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It's almost Spring!
Our amazing staff has been holding down the fort for us while I've been mostly working at home, somewhat overwhelmed with administrative tasks like tax prep for the business, as well as a bogus lawsuit from a predatory "law firm" that makes its money by targeting small businesses. They demand $7-8000 and threaten a $150,000 lawsuit for each of several photos on our website that were not copyrighted because they were photos of our own pets, etc. What a big inconvenience and stressor that has been. The internet is full of horrible stories abut this firm - they're total trolls. I found a lawyer that has helped with about 300 of these cases so far, so I guess I'd rather give him the money than turn it over to predators. Ahhh - the joys of owning your own business are endless....and can sometimes result in a tardy newsletter...
Anyway, Mike and I miss seeing you all! The up-side about being home a lot is that we have a lot of time with little Walter kitten. We bring him in to the store now and then to play around and visit the staff, as we want him to be cool about weird things and car rides and eventually excursions on a harness. He's a real doll and an incredible smartypants. We've of course been teaching him some useful manners, like him rushing to "go to your spot" and plopping his butt down just over the threshold to the kitchen when he wants to eat, staying quiet as we make it instead of frantically crying, climbing our legs, and tripping us up.
We've been impressed with how very quickly he's learned stuff like that considering what a tiny baby he was, and also how quickly he's learning fun tricks too, mostly stuff like turning around in circles in either direction, learning to "hop up" onto different objects, come to his name, etc, and also to learn how to work Otis' old exercise wheel. He's now doing it on his own (mostly to try and solicit treats I think, but for now that's great.) Otis used to walk miles on it when he had extra energy, and Walter's getting the hang of it pretty quickly too. Here are a few cute videos of his tiny self learning to navigate the big wheel in his first days with us:
Tiny 8- week Walter on his first day in the house, checking out the wheel Here Getting more comfortable a few weeks later here |
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| | FEBRUARY IS DENTAL HEALTH MONTH!
We all know that dental health is important, and that well-cared-for teeth and gums are less expensive to maintain than treating the effects of poor dental health. But you might be surprised to learn that a link has been established between Alzheimer’s disease and periodontal disease in humans, and now a study in dogs has revealed a similar association between periodontal disease and Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. One veterinarian sums up this study saying, "The results of the study suggest that older dogs with CCD tend to show higher levels of periodontal disease than dogs of a similar age without CCD. In addition, the degree of a dog’s cognitive dysfunction tends to correlate positively with the degree of gum disease. In other words, the worse the gum disease, the more significant the cognitive decline".
So, one of the best ways to keep your beloved dog sharp throughout their lifetime is to maintain their oral health in a way that they generally love: Chewing!
A good chew can also calm a busy dog down, and can help to burn extra energy on days you don't have as much time for exercising. One of our newer chew products are the Dental Care Bones by Plaque off. We've long loved Proden's Plaque Off powder, as it's so easy to sprinkle the tiny amount onto their meal. Within two weeks of daily use we see better breath, and within 6-8 weeks, we often see visible changes in the amount of plaque on the teeth. These handy bones are easy to give and have the added benefit of helping to clean plaque and tartar by abrasive action. (note: the powder is also safe and effective for cats, but note that Plaque Off shouldn't be used with animals that have hyperthyroid disease, which is more commonly seen in cats than dogs.) **BONUS DENTAL ADVICE: Check out some of the delicious teeth- cleaning chews that we have in the store and read about their benefits: We have created some hopefully useful resources to help you choose the best chews that we carry for your dogs (even listing a few for cats), and addressing potential safety issues that can come up for dogs with different chews and chewing styles. Read It Here
** Also Check out the companion piece which discusses unique products and strategies for helping your pet's dental health in ways that don’t involve chewing. Read It Here
Newsletter Special! Take 15% off of one bag of Proden Plaque Off Bones before March 4th OR
Take 15% off of one container of Plaque Off Powder for cats and dogs before March 4th. |
| | | THIS IS A DOOZIE: A PET FOOD LAWSUIT
Brace yourselves: This is a DOOZY!
Many big pet food companies use disgusting ingredients. For decades, big companies have used animal proteins and plant matter with very dubious origins. We’ve long known that rendering facilities exist to take all of the waste products from the slaughter houses as well as helping to dispose of diseased animals and expired supermarket meats, rancid restaurant fats stored in barrels in the sun, animals that have died from other causes than slaughter such as veterinary euthanasias, which would of course contain the drugs used to euthanize them, decomposed road kill, etc, all transported in unrefrigerated trucks, rotting away. Unfortunately instead of "disposing" these waste products, they turn them into sellable products. These materials are instead processed and sold to pet food companies (a lot of the really big companies), which is technically illegal according to Federal Law, but the FDA chooses to allow it. Also, AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) has also created its own legal definitions of ingredients, such as in "chicken" which allows it to be sourced from condemned chicken or chicken bones (little to no meat) .These sorts of definitions make it hard for consumers, as the definition of "chicken" for humans is very different.
Many more controversial and deleterious ingredients are sometimes more easy to spot and avoid: You should be very careful to avoid ingredients such as “Animal" fat Or "Meat and bone meal”(instead of a named protein like “chicken fat”) or any other protein source or meal that does not mention the species used. The FDA’s own study showed that 40% of the kibbles they tested showed positive results for pentobarbital, (a euthanasia drug) meaning that these chemicals, which do not “cook out” during the rendering process, might be in your pet’s bowl on a daily basis. The FDA does not require testing for these contaminates, nor for aflatoxins (a dangerous carcinogenic mold that is found in nearly all feed corn used in pet foods), or for herbicide residues in GMO crops such as soy and beet pulp. Unnamed meats and corn/soy, etc can be avoided by pet owners making sure to read their labels and look for the red flags mentioned above. (or shop at Green Dog)
Anyway, there’s this lawsuit that exposed a brand that claimed on the package that they had an ingredient list that was only 6 ingredients long, and stressed that they don't use corn, wheat soy or gluten, which they actually do.
But this isn't the doozy part. This lawsuit also reveals a scary list that not only shows that they used a variety of other meats, including cattle, deer, pig, chicken, trout, turkey, horse and brace yourselves, DOG.
This is unfortunately not surprising once you realize how rendering facilities work, and also what poor track records many of the biggest companies have. Remember, using and allowing sources of meat proteins deemed as illegal by federal law (those animals that are decomposed, diseased and/or non-slaughtered) are actually allowed. The FDA even said, “we do not believe that the use of diseased animals or animals that died otherwise than by slaughter to make animal food poses a safety concern…”
We believe that they do present an actual safety concern. Some of you might remember us ripping Evanger’s cans off the shelves when It was revealed that cans that said they were made with 100% beef,” and “human grade, USDA inspected meat,” but instead were composed of low quality, non-human grade ingredients and were produced at an unsanitary, non-USDA facility. Many of the Pet Foods were unsafe, adulterated meats, not from animals that were identified on the labels, and contained pentobarbital, a barbiturate used in the euthanizing of animals, resulting in sickness and death of a handful of dogs.
We make sure that the foods we carry do not contain meats that violate pet food law. It’s one of the biggest reasons we wanted to open a pet supply store in 2004. At the time, Hills had a prescription diet for dogs with cancer that contained Ethoxyquin, a preservative that is highly carcinogenic which horrified us. The more we learned about commercial pet food, the more we wanted to provide better products. We hold our brands to a high standard and we stay in touch with them about their sourcing.
The strange thing about this lawsuit is that they don't really mention the stuff about horses and dogs in the lawsuit… but this does give us the ability to remind the public that this is a thing, and that it’s not uncommon. If more DNA tests of pet foods were done, especially on brands that do use unnamed meat sources, we would see a heck of a lot of these sorts of results. Unfortunately, if a pet food manufacturer buys an ingredient like fish meal that has already had carcinogenic preservatives like ethoxyquin added on the fishing boat, they are not required to list it on the label. There's a lot wrong in this industry.
This is why we still feel so dedicated to the good companies we trust, especially our fresh, minimally processed raw food companies. These sorts of foods are made of whole foods, not processed. They contain the most intact amino acids that are so important for hearts and brains and muscle mass in dogs and cats. They don’t need chemical preservatives. They have the very best sourcing, the very best treatment of the animals used (all being pasture raised and finished, and most are certified humanely raised). They also don’t contain all of the inflammatory starches and carbs that are necessary in kibble diets to produce those little crunchy cookies. ASK FOR A FREE RAW FOOD SAMPLE FOR YOUR PET NEXT TIME YOU"RE IN! Even one little patty a day can do wonders for their health, and they'll likely love it!
Read more about the lawsuit here:
On to more FUN STUFF! |
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BEAUTIFUL NEW CYCLE DOG COLLARS!
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These are such a unique and practical product! Here's why we love them:
* They're made right in downtown Portland! *Most of them are made with recycled bicycle inner tubes!
Not only have they saved 120 garbage trucks worth of tubes from the landfill, these collars are waterproof and so they don't stink!
* They've also saved over 2 million plastic bottles from landfill making the decorative sides of the collars, and for stuffing their hilarious and soft but durable toys! * The solid bright ones on the lower left are all wildly reflective (and there are leashes too)! * The "D" ring is also a bottle opener, so you'll have the most popular dog at the party! * The hardware that helps you adjust the collar has a handy spot to attach your ID Tags, so you'll never accidentally hook your leash to the ID tag ring and lose both your tag and your dog (some of you have definitely done this accidentally - Nevermore!) * All Cycle Dog hand-sewn products will be repaired at no charge for the useful life of the product, even the toys that get chewed up!
NEWSLETTER SPECIAL! Take 15% off of one Cycle Dog collar OR one Cycle Dog leash before March 4th! |
| | | THE CUTEST GRASS KIT FOR CATS!
These lovely little grass kits not only make great gifts for your cat-loving friends, but they also really provide loads of grass!
Made right in Portland by.a very nice lady, these "Made By Tricia" grass kits contain everything you need to grow healthy, fresh wheat grass for your little critters. Just add water and sunshine!
These containers are upcycled metal food cans that would otherwise have ended up in a recycling bin or garbage, plus scrap yarn that usually isn’t enough for a larger project. All container covers are hand knit or crochet. One of our customers said she put the little knit cozy that's around the cans on the bottom of a pillar candle and that it looks so cute!
Best of all, there’s enough seed supplied in each can for 4 or more plantings! We also carry bags of seed to keep your kitties in fresh grass for ages! NEWSLETTER SPECIAL! Take 15% off of one Made By Tricia grass kit before March 4th! |
| | | GENIUS SAFETY STRAPS FOR DOGS!
This is a product you might not have known you needed, but many of you do! Some of the most scary and even heartbreaking stories have come from customers whose dog has backed out of a harness or pawed off a head halter or slipped out of a collar that was too loose and run away.
Made by the amazing "Trailblazing Tails" right here in Portland, these Safety Straps help to keep you from losing your dog if they were to squirm out of their gear. Here's a great video that shows you how to use it to clip to both the harness and their collar, or their gentle leader, etc. They're made to be super strong and sturdy with solid brass snap hooks at each end for attachment (with great color options)!
Keep those Houdini dogs from slipping away!
NEWSLETTER SPECIAL! Take 15% off of one Safety Strap before March 4th (additional lengths and different colors can be ordered if they are not in stock and we'll honor the discount.) |
| | | HELP AIDEN HELP OTHER KIDS WITH AUTISM!
We were approached by an enterprising young man who happens to have autism who is working on an Interesting project that we hope you will help us support.
He says, "Hello, my name is Aidan, and I am working on my Eagle Scout project to give out 200 resource packs with things dog owners might need and some information about dogs and Autism. My dog has helped me with providing unconditional companionship and building independence. He has improved my life by helping me with building social skills, confidence and independence. I am hoping to share the different roles that a pet can help and how they can improve lives of those who identify as Autistic. Our goal is that by learning more, those that already have pets can determine what is best for them and those that are evaluating a pet can determine how to go about the process and get a “resource pack” to help them with getting started. These packs will include several basic and handy dog supplies including leashes, clickers, a grooming tool and treats (some of these things were donated or procured by Green Dog at cost, coupons for Green Dog, as well as a list of training resources in the Portland area).
Some of these dog products (like the leashes and clickers) still need to be procured, so this Go Fund Me will be how I will be able to purchase these resources. The information will include common dog breeds for people with Autism, different types of dogs (service dog, emotional support, etc.) and good things to know when selecting items for your dog.
As part of the project, I plan to use the funds I am able to raise to order the supplies I need, design/print the information sheets and deliver the packs at the Autism Walk in April in benefit of Autism Society of Oregon.
You can help me out by checking out my donation page and contributing what you can.
GoFundMe Link Here
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY! WE VALUE YOUR SUPPORT. |
| | | | Located in Beaumont Village 4327 NE Fremont Street, Portland, Oregon 97213
Telephone: 503-528-1800
© 2007 - 2015 Green Dog Pet Supply. Green Dog Pet Supply® is a Registered Trademark. |
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