Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Pet Bloggers Are the Best!

This won't really be about BlogPaws, but it comes out of the chatter at BlogPaws.

Aren't pet people the best people? Our closing keynote, Francois, who is the co-author of The Hyper-Social Organization, showed that pet people are more likely to give back, than just your average person. We support shelters and projects and each other at a higher rate than the average citizen. But, of course!

The conference brought about 375 people together (more were registered but that pesky hurricane kept them away) and throughout the weekend I heard over and over that people were thrilled at getting a chance to not only meet their blogger-buddies, but their blogger-buddies pets. We had tons of dogs, cats, a guinea pig, and three ferrets in attendance.

Helping Homeless Pets

Our good friends at Bissell just launched a great campaign in support of pet adoption.They're partnered with Petfinder, a big supporter of BlogPaws and pets everywhere. Here's the scoop -

Bissell is "...inviting pet lovers across the United States and most of Canada to join the effort via its Facebook page this summer. Those who are not yet fans of Bissell's Facebook page can register and the company will make a 50-cent donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation." w00t!

Our Friends at Bissell®

Many of you will know that last week Tom and I got to attend a GREAT event at Bissell, in MI. We're part of their Pack of Pet Lovers group and it includes some free product as well as a trip to at least one event during the year. (find them on Twitter at @wemeanclean )

This event was fantastic in a lot of different ways.

I've been to brand headquarters before. Other brands. I had certain expectations of this one. Bissell not only did not disappoint, they impressed me beyond expectation. The part of the day that made the most impact on me was - the true friendly nature of everyone we met. I have to tell you that the hostesses and every employee treated us like we were old friends (we kinda are, but there were a good many folks who we had not met before and they acted like we were old friends, too!).

From our Friends at Thoughts FurPaws: A Dog Hoarding Tale

When I saw this post from our Pack of Pet Lovers friends at Thoughts FurPaws, I knew I had to share. We all feel the pain, I think, when we see reports about dog or cat hoarding. That's when sometimes well-meaning citizens have TOO many pets, or when otherwise clueless people adopt dogs and cats without any idea of how they will care for these animals. And then, they don't. Care for them properly - including not being able to feed or house them.

Hoarding is a horrible, horrible issue. It's right up there with dog fighting, in my humble brazen opinion. If you cannot care properly for your animals, you need to surrender them. And, you need NOT to keep obtaining more.

Here is part of the post written on Thoughts FurPaws; please visit the blog and read the entire post, it's well worth your time:

Dog Hoarding: Mojave's Tale from Hell to Rescue -

"Hey there; my name is Mojave and boy do I have a good old, tail waggin’ “tail” to tell you. This tale is not for the timid or the faint of heart, so grab yourself a chew toy, your favorite ripped-up blankie, or even Mom’s brand new shirt… And get ready; I’m going to tell you, after you’ve made yourselves comfy, what happened to me; I’m going to share my courageous story about life with a dog hoarder in southern California.

What's more fun than a Super Bowl party?

How about a Super Dog Sunday Blog Hop, hosted by Carrie Boyko over at All Things Dog Blog?

Carrie guest-posted about this over at BlogPaws on Thursday, but I just checked and there are already 71 blogger hoppin' — and the pre-game nonsense isn't even over yet! Don't miss out.

And don't think dogs and their humans are the only ones having more fun today: Check out the Super Cat Sunday Party, hosted by that celebrity cat, Sparkle (with a little help from her staff, no doubt)!

At last count, Sparkle had 52 party animals leaving comments about the food, the fun, and the door prizes! Get over there to enter ...

And of course, there's - as Jim McKay would have called it - the "Grand-Daddy of them All" Puppy Bowl - sponsored by our friends at BISSELL!

Our Pack of Pet Lovers with Bissell

We're part of Bissell's Pack of Pet Lovers, once again. We have a number of Bissell® products including vacuum cleaners, the Spot Bot® (luv, luv, luv it!) and other cleaning products. We put them to good use almost daily. Our dogs don't purposely soil the carpets, but they're rescue dogs and sometimes they have accidents. Yes, the product was free. We may be able to do some giveaways this year! w00t!

There are a number of other bloggers in the Pack of Pet Lovers. They share a lot of fun, entertaining and educational information so I hope you'll visit them on a regular basis. Here they are:

Petfinder's Happy Tails - The best place online to find your next pet. Check out all the locations and share this great resource.

Happy New Year! from The Grumpy Old Lady and friends

Welcome to the NEW and redesigned Scratchings and Sniffings! Going forward, we'll be sharing a lot of great information as we always have, but you'll hear more from The Grumpy Old Lady [pictured here checking my spelling] and her friends. Those would be Olive, Emily and Chester - the pups you see in our new header.

2011 promises to be an exciting year for us. As we work to prepare for BlogPaws 2011, and working with lots of new pet brands, pet people, and pets, we're also keen on sharing valuable information with our readers. Not to mention continuing our/expanding our Pack of Pet Lovers work with Bissell.

If you have content you'd like to share - educational information on pets and pet products, news stories, humorous stories, pictures, and videos, use our comment section to contact me and I'll consider posting your information here. I'll have to check with The Grumpy Old Lady, of course!

For newcomers - here's the low-down on the pets:

Dogs on Parole

Actually, it's just one dog. Rocky, the new darling of the household at Sue's house - she of the fantastic Bissell Pack of Pet Lovers Inside the Pack - was, as Sue says in her post, "Just released from prison."

OMG! That's what I first thought when I read that. But, it's okay. Rocky was away for training. Sue talks about  Rocky's adoption from Refurbished Pets of Southern Michigan - which has been reducing its eunthanasia rates with the help of the Branch County Animal Control. The story revolves around the dogs that are screened and vaccinated, neutered, of course, and then put in prison.

Bissell Gets Pet Friendly

That title should say "more" pet friendly. Ever since becoming a member of their Pack of Pet Lovers, I've been really impressed by the way Bissell embraces pet parents and their four-legged (or two-clawed, whatever!) kids! We use Bissell products on The Grumpy Old Lady's hairballs and they're great!

Well, I just read on Inside the Pack, the Bissell pet blog, that "The BISSELL Pet Spot is officially open!"

The Pet Spot is a place at Bissell for employees to bring pets. Can I hear a big cheer for that? Of course, Purina allows pets at their offices, but isn't it interesting when a company that is not traditionally pet-friendly, becomes pet friendly? I know Bissell has recognized the power of pets, how they uplift us and encourage us and just make us feel better.

Most Valuable Pet: Bissell Picks a Winner!

Wow - great breaking mews!!! Bissell has announced the winner of its Most Valuable Pet Contest and she's a beautiful kitty named Gracey. Interestingly, our contact at Bissell, Beth, met Gracey's Mom at BlogPaws East! Small world, huh?

Gracey is featured in a fun video on YouTube (showing a photo shoot and how cats aren't always interested in being photographed!) in prep for being on featured on the Pet Hair Eraser Hand Vacuum. Also, as the top winner, Bissell will be giving Gracey's favorite charity, PurrEver Ranch, a $10,000 grand prize donation!