Paws for Japan, World Vets and My Grand Opening

It's always been my intention to donate 10% of my sales on grand opening weekend to an animal rescue group.  At the current moment, there is likely no greater need than in Japan.  When BlogPaws and Dr V of Pawcurious started blogging about doing Paws for Japan, I knew that World Vets was the right organization, at the right time.

While I am unable to donate a portion of my sales March 17th, I am pledging to donate 10% of my sales on the very first day I can - my grand opening on April 22nd (and sales on April 23rd as well!).

Come meet Portland's newest member of the Pack!

April 22nd & 23rd @ 2148 N Killingsworth

But now is the Paws for Japan fundraiser, not April 22nd.  World Vets is a fantastic organization - they've already got people on the ground in Japan starting the long hard road of recovery - for the Japanese and their pets.  Please take a moment to Chip In - via the link below or hop around to the other pet blogs today who are focused on the same cause. 

Seeking a Very Special Forever Home

A big shout-out to Rescued Insanity for posting about various adoption-related interweb happenings this week and introducing me to Pup Love.  This online pet blogging community is amazing and inspires me with their commitment to both their own pets and rescue animals. 

Even though I'm crazy busy this week with the new business (today commences the painting project of a lifetime - I'm pretty sure I will swear off all painting for the rest of my life after finishing up the store), Pup Love's mission to get all of us pet bloggers to post at least one adoptable dog this week is a cause that I had to take the time to participate in.

This is Alyssa.  You may recall her from my last post about the rescue intake at OFOSA.  She was the one with the deformed paw that I absolutely fell in love with but didn't get any pictures because I was just too busy lovin' on her. 

Even though she's just a little baby, this girl has some serious obstacles to surmount in finding her forever home.  First, she is a GORGEOUS silver-blue pittie.  Just look at how adorable she is - how can anyone not fall in love???  While I see her breed as a big plus, it does prevent most families from considering her for adoption so that's obstacle #1.  The second obstacle is that she has a deformed paw.  I spoke briefly with OFOSA's chief medical guru and, while Alyssa is too young for us to know for sure how her handicap will affect her mobility, there are essentially two paths she may have to take.  The first is that her paw will, though not functional, not be painful and she will be able to live with it comfortably her entire life.  The second possible path is that as she grows, it may become painful and limit her mobility, in which case, it would need to be amputated.  This is a HUGE obstacle to her adoption - it will take one very special family to give her a forever home.  My hope is that through Pup Love's Week-long Rescue Blog Hop, we can get this sweet girl some exposure and maybe, just maybe, that perfect family will see her.  If interested, please contact OFOSA at 503-747-7818. 

Please take a moment to stop on by Pup Love's blog hop and check out all the adoptable dogs!

Introducing NoPo Paws

You might have noticed one of my previous posts mentioning my business.  Or maybe you read my About Me section and knew I was working on something.  While the foster dogs, my own girls and blogging about them have taken up some of my time, the bulk of my energy and attention these past nine months have been geared towards accomplishing one HUGE goal of mine - to open up my doggie boutique.  And now that these plans are finally coming to concrete fruition, I am tickled pink to introduce you all to....drum roll please...

Your first question is probably NoPo - what the heck does that mean?  NoPo stands for North Portland - my little section of town.  It was a huge priority of mine to be able to support my local community by locating my business here.  Lucky for me, I found the perfect spot in NoPo's Overlook neighborhood and will be setting up shop at 2148 N Killingsworth.  Grand Opening is April 22nd!

The second question you may have - what kind of dog store will I be?  Great question!  I have two goals:  the first is to provide a wide selection of eco-friendly dog supplies for both my local Portland customers and those in the great beyond of the interwebs.  My second goal is to support my local rescue agencies and promote adoption...maybe even have some of my fosters in the store to showcase how awesome they are and get those buggers adopted!  

This store has been a goal of mine for several years.  Though I only quit my day job last Fall and started working full-time on my startup plans, the wheels have been a-turning for quite some time.  Once I started looking for truly environmentally friendly products and manufacturers, I was pleasantly surprised by how many great companies and individuals there are out there.  An added plus is that so many of them share my philosophy about philanthropy as well as sustainability.  I will be giving 10% of my profits to local rescue agencies and have found many of the manufacturers I will carry also share a percentage of their profits.  I will be featuring both their "eco-cred" and their socially responsible ways on my website.

There will be much more coming on the new business so stay tuned.  For those of you not local to Portland, I will run a website as well, which will launch in June.