Winter Paw Care Tips

Winter is here for a little while longer, so why not keep your pup protected with these great services! Did you know that you can upgrade from our house shampoo and conditioner to other specialty options for an additional charge? One of the best options during the winter months is Oatmeal shampoo and conditioner. Oatmeal has many benefits from being especially moisturizing and helping with dandruff and flaking. It can also help relieve and skin irritation or itchiness your dog may have.

Another service you can add on when visiting us is a Winter Paw Treatment! A Winter Paw Treatment includes shaving the fur from the bottom of the paw and applying musher’s secret. Shaving the paw hair on the bottom prevents any salt or debris from irritating the paws, helps prevent slipping on slippery surfaces, and stops snow clumps from forming on the paws. Musher’s Secret is an easy-to-apply all-natural wax-based cream that protects paws from harsh surfaces, ice and salt with all natural 100 percent wax-based cream. When applied to pads and between toes, it dries in seconds to form a semi-permeable shield. It also acts as an invisible boot to prevent potential paw problems. It is available at all the stores for purchase! We do require appointments for all Winter Paw Treatments.

Did you know that you can also request a nail grind instead of a nail trimming at all of our stores? Nail grinds are great for many reasons. One of the biggest advantages of grinders is that you can smooth your dog’s nails and round them. This is much preferred over the sharp edges left by nail clippers. Rounded nails ensure your dog doesn’t get snagged on carpets and is especially handy for dogs that have a tendency to scratch or jump up on owners (smooth nails don’t do nearly as much damage to furniture or to your skin).

Hurricane Harvey Relief

Bubbly Paws and Pampered Pooch Playground have teamed up with Good Karma Animal Rescue to raise funds and supplies to help the relief effort at animal shelters in Texas.  Good Karma Animal Rescue will be heading to Texas to bring some of the shelter dogs back to Minnesota to find a forever home (these are dogs that were in the shelter/rescue system before the hurricane hit).  When they make their way back to Minnesota, Bubbly Paws will be hosting a night with a local vet to check over the dogs and our staff will be bathing them (all free of charge). 

You can make a donation directly to Good Karma online by clicking here or at any of the Bubbly Paws stores or at Pampered Pooch Playground.  

Good Karma was recently on FOX 9 talking about their efforts.

WCCO TV at Paws On Grand

A Big thanks to WCCO TV for stopping out to Paws on Grand at our St Paul store.  We love to sponsor such a great event!  You can watch the full video below.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — Hundreds of dogs filled St. Paul’s Grand Avenue on Sunday for the annual Paws of Grand event.

Grand Avenue businesses partner with local animal rescue organizations. The event features lots of pet-friendly activities, like a pet photo booth and fashion show.

“Well it’s great, brings a lot of awareness to dog rescue groups and dog related non-profits. It also gets dogs adopted, but also provides a fun, free activity for families to do,” Lill Luce with Bubbly Paws said.

Bubbly Paws and several other businesses along Grand offered special deals and discounts on Sunday.

How involved are the Bubbly Paws Owners?

Our friends from Intuit Quickbooks stopped out and asked how involved the owners of Bubbly Paws are.  Watch the response below.

Paws on Grand - 2014

Paws on Grand - Saint Paul,mn

Bubbly Paws Dog Wash and Spa is excited to present Paws on Grand on Sunday, August 3rd from 11am-4pm on Grand Ave in Saint Paul.  Walk down historic Grand Ave with your pooch for lots of fun activities to benefit The Pet Project.  While you are at this awesome event, make sure to stop out at Bubbly Paws, we have teamed up with Hero Mutts and Modern Life Photo for a dogtastic photo booth and so much more.  $5 from every self-service bath during Paws on Grand will be donated to The Pet Project.  For more information on Paws on Grand, click here.

Chicken Jerky Treat Warning

As you know at Bubbly Paws Dog Wash, we always put the health and safety of your pooch first.  The past few days, there has been lets of news about Chicken Jerky Treats that are imported from China.  We do sell chicken jerky treats, but the chicken is sourced from local farms outside of Boston.  They are 100% manufactured in the United States of America.  I just contacted the company where we get our bulk treats, and they re-confirmed everything I stated above.   As always, if you have any questions or concerns about the products we sell, please ask.  You can read more about the imported Chicken Jerky treats here, or watch the NBC News story below.  

From The AP:

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration is asking dog and cat owners to report any problems their pets have had after eating jerky pet treats.

In a notice to consumers and veterinarians published Tuesday, the agency said it has linked illnesses from jerky treats to 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. About 580 of those pets have died.

The FDA says its Center for Veterinary Medicine has run more than 1,200 tests, visited pet treat manufacturing plants in China and worked with researchers, state labs and foreign governments but still hasn't determined the cause of the pet illness.

The FDA says pets can suffer from a decreased appetite, decreased activity, vomiting and diarrhea among other symptoms within hours of eating the jerky treats.

Twin Cities Live in Saint Paul

Our good friend Emily Engberg from Twin Cities Live stopped out to our new Grand Avenue location to see how much fun it is!  Check out how much fun it is!  

Twin Cities Live at Bubbly Paws in Saint Paul from keithppp on Vimeo.

Fun in Saint Paul

We had some fun filming at our new dog wash in Saint Paul today... A big thanks to Babe and Keenser with his green mohawk (who belongs to Bri, our groomer) for being the stars of the video.  And thanks to Bruno Mars for a great song.  

Saint Paul Dog Wash - Grand Opening Event

We are very excited to opening our 2nd Bubbly Paws location on Grand Ave. in Saint Paul on Saturday, August 17th.  Stop out for lots of fun including our famous doggy bar!  $5 from every self service bath completed on the 17th will be donated to The Pet Project!  Our new Saint Paul location is located on historic Grand Ave. between Lexington and Dale (Right next to TruBerry Yogurt, which is amazing). The first 20 customers will receive a Super Buddies prize package which will be out on DVD soon from Disney!  Click here for a map.

Dog Allergy Season Is Here!

Did you know that dogs have allergies too?  We did!! Learn more about dogs seasonal allergies from our friends at WCCO-TV. We see lots of our customers that come in with medicated shampoo for baths!  

St Louis Park Magazine

We were proud to be chosen for the cover of the St Louis Park Magazine - Pet edition. Below you can read the article that featured Pampered Pooch Playground and Bubbly Paws.

Pampered Pooch Playground Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller Services: Dog day care, boarding

The tale:

Trycia and Keith Miller launched their dog day-care center five years ago. They initially opened it for their beloved Bernese mountain dog named Roxy. Today the Millers manage about 95 dogs per day at the Pampered Pooch Playground. They have three separate rooms for canine frolicking, including 11,000 square feet of climate-controlled indoor space and a 3,500-square-foot outdoor area. There are also luxury suites for the extremely pampered pooch.

“Minnesota is unregulated for doggie day care, so it’s a point of concern for dog owners,” Keith Miller says. “Someone could rent any old garage and put 60 dogs in it.” The Millers do everything they can to alleviate worry. Pampered Pooch is the first dog day care in the country to have iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps so owners can watch their pups at play, day and night. There are 11 live webcams streaming from the three playrooms and regular Facebook posts and tweets. The outside play area is made with recycled sports turf, which is ecologically appropriate and, unlike gravel or Astroturf, easy to clean.

“The St. Louis Park pet business network is really supportive,” Keith Miller says. “If someone had a fire or got sick, they could bring their dogs to us or I would go work at their place to help out.” Miller stays current on developments in the doggie care world and is a fan of the “busman’s holiday”: Whenever he travels, he stops by other pet care facilities to take notes on what they’re doing right and what he would like to avoid in his own establishment. “There’s a real difference in big-city day cares,” he notes, adding many have a less than fragrant smell. 7020 Walker St.; 952.922.8183; pamperedpoochplayground.com

Bubbly Paws

Owners: Trycia and Keith Miller Services: Self-serve or full-service dog washing, grooming Hangers-on: Roxy the Bernese mountain dog

The tale:

Bubbly Paws is the Millers’ laidback little brother to their high-maintenance big baby, the Pampered Pooch Playground. The Millers opened Bubbly Paws two years ago, mainly as place to wash their own Roxy, a 100-pound Bernese whose bulk and thick hair demand an elaborate bathing process. They nabbed a light and airy space in the busy Excelsior/Grand complex and outfitted it with five elevated step-in tubs with shower hoses, a grooming room and a drying room. Customers can bathe their dogs themselves or pay a bit more for a house shampoo.

The Millers are dedicated to the St. Louis Park community and even use a locally made shampoo, which is actually a reformulated horse shampoo. “I like it because it doesn’t smell fake or overpowering,” Keith says. “I mean, I’m a guy, so I couldn’t care less about smelling like flowers.” Nevertheless Bubbly Paws’ grooming services offer plenty of bling for their canine clients, including toenail polish and in one unusual case, a pink polka-dot dye job.

The couple loves the tight-knit animal owning community in St. Louis Park. “People know each others’ dog’s names. Everyone goes to the Dakota dog park and people recognize each other [from the dog park],” Keith Miller says. “I’ve seen love connections happen here. Seriously, if you were a single guy, why wouldn’t you get a dog?” Miller dreams about opening a pet rental business for hopeful single guys hanging around the dog park. In the meantime, “we just have fun here,” he says. “C’mon, it’s a dog wash!” Each month Bubbly Paws gives back to support a different pet rescue organization, donating $5 from each bath, and hosting creatively awesome occasions like doggie yoga and doggie happy hour. 3730 Grand Way; 952.657.5300; bubblypaws.com

Pet Friendly SLP

We also provided St Louis Park Magazine a list of some of the pet friendly businesses in St Louis Park:

Primp Hosts fundraisers for a local pet rescue 1628 West End Blvd.; 952.303.3791; primpyourself.com

Lululemon Stop in with your dog and get a treat 1639 West End Blvd.; 763.545.9069; lululemon.com

McCoy’s Public House Dogs can hang out and get treats on the patio 3801 Grand Way; 952.224.9494; mccoyspublichouse.com

Yum! Free house-made doggie treats 4000 Minnetonka Blvd.; 952.922.4000; yumkitchen.com

The Four Firkins Browse the local beer selection with your discerning pooch 5630 W. 36th St.; 952.938.2847; thefourfirkins.com

Galaxy Drive-In Bring your pooch while you enjoy a superb burger 3712 Quebec Ave S.;952.277.7777; galaxy-drivein.com

Frattallone's Ace Hardware Great nosing around for dog and man (or woman) 5025 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.456.6630; frattallones.com

Filament Lighting This business provided the lighting for Bubbly Paws 5007 Excelsior Blvd.; 952.926.5007; filamentlighting.com

Back from Denver

The past few days, Trycia and I were in Denver to check out a Jack White at Red Rocks.  As many of our blog readers know, whenever we travel we always love to check out other dog businesses to see what we can improve on or do things better... We checked out a dog wash in Denver and wow, it was very "functional" over being cute and looking clean.  It was nothing more than a few elevated bath tubs with plywood around the tubs.  I also noticed that they closed at 6pm on weekdays.  We also checked out a few pet boutiques and found some pretty neat products that we want to start carrying.  Expect a few new things in the next couple of weeks.  After visiting, I am pretty sure that we have built one of the nicest dog washes in the country (and I am not just saying that because we own Bubbly Paws).  If there is ever anything we can do to improve, please feel free to reach out and contact me; some of the best things we have done have come from our customers.  We also checked out a few doggy daycares in the area, you can read more about our visit on the Pampered Pooch Playground Blog.

As for Denver, I really like the city and how dog friendly it is!  It really reminds me of Minneapolis just with more hills and hiking trails!

Have a great weekend!

Small Dog Rescue Pictures

A few weeks ago we had a fundraiser for Small Dog Rescue and Becky from Lucky Mutt Photography stopped out to take some pictures.  Some of her work is below!  Becky is a great pet photographer and we were so glad she was part of this great event!  Thanks again to everyone that stopped out!

What a nice day!

Today was a great day! Trycia and I were at the Dog Wash getting some little projects done, and then we left around 3 and took Roxy on a long walk around Lake Harriet.  Roxy LOVES walking around the Minneapolis lakes... We got about 1/2 way around the lake and then she decided she wanted to go lay in the water.  We let her, and then quickly decided that we would need to take her to Bubbly Paws for a quick wash.  We love living so close to the lake that we can walk around it all the time.  If you see us out walking, stop and say hey! I hope everyone is getting out to enjoy this wonderful weather.

Keith