Nicole and Hailey in the play area

We finally received the ramp system for the play area, that we've been expecting for a while now. Nicole and Hailey were two of the first dogs to enjoy it!



Of course, we thought the ramps were for jumping on, running over, and crawling under. But Nicole showed us we were wrong. Apparently, the ramps are a nice comfortable spot for Nicole to survey her domain :)

Product focus: Soggy Paws Towels

Here's another simple but great product - the Soggy Paws towel. We used to use a normal towel to dry off Reef and it seemed OK. But once we tried the Soggy Paws we couldn't go back.

The great thing about Soggy Paws is the pocket at each end of the towel. You just put your hands in and start rubbing! The towel doesn't slide off your hands or bunch up or get chewed on - well, not much anyway. It ends up taking half the time to dry off your dog, and your hands stay dry rather than getting all wet and hairy.

We also carry the Soggy Dog towel, which is a double-sized version with four pockets. Drop by the store to see if one of them works for you.

 

Product focus: No Escape Leash

We wanted to highlight one of our unique products, the No Escape Leash by a Canadian company called Smoochy Poochy. We love this leash and use it plus the matching collar on Reef.

They come in two materials, PVC and nylon. The PVC ones are great for water dogs... and in Seattle winters, any dog that goes outside is a water dog! Anyway, the PVC material doesn't absorb water at all, so unlike many materials it won't develop a smell. It is also dries much faster, so the collar won't chafe on your dog's neck.

The leash has some very convenient features. The first one you'll notice is the black mesh pouch, which is for poop bags - it's nicer than stuffing your pockets with them, plus there's usually a bag in there even if you forgot to check before you went out.

The other big thing is the hand loop - you'll notice that it isn't sewn up, instead it has a clasp on it. This clasp is more convenient than you'd imagine. You don't notice it when you're just walking normally, but if you have to leave your dog outside then you can simply open the clasp, loop it around a pole or bench leg, and re-clip it. It saves you from trying to tie knots with your leash.

The leash also has grommets part way down, that you can use in several ways. You can use it to make the leash shorter, say when you are going through a busy traffic area - just unclip the hand loop, and clip it to a lower grommet.
Or you can clip the leash around your waist, which is great if your dog pulls, or if you want to have both hands free like when you're out jogging. The photos below show how it works. It's just a little thing, but it sure makes those walks a lot easier!



Finally, here are some of the colours that are available - PVC on the left, nylon on the right. And there are some other colors too, which we can special-order for you.

Halloween at Barkz

We were so busy at the store that we didn't have time to go out for Halloween. But that's OK, because Halloween came to us! We were visited by a pumpkin, an alligator, and my favorite a ballet dancer! Or is that Tinkerbell?

Our friend Zach Thedog

Our friend Zach Thedog came by Barkz, with his owner Dave. Zach was one of the very first dogs in the play area. Here he is with Joey, trying to peek over the wall to find Dave. Zach thought the play area would be more fun if Dave was in it too!

You can see some of the toys behind them - some balance saucers that teach agility, plus a tunnel for dogs to run through. The play area is only half done right now - the toys are there, but next week some ramps will be installed and some other fun obstacles for dogs to play on.

Also, we are installing a gate to separate the play area if we need to, so that big dogs and little dogs can play separately without anyone getting squashed!

Zach had a good time in the play area, but I think he liked the cookie tray best of all.

Barkz is open!

Barkz has finally opened its doors, and we're excited to have so many people enjoying the nice weather in Kirkland and dropping by our store. We got lots of encouragement and nice comments, so thank you so much for your support.

We are planning to use this blog to keep you up-to-date on what's going on at Barkz - events, new products, stuff like that. We'll also be posting some tips on training, obedience, nutrition, grooming - and whatever else we can think of. So check back often.

And, since you probably love dogs as much as we do, we're going to post some pictures of dogs playing in our play area.

Meanwhile, here's a photo of Paula and Joey on opening day. Hope to see you at Barkz soon!