggest Wag" contest at any of these events yet, you just haven't lived! This was also the first year for our Paws-n-Spas dog wash fund raiser, which we hope to repeat several more times, based on the excitement, fun, and bubbles of the first one.

As we round out the end of our second year, and enter into our third, I almost can't wait to roll out the new plans we have for Bigwag. This year we added some great products, like our all natural butcher shop chews, Lupine Collars, Red Dingo tags, Solid Gold and Taste Of The Wild dog foods, and Happy Tails/Spot Organics shampoos, conditioners, and aromatherapy sprays. We added some great toys, like Toughies, West Paw Designs, and Canine Genius'. We're going to be further expanding our toy section and you'll get a preview of that at our birthday party on Saturday. We're also going to be adding more shampoos, birthday party supplies, more supplements to compliment our Solid Gold Sea meal, treat jars, greeting cards, books and videos, gifts, and hopefully a whole slew of new and innovative products you haven't seen before.

Thank you for being our customer and accepting us into your pet community. We enjoy being here, answering your ingredient and diet questions, exploring the new products you ask for and being a hub for some of the great rescues and organizations out there. We also love to see all of those wagging tails come into our store.

A final thought - I subscribe to a blog that examines different brands weekly with the question - "If company XXX were to go away tomorrow, would anyone miss them...". I hope that the answer to that is yes, that folks out there that would miss us if we went away. I hear stories every day about how their dogs love us, love to come to our store, won't eat other brands of treats. I hope we can continue to help your dogs live a longer, fuller, more rewarding life for years to come! We would surely miss all of you!

What is really in dog food?

There is a very interesting article from the Animal Protection Institute, "Whats Really in Pet Food"

"Plump whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fresh grains, and all the wholesome nutrition your dog or cat will ever need.

These are the images pet food manufacturers promulgate through the media and advertising. This is what the $15 billion per year U.S. pet food industry wants consumers to believe they are buying when they purchase their products.

This report explores the differences between what consumers think they are buying and what they are actually getting. It focuses in very general terms on the most visible name brands — the pet food labels that are mass-distributed to supermarkets and discount stores — but there are many highly respected brands that may be guilty of the same offenses."

Not all commercial pet foods fall into these categories, but it is important to do your research. While Science Diet and Hills Diet are often touted as high end foods, they contain some of the worst ingredients - including corn. Solid Gold, Taste Of The Wild, and Canidae are all high quality foods with quality ingredients.

Even though this article busts out companies that claim to use "human grade ingredients" as mostly marketing hype, I would like to go on the record and say that for us this simply is not true. We don't use vegetable scraps from human food processing...we have to buy it canned from Wal-Mart, and we buy our flour and yeast from Sams - just like you would for yourself. It's too bad big companies have watered down the meaning of this term. How else do you put in your advertising that you don't use sawdust in your dog treats? How about "Our treats are real food"????

Dog Parks Petition Available Online

The Walt Eilers for Mayor Campaign kicked off a collaborative push for additional dog parks July 5th by holding a short dog parade at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market. More than twenty local people and their pets participated. The campaign passed out gourmet treats contributed by BigWag. The campaign also used the event to collect information from dog owners through a simple survey it distributed. That same survey and a petition can now be found at walteilers.com.

The city has tried twice before to add additional parks, but its efforts have been defeated both times by citizens opposed to the idea. Committed pet owners must come together to convince the city that these dog parks will benefit the community. They will provide dogs and their owners a safe place to exercise and socialize. The Walt Eilers for Mayor Campaign wants to see a proper dog park in each of the Parks and Recreation Department's four quadrants, but making those parks a reality will take a collaborative effort.

The city currently offers one dog park next to the newly renovated animal shelter. The Parks and Rec Department hopes to make Lake Wilson Park an off-leash facility. While we welcome the move, Lake Wilson is located east of the airport in Fayetteville, making it somewhat inconvenient to most. That said, should the park be made an off-leash site, dog owners should make frequent use of the facility to demonstrate their support.

We encourage everyone to complete the (very) short survey at to sign the petition, both of which can be found at walteilers.com. (And for those concerned about politics, doing either in no way represents an endorsement.) The campaign plans to present the information and signatures gathered to the city as proof that citizens are committed to making additional dog parks a reality.

Feel free to email concerns, questions, or ideas to eilersformayor@gmail.com.

Submitted by guest blogger Greg Leding - campaign manager for Walt Eilers.

Irresponsible Companies - Post Cereals

I had a revelation last night at the grocery store. I was buying cereal, and decided I would just check the price per ounce while I was standing there after my wife asked which brand was cheaper, and surprisingly noticed that the price per ounce for the small boxes of almost all Post cereals was cheaper per ounce than it's larger cousin, the "Family Size".

Doesn't this go against the grain (no pun intended), in that the larger, economy size should be cheaper? Less packaging, not to mention greener for the environment? That was how I always understood the value of larger bulk purchases. So, is this a family penalty now? If you want to buy less packaging and be "greener", then it costs you more money?

I compared other brands - Kellogg's cereals behaved exactly as I would expect them to. The bigger the box, the cheaper per ounce it was. So, is this just a cheap trick to try and make more money during the recession? How many people "assume" the larger economy size is the better deal? I hate to think how long Post may have been trying to pull this off. It would appear to be a sneaky attempt to trick the populace. I know that during tough times earlier, rather than raising the price of good, companies started shrinking the packaging size, so they could maintain the same price.

That was a big shock to everyone, and caused outrage - several decades ago. They are doing the same thing this time, but it seems almost normal, and it doesn't appear anyone is trying to be sneaky about it - as everyone has seen that game before. But, this is a new game - and I was a little surprised. Does this make Post Cereals irresponsible? Is this worse that shrinking the packaging? It seems a little deceptive to me.

I understand prices go up, when oil goes up, because energy costs go up, transportation costs go up, and therefore your cereal in the morning goes up. I would rather just see a price increase than all of this smoke and mirrors to make me think the price isn't going up. I understand - costs are costs. If you aren't making money, then you are losing money, and nobody can do that forever. One of the hardest things that I do is set prices for the bakery. It's hard to put a value on what we do, keeping track of all of the ingredients, shipping costs, calculating price per batch, price per pound, price per treat. It's always a moving target. Plus, we have to pay rent and electricity in there too, not to mention the labor it takes to make a batch of cookies.

I guess that is just my opinion. If my cost of goods goes up to the point I need to raise prices, would you rather see me raise prices, or shrink packaging, or charge more for economy sizes?

Click Here to take survey for a free $5 off coupon from our store.

Bigwag Dog Bakery Press Release

Hey Everyone!

I just sent off the official press release about our birthday party, but as a perk of being a reador of our blog, you get it here first! Hope you enjoy it, and even more, I hope we see you on July 26th :D

Lots of Love,
Erin


For immediate release

No Worries for Party Animals

Rogers, AR… July 10, 2008

Recession. Rising food costs. Gasoline supply shortages. While these may be concerns for humans in Northwest Arkansas, their dogs have a completely different concern: “How am I going to get to Bigwag Dog Bakery's birthday party?” Dogs are right to worry about missing this party. After all, it is going to be the canine social event of the season. For four glorious hours, from noon to 4pm, on Saturday, July 26th, barkday cake will be served with gusto and canine wine will flow. There will be contests including “Biggest Wag” and prizes ranging from bags of premium dog food to a year's supply of free treats. And just in case people feel left out, there will be food, drinks, vendors and demonstrations for them as well. For children, there will even be a free bounce house. So why all the fuss? Well, it isn't every day that a small business gets to celebrate it's 2nd anniversary. And that's exactly what Bigwag Dog Bakery is doing - celebrating two years of bringing healthy, handmade treats, unique toys and American-made chews to the dogs of Northwest Arkansas.

About Bigwag Dog Bakery
BigWag is located at 2301 W. Walnut, Suite 23, Rogers, AR in Turtle Creek Plaza. The store is owned by brothers Cary and Toby Hague. It opened July 29, 2006.

Media Contacts
For Bigwag:
Store Manager: Erin Hague, 479-631-2WAG

Further Information:
What: Food and treats, fun and prizes, vendors and demonstrations
Where: Bigwag Dog Bakery
2301 W. Walnut Suite 23
Rogers, AR 72756
(Behind Popeye's Chicken)
When: Saturday, July 26, 2008 12pm-4pm
Why: Bigwag is celebrating it's 2 year anniversary
Who: Anyone can come
Cost: Free

Camp Bow Wow VIP Ribbon Cutting Party

Camp Bow Wow in Bentonville held it's VIP (Very Important Pooch) ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 10th at 5 PM. Tours inside were given of their state of the art facilities, that included T.V. monitors that watch all parts of the building, and 5 indoor/outdoor play areas.

One of the most interesting aspects of the facilities, which we did not get to see, was the Spray Master technology wet vac system, that utilizes earth friendly cleaning agents that are automatically metered into the water. The facilities are also temperature controlled between 68 and 74 degrees with a thermostat alarm. They also committed to maintaining a 15 dogs to 1 camp counselor ratio.

Personally, I was most impressed with the smart layout of the indoor fencing, that had gates that would swing open and lock in multiple configurations to other sections of the fencing and create directed conduits to send a group of dogs from one section of the building, like their runs, to a play area, without needing to wrangle any of them.

Jeff, Linda, and crew all worked very hard on this project. They were hard at it for almost a year before they opened, dropping off business cards at local businesses, networking, grass roots marketing at the dog events. They are almost as tireless as we are. I know how much work it is to get a business' doors open, and they've got a great facility - we wish them the best of luck!

Camp Bow Wow is having their official grand opening party on Saturday, August 2nd, and they will be present at our birthday party Saturday, July 26th to answer any questions and talk about all of their state-of-the-art amenities.

Our 2nd Birthday Is Coming Soon!

Hey Everyone!

I just finished the final touches on the flier for our birthday party and I wanted to post it here and remind everyone to save the date. Our party is Saturday, July 26th from noon-4pm. We're going to have tons of great stuff, including food for you and your dog, prizes, vendors and even a bounce house. We'd love it if you would come out and celebrate with us, because you make it all possible. See you there!

Lots of Love,
Erin

P.S. Don't forget that we give away the Year of Free Treats at our birthday party and you can sign up here at the store up until we draw the winning name!

The New Rawhide

I just heard that they are about to be marketing a new type of rawhide - "Organic Rawhide". Not only will this rawhide be organically grown, but may contain added vitamins and minerals.

This really makes me sad. Organic, vitamin enriched, super rawhide is still not 100% DIGESTIBLE, causing digestive track blockages, and even death. Do we really have such a landfill problem we can't just throw this (&@% away?

According to the ASPCA:

While many dogs enjoy nibbling on rawhide, some tend to swallow it—and this could potentially pose a foreign body obstruction in your pet's gastrointestinal tract if large enough pieces are swallowed.

If you do decide to offer rawhide, you may want to supply your dog with only limited quantities, and take care to dispose of any pieces that get chewed down to a size that could be swallowed whole. There are now many alternatives to rawhide chews, so you might want to ask your local veterinarian and/or pet supply store to help you find a chew that you can feel comfortable giving your dog.

Here are articles from Associated Content, and the National K9 Dog Trainers Association. Even Petsmart admits rawhide chews are not good for dogs left unsupervised. Here's a test - take a piece of rawhide chew and soak it in a glass of water for 48 hours.

Be careful of anyone who recommends rawhide chews - especially if they sell them. It's hard to find anyone who will make a stand against rawhide, because there is so much money involved. It's easy to say "Rawhide is just fine" when they will be happy to sell you some Chew-eze.

I guess I will just relegate myself to not being the most profitable pet store out there, but I stand behind all of my products (I refuse to carry rawhide, organic or not) and I sleep very well at night. I think the FDA should require a "Veterinarian General's Warning" on all rawhide products. If we all stop buying them, eventually they'll stop selling them.

On a side note - Here is a great chart on dangers for your dog by Ava Schutzman.

Why Apple is Cool!

Whats this got to do with pets? Stay with me here while I get there, even if it is a bit round about.

I have owned a Mac - it was a SE, the kind with the BW monitor built in, back in 91 (it wasn't new then either). I don't know if I would own another mac, but it always worked when I needed it. I will give it that.

I own an MP3 player. It's not an ipod, but it was cheap. Would I take one if someone handed it to me - sure. I might eventually buy one, but I'm not rushing out and get one.

Same with the iphone. It looks snazzy, the touch screen is really nice, but I don't own one. Maybe later.

OK, so we've identified me as not being an apple customer, but still, I have a great respect for Apple. Why is that? Well, for one, their commercials introduce me to music that I may never have discovered on my own. She is one of my favorite artists now. I will thank them for that.

But seriously, even though I am not an apple customer, I appreciate them for what they stand for. They stand for quality. They are ahead of the curve, they are breaking new ground. How many new phones are coming out with touch screens because they had the vision? They are making the industry better, brighter, and at least pushing cool music out there.

I wish the pet consumer products had their own apple. Even with all that has happened, with the pet food recalls, lead paint, salmonella chews, brands like Purina are still pushing products like Beneful, which, as far as I can tell, could be the second worst dog food on the market - right next to Ole you-know-who. Who is poised to take on this role? What is the magic that will make people wait in line for a week to get the latest iphone, but not care what they feed their four legged family members?

We need a "Pepsi Challenge" for pet foods - because I guarantee if you set a bowl of Beneful next to a bowl of Taste of the Wild, they wouldn't even touch the Beneful. I have personally done this with my own dogs. I had never seen dogs spit out food before, until now.

Bentonville Strong-Arms Homeless Animals

After doing a little digging, some more information has surfaced about the Bentonville pet ordinances, and the code enforcement officers. Allegedly, several rescue groups who have attempted to have adoption events in Bentonville have been thwarted by code enforcement officers, even though they are supposed to be exempt:

"according to the ordinance Sec. 601.5(c)F Exemptions that states "Temporary sales to benefit non-profit organizations and conducted on private property. Such sales shall be conducted no longer than five consecutive days." The gentleman in charge of the code enforcement officers (Marvin Saunders) was directed to let the code enforcement officers be aware of this exemption. The regulation states "Any person claiming to be legally exempt from the regulations set forth herein, or from the payment of a permit fee, shall cite to the community Development Director the statute or other legal authority under which exemption is claimed and shall present proof of qualification of such exemption."

Despite city officials going on record with this, they seem to continue to target rescue and shelter adoption events. This doesn't make much sense to me. I will also concede that that I have only heard one side of the story, but even if I slide it towards the city some to account for their side, it doesn't paint a very pretty picture for the city of Bentonville Code Enforcement.

Why would the city need or want to attempt to prevent adoption events? It's not like these folks are making any money off of this - most volunteer at the rescue or shelter for free.

It's not like the shelters are making any money off of these either - every one that I know operates in the red as it is, and without donations of food, supplies, money, and time, they wouldn't even be here. Without these adoption events, building community awareness is difficult, and whats the alternative?

OK, so maybe the headline was a little exaggerated, but it's not too far of a leap to think that preventing sucessful adoption events is only hurting the homeless pets that need to be found - and whats the sense in that? Pets that don't get adopted - get euthanized. By preventing pet adoptions, they are indirectly contributing to the homeless pet epidemic. Bentonville outsources its animal shelter to Rogers, and it would seem they don't really want adoption events happening within their city limits - do they think that if they just ignore it, the problem will go away?

As far as what rescues can do to help with this at future events, take with you your 501c3 paperwork to the event, so that you can prove you are a non-profit, and you are supposed to also alert the code enforcement office, so that they can alert the on-duty officer that your event is taking place. Questions may be sent to srushing@bentonvillear.com. I'm only interested in the truth, so if you have some, comment or email me. I would love to hear from the other side.

The Most Overlooked Facet of Dog Parks

One facet of dog parks that seems to be overlooked the most is who is responsible for the community part of the dog park? It's is one thing to get the land donated or purchased, and to have a great landscape plan, fencing layout, park benches, separate areas for small and large dogs, training areas, etc etc etc. Once all of that stuff is done, how do people know it's there? How do they know the rules?

Increasing community awareness, whether it be for the park itself, or for the rules and etiquette of the park, seems to be often forgotten in the excitement of the park. Ways to support it, provide repairs or improvements, fresh doo doo bags, replanting grass - these are all needed after the park has been open and going. Sometimes the city commits to this, but it is doubtful they will help organize events that will help raise awareness for the park.

This is where the Dog Park Booster Club comes in. This should be a formal group, chartered and given some authority over the park, for its well being, community awareness, and help with whatever the park needs to provide continued support throughout the year. A group capable of soliciting donations for repairs, and also capable of organizing and executing events. These events help raise awareness, generate interest and even excitement throughout the pet community, and can grow the user base immensely.

The group should be open to anyone that wants to join, and local pet businesses should be encouraged to help out. A group chair person, as well as any other posts required, should be voted upon to keep meetings and activities running smoothly, and to spearhead events to promote the dog park. These events are a lot of work, and people may get burned out, so it's important to have as large a group as possible, and even rotate out responsibilities amongst members of the group, or have the chair person rotate.

The end goal is to have a healthy, fun place to take your dog to for exercise and socialization. Dog park events are one way to do this, as well as promote the park. Most local pet businesses will be eager to help out, or at the very least hand out fliers for you at their location. Often they will donate items for prizes, set up booths to talk about their business during these events, run games and contests, and might even help plan or organize events. The advantages for the local businesses should be obvious, as this is targeted marketing at it's finest. These events should not be considered an avenue to "sell their wares" - but simply a way to gain exposure, give away samples, talk about their business, let people know they are there.

If your dog park has not been holding pet events, don't get frustrated that the first few events might have a low turnout. It may take some time to get the word out that your dog park is an up and coming place for dogs and their owners. Over time, word of mouth will build that these events are fun and informative. Attendance can be increased by the use of "Goodie Bags" for the first 100 people to register. Charging a nominal fee could be a great way to raise cash for improvements, and if you have great goodie bags - bags full of items donated from local businesses - then your reputation will grow as an event people won't want to miss. Often these goodie bags contain items from local pet shops, like Petco, Groomers, Veterinarians, Pet Boutiques, and of course, Dog Bakeries. Coupons, businesses cards, fliers, are all great, but items that seem to be popular are the pharma branded items most vets can order very cheaply (frisbees, leads, coozies, etc), and if you are lucky enough to have a local dog bakery, get them to donate treats for the goodie bags. These kinds of products increase the value of the goodie bags, make them sought after, and will help increase your attendance.

Hitting up local businesses is just one of the tasks before a Dog Park Booster Club that it's members will have to do to get some good dog events going. Planning contests, silent auctions, soliciting donations, press releases, designing fliers, finding tables and chairs, wrangling dogs during the event, coordinating vendor booth spaces. There's a lot of work, but the dividends are a great dog park that is both popular, and well taken care of.

Bentonville Pet Ordinances

It would appear there is some confusion about what is permissible in the city of Bentonville with regards to pet shelters, rescues, and adoption organizations, and whether or not they can have adoption events within the city.

I know a bunch of cities in Northwest Arkansas recently passed ordinances banning the sale or give aways of pets on random street corners, and some cities require permits to do this. I also know that Rogers passed exceptions to this for businesses that are in the pet industry (petco) and shelters, rescues, and adoption organizations.

The Bentonville Code Enforcement officers were recently called on a lady doing an adoption event, of which I do not know all of the details, and was ordered to cease. I do know that I have been trying to work with the city to put on an adoption event on or just off the Bentonville Square (They are still doing construction I think) during the Farmer's Market on some Saturday, and all of my efforts have been thwarted by the city attorney, citing that it is illegal to sell pets on public grounds. Who is selling pets?

Does anyone know how the ordinances read for the city of Bentonville, or who the city attorney is? I would love to pick this back up again, but they are making it difficult. If anyone knows anything about this topic, please email me.