2011 Wrap up!

2011 has been an incredible year for Peachy Keen Pets, thanks to all the fans, friends, rescue volunteers, pet boutiques, animal lovers we've encountered these last 12 months.

This year we were featured on an awesome show, InnerSPACE (http://www.spacecast.com/InnerSPACE.aspx), on the Space Channel, where they talked about our nerdiest pet apparel, like this Star Trek SPOCK harness:

We were also on Pet Fashion TV, doing a fashion show and talking about what sets Peachy Keen Pets apart, with our sassy pinup girls, retro cartoons, sci-fi comic nerd gear, and more!
(http://www.thepetnetwork.tv/)

We were also in Dogs Dogs Dogs magazine, Pawsh magazine, and we were part of the online edition of the Globe and Mail gift guide for pets!

Our proudest work this year would be raising money for WSPA's Collars Not Cruelty campaign, where each collar sold directly went to save one dogs life in various countries around the world that cull massive amounts of animals in fear of rabies. The WSPA mass-vaccinates dogs with the help of donations, and $5 from each of my red collars was donated this year, and hopefully will go on to raise even more in the new year. Visit their site to read more, http://redcollar.wspa.ca/.  If YOU want a red collar, just email me, niki@peachykeenpets.com.

As you may know, we also do a lot of work with various rescue organizations, especially these fine rescues below. Please visit their sites for information on how you can help with rescue, whether it be through donations, volunteer work, or just to be informed to pass it on to someone else! We rescued our pug Hummus from Pugalug, and have been directly affected by the incredible work rescues do to bring wonderful, loving pets to new forever homes.

Pugalug Pug Rescue - http://pugalug.com/
Boston Terrier Rescue Canada - http://www.bostonterrierrescuecanada.com/home.cfm
Loyal Rescue - http://www.loyalrescue.com/
Dog-Ma Pet Rescue - http://www.dog-mapetrescue.com/home.cfm

For fun, here is the listing for Hummus back when he was in rescue and named Gus, and our adoption photo from 2008!  http://pugalug.com/gus.html

And finally, we are now sold at 34 stores in North America, with new locations in New York City, Ft Lauderdale, Ottawa, and more! Check out our official site for a listing of amazing shops that sell Peachy Keen Pets!
www.peachykeenpets.com


THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING THIS YEAR AMAZING, REWARDING, AND FUN FOR ME AND THE PUG POSSE HERE AT PEACHY KEEN PETS!!

WSPA's Collars Not Cruelty campaign!

I am delighted to be a part of an incredible campaign with WSPA, Collars Not Cruelty, in the fight against rabies. Peachy Keen Pets designed red collars for awareness of this initiative on behalf of the WSPA, and we are also fundraising for this campaign!

If you would like a red collar to show your support to WSPA, $5 from each sale goes directly to the Collars Not Cruelty campaign. Collars in S, M, L are all $15, XL is $18.  Email me at niki@peachykeenpets.com!

For every collar we sell, that $5 donation is about what it costs to vaccinate, collar and save a dog in Bangladesh .  Every single one saves a dog’s life.

Please read the information below, or visit the website http://redcollar.wspa.ca/ for details on the fabulous work they are doing around the world!

Miso and Hummus have been showing their support all afternoon!!

 (information below taken in part from the website:  http://redcollar.wspa.ca/)

Today is World Rabies Day and the WSPA (The World Society for the Protection of Animals) are launching a new campaign – Collars Not Cruelty in the fight against rabies.

In nearly every part of the world, people and dogs live together.  But in some communities that bond is being tested. Twenty million dogs are brutally killed every year and fear of rabies is often used as the excuse. That's 38 dogs killed every minute. People think it will stop rabies. It doesn't.    But rabies is completely preventable. There is a scientifically-proven, humane and sustainable alternative to fear and cruelty – it's vaccination.  That is the only way to protect communities from rabies and to protect these at-risk dogs from being killed.

WSPA is launching the Collars Not Cruelty Campaign, a global initiative to establish dog vaccination programs in countries where dogs are killed in response to rabies.  WSPA vaccinates all dogs and gives them a red collar.  These collared-dogs become a symbol of safety, life and hope in their communities. We have had some great successes in Sri Lanka, Bali, and in some South American cities with this program and we are going into Bangladesh (starting today) and beginning a vaccination program there. 

WSPA used Peachy Keen Pets lovely red collars to make the connection with Canadian dogs, pictures to come shortly to  http://redcollar.wspa.ca/

You and I know how much Canadians care about dogs and the dogs suffering on the other side of the world are not so different that the ones we call family here.  We have some beautiful photos of saved dogs as well as a really impactful video on the campaign that you can access at http://redcollar.wspa.ca/

Contest!

 

Visit Marcia's facebook page here

PKP's Morning Pug Competition of Cuteness PART 1, Pet Fun Fest, and Maria Bamford!

This morning, my pugs were being impossible. They were making a point of being adorable and doing goofy things so that I would continue to play with them instead of working. The perils of working from home and having adorable pug creatures!

I decided we were going to have a Competition of Cuteness (and Special Skills), and today I will post the first two rounds.

The Contenders:

MISO (left) and HUMMUS (right)

MISO is a brainy brute, blind in one eye, and one ear flops around when he runs.
HUMMUS has a gigantic forehead but very little brain power inside. He has a skunk tail.

Both pugs have adorably gray chins, both are 8 years old, and both weigh 21 hulking pounds. They also both snore loudly, and are cuddle champions.

ROUND ONE:

Cutest Yawn.

MISO makes weird noises when he yawns that sound like "woooo", and can yawn on command if you rub his cheeks.
HUMMUS opens his mouth so wide, he looks like this:

 

WINNER: It was a hard one, but Hummus wins because he keeps is mouth open really long and wide and for a long time, and I have a picture to prove it :)

ROUND TWO:

Cutest Sleeper

MISO is part acrobat, part Shakespearean tragedy, and part smooshed beyond belief. His tongue often peeks out.

HUMMUS flops his body as wide as it can go. He spreads out all his legs and when his head is down his eyes disappear under wrinkles.

 

WINNER: Miso

Hummus is an adorable and ridiculous creature when he sleeps, but Miso deserved a whole blog post about it a few months ago. He is upside down, head hanging off of things, face rested on his paws, lips flopping open and looking like portobello mushrooms, and his tongue often sticks out. That is a seriously talented sleeper. I could post 50 more pictures of them sleeping! Also, for an added bonus, every single morning without fail, you can find purple belly lint in his belly button. 

 So it probably seems like them each winning a category is just me being the mom who loves her pugs equally, which I do, but they won these fair and square. The next few rounds they will continue

to battle it out by essentially snuggles, talent, and brains (oh Hummus, you will not win that portion, that is my prediction).

Right now their snores are overpowering the music I'm listening to, and I keep thinking my phone is vibrating, but no, it's just their nostril noises :)  

 Today at PKP Headquarters, we are gearing up for The Second Annual PET FUN FEST this weekend, out at Downsview Park in Toronto. Check out www.petfunfest.ca for all the details! 

Driving directions, times, vendor information, and event schedule! It's going to be a really great show!

The event is organized by the amazing people at Helpless Homeless Pets, check out their site too! www.helping homelesspets.com

Another thing I've been so excited about has been that very recently I met my favourite comedian, the hilarious Maria Bamford, at her show in Toronto. Maria has two pugs and shares some stories of them in her sets, so I thought I would bring Maria some PKP harnesses for them :)

Of course when you meet someone you like so much, you hope they are going to be good people so your opinion of them doesn't change too much. With Maria Bamford, both my friend Gord and I were so happy to find she was not only kind and funny, but really sweet and generous and she seemed to really like the harnesses I brought, and ended up getting one for a friend of hers too! I hoped she would eventually send a photo, but not only did she send one, she sent it to me 2 days after the show!

Her great pugs are named Blossom and Burt :)

You can see a really funny hour-long special that Maria made in her living room with the pugs snoring beside her here:

http://www.vimeo.com/7944778

 Here is a photo of me and Maria together at the show!