Finally some good news comes from the Oklahoma Tornado's.... Check out this happy reunion between a dog and an owner! You can't help but tear up! Barbara Garcia, a survivor of the massive tornado that struck an Oklahoma City suburb, found her dog buried alive under the rubble during her interview with CBS News' Anna Werner.
Dog Allergy Season Is Here!
Did you know that dogs have allergies too? We did!! Learn more about dogs seasonal allergies from our friends at WCCO-TV. We see lots of our customers that come in with medicated shampoo for baths!
Pest Season!
Warm weather is finally here and we are all so excited to get outside. Before we get ahead of ourselves it's important to remember to give your dog the proper pest preventatives. Heartworms are a deadly parasite spread by mosquitoes. Your vet can prescribe monthly preventative chews to protect your dog. Flea and tick preventative is also very important. I've heard many reports of ticks found after trips to dog parks and wooded areas already this year. These simple preventative measures will keep your dog and your family safe from pests. Remember that Bubbly Paws is a pest free zone and if you find a tick or flea on your dog notify a staff person right away. Have fun in this warm weather and keep pest free!
Bobbing For Hot Dogs
Franklin and Roxy took over the bobbing for hot dogs booth at the Bubbly Paws Dog Wash anniversary party! Watch this fun video that we put together.
St Louis Park Magazine
We were proud to be chosen for the cover of the St Louis Park Magazine - Pet edition. Below you can read the article that featured Pampered Pooch Playground and Bubbly Paws.
Pampered Pooch Playground Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller Services: Dog day care, boarding
The tale:
Trycia and Keith Miller launched their dog day-care center five years ago. They initially opened it for their beloved Bernese mountain dog named Roxy. Today the Millers manage about 95 dogs per day at the Pampered Pooch Playground. They have three separate rooms for canine frolicking, including 11,000 square feet of climate-controlled indoor space and a 3,500-square-foot outdoor area. There are also luxury suites for the extremely pampered pooch.
“Minnesota is unregulated for doggie day care, so it’s a point of concern for dog owners,” Keith Miller says. “Someone could rent any old garage and put 60 dogs in it.” The Millers do everything they can to alleviate worry. Pampered Pooch is the first dog day care in the country to have iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps so owners can watch their pups at play, day and night. There are 11 live webcams streaming from the three playrooms and regular Facebook posts and tweets. The outside play area is made with recycled sports turf, which is ecologically appropriate and, unlike gravel or Astroturf, easy to clean.
“The St. Louis Park pet business network is really supportive,” Keith Miller says. “If someone had a fire or got sick, they could bring their dogs to us or I would go work at their place to help out.” Miller stays current on developments in the doggie care world and is a fan of the “busman’s holiday”: Whenever he travels, he stops by other pet care facilities to take notes on what they’re doing right and what he would like to avoid in his own establishment. “There’s a real difference in big-city day cares,” he notes, adding many have a less than fragrant smell. 7020 Walker St.; 952.922.8183; pamperedpoochplayground.com
Bubbly Paws
Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller Services: Self-serve or full-service dog washing, grooming Hangers-on: Roxy the Bernese mountain dog
The tale:
Bubbly Paws is the Millers’ laidback little brother to their high-maintenance big baby, the Pampered Pooch Playground. The Millers opened Bubbly Paws two years ago, mainly as place to wash their own Roxy, a 100-pound Bernese whose bulk and thick hair demand an elaborate bathing process. They nabbed a light and airy space in the busy Excelsior/Grand complex and outfitted it with five elevated step-in tubs with shower hoses, a grooming room and a drying room. Customers can bathe their dogs themselves or pay a bit more for a house shampoo.
The Millers are dedicated to the St. Louis Park community and even use a locally made shampoo, which is actually a reformulated horse shampoo. “I like it because it doesn’t smell fake or overpowering,” Keith says. “I mean, I’m a guy, so I couldn’t care less about smelling like flowers.” Nevertheless Bubbly Paws’ grooming services offer plenty of bling for their canine clients, including toenail polish and in one unusual case, a pink polka-dot dye job.
The couple loves the tight-knit animal owning community in St. Louis Park. “People know each others’ dog’s names. Everyone goes to the Dakota dog park and people recognize each other [from the dog park],” Keith Miller says. “I’ve seen love connections happen here. Seriously, if you were a single guy, why wouldn’t you get a dog?” Miller dreams about opening a pet rental business for hopeful single guys hanging around the dog park. In the meantime, “we just have fun here,” he says. “C’mon, it’s a dog wash!” Each month Bubbly Paws gives back to support a different pet rescue organization, donating $5 from each bath, and hosting creatively awesome occasions like doggie yoga and doggie happy hour. 3730 Grand Way; 952.657.5300; bubblypaws.com
Pet Friendly SLP
We also provided St Louis Park Magazine a list of some of the pet friendly businesses in St Louis Park:
Primp Hosts fundraisers for a local pet rescue 1628 West End Blvd.; 952.303.3791; primpyourself.com
Lululemon Stop in with your dog and get a treat 1639 West End Blvd.; 763.545.9069; lululemon.com
McCoy’s Public House Dogs can hang out and get treats on the patio 3801 Grand Way; 952.224.9494; mccoyspublichouse.com
Yum! Free house-made doggie treats 4000 Minnetonka Blvd.; 952.922.4000; yumkitchen.com
The Four Firkins Browse the local beer selection with your discerning pooch 5630 W. 36th St.; 952.938.2847; thefourfirkins.com
Galaxy Drive-In Bring your pooch while you enjoy a superb burger 3712 Quebec Ave S.;952.277.7777; galaxy-drivein.com
Frattallone's Ace Hardware Great nosing around for dog and man (or woman) 5025 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.456.6630; frattallones.com
Filament Lighting This business provided the lighting for Bubbly Paws 5007 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.926.5007; filamentlighting.com
Beer With Your Buddy
I can't tell you how excited I am for the 2013 season of Beer With Your Buddy to kick off! Join us this Saturday from 3-5:30 at the Nomad Pub in Minneapolis. You can buy tickets online by clicking here. Pampered Pooch Playground and Bubbly Paws are a sponsor of this great Minneapolis dog event powered by the K9-Connection.
Have a good day!
Keith
Roxy and Franklin's Snow Day
I can't say I'm sad to see all the snow melting but it was nice to be reminded of how pretty fresh snow can look. Roxy and Franklin both love to play in the snow so I took them on a nice walk to enjoy the sunshine and fresh snow. They loved having a snow day to sniff around and stretch their legs off leash. Roxy in particular loves to run in the snow!
I'm ready for spring to arrive but we had fun for our (hopefully!) last taste of winter!
CityPages - Best Pet Spa 2013
Best Pet Spa in Minneapolis
Thanks to all the great readers of CityPages who voted for us for the "Best Pet Spa" in the Best of the Twin Cities 2013. We are so honored to have won! Below you will see the article that ran in City Pages. Click Here for a complete list of other winners.
Gear to get you active for Spring!
The weather is warming up and all the snow is melting so Franklin and I are so excited to get outside and have fun. We collected a few things that will make it easy to get out and have fun with your dog.
It's no secret we love Stunt Puppy products and the Stunt Runner lead is a great tool to walk, jog, or run with your dog. It straps around your waist (or a light post if you need coffee after your work out) and has a bungee section to minimize stress on you and your dog if they happen to pull on the lead.
After your run you and your dog should drink plenty of water. OllyDog makes a great water bottle with a detachable bowl so you can pour your pooch a drink while you get one. Made of BPA-free plastic it is sturdy and streamlined.
If your dog gets messy at the dog park or likes to swim, roll or splash around get a collar that repels water and smell. Dublin Dog no-stink collars are tough and good looking. They have a solid buckle and come in sizes for small to large dogs. They wipe clean with no fuss and don't hold on to scents.
Happytails makes great all natural grooming products. Must-haves for summer are the Itchin' for Relief and the Flea the Scene sprays. Itchin' for Relief soothes irritation and hot spots on your dog's skin. Flea the Scene is a 3-in-1 spray that protects your dog from sunburn, repels insects and conditions the coat. Both of these sprays are safe even if your dog licks them off.
The best part of spring is the relief of getting outside after the long winter. Have fun, be safe and don't be afraid to get dirty!
Bubbly Paws 2nd Anniversary
Bubbly Paws Dog Wash and Dog Spa will be turning 2 years old this April and we want to thank all of our loyal customers for making this possible. Join us from April 22-28th for a week long of Special events and goodies at both of our businesses! Plus we will have free hot dogs from Nate Dogs on Sunday, April 28th from 11:30-1:30. Our doggy daycare, Pampered Pooch Playground will celebrate their 5th anniversary in April!
Thanks again for being part of the Bubbly Paws family!
Hendrix Catches The Wrong Flight
We all know that traveling can be a stressful time, but it had to have been really hard on Hendrix the dog that was placed on the wrong United Airlines flight. He flew all the way to Ireland!! You can watch the story below or read more here! My personal favorite part of the story is when the mom said "not even frickin' Florida.. Ireland". I think i might have said something like that, but i would have used more words that needed to be beeped out. Have a good night.
Keith
Pet Age Magazine
Trycia was just featured in the March 2013 PetAge magazine talking about Bubbly Paws Dog Wash and Pampered Pooch Playground. This is a trade industry publication that goes out to many pet retailers. You can read the article below (click the article to make it bigger):
petage
Nikki, featured adoptable dog
I had the pleasure of giving Nikki, a cute Boston terrier mix, a bath today. She has been in foster care about a month and she is looking for a forever home. Though she is bigger and has a thicker coat than most Boston terriers, she is very much representative of all that is great about these cute, energetic dogs. Nikki is smart, agile and graceful. She likes to run and play but was polite with all the dogs she met here at Bubbly Paws and was happy to sit still for a treat and to get her collar and leash on. She was perfect for her bath. When we give dogs full-service baths or grooming we always trim their nails, clean their ears and brush their teeth. Doing this gives us a great impression of how tolerant a dog is to being handled. Nikki was perfect for all of these things and stood nicely while I bathed her. She would be happy in any number of homes and I think she would do wonderfully in an active home with kids and another dog(s). She is even house-trained and crate-trained! Nikki is a ton of fun and love in a neat little package. Who wants to share their home with this awesome adoptable dog? Check out her bio and apply to adopt her through Petfinder.
Fun at the dog wash
One of my favorite parts about owning Bubbly Paws Dog Wash is working at the dog wash. Trycia and I are NOT the type of small business owners that sit in an office all day and crunch number, we prefer to be active at the store and interact with everyone. This past week you might have seen us around more because one of our employees was on vacation and we picked up some of the shifts that were open. Today we had our Spring Saletacular and wow, we were really busy with bath and nail trims! I always love meeting someone that has never been to our dog wash before because they are shocked at how clean and well run everything is! This was the theme of the day!!
A big shout out to Jessica, one of our awesome groomers that worked hard doing lots of nail trims today!
Hope everyone had a great weekend and we will see you at the dog wash!
Keith
Excelsior and Grand Blood Drive
Join Bubbly Paws Dog Wash and the rest of the stores at Excelsior and Grand on Wednesday, April 10th from 3-8pm for a blood drive for the American Red Cross. Anyone that comes out will be thanked with a swag bag of goodies from all the stores at Excelsior and Grand. Please sign up in advance to donate blood. Click Here to sign up.
Jessica's $5 Spring Spectacular!
Daylight savings can be confusing. To avoid people missing their appointments we like to do specials for spring forward or fall back days and this fall it was a massive success. We would like to offer it again!
Come in this Sunday March 10th from 11am to 4pm (after you set your clocks an hour forward) and get $5 nail trims, face trims, foot trims and sanitary trims. All these services will be first come, first served so expect a few minute wait.
Give Back Week for Secondhand Hounds
Secondhand Hounds is an amazing local pet rescue that saves all sorts of animals in the Twin Cities, gets them in foster care and into forever homes. They are dedicated to providing veterinary care and high-quality day-to-day care for all their animals before they are adopted. Secondhand Hounds is dedicated to saving local dogs before dogs from out of state but their mission is to save as many lives as possible. We know many of our friends and customers have adopted through Secondhand Hounds (and Franklin!) so we are happy to support them for March Give Back Week! March 1st through March 7th when you come in to do a self-service bath mention Secondhand Hounds or Give Back Week and we will donate $5 from your bath to them. We are also giving away five self-service baths to adoptable dogs to get them clean before adoption events or meeting prospective adopters. Get the word out so we can support this awesome organization and if you are looking for a new family member consider a Secondhand Hound!
I first saw a photo of Jacques when he was in rough shape and in need of a foster home after being rescued by Secondhand Hounds. It was amazing to see him in person a few months later when I was first starting at Bubbly Paws while his mom gave him a bath, he was a whole new dog! He is always wonderful when he is here, whether for grooming or self-service baths. He was given a second chance and with the love of his adoptive parents he blossomed! Secondhand Hounds saves lots of amazing dogs and takes care to place them in homes as wonderful as Jacques'!
Twin Cities Dancing With the Celebrities
One of the benefits of being a small, locally owned business is that we can help support our friends and customers when they are involved in something cool. So here goes... Our good friend and professional fitness model, Lori Harder, has been featured on Fox News, ESPN, Oxygen Magazine and others is part of the Twin Cities Dancing With The Celebrities on Saturday, February 22nd. Lori also brings her dog Waffles to Bubbly Paws to get groomed and to our other business, Pampered Pooch Playground for doggy daycare. Rumor has it, Lori has some killer dance moves! To learn more about Lori or to buy tickets, click here. If you go, you will also see Trycia and myself there cheering her on. Oh, and make sure to check out the silent auction items, there is a pretty sweet package from a really cool dog wash :)
Have a good night!
Keith
The dogs of LA
Trycia and I were in LA this weekend for a mini-winter getaway with some friends of ours! We always knew that LA was dog friendly, but we decided to do a photo montage to prove it! On the top left you will see Waffles who has been groomed at Bubbly Paws before her parents moved to LA. Her parents are good friends of our and we decided to go see how Waffles has adjusted to life in Hollywood and she LOVES it! She even learned how to wear her rockstar sun glasses!!
While we were there we did check out a few dog washes, and have some new ideas..
We are now back in the cold and snow and are happy to be back ;)
Have a good night!
Keith
Give Back Week Starts Feb 1!
I just want to remind everyone that Give Back Week starts tomorrow, February 1st. When you come in to do a self-service bath mention Give Back Week or Save-a-Bull Rescue and we will donate $5 from your bath to them! It is no extra charge, but feel free to drop spare change in their donation jar and check out the information on this great local dog rescue. You can also join us for yoga at Kula Yoga on Monday February 4th at 7pm all donations for the class go straight to Save-a-Bull as well. Thanks to Lisa P at Kula Yoga and everyone for getting the word out to help out all our dog friends!
