blog-a-dog

wanna be a sled dog!

Man this summer heat is getting to me. Even though my huMAN clipped my hair, I'm still feeling way too hot. Last winter they went to Dinner Plain for the Sled-Dog Challenge. Right about now running around in the snow sounds like a great way to cool off...

Ain't that cool !?!

Pet care company steals our product

My hu-MANS are not happy.

Remember me telling you about these clever K9 parking leads they designed?

My hu-MAN spent hours and hours in research and development. Heaps of his own money and time spent creating a safe and unique product. Finding suppliers, and distributors. He approached a few of the major pet store chains in the country. They were not interested (but funnily enough a very similar product appeared on their shelves within a few months).

Never mind. My hu-MAN managed to get his K9 parking lead distributed through Kmart and Coles stores in Australia and New Zealand. Under the Go-Pet label. A segment of Purina Pet Care, a subsidiary of Nestle.

After two years of hard slog, my hu-MANs were heading towards their goal of earning enough money through the sale of this product to cover the costs of hosting burnt out church and community workers at the small island retreat they are building.

When sales got to about 900 units per month, my hu-MAN couldn't understand why there were no new orders coming in to restock shelves. My hu-MAN approached Go-Pet. He was given the brush off with the news that HQ was heading interstate to Sydney and all packaging and purchasing would now be done from that office. When things had settled down, he was told, they would be in touch to re-establish orders.

A few weeks later they were grocery shopping and found their K9 parking lead had been replaced by an inferior product. But it still had their own product name, design and tag on this replacement product (which probably came from Asia). And it was still selling for the same retail price, despite inferior manufacturing.

I'm just a dog, but I'm smart enough to know this, the creator and manufacturer of any products in Coles and Kmart make the least amount out of each sale. They grind the distributors so low on prices they are forced to steal local companies designs and get them made cheaper overseas, so that Coles and Kmart can make more per unit sale than before. How else do you think they can fund their "Price Rewind" tactic.

Numerous attempts to get answers from Go-Pet administrators ended with nothing but unanswered emails and phone calls. My hu-MANs don't have the money to finance a legal fight against this injustice. Another micro-business in Australia bites the dust.

If you have a local famers market. Shop there. Get your fruit and veg direct from the grower. It will be fresher, and the famer's family will get their fair share of the rewards for their labour. Need gifts, art for your home, or pet accessories? Try your local craft market. Support the little people with your dollars. They deserve it. The multinational corporations don't.

Life's ruff!

Camouflage

I got a parcel in the post today. Inside it was a canine camouflage jacket. The card said it was so I could sneak up on the kangaroos and koalas. But I make too much noise to sneak up. They hear me coming from a mile off. Besides, my huMANS get very cross if I try to chase the local wildlife. Unless of course it's those poohing ducks or the wood-eating galahs. I'm allowed to chase them away.

Checking out the Christmas story

Check out this nativity scene my humans made over the weekend. With all the bushfire stuff and other stressors going on, they decided it was time to do something fun. Gathering building scraps and some things from the "useful" box in the shed, they invited some friends over for a BBQ and an afternoon of power tools and creativity. This was the end product.

I had to check out the christmas story up close and personal. Sniffed out the manger, and gave the leg my seal of approval.

I'm floored!

It's been a busy couple of months around here. Digging huge holes, filling them with concrete and logs. The floor base is down now and as you can see in the photo above, I like the view from up here.

I've been sharing the role of canine site manager with one of the builder's dogs. His name is Seb, short for Sebastian. He's been a bit hungry and cleared out my chow bowl a few times. So now I get fed inside. Here I am offering him a piece of grass as a dining option.