Just the other day I heard that Precious Pets in Norcross, Ga., one of our Retailers of the Year for community service, was closing its doors in August. Gayle and Candy, the owners, are lovely people who have tried to do all the right things for their business and their community. The slow economy and gas prices were part of the reason, along with some other personal issues.

On the same day, I got a note from Ric & Joan Hutchens who are 37-year veterans of the pet industry and former owners of Pet Owners Warehouse in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Hutchens have just opened Whole Earth Pet Supply in The Villages, Fla., a 1600-square-foot store specializing in holistic pet foods and supplies for dogs and cats. I know these are tough times for everyone, and I hope most of you will be able to continue to keep up, or even start up, your businesses. We will try to do our part to give you tips and ideas to help you cut costs where you can. I’d love to hear from other pet stores out there to find out how things are going for you. Please blog back if you want to share any stories or ideas.
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Do Dogs Get All the Attention

A freelance writer for a Canadian newspaper called last week to interview me regarding cats and dogs. She had read the recent study done by the AVMA regarding cats not getting as much attention from their owners as dogs do. The study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, showed that dogs not only get showered with more affection from their owners than cats, they're also more likely to receive medical services such as vaccinations, regular health exams and preventive dental care.

She asked my opinion regarding cat products versus dog products. Although there seems to be a lot more dog products on the market, evident from the number we get submitted for publication in our magazine, I told her that manufacturers of the important pet products, such as food and treats and health aids, certainly do not skimp for cats. There do seem to be lots more toys and clothes and collars and so forth, but my reasoning for this is that dogs are more active, go more places with their owners and so forth; whereas cats are more stay-at-home creatures. I would love to hear your opinions on the reasons for more dog products on the market—if you indeed agree that there are more.
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Pet Fashion and Cool Pet Products

My dog’s too sexy for Milan, New York and Japan. And he does his little turn on the catwalk. Pet fashions have become big business. A year or two ago pets were fashion accessories (a la Paris Hilton), but now they have fashions of their own. Major retailers now produce lines of clothing and accessories for dogs and other pets and sell them at upscale boutiques in New York City. A fashion show for dogs was recently held at one of NYC’s hottest clubs, with celebrities showing off their well-dressed pooches. One dog wore a white, 1950s style dress inspired by Marilyn Monroe. (I’m sure she’d be proud.). These pet podcasts are all about pet fashion & cool pet products.

“This proposal is, and should be kept, simple and clear," McConnell said in a statement released by his office. "And we have the opportunity here to help protect Americans on Main Street—their homes, savings, student loans, jobs and small businesses, and their retirement plans. We must closely scrutinize the proposal to make sure it works and we must do so quickly. Simply put, now is not the time for partisan plans or pet projects. Americans are looking for economic security and want us to stand up for them in a bipartisan way.”
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New Step-by-step Dog Training Book & Achievement Programme

Interpet Publishing has launched a guide to basic dog training which is fresh and modern with an original interactive theme. The new book, The Sit, Down, Come, Heel, Stay and Stand Book, by Claire Arrowsmith, includes a ‘pullout achievement programme’ for readers to follow and interact with. The guide allows puppy or dog owners to reward themselves with stickers as they reach crucial stages in the training process. The Sit, Down, Come, Heel, Stay and Stand Book is easy to follow and encouraging, whilst putting a fun twist to the important job of teaching dogs’ basic obedience commands.

The Sit, Down, Come, Heel, Stay and Stand Book pages are robust allowing the book to be taken ‘on location’ for training sessions. The book is wire-bound hardback, 215mm x 215mm and contains 20-pages with a 6-page gatefold (which holds the master plan and sticker area). The Sit, Down, Come, Heel, Stay and Stand Book provides a step-by-step training programme, training tips and motivation, stars and rosette award stickers. The 8-page foldout training achievement record makes the book particularly unique. The cover is very colourful too making bold use of primary colours.
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A Guide to Buying Pet Products

Australian families who share their homes with pets number among the highest in the world, with 64% of households including pets. In those 7.5 million households, fish top the pet population at over 12 million, followed by birds, at 9 million. At almost 4 million, there are more dogs than either boys or girls under the age of 14 years, and our domestic cat population is approximately two and a half million. If we group horse for pleasure riding, rodents, rabbits, snakes, lizards and others together, we can add another 2 million pets.

Pet Supplies Pet association has been shown to have enormous positive benefits on health and wellbeing of Australians. When you have a pet as a member of your family, you will visit the doctor less frequently and use less medication, have lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, recover from illness and surgery more rapidly, deal with stress better and be less likely to feel lonely. All in all, it is estimated that pet association saves the Australian health budget almost S4 billion annually. Around 90% of Australian familles with pets, consider those pets as fully integrated family members and the primary caregiver who assumes responsibility for the pet in the majority of situations is female. Not surprisingly, expenditure on pets, pet care and pet products in Australia is placed at more than $4 billion annually and provides employment for more than 40,000 people. Of this expenditure, two thirds (66%) is spent on dogs and one quarter (25%) is spent on cats. Dogs therefore get the greater amount of attention in pet world.