What is the best way to have a stress-free office, you may ask? Yes, stress relievers are great and stress management classes provide tons of useful information, but if you ask me the best way to decrease the stress level in any workplace is to get an office pet!

Our wonderful co-worker Elyse, was kind enough to bring in her adorable pet dog, Lily, during the month of November, and got all of us so used to her. Every morning, as we walked into the office, she would greet everyone, and throughout the day she would cuddle and play. Especially during lunch time, she was great at being extra friendly, so she could possibly get a taste of what everyone was eating. 

Eventually as she got used to us too, and she started venturing out and exploring what else was out there in the office space. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, Lily had to temporarily relocate, so every morning, coming in, we do not get to see her cute little face, bringing us cheer and happiness.

But we are all looking forward to the day when she is back in the town, and is here to greet us again every morning. Looking forward to that day, we all need to make sure we stock up on our promotional pet products so Lily has everything she needs and is entertained!

Well it took a little longer than expected, but my sister's business is up and running.  She renovated a pretty beat up building and using her flair for the creative and love of all things retro, her 50's style motel theme looks great.  I am surprising her with some promo items as a gift, I know that they will give her some great exposure in the community.  She opened her doors just a few weeks ago and business is going great!  She is like a dog whisperer!  The dogs just love her, and they will love the atmosphere whether they are coming in for grooming or boarding.  She is also doing doggie day care, and has plenty of room for the dogs to socialize with each other or separate them as required. So phase one of her business plan is complete, which is the grooming room and day care section.  She is still building some runs in the huge yard and adding kennels for boarding.  Please check out her facebook page and if you live in the Sugar Hill GA area give her a call!

There are several reasons why scientists have thought Mars may not be able to support life.  For starters, its surface is extremely cold and too low-pressure to sustain liquid water.  But did you know that the caves just underneath the planet's exterior help Mars offer more inhabitable space than Earth?

According to Mashable, "fully 3% of Mars has the right conditions to support life, the researchers say."  And while that might not sound like an impressive number, it's more than that of Earth where only 1% of the planet's volume is able to support life.

Just underneath Mars' surface, it's "warm and pressurized enough for life to live."  Scientists predict that if life does exist on Mars, it's mostly microbes.  But what if there's something more?  Next August, NASA's Curiosity Rover will arrive on Mars to explore and examine sediment.  Perhaps it will stumble upon little green men walking their little green dogs with promotional pet products! 

With the holiday shopping rush in full affect, I am here to remind everyone about our favorite furry friends. Pets are an important part of the family too, and they enjoy finding presents under the tree just as much as humans do. Every year I make sure to buy promotional pet products for my dog, my uncles cat, and my brothers 2 dogs. The dogs love the promotional dog safe flyer, and the cat appreciates the promotional recycled pet litter scoop. Promotional pet products are a great promotional gift to give to anyone that has a loving pet.

No sign of snow here in New York, but the holiday season has begun! The malls are super crowded with no where to park your car, but i guess stressing your self out and going crazy is part of the tradition. This year, why not do something a little different and shop online! Promotional products are great for all tyes of gift giving (employees, customer, freinds, parties). Even for your furry freinds! Keep your dog in style with the royce leather dog leash. This leash goes great with the custom royce leather small-medium dog collar. Many pet owners love there pets and treat them with extra love and care, so why not splurge on something special for them this year. Motivators has many promotional pet products to customize.

On weekends I volunteer at North Shore Animal League, a no-kill animal rescue here on Long Island. It's actually the largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization in the world. Pretty much anyone who adopts a dog on Long Island goes to NSAL. Whenever I see mixed-breeds (the pc term for mutts) at the dog park, 99% of the owners say they adopted them from North Shore. Growing up, that's where we went to adopt both of my family's dogs too. When it came time for me to adopt, I was living upstate, so Brodie was actually from the SPCA of Upstate New York, but had I been here I would have gone to North Shore.

Most rescued puppies come from puppy mills or the south. At North Shore, you'll find a lot of puppies from Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Brodie was rescued from a kill shelter in Tennessee. And that's just about the only information we get on them: the state and the sex. The employees guess on the age and the breed. You have no idea how many times I've seen clearly mismarked breeds. They have a poster on the wall with all of the breeds so you can try to see for yourself what the puppy might be mixed with, but there's also a binder (that not many people even know about, let alone use) to read about each breed as well. It kind of bugs me when it appears as though some employee went pit-happy or shepherd-happy... it looks like every puppy is marked pitbull mix or shepherd mix when they barely resemble the breed, so always do some research on your own. But you can't really blame them I guess - it's not like any of us are trained in determining breeds. That's why I downloaded an app. Call it obsession if you will, but I'm a big dog-lover who has a ton of dog books at home - training books, breed books, behavior books - and I read them in my spare time instead of "real" books.

The app isn't the best, but sometimes it helps. For most people, cleaning cages is not the ideal way to spend their free time, but for me it's totally worth it. Yes it's gross, and yes I have to shower the minute I get home, and yes my clothes get ruined, but I get to hold and play with puppies! It's heaven. My favorite part is talking to the people who are looking to adopt and following all the way through the adoption process. It's such an amazing feeling to get puppies and dogs adopted. I fill out the paperwork, and if the new pet parents are approved, the puppy gets to go to his or her forever home. Pure happiness.

What surprises me though is that North Shore doesn't give out promotional pet products. With all the traffic they get, it's such a huge missed opportunity that (as a marketer especially) makes me really sad. They could give leashes or bowls or even go super inexpensive with ID tags or pet health pocket sliders. They are a non-profit organization, so I understand they may not have much extra money for promotional products, but between the adoption fee and the donations people make, I think it would be a worthwhile investment. I heard an ad on the radio yesterday morning that North Shore just rescued 160 puppies this week, 40 of which came from a puppy mill in Oklahoma (that is now closing down, thankfully) - so they must have some budget. No excuses North Shore Animal League - get some promotional pet products ASAP.... and no excuses dog-lovers - get out there and adopt an animal :)

Is it too early to start talking about the holiday season? Probably, but that doesn't make the idea of a custom gift card any less exciting.  That's right; now consumers can log in to BeGiftly.com and make and give gift cards to local stores and restaurants. 

Giftly is "the cooler, more sophisticated, and smarter cousin of the gift card."  And Mashable agrees, calling the gift certificate Web site a "genius idea."  So how exactly does it work?

According to Mashable, the individual who would like to give a gift must visit Giftly's Web site and design his or her own custom redeemable promotion.  And when I say custom, I mean custom -- users can include their own picture, a customized message, and can choose up to three stores at which the gift card can be used.  "Any location on Yelp can be listed on a Giftly certificate," reports Mashable.

The best part is that the cards can be customized for use at locations that "don't necessarily issue them."  The new company's CEO, Tim Bentley, said the goal behind Giftly is to always be able to give the perfect gift.  "There's a level of personalization where you can think about, 'What does this person like?'" Bentley told Mashable.

So if you've got a nephew, neighbor, or friend who just LOVES promotional pet products, for example, now you can set him up with a gift certificate to his favorite local shop! I think this innovative idea is going to transform the gift-giving industry!

Since I began working here at Motivators and marketing promotional products, I have been in search of a good doggy daycare. Moving from New Hampshire to New York has been quite the change in my world of dogs. I think New Hampshire's state bird should be the dog! Just about everyone has a dog, and they are welcome in many places. In fact, there is an outdoor outlet mall that's pet-friendly. They not only have water bowls for their furry visitors, but actually allow them in the stores. What a great idea! When I lived in NH, I chose to drive an extra hour to get to these pet-friendly outlets over the closer outlet stores just for the simple fact that I could bring my dog. He didn't have to wait in the car or alone at home; he could walk around outside and accompany me into new places he'd never been before. I'm a firm believer that dogs need to be stimulated physically and mentally. Taking him on the same three-mile hike every day, no matter how vigorous, just wouldn't tire out my high-energy pup. (For those of you who haven't read my previous posts, I have a three-year-old Border Collie mix named Brodie). Taking him to new places to roam and sniff or meet new dogs, however, helps do the trick.

I've found that in New York (specifically Long Island), I seem to be in the minority with my view of dogs, their needs and how they should be treated. I had a great doggy daycare up in NH that both Brodie and I absolutely loved. In fact, I still use their promotional pet products! Brodie's leash and travel bag are proudly stamped "Woof Woof" though no such place exists here on Long Island, sadly. At Woof Woof, he could play outside in a choice of four fenced-in areas or inside on super cold or hot days with access to the outdoors. He had access to fresh water all throughout the day and learned to share and drink with others. He was constantly supervised by a staff of certified trainers, and the entire facility was kept clean. In the summer months they had kiddie pools for the dogs to cool off in, and in the winter they took the groups inside to play in turns so the dogs' paws wouldn't clump with snow. And the absolute best part was... I'd pick him up after work and he would be CALM for the rest of the evening. It was heaven - for both of us!

What I'm finding here on LI (if I find a doggy daycare at all) is that some don't give them access to water unless it's in supervised shifts once a day and one at a time. Some have several play areas with fewer staff members than groups of dogs. And most of them keep the dogs indoors all year long. I've found a few that let the dogs outside in the warmer months only, which I take objection to - I mean, come on - in New Hampshire we had way more snow and it was way colder than it is here and the dogs were perfectly happy to be outside on a brisk winter day. Talk to me about keeping them inside when the temperature drops below zero...

Forgive that rant - apparently it's a sore subject. My point (and I do have one) is that I'm looking for a doggy daycare that I can feel good about leaving Brodie at each morning on my way to work - where he can get exercise and socialize with other dogs in a clean and supervised environment. So I pose this to all you dog-lovers out there... Any suggestions???

Now I have to admit I haven't seen anything quite like this before but I have to say I am very impressed. Let us say that you are a pet owner and you have to go away on vacation for about a week or two but you have no way of feeding the dog or cat, what do you do? Well Mathew Newton has actually put together a very cool DIY internet enabled cat feeder. According to Engadget.com, "When it's feeding time the user logs onto a web interface to choose the dispensing quantity, or you can also have an automatic feed schedule set up if you trust the system..." Hey if he can mass produce this it will make for one hell of a promotional pet product, but if you still doubt the whole internet feeding aspect check it out for yourself.

Although my most recent plans to see Pixar’s newest hit ‘Up’ were thwarted, I have heard good things about it, with many people saying that the ‘talking dog’ was one of the shining stars of the movie. Like everyone else, I have seen the trailers and it definitely seems like ‘Dug the dog’ provided some good comic relief. I have also read that many dog owners and lovers claim that the writers and animators seemed to depict the dog very accurately in both its mannerisms and emotions. Many dog owners have a great connection with their pet, and at times dogs certainly have a way of letting their owner know how they feel without actually telling them. Sometimes its body language and sometimes it’s a groan or bark. But how many times have you experienced a dog just barking for what seems like a random reason? You go check to see if someone is at the door and there’s not. You try to let your dog out in the yard because you think maybe that’s what they’re getting at, yet they don’t want to go outside. You check their food and water supply to see if maybe they’re hungry, and when the food and water bowls are found full, a sentence somewhat along these lines comes next: “What is wrong with this dog? What is he barking at?” In many cases, it winds up being one of life’s mysteries that we will never know the answer to…until now? Yes, I do write it as a question because I am a bit skeptical, but if I had an extra $220, plans for a Japanese vacation, and a dog of course, I may be interested enough to experiment with TakaraTomy’s newest invention: The Bowlingual Voice Dog Collar. The Japanese toy company has released the collar which includes a microphone and digital sound reading device that supposedly translates a dog’s bark into one of six emotions that the dog may be experiencing. Apparently those random barking fits can now be diagnosed as either happy, sad, frustrated, threatening, needy or assertive barking. The story from ABCNews.com says that “The Japan Acoustics Laboratory, according to a press release, provided ‘research and development and consulting as well as aiding speech, acoustics and radio waves’ for the Bowlingual Voice's creation.”