Santa visited BISSELL to meet our pets!

Santa came to the Pet Spot at BISSELL this week. We invited our employees to bring their furry kids to visit and get their picture taken. We had so much fun getting the dogs to give us their cutest head tilts and smiles. Santa reported that all of our pets are on the good list this year and should all expect surprises and treats in their stockings.


Rocky and Loco were a little nervous of the big jingly guy but they decided it would be ok to sit with their kids next to Santa. I hope they remembered to tell Santa about the squeaky toys they want.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I am really looking forward to hanging out with my family – including the dogs-- and am hoping the long weekend will allow us to squeeze in some extra walks. With all the food and extra treats around, we all need the exercise even more! Lately, we have been walking every morning and it just keeps getting colder and darker outside. Rocky is still keeping warm thanks to his new coat from Pet Rageous. It’s so cute and really easy to put on him! He seems to really like wearing it and the quality is great. My kids and I are bundling up too and have reflective vests to keep us visible to motorists.



Speaking of safety, check out this article from NBC regarding the dangers of the holidays for pets. I had no idea that some of the high fat traditional Thanksgiving foods could potentially be toxic to pets. Do you plan to make or give your pets a special (and safe!) Thanksgiving treat, so they can partake in the family meal?

Finally, after the turkey and the long walks, check out “Your Pet Wants This, Too”premiering on Animal Planet, Saturday evening at 8pm ET. We are very excited to be part of this new show that showcases the latest and greatest products for your pet. Representatives came to BISSELL® this summer and parts of it were filmed in the Pet Spot!

BlogPaws and Christmas wishes

It has been another incredibly busy stretch, and way too long since I’ve updated. Things starting really rolling with BlogPaws in September. This was an amazing gathering of pet bloggers and enthusiasts, where I had the opportunity to talk to lots of pet people about our products and to share pet cleaning tips. For example, did you know that enzyme products need time and moisture to work? For those really tough stains, you should saturate the area then cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for 24 to 48 hours. That will give the enzymes time to work at “digesting” the stain. You can get more pet clean up tips on bissell.com or you can even download the BISSELL® Stain Solver iPhone App.

While at BlogPaws, I also had an opportunity to check out the other sponsors’ booths. One of my favorites was HelpJoey.com, an incredibly unique, hilarious campaign to encourage spaying and neutering to stop pet overpopulation. This is a serious subject, and the usual campaigns are emotional and sad. Joey’s approach is quite different.

I also loved the toys from Kyjen. They had an alligator-shaped squeaker mat toy with 16 squeakers! I gave the alligator to Rocky when I got home and he thought it was the best thing ever. The squeaking drove me a little crazy, but he had so much fun with it that I couldn’t bear to take it away from him… This toy lasted a little longer than many of the plush toys that I bring home, and it took him a few weeks to get to every squeaker. Rocky is hoping to get the Invincibles Snake for Christmas to see if the squeakers really keep squeaking after he bites them!

Are your pets asking “Santa Paws” for anything special for Christmas? Tell us about it, and watch for an upcoming post, when BISSELL pets get the chance to sit on Santa’s lap!

Off to BlogPaws and Superzoo

What an exciting weekend and week coming up! First I am attending BlogPaws West, a gathering for pet bloggers. We will be sharing a sneak peek at two very exciting new products that are launching this Fall. The first is an updated SpotBot® with amazing new pet features, the second is a new stick vacuum specially designed to pick up pet hair from hard floors! If you are a pet blogger going to this event, please stop by and check them out along with many other cool pet products. Otherwise, stay tuned and I’ll post more about these products in the future.

After BlogPaws, I am off to Superzoo in Las Vegas. This is one of the largest pet trade shows. We will be showing our Pet Inspired™ and Pawsitively Clean™ products to pet buyers from across the country.

One of the fun "extras" of the trade show is checking out the other booths and seeing new products coming out in other categories. I’m hoping to find some great reflective gear. The days are getting shorter and it’s pretty dark for our early morning walks with the dogs. I want to make sure we are all visible to keep everyone safe! Rocky’s wish list includes some new toys for him to chew. I think one of his favorite things about his new life is having a basket of toys to pick from! He delights in getting them all out and often piles them on his bed to sleep on. Loco just wants me to bring her some treats from the show.

My little mess maker visits BISSELL

Thank goodness for all of our cleaning products! Rocky came to work with me for the first time yesterday and managed to make an amazing number of messes. It was just Rocky and me for the first part of the morning, so he entertained himself by pulling all the stuffing from his new toy. Plus he was a little nervous which caused him to shed a lot more hair than normal. Out came the Pet Hair Broom which handled the stuffing and fur with ease. He was very excited when his new friend Bella arrived, but Bella’s mom noticed the Pet Spot smelled a little “doggy”. Those same nerves might have brought out the funk smell... We opened the windows and sprayed Pew!™ (The new odor eliminator from our Pawsitively Clean™ line) on the carpet. Problem solved. Next Rocky and Bella started playing and had a great time chasing around squeaking tennis balls. At some point, he caught his paw on one of the desk legs and tore it a little. It didn’t hurt him at all but he left little bloody smears all over the white floor. This time it was the Steam Mop to the rescue and a time-out for Rocky to stop the bleeding. I thought it couldn’t get any messier but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. Surprisingly, there was still some stuffing left in the toy and he pulled it out on the carpet that is under our meeting table. This carpet is like Velcro and really holds onto pet hair and cotton stuffing! We had to pull out the big machine for this mess --- the Pet Hair Eraser® vacuum. The pet hair lifter on the front did an awesome job of getting all the fuzz and hair from the carpet.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Rocky had a great time and showed off his tricks for all our visitors. Finally it was time to go home. On the way home, he gave me one more opportunity to clean. He has a little trouble with car sickness and maybe got a few too many treats for his first day… Well, he threw up twice. Luckily he was on his towel and it caught most of it, however I did pull out the carpet and upholstery cleaner once we were home to get the rest of the spots. I love the foam and built in brush head on this product. It makes clean up so fast and easy!

Rocky can’t wait to come back to work. I’m hoping his next visit is a little less messy, but if not at least I know that cleaning up isn’t hard at all when you have the right products!

By the way, did you know that today is National Dog Day? I can’t imagine life without my dogs; I celebrate them every day for their love, companionship and loyalty. I hope all the dog lovers out there have a wonderful day with their special friends.

Our new dog was paroled!

Our new dog was paroled!

We have a new furry family member who spent the last 12 weeks in an unusual location. Rocky was just released from prison. No he wasn’t naughty, he went there for training. We adopted Rocky from a very cool organization in Coldwater, Michigan called Refurbished Pets of Southern Michigan. Working with the Branch County Animal Control, they have dramatically reduced the euthanasia rates at the facility. They take adoptable, homeless dogs, carefully screen them, vaccinate and spay/neuter them, then place them in the Correctional Program at Florence Crane and Lakeland Correctional Facilities. They are assigned to inmates who are responsible for their training and day to day care. When the dogs graduate, they are paroled and available for adoption to an approved home. It’s a win-win situation for both the dogs and prisoners. The dogs are more adoptable and bonding with a dog can turn a prisoner’s life around.

Our new dog Rocky is one amazing pooch. He did exceptionally well in the program and knows all his basic commands plus a huge list of special tricks. Even more important, he bonded immediately with our family. Even his big sister Loco thinks he is ok. The picture below shows him with me as we picked him up from his temporary home after his prison release. Isn’t he adorable?!!!


He’s a mixed breed, his official papers say Spaniel Mix but we think he might be a Jack Russell Terrier mix. He certainly has the energy level of one! We’ve been going for a long walk in the early morning to help him expend some of the energy. I am really not a morning person so that tells you how much I love this little pooch already! He hasn’t been to BISSELL yet as he needs some time to adapt to his new life with us. However I am looking forward to bringing him to the Pet Spot soon.

If you have a few minutes, check out this incredible program. And while you’re there, RPSM is currently trying to give an English Pointer named Rudy a second chance. He passed all the temperament tests but failed his physical as he tested heartworm positive. RPSM is trying to raise money to cover his treatment so he can enter the program. If his story touches you as it did me, please help if you can.

Last night at polo...

Now that is a phrase that didn’t think I would ever say! However, last week our friends at Vicky’s Pet Connection had a wonderful fundraising event that included a professional polo match. It was fun to see people and their dogs all decked out to watch polo and to support homeless pets in our community. In the pictures are Erin Reed, my pet marketing right hand person and her husband DeWayne. What a unique fundraiser and a lot of fun for our pet marketing team to attend! We would like to say a very special thanks to Cathy Bissell for sponsoring the event and providing tickets to us.

BISSELL Pet Spot is OPEN!!!

The BISSELL Pet Spot is officially open! The Pet Spot is an area designed for employees to bring their pets to work to inspire more new pet products. It’s a place where real pet messes occur and we use our products to clean up after them. Along with employees working in the area with their pets, we plan to use the area to host brainstorming sessions, adoption events and more. The area features three indoor kennels, each with a pet door to an outdoor area, three workstations, a conference table, a dog bathing station, and lots of cleaning products. In order to participate, employees have to sign up in advance, pass a temperament test, and be able to work beside their four-legged friend throughout most of the day.

The grand opening event was a fun-filled day. The Humane Society of Kent County and Petfinder.com were on-site during the event and BISSELL employees were encouraged to invite their family and friends. My husband and daughters even stopped by in the afternoon to check out the animals. Although we are looking for a second dog, we resisted adopting another one for now! We also had several members of the press stop by and received some great coverage:

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/05/bissell_debuts_pet_spot_to_hou.html

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=122014

During the event, the Humane Society had adoptable dogs, cats and other small animals on-site including rabbits, degu (a small rodent) and even a rat! Several Humane Society representatives and BISSELL employees helped make the event a success by volunteering their time. They walked dogs, helped people in and out of kennels (making sure no dogs escaped), and made sure everyone was replenished with water throughout the day. We did indeed pick a warm day for the event!

The event resulting in eight animals finding new homes, including two cats, two degu, and four dogs. The two cats were adopted by Meghan and one of the dogs, a Chihuahua, was adopted by Mary, both BISSELL employees (pictured below). Another dog was adopted by our event photographer so we turned the camera on him (also below). You can check out his amazing photography at http://www.jimgebbenphoto.com/. For those individuals who weren’t able to adopt during the event, we collected donations for the Humane Society’s Kibble Connection program which helps to feed pets in need. In the future, we’re planning to open adoption events up to employees of other companies in the area to help more pets find homes.





Overall, the event was a success and a great opening for our new Pet Spot!

Partying with our Best Friends

The May/June issue of AARP Magazine (page 19) gives stats from some of the research that BISSELL has conducted about the human-animal bond. Can you guess the % of pet owners 55+ that celebrate their pet’s birthdays? I was very surprised to learn that it is only 24%. Even if you expand to all ages of pet owners, our survey showed that 31% celebrate their pet’s birthday. Guessing on our facebook page was much higher too, ranging from 52% to 98% until we gave a nudge to go lower.

I am definitely one of the people that celebrate my dog’s birthday! We have a party each year and Loco gets treats and presents. This past year we made special blueberry “pupcakes” for her and her doggie friends. After the party, I brought the extras into BISSELL for all my work friend’s furry pals. We had so much fun at our pup-party! Now we just need to convince the other 69% of pet owners how much fun it is to celebrate birthdays with their best friends.

Thinking about adoption or want to take a walk this weekend?

This weekend, more than 1600 shelters in the U.S. will join the North Shore Animal League America in hosting the Pet Adoptathon® 2010. As this is a cause that we care deeply about, BISSELL is working with the NSALA as the Supporting Sponsor for this event. In 2009 more than 20,000 pets were saved during the Adoptathon. Hopefully that number will be topped this year!

We will have BISSELL employees helping out at two different shelters over the weekend. We’ll be in Port Washington, NY at the North Shore Animal League America and in Phoenix at the Arizona Humane Society. If you are in one of these two areas, please stop by and say hello! Plus we’ll be handing out BISSELL booklets at these and other participating shelters across the country that include information about us and our products, cleaning tips and coupons to help new pet owners get the products they need to clean up after their furry friend.

Our research shows that 38% of pet owners would be likely to add a pet to their home if cleaning up after them was easy. Imagine how many pets could find homes if clean-up was simpler. Through our partnership with NSALA, BISSELL is working to make sure people know how easy it can be to clean up after pets.

If you are thinking about adopting a new pet, check out a shelter or rescue in your area this weekend to see if they are participating in the Adoptathon. Many organizations have great specials to help find as many homes as possible for pets during the Pet Adoptathon® 2010 weekend. I hope you find your new best friend!


Also for those of you in the Denver, Colorado area, the Furry Scurry is happening this Saturday, May 1 at 9:00 a.m. in Washington Park. Furry Scurry is a 2 mile walk fundraiser benefitting the Dumb Friends League. BISSELL is also a sponsor of this event and I’ll be there in the “Flealess Market” to talk about our products. Please stop by, say hello and tell me if you have seen this blog. I love meeting readers, fellow bloggers and pet lovers. We’ll also be handing out some fun freebies so stop by early before they run out!

Something to crow about...

I am proud to welcome Dave Aupperlee as a guest blogger to Inside the Pack. Dave is BISSELL’s Manager of Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs. It is Dave’s job to assure that BISSELL products are safe and in compliance with all applicable regulations. Dave was introduced to birding by his high school biology teacher. In recent years he has combined his love of birding and all things outdoors with his passion for habitat preservation and has worked on projects to have corporately-owned land certified under the Wildlife Habitat Council’s Corporate Wildlife Habitat Certification Program. An avid wildlife photographer, he has also contributed works to wildlife calendars.

Here's Dave talking about a recent bird event at our corporate office:

As part of organized Earth Week activities for BISSELL associates, I volunteered to lead a “bird walk” for anyone interested at lunchtime last Tuesday. I am a life-long birder and it is always a joy to take people out and introduce them to some of the most abundant wildlife that is easily observable, be it at a park, along the roadways, in the backyard, or even at the workplace.

At BISSELL we are fortunate to have some very nice habitat areas on the property that are easily walkable during lunchtime or a break. I knew we would not see a great number of different species due to the time of year, but for me it is not the quantity of birds one sees, but the quality. Rather than counting the total number of species, I like to point out the behavior of the birds and their distinctive flying, perching, feeding, or nesting habits.


I was encouraged that a group of 10 or so BISSELL associates showed up for the walk, binoculars in hand. Mostly novices, some perhaps “birding” for the first time, they observed the usual early-spring suspects: Tree Swallows catching insects in flight, Eastern Bluebirds dropping down from their perches in search of food, American Robins working the ground for worms, a Red-tailed Hawk soaring high above, male Red-winged Blackbirds staking out their breeding territory.

But, no doubt, the highlight of the walk came when one of the participants spotted a very large bird perched on a branch of a massive White Pine: a Great Horned Owl. The Great Horned Owl is one of the most widespread and common owls in North America. However, spotting one is a rare treat indeed. We observed the bird for a good long while, as he seemed to be unconcerned about our presence. To find out more on the Great Horned Owl, go to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/lifehistory



Subsequent visits back to the site revealed the mate to the bird we observed and a youngster! The little one had probably hatched out a 4 or 5 weeks previous and now was venturing out of the nest. This behavior is known as “branching”. Young Great Horned Owls begin branching at 5 weeks, when they are almost the size of their parents. However, they are not efficient fliers until 9-10 weeks.

Since that walk, I have had many BISSELL associates ask me when we are going out again.

Stay tuned for future updates from guest blogger Dave as he ventures out again in the next week or so!

Can I please go?

Several weeks ago, Loco got a special treat and got to come to work with me for a couple days. We are opening a pet friendly area in our office at BISSELL and had a “soft” opening. She had a great time hanging out with Mom at work and meeting lots of new people and some new dog friends. Today, Loco decided she really wanted to go to work with me again. She was waiting right by the back door as I was racing around getting all those last minute morning things done – you know important things like filling my coffee travel mug, finding my phone and keys, and kissing the kids goodbye as they ran to the bus! As soon as I opened the back door to put my computer bag in the car, Loco raced out and jumped in the car. She was using all her doggy persuasiveness to convince me to take her along. Check out the tongue, she had just tried to go for one of her special doggy “kisses.” I felt so bad telling her no today… We’ll have our grand opening soon and I’ll share more about the new BISSELL Pet Spot. Loco can hardly wait!

Now if I could only get my hands on the new photo correction tool that I saw at BlogPaws from Kodak that fixes pet eyes in photography, then Loco wouldn’t have to have glowing green eyes!

My Dog Thinks I Cheated on Her

BlogPaws was an amazing event. I had so much fun meeting the many pet bloggers and other pet people in attendance. It was especially nice to meet many of the other members of the BISSELL Pack of Pet Lovers. We actually got to dog-sit for a few minutes for Max the super dog of The Dog Files fame and enjoyed visiting with Kenn! That’s Max and Kenn in the pictures below.


We also spent some time with Jaime from ThoughtsfurPaws. I was able to say hello to Yvonne and Tom from Scratchings & Sniffings but they were very busy running the event. I’m hoping to spend more time with them at the Furry Scurry in Denver in a few weeks! We missed Adam and Wendy from Paw Luxury. I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures; I forgot my camera this trip… I have a ton of blogs and websites to check out as I have time, in future posts I’ll try to talk more about others I met!

I learned so much from the other bloggers and also from the sessions that I was able to attend. One of the most challenging things for me is going to be posting enough. This was a reoccurring topic and the consensus was that daily posts are needed. I’m hoping for weekly with the help of some guest bloggers occasionally. I hope that works. I wasn’t able to attend all presentations but of the ones that I went to, a few really stood out including Larry McDaniel’s keynote address “Confessions of a Corporate Sponsored Blogger”. He had some great advice regarding developing a voice, good content, credibility, marketing and my favorite to “love critters.” I can’t wait to read his “Musings on Miles” post in the Scratchings & Sniffings blog. I also really enjoyed hearing Natalie Malaszenko from Petco. She was very interesting and shared some great tips on writing an engaging post. Her first point was to create a compelling title; I gave that a try on this post!

As far as that title goes, the only downside about BlogPaws happened when I returned home late Saturday night. Loco greeted me excitedly at the door and then took one big sniff. She spent the next 10 minutes with her nose glued to my legs. After this she stepped back, gave me one of those “how could you?” looks and then I got the cold shoulder. I tried to explain that I didn’t really spend a lot of time with the other dogs but given all the smells, she didn’t really believe that. Next I tried to explain that if she wasn’t, well so “crazy” and awkward in meeting other dogs that she could have gone with me. She seems to find her behavior perfectly acceptable so no luck with that either. Finally, I realized that there were treats in my BlogPaws goodie bag. I busted out the Biscuits by Lambchop treats and she loved them – especially the banana, coconut, vanilla ones. I think I’m forgiven, for now at least! I need to work more on her socialization skills so I can take her along next time.

Global Pet Expo

We just returned from the Global Pet Expo in Orlando. It’s the largest pet trade show in the U.S. It was so exciting to be part of this show. Over 800 pet product manufacturers were there exhibiting and showing off new products, plus several celebrities were in attendance. Rachel Ray, Victoria Stillwell and Dr. Marty Becker all made appearances!

We had a great show and were able to talk about our products with lots of potential new retailers as well as many existing customers. Check out our booth below, Eric our “Chief Odor Officer” is demonstrating the color removing capabilities of one of our stain and odor removers. When he poured the oxygen action cleaner into the container, the dark purple liquid turned clear!

Here is most of the show crew dressed in black to show off Pawsitively Clean - our new brand and product line that is designed for pet specialty stores.


During the show, we also talked to lots of pet magazine editors and publishers. I thought one of the most exciting things was that so many pet people mentioned things they are doing to support or promote adoption and rescue. Whether it was Dog or Cat Fancy, The Bark or several others, nearly everyone is passionate about helping homeless pets find their forever homes. This is something that we care so much about at BISSELL and it is wonderful to hear our media partners sharing this passion. I’ll share more about what we do to support pet adoption in future blogs. If you want to learn more now, see the Partnerships section in our Pet Lovers Community online.

Next week is BlogPaws in Columbus, I hope to meet some fellow bloggers there!

Inside the Pack

At BISSELL when we say “we’re a pack of pet lovers”, we mean it. In this blog, my first goal is to provide a look inside the pack here at BISSELL. When it comes to pets, it’s more than marketing and positioning for us. Pets are part of our core; we’re pet lovers and have pet messes at home so it’s only natural that we develop pet products to meet our own cleaning needs. We get pretty excited about many of them, and many of those eventually work their way to retail shelves. My second goal is to share stories about my dog and co-workers’ dogs so you can get to know the people behind the products a little better. I think my family and friends at work are all a little nervous about this idea!

First a little about me, I’m currently a Category Manager in Marketing. I oversee a group of products that we call “Simple Clean” which includes mops and brooms, sweepers and pet products. My group and I take products from idea conception to what you end up seeing on the retail shelf. I am also the unofficial leader of the pack when it comes to anything pet here at BISSELL. It’s great because I get to combine my love for pets with my job. I am the proud parent of a long-haired, certified mutt. I couldn’t resist and actually did the DNA testing. It showed that there is no evidence of a purebred parent or grandparent, only a minor amount of Lab and a tiny bit of evidence of Cocker Spaniel. Her name is Loco and she lives up to the name most days. She was part of an unwanted litter on a country farm nearby. She and most of her littermates were headed for the Humane Society as soon as they could be separated from Mom. I learned about the puppies and lost my heart to her as soon as I saw her. As we picked her out, her mom’s owner told us that “there’s fire in that one” as she was charging toward us. With the first tug on my shoelace, my plan of picking a nice, quiet puppy went out the door! Who could resist this puppy face? I hope you enjoy hearing about our adventures at BISSELL!