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New Year, New Growl

Posted in Animal Advocacy, Animal Welfare Charities, Dog Blogs, Uncategorized, tagged bill and melinda gates, marley and me, ScooPup Pocket, Tiny Growl on January 4, 2011| 6 Comments »

Happy New Year to all of my readers. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t posted anything for a while. Quite frankly, 2010 was a hard year for most businesses and unfortunately, Tiny Growl was no exception. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might know that I decided to take my invention The ScooPup Pocket from an idea to a saleable product, because aside from never wanting to wonder “what if…?”, I had really hoped to create a successful business that would make enough money to enable me to help dogs. Good product, good intentions = great idea, right?

While I have had great feedback on my product, my website, my blog, the cold hard truth of the matter is that ScooPup Pockets just aren’t hanging off of too many leashes. Oh sure, I’ve sold a few and they continue to sell, but hardly at numbers enough to do any good for either my business bank account or the animal causes that I was hoping to be able to support. I’ve tried very hard to make it work, including lowering the price, contests, giving them away and of course, blogging. And speaking of blogging, that brings me to SEO.

For those of you with web-based businesses of your own, you know all about SEO (search engine optimization, for the rest of you) and how important it is in this age of doing business on-line. You also know the importance of networking with everyone in your line of business and in my case, all of the animal advocacy groups. Unfortunately, that opens you up to a flood of information that someone like me just doesn’t have the psychology to deal with. For some reason, I am unable to process the sad stories and move on, the way that most people can. I even refuse to see (almost) totally “vanilla” movies like Marley and Me because I know Marley comes to a bad end.

Another part of my problem, or what makes up my particular pathology, is that I worry about every dog on the planet and feel somehow that I have the power (or have been charged with the responsibility) to make their pain and suffering disappear, heal them, save them, feed and them and give them all loving and happy homes. Obviously, that isn’t possible for anyone, not even Bill and Melinda Gates. But I thought that by going into business with a usable product, I could at least take comfort in the knowledge that I was making a difference, quietly or otherwise, via donations.

While I was hoping to sell sell sell! and donate donate donate!!! to help as many dogs (and other animals) that I could, what actually happened was that my work days turned into too much time spent reading sad story after sad story, trying my best to flash past the truly horrific ones and finally coming to the realization that I really am quite literally unable to do any good at all for most of these poor creatures.

I know that I have to come to terms with the fact that the world is good and bad and bad things happen all of the time to good dogs and good people. I know that I’m not giving up on my idea or the idea that Tiny Growl still has the potential to grow into the business that I’d hoped it could be, but I also know that I have to back away a bit from that level of involvement. Both the reading and the writing have taken a toll on me.

In the coming weeks, I will be re-evaluating things, including the point of this blog. In the meantime, I’m going to focus on my wonderful rescue dog Riley and try to get through another dreary Seattle winter. Thanks for your support and Happy New Year!

Bette & Riley

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2 Million Dogs Are Walking To Make A Difference

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Dog, Dog Blogs, The Scoop on Poop, tagged 2 dogs 2000 Miles, 2 million dogs, 2 Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk, canine cancer, Great Pyrenees, Luke Robinson, metastatic bone cancer on September 22, 2010| 2 Comments »

When your dog is young – full of boundless energy, no sign of grey in the muzzle – you probably don’t spend too much time worrying about the inevitable. I clearly remember the day a few years back, when Riley was snoozing on the couch as I scratched him behind the ears. I was wondering how it could be possible to love that sweet creature any more than I already did, when it suddenly struck me that even if he lived to a ripe old age, our time together was limited and precious. It was then that I began to think that living with a dog that you loved so much was comparable to having a child with a terminal illness, especially for those of us with no children of our own.

But what if your dog really did have a terminal illness? Luke Robinson is one of among the thousands of dog guardians who has had the misfortune of knowing what that feels like.

Luke with Hudson and Murphy

In 2006, his boy Malcolm, a beautiful big Great Pyrenees, was diagnosed with metastatic bone cancer, a horribly aggressive disease which generally involves amputation as a treatment, but not a cure.

Larger breeds seem to be most susceptible, and since Great Pyrenees are one of the breeds effected, Malcolm was at risk from the day he was born. After losing Malcolm, Luke set out on a quest to raise awareness about canine cancer and walked from Austin, Texas to Boston Massachusetts with his two dogs Hudson and Murphy. It took him 2 years and over 2000 miles, but they arrived in June to much fanfare and certainly brought a lot of attention to his cause. In an incredibly cruel twist of fate, after reaching Boston, Murphy was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma, and he is currently showing the outward signs of the radiation treatments he finished in August.

My Boy Riley

The motto here at Tiny Growl is “Quietly Making A Difference”. My muse and the originator of the tiny growl is my dog Riley. His face is the face on my logo and his funny little trick, his incredibly quiet “tiny growl”, became the name of my company, and the inspiration behind my slogan “Quietly Making a Difference”.

When I launched my business, I wanted to make a positive difference – quietly or otherwise – and since I’m a very small company, I felt that I could make a tiny bit of difference to the lives of dogs in need by donating a portion from every sale of my ScooPup Pockets to charities that I support.*

For the next few weeks, I’m going to put my day-to-day activities here in the tinyTiny Growl office on the back burner, but not my mission. From now until November 7th, I’m putting all of my energy behind Luke’s cause, 2 Million Dogs, and will be spending most of my time organizing the Seattle 2 Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk. Walks will be taking place in cities all across the country and funds raised by the walkers will be used for canine comparative oncology research. This important work will not only benefits dogs, but people as well.

Luke, Hudson and Murphy on the road to Boston

We are asking people to pledge to walk 2 miles with their dogs on November 7th. Visit www.2milliondogs.org to see if your city will be participating. (If not this year, think about joining us by organizing a walk in your town next year.)

So please spread the word and help us to make a difference, quietly or otherwise, all across the country.

*From now through the end of our 1-Year Anniversary Sale, Tiny Growl will donate $1 from every ScooPup Pocket sold to 2 Million Dogs.

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How Pedigree Is Using Social Media To Help Shelter Dogs

Posted in Animal Advocacy, Dog Blogs, tagged feeding homeless dogs, feeding shelter dogs, pedigree adoption drive, pedigree blog hop, shelter dogs on September 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Sadly, over four million dogs wind up in shelters in the United States every year. PEDIGREE’s Adoption Drive is trying to make a difference to these homeless dogs. Their TV commercials have featured shelter dogs and advocating the adopting of shelter dogs for a couple of years now.

Right now, the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is also using social media to their advantage by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. To date, over one million bowls have been donated–it’s a simple, fast, and free way you can contribute to a homeless dog’s dinner! The Facebook promotion is going on now through December 31, 2010. For new every fan, shelters selected by PEDIGREE will receive 8 oz of PEDIGREE® Brand dry food for dogs, up to a total of $1,000,000 retail value.

From the Facebook fan page, you can also donate money to help find homes for these dogs. A portion of the money raised will will be matched by PEDIGREE up to $500,000. (All donations go to The PEDIGREE Foundation, a non-profit, organization benefiting 501(c)(3) status animal shelters and breed rescues nationwide.)

There is also a special Blog Hop featuring the posts about the drive this week For each blog publishing a post about the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive now through Sunday, September 19, PEDIGREE will donate a 20 pound bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. Why Longevity? Most shelter dogs are 3 years old and older. If you Twitter, be sure to look for the #dogsrule hashtag to see other posts!

Dogs Rule!

What is a blog hop?

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How To Treat An Injured Paw

Posted in Dog Blogs, Great Stuff for Dogs, Pet Health and Well-being, tagged antibiotics for dogs, dog booties, dogtopics.com, injured dog paw pad, pad injury, paw pad puncture, petboots.com, probiotics for dogs, thewholedog.com on June 11, 2010| 3 Comments »

Riley had a great time last weekend. His girlfriend Sydney and her new sister Bailey spent the night with us on Saturday. The dogs played hard all day Saturday and Sunday morning, running around the yard, playing tug, fetching balls, barking at the birds and squirrels and wrestling in the house

It’s hard trying to keep a nice-looking yard with just one dog, but with three active dogs running around, it can get pretty ugly. Not to mention tossing our rainy Seattle weather into the mix and having to wipe three sets of paws every time they come indoors. So, on Saturday we put down a new batch of “beauty bark” over the areas in the yard where the grass had seen better days.

The life of Riley

On tuesday night, Riley was very restless. Around 1AM, he had jumped up onto our bed and spent the rest of the night tossing and turning. Needless to say, so did we. At 4AM, I decided to see if he wanted to go outside for a pee, but he was reluctant to get off of the bed. When I eventually coaxed him down, I noticed that he was limping.

Closer inspection revealed a small puncture in a front paw pad and the pad was a bit swollen. There didn’t seem to be anything lodged in the pad, but I couldn’t be sure. I put some antiseptic lotion on the area, covered it with a bootie and tried to go back to sleep. In the morning we visited our vet and he prescribed a dose of antibiotics*, just to be on the safe side.

So, what caused the puncture? Was it something in the beauty bark? A thorn from a rose bush? Who knows. Paw pads are prone to injury and can be tricky to heal. Keeping the wound clean and covered when outside is recommended and can speed the healing. Wrapping the paw is tricky and it is essential not to apply the dressing to tightly.

Since most dogs will tend to try to remove any bandages, I find that covering the paw with a dog bootie is the way to go. You can find an assortment of booties in pet stores and on-line. One good source is petboots.com. They carry a variety of booties for various needs, including specially designed protective boots in different sizes.

Wearing a bootie may take your dog a little getting used to and you’ll need to be vigilant about making sure that the bootie stays on and is not twisted or too tight. (Riley tolerates the bootie and tends to use it to his advantage when he wants a little extra attention or when begging for treats.)

For more information on caring for paw pad injuries, here’s a great blog called Dog Topics, which featured a post on dog paw care.

*If your dog has been prescribed antibiotics, it is a good idea to add supplemental probiotics to their diet. I do it for myself when I have to take them, so why wouldn’t I do the same for Riley? You can read more about anti/probiotics in this informative article from thewholedog.com.

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My Dog, A Source of Unconditional Love, Support, Comfort and Strength Through A Stressful Week

Posted in A Day in the Life of a Dog, Animal Advocacy, Dog Blogs, tagged Dog Earred Tales, pets alleviate stress, This Good That Bad on May 20, 2010| 2 Comments »

Since I’ve invented The ScooPup Pocket, the world’s best poop scoop, I’ve become aware of lot of great people and dedicated animal advocates doing great stuff out there, including Melissa Peterson and her dog Shady. Melissa and Shady have been a voice for shelter dogs through Shady’s blog Dog Earred Tales and Melissa’s website This Good That Bad. Recently, Melissa asked me to be a judge for a contest on her site that asked pet owners to write a few words on the topic: “How do your pets keep you sane?”. This past week, Riley reaffirmed just how much he does exactly that.

If you’ve been following my blog, you may be wondering why it’s been over a week since my last post. It’s not that I’ve been working hard, trying to convince everyone that I have invented the world’s best poop scoop and never got around to writing. In fact, I’ve hardly had time to think about the world’s best poop scoop or dog poop at all these past few days, except, of course, on our daily walks.

We live in Seattle, Washington and last week, my significant other, who happened to be working across the country in Alabama, wound up in the hospital in Mobile. Now it’s never easy to have someone you love in the hospital, but the helplessness I felt being so far away made the whole thing so much worse.

But I wasn’t alone. Through it all, I had Riley. He kept me sane by the very necessity of having to look after him every day. Even when life is put on hold by events that we never see coming, our dogs still need to be fed and walked. And when I was in a fetal position on the couch, trying to watch a little television to keep from worrying about things that were happening miles away from home, Riley would climb up on the couch with me, just when I was at my lowest point.

How is it possible that when we are under stress, worried and distraught, our animals always seem to know and are there to give you a little extra love and support and do something to make you smile, even when you think the last thing you are able to do is laugh?

Riley was there for me. He warmed the bed before I crawled in and his snoring and “dream running” through the night gave me comfort and and a sense of normalcy through a week that felt anything but ordinary.

Today things are finally staring to feel a little more normal around here. I brought my significant other home from the airport a couple of hours ago. He’s feeling better and is napping on the couch now with Riley curled up at his feel. Last time I checked, they were both snoring.

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A 2000 Mile Walk, That’s a Lot of Poop to Scoop

Posted in Animal Advocacy, Animal Welfare Charities, Dog Blogs, Dogs in the news, Pet Health and Well-being, The Scoop on Poop, tagged 2 dogs, 2 million dogs, 2000 miles, canine cancer, comparative oncology, Luke Robinson, puppy up on April 24, 2010| 6 Comments »

Ok, it’s time to do a little math. I know you were told there would be no math, but sometimes we have to endure a little pop quiz, or in this case, a poop quiz. So, here we go.

If you’re like most people, you walk your dog at least once a day and at least once a day you need to pick up dog poop. How many times a week do you walk your dog? And how many miles do you think you might cover? On a monthly basis, how much poop scooping do you think you’ve done? How far have you traveled in a month? In a year? Ok, I don’t really need an answer, but we all know that lots of us are covering lots of miles and that means there is a lot of poop scooping going on across the country.

Now imagine how much poop scooping you would be doing, if you and your dogs were on a 2,000 walk.

Luke Robinson is doing just that with his two Great Pyrenees, 4-year-old Hudson and 9-year-old Murphy.

Luke Robinson, on the road with Murphy and Hudson

Starting out in March 2008, from their home town of Austin, Texas, these three are heading for Boston, Massachusetts, 2,000 miles away. “I sold my truck, put my stuff into storage and Hudson and Murphy and I got on the road,” Robinson said. In the past two years, they have walked through 14 states. Their mission is to raise awareness and help combat canine cancer.

Robinson lost his beloved dog Malcolm to metastatic bone cancer, so he and Hudson and Murphy started 2 dogs, 2000 miles. He still carries Malcolm’s ashes in his cremation jewelry.

Biologically, the tumor cells in dogs is pretty much the same as cancer cells in humans,” Robinson said. It’s called Comparative Oncology, a relatively new field that he wants more funding for. Robinson says cancer research on dogs would help people as well.

Robinson created “Puppy Up”, where he sells merchandise to help fund his journey. He also wears a memorial shirt and for $25 you can add the name of your deceased pet.

Sponsors help pay for the dog food and veterinary care. Water is his main need, but he has drop-off points along the way where he gets supplies and volunteers who help him.

And how are the dogs doing? “They’re so happy, so excited every single day. They’re fired up when we wake up in the morning.” Robinson says.

They walk about 8 miles a day and at the end of their journey, he will begin fundraising for 2 Million Dogs, a non-profit he conceived of during their walk with the simple idea of getting two million dogs to walk two miles to eradicate cancer in pets and people.

“If two dogs can walk two thousand miles for cancer, surely we can get two-million dogs for cancer,” Robinson said.

So, how much poop got scooped along the way? Let’s try not to think about it. But let’s not forget to support Luke, Hudson and Murphy by pledging to become part of 2 Million Dogs when they roll out their cross-country campaign this year.

The ten-legged trio plan to end their journey when they arrive in Boston on June 19th.

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Announcing our GABE winner!

Posted in Dog Blogs, Great Stuff for Dogs, The Scoop on Poop, tagged GABE on April 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well, I might be a day late, but the winner of the GABE contest is Creekhiker! For those of you who are unaware, GABE stands for Global Animal Blogging Event. FYI, the winner was chosen by the completely unscientific “pull a name from a hat” selection. Everyone who added a comment to my blog was included in the drawing.

For those of you who entered and are emotionally distraught that you are not the lucky winner of a ScooPup Pocket, (the greatest dog poop pick up and carry bag ever invented), I will be offering free shipping to anyone who uses the coupon code GABE at tinygrowl.com through the end of this month.

Remember, when you purchase a ScooPup Pocket, not only will picking up after your dog on your daily walks be cleaner and smarter, one dollar from every ScooPup Pocket purchased is donated to animal welfare charities that are making a difference in the lives of animals in need, particularly dogs.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and to those who took the time to checkout our website, and who became friends of Tiny Growl on facebook.

Cheers, and happy walking.

Bette & Riley

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Win Prizes and Find New Blogs!

Posted in Dog Blogs, tagged GABE, Twinkie on April 3, 2010| 43 Comments »

Tiny Growl is participating in a Global Animal Blogging Event! What’s it all about? It’s about giving lots of wonderful blogs some great exposure AND when you check them out, you have a chance to win some cool prizes!

The idea for GABE came from Twinkie, a little dog with big ideas.

Here at Tiny Growl we are going to be giving away one of our ScooPup Pockets, “a better way to pick up after your pup” and the best new dog walking accessory ever!

The ScooPup Pocket, from Tiny Growl

All you have to do to win a ScooPup Pocket is to take a look at my website tinygrowl.com. Watch our video to see how easy they are to use, and decide which color you might like. Then leave one (1) comment here on my blog telling me why you think a ScooPup Pocket would make walking your dog a nicer experience.

The best way to carry a stinky poop bag

Post your comment by midnight (PST) April 17, 2010, and we’ll pick the winner from a random draw of names. Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you, if you win.

Be sure to check out the other GABE participants by clicking here. New ones will be added all the time so check back often.

Please be sure to read more about Tiny Growl on our “About” page on our blog, and on the “Advocacy” of our website.

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Walking the Dog

How Picking Up Dog Poop Can Make The World A Better Place*

Archive for the ‘Dog Blogs’ Category

New Year, New Growl

2 Million Dogs Are Walking To Make A Difference

How Pedigree Is Using Social Media To Help Shelter Dogs

How To Treat An Injured Paw

My Dog, A Source of Unconditional Love, Support, Comfort and Strength Through A Stressful Week

A 2000 Mile Walk, That’s a Lot of Poop to Scoop

Announcing our GABE winner!

Win Prizes and Find New Blogs!

Tiny Growl

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