The Pet Food Recalls - A HARD lesson

I haven't fed grocery store brand dog foods for well over 15 years. The last one I remember purchasing with any regularity was Purina One. But even still, I've only been feeding human grade food for about the last 3 or 4 years. So, even though I have fed what I thought were the better foods, it's only been pretty recent that I figured out, hey, if it isn't fit for human consumption, do I really want to feed it to my dogs? Uhhh, duh! But why did it take me so long? I'm an educated person. I ate well myself and knew all about proper nutrition for humans. Why didn't the same standard cross over for my dogs? The truth is, just like the millions of people who have been scared straight by this recall, I truly didn't know. I had absolutely no idea the origin of the ingredients in most commercial dog foods. I never thought about it and assumed the ingredients were safe. I assumed they had to pass the same regulations as our foods. Ha! As they say, ignorance is bliss - until reality comes crashing down on you. I remember the woman who set me straight. Her name was Evie Velez. At the time I was confidently feeding Nutro Natural. When she told me that was a sub par food, I was flabbergasted. How could that be??!! And then she explained the difference between most commercial and human grade foods. My first question, why isn't this information getting out to the public. And most importantly, whose responsibility is it to educate them? Breeders? Vets? Trainers? The government? Ha Ha?

Is this what had to happen in order for people to understand that any food unfit for human consumption shouldn't be fed to our pets??

Non-Compete Clauses

I need some opinions here. As an ambitious, fairplay sort of person, I've always been against non-compete clauses, though many pet related businesses require their employees to sign them. In fact, I think most privately owned training facilities in northern VA requrie them and quite a few grooming shops as well. But I've never been on the receiving end of it. During the past year I have had several employees come to work for me, stay only a couple of months, take our classes, get our handouts, get their Pet First Aid certification, then resign and within weeks they "decide" to start teaching classes on their own. It wouldn't be so bad if they stated up front that they wanted to eventually teach their own classes and/or open their own daycare, etc, but the last few people have completely misrepresented their intentions. In fact, the last person swore up and down that they were only interested in doing things "over the internet," never in person and definitely not in this area. "Personal reasons" were cited as the reason for resigning, and again, lo and behold within weeks they're directly competing with PNI teaching classes.... with all our handouts and training notes in hand, mind you.

So, my question is, am I being naive here? I'm used to being a one-woman show and have never been in the position of having to rely on a person's word when it comes to my livelihood. Since PNI is so BIG in size I think people forget that it's really just a small, single-owner business. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and maybe I'm inspiring them to try it themselves, but do I need to start thinking like a business person now that we're looked upon as the "big kid on the block?"

Laurie

My budding Spielberg

When I mention my son Bryan, occasionally a student, colleague or acquaintance will comment , "I didn't know you had any human kids - only dogs." That still blows my mind because when my son was young I was the quintessential Mommy & Me Mom! We lived on the Marine base and I was the one who coordinated the baby playgroups, baby swim classes, Mommy's Day Out, etc. Yes, I had my dogs too, but Bryan was, and still is IT for us. He's the only human child we will ever have and he is our light. Well, most of you who know me well know that he was diagnosed with lymphoma right at the same time we started planning to open Pup 'N Iron. At the time in our lives when our dreams were becoming a reality, our world was also crashing down around us. We would spend all day at PNI painting walls, ordering equipment, finishing the floors, and then return to the hospital to spend the night with him. He was at INOVA Fairfax hospital for 5 months. It was our second home for 5 months.

Well, the good news is, Bryan has been in remission for over a year and a half now and PNI is going strong. God has been very good to us.

I'd like to share with you guys a movie that Bryan made for his film class. His teachers have entered it into the GMU Film Festival that will take place April 20-22. I'm told I should give you a kleenex alert before you watch it.

Bryan's Movie - Out of the Box