|
Fremont Fest is Coming!
Join the Parade!
The 31st annual Fremont Fest is coming up on Saturday August 5th! If you’re new to the neighborhood, this is an annual event put on by the Beaumont Business Association - the businesses on NE Fremont St want to thank you for your continued support by putting on this fun festival for the neighborhood! Always held on the first Saturday of August, the street is shut down to traffic for the day, with more than 125 vendors, multiple music stages, a pub crawl, and fun activities for kids lining the street (with many businesses on Fremont offering great specials!). We start the whole thing off with a fun community parade! Green Dog coordinates the parade each year, and we’ve decided that this year the parade will go back to its roots. It’s gotten fairly enormous in the past few years, overwhelming the increasingly crowded street and last year unintentionally becoming involved in some ugly partisan political nonsense.
So this year we decided to scale it back a bit to what it has always been - a celebration of the families, children and pets of the neighborhood. We’ll be joined again by the marching band The Brass Roots, leading a procession primarily made up of kids on decorated bikes and pets (many in costumes!) We’d very much like to have you join us - lets make this the biggest pet parade yet! Come as you are, or dress up your pets and yourselves if you like. You could even make a “float” using little red wagons, etc! Great Prizes will be given for Best Costume, Best Float, and Best Decorated Bikes, and on the pet parade side, for the 3 Best Pet Costumes, Best Coordinated Human/Dog Costume, Most Enthusiastic Marcher, and Biggest Doggy Smile, with a few Wild Card Prizes for unexpected awesomeness, like the year a family brought their group of Shetland ponies, or the very laid back cat that was carried in the parade. (Please only bring animals that would enjoy the experience).
Meet at the Beaumont Middle School Saturday by 9:45am for costume judging - the parade heads out at 10am and makes its way on up to NE 52nd Ave. At
the end of the parade, come back to the store for FREE DOGGIE FROZEN GELATO from Swell Brand gelatos and
free giant locally made, organic, wheat free cookies from The Gourmet Pup, as well as a 20% off coupon for the Fremont Fest
Sale (see sale info below!) |
|
| Fremont Fest Sale!
On Saturday August 5th from 10-5, Green Dog will be having a store-wide sale! This sale is no secret, just come on in and take advantage of 15% off of any regularly priced item that isn't pet food. Chews, toys, treats, leashes and collars, supplements, etc are all on sale! If you choose to buy something big like a cat tree or a bed, we'll be happy to hang on to it til Sunday when cars can park on the street again. Anyone that marches in the parade will get a voucher that increases their discount to 20% off!
|
| | Swell Gelato for Dogs!
We are so very excited to bring in this new doggie "ice cream"! Made in Seattle, this frozen gelato is beautiful and comes in 2 delicious flavors: Banana Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Cheddar! It's made with dog friendly ingredients, using a coconut milk base with no cream and no refined sugar. We'll be getting them in just in time for Fremont Fest. Want to try one for free? Swell has very generously donated cups of this lovely gelato so that every dog that marches in the parade gets one! We'll also have them in stock for the sale, so you can try both flavors at a discount.
|
| |
|
|
Unique Local Designs on Leashes and Collars!Looking for a great gift? Visiting Portland and want a cool souvenir? Or just want to represent our great state? Two local companies have come out with some unique patterns. Cycle Dog, made in Portland from recycled bike inner tubes (so Portland chic!) now have new Oregon collars whose pattern is made up of the I love green Oregon symbol and two pints of beer. They came out recently with a marijuana leaf pattern, and they also recently introduced a great pride pattern. Lodi and Lewi in Washington has designed 2 fun patterns: Bridge City (with all of the major bridges) and Rose City (with bikes, trees, mountains, bridges, and the Made in Oregon sign). We carry two colors in each of these two patterns, but you can special order the other colors if you like
|
| |  |
New Newsletter Feature:
Amazing Things You're Not Buying
Medicinal Mushrooms are amazing. Many cultures around the world have used mushrooms for centuries for medicinal purposes. Modern research has shown us what ancient healers and scientists have learned through practical experience – studies indicate that medicinal mushrooms have antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-tumor properties. Some mushrooms contain compounds that stimulate the immune system, activating the pet’s natural defenses and healing response. They can assist the healing of the liver, kidneys, and heart tissues. They can also support healthy digestion and support flexibility and ease of movement. The most impressive results we've seen in our store have been with dogs that have been diagnosed with cancerous tumors - many customers swear by the Bixbi Immunity mushroom blend for helping to slow down or shrink tumors and say they're convinced it gave them longer survival rates and better quality of life. Big stuff in our world!
We also have two other blends that deserve consideration if your dog has joint pain and stiffness, digestive issues, or if your dog has chronic skin issues. The Bixbi Skin and Coat formula is worth a try for dogs or cats with skin issues that don't seem to resolve with diet changes, or if your pet seems to continue to develop allergies to increasing numbers of things in their environment. The reason for this is that allergies are often tied to the function of the gut, where much of the immune system lives. The amazing thing about medicinal mushrooms is their ability to modulate the function of the immune system, calming an overactive system or stimulating and underactive one. With allergies, supporting the immune function could really be the missing piece of the puzzle to calm down a pet's reactivity to its environment. The Bixbi Digestive Formula is for pets with occasional gastrointestinal disturbances, including gas, bad breath or loose stool due to environmental stress or changes in the diet. The Bixbi joint formula pairs medicinal mushrooms with Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM), which contains a unique blend
of chondroitin sulfates and hyaluronic acid, plus collagen that does not
contain shellfish. NEM® is clinically proven and tested
on humans to benefit connective tissues and cartilage while helping to
improve range of motion and flexibility to keep your pets active and
healthy.
Each container has a 60 day supply for a 50lb dog and approximately a 120 day supply for a cat. We recommend introducing them slowly and building up to the dosage - this is a good rule of thumb for any new supplement, to help avoid digestive surprises. Read more about medicinal mushrooms from holistic vet Dr. Karen Becker here. She wrote another good article about mushrooms used in a dog cancer study here.
|
| |  |
Green Tip:
The best nontoxic weed killer might already be in your cupboard - plain white vinegar! Put it in a spray bottle (or plant sprayer) and soak the weeds. After a day or two (especially in hot sun) the weeds will be dead and dried up.
Vinegar has so very many uses in the home and for pets. It’s amazing how much we as a society have come to rely on stronger and stronger chemicals to get our cleaning done, and how much the simple remedies have gotten lost over time. One of the very best cleaners around is simple vinegar mixed with water. Try it on your windows or your kitchen floor. So many pets are suffering from itchy, rashy, hotspot-plagued skin issues. Many people automatically assume that food is to blame (of course poor quality fats and proteins can cause nasty skin issues), but we forget that the chemicals we use to clean our floors, carpets, clothing, etc can really add up for the pets that live in such close contact with these surfaces. Vinegar also has some nifty uses as home remedies for dogs - dilute Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar 50/50 with water and use it as an ear cleaner, or pour over an itchy dog's coat to soothe their skin after a bath and just towel off the drips, leaving the vinegar mixture on their skin to dry. Check out this link for more vinegar tips for the household.
|
| |  |
Cat Behavioral Tip:
Let's face it - cats sometimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to enrichment. We know that when dogs are irritating and destructive and restless that they need more exercise and stimulation, but when cats act this way, they may just be labeled "annoying" or worse. Changing their environment just a little bit by introducing something novel can stimulate investigation and play, making them feel more relaxed and happy (and therefore less annoying). When cats are jumping on you or biting you as you walk by, they're telling you they need more than a comfy spot and a bowl full of food. Cats are intelligent and need stimulation as much as any other animal in captivity. Their minds can be challenged by teaching them tricks in the same way as dogs. Otis is clicker trained and knows at least 10 tricks, and we didn't have him until he was 10 years old. He's 16 now and is still playful (yay, raw food!) and is still happy to learn new things. Some of them are useful to us, like teaching him to stay quietly in a spot just over the kitchen threshold, as his full name is "Otis Underfoot".
However, stimulation can be as simple as bringing home a novel material to interact with - a big pile of tissue paper, boxes of different sizes, big sheets of paper you might have gotten as packing material, etc. In the first of these two photos, we got a hold of a giant box lid. The first day we turned it upside down and played with it like a hockey rink, as little balls couldn't roll away. The next day that was boring, so we turned it over and cut a variety of holes, some he could only reach through and others he could get into. What fun we had making his Da Bird wand toy with the sparkle attachment shoot into a hole like a proper mouse to be hunted and chased. They have a strong prey drive and they need this kind of play (and no mice were harmed). He was so happy and relaxed afterwards, and the next day or so we recycled the box. In the other photo we brought his favorite thing in the world into the playroom - his Kitty Block (normally just a sleeping/scratching thing, but when we relocate it, it's a fun stimulus for play). We also tore the handles off of a bunch of paper shopping bags that needed recycling, and put them in a pile to run through and play in (that sparkle toy was more fun dragging through a new material than it normally would be). What a hit! Such simple things can really make a cat's day.
Check out this book we carry in the store for more fun ideas: Brain Games for Cats
|
| | We Hope You'll March With Us in the Parade!
It's a fun time!
There are great prizes for a variety of categories, costumes or not!
Free Doggie Frozen Gelato from Swell for each dog that marches!
Free Giant organic cookie for each dog that marches! Bigger discount at the Green Dog Sale too!
Let's make this the biggest dog parade yet!
|
| | | | 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. |
| |
