We’re very excited at Mollys HQ as it’s almost Pet Expo time again! One of the most fun filled weekends in our calendar is taking place this year at the RDS Dublin on the 8th and 9th of October – that’s this weekend!

Mollys will be launching our new Pet Food Subscription Service at Pet Expo (we’re so excited about it – no more running out of food ever again!) with a prize draw for anyone who signs up on the day.

We’ll also have a stand selling a selection of our pet collars, leads, harnesses, beds, bowls, clothes and other treats, not to mention pet costumes which you’ll need if you want to enter our competition on the main stage!

As Molly herself loves the attention she gets when she dresses up, we thought it might be fun to have an owner and dog fancy dress competition at Pet Expo this year. No need to register in advance, just call over to us 10 minutes or so before the show starts. We have a range of pet costumes available or you can get creative and make your own! Bonus points will be given for humans in matching/co-ordinating Halloween costumes but it’s not essential, the most important thing is to enjoy taking part

*A note about Pets and Halloween*
As pet owners ourselves, we much prefer keeping our pets safe indoors and included in the celebrations on Halloween. You don’t have to dress your pet up of course but please, please don’t let them outside where they might get harmed or get scared and run away. Halloween can be a very scary time for your pets!

Well behaved dogs are welcome to come along to Pet Expo but must be kept on a maximum of a 6′ lead (no extendables!)

We’ll be at stand F8 in the “Barks and Spenders” shopping mall, please stop by and say hi, we’d love to see you!

We’ll miss Aine when she leaves, but now that we’ve discovered GioCat Cat Cafe we’re definitely coming to visit!

We know from having our own pets that a trip to the pet shop can be expensive, so we’ve come up with a plan to help out a little where we can.

We’ve introduced a new “Facebook Specials” page only available for our Facebook fans. All you need to do is “like” our page on Facebook to access the special coupon codes.

The deals will change regularly, the first one is for 15% off everything in our online pet shop (except food and litter) for a very limited time so be quick!

Here’s what’s in their Turkey and Rice Puppy food:
Turkey (31% dry » 64.41% fresh*), whole white rice, vegetables and herbs (15%), whole brown rice (14%), whole oats, whole barley, fat.
Yes, that’s everything… really!!

A snoop through the literature we were left with and the Green Dog website threw up even more (nice!) surprises.

For starters, their website states that “The product is steam cooked and air-dried. This traditional method retains the whole-food elements and palatability of the raw materials.”
Most traditional pet food is extruded, which basically means that it is processed en masse at a very high temperature, at a very high speed, and a lot of nutrients are lost. Baked or steam cooked foods usually come at a premium, but Green Dog’s pricing is on a par with James Wellbeloved! (another excellent, hypoallergenic food we carry.)

We then found out that Green Dog:
– Use holistic principles in the formulation of our products
– Use pet dogs belong to members of the public as a ‘tasting panel’
– Use products from local suppliers if possible
– Only use products which can be properly digested
– Do not use products from inhumane farming systems
– Do not use unsuitable chemicals of any description for product preservation, fortification, taste enhancement or appearance, or for any other reason.
– Do not use laboratory animals for testing our product
– Do not use unsuitable by-products
– Do not use ingedients that have been inhumanely tested on animals

Needless to say, when we showed Molly she gave her approval right away Yes, this is just an excuse to show another picture of our Gorgeous boss… check out those fabulous spotty paws!!

Green Dog food is now available both in our Dun Laoghaire pet store and on our website.

Just a quick note to let our Orijen customers know that they have made some improvements to their formula, it now has a ratio of 80:20 instead of 70:30 meats to fruit and vegetables.

It is worth mentioning that the meat ratio is not the same as the % protein content – for example the protein content of the new adult original formula is 38%.

We already have the new adult formula in store and on our website, the rest of the varieties will start to arrive in the coming weeks.

We had some gorgeous dogs (and a cat!) modelling some winter pet fashion on RTE’s Four Live last friday.

Some of our bestselling Dog Clothes were featured including our bestselling Thermal Long Johns and our GORGEOUS Christmas Reindeer Sweater!

As cats prefer snuggling up somewhere toasty rather than putting on an extra layer to head outside, we also featured one of our Cat Radiator Beds, a great idea for cats that love to snooze in a warm place.

Remember that even though they have fur, its so so cold right now that even outdoor dogs and cats can perish in this weather so please, please bring them inside and make sure they are warm enough

You can watch the Four Live Piece Here, it starts from 37mins in.

Every Halloween we hear of those sad cases animals being intentionally hurt or accidentally injured or killed through carelessness or inexperience. That’s why on the run up to Halloween we always like to do a re-cap of the basic do’s and don’t's – better to be safe than sorry.

Halloween can be a scary time for pets – fireworks, noisy kids in scary masks knocking at the door, bonfires…. Loud noises like fireworks can cause pets to panic and run, sometimes ending up in road traffic accidents or simply getting lost and never finding their way home. Make sure your pet has somewhere in your home that they can go to feel safe if they are not happy. Ideally with something over their head to make them feel secure so in a covered crate, under a bed or even in a boiler room where the noise can be drowned out is helpful.

Do your best to keep them calm and feeling safe and it is imperative to keep your dog or cat SAFELY INDOORS in the run up to and on Halloween night.

You should always make sure your pet has a microchip and is wearing a collar and ID tag at all times so they can be identified, regardless of the season.

If your cat is usually outdoors, we have plenty of cat toys available to keep him happily entertained inside. For dogs, try to get them used to loud noises as much as possible, turn the tv or radio up a little louder than usual and give lots of cuddles and dog treats as a reward for NOT barking at the noise, try not to “reward” the scared behavior itself though as this may encourage it.

DAP (dog appeasing pheremone) diffusers can also help de-stress your pets, as can our bestselling Sleepy Time Tonic.

Not all pets are bothered by fireworks and can really enjoy Halloween. If they are happy to play along why not include them in the fun with their very own Pet Costume? We have lots to choose from. Lots of pets (including Molly) are more than happy to dress up and really enjoy the attention but please don’t force your pet to dress up if they don’t want to.

On the night, don’t forget that chocolate and any sweets containing xylotol are poisonous for pets so keep them well out of their reach; that also includes any foil sweet wrappers that could cause a blockage if ingested. We have a wide range of dog treats and cat treats to choose from if you want them to join in the snacking.

Make sure there are no lit candles at “tail swatting” height or where your cat likes to jump up, unfortunately many fires start this way on Halloween. If you are carving a pumpkin please, please make sure there is no space for a kitten to climb into and singe their fur.

For more tips on pet health, pet costumes and lots more please subscribe to our blog.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Claire & Molly

Apparently, September is officially Pet Smile Month, so I decided to use this opportunity to discuss this very important but often overlooked area of petcare.

Molly recently had to take some medication for a sore paw, it was a big beef flavored tablet which she seemed to love the taste of and gobbled up right out of my hand! I was shocked later when I happened to see what I thought was some of the beefy tablet stuck to her back teeth, but was in fact tartar build up. Her front teeth are nice and clean from regular chewy dog treats and her rope toy fascination so I didn’t think to check the back ones, I feel like such a bad owner!

PetSmile week aims to encourage pet owners to “lift the lip” and check their pet’s teeth regularly, you can’t see the teeth so you never know what’s lurking back there. Ideally, you would get your pet used to having their teeth brushed with a special pet toothpaste and brush several times a week from an early age, but this isn’t always possible and some pets simply don’t like brushing and will not allow it, especially cats!

Thankfully there are other options available. One of the bestselling products in our pet supplies department is Plaque Off – an all natural seaweed formula that you simply add to your pets food. You should see results within a few weeks, I highly recommend it.

If even a few weeks seems too long, to help with the dreaded “dog breath kiss” we have some nifty products that require no brushing such as this tropiclean Clean Teeth Gel kit. To help with halitosis our Fresh Breath Foam and Fresh Breath Water Additive work a treat, without harming your pet (or anyone elses as the range is cruelty free!)

With some simple additions to your petcare routine you can go a long way to preventing dental disease, which if left untreated can spread to other parts of the body including major organs. As well as the plaque prevention suggestions above, regular access to a chew toy can also help dislodge tartar. And of course, diet is very important. The better the quality of your dog food or cat food, the better condition your pet’s teeth (and the rest of him!) will be in.

Karen Koster and the Xpose crew called into us to film a piece about including your dog in your wedding. Robbie Williams recently married Ida Fields and had their eight dogs as bridesmaids. When the Xpose team heard this, they wondered if there were many items available for dog wedding guests or indeed including your dog in the ceremony itself. They were delighted to see that we had an array of dog bridal wear to show them and Molly and Lemar were only too happy to model it for them

In case you missed the piece on TV3 last night, here it is.

Mollys on Xpose

If you have any enquiries about collars, hairbows or dog clothing to include your pet in your wedding, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

The must see event for pet lovers Pet Expo has moved to the new summer date of 2nd – 4th July for 2010 – that means there’s just two weeks to go till the fun begins!

Mollys Pet Boutique have been involved with Pet Expo from the very start and we always like to bring a fun, interactive event to the main stage. In the past we have had several pet fashion shows, The Ireland’s Next Top Dog Model competition and The Mollys.ie Best Rescue competition.

This year as Pet Expo will be taking place on 4th July weekend, we thought it would be fun to host an American style beauty pageant…. but for dogs!

There will be a panel of judges each day of Pet Expo but instead of the human pageant Eveningwear and Talent rounds there will be prizes for the following categories to name a few:
Best Eyes
Best Smile
Best Outfit
Best Talent/Trick
Best matching owner and dog outfits
Best Personality
Overall Pageant King or Queen

The Mollys.ie Beauty Pageant is a fun event – no need to spray tan your dog or get all stressed about it! If your dog mixes well with other dogs and people, enjoys dressing up and getting lots of attention, is comfortable in busy environments and enjoys having FUN with you then just fill in this application form and we’ll see you there