Hello readers of the Ottawa Dog Blog!

My name is Amy, and this is my dog Jersey.

When Liz did a shout out for Etsy guest bloggers, I jumped on the chance!

Why you might ask? It’s simple.

I love blogging. I love dogs. And most importantly, I looooooooooove  Etsy!

I spent a lot of time thinking how to make my debut on the Ottawa Dog Blog. There are so many incredible vendors  on Etsy, where could I even begin? I began to get overwhelmed. I started to panic.

But then I realized the answer was sitting patiently at my side, staring me down, with her tail wagging, and without a doubt thinking “Let’s go play fetch already!”.

My golden retriever.

Perhaps I’m a wee bit bias, but I found some pretty amazing Golden Retriever inspired items and would like to share them with you all.

Golden Retrievers have an amazing smile don’t they? I thought this portrait from Wildwildthings encompassed it brilliantly.

I already admitted to being bias, but wouldn’t (INSERT YOUR DOG’S NAME HERE)’s face look precious on this pillow from CottageExpressions?

This canvas  from Santacruzart made me smile. It made me think me of the obsession love my cat Sam has for Jersey. Evidence can be seen here.

This says it all dosn’t it?

Love this print from OutsidePeg!

Cupcakes AND a Golden Retriever? I couldn’t think of a better combination. This print can be found over at Geministudio.

That’s all for now folks, but I have some great posts coming up featuring custom ID tags, Custom Pet Silouhettes and a chique poop-bag holder!

Until next time!

Vote now until December 13th!

I love shopping online. Well to be honest, I just love any kind of shopping. But I feel better about shopping online when I know that the company I am buying from is Canadian.

Doggietshirts.com just got a huge makeover and emailed me to let me know that they are bigger and better than ever, and are run out of Montreal. Score!

Check out their website here.

I had the pleasure of interviewing local dog business, Rust Dawg Pet Products.

Name: Rusty-Dawg Pet Products
Websites: rustydawgpetproducts.com, Facebook Page, Etsy Shop
Location: Ottawa

What kind of Dog Business do you do?
I sell primarily eco friendly and handmade products for dogs and cats and I also sell gifts for people. For dogs, I carry buckle collars, martingale collars, leashes, harnesses, beds, fleece throws, tank tops, toys, treats & chews, collar charms & ID tags etc. Many of the items are handmade and some are made using eco friendly materials such as hemp and cotton webbing, Malden Mills Polartec Polar Fleece, repurposed fabric, fibre fill derived from plastic bottles, hemp and cotton fabrics and reclaimed wood.

How did you get into doing dog-related business? What is it that inspires you to create your pieces?
Rusty-Dawg Pet Products was established in memory of my beloved 14 year old Border Collie/Corgi named Rusty who passed away very unexpectedly on April 08, 2009. Rusty was my constant companion, my protector, my little man and to this day, my heart is still broken and the mere thought of him makes me cry. We always assume we have tomorrow, but sometimes tomorrow never comes, as I sadly learned. I had been thinking about ways to work from home so I could spend more quality time with my dogs and cats who I absolutely adore, but all I was doing was thinking about it, I hadn’t put anything into action, and now Rusty is gone. The sudden loss of Rusty is what has inspired me to put my thoughts into action and create a business that I truly believe in which will eventually allow me to spend less time at my office job and a bit more time at home with my dogs and cats.

Could you tell us some more about your work?
I am very concerned about the environment and I am also very concerned about the health and well being of our dogs and cats. As a result of that concern, I have personally selected products for the health, safety, and love of our dogs and cats.

The eco-friendly pet products that I have selected are made from renewable, repurposed and/or recycled materials, and they are sustainable and biodegradable.

I have also selected a variety of handmade items made from conventionally sourced materials. By purchasing these quality handmade items you are supporting the individual as opposed to the big box stores, thus reducing our collective carbon footprint.

Some of the items available for sale are drop shipped from the maker, meaning that after you place your order with Rusty-Dawg Pet Products, the actual manufacturer will ship the products directly to you. This reduces our carbon footprint a great deal because the item is only being shipped once, as opposed to twice if it were shipped to Rusty-Dawg Pet Products first and then shipped to you.

I am striving to offer primarily Canadian made products, but you will also find great products on my website that come from the United States.

Rusty-Dawg Pet Products is also offering our own line of handmade dog and cat products. Items that I have made myself include sac beds for dogs and cats, fleece throws for dogs and cats, dog toys, cat toys and treat bags. In the future I will be making buckle and martingale dog collars as well as break away cat collars, dog harnesses and leashes.

You’ll see on the main page on my website that a portion of sales of some of the martingale collars goes to the Ottawa Humane Society and I’m always trying to help raise funds for Big on Beagles. I recently donated some food, toys and blankets to The Cat Rescue Network in Ottawa for the Dog Days of Summer Food and Supplies Drive (which was put on by Be the Change for Pets http://www.facebook.com/bethechangeforpets, it was a worldwide drive to help rescues and shelters around the world). I have another batch of donations for Tiny Paws Dog Rescue as well for the same food drive but I haven’t been able to meet up yet with their contact in Ottawa. I donated a treat bag to BHRR’s online auction for Ava Marie that’s going on right now and I also donated two treat bags to the Carpe Canem auction to raise funds for the 28 Greyhounds in Texas that were recently seized from a hoarding situation. I can’t do a whole lot but I do what I can to help out rescues and the homeless animals that need us.

Continue reading →

I love it when I find great sites and then discover they are Canadian!! Awesome! Pawhouse Pet Boutique is one of these websites. They have a great selection and not to mention cute dogs in their images. Check them out here.

I especially LOVE these Molly Mutt DIY Beds – talk about being resourceful!

I am sure that most of you followed along in September as the Ottawa Dog Blogs got skunked and I went through an array of products and many MANY baths to try to rid them of the smell. I will freely admit that the Drypet towel was my SAVIOUR during this time.

A while back, a reader sent in a comment about how amazing Drypet towels were so I contacted Drypet about doing a review earlier that month and they wonderfully agreed and sent me a towel to test out right away. And test we did. In that week alone, the dogs probably had close to 5 or 6 baths. They stunk…oh man it was bad. They don’t like baths to begin with so they were not thrilled at my many attempts to rid them of their stench. My dogs have longer hair and they are tiny therefore they get cold quickly so after the bath, there is usually quite a bit of toweling off…usually not very successfully.

The Drypet towel quickly absorbs the water out of my dog’s hair leaving them, although not fully dry (did I mention my dogs have a lot of hair??), but significantly drier than any other towel I’ve ever used. It will allow me to bathe them in the winter months without having to blow dry them for quite some time afterwards! Now I towel off, use the dryer a teensy bit and they are good to go.

The best part about the Drypet towels is that although we Ottawa folk have to purchase online, the company is based in Toronto and therefore we get the towels through the mail extremely fast and don’t have to worry about any import fees. I love supporting Canadian companies and it’s wonderful to find one with such a standout product.

The towel is very well priced at 19.95 per 24″x36″ towel. They are available in Grey and the best part is you can have is customized for 24.95!!! What a great deal!

Just for Ottawa Dog Blog readers, Drypet has agreed to give us a special discount – $10 off!!! The Ottawa Dog Blog special code is cdp10 and will work from Nov 18-25. EDIT: please not the date of the sale has changed – 1 WEEK ONLY!!

These towels would make a great gift for any pet lover this holiday season.