Devil in Disguise

This is the face I see at work. Those are my legs in the photo, with Cassie gazing up at me. She's between me and my workbench. The other dogs are trained to stay out of my way when I pack biscuits. Cassie is determined to get between me and my workbench. Sometimes she lays down on the mat I stand on. Basically, she makes packing biscuits a challenge and I'm constantly "shooing" her out of the way.

But isn't she a cutie?

However, she was not such a cutie today. She was a challenge when a friend dropped by for tea. The friend asked how Cassie was progressing and I talked in glowing terms about how well she's doing...not much counter surfing and snatching things going on. Ahem. What was that again?

In the short time it took to drink a cup of tea: Cassie got up on her hind legs and grabbed a tea towel from the counter. Cassie grabbed an oven mitt from beside the stove. Cassie grabbed one of my slippers (something she has never done before) Cassie grabbed a kleenex from my friend's lap. Cassie jumped up on the couch beside my friend, sat down, and then lay down across my friend's lap!

So I'm wondering...Dawna, will you ever join me for tea again?

Pleasant Surprises

Isn't it nice when something happens totally out of the blue? Something pleasant that you weren't expecting?

I found out that our Barking Biscuits are featured in this month's Ottawa Magazine. A friend told me about it...I had no idea. I guess the person who wrote the article just went out and bought some for their feature. Totally cool!

Our biscuits are at the bottom of the page. They used 2 packages and then put some loose biscuits in the dog bowl. Our website & details are mentioned in the big white dot at the top right of the page. It's so great to have something like this happen when it's totally unexpected!

And...to make the day even better...I read one of my favourite blogs and my biscuits are featured there as well! I read Beebee Mod every day. I just find Jen so creative and so funny...I really enjoy following her ups and downs. Check her blog out (and my biscuits too!) Thanks Jen!

CNN Young Wonders - Ryan needs your vote

I received this email yesterday and decided to spread the word. CNN is currently conducting a vote to determine the "Young Wonder" for the CNN Heroes Gallery. Only one of the contenders is Canadian, and he's from right here in our modest little town of Kemptville. Please consider voting for this very deserving young man. (but you must vote by November 12th) He currently only has 17% of the vote, so it's vital for as many of us to vote as possible. Here is the email I received:

"I am sure that most of you have heard of "Ryan's Well." This is a project to provide clean water to many African villages and was the product of a very industrious young man by the name of Ryan Hreljac of Kemptville Ontario. Ryan and his adopted brother Jimmy Akana have written a book "Ryan and Jimmy and the well in Africa that brought them together". This book has been nominated for a Silver Birch Reading Program award. I would appreciate all of you logging on to www.cnn.com/heroes and look under the young wonders category and cast a vote for Ryan. He is the only Canadian candidate for this award. All voting must be completed by November 12/07. It is therefore imperative that the votes be cast as soon as possible. On the website there is a brief Video clip of Ryan. His book is available through Chapters. In logging on to the aforementioned website you will note there will be subsequent voting and I would ask that you follow the instructions and complete the process. Your help in recognizing this very deserving young man would be very much appreciated. Also please note that Ryan has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show and his book promoted by her, he has been Honored by the Governor General of Canada and recently has teamed up with Matt Damon to promote his worthwhile cause."

Let's give our fellow Canadian some support. Please vote!

Update: looks like Ryan didn't make it to the final round of voting. CNN airs their results on Thursday night.

happy

Don't you just feel happy when you look at this dog? This is Kiefer doing one of the things he loves best. We retired Kiefer's tags from our Peamutty Barks dog biscuits a month or so ago. (ie, we ran out of them and had to start using some new photos!)

Happy is what I felt today. I put a serious dent in my Christmas shopping list! Gotta love it. Only a very few presents left on the list. I feel good. I feel great! Everything is just coming together.

Do something that makes you feel good!

A funny thing happened

I received this email today. It was the first thing I read this morning and I must say it made my day!

"Hi Sara,

My 17 year old son Michael wasn't terribly impressed with me last night when I got home from working. Apparently the bag of Barking Biscuits that I left on the kitchen counter was a lure for him to indulge himself with. So thinking they were cookies - 'er ... well ... need I say more?

... and this was my fault because? Well I didn't stand for it, I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the person most obviously responsible - YOU! It's that nice white packaging that you use.

Have a nice day."

So, in response I had to tell her about a funny story of my own from way back when I started my dog biscuit business:
"Reminds me of a story about me & my son very, very early in my dog biscuit making days. I had picked him up from school and we were travelling to a hockey practice. He was starving and we didn't have time to stop to pick up something to eat. I had my peanut butter dog biscuits in the car so we ate the biscuits! (peanut butter, rolled oats, skim milk, baking powder)
(I've never told anyone that story...I probably would have been charged with child abuse or something!)"

Mya The Pumpkin Biscuit Queen

Take a look at Mya and all her Barking Biscuit goodies! (and talk about spoiled...she gets to sit in the lazyboy too!)

And...if you want to see a video of Mya enjoying her pumpkin biscuits, check out Christine's blog.

Thanks Christine! You made my day.

And now it's November

Where does all the time go? It's already the 3rd day of November! Christmas is just around the corner, and then another year will be over.

And what a year it has been!

Our Happy Holidogs (this year featuring reindeer dog Carling) are now out in many of our stores. The remaining stores have requested them for November 15th delivery. We have veterinarians who will be giving out our "Ho Ho" bones (large 5 inch bones with a tag insert that reads "Ho..Ho..hope you have Happy Holidogs!") to their customers in November and December.

And, of course, our holiday and regular biscuits can be ordered anytime on our web site.

I feel the Christmas spirit coming...ho ho ho.