|
| HELLO OUT THERE! (and Happy Earth Day!)
Hi, Y'all! How’s it going? I’m sure most everyone will have a similar response to that question, which might be something like, “Well, it’s weird.” We’re with you on that one. We’re all trying to keep a cheerful, optimistic outlook, but it’s hard. There are a lot of unknown things to worry about! As for us, we’re mentally and physically fatigued, but hanging in there. |
|
| Things We're Grateful For: |
| | YAY! WE'RE STILL OPEN! We’re so grateful to be considered an essential business and remain open!
Check out this nice little article about us being open in the Hollywood Star!
Honestly, it's been hard though. We feel a lot of responsibility for the health of our remaining employees and for ourselves, as we still come in contact with a heck of a lot of people every day. Though we’re only allowing 2 people in the store at a time, some are still not careful in ways that they should be.
We’re grateful for the customers that try to keep their visits short when there are people waiting outside, and we’re especially grateful for those that are using measures like face masks to help to protect our staff. At this point they're not required, but please wear masks in the store if you can, as they can help to reduce our risk of exposure. Asymptomatic transmission is a real thing, and it’s the scariest part of what we’re doing right now. Many pet supply stores have gone to curbside pickup only, but we’re trying to avoid that, because maybe you just want to quickly pick out your own collar, cat toy, or a variety of canned foods. We want you to be able to discuss a food change or a health problem, though we are very happy respond to an email by calling you when it’s quieter in the store or send you advice by responding to your email.
|
| |
|
|
| CURBSIDE PICKUP IS AN AMAZING OPTION!
We’re so grateful to the customers who are using our curbside service! It’s a great solution to avoiding lines to get into the store, especially if you know what you're after. If you would otherwise just come into the store, grab your bag of food and a treat and check out, please consider curbside pickup. We can streamline the process for you by completing payment for your order over the phone and when you roll up to the curb we can just pop it into your trunk! Call us at 503-528-1800 or email or text an order to info@greendogpetsupply.com and we'll take care of it! (Note: We can't receive a text to our phone number but we can to our email.)
Good News!: We realize the phones have been busy, like really crazy busy, so we've installed another phone line! Many days we’ve been burning out both phone batteries, and often, as soon as we disconnect a call it rings in our hands again. Comcast has a weird message when more than one person is trying to get through at once that made it sound like our line is out of service. That's not great for business! We apologize to those of you that couldn't get through as easily.
We’re also looking into some sort of way to list and perhaps be able to order products on our website, though this is a big and potentially expensive project, and we've only just started to research available tools. Anyone with software suggestions should feel free to send them our way. It may or may not be possible at this time - We'll keep you posted!
|
| | | WE'RE SO GRATEFUL FOR OUR EMPLOYEES!
Holy cow our employees are rockstars! This is true of all of our employees for sure, but those that are still here during this pandemic are really busting their butts and yet trying to stay positive. Three full time employees, Melissa, Charity and Lissey, are missing temporarily - two of them are quarantined under doctors orders for issues of immune compromise (one for herself and one for a family member) and the other is the mother of 4 young boys currently tearing apart her house (I mean diligently applying themselves to homeschooling like little angels). We have 3 full time employees left, Liz, Michelle, and Emily, who have been real champs every single day. Though our sales are down due to most folks just needing food these days, our work level has increased with bigger pallets of heavy food to unpack, phones ringing off the hook, helping customers that come into the store stay safe yet well attended to, and putting together curbside orders. In our store, each employee has different administrative tasks as well, and with three amazing employees furloughed, we all have had to attend to tasks we don't normally have to do as well as those that we normally do (though thankfully Melissa our manager sneaks in for a few hours each week after hours, and occasionally Charity too, to voluntarily attend to paperwork and fix all of our mistakes). Thankfully we have two limited-hours part timers, (Becky and Calla who are actually long time employees who both used to be full timers) that give us a bit of respite. They feel like a godsend when they arrive! All of this busyness rides on the shoulders of these employees that also carry the invisible weight of anxiety about exposure from the public, and we applaud their sunny dispositions and the mutual support they give to each other and to us every day. We try to spoil them sometimes with lattes from Grand Central and lunches from nearby independently owned restaurants. |
| | | MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE'RE SO GRATEFUL FOR OUR CUSTOMERS!
We do look forward to getting the job back that we used to have, with all of our lovely customers and their dogs and cats visiting, chatting, and giving us that daily sense of community. It’s been a beautiful experience though to feel so loved by our loyal customers, with people telling us every day how happy they are that we are able to remain open. We're grateful for the for little (and big) gestures of kindness like when the woman who makes our doggy bandanas showed up with a ziplock bag full of masks she had made for our staff, or the customers who ran in when we posted on social media that we were worried about being able to sell all of the Easter cookies and toys that we had ordered before this whole shadoobie started and bought them all up, and for those of you that make a point of tacking on a toy or a bag of treats because they know that food margins are slim and that these other items are what help to keep our doors open.
|
| | GOOD NEWS!
After spending countless hours on our days off navigating the applications for loans and the rules about which of our employees can qualify for which sort of leave/unemployment, apparently we have been approved for a federal Cares Act PPP loan! This is something of a miracle, as larger banks prioritized requests from their wealthier clients instead of smaller businesses, with restaurants hardest hit (please get some takeout from your favorite restaurants when you can). To get a loan in Oregon was also really lucky, as loans did not appear to be given evenly across the states. We credit Umpqua Bank, a smaller regional bank that’s always seemed focused on supporting their community and smaller businesses (You won’t see Bank of America or Chase Bank employees pedaling a cooler full of free ice creams around on Fremont Fest!). We don’t know when this will happen or how much it is, but we got a promising email notification that we have been approved. Needless to say, a few months of payroll help will really make a difference for us this weird hard year, and we’re hoping that our furloughed workers can be on our payroll again instead of unemployment, which only gives them 2/3. We’d been paying them full salary for several weeks even though they were home, and hated to make them apply for unemployment. Luckily we’ve been able to keep their medical benefits in tact. |
| | CAN A PET INFECT YOU?
There are so many new animals being adopted lately (yay!) but how do you introduce them to a world that's in hiding? In a recent Green Dog Blog post, we've suggested some strategies. But should we worry about neighbors petting our new dogs or us cuddling our new kitties?
To quote National Geographic’s Rachel Bale, “Yes, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo tested positive for the novel coronavirus. And yes, a cat in Belgium had traces of the virus’s genome in its stool and vomit, and a dog in China had traces of virus in it's nose. (This just in: 2 house cats in NY have contracted the virus with mild symptoms). But to be perfectly clear: There is no evidence that pets can spread COVID-19 back to people. One study, from a veterinary diagnostic lab, tested thousands of samples from dogs and cats, and found no cases of the disease. And an early version of a report on a small experiment testing whether the virus could spread between cats found that it can—but it does not suggest that cats are an important vector in spreading disease among humans. With more than 2.7 million cases of COVID-19 globally (wow - when I wrote this paragraph a week ago it was 1.4 million), experts say that if pets were a significant vector, we’d know by now.
“This is almost exclusively a human-to-human transmitted disease,” Michael San Filippo, a spokesman for the American Veterinary Medicine Association, told NBC affiliates. “The risk to pets is very low, with only a handful of cases of the virus appearing in companion animals, and no cases of people getting sick from their pets.”
We at Green Dog believe that if someone has the virus, it is quite conceivable considering this news from Bronx zoo and NY pet owners that a cat can get it and even have symptoms like coughing. The British Veterinary Association is actively suggesting that cats be kept indoors to protect their health, and we agree. We hesitate to recommend that you limit your puppy’s socialization with people and dogs, as we believe the risks that come along with a poorly socialized dog outweigh the very low risk of transmission of the virus from a dog to a human or another dog. If you are sick with Covid 19, it makes sense to protect your animals from you the same way you would protect other people, restricting your contact with them.
|
| | | HAPPY EARTH DAY!
Did you know that when we opened in 2004, we were the first pet supply store in the nation to base it's mission on environmental sustainability? April is usually an important month for us, as we love to celebrate Earth Day. We were so excited about the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and had big plans to celebrate it. We usually have a big sale (with a bigger discount for the people who bring gently used pet supplies for donation to rescues), and a big raffle, etc. Our raffle beneficiary this year will be for The Orca Conservancy, as our iconic NW resident orca population is very threatened and disappearing quickly, as is their food supply (such as Chinook and King salmon). Someday when we can safely gather again, we'll celebrate Earth Day the way we should, with a party and great raffle prizes to benefit these symbols of our beautiful NW.
What can you do this Earth Day week?
One fun idea is to create a flower garden specifically catering to pollinators like bees and especially the endangered Monarch butterfly. Ask your local nursery for the species of milkweed that Monarchs rely on to survive, and for the varieties of colorful flowers that attract other butterflies and native bees. This would be a fun project for kids to research and then help to plant and maintain. Create a Backyard Habitat
Have an Earth Day Film Fest with the kids!
If you have Apple TV, check out this new animated special: To celebrate Earth Day this year, Apple TV+ is airing a new animated family film with some famous voices behind the characters. The new short film, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, debuts on the streaming service today. It’s based on the bestselling book of the same name by author Oliver Jeffers.
other fabulous specials:
Find Some Gently Used Pet Supplies To Recycle! We're always accepting clean usable supplies for those less fortunate. Crates, blankets, towels, beds, bowls, rain jackets, collars, leashes, food, and even medications, etc are all useful. We'll happily come out to your car to collect them. |
| | Fun Earth Day News!
Almost every food and treat for pets comes in a flexible plastic bag. There's an exciting new program coming soon that will allow us to recycle all of them! Currently the only brand of dry food or treats that you can recycle with us is Open Farm Pet Food. We send Open Farm bags to Terracycle and they make them into toothbrushes and whatnot. (You can also easily recycle Weruva packets there for free - see instructions on the back of your packet). This new program will have regular pickups at our store of packages you've brought back to us. The recycling partner will grind the bags into pellets, and the pellets will be recrafted into pet products. These products will all be delivered to shelters and rescue groups! They're piloting this program in the Pacific NW as they know this is where it will be most successful and they'll get the best feedback from independent stores like us. Stay tuned for the launch!
|
| | | Keep Those Dogs Busy!
Last newsletter we told you about some of our favorite feeder toys ( (Toppl and Lickimats) that you can stuff with moist treats like applesauce, cooked sweet potato, goat's milk or peanut butter and then freeze to help to occupy energetic dogs so you can finally work from home in peace.
Making their meals last longer is another great way to occupy and challenge their minds. Slow their eating down and make them work for their dry food (or treats) with the Kong Wobbler and the Green Interactive Feeder. The Kong Wobbler looks like its rubber cousin, but is a hard "Weeble Wobble" type feeding device. It opens for easy filling and cleaning, and has a heavy sand filled bottom. The dog has to bump it and tip it to get the kibbles to come out of the hole. The Green Feeder is a hard plastic feeding tray with rounded projections that make the dog have to lick out the kibble. See it in action here (Note: This feeder doesn't work well for flat faced dogs.) This feeder is tough, dishwasher safe, and comes in two sizes. Here's a homemade slow feeder idea: Get a metal muffin tin and divide the kibble between all of the holes. Flip the pan over and it's a different shape of slow feeder. Not challenging enough? Flip the pan to it's normal orientation, moisten the kibble with bone broth, goat's milk or water and freeze in the tray. A different challenge might be to stuff tennis balls into the holes so they have to pull them out before getting access to the kibble or treats. |
| | | Keep Those Kitties Busy!
This is a neat interactive, made in the U.S.toy. These wands are telescoping, so they collapse down for storage. They have a nice padded handle and a squiggly toy which can be replaced. We carry the replacements, but other brands will also work (Like Da Bird feathers or the sparkly tassel). |
| | | GOODIE BAGS!
We've created some goodie bags that you can tack on to your curbside pickup order! We'll rotate between products and give it a little discount. If you're just picking up a bag of food, consider adding on a goodie bag to help us keep the lights on! Today's goodie bag is a big bison scapula and two smaller pieces of bison trachea for $4.99 (regularly $5.49). Yum! Kitty bags coming soon too. |
| | | SHOPPING BAG QUESTIONS:
1: Can we still bring our paper bags from home for you to reuse? Yes! you can still bring them. A new study from The Lancet found that the virus lasts for about 3 hours on printing paper and tissue paper, one day on cardboard and up to 4 days on paper money. So, we're holding paper bags for at least 5 days before using them. #2: Can we bring our reusable bags when we shop? Yes! We will however ask you to pack it yourselves. We will disinfect the counter afterwards.
|
| | | Have You Recently Gotten A New Dog?
We've been working on resources for you!
To Treat Or Not To Treat? (Foundational Thinking For Creating Good Behavior in Dogs! Part Two) There is still a big disconnect in the world of training – there are two camps: some trainers that use positive reinforcement training, and some that use aversives. A discussion of reinforcements and when some methods might make bad behavior worse.
|
| | | NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS!
Tomorrow's Verse - There's an awesome new Bottle Shop on NE Fremont in the Fremont Commons Building (the building where our store used to be). It's a beautiful space, and the owner TJ loves to create amazing playlists. It will be a fantastic spot to hang out when life gets back to some kind of normal (his store's big garage doors open wide onto a pretty courtyard, but for now, there's a cooler full of good beers and ciders for takeout! What a tough time to start a new business! Please stop by and welcome him to the neighborhood!!
Sabiang Thai - Those of us that work on the street get pretty excited to have something new to choose from for when you forget your lunch. We're so happy Sabiang Thai took the space that Tuk Tuk used to be. The food is better in our opinion, the inside looks much nicer, and they're sooo friendly in there! Again, it's a rough time for restaurants, and an even tougher time to open a brand new one! Please stop in and say hi to them, and pick up some lunch or dinner! |
| | HANG IN THERE!
WE LOVE YOU!
THANKS FOR YOUR AMAZING 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. |
|
|
