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!