I admire this vision, and think that this use is a fitting tribute to the dogs that suffered and died at Mr. Vick’s hand. To help them in their fund raising efforts, I am making donations to the effort from now until April 1st.

For every dog bandana sold, I am donating US $2.00 for every purse or Bandana of the Month Club sold, I am donating US $5.00 to Dogs Deserve Better.

Dogs Deserve Better is trying to meet a fund raising goal of over US $669,000.00 to be able to purchase the property.

I ask you to consider supporting this group and this effort with either a purchase from my studio, or a direct contribution to their cause.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post!

One of the first considerations is how your dog will participate. They can participate as a bridesmaid or groomsman, or even as a ring bearer. The options are only limited by your imagination! Once you have found the perfect role for them in your wedding, there are a few more things to think about before the big day.

Will your dog need to be walked in by another member of the wedding party, or are they trained well enough to perform their role off-lead? You will want to rehearse your dog’s responsibilities for the big day well in advance, so the dog knows what is expected of him or her. Including the dog in the formal rehearsal will be important, so the dog is less surprised by all the extra people.

Who will be responsible for getting the dog to the ceremony, taking care of the dog during the ceremony and afterwards? You will be quite busy with all the other details of the day, so delegating this will be one less worry for you on the big day.

Will your dog be dressing for the occasion? It is possible to get everything from custom designed dog clothing to match the color theme, to buying something pre-made at a pet store. Will your dog be wearing something simple, like a bandana, or something more elaborate, like a tuxedo or dress? Ring bearer pillows for dogs are also available, either custom made or from a store. If you are going with a more elaborate outfit, it is a good idea to be sure that the dog has time to get used to the concept of wearing it! Some dogs freeze up when they are in clothes, and the day of your wedding is not the time to discover that!

Custom made items do not have to be prohibitively expensive. They can be made to match the outfits of other members of the wedding party. It is possible to choose a close match on the fabric, or if it is possible to get yardage of the actual dress fabric, an exact match is possible. These items can be made to fit your dog’s measurements, and will be comfortable on them.

Store bought items are often made overseas, and can fit poorly or not be the right size. If at all possible, it is a good idea to try them on your dog to ensure a good fit. The better the clothing fits, the more comfortable your dog will be with dressing up. You will want to be sure that the legs of the clothing do not restrict your dog’s ability to walk normally.

A few supplies will go a long way toward making the big day go off smoothly. You may wish to pack your dog a small kit with some clean up bags, a favorite toy to amuse the dog when he or she has to wait, and a bowl and some water for drinking, and maybe some treats for a job well done.

Taking these things into consideration should help your big day be a happy and smooth experience for all of you. Congratulations and all the best to you and your intended!

Puparazzi! Pet Bow-tique is located in pet-friendly downtown Manteo!  Most of the stores in the downtown district will allow your leashed, DRY, well behaved dog to accompany you into the store.  Several of our restaurants are also pet friendly, including The Coffeehouse on Roanoke Island, Magnolia Grille (outdoor seating), Full Moon Cafe (outdoor seating), and Ortega’z Southwest Grill (covered porch).

It is definitely worth your time to check out.  Economic recovery is generated on the local level, buying from locally owned stores keeps more money in the local economy.  Buying from the mega retailers or online puts nothing back into your local economy.

For the consumer, here is all it takes:  Pick 3 locally owned stores you’d really miss if they were gone.  Do at least $50 of your monthly purchases in those stores, if you can spend $50 at each, even better!  68 cents of every locally spent dollar recycles into your community through taxes and other purchases.

Spread the word – the more people doing this, the quicker things will start to change for the better!  Besides, do you want Wal-Mart to be the ONLY choice you have for shopping?  They support overseas economies by buying items from overseas, and in this area, they hire lots of foreign students in the summer, giving jobs away that could have gone to desperate AMERICAN job seekers.

You can also find The 3/50 Project on Facebook, and if you Twitter, search #350proj

Downtown Manteo offers an eclectic mix of shops, galleries and restaurants in a pedestrian and pet friendly environment.  Manteo’s downtown district has a quaint and welcoming small town feel.   Many stores will allow leashed, DRY and well behaved pets to browse with you, and several of our restaurants have outdoor seating where your pet is welcome to sit with you!  Parking is free and available on the street, or in one of several public lots downtown.  Come discover one of the Outer Banks’ best kept secrets!

Puparazzi! will be out there as a vendor, and I’ll be bringing along some of the bandanna collection, dog art and toys, as well as the dog tag engraving machine.  Spring is a good time to make sure your dog’s tag information is correct and readable!

I hope to meet a bunch of new dogs and their people out there, and am looking forward to a really fun day.

Nighttime whining is a problem at first, and is often where people lose control of the relationship with their dog.  At first, your pup will be lonely without his or her littermates and mom.  He or she is likely to cry for attention at night, or when in the crate.  Just like with a human baby, they will need to learn to settle down to sleep by themselves.  There are many soft comforting toys to choose from to place in the crate with your pup, for snuggling.  I know it is hard, and it can seem mean, but you will have to prepare yourself to ignore the crying at first.  It may help to put the pup in the crate in another room, so he can’t see what he’s missing.  If you give in, you will be teaching him that crying is a good way to get you to come running, and encourage that to continue.

Proper socialization is another aspect of training, and just as important as sit or come here.  Having your pup learn to meet new people and other dogs appropriately will make your life a lot easier when pup is full grown.  You should allow your pup to experience a variety of situations.  Many pet stores will allow a leashed dog inside.  Your job is to manage these experiences so they are positive for the puppy – for instance, try to avoid an aggressive dog, or allowing young children to accidentally hurt the pup.  The more he or she is comfortable with, the more he can accompany you.

Last, but not least, what you feed your puppy does make a difference in their health.  Most of the brands sold in grocery stores and the big box stores are adequate nutritionally, but there is more you can choose to do for your dog’s health.  Even the store’s “premium” brands can have iffy ingredient lists, and many of those foods had recalls in 2007.  Whole Dog Journal does a good job of investigating the foods available for the dogs, and they accept no advertising, making them fairly objective.  With the “super-premium” label dog foods, you get added benefits, such as more whole ingredients – such as chicken vs. “chicken meal”, and no fractions like the glutens which caused the recalls.  Another benefit is that without fillers like corn or corn gluten, you dog will produce less waste, meaning less for you to clean up.  Generally, you feed less of the super premium foods, as it is more nutrition, less filler.  Most specialty dog stores will have food samples available, so you can try it out first.

If you have any questions about your puppy’s care, feel free to stop by the store for assistance!

It is never too early to start training your pup, although at first, they do have very short attention spans.  In my opinion, positive reinforcement is the most effective way to train.  You can start with rewarding the puppy with a “yes!” and a treat (such as a piece of puppy kibble) when they do what you want, such as doing business outside.  If the pup sits or lays down, you can say that command and offer a treat.  If you are going to show a pup how to sit or lay down, it is best to gently guide them into position – don’t forget, you are much bigger than a puppy, and can easily intimidate them!  Puppies are eager to please, and will want to get treats, so this will make training fairly easy.  I recommend that sessions are kept short & happy for the pup.  Set him up to be successful, and be ready to stop when he first starts to lose interest, or before!  As the pup gets a bit older, you may consider taking him or her to formal training classes, which offer great advice and a good opportunity to socialize with other dogs.  Training is a good investment in your relationship.  What is cute in a 5 pound puppy will be a lot less charming in a 5o pound adult!

Puppies love to chew, and will chew on anything they can get their teeth on.  It is up to the owner to set the boundaries, and train them in proper chewing behavior.  There are many acceptable chew toys on the market to choose from, and it is good for the puppy’s mental stimulation to have several types of toys.  If you catch the pup in the act of chewing something unacceptable, such as a table leg, tell him “no”, and lead him away from it.  Offer him an appropriate chew toy, and praise for chewing it.  During the teething phase, sometimes freezing a hard chew will help the pup relieve the pain from teething.  During crate training, leaving the puppy some safe toys to chew and play with is a good idea, so they don’t get bored and cry for attention.  There are also chew deterrents on the market, if the pup develops a particular liking for something you do not want him or her to chew.

On the topic of toys, there are literally hundreds of different kinds to choose from.  The most important thing to remember is to choose a toy that is the right size for your pup, and if it is getting worn, it is probably time to take it away.  You can save yourself some major vet bills if you do not let him or her eat peices of the toy!  If the pup tends to destroy the soft squeaky toys, I recommend that those only be given for play when the pup can be supervised, and a safer chew substituted for unsupervised play, and when the pup gets serious about destroying the toy.  Playtime is a good time to work in training commands like “drop it” and “leave it” – don’t forget to reward the obedience!

In Part 3, I’ll be offering suggestions on socialization, and dealing with night time whining.

The shelters often have many dogs, and in this tough economy, there are even more pure bred dogs available at the shelters.  I encourage you to check that out as an option.  In addition, shelters can offer more mature dogs, who will not have the chewing and housebreaking issues of a small pup.

Once you decide to bring a pup home, housebreaking is the next issue to consider.  A young puppy will need to go out about every 2 hours, when they wake up from naps, and after eating.  I always recommend crate training, since puppies instinctively do not want to soil their “den”.  When the pup is not being directly supervised, he or she should be in their crate.

If you catch the puppy in the act of soiling the house, the best advice I’ve found is to pick them up quickly, with an “oh, no” or “oops”.  The startle should make them stop going.  Rush them outside, and be sure to praise lavishly when they do their business outside.  You can get products to treat any accident areas, to prevent the puppy from going back to that spot in the house.  Nature’s Miracle, which I sell, is especially good for that.  It neutralizes the scent very well.

For the first few weeks, housebreaking is mainly training yourself to recognize when the pup has to go.  As they mature, they can “hold it” longer, and are able to give you a better cue that they need to go out.  Keeping things as positive as possible will make sure you and the pup have a good relationship for future training efforts.

It is never “too early” to train, although a pup has a very short attention span.  Training & chewing will be covered in the next update of the blog!

Puparazzi! is making changes – we are going to focus on affordable luxuries & necessities for the pampered pet on a budget.  The “good life” should not belong exclusively to rich dogs, but to all.  We are searching out products with high quality at good values for our customers.  In some areas, we are lowering our prices by changing distributors – a savings that will be passed on to our clients!  Our bandanna line now has special pricing – the more you buy, the more you save, from 15-30%.

We are proud to feature local, North Carolina and made in the USA products wherever we can.  Puparazzi! is committed to the health, safety and welfare of our clients.  We maintain our connection and fund raising efforts for the Outer Banks SPCA.  You can expect our parties to continue to be fun and FREE events for dogs & their people.

We look forward to seeing you at our shop soon!  Your dog deserves the STAR treatment, no matter what your budget!