by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

BlogPaws returns to the Washington DC area starting on Thursday, May 16, 2013 and I for one am stoked and am really looking forward to the pet blogging and social media conference next week.

What better way to kick of the spring/summer pet conference season than with being with your peers, surrounded by amazing, brilliant minds in the pet world and social media world – and yes even dogs will be there too!  There is nothing stuffy about this type of business conference, when a dogs bark brings laughter and smiles during the middle of an speakers’s presentation!

BlogPaws started in 2010 and this will be the 5^th conference, (2 were done in the 1st year for both coasts), and this will be my second one to attend.

So this year there are a lot of new features at the conference that will satisfy the beginner pet blogger, intermediate and professional pet blogger.  As this year BlogPaws team has introduced 4 tracks of sessions so if you have been before and are not sure what is in it for you this year as a pro blogger – check this out.  If you are new to pet blogging and want to hone your online publishing skills or want to start a blog for your pet business or community this is the conference for you.  You can also mix and match the tracks – in other words pick and choose what sessions you want to be in.

An addition this year, Blerina Sanocki from Google will be there to discuss google analytics on Thursday from 1 – 2:3opm.  It pays to get there in morning, registration starts at 10am on Thursday – guess this traveler will be leaving a little earlier that day to get there for this!

Also new this year will be Lunch Pack Leaders – which is an expert who will be inviting attendees to a lunchtime discussion to share their knowledge.  Cool, I am in!

And if you have a pet business this is a fantastic place to be too – while blogging and social media are big portion of the 3 day event – pet businesses will have the opportunity to learn so much too.  And of course for the networking and education you will get while there, it is so worth the 4.5 hr drive, if your driving!

To register for BlogPaws or find out more info, click here!

Hope to see you there!  OH wait! I forgot to mention the tremendous Swag you will get while there too! 🙂

By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Today, May 3, 2013 is National Specially-Abled Pets Day – celebrating amazing pets and their owners who care for them.  It’s not about what they can not do, what their aliment is, it’s about what they can do.  As someone who was an owner of a 3 legged Doberman – who lost her leg due to cancer at the age of 8 years old – she was an incredible tripod girl that lived another 4.5 years after her amputation.  Dogs adapt rather quickly and don’t look back on what was.  My dobie Shanna amazed people every day, every where we went with her 3-legged skills, and never concerned that she only had 3 legs.

So to celebrate these our amazing pets here are a few pictures below of local pets owned by wonderful people who see past the fact that their pet may be blind, deaf, need doggie wheels or is missing a leg or any other aliment.  If you have a picture you want to share about your specially-able LI Pet, post it on our Facebook page.

The 3 Aussies picture here are either Deaf or deaf and blind - amazing owner Kim!

Rain is a deaf happy girl!

Brooklyn is a deaf, super happy girl!

Shanna!

Shanna posing!

Share your Specially-Abled LI Pets on our Facebook page or make a comment below!

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

If you are a cat owner you know that awful sound of your poor kitty trying to hack up a hairball.  It not only sounds scary, but can be painful for the cat, and not so pretty for your decor.   National Hairball Awareness day, April 26, 2013, brings attention to this common condition in cats. (yes there is a day for everything now! but this is no hacking, oops laughing matter, ack!)

Cats get hairball from constantly grooming themselves and can form a hairball in their stomach – in which they then can vomit back up.

To help prevent your cat from getting hairballs you can do the following:

• Brushing your cat regularly with a cat brush or a kitty deshedding FURminator helps get rid of the loose cat hair that they would likely ingest.
• Feed your cat a healthy diet.  (Not sure what a healthly diet is for your cat, contact Holistic Veterinarian and pet nutrition expert Dr. Michel A. Selmer of Advanced Animal Care Center – he can help!)
  
• There are also hairball lubricants on the market which you can try – follow the directions – but a home remedy that always help my cat was a tiny bit of olive oil – she lapped it right up.
• Consult with your veterinarian if your cat is coughing a lot and nothing comes up – it could be a more serious problem like asthma.
• And pay attention to your cats habits and behavior in general – if a behavior changes or something new arises in your cat – consult your vet!  Cats are very good at hiding aliments or illnesses – so regulary veterinary care is important!

Wishing you and your kitty less hairballs!

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

This past Sunday, the friends of Sagamore Hill hosted their first ‘Dog Day’ as part of the celebration of National Park Week – it was hosted at the beautiful grounds of the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. From 11am until 4pm dog owners romped the grounds, posed for pictures. watched the performances of Jilli Dog, learned about LI Dog and participated inthe ‘dog fur’ contest.  There was also a comfort station for the pups and even yummy dog treats being made on site.

Beautiful grounds to walk with your dog

Sagamore Hill Historic Site was former home of President Teddy Roosevelt and his family willed it to the National Park Service with the condition of always having it be accessible to dog owners too. The Roosevelt’s had many dogs and other animals on the historic site in the sixty years there. It is a treasure, in beautiful Oyster Bay. You may have read that the historic home is under renovation – but the rest of the grounds are open to walk your dog. Also, the museum is open, visitor center as well. If you are looking for somewhere to go with your dog that is different, and a step out of history – head to Sagamore Hill you and your dog will absolutely love it! Scroll down for link to tons of pictures – maybe your dog is in them!

Dogs big and small loving dog days, hanging out in the barn.

Sagamore Hill is located at:
12 Sagamore Hill Road
Oyster Bay, NY 11771

For MORE Pictures click here!

Would love to know your favorite place to walk your dog, leave a comment below!

Gus posing in the flowers at Sagamore Hill!

by Nancy E. Hassel (& Max!) LIPetPlace.com

These days I can’t come home with any kind of bag that Max, my nearly 12 year old Pit Bull, doesn’t just assume is for him.  And last week was no exception – after attending the Pet News Now spring pet product showcase in NYC, I had to hide the swag bag from him!  But it didn’t take long for him to realize that there was a lot of pet stuff in that bag – or his eyes, “mine, mine, mine!”  And of course his whole head was in the bag pulling out pet items – I am sure my fellow pet industry peeps can relate.

I wonder what goes through the minds of our pets who are so lucky to have moms in the pet industry – dog forbid we just go grocery shopping! BOL!

Ok back to the Pet News Now show – with a lot of brand new pet products to the market place at the show, there are still a lot to test and try out and let you all know what we think about them.  But for now here is a sampling of some of the products.

Here’s one that I can’t wait to try, Tick-SR is a product that safely helps you remove a tick that is already latched onto to your dog.  With just a few non-toxic ingredients (Denatured Alcohol, Purified Witch Hazel, Salicylic Acid, and Benzalkonium Chloride), Tick-SR helps you pull the tick off as those ingredients dissolve the ‘glue’ if you will that helps the tick hang on to your dogs.  And you can easily get the whole tick off – which is important.  Check out there website and see for yourself.

Another product that I actually already tried and was very impressed with the results was from CritterZone.  A compact, filterless air purifier that has a tag line of ‘How could something so small handle a problem that is so BIG?’  It’s true, I thought the same thing!  Now if I could just get one for my car – wonder if they can make an adapter for it?

So once you have used the air purifier – you may think your pup needs a bath too right?  Yes, that is what Max needs, but don’t tell him as he is not a big fan of bath time.  But lucky for him we got a great full size sample of WAHL‘s Oatmeal shampoo. (Thanks to WAHL for the awesome bags too!) Can’t wait to try it on him.

And what better way to reward Max after his bath, well with a Life is Grruff scrumptious dog treat!  Max just LOVES Kim Loper who makes these treats, (ok truth be told – he loves the treats more, sorry Kim!), and he can’t get enough of the barkscotti – but look at her decorated treats that were at the event.  Max is drooling!

Ok if you are jealous, or drooling too over the Life is Grruff treats too, you can get your very own doggie themed Pet Toast.  Seriously, I am not kidding…

Currently available in 13 different breeds, made by Pangea Brands – now you can get that dog person who has everything in their breed, something they probably don’t have!

For more pictures from the event CLICK HERE and more info to come on some of the other pet products that were there in a future article!

Have a comment or question, please post it below!