Paw of the Family

  It is Christmas time, this can be a wonderful time where families are welcoming new pets into their home! I will always advocate for rescuing, but I do also understand wanting that Golden Retriever that you have always seen and is at the top of every review site ranking them the top family dog. Regardless of where your new family member comes from, some folks have allergies, and THAT is what this article is about, as I have seen unfortunately, too many times where folks adopt a new furbaby or purchases a "hypoallergenic" breed, only to succumb to allergies anyway and have to find a new home for their family member.   This one may be a tough pill to swallow, and I'm not here to upset anyone, but I am going to state this right away ......... There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog. Please don't feel attacked or throw stones at me or wait for me to head to my car to come get me after the store closes lol. This is just hard to hear in the store because its a myth...

  We are just going to jump right into it. We only carry foods that we have hand selected and that we are comfortable feeding to our own pets. This is actually why my wife and I (Ryan and Jessica) opened the business on our own instead of a franchise. We were being pushed on things such as certain foods and raw hide treats which we know are not good for our pets, but we would have had to sell under a franchise, and that is just not the way we wanted our business to run.  So what's so terrible about certain foods? The answer is complex, but in it's simplest form, there are keywords that you should look for on your pets food, that in my advice for whatever that is worth, if you see these 4 words, you should run.  1. By-product (of any kind, such as Meat by-product, Poultry by-product, Animal by-product) 2. Corn 3. Soy 4. Wheat What is the problem with By-products? The biggest problem here is that it is unregulated and can literally be from Dead, Dying, or Diseased animals (...

  Everyone gets frustrated every once in a while. It is an unfortunate risk we take waking up every morning 🤣. The last thing that we want here at Paw of the Family is to be one of the causes of that frustration. In a service driven industry, no matter how hard we try, sometimes it is unavoidable. We do our absolute best to deliver the best customer service we can with every interaction, but sometimes, even with the best customer service, frustrations can arise from prices, booked schedules, missed appointments and associated charges, to having to shave a matted pup, to being unable to groom a pup when it is in the best interest of the dog. I want to talk about these, so that it can perhaps provide a lens into this side of the business. Each of these issues could be their own blog posts and perhaps they will in the future, but at least for now, I want to touch on these at least in a synopsis and without making the post too much to read. First , I want to discuss price. We are not ...

      Does your dog have too much energy? Are they anxious or destructive when you are away? Doggy daycare may be a great addition to you and  your pets lives! There are many benefits to using a doggy daycare. I wanted to cover a few of those benefits, explain what doggy daycare is, and if it is good for your dog.  The Benefits: Our pets are very adaptive and usually fit into our routines. However, there are many pets out there that just don't get excited for spending the entire day alone. Let's say you work an 8 hour day, plus commute and errands, your pet could be spending upwards of 10+ hours alone per day throughout the work week. There are many ways to occupy your dogs time during the work week, from puzzle toys, chews, etc.. But often times, these only last so long. Other less active dogs may sleep the entire day while you are gone, but this type of sedentary lifestyle isn't healthy long term with a lack of mental stimulation, possible weight gain and futu...

Quick video of some common issues we see come through the store affecting cats and the common cause is Dehydration.   

  Hey Paw Family! It's time for another blog post. I believe the title says it all when it comes to what this blog post will talk about.  Acana and Orijen are 2 extremely good dog food brands that are both owned by Champion Pet Foods. Champion has won best pet food company 8 years in a row! We have been thrilled to be able to sell their products in the store to our customers.  So why are you removing these two brands from the store and why is there a big picture of who makes dog foods at the top of the post? To put it short, Champion Pet Food is being purchased by Mars the candy bar company.  Mars values and our values here at Paw of the Family do not align when it comes to pet food and the nutrition we give our animals. We tell everyone who walks into our doors that there is nothing in this store that we would not feed to our own pets. We of course need to make money to keep the doors open and to be able to pay the bills, but the money is secondary to us. Helping ou...