It's been a while, but I'm back! Heaven knows I have enough on my plate, with opening, owning and operating my little neighborhood pet supply, but now I have so many things to blog about!

So, last year when the cannibus dispensary on the ground floor of my apartment building got shut down by the Feds, the space became available and having already told my landlord about my idea for a neighborhood pet supply, he generously decided to roll the dice and help me open. It's been a wild ride to say the least!

My idea for the store was that since we had so many pets in the neighborhood, I would have a built-in market and with a small space, just carry what my customers need and my stock would always be turning (one thing I remembered from business classes in college), and if I had events and marketed and promoted (where my skills and experience apply), I thought I would never have to worry about the money and math and retail knowledge! Who knew retail is completely based on math? Not me! I am also not a salesman! I'm constantly killing my own sales, by telling customers how crummy something is or suggesting that they buy peanut butter at the grocery store, instead of buying the expensive Kong filling on my shelf or getting cheap baby wipes at Walgreens, instead of the 'dog wipes' I sell!!!

And I tried to go into the retail pet business, with the same attitude as when I was caring for other people's pets as a sitter and walker. I felt that I was hired to care for their pets, as the owners or parents did, even if I didn't entirely agree with methods or choices (for example, overfeeding overweight dogs table scraps, etc). Biting my tongue about Science Diet nearly killed me! Luckily, they decided to 'reformulate' and took themselves off the market to get in line with the newer grain-free and CORN-FREE ideology in the pet food market. And in the same line of thinking, I tried carrying Pedigree and Purina. Turns out it's cheaper at Safeway, and generally the pet parents using these brands are mostly looking at price and not ingredients or nutrition, so they still go to Safeway and I don't have to feel guilty or responsible for the nasty messes on the sidewalks in the neighborhood.

The store has opened up so many topics in the pet world. It's hard to try to keep up with all of the various products and trends, but I do enjoy learning about any or every aspect of pets' lives, health, recreation and treatment. I want to try to blog regularly about the things I am learning. I have discovered so many products and so much about new aspects of pet care, I look forward to sharing with you!

Not Just Another Dog Walker has taken on a whole new meaning!!