Final Week of Top Product

Left to right: The Acqua Bol (Brandi's Pick), Biodegradable Poop Bags (Terresa's Pick) and The Ring Zinger (Anna's Pick)

Hey Everyone!

It's the final week of our Next Top Product Contest - we decided to extend the contest until Saturday (it was originally supposed to end today) And all the products will be 15% off for the remainder of the contest. So if you haven't checked out these great new products yet, this is the perfect time. And remember, the employee that sells the most wins $100, so support your favorite Bigwag employee with your purchase!

Brandi's First Bigwag Dog Cake

This is Brandi's first Barkday cake made on March 28, 2009. This 9x6 Bone shaped barkday cake has a carob base with Red, Pink, and White accents. It was alot of fun and I look forward to decorating more barkday cakes.

Photos from The Soul of the Dog

Hey Everyone!

Jen Cole was nice enough to send her pictures from Monday night's artist reception at the Soul of the Dog Photography Show. If you haven't had a chance to see the show yet, it will still be at the Rogers Library today and tomorrow during library hours. It's a beautiful show, Toni Carter did a fabulous job organizing it and all the artists did a tremendous job capturing the personalities of our four legged friends.

Results from Tuesday's March Madness Yappie Hour

Hey Everyone!

We had a great time on Tuesday allowing dogs to pick the winners of the NCAA tournament by eating basketball cookies. I just wanted to post the dog selected bracket here so you can see the results and see if dogs really know anything about basketball! The dog seem to think Memphis has that something special to make it all the way. Regardless of the outcome, it was a fun Yappie Hour and we appreciate so many customers stopping by to play. Next week (March 31st) we'll be using Yappie Hour to help out Murphy Dog Park by stuffing eggs for their upcoming Easter Bunny Hop! Don't forget, if you come help out you get a free goody bag of Easter treats.

Sweet Sixteen basket ball treats that the dogs got to choose from


Ready for Yappie Hour! (By the way, these basketball toys make a funny boing noise rather than your typical squeak...)

Special Order Treats - Soul of the Dog

We are donating some special order treats to Toni's "Soul of the Dog" art show this week at the Rogers Public Library, and they turned out really cute, so I thought I'd show them off here. These are tuxedos and party dresses! The show runs Monday the 23rd through Sunday the 29th. The Artist Reception is 6:30 - 8:00 PM on Monday (where we will be giving these darling treats away) but the art show is available all week during library hours.

Photos from St. Patty's Yappie Hour

Hope everyone had a fantastic St. Patrick's Day! We had a great turn out for Yappie Hour, and I got a chance to snap a couple pics. (Not as many as I should have, but a few...) It was great fun. Don't forget next Tuesday, March 24th is our March Madness Yappie Hour with half off basketball treats, plus we'll be letting the dogs predict the winner of the NCAA tournament from the remaining 16 teams, and if your dog predicts correctly, there will be prizes on April 7th!

Hangin' Out on St. Patty's Day at Bigwag


Miss Mollie's Mom (Nancy) shows her St. Patrick's Day spirit


Julie and Calvin check things out


Getting to know each other

Pictures from Tuesday's Yappie Hour

Ready to Brew!

Hannah Waits On Customers

Hello All!

We had a wonderful turn out for Tuesday's Coffee Night Yappie Hour and Cary managed to snap a few pictures in between brewing coffee drinks for everyone. Also, we got our Bowser Beer in yesterday for next Tuesday's St. Patty's celebration. This stuff is too cute - it's a beer for dog brewed with barley but no hops and it's non-alcoholic. We got Beefy Brown Ale, so if you haven't had a chance yet, stop by next Tuesday for Yappie Hour. It's sure to be fun.

Upcoming Yappie Hours

Hey Everybody,

I just put the finishing touches on our newest flier for Yappie Hour. Check out what's coming up in the next month. And don't forget tonight is Coffee House Night. Cary will be making free coffee drinks for people and we've baked up biscotti samples for the dogs. And we'll be giving half off biscotti purchased tonight.

Denise Holmes Releases New CD

Hey Everyone!

I am very pleased to announce that Denise Homes of Ain't Misbehavin' pet behavior counseling services has just released a new CD. Denise is a fantastic lady who really loves animals and has a marvelous talent for training and problem solving through understanding rather than discipline. Denise's CD will be available for purchase at Bigwag. She will also be our guest for Yappie Hour on Tuesday, April 21st, where you will be able to ask her your dog behavior questions in person. Read more about her new CD from the press release below:

Pet Behavior Counselor Denise Holmes, has released a compact disc for expecting parents called “My New Best Friend.”

This training CD is designed to help new parents introduce a family pet to their baby. It features a series of escalating sound tracks recorded from real babies and a manual of step-by-step guidelines outlining the keys to preparing and introducing a pet to a newborn.

According to Holmes, “This is the ultimate training tool for introducing your first baby to your new one. Many couples practice their parenting skills by adopting a pet. When the human baby enters the picture, the pet often takes a back seat. This can be a very stressful time for the pet and can set the stage for problems down the road. This CD will help the expecting couple make a smooth transition from pet parent to ‘pack’ parent.”

“My first instinct when expecting my baby was to keep my dogs and my baby separated,” says client Amy Knight. “I learned from Denise that I needed to create positive associations for my dogs with the new baby. This is the key to creating a home environment where everyone feels loved and included.”

Holmes has high hopes for the CD and the positive impact it can have on pets and parents. The CD is currently available at local retailers such as Babies & Beyond, Colliers Drug, Ozark Natural Foods, Dog Party USA, Bigwag Dog Bakery, and various veterinary clinics in NWA. My New Best Friend is also offered at a discount to animal shelters and rescues to help prevent the needless surrender of pets after the birth of a baby and as a means of support for their work. Humane Society of the Ozarks and Fayetteville Animal Shelter are already carrying the CD.

Denise Holmes is the training coach for Ain’t Misbehavin’ pet behavior counseling service, training consultant at Dog Party USA and board member for the Humane Society of the Ozarks. Her website, www.LoveTrustTeach.com, will feature the product for purchase as a media download. For more information on this CD or other training needs visit the website or email Denise directly at denise@LoveTrustTeach.com.

Why your feedback is so important

We had an unfortunate incident at the store this last week. Our softbites were a little hard, ok, very hard. The end result was a very unsatisfied customer -and this makes us cringe.

Everyone has seen them - customer response cards, fill out our survey for a chance to win $10,000, "how are we doing" questionnaires. Often I don't participate in these because, well, do they really do any good? is there anyone out there listening? There was a great article from Seth Godin on "Direct from the consumer marketing". Basically the gist from most customer service groups at companies is that"We want you to be happy, but if you aren't, please go away".

Lots of companies say the differentiate themselves with great customer service. But do they? Do they listen? Do they feel empathy for your situation? I think no.

We had an instance were our business CC was stolen in Dec from a website we buy product from, and our bank was great in ensuring we didn't lose a cent to those bastards, but they stole our CC from someone we do business with. Erin tried calling a few of these companies to let them know there was a possibility their shopping cart system had been compromised. We were really astounded by the results we got. Not one actually listened to what she was saying. She got "Oh, that's great, that couldn't be us, but we can remove your CC number from your account if you would like". Whoopee! Our CC number had already been changed. Our phone call was almost 2 months before the news story broke that one of the largest merchant service accounts in the eastern US was hacked and had all of their customer info stolen. Wonder how much damage that amounted to.

Anyway - point being, who really listens? Back to our softbites.

We take out customer feedback very seriously. We run our business like we like to be dealt with. Erin actually went back to the recipe for our softbites, and realized the recipe had evolved over the last few years, tweaks here and there for the "ultimate cookie" so to speak, but we never went back and captured any of those learnings in the recipe, and the instructions were not as clear as they should be, which means when Erin was not making the soft bites herself, the product was not the same.

Recipe has been updated, so anyone at Bigwag can now make the same great cookies each time. Thank you to our mysterious customer who let us know. I only wish she had stopped long enough to let us know who she was. This kind of info usually nets you some free treats!

Hopefully we embody the point of Seth's article. So, if you see something amiss, idea or suggestion for improving something in our store (or not in our store that should be there) please let us know. We do value it. I know it's not what you are used to, but we are slowly showing people how we think things should work. Call us at 479-631-2WAG or email us at sales@bigwag.com and let us know. If it's a real problem or a great suggestion - I bet you get some free treats out of the deal.

In Memory of Rozanne Lovell

We usually try to keep our posts here upbeat, because we want Bigwag and everything associated with it to be fun and happy. But today I find myself with unfortunate task of saying good-bye to a beloved member of the pet community and one of our customers.

Bear with me if this doesn't stay coherent, I'm a little emotional right now.

When we first opened Bigwag, Cary and I realized that there would be a day when we had to face the reality of one of our customers losing a dog. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we accepted it. But for some reason, I never, until last night considered the prospect of actually losing a customer.

We always say that our customers are like family and today the pain of that statement is hitting me. I found out last night that Rozanne Lovell passed away last Thursday, February 26th.

Admittedly, I didn't know Rozanne (Rosie to her friends) as well as many in the pet community. But what I do know is that she touched me personally. She was one of our very first customers. She and other staunch members of the pet community are the only reason we even had sales at our grand opening (we somehow thought we would open the doors and people would flood in, rookie mistake, but that's another story for another time) Rozanne continued to come back each following Saturday with Chulo (one of her boxers, whom I adore) while Chulo was in therapy dog classes.

After Chulo's classes ended we didn't see Rozanne as often, but she still stopped by from time to time, most recently for pictures with Santa Paws, with all three of her dogs, Chulo, Kewpi and Marjorie. Rozanne admitted she never would have chosen the name Marjorie, but insisted that it be pronounce MAH-jorie, because it fit the dog's personality.

Rozanne was full of life, wit and personality. She once told me that when someone asked her why they should get a boxer, she told them, "You shouldn't unless you want a toddler sharing your house for the next 6-8 years." To this day I couldn't find a better way to explain the temperament of a boxer. She was an advocate for dogs, announcing that there were dog being sold in the parking lot next door when she showed up for Santa Paws pictures and making me call the police about it before we could do anything else. She was active in the Helping Paws Program and the AKC. I know that people in those organizations will miss her terribly, as will I. It seems unfair to have Rosie taken from us, not because she doesn't deserve the peace that I'm sure she's found, but because Northwest Arkansas will be a duller place without her.

If you're interested in honoring this wonderful woman, memorials can be made to Helping Paws.

Bigwag's Next Top Product - Anna's Choice

Nature's Instinct's Ring Zinger toss toy is a fun new dog toy that allows you to zing the ring zinger with a great speed allowing the ring to roll and bounce along the ground and bringing the ring to life.Your dog will love to chase and fetch the ring as it hops,skips and bounces,across the ground.The yellow ring is made of durable rubber for hours of enjoyment.

The Ring Zinger is not meant as a chew toy,and should not be left unattended. Additional rings are sold separately in case your dog were to chew it up. The Ring Zinger is an all around interactive toy for your dog. Anyone can use it,and it's not as tiring as the ole game of fetch. This is a new and exciting toy that was brought out at the 2008 dog extravaganza and also seen on the Today Show. You can play fetch with the Ring Zinger in wide open spaces like your backyard,the park,or the beach.Your toy Ring Zinger will bring joy to any game of fetch. Have fun with your New Ring Zinger as it rolls, flies and floats......................Thank-You

Watch the video here!

Bigwag's Next Top Product - Terresa's Choice

Green. That is one of our goals at Bigwag in 2009. To be more green & Earth-friendly. That is why I love my product. Poopbags are green, 100% biodegradable, made in the U.S. & come in a recycled box. When I found these as a non-green product I was very excited, but wanted to add to our green goal. Hence, we have PoopBags. So, we can save the environment while we are saving our lawns, parks & our neighbors lawns.

Bigwag's Next Top Product - Brandi's Choice

CREDIT CARD SIZED WATER BOWL

Hydrate your pet anywhere, anytime with the reusable Acqua Bol. This folding, fashionable water bowl fits in your purse or pocket, and stylishly quenches your dog's thirst anytime, anywhere. Reusable thousands of times! No more pouring water in your hand for you favorite furry friend to drink from.

I chose this product, the Acqua Bol, because it is convenient, reusable, durable, stylish and won't leak. The credit card sized water bowl has a 2-year guarantee. This folding, fashionable bowl fits in your purse or pocket and folds to the size of a credit card. It has been featured in modern dog, PET FASHION WEEK, AKC family dog and The Pet Elite.