Indoor Bark Park - Unleashed

We spent thanksgiving in Dallas this year, and heard through the grapevine that Dallas has an "indoor bark park", so we thought we would check it out.

Unleashed is billed as the nations first and only indoor, off-leash play park for dogs and owners. The facility boasts 25,000 square feet of indoor park area and 2.5 acres of exterior parks for plenty of space to frolic off leash.

We were very impressed. This was a class act the whole way through. The very first thing you notice when you walk in the door is they are actively engaged with rescues and the Dallas pet community. The have a huge bulletin board with calendars and events, parties, breed nights, training - seemed like everything.

There is also a turf drainage and flushing system that keeps the whole building smelling fresh and clean - we were very impressed that it did not smell like stinky dog.

Once inside, they have two main park areas - one for small or timid dogs, and one for large or body slammers - both in a central area.

The indoor area is huge, and surrounding the turfed area was a boutique and cafe (for people), some tables and chairs equiped with beds and leash hooks, and a boarding, daycare and grooming area.

Fees were $7.50 for the first dog, $5 for each additional dog, and members are issues an RFID collar tag that automatically recognizes your dog at the gate and charges you the daily fee just once, no matter how many times you go in or out each day.

How cool would it be if Northwest Arkansas had an indoor off leash dog park? I wonder how big the old Sportsmans Outdoors building is on Pleasant Grove?

After Three Years....

Wow, three years in business. My how the time flies. As we approach our third year in business, I traditionally write a nostalgic year wrap of whats happened over the last 12 months of Bigwag history, what we've learned, what we've forgotten, how we've grown, and what this year has meant to me.

Being a business owner is definitely a life changing experience. It's definitely been by far one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever taken on. Being a part of the community, seeing all of the testimonials roll in for our Year of Free Treats Contest as today is the deadline to enter from our friends and customers makes me feel good about the work we do at Bigwag. I've always felt like we were more of a health food store for dogs than anything else - even though I think our clothing line is really cute. Uploading all of the photos from our Barkday Cake collection, thinking about how many dogs we have made happy over the last three years.

Lets see, what did I learn this year? I learned that when you do the best you can, run your business with integrity, building a community (Not just being in business, but being a part of the community you do business in) you build lasting relationships with your customers - relationships that can weather a recession.

I learned how to actually get some fans on our Facebook page.

I've learned that you don't spend 7% of your gross sales on marketing and advertising, you spend 7% of what you want your sales to be. That is easier said than done.

I learned that you need a CAPTCH code on your online submission forms or else you get SPAM bots submitting erroneous Pet Calendar entries.

I've learned that Twitter CAN be a viable marketing channel for your business as long as you post interesting content and actually listen and interact with the people online.

People are surprisingly generous even when things are tight. Our Pet Angel tree at Christmas and our Puppy Shower yappie hour this spring were tremendous successes for the Humane Society of Rogers.

Persistence pays off. People may walk by our store 100 times before they come in. Sometimes you just need a flashy LED sign in your window with the right message.

I've learned that I love IPOD. I've resisted for years, but finally broke down - now I rarely leave home without mine. (My wife thinks I'm a goober). This has nothing to do with the business, but it shows that when you really find a quality product you fall in love with, you become a fan. I'm a fan. Our customers are our fans. Thank you.

Baking salmon treats actually smells worse than baking our liver treats. Might be why dogs go crazy over them. They like liver treats too - but holy cow.

I've learned that if you have never designed a logo for a real business you should leave that to the pros. We learned that the hard way. It's been a year since I redesigned our logo, and it has definately made a big difference. I wish I knew then what I know now, as I am still working on getting the logo switched over in various places (Leslie - how can I bribe you to update your website!?!).

They really do make an all natural cleaner that will take stains out of your carpet that are over a year old. It's not a myth. I was amazed and shocked.

OK - that's probably more than anyone will read, so I'll stop here. If you've read this far - thank you. Thank you from the entire Bigwag family. Without you there would not be a dog bakery in Northwest Arkansas!

Valentine's Yowza!

I have a question for a loyal readers. I had some extra time to browse some of our competition this morning (which almost never happens), and I came across some other valentine's treats (as I would expect), but holy cow - they are selling these conversation hearts for $4.95 a piece! We sell ours for $0.75 a piece. We've always tried to create a balance with cute, healthy, and value - probably with the most emphasis on healthy and value. We have always thought quality treats should be available to everyone - mutts and pure breeds alike.

Is this a normal price? Are we charging way too little for our treats? Would you guys pay $4.95 for a conversation heart dog treat? We could dip them in carob with pink lettering just as easy for the same cost - would you rather see some of those? Or do you think what we sell is just right? Please weigh in!

Our Secret Recipe

I had someone ask me last week about our recipes that we use for our dog treats. There is a big part of me that wants to give them some of the key ingredients because they had tried to bake their own treats at home, and their dogs ate them, but they didn't go ballistic over them like they do our treats - and I always want to help out.


First, here is some background on our recipes. Our recipes for our treats are all variants from the same core recipes that are over 15 years old. Without divulging their origins (we've only been open for 2.5 years) I believe they originated from an employee that had begun their career at one of the founding dog bakeries (you know which one) that is out there. Please consider this is mostly speculation, but having spent almost five years thinking about, researching, and living the "dog bakery dream", I have seen over a thousand dog treat recipes from books, online, and other sources. I am sure that the recipes we have and the ones at (you know who) have diverged quite a bit since then, but the original recipes from their book and the ones that we have are pretty darn close. We were not the originators of these recipes, they have been passed down from various people and businesses over the years until we came into their possession.


Something else most people don't know is that in order to work at Bigwag, our employees sign a non-disclosure agreement, which legally prevents them from telling anyone what our recipes are. We've worked hard to protect our assets, and our recipes are one of our most valuable. We also have this secret "bat-cave" safe that opens up out of the floor where we keep the recipe book protected from all manner of intrusions as well as a direct bomb blast that - OK, that part was imaginary, but if I would have had an unlimited build out budget for the store the bat cave safe would have been in the plans - believe me!


We also get a lot of questions about mold. There are a lot of dog treats out there that "I have been told" seem to mold easily after only a few days. This really isn't part of our secret recipe. We don't use any preservatives or mold prohibitors - as do these other guys. When you don't use those, there is always a chance of mold - especially if you don't bake out all of the moisture. Our secret on this subject is that we use a big commercial convection oven so that we can bake out almost all of the moisture without turning them into dark brown burnt crisps. We did have a batch of seasonal treats mold on us once - mostly because we didn't bake them all of the way and they still had some moisture in them. Our soft bites don't have as long of a shelf life as the rest of our treats either, because we don't bake them as hard as the other treats. We want them to be crumbly, not crunchy.


This is mostly employee error, referring to Erin and I, as we rushed something to get in a deadline or we did not factor in humidity in our baking and proofing times, and have learned from this process. But as a rule, we don't expect any mold in our treats. Our treats are crunchy. If anything ever does mold, you should bring them back to our store for an immediate replacement. Do not under any circumstance feed a moldy treat to a dog. This can be dangerous.


Another aspect of our basic recipes is that you won't see any sugar, corn syrup, or salt. Dogs love sweets, and sweet is generally cheap, which is why so many dog treat manufacturers use a form of sugar as one of the top four ingredients. If you really read the ingredients of these other treats - see where the good ingredients are in relation to the sugar or fructose syrup. By law they have to be listed in order of their ratio highest to lowest, but once you get to the fourth or fifth ingredient, you are looking at tablespoons in entire batches. Adding carrots or peas in as the third to the last ingredient right above "Vitamin A" is like adding 5 peas in five pounds of treats. It gets it on the ingredient statement, but what good do five peas do in an five entire pounds of treats - especially when you bake out all of the moisture.


So, our secret ingredient. I wish it were as simple as ground rhino bones imported from Africa, or rose extract from a tropical island. Pet food manufacturers have taken it for granted that most of the time dogs will eat whatever we hand them. They lump third hand ingredients together, add some sugar so there is anything at all enticing to the dogs, and then slap a picture of a cute dog on the label. When you have a huge segment of dogs that are used to this kind of treat, and then you give them a treat that actually has real ingredients in it, it's no wonder that they often don't go back to eating that other preservative laden junk food.

• So, the real secret to our treats, as much as I can divulge, out here for the first time -
  Don't skimp on the ingredients. Use real food. If you need to even look at palatablilty enhancers, then you are missing the game. Most dogs can tell the difference.
• Feed fresh treats. Our dogs won't eat treats that are even half of what their shelf life really is. We don't have treats in our store that old, as they move pretty fast, but on occasion we find a bag in our pantry at home that could be 3 months old, and they begrudgingly take them or spit them out. Guess how old M!(KBONES are...
• Bake out all of the moisture. This makes them crunchy, but mold can be harmful to dogs, and we want them to last longer than a week.
• Use ingredients dogs like - peanut butter, honey, pumpkin, cream cheese, carob, bacon, liver, beets, cheese, cinnamon, and egg.
• Use ingredients that are good for dogs - veggies, pumpkin, spinach, whole wheat flour, canola oil, rolled oats, beets, and real bacon. Don't add any extra sugar or salt, or MSG, or Propylene Glycol.
• Use ingredients people like - mint, mint oil, and fresh mint (good for all of those face lickers and sweet kissers). Did I mention mint? Keeps the breath fresh!

Our new Wholesale Website is now up

We now have a new wholesale website for retailers that would like to carry Bigwag Dog Bakery products. Our site is at www.wholesale.bigwag.com.

We're excited to have this up and running for all of our wholesale customers that would like to shop online. We do need a state sales tax ID or a retailer certificate to activate your account, which can be FAXed to 479-631-2927 or emailed to sales@bigwag.com. Questions about our wholesale program can also be emailed or you can call 1-866-931-2924 during regular business hours (Mon-Sat 10 AM - 7 PM CST). We also pay for half of the shipping on orders over $250, and we pay all of the shipping for orders over $500. We also have a great deal on a starter pack which will get you up and running with a great assortment of our treats.

Be sure you subscribe to our retailer newsletter for alerts on special deals, new and seasonal treats that you won't want to miss.

If your not a retailer, you can still view our online store at www.bigwag.com.

While this website marks a landmark milestone for us in our new wholesale program that we've been developing since June, we have not altered our recipes for these treats. They are still the high quality treats that you would find in our retail store located in Rogers, AR. Still 100% natural ingredients, made in the USA at our bakery. We don't outsource to large bakeries, and we don't use any foreign ingredients from overseas. These are fresh treats hand baked with human grade ingredients, no added salt, sugar, or preservatives.

While these are some of the healthiest treats on the planet, these treats taste awesome to dogs! More dogs go to herculean lengths to get more of these than I can recount here. Stolen bags off of counters, Christmas presents sniffed out of closets, jars plucked open with uncanny ingenuity. I've had customers call our treats "doggie crack". You just can't find treats this healthy that dogs go this crazy for anywhere else.

So, I apologize for our gratuitous treat blogging today. We try to keep our blog mostly related to community events or news, but we're so excited about our new site we couldn't help it. We've been dreaming of a wholesale website since we opened in 2006. It's taken us a long time to find the time (there is just so much to do to keep the store open and stocked) and we finally found some time to work on it this holiday.

Paws-n-Spas donates over $700 to the Humane Society

On Friday, Bigwag Dog Bakery, on behalf of the volunteer group Paws-n-Spas, donated it's proceeds from the June 2008 dog wash fund raiser that was held at Dog Days Doggie Day Care, which amounted to over $737. I've been working with Jennifer Cole and Dian Sosaya in coordinating these events. These funds are going directly to the new building fund, which will hopefully break ground in the Spring of 2009, which if that happens according to plan, could be completed by September 2009.
This is an artist rendering of what the hopeful building could look like. Current architecture plans are being reviewed and might be finalized soon, combining elements of several design considerations that meet the property requirements as well as features that are badly needed for the new building.

Here is a short video with Clay Morgan, the Director of the Humane Society talking about Paws-n-Spas:

The next Paws-n-Spas is going to be held this Saturday, September 20th, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. It will be benefiting Animal Havel Rescue. Details can be found at their website.

Paws-n-Spas is a volunteer effort to raise money for local rescues and shelters. Items for the wash are donated by local businesses in exchange for advertising on fliers, our website, and any other marketing that is donated by media, while volunteers provide the elbow grease. I've been building this up as an out-of-the-box dog wash fund raiser that can easily go in and raise money for organizations that might not have the know-how or wherewithal to put on and promote an event that can make a quick difference, while providing advertising for local businesses, and thus unifying the pet community around these heroic groups and individuals.

We are hoping to make the Rogers and Fayetteville dog washes a staple event year after year, and are looking for new organizations that may need help that are willing to throw in their hat to help us help them out. If you run a rescue or shelter, and would be interested in being the next host for a Paws-n-Spas, email me and let me know!

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.

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.

Bark Parks gets one step closer

Bentonville Bark Park Update
For anyone who lives in the Bentonville area, and thinks it has taken an excruciating amount of time to get your Bark Park up and going, relax and take a deep breath. We've heard under pretty good authority that the Bentonville Bark Park is going to go up in stages, so that the whole amount they were seeking will not need to be raised before there is some place you can take your dogs. The folks responsible are finalizing plans for the fencing, and are getting ready to take take bids, and might soon be ready to have phase one completed. Yea!!! There was also a rumor that the City of Bentonville might be willing to build up the land for the Bark Park, to get it a little higher and out of the mud. I know this was one of my concerns when I first heard where the park was going in at.

Fayetteville Bark Park - Pup Parade
Walt Eilers, Fayetteville Mayoral Candidate, will be on the Fayetteville Square Saturday, July 5th, at 9:45 AM for a short pup parade, and then to discuss the current state of the proposed dog parks in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville Dog Park - Fayetteville Animal Shelter
Is Fayetteville ready for more dog parks? Saturday was my first time to see the dog park at the Fayetteville Animal Shelter, during the Grand Re-Opening celebration, and this is a very beautiful park. I get the feeling that it is entirely under utilized. Community awareness of this great park could be increased by planning some dog park activities, and promoting them. I know that the Rogers Dog Park has a great following, partly because it plays host to events like the easter egg hunt, RDOD, Mardi Paws, and Halloween Carnivals. Fun, vendor supported events, with free stuff to give away, that afford both the people and the dogs to socialize with their own kind. If Fayetteville is hosting events like these at their current park, they need to get the word out better.

Exploring Northwest Arkansas' Dog Parks

As of June, 2008, there are only three off-lead dog parks that I am aware of in Northwest Arkansas that are completed. Here's the rundown:

Each park has it's own rules, which may include: being up to date on all vaccinations, aggressive dogs prohibited, dogs must be spayed or neutered, puppies must be older than 6 months, owners must stay within sight of their dogs at all times, no spike collars, a maximum of 3 dogs per adult, owners must clean up after their dogs, absolutely no females in season, no glass, no tobacco products inside the fencing. If you do not know your parks rules, check for signs or ask.

Murphy Memorial Dog Park
407 E. Nursery Road,
Rogers AR 72758
(479) 631-9909 (Steve and Toni Carter)
This is a fenced in park with big dog, little dog, and training sections. Loaded full of trees, picnic tables, benches, toys, and a dog wash station, this is a beautiful park to take your four legged friends to on a nice Saturday morning. Often host to annual dog events, like the Easter Egg Hunt and Responsible Dog Ownership Day, MMDP is really at the center of the dog community of Rogers. Sitting in front of the Humane Society grounds, prospective dog owners can take their dog for a walk down to the park and let them get some exercise.
Registration/fee required.

Fayetteville Animal Shelter Dog Park
1640 Armstrong Road
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479-444-3456

Big open fenced in area with toys, bag, water and benches for owners. Don't forget to come inside and pick another play mat. Only open during the day until the sun goes down. Location: Right behind the Fayetteville animal shelter. Directions: Just turn right on to industrial drive and then pull in to the shelter and go around the back. Here is the Fayetteville Animal Shelter's website.

There are rumors of a new dog park being discussed as part of a $20 million Fayetteville parks project. Here are some articles: article, article discussing it from December, 2007. This almost sounds too good to be true, but hey!

Ft Smith Dog Park
Corner of Massard and Louisville Streets
Ft Smith, AR 72904
The Fort Smith Dog Park is dedicated to dogs and dog lovers. Like most dog parks, our purpose is to provide off-leash exercise and socialization opportunities for our four legged companions while promoting responsible dog ownership through events and programs. The temporary park was established through the efforts of the City of Fort Smith Parks & Recreation Department and the Fort Smith Airport Commission. For more information, visit their website.

Bentonville Bark Park - NOT YET COMPLETED
Walton and NW "A" Street
Bentonville, AR 72712
Plans are currently underway for this to be Bentonville's first off-leash dog park. No fencing has been installed yet. For more information on current developments, visit their website.

If anyone has any photos of their dogs enjoying any of these dog parks, or perhaps one I don't even know about, send them to me!

Facts and Myths about Your Dogs Food and Treats

Myth: The dog food I am using will help my dog live a long and healthy life.

FACT: Most commercial dog foods don't contain enough quality proteins, good fats, and proper carbohydrate sources. Instead they contain fillers, sugars, spoiled or rancid grains, toxic chemicals, preservatives, slaughterhouse waste, artificial colors and flavors, feces, and pesticides. The AAFCO allows bird beaks, feet and feathers to be used as a protein source, listed as poultry meals and by products. The average dog consumes 35-40 lbs. of artificial preservatives a year. With cancer rates in dogs increasing, as well as starting at earlier ages then ever before, the average life expectancy of our dogs is decreasing at an alarming rate.

Myth: I can manage any pet food allergy myself by switching their food.

FACT: Unfortunately for pets with food allergies, most pet food diets contain some sort of mixture of beef, dairy, wheat, lamb, fish, and chicken. Even worse, some contain corn or soy. Just changing foods is bound to lead to exposure to the same allergens. There are two ways to address food allergies: feeding a diet based on high quality or exotic protein sources (this usually means venison, duck, kangaroo, rabbit or even alligator) OR feeding a diet where the proteins have been predigested into units too small to interest their immune system.

Myth: My dog can't have a food allergy because I've been feeding them the same food for years.

FACT: It can take months or even years to develop a food allergy. The immune system must be repeatedly exposed to food in question, and must develop enough antibodies to trigger an allergic reaction. A reaction to a food that occurs on the first exposure is not an allergic reaction, but rather a "food intolerance" and usually involves toxins within the food.

Myth: My dog food has 100% of the nutritional needs for my dog.

FACT: Most proteins, amino acids, and nutritional value is cooked out of the food during the baking process. Most commercial dog foods are cooked twice, once during the extrusion, and a second time to harden the food. Most commercial dog foods have such low quality proteins, from sources that are indigestible, they often will eat twice as much food to get the same nutritional value as they would from a single serving of a higher quality food.

Myth: My dog food is a quality dog food, containing only the freshest ingredients, and choice cuts of meat.

FACT: Most dog foods contain inferior ingredients, unsuitable for human consumption. By-products, meat meals, animal digest, old or rancid grains, bird feathers, even dead, diseased, and deformed animals all make up the ingredient list in many commercial dog foods.

Myth: Human food is bad for dogs.

FACT: Table scraps have been what domesticated dogs have eaten since they were domesticated. It wasn't until within the last 100 years, that large pet food manufacturers have begun marketing prepared dog food that we began to believe table scraps were bad for them. Human food is often made with sauces, salts, and seasonings, and it's these ingredients that makes our food unfit for our pets. Meats, vegetables, grains, yogurt, and cheese are all suitable ingredients for our dogs.

Myth: Vitamin C is the new cure-all wonder vitamin for dogs.

FACT: Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, which means excess is flushed from the body in the urine. While this means it is impossible to overdose on vitamin C, it also means feeding more isn't going to do anything because excess will be flushed from the body. Their are reports of vitamin C reducing kidney stone and aiding in relief of pain from hip dysplasia, however feeding large amount of C may cause diarrhea as it is a natural laxative.

Myth: All doggy treats are healthy.

FACT: Most dog treats contain large amounts of chemicals and preservatives. Think about how long most treats have been sitting on store shelves. These chemicals and preservatives contribute to poor health, especially over the long term.

Blog Review

I read two blogs this week - Blog #1 is from a friend of mine that struck a cord with me. I embrace this mentality about going local. Over 90% of the economy (my numbers might not be exact - my memory isn't what it used to be) is supported by small business. You stop and think, wow, what about all of those big employers, those big companies. They employ a lot of people, and that they do. But it's a numbers game here. There are simply thousands of small businesses for every super large business out there, all quietly toiling away keeping their business running, not getting much PR for the good or hard job they do, or the local charities they work with, or all of the good they bring to the community.

So, I do support local, small businesses as much as possible. I think it's important, and I like to root for the underdog. I know how hard it is to start, build, and grow a small businesses first hand, and feel a kinship with all of the other small guys (and gals) out there. If we all supported each other, we would all be stronger! Local is more sustainable, it's greener, it's better for the local economy - it also feels right. It's community, not a big corporation. Small businesses operate with a conscience (most of the time), while big corporations exist without one.

I'm not sure Brenda's is the best cheeseburger in NWA tho. The Station Cafe on the Bentonville Square flips a pretty darn good cheeseburger. I would pit it against Brenda's any time. Not to knock Brenda's tho. They are good, and without it, Erin would never have found the Sysco office to pick up flour in Fayetteville on occasion.

Blog #2 is related more to BigWag. While I appreciate the economic slowdown, and what that means for everyone, including me, it makes it hard to refute every single point the author makes. It is tough. I have seen first hand what the housing crunch has done to the area shelters. I've rescued and fostered one myself.

But, here is where the rub is for me. We as a race took responsibility for the canine species when we domesticated them. A lot of the problems they have now, are a result from poor breeding practices, nutrition, and a lack of responsibility. Now, when I say poor breeding practices, I am referring to over breeding from a genetic pool that was too small to filter out problems that are now inherit to the breed, like joint and hip problems or other diseases that are common to specific breeds.

If you have never seen a dog with food allergies, then good for you. They are completely miserable, constantly itching, irritable bowels, vomiting, chewing on their feet. Lela states, "I’m going on record here to say - I really don’t love my dog that much. Kids, yes. Dog, no."

Most of the reason dogs have food allergies is because for decades we fed them crap - and you can quote me on that one. Parts they would not eat out in the wild. Parts we sure as heck wouldn't eat. Ingredients that were going to be landfill, so we found a creative way of disposing of the waste. We ground it all up, added rancid restaurant oil to make it "go down easier", and priced it to sell - by the millions of it. As long as it was cheaper than throwing it away, they were making a profit. Poor protein sources, little to no nutrient value. Most of the amino acids and vitamins are destroyed during the baking process. Dogs spent their whole lives eating "filler" we didn't want to pay to throw away, and turned it into a billion dollar industry. This is what has created the food allergies in dogs.

Our responsibility doesn't end with just better food. The Humane Society in Benton County destroyed some 2500 dogs in 2007. They had an above average placement rate, but that is still how many were destroyed. What kind of existence is it to spend your "happy, puppy months" in a cage, and then be destroyed when you reached an age that you are "unadoptable". Counties in California have reached "no kill status" with aggressive spay-neuter programs. People adopt or buy dogs (from puppy millers), and then decide they don't want it anymore. I have heard stories of surrenders because the dog didn't match the new furniture, or they got too big, or it was too much responsibility. They chewed things up, or pooped in the house and couldn't be house broken. In the end the stories are all the same - too much work or too inconvenient. This isn't responsible dog ownership. You can't just give your children back when they turn out to be too much work or are too inconvenient.

So as an argument to Lela's "Spa Products" comments - maybe this is just karma for the rest of the dog population that suffers or are destroyed because the dog ended up being too inconvenient. In the end there will always be a ton of people who will try and tell you what you should or shouldn't feed your dog. Most of what you will see or hear will come from billion dollar mega corporations whose conscience is single mindedness to turn a buck - so just keep that in mind the next time you stroll down the pet food isle.

Knowing what I know about the pet food industry, if my financial situation would prevent me from buying a better than average dog food, my dog would be eating ramen noodles and hot dogs and mac-n-cheese right along side me - and they would go apes over it. It's one way of guaranteeing humane grade ingredients! Dogs ate table scraps for centuries before we were sold on the notion of dry dog food.

Leash Training Your Dog

Someone was asking the other day how they could get their puppy to walk on a leash. I'm sure there is ton's of tips on this, but I thought I would give my advise on how I accomplished this.

First, 6 months might be a little young to accomplish great leash walking skills, but if you have patience, it's not too young to start.

Second, this works best with small treats, or treat bits, that your dog loves. I use our BBQ Trainer chips, but anything small that will motivate them will do the trick. Sam will do anything for Taste Of The Wild - Salmon flavor - which is just dog food. You don't want too big of a treat or you break their concentration for too long, and then they forget what they are doing, or they have to stand up and drop some of the treat on the floor because they can't eat it in one bite, and if you are teaching sit, this can be a problem.

The first thing that I would do is acclimate my puppy or dog to accept treat reinforcement. Teach them the sit command. This is one of the easiest commands to learn, and it gets them "paying attention to you" instead of paying attention to something else. To get them to sit, start with the dog facing you, speak the word "sit" in a clear, commanding tone (not too scary) and slowly raise the treat up and over them, so that they have to sit to be able to follow it over their head. Let them smell the treat, but don't give them the treat until after they have performed the sit.

This is a natural motion, which makes it the easiest command to learn. They don't even know that they are doing a command yet, they just know that you have a treat in your hand, and it's going up over their head, so they need to sit to hopefully get it out of your hand. This may take some practice, but you should be able to get this one without too much problem. Just remember to keep it within reach, so they can smell it, maybe even lick it through your fingers, and keep moving your hand slowly up and back over their head (like you are going to set it on their forehead) and their mouth should follow you up until they have to sit to follow it further.

After they do the sit, reinforce it with the command in a clear, commanding voice, give them the treat, then heap lots of praise on them. Soon, they are going to associate that when you are happy, they get a treat, and then you have just acclimated your puppy to positive treat reinforcement. Slowly begin advancing the sit command, to not need the treat raised over and back over their head, and then slowly not showing them the treat at all, and before you know it, you will have a dog that will sit on command - every time.

Now, once you have achieved the positive treat reinforcement, you want to begin on heal, which is the formal leash walking command. This is accomplished by saying the command "heal", and with the leash and a treat in your left hand (this requires a little more dexterity on your part) guide them around to your left side until they are facing the same direction as you are, parallel with you, and then tell them to sit. A short leash will keep them in place. Take up any slack there might be between your puppy and your hand, so you can direct them with the leash. The treat in your left hand should help hold their attention - let them smell it, lick it - just don't give it to them until they are seated to your left.

Once they are seated to your left, facing front (the same direction as you), then give them the treat that you were holding in your left hand. Repeat this by moving to face your dog in front of them, putting a treat in your left hand, and guiding them back to your left again. Practice will make this automatic, and soon, the "heal" command will prompt your dog to always sit on your left side, facing forward.

The last step, is to start walking with your dog after they are in the sit-heal position. walk a few steps, then stop, and what you want to happen is your dog to resume the sit heal position after you stop. Coax this behavior with the "heal" command if needed, a treat, and if you raise the leash up on them, they will want to sit up to relieve the pressure on their neck. Once they resume the sit-heal position, give them lots of praise and treats.

Once you have them healing with you, and sitting anytime you stop, and resuming the heal position when you are walking, then you have effectively leash trained your dog or puppy. This really focuses your puppy on you while you are walking, because this training has reinforced good walking manners with praise and treats, and in the end, they just want to make you happy, plus it makes for a positively enjoyable walking experience, and won't you two look sharp walking in unison!

Camping and Dogs

As the season warms up (and dries out a bit), we are officially hitting camping season. As someone who likes to take my dogs camping with me, but isn't fortunate enough to have dogs that will stay by my camp chair no matter what, I am faced with tying them on leads, which makes for a real mess. This might be why I haven't taken them camping in over a year.

This problem prompted the idea of a camp out at the dog park - This Saturday (May 31st) will be Murphy Memorial Dog Park's first ever over night camp out. Julie Jarret has done an excellent job of taking over the planning and organizing of this event. It might even raise a little money for the dog park funds. Woo Hoo! I am very excited. I hope this becomes an annual event. Getting to go camping, and letting your dogs roam free (inside the dog park) - what a cool idea.!

This seems like a small scale solution (I don't know how many camp outs we'll have at the dog park this year) , surely someone else has figured out a better solution to camping and tying your dogs on leads. Could there be a market for slightly higher end camping pads with buried wire leads for invisible fencing, and issue collars to occupants? Is there a portable product that you can get that will keep your pet within a 40 foot circle? I really don't know - thats why I'm asking. Seems like this problem should be solved already. Send me some thoughts/comments!!!

Nutro in the news

Nutro Pet food has been in the news as causing vomiting and diarrhea. There is a list of consumer complaints located here: Consumer Affairs Nutro complaints

There is an article related to the problems experienced here: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/pet_food_recalls93.html?imw=Y

This hit close to home, as we had one customer at least already that was in our store last week looking for a safe alternative, since they were feeding Nutro to their pet, and they were having the same reaction. I don't know if there is any permanent damage done by the food, but apparently the vomiting and diarrhea stopped immediately after they quit feeding Nutro to their pet.

We currently feed "Taste Of The Wild" to our dogs. We switched them over from Solid Gold, another great dog food, mostly because they love the taste more than Solid Gold, and Taste Of The Wild is a grain free food. We only carry premium dog foods, and I can't recall any recent issues with anything we do carry, but in case there was a problem with something we sold in our store, I would highly recommend signing up for our newsletter, as we would immediately post an alert for all of our customers. We try and stay on top of everything thats going on.

Dog Bite Prevention Week

Over 1 million people in North America will suffer from a dog bite this year, and about the same number will go unreported. The truly unfortunate fact of these bites, is that the vast majority will be children.

Most of these dog bites will come from animals that know the victim, from unleashed dogs, and the fault lies really with both the pet owners and the victims. Uneducated pet owners and children are the culprits, and responsible dog ownership involves teaching both other owners, as well as children, on the proper way to approach and be around your neighborhood dogs.

9 reasons why dogs bite, to help you understand what should be avoided:
1. They will bite if angry, scared, or threatened. Even a friendly dog will bite.
2. If they feel crowded or cornered.
3. They will protect what they think belongs to them such as their food or toys.
4. Dogs will protect their territory such as a sleeping area, their yard, porch, car or home.
5. By nature Dogs are predatory and love to chase and attack.
6. A stray dog may feel stressed from being lost or hurt and might bite with a lot less provocation.
7. A dog is startled.
8. Playing rough or allow puppies to bite.
9. A dog is excited or wound up from someone yelling and screaming.


Some Tips:
* Teach your children to never approach strange dogs.
* Most injuries are caused by putting your face too close to a dog's.
* Never pet a dog thats eating, sleeping or caring for its puppies.
* Stay away from dogs that are tied up or in cars.
* You should always ask permission from a pet owner to pet his dog. Even if he is present and the dog is on a leash.
* Refrain from swinging anything at a dog. This is an invitation to bite.
* Do not allow play biting - ever.

Does Your Dog Have a Licking Problem?

OK, so you have a dog that just licks you whenever they can. Drive by lickings on the hand, lick lick lick lick. I've got a really "licky" dog (Hannah) that just can't seem to get enough licks in. Sometimes I give her attention back, let her lick my face, pet her, play with her - but sometimes I don't want a wet hand or knee or foot. Sometimes I just like to be dry. Why does she feel the need to do this all of the time? Why do dogs lick?

I used to shove her out of the way, or retract my hand when I just know she is going in for a lick. That is, until I learned why she exhibits this behavior.

Dog licking is a communications tool. They lick to tell us something. Sometimes this licking is just to show that they love us. When you pull your hand away, they will often go in for an even more aggressive kiss - mostly to get their point across. They love us, and they need to show us that they love us, so they "will lick us", one way or another.

Dogs also lick to show submission, and that they care for you. It's grooming. It's taking care of you, because you are the alpha. This is also a good sign, and preventing this can build up resentment, or you may even lose the alpha status. It's the natural job of the alpha to allow licking and grooming from the lesser of the group.

Lastly, dogs lick because they just need your attention. Sometimes it's a strange noise that scares them. Hannah likes to lick during thunderstorms. She is deathly afraid of storms. Sometimes they are trying to tell you something. Hannah will almost always tell me she has to go outside by licking first. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't - at which point she will go and scratch at the door. It's always the very persistent licks that I can now tell that she has to go outside.

So, as a dog owner, you should just relegate yourself to being licked on occasion. It's a great communications tool that is a whole lot quieter than barking, and in the right context probably easier to understand as well. I will no longer deny Hannah the option of licking me - I'll just start paying closer attention, because as with most good relationships, the real value is in understanding the small subtleties.

Poisons For Your Dog

With Valentine's Day coming up, I find it rather alarming that so many people feed their dog chocolate - even though it is highly publicized as a toxin for dogs. They say it never bothers them and they feed it to them all of the time.


While I don't choose to let my dogs live on the edge that far, I thought I would publish the ASPCA list of substances you shouldn't feed your dog, just in case you had an urge - and this is partly because I saw a post circulating around about raisins and liver failure for one particular dog. Raisins have been on the Do Not Feed list for some time now, and this is a case where this kind of information just doesn't reach enough people, or they choose to ignore it, because "it never bothered them before" and now it's too late. Hint Hint!

This list (which we consult all of the time) is the reason we don't have an oatmeal raisin dog treat. Also, the sharp reader will notice that garlic is also on this list, and some of our treats have garlic in them. While we don't just ignore this, most research points that garlic was added to the list primarily because they are in the same family as onions, and onions are very much toxic for dogs.

While garlic is a natural flea repellent, the amounts that it would take to do any harm would be several whole cloves in one sitting. We add a few tablespoons to a batch of 400 treats. I have family members that feed garlic suppliments to their dogs with no problems. I personally don't think garlic has any ill efects, but I imagine a few dogs can have reactions the same as people do - and no single rule works 100% of the time for everyone.

So, I guess the bottom line is that I can find a piece of research saying garlic is ok for dogs for every piece out there saying it is bad. Chocolate, on the otherhand, does not have any such backing - or raisons. So, do your homework - Here's the list:

Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pet
- Alcoholic beverages
- Avocado
- Chocolate (all forms)
- Coffee (all forms)
- Fatty foods
- Macadamia nuts
- Moldy or spoiled foods
- Onions, onion powder
- Raisins and grapes
- Salt
- Yeast dough
- Garlic
- Products sweetened with xylitol

Warm Weather Hazards
- Animal toxins—toads, insects, spiders, snakes and scorpions
- Blue-green algae in ponds
- Citronella candles
- Cocoa mulch
- Compost piles Fertilizers
- Flea products
- Outdoor plants and plant bulbs
- Swimming-pool treatment supplies
- Fly baits containing methomyl
- Slug and snail baits containing metaldehyde

Medication
Common examples of human medications that can be potentially lethal to pets, even in small doses, include:
- Pain killers
- Cold medicines
- Anti-cancer drugs
- Antidepressants
- Vitamins
- Diet Pills

Cold Weather Hazards
- Antifreeze
- Liquid potpourri
- Ice melting products
- Rat and mouse bait

Common Household Hazards
- Fabric softener sheets
- Mothballs
- Post-1982 pennies (due to high concentration of zinc)

Holiday Hazards
- Christmas tree water (may contain fertilizers and bacteria, which, if ingested, can upset the stomach.
- Electrical cords
- Ribbons or tinsel (can become lodged in the intestines and cause intestinal obstruction—most often occurs with kittens!)
- Batteries
- Glass ornaments
Non-toxic Substances for Dogs and Cats
The following substances are considered to be non-toxic, although they may cause mild gastrointestinal upset in some animals:
- Water-based paints
- Toilet bowl water
- Silica gel
- Poinsettia
- Cat litter
- Glue traps
- Glow jewelry

Courtesy ASPCA (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_poisonsafe)

The Lone Ranger Gets a Partner

For those who haven't checked out www.zootoo.com yet, this is a website that is trying to build a pet owner community and knowledge base centered around user experiences for different pet services, retailers, animal shelters and rescues, products, you name it, it's probably there. Their goal, I think, is to become the number one destination if you want a review of a pet product or service, and they are doing a good job building it up with a million dollar makeover contest for your local animal shelter.

Anyway, my point is, as I was perusing some of the reviews for some of the dog treats on this website, I started out mildly disappointed. After all, I own a dog bakery, and my whole mantra is healthy, natural, no sugar, no salt, no preservatives. Some days I feel like I am on a crusade to improve the diets of all of those disbelievers out there. With the humanization trend of pets, we can compare our dogs to our children in many cases. We wouldn't dare feed our kids nothing but sugar, salt, and artificial coloring all day, would we? They need to eat their vegetables, the food pyramid, good stuff in the tank, right? But so many of the treats you buy in the store is contrary to that stance. Sugar and salt help all the other nastiness go down easier - make the dog want to eat it.

Sorry for the digression - back to my point. I started off mildly disappointed, as I read one mom after another quip how these treats must be yummy, their dog "wolfed them down". Ick. Then, the tide turned. Someone actually mentioned that they should look at the ingredients of these treats. Too many chemicals - 1 out of 5 stars. Then another low review - look at all of the sugar. Look at all of the artificial coloring. These colors can't be natural.

Now, I know that I am not personally responsible for these readers opinions, but I don't feel like I am the lone ranger trying to help your dogs live longer and healthier. These women get it. If you are reading this, then I think you are getting it too. And that makes me proud. Most people don't know that the pet food industry was born to dispose of the people food waste. Fancy marketing was used to lull us into a sense of complacency of what we feed our pals, our best friends, our park play buddies, and our sappy movie snugglers. Even if you don't buy your treats from me, just read the ingredients. Just because it's cute and looks like a mini spare rib doesn't mean it's good for your dog. Thats all I ask. Oh, and vote for your local shelter at zootoo.com. I guess thats really two things.

Rawhide is for Shoes

More and more people ask me what they can give their dogs for chew toys other than rawhide. I know I have had to dislodge a piece from my dogs throat more than once. That was before I found better chew toys for them. My dog's favorite chew toys now are moo tubes. These are cow trachea that have been smoked and dehydrated. What makes these so great is that they are completely natural, 100% digestible, and chocked full of Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which is great for hips and joints. These are gentler on the tummy than rawhide too. Make sure you buy FDA and USDA inspected, made in the USA moo tubes.

Here are some tips for safe chewing:

• Rawhide is the same product your leather shoes and couches are made of. It’s durable, NOT digestible.
• If consumed too rapidly rawhide can cause vomiting or diarrhea.
• Large chunks of rawhide can cause intestinal blockages, as it swells up to 4 times its dry state size.
• Rawhide produced outside the United States may contain arsenic and/or formaldehyde.
• Greenies have been surgically removed from the intestinal tracts of many dogs because they are not fully digestible. (They are currently reformulating Greenies).
• Cow hooves can cause teeth to break. They can also splinter, causing obstructions or in worst case scenarios, perforations of the intestines.
• Pig ears imported from Chile were recently recalled due to Salmonella outbreaks.
• The best chews can be consumed in one sitting because this prevents bacterial infections including salmonella.
• Always wash your hands after handling any of your dog’s chews, to prevent potential salmonella or e. coli infection.
• Always monitor your dog while he is chewing, to prevent choking.

Moo tubes are relatively new, so i don't know if they are counted in the same statistic, but Bullysticks are the only chew treat without any documented complications like rawhide or greenies.

For dogs that are allergic to beef or pork products, they do make lamb ears and bones. These are also not as messy as the pig counterparts, if you are worried about your carpet. I have not tried the ostrich bones yet. I am slightly afraid they would splinter like turkey bones.

Another chew toy that is good if you are looking for something to last for an aggressive chewer are deer antlers. These last a long time, they are digestible, do not splinter, do not make a mess on the carpet, and dogs seem to love chewing them. I am planning on testing these out, and I will post later if they live up to their reputation.