First up, the “Bark Vader” teaser:

Then the full commercial:

I can understand why, they have a fur coat already so you may wonder, why would they need one more? It’s simple really – your mammy was right when she told you take your coat off indoors or it’ll be no good to you outside.

The winters have gotten colder and colder in Ireland over the past few years. Smaller, older and thin coated dogs have always come to us to get a new dog coat to keep warm on winter walks, but since we started getting snowy winters, hardier dogs have been shopping for an extra layer (or two!) also.

I do find it amusing to hear remarks such as “that’s cruel!” from people (usually non pet owners) I must say, as if someone who loved their dog and wanted the best for them would be cruel to them! From our many years of experience kitting dogs out for the winter season, I can tell you that there are a few options you may wish to consider before the snow arrives again.

The first one is a simple extra layer for warmth on chilly days. You may notice your dog (particularly if they are smaller, older or thin coated) shivering on a cold day. Do him a favor, get him a nice warm dog fleece or a simple dog jumper – it’s what you would do for yourself on a cold day!

Another important thing to think about is going out for a walk in the winter. A good quality waterproof dog jacket is a great investment for dogs (like Molly!) who insist on being walked regardless of the weather conditions. It also cuts down on bathing and mess in the car – wet jacket comes off, dry dog is happy underneath.

Another great addition for winter walks is something to make your dog more visible, such as a pet reflector vest.

The most important consideration for wintertime is if you have an outdoor dog or your dog usually spends time or sleeps outside. Please, please think about bringing them in on colder nights, even if its just to a garage or utility room. They may have coats and be happy to stay out in warmer weather, but freezing winter nights are different. They’ll be good, I promise

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.

Poor Puglet!

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.