Bark Slope's Blog

Well, it’s hard to believe, but we’re already at the beginning of the Christmas shopping season! We’ve added dog santa toys, reindeer antlers, santa hats and holiday scarves, and plenty of Christmas and Hanukkah dog clothes and collars too! You can see them at our special holiday section: http://www.barkslope.com/holiday-dog-products.html

Greetings!

Lots of changes have been taking place at Bark Slope (a new baby lead to new ownership, which lead to a new site design, which lead to…well, you get the picture)  but we’re back and at it again in the blog world!  For some odd reason, we can’t get the blog link to work half the time, so we’re crossing the paws that this will stop soon so that we can consistently share what’s going on in the dog world as well as what’s new in the Bark Slope world–not to mention a bunch of laughs along the way.  I think we can all agree that life is so very stressful and that humor is a necessity to make it through the day!  What better way to relieve stress than to combine humor and dogs?!

First, however, introductions are in order.  The person behind the computer right now is Kade, co-owner of Bark Slope /main mutt/janitor.  (”Kade” is said like “Jade”, but with a “K”–and he would be a male. )  Sharing in the daily fun of keeping Bark Slope operating is Brenda, the other co-owner of Bark Slope/product description writer-extraordinairre/pseudo-accountant.  You’ll be hearing from both of us–along with guest authors, too.  Some are other members of the Bark Slope team, while others are experts that have been recommended to us.  Anyway, enough about us and back to what’s going on now…

Currently, we’re right in the midst of Howl-oween madness.  This year’s costumes are flying out the door (for those interested, it’s the shiny clown costume that’s most popular for us this year), but we ourselves are still at a little bit of a loss as to what costumes to use for our own dogs.  Kade has two dogs at his home in North Carolina–Matza Ball (a 4-year-old white/tan Maltichon) and Tobi Knish (a 9-month-old black Yorkipoo), while Brenda has Kade’s other dog, Duchess (a 10-year-old Lhasa Apso), living with her in Utah.  (The move across the country was a no-go for Dutchie, so she keeps Brenda company.)  Oh, and it’s a commonly asked question when people hear Matz and Tobi’s names, but no, Kade is not Jewish.  It’s a story best saved for another time, but there was logic behind how it all came to be.

As it stands, it looks like Matza will be a pink hippo, while Tobi will be a pig.  Though Matza’s personality doesn’t really resemble a hippo much, there could not be a more fitting costume for Tobi than that of a pig.  The dog can put down food like no other!  She’s six pounds, but if you were to go off of the volume she eats, you’d think you had a 50-lb. dog on your hands.  It’s insane.  Matza can be trusted to self-feed, but not Tobi.  Bless her furry little heart.

Anyway, the days are filled with wrapping up the Halloween shopping season while we’re working in the background to get the coolest possible Christmas and Hannukah items ready to go!  Shipments are arriving daily–and look to continue for the foreseeable future.  Personal favorites thus far: The “Oy Vey Cow” toy (the internal slider makes a sound that is exactly like saying “oy vey” when the toy is turned back and forth…I often just play with it myself because it’s an absolute hoot and makes me laugh everytime…yes, I’m pathetic) and the Juicy Couture teddy bear rope toy is the other toy fave.  For clothing, we are SO excited to be able to exclusively offer a high-quality, fun sweater line that was just uploaded to the site last night.  The sweaters are not able to be offered by any other online retailer, so these are ones you won’t see all over the place!  The argyle sweater and the toggle sweater are both at the top of my faves list too.  Dosha Dog’s collars, along with London Dog’s, are just amazing, but we’re also currently evaluating a couple of other lines to bring into the mix.

So, in short, there’s a lot going on and for those who have been following the blog for years (even during the stretch no new posts were added), we’ll hopefully make this blog worth your while and help brighten your day!  Having said that, if there is a topic you want discussed or even a new product you would suggest (among other things, our basic requirements are that it be high quality and unique), feel free to drop us a line.  We’re all ears!  (info@barkslope.com)

Until then, have a fantastic day!

~Kade

This video is more amazing than it is funny, but it makes me feel better about not eating turkey on Thanksgiving this year.  The turkey was raised with the dog so they are actually playing!

Driving down to West Virginia and missing my exit was my only experience with Delaware, but these 5 dog-friendly aspects of the state make me want to go back and explore!

1. The Lazy L Bed and Breakfast is super dog-friendly.  They have a dog run and welcome all housebroken and well socialized dogs to visit their establishment.  I love this quote: Children over 10 are welcome.  Gotta love a place that puts a bigger restriction on children than dogs!

2. The Home for the Holidays party sponsored by the Delaware Humane Society is taking place November 30th at the shelter.  Join the festivities that include food, drinks and pictures with Santa!

3. Olivia & Olive: The Two Little Pugs Who Live Here…Check out this adorable blog (pic below) from dogs that live in Delaware (at least I think they do).  Love the logo and I am completely jealous of their Mom’s creativity!

4. “Doggin Delaware: The 40 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the First State“.  Who knew Delaware was such a great place to hike with your dog? 

5. Safe Haven Sanctuary is a no-kill shelter that aims to make Sussex County in Delaware no-kill and expand to the state level and eventually recruit bordering states to adopt the same goal. 

Why is it that pugs are so darn funny? 

This week’s Dog in America is featuring 5 reasons Connecticut is a dog friendly state.  If you know of any other reasons why CT is a great dog state please feel free to share in the comment section below.  Here we go…

1. Does your dog need a break from the tough job of being a dog?  Check out the Interlaken Inn of Lakeville where dogs can enjoy off-leash hours at the lake, go on hikes on the Appalachian Trail and be welcomed with an optional VIP package just for them.

2. Stubby the hero dog (see pic below) fought side by side with soldiers during WWI and was honored by three Presidents and a lifetime member of the Red Cross, YMCA and American Legion for his courage in Germany (he was snuck on the SS Minnesota) and the morale boost he provided the soldiers.

3. Want to see the winners of an AKC Dog Show and possibly become a winner yourself?  Check out the Mohegan Sun AKC Challenge Dog Show this coming weekend, come for the show and stay for the slot machines!

4. The Connecticut Humane Society was established in 1881 and has many dogs that are looking for new homes.  There are a couple days left in Adopt a Shelter Pet month so check them out today.

5. Puppy Restraining Order: Riley, a 6 month-old Golden Retriever was awarded a restraining order against his owner’s ex-wife due to alleged abuse by the woman while taking care of Riley.  Connecticut gets a thumbs up from me for passing this new law since many animals are punished to get back at the other party in divorces and domestic violence cases.

This dog thinks he learned a new trick, until he figures out the trick is on him!


Send your Funny Dog Friday pictures, videos or jokes to blog@barkslope.com.  Have a great weekend!

Kim

I’m feeling a bit miffed right now with two dog shelters that are ruled by the rules instead of common sense and compassion.  I will preface this by saying that I understand policies are put in place for the ultimate safety of animals and the placement into homes, but it upsets me nonetheless.

Monday I posted about Dogsindanger.com which lists dogs that are essentially on “death row” and scheduled to be put to sleep within days.  On one of our pet industry forums a member wanted to save the life of a dog in Virginia, but the shelter would not adopt to someone from out-of-state so today that dog is on their “In Memorium” page.  Why put the plea out there if you are not willing to place the dog in a home and save his life?!?  Somebody wanted to give him a home and it makes me feel that maybe these shelters do not care enough to be running a shelter.  Enough said on that point since I could go on forever!

If anyone watches The Ellen Degeneres show they probably saw her plea to Mutts and Moms (she didn’t name them on the show) to return her adopted dog Iggy to his new home with her hairdresser’s family.  Ellen rehomed the pup to the family because after spending 3k on training and neutering Iggy, he was not adjusting to Ellen’s house with three cats.  Iggy had a new family including two young girls and Mutts and Moms took the dog out of the house because Ellen broke her contract with them.  Now, I do know that they don’t want to adopt out dogs and have them placed in new homes that may not be a good fit, but now Iggy is back in the shelter system instead of a home and they wasted resources (and obviously some brain cells) by not letting him stay with a loving family.  I hope they come to their senses and give him back!

I have only flown over Colorado, but I’d love to take a trip there one day because I’m sure the hiking is much more adventurous than the Chicagoland area!   If you’re a dog owner living in Colorado I’m sure you know how great it is for dogs, but for the rest of us I have found the following 5 reasons Colorado is dog-friendly (please feel free to add to the comments below as always):

1. Hiking with your dog: The folks at Denver Hound Hikers take your active dog on a 2 hour supervised trek which makes for a super happy (and tired) dog!

2. Celebrity Dog Owner from Colorado:  OK, I’m trying to stay with the theme of having a celebrity dog owner from each state and I use the term “celebrity” loosely here, but Kristin Cavallari (see pic) is a native of Colorado and her dog is pretty gosh darn cute.  I would be more than happy to take suggestions on another celebrity dog owner from Colorado!

3. The Dumb Friends League: I giggle a little every time I see the name, but their cause is nothing but serious.  Established in 1910 the Dumb Friends League is the largest animal welfare organization in the Rocky Mountain region.

4. Colorado Springs is #1: According to Forbes, Colorado Springs is the top ranked pet-friendly city in the U.S.  The city has more than 10,000 acres of public park space, or almost a tenth of an acre for every pet. It also features seven dog parks and 113 veterinarians.

5. Fun Denver Dog Blog: Random Musings of a Denver Dog Blog is a superbly written blog from an adorable dog in Denver (pretty obvious, huh?).  Maybe his owner will see this post and let us know what kind of dog he is?!

Next week I’ll tackle Connecticut, so if you know of any dog-friendly aspects of CT please email me at blog@barkslope.com.

I just discovered the site www.dogsindanger.com and knew I had to post as soon as possible.  Dogs in Danger lists shelter dogs all over the country that will be put down within days (and even hours).  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE visit the site and pass along the information if you are in the position to help save these dogs.  Many of them are older or need homes without other pets or children, but many are being killed because the shelters are overcrowded.  Please note that their site is pretty slow to load, but be patient.  There are dogs that will be put to sleep as soon as tomorrow that need homes!

It does appear that the site is getting so much traffic that it is hard to access.  If you are a shelter manager that has desperate cases please contact me directly so I can post the information, I would hate to have these dogs put down because people cannot see the website.  Our contact is blog@barkslope.com and put “Dogs in Danger” in the subject line with information on who to contact at the shelter, the dog’s information and when the dog is scheduled to be euthanized.

Kim

As I reach the ripe old age of 30 and read books like “Eat, Pray, Love” I have learned to take control of my own happiness.  Don’t get me wrong, I love doing the blog, but my previous plan to make a Top 10 list for every state in this country was made before “real life” set in.  Soo…I ammend that promise and plan (see, I’ve learned not to promise b/c it only leads to disappointment) to list the Top 5 reasons each state is a wonderful place for dogs.  I welcome any state specific events, places of interest or fun facts that relate to dogs and you can add the comments at the bottom of any Dogs in America post or email me directly at blog@barkslope.com for the states I have yet to cover.  This week I bring you California, next week will be Colorado, the following week will be Connecticut, you get the idea!

I think California is one of the top places for a pampered pup to live it up, check out the Top 5 list for California to see why:

1. California Dog Beaches: Beaches abound in CA with your pick of wonderful dog-friendly beaches

2. October in California is a blast with the World’s Largest Halloween Pet Event in Long Beach.  The Haute Dog Howl’oween Parade is hosting it’s 7th annual parade and expects over 500 dogs on Oct. 28th, 2007.  Last year they raised over 10k to help dogs!

3. Famous Celebrity Pet Owner: California is full of them, but Jessica Alba is known as one of the top celebrity dog owners and proud owner of a lovable Pitbull named Bowie (see pic)

4. Dogs Rule: A City Council order in Belvedere, California reads “No dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash.”  Sounds like the people in Belvedere truly understand dogs!

5. I have to put in a personal plug for BarkSlope.com by mentioning the luxurious accommodations that the St. Regis Monarch Beach offers truly pampered pups.  The gorgeous resort has a pet package that includes a St. Regis bed, personalized silver water & food bowls, treats, magazine and fabulous toys from BarkSlope.com. Rooms start at $545 a night so your dog better have a good job!

In honor of October and Halloween all of our Funny Dog Friday posts in October will feature dogs in funny costumes.  Have a funny picture of your dog in a costume, send it to blog@barkslope.com and your dog may be featured in one of our posts! 

Have a good weekend everyone! 

After my unoffical summer hiatus I am really excited to be posting again on the Bark Slope Blog!  I love fall and love October for all the fun festivals, food and Halloween events.  We brought in a new line of dog costumes which we know you will love, our very own Kiku is going to be a monkey this year (pictures to follow)! 

Our Dog of the Month contest continues to bring us smiles and our newest winner is Hazel, a 13 year-old pup who runs the show at her house (sound familiar fellow dog owners?).  You can enter your dog in our contest at any time for the chance to have your dog’s picture on our homepage and win a $25 gift certificate to BarkSlope.com.

We are ramping up with a ton of new products for the holidays and chilly weather, but we need to make room for all the great new products.  That’s why we are having our Semi-Annual Clearance Sale which is running the whole month of October, with up to 75% off dog beds, clothing, collars, etc.!

Last but not least, please remember that October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month through the ASPCA.  If you are looking for a new furry friend, why not give a deserving dog a home and visit your local pet shelter? 

I came across an article today about a man in Belgium that he outright refused to hire a guy from Nigeria because he was not white.  The businessman blamed his business partner, his dog, for being the racist, not him!  He claimed that the dog would probably bite the applicant and could not hire him for that reason, the court didn’t buy it for one minute.

We used to joke that our childhood dog, Muffin, was a racist as well.  She was brought home on Christmas Eve one year and loved all the attention she was getting, but this 3 pound fuzzball would growl the second my uncle, who is Native American would come near her.  My uncle is a gentle, funny man in every way, but Muffin would have nothing to do with him. 

I think it’s mostly a result of exposure, but our Muffin was only 9 weeks old when she showed this behavior.  We made sure to put Kiku in contact with as many different individuals and situations, which wasn’t too hard living in Brooklyn.  She does, however, have a very strong preference for dogs with kinky hair like herself, which she can spot from a mile away! 

Have you ever had or met a racist dog?  Please share!

I just realized that the Chicago Tribune has it’s own pet-related blog called Unleashed.  A couple days ago they did a post on big vs. small dogs and did a special focus on the fact that small dogs are more likely to be dognapped than bigger dogs.  Maybe it’s just me, but in the 3 years that we’ve had Kiku I have never left her in a car or in front of a store.  Sure, it’s a pain to bring her home before picking up milk at the corner store, but it’s never been an option for me.  Dognapping is just one of my concerns, but so is the fact that I cannot control my dog’s behavior or the way she is being approached by children or other dogs.  Let’s also not forget how hot a car can get in seemingly mild (not hot) temperatures.  Just another part of being a responsible pet owner.  I’d like to thing I would never leave my infant in the car, so I’m not going to start doing that with my first “baby”.

These dogs put my dog to shame, she wouldn’t last past the first bacon strip!  To see this display of patience click here

The movie that started the dog fashion craze now has its own Broadway show.  Legally Blonde: The Musical offically opened on Broadway last night.  Boy, does that make me miss living in NYC!  Hopefully some of my East Coast readers can check out the show and let us know how it was.  Seems like it woud be a fun musical, I wonder who gets the privilege of dressing Bruiser?

pic from Max Haynes

There was a recent posting on Earth Times about a study done in Italy on dogs’ tail wagging behavior.  They paired dogs with different situations: being exposed to a cat, a unfamiliar, dominant dog, an unfamiliar human and the dog’s owner.  The dog tended to right-sided tail wagging at the sight of their owner and the most left-sided tail wagging when presented with an unfamiliar, dominant dog.  Can’t wait to test this one out at home! 

I don’t mean to be an experiment snob on this one, but do any of you see some glaring problems with the way this study was done? 

According to Oprah’s website, she is having an episode for dog lovers this Wednesday.  Looks like she will cover the continually growing dog food recall and have some dog training tips. 

They also mentioned something about fixing the problem that drives dog owners crazy.   Hmm, if I was given one guess it would be housebreaking, but that has everything to do with one badly housetrained little Havanese in our home.  What would your guess be? 

Happy Earth Day to everyone!  Seeing that it is 80 degrees and absolutely beautiful in Chicago today makes me appreciate our Mother Earth even more. 

Check out the Earth-friendly pet blog called the Great Green Pet.  According to the site: “GreatGreenPet is a shopping blog devoted to the green, eco-friendly, pet owner. We comb the web and find the most interesting environmentally friendly products for you and your pet.”  Bark Slope has received numerous inquiries about organic and eco-friendly dog boutique items, so keep an eye out for our earth-friendly dog items in the near future.  Thanks to Great Green Pet for some excellent ideas!

This pup is looking fabulous in “Maltese Magenta”!  I can’t blame her for trying to eat the lipgloss, sometimes I can’t keep those yummy tasting glosses on my lips b/c they taste so good.  I love how she’s trying to make it multi-functional by using some on her toes as well, simply genius!  Thanks to Cute Overload for their daily dose of cuteness and this adorable pic.  As always, we welcome your Funny Dog Friday submissions of funny dog pictures, videos or stories, just send them to blog@barkslope.com.

In the time that has passed since the mass murder at Virginia Tech I have started to realize how ridiculous Breed Specific Legislation is.  I have always disagreed with the concept, but now I am beginning to think it is a great waste of resources and energy that could be directed towards true dangers such as gun control and mental health reform.  Once again, it is not the guns or the Pitbulls that pose the real threat, it is the people who mishandle guns and dogs that are the real danger.  Of course guns are a greater threat to society than a few dogs owned by irresponsible people, yet our local goverments just love to focus on the wrong things.  Or what about better intervention for the mentally ill?  Once a person is that sick, they are not thinking rationally and medication usually goes out the door as does the desire or realization that help is needed.  This event at Virginia Tech is so sad on so many levels, yet I am afraid the focus will turn to the university and what they did wrong more than the lack of treatment for mentally ill individuals or gun laws. 

It’s amazing how much space little dog dresses and beds consume!  We can’t wait to stock up on new fashions for our customers, but we need more room on our shelves.  We’re having our 1st Spring Clearance Sale today until April 30th with limited quantities of beds, carriers, collars, etc. with prices near wholesale cost.  Take a look, you know you wanted that new bed for your dog anyway, so why not buy it at a huge discount?

Has anybody seen the OnStar commercial where the older man has accidentally locked his dog in the car?  Something about this commercial brings tears to my eyes every single time it comes on.  Maybe it’s his desperation or the sincere worry in this man’s voice, or maybe it’s the cute way he says “Schnauzer”.  I am not the type to sit and cry at every commercial on the air and this one isn’t necessarily sad, but it hits a nerve in my Schnauzer-sensitive brain I guess. 

Anybody else have this reaction to the OnStar commercial or any other commercial with dogs?  My sister says there is a really sad ASPCA commercial out there right now, but I have yet to see it.  If the plight of a man and his dog locked in the car for 5 minutes brings tears to my eyes, I’m sure I’d be sobbing if I saw the ASPCA commercial. 

Oh man, while I was looking for the ASPCA link I found the commercial.  It features Sarah McLachlan and it is a tear jerker folks, so watch out!  It can be found by clicking on the link here:  ASPCA Angel Commercial

For the life of me I cannot remember how to make a direct link from a pic to a video, so please bare with my makeshift picture and link for this funny dog video.  It’s a little dizzying so I hope you can keep your jellybeans down, but it’s cute!

Click here for Doggie Easter Egg Hunt!

P.S. If anyone knows how to dumb down the instructions for uploading a video to a WordPress blog I would be forever grateful!  Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

We had a teeny debate over dinner last night about continuing to let Kiku, our Havanese, up on the couch.  Right now we have an older couch with a slip cover that gets sooo dirty from her paws.  Of course it is a white slip cover that my sister-in-law convinced us to get since it was “so easy to clean, you just bleach it”.  What were the washing instructions on OUR white slipcover “Cool water wash, do not bleach”-great.  With a new couch in our horizon, we are trying to decide whether or not to have Kiku up on the couch.  I love snuggling with her in front of the t.v. and she just seems to love being on the couch.  We could always cover the couch again, but that defeats the purpose of getting a new couch and it does have a bit of a “Roseanne” feel to it with a blanket on it. 

So, do you allow your dog on the couch?  If so, how the heck do you keep it clean without sacrificing style?  These are the things that keep me up at night!

I can’t believe it has been a whole month since my last post on the Bark Slope Dog Blog.  This last month has been a whirlwind with the loss of a dear family member, taxes and inventory, phew!  I am excited to get back to “normal” and bring back the Bark Slope Blog full force.  In the past I have focused on dog trends, funny dog videos and photos and a brief stint with Dogs in America. 

While the stuff I write about is of interest to me, I think our readers are ready for different viewpoints and topics.  We are opening the Bark Slope Dog Blog up to Guest Dog Bloggers and would love to feature a blog post written by our readers that will be of interest to our readers.  Could you be that Guest Blogger we’re looking for?

If you would like to write a post for the Bark Slope Dog Blog we are currently welcoming submissions.  You may even include a picture or two to accompany the post.  We are looking for fresh material with a different viewpoint relating to the wonderful world of dogs.  If you have a post please email it to blog at barkslope dot com within the body of the email.  Please put “Guest Blogger” in the subject of the email so it doesn’t get lost in the mix.   

I was asked to review The Dog Adoption Network website and am happy to promote adopting dogs that need loving homes. The Dog Adoption Network appears to be a relatively new site and is well on its way to becoming a great resource for dog adoption information. It has started a listing of adoption centers in major metropolitan areas as well as discussing different types of dogs that need homes (big, small, elderly, guide and rescue dogs). The site also welcomes comments which is great because there is a wealth of information out there that needs to be shared, so why not bring your shelter knowledge to the general public by adding a comment?

I know how much work goes into starting a website and it looks like a lot of work has been done already. If I had one request, I would hope that the host would focus more on the lifetime commitment of adopting a pet. So many animals are adopted and end up back in the shelters because well-meaning individuals did not realize the amount of work that was required in owning a pet. While we would all love to bring these animals home, sometimes giving your time by volunteering can be just as beneficial to finding these dogs homes of their own. I am looking forward to the development of this site and wish The Dog Adoption Network the best of luck!

Kim

If you are interested in a new pet then adopting a dog is a win-win situation for you and the dog alike.