This past Thursday January 26th, Ken, Laura, Samantha and myself attended the SAAGNY winter showcase 2012.  The plethora of trade show items were amazing.  Any promotional product you could think of was there.  Any item you may want imprinted they had on display.  It really makes you think about how many of these items you come in contact with every single day.  We all had a great time walking the show and are looking forward to selling many of these item to our customers!

I don't know if it's the iron, the board, or my lack of interest while waiting for that little metal thing to heat up but I hate/can't iron.  Everytime I go on vacation or to an event where an ironed shirt/pants/suit is required, I always have to have someone iron my items.  That was until my good friend Laurie told me about our custom garment bags.  The clothes fit perfectly into it and fold neatly in half for wrinkle free travel!  This promotional product had made life easier for me and whomever I may be traveling with!

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.

Pets need love too and sometimes they get too much love.  After this halloween season, I feel bad for some pets.  How many labs did you see dressed up as a butterfly or the lap dog dressed with a lobster costume on.. heheheh.. funny but sometimes enough is enough.  I think what put me over the edge of the video sent by my neice where they had there cat dressed in a velour track suit with a gold chain.  Poor little thing couldn't walk right.  There are some promotional pet products that are suitable and not likely to scare your pets ego.  Perhaps a folding dog bowl monogram for the on the go pet or a royce leather dog leash to show how sassy they are.

As the Holidays are approaching don't forget about the most important people in your life....your four legged best friends! I have two best friends named Mickey and Daisy, and they love getting their gifts as much as I do!  And trust me they know when they are forgotten.  Just last week Mickey showed us how jealous he can be.  Daisy needed a new collar; hers was looking quit ratty so we decided to get her a Custom Printed Dog Collar.  It came out very nice, and Daisy pranced around the house showing it off.  Mickey then proceeded to go over to the bag and look for his and sat waiting.  When he realized he wasn't getting one, he went into our computer room and starred at the wall for the next two hours.  That night he wouldn't come into the TV room, needless to say he made his point.  So the next day we ordered another collar for him. It should be coming any day now and break his depression! So with the Holidays approaching don't forget the most important people in everyone's family, Promotional Pet Products make great holiday gifts!!

My coworker got the best gift today from a client... yes a client.  He recieved this king size cookie tin today. It was huge, packed with all kinds of delicious cookies.  There was enough to feed an army or at least satisfy a hungry promotional products office.  Story goes is he had a client that placed an order for some custom totes.  Everything was going as planned until our warehouse was affected but the tropical storm Irene, about a month ago, and production had stopped.  The order was not going to meet the date.  My coworker, quick on his feet, was able to call in a few favors and find a substitute tote bag that we could expedite to meet the event date.  Sometime you have to let your inner superhero shine once and a while.  The client was so grateful that they sent a custom food product  to thank him.. Yummy !!!  

In the past, Halloween used to be a holiday more for the kids, where they would dress up in either cute or scary costumes (or both), cause a little mischief, and go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Nowadays, however, it is a holiday for all household members, young, old and even furry. Lately, I have been seeing more and more costumes for pets. Even though I do NOT have a dog, cat, bird, or any other household pet, I sometimes just want to buy the costumes because they are so adorable. I have even seen people bring their dressed-up pets trick-or-treating, while taking their kids out on the town. So this year, instead of just buying Halloween candy to give to the trick-or-treaters, or promotional Halloween products to pass out at the Halloween events, you might also want to have some promotional pet products available, just in case you get a surprise trick-or-treater at your door!

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 :)

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???