It’s National Dog Day. No, not Dow Dogs, ours.
By Dian Vujovich
My Gracie. The most wonderful dog in the world and head of my household.
The market opened up strong this morning with all 30 stocks in the DJIA up. That means the per share price on all Dogs of the Dow were up too. But this blog isn’t about those dogs. It’s about the ones who make our lives better every second of every day that we get to share with them.
Given that today is National Dog Day, why not make this an extra special day and crack open a bottle of your favorite still water to share with your pooch or schedule a spa day. In town, ONBLONDE Pet Boutique is great place to start. They offer a host of treatments and an online Retreat video that both you and your canine head-of-household are sure to enjoy.
Andrea Woroch, a consumer and personal finance expert, presented “9 Savings Tricks to Care for Your Canine” in a column today. In it she writes:”The American Kennel Club (AKC) estimates dog owners dish out an average of $2,500 per year on food, veterinary expenses, grooming, pet sitting and more. “
That’s about 200 bucks a month. A little on the light end from where I sit. Then again, we all pamper our pooches differently. Nonetheless, if keeping your doggie’s pet care costs under control, here are a few of Woroch’s suggestions:
• Sign up for loyalty programs. Petco’s Pals Rewards program gives members $5 for every $100 in purchases. Local pet stores might also offer loyalty programs too.
• Double the discount with gift cards.Sites like GiftCardGranny.com sell pet store gift cards at a big discount – you’re looking at saving up to 25% off Petco gift cards and over 19% off gift cards to PetSmart.
• Buy treats and chews in bulk. You can buy rawhides and dental chews from Costco and Sam’s Club for over 40% less compared to pet stores. Example, a 25oz container of Milk-Bone Soft & Chewy Treats is priced at $12.99 on PetSmart’s website, while Sam’s Club offers a 37oz container of the same treats for just $8.38.
• Use daily deals for grooming.In addition to using coupons, daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial are great places to snag discount vouchers for grooming services.
In the end, no matter what happens on Wall Street today, tomorrow or ever, your pooch will be there, wagging her tail and happy to be in your company. Those are things more valuable than money.
The ONBLONDE Retreat video can be found at: http://www.onblondepetspa.com/RETREAT.html .
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