In Blog 266 I Talked about Going to visit Rabaul and a volcano. In this blog I am going to talk about utilizing my passion for dogs.

My Passion for dogs

I’ve always been fond of dogs. I had a Dachshund as my first dog as a little boy. The dog I grew up with though was a poodle terrier mix we named Muttley after a cartoon we all used to watch. My aunt Linda had her originally but asked my parents if we wanted to take her. Her original name was “Queenie” but my brothers and I didn’t like that name, so we decided on the new name. She was an amazing dog and probably why I have such a fondness for dogs 50+ years later.

The last dog I had was “Gonzo” a little Pug. I was travelling a lot and my son James was living with me at the time at 17 years old so we got a dog to keep him company. We decided on a Pug puppy. At the breeder he was the one that was the most energetic and kept looking at us with his big blue eyes. I had to leave for a trip to China and during my trip, James texted me saying he decided on the name Gonzo because he was moving around like a little crazy doggy and made him laugh a lot. Gonzo it was.

Teddy

Fast forward to 2020. I had been working from home because of the pandemic. I missed having a dog, so the conversation kept coming up between Linda and I. “I’m ready” I told her. But she wanted to wait. She had done such an amazing job as an interior designer for our house we wanted to make sure of the right breed for our needs. We considered a few different breeds, but the Poodle kept circling back. Was it because of Muttley? I did some research and found a breeder in Las Vegas named Mystical Poodles.

I called the breeder Marie, and she was amazing to work with. I also was talking to some other breeders out of town, but we would have to figure out transportation. Marie mentioned she had a litter coming up in November of Mini Poodles and would keep in touch with us. We decided to put a down payment down to secure one from the litter. We wanted a chocolate one. November 30, 2020, Teddy was born but we hadn’t agreed yet that would be his name. We could have him in 8 weeks, so the name game was going on in our household. We wanted a more Teddy bear look so Teddy was the name we landed on.

People say having a dog can extend your life, I believe that to be true now. Stress is a killer and dogs have a way to sooth your soul. Unconditional love. Teddy has been great for me. This last year has been ultra-stressful, but my buddy is always there to put a smile on my face or calm me down with a wet nose. Our walks together are soothing, and he always looks back at me and gives me a smile (at least I think it’s a smile). Funny thing is, my friends Kristin and Joey also wanted a poodle and got a Standard from the same breeder the very next month. Marie hooked them up too.

Passion helps

The reason why I’m starting the blog this way is to give background to my passion for dogs. I think it’s great to be able to do something you are passionate about. Passion helps…Until I figure out my next career spot this has enabled me to keep busy and learn some things too, A core value- Knowledge! I started the eBay shop with what I thought was a void, shoe dog stuff. Then I thought I’d add some dog stuff because of my passion for dogs. I first went to a site you could get free graphics or pay the pro plan and get more of a selection. I found a graphic I liked but it was available in just black and white. I used Canva to add some color to the graphic and mocked up a t-shirt. I found some great paw prints too, so I used those for the coffee cups. I put them up on the site without much luck. My friend Pam bought the coffee mug in different colors so I could see how the process worked. It’s nice to have friends that support you.

Etsy

After a month of testing different items, I had this idea to open an Etsy site since they have a bunch of handmade type items, and the customer base is more artsy. They’ll like the dog idea, I thought to myself. I spent a weekend making different t-shirts and coffee mugs and put together an Esty site. I loved the layout and the look of the shop. I have a feeling this will be the site for new stuff and eBay will be my outlet for selling samples, returns and other used items I may want to sell. Pretty good business model.

With all this and working from home, Teddy and I have our routine now. Making different designs and putting all the content can be a lot initially so it’s been and 8-hour day easy. So, every few hours I’ll take Teddy outside to do his thing, throw the ball around and sometimes take a walk. It’s good to take a break and get outside too. This goes to another core value: Balance. It’s so important to have balance in your life. Next blog I’ll talk more about how the Esty site gained steam.

Below are all the dogs I’ve had in my life:

Fritz – Dachshund Dog was mean so my parents gave him to a friend

Muttley – Poodle-Terrier mix childhood dog lived to 16 years

Max – Siberian Husky bought in LA, rental house fell through so gave him to a friend

Sheba – Black Labrador Died in an accident

Buddy – Australian Shepherd Kept running back home to previous owner so they ended up keeping him

Willie – Tri-Colored Collie Died of Liver failure

Max – Tri-Colored Collie Lived a long life

Lassie – Female Collie lived a long life

Sydney – German Shepherd Kept tearing up the small backyard  so found a bigger yard at a friends house for him to live

Gonzo – Pug  my son moved to an apartment so gave him to a good home since our house was being remodeled

Teddy – Chocolate Mini Poodle current best friend