blogger profile

Kathy Ellis

Owner - The Business Lab / Leifers

I'm a marketer, business owner x2, wife, and mother of three dogs and 7 feral cats. Yes, I did say 7. Long story. And, I just learned that here in Houston, cats NEVERRRR go out of heat because of the heat. Anyone out there need a wild cat? My husband and I run a fun and crazy successful little graph...

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Backseat Love Fest

A survey conducted by MMR/Harris Interactive indicated that 45% of pet owners would consider taking them on vacation.

Well, count me in. I’m one of those 45% — we actually took our pets on vacation with us. It was me, my husband, our three dogs (Bonzai, Lexi, and Dax), my mom and her dog (She-Ra). All of us in one car for the 12 hour drive from Houston, Texas to Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Woa doggies. Now me, I chose the backseat so I could make a comfy haven for my three precious angels. I squeezed in against the two king size pets pads, three sheets, one blankie and two pillows. But, turns out that even though they had a spacious, comfortable, pet retreat, they needed to be on my lap. All of them. Hellooooo — it’s a long trip. Wouldn’t you like to spread out a bit? Nope.

Okay, so eventually they moved over – about 8 hours into the trip. All except Lexi (the Yorki). She’s a nervous nilly. Didn’t sleep the entire 12 hours. Which is why she totally collapsed once we arrived at our destination —slept the entire next day too. I tried to tell her she was getting too tired but, who listens to mom?

Here are some photos of them finally getting to sleep. Bonzai Moufassa in the blue harness; Dax upside down; and Lexi Dakota curled tight next to me.

Ruidoso was beautiful. A fun little town not far from Las Cruces, NM or El Paso, TX.  It’s in the mountains so the mornings and evenings were cool and the days were just perfect – around 80 degrees.

We stayed at the A-Frame Cabins — mostly because they took pets. It was nice to have a separate cabin too — more like home. Way better than a hotel for the dogs. They could look out the window and sleep on the couch — just like home.

It’s so great that places are making accommodations for pets. There’s even websites where you can search for pet friendly places — www.petfriendly.com / www.petfriendlytravel.com  Looks like they need our help in getting some of these pet friendly places to sign up. So next time you stay at a pet friendly place, please ask them to get on the list.

While we were in Ruidoso we found the coolest pet travel product. This is a portable water bottle called Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser. It’s terribly handy in the car. You just squeeze out a little at a time, they drink from the bowl and then you put it away.

Of course, if you’re my mom, you squeeze too much water. The dogs can’t drink it all. Then you have to decide what to do with it. No good choice here. We didn’t have any spare cups. Stopping and/or opening the window is crazy disruptive. So....she drank it. See... a product the entire family can use.

Had a great time and are all geared up for the next fun time...which, by the way, will be August 14th. We’re a sponsor of the Chloe Dao and Brett Chisholm Photography 2008-2009 Fashion Calendar. All sales will benefit SNAP (Spay Neuter Assistance Program). I’ll be letting you know more about this next time.

If you have any cool pet products or vacation spots, please share them with us — okay?

Hugs and Licks,

k