Some September patrons and a very special event

I want to share some photos of The Beautiful Joe Autumn Adventure. Have you been yet! It happens every year but this is the first time I have been involved and let me tell you, it was SPECTACULAR! I haven't seen such a variety of pets and their people in one place in a very long time!  Woofstock it is not but who knows what next year brings. 

Everyone was happy and loved visiting and playing and the blessing of the animals was a perfect end to a perfect day.  What a lot of love there was!

I am trying to keep up with all of the in shop photos that I am taking but have missed a few that I will be posting soon but please enjoy what you see, I sure have enjoyed all of our encounters.

If you haven't received our monthly newsletter and would like to just make sure I have your email, if I have it and you haven't received it please tell me because my memory isn't what it used to be!

Enjoy and have a day full of happiness!

That's a Chai Latte, no sugar please!

I am feeling a little blurry today, maybe a coffee will help

My mom sure loves me!

Did you say you wanted ANOTHER photo?

I'm bushed!

Some photos of The Beautiful Joe Autumn Adventure 2011

That's all for today

It's the first full day of fall today.

It's a beautiful day but very fall like, no surprise! The days are definitely getting shorter and the farmers market is coming to a close.  I am going to be changing the Waggin' Tail hours in October, we will add another evening on Fridays and start closing Tuesdays.  I need to have another day off to take care of all of my other 4 legged creatures.  That means our hours of operation will be Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 11-5 and Thursday, Friday 11-8.  As the weather cools we will be adding the "Soup of the Day" for our canine friends and  Gourmet Hot Chocolate for humans. Our evening workshops will be starting in October and running once a month unless there is demand for more and don't forget to start planning your costumes for our "Howl"owe' en costume party on October 29th. Look for next months newsletter and check on "Sparky Taylors" Facebook page for updates on our happenings...................Oh yeah! We are also going to be carrying the tasty and nutritious "Riplees Ranch" dog and cat food starting in the next few weeks..............so much to remember!
Check tomorrow for some new photos from September.

Passport to Meaford

The Waggin' Tail is participating in an exciting new promotion in the Town of Meaford called "Passport Meaford". It runs from Sept. 1 - December 31, 2011 and 24 local merchants are taking part.  There will be 500 passports available free of charge at various locations (the Waggin' being one) and over the 4 months passport holders are invited to drop in to any of the merchants and receive a promotional offer and a stamp saying that they were there.  Once you have 8 stamps you can enter for a draw for one of two fabulous prizes.  Either $500 Meaford bucks to be spent at the 24 businesses or a package for a night out with accomodations, dinner, lunch and a show all offering some of what we do best.  If you see this, come in after Sept 1 and get a passport.  Hope to see you soon, there are only 500 passports available!

Cheers,
Joyce and Sparky

I can't believe it is already mid-August!

Where is the summer going?  But I guess that happens every year.  It has been a great one at the Waggin' Tail Cafe, I have met many fabulous dogs with their very interesting owners.  As you will see in the photos we had our first birthday party, my friend Krista was celebrating for her best doggie companion "Gazoo" .  The handsome Gazoo turned two and had 4 or 5 of his friends and their human companions along with a human relative or two to join the party.  We had a cake and lots of presents, "happy birthday Gazoo"!
I have brought in a line of "human footwear" by the name of "DAWGS"................with a name like that how can I resist.  Besides, after buying my first pair, and not wanting to take them off for at least a week, I new they were a winner.
I would like to thank "On the Bay " magazine for their fantastic photo and coverage of the Cafe in their summer issue.  You are an awesome magazine I am very grateful!
Remember that we would love to help you celebrate any special pet events and hope you are already planning your 4 legged hallowe'en costume for the party.
We are starting a "customer wall of fame" here at the Waggin' Tail as well and if I forget to take any doggies picture please remind me (my memory is not what it used to be) as I want to have photos of all of Sparky's friends. There was a very sad event in our community recently in which we lost one of our sweet friends, I was very thankful to have a few photos from the shop to offer in memory.  Love you Maggie, all of the very best Wayne.  We are thinking of you.
Stay safe everyone and bye for now. Thanks so much to all of our wonderful past and future patrons and hope to see you soon.

Joyce and Sparky

In the heat of the SUMMER

Here we are, it's mid July and steaming hot!  Has been for a week or so now.  I have been managing to keep the cafe comfortable but people are not leaving their homes so it has been pretty quiet. Can't say I blame them, I would almost rather be at the beach too.........no, I still love being here!  Sparky is napping a lot these days, it is even too hot for the sun loving dog.
We are selling a lot of our fantastic Iced Coffees and have added Coffee Floats and Iced Chai Lattes to the menu.  The pups love our Pupsicubes (peanut butter, yogurt and banana) yumm!!!!
I am really excited about getting our new Dawgs shoe line in!  Should be in a couple of days.  Make sure you come in and see them.  We are starting with a basic selection but anything can be quickly special ordered from their many styles in the catalogues.
They are comfy, fun, affordable, and I couldn't resist the name.

Hope to see you all soon...........HAPPY SUMMER TIME!

Thank you!

I really want to thank everyone who is helping this to be a success!  We have had some spectacular news coverage both in print and online and all of my wonderful friends have been spreading the good word, drinking my fabulous coffee and treating their precious pets.  Thanks so much to Krista and Gazoo who are my very best customers and ongoing ambassadors.  Krista has been stuck at home with a broken ankle (BOO!) and I am really looking forward to seeing her on her feet again.  You know we miss you guys!!!
Again THANKS ALL.

Spring!!!! Yahoo.

Well this is the start of a second month of business at the Waggin' Tail and it has been FUN!  I am thrilled with the new friends (both 2 and 4 legged) that have walked through my door.  Summer is here and there is a lot going on in June.  On the 21st Meaford has announced "The Longest Day of Play"  encouraging fun, physical activities far and wide.  We would like to challenge all of the pets to get outside to walk and play with their 2 legged companions.  Your masters need the exercise and you will be helping them to maintain a healthy lifestyle which will ensure that you have a long, happy life by their side.
Next we have the Meaford Dodge Rodeo "ride em cowboy!".  No..............I am not taking my horse, but we will be selling our great coffee, fun shaped dog treats and specially crafted bandannas at our Waggin' Tail booth. The shop will still be open and our new staff member Sawyer will be looking after things here.  "Welcome Sawyer"!
Then is the big day! Our official grand opening on July 1st.  Stay tuned for more info but remember, the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society will be have a presence in the parade with as many pets and their people as possible.  They will be meeting at the Arena, on Collingwood St at 11:00am. We would like to know if you are coming before hand but don't hesitate to just show up if you decide to join in.
I also had a chat yesterday with a great young trainer named Meg from Omega Dog Training and she is going to be doing an evening workshop here in the next couple of months.  We also talked about getting a fun class going in Beautiful Joe Park.  It would be fun "tricks and games" for you and your pet to participate in.  Could be every week or 2 or just a one time thing, let us know what you think, I will check on using the park and we could get going by July.

These are some of the new visitors that have arrived this month.  I often forget to take photos because I am too involved in conversations but I am trying!

Cheers, hope to see you soon!  Sparky is waiting.

What a great day!

Yesterday the weather was pretty bad, it was very quiet and I was worried about how this was going to come together.  But of course one should never worry because everything is exactly how it should be!  Today was awesome.  I had such an interesting group of people networking and having amazing conversations.  It starts with the dogs and I am blown away by the directions it can take.
Anyway thanks for coming in and if I haven't seen you yet I hope to see you soon.
I am off to do other things for a couple of days now, I have some horses that are forgetting what I look like.  See you Wednesday for a new and exciting week.

Joyce and Sparky

Day 9

It's a rainy day today so I don't think that there will be a lot of dog walkers out.  Hard to say, they may want to get in out of the rain.  I baked a new treat yesterday,  "Twisted Cheese Sticks", whole wheat flour, corn meal and parmesan cheese.  So far the volunteers seem to love it.  So I now have those and Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Bones, Gluten free Beefy Kittens, Rye Puppies and a few Banana Muffins. I have a frozen treat P.B Yoghurt Cubes but not quite the weather for that.
I will be introducing "A Dogs Breakfast" using our fresh organic eggs but I haven't settled on a recipe yet.
Also, as an aside, I discovered in my research that dogs should not be fed raw egg whites as they inhibit the absorbtion of biotin and cause bad skin and hair.  Cooked they are great sources of protein and if you want to give your dog a whole hard boiled egg, shell attached, that is recommended once a week (added calcium).
I am also now offering ground flax seed to sprinkle on their dinners.
If you haven't tried my Back Eddies coffee I hope to see you soon as you don't know what you are missing! I am so impressed I am selling it by the pound as well for $14.95, whole bean, it stays a lot fresher that way.
Better go, lots of work to do! Let me know what you are thinking.
Remember to go to the  OSAS website to see what angels they have that are looking for families.  You can never have too many angels!
http://alice.bmts.com/~osas/
Joyce and Sparky

Day 4

Well, this has been a wonderful experience.  Sparky and I have had some pretty interesting visitors/playmates in the last 3 days. Quinte, Gazoo, Mickey, Kody, Fire, Milo, Dante, Chant, Ralph, Lucky and Shelby have all been in for treats. Hopefully they tell all of their friends and the word spreads quickly.  The space is good,  I have had to move a couple of things around to accomodate a number of four legged patrons for play space but that is what this is all about.  We are for the animals! and many of them are treating their owners to our fantastic, Back Eddies coffee or an exotic tea or cold drink.  But don't worry if you don't have a four legged companion, Sparky is here to take advantage of any attention he can get.
We sure hope to see you all soon!

Sparky and Joyce