Hemp Canvas Collars and Leashes - New!

We just received new hemp canvas patterned collars and leashes for dogs from our friends at The Good Dog Company! These leashes and collars are totally awesome - both in form and function. We selected five stylish and lighthearted patterns that will perfect complement your doggie friend. Both the leashes and collars are made from hemp or hemp/cotton blend fabrics for durability. Hemp canvas softens with wear, is machine washable and also naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial.

We know you will love these collars and leashes as much as we do!

Hemp Canvas Collars:

These high-quality collars are made from triple-folded canvas and trimmed with fun and unique patterns.

Sizes of Hemp Canvas Collars:

• Small: 3/4" wide, fits 8" - 14" necks
• Medium: 3/4" wide, fits 12" - 20" necks
• Large: 1" wide, fits 15" - 26" necks
• Extra Large: 1" wide, fits 25" - 30" necks

Hemp Canvas Leashes:

Completely practical, the Click-N-Go leashes are 6' long and have a Wienerlock buckle built into the handle. This makes it easy to tie-up your dog while you run into the store or dine at your favorite sidewalk bistro. Also great at picnics, parks and campgrounds where pets must be on a leash.

Sizes of Click-N-Go Hemp Canvas Leashes:

• 3/4" wide, 6' long
• 1" wide, 6' long

Click-N-Go Buckle
Here is a closer view of the Wienerlock buckle built into the handle of the leashes:

Available Patterns:
Here are swatches of the patterns available for the leashes and collars.

Orange Bones	Pink Bones	Pistachio Bones
Retro Blue	World Peace

Fabric Information:

• The 3/4" wide collars and leashes are made from a 55% hemp / 45% cotton blend.
• The 1" wide collars and leashes are made from 100% hemp.

How to Green Your Pet [grist.org mention]

Grist, a Seattle environmental news magazine, mentioned us as a Green Pet Products resource in their March 18 article entitled How to Green your Pet. Here's an excerpt from their article:

Without pets, the world would be such a pale, less playful version of itself. No Wallace and Gromit videos. No Fluffy purring in our laps or Fido fetching his Frisbee. No cheerful creatures welcoming us home and adoring us unconditionally. (OK, we'd still have mom.)

So we love them, there's no getting around it. But can we lighten the eco-pawprint of our pets? Why yes, we can: today's marketplace offers everything from eco-friendly kibbles, collars, and chew toys to beds, leashes, and kitty litter -- all of which promote better pet health without hurting the planet. If you're less inclined toward consumption, we still have ideas for greening your goldfish bowl (and a handy list of resources, too).

Urban Leash & Treat's mention is at the bottom of the article in the Resources section. Thanks, Grist! Right back atcha!!

Organic Standards and the USDA

We are longtime buyers of organic products for personal use. Our food is mostly organic and mostly locally-produced (thanks to our locally-owner natural foods market). We are lucky to live in Portland, Oregon, a city that values sustainability and locally-owned business. From April to December, we can bike to the Portland Farmer's Market to shop a dizzying array of natural and organic produce and products.

Our dog, Nixon, is the occasional recipient of carrot tops, celery bottoms and other vegetable scraps that we create while cooking. Before we opened Urban Leash & Treat, we searched far and wide to find affordable organic products for our dog. In fact, the business was born out of the idea that we could share with others the healthy, organic, sustainable and human-grade products we found while searching for only the best for our Nixon. This is our mandate - to help others select high-quality, safe, delicious, durable and sustainable products for dogs and cats.

Here at Urban Leash & Treat, we provide many kinds of organic products. Here's a sampling of our organic pet treats, pet toys made with organic fibers, organic catnip and beds made from organic fibers:

Fish for Catnip Cat Toy $7.99	Organic Cotton Cat Collar $5.99
Monzi's Organic Cookies for Dogs $7.99	Organic Pumpkin Dog Treats $6.49

The Great Pet Food Recall of '07 reinforced to us the importance of selecting natural pet products. Our dog Nixon eats a locally-produced natural diet that was not affected by the recall, but nonetheless, we were deeply saddened to know that companion animals were sickened and killed by chemical-laced food products. The recall prompted us to ask pointed questions to the manufacturers of our products. How to sort out truly organic foods and products from unverified, unaudited counterparts?

The US Department of Agriculture has approved three labels for use in organic packaged foods. Many organic pet products use these labels. The labels are:

• 100% Organic: Product must contain 100% organically-produced ingredients.
• Organic: At least 95% organic ingredients. The rest must come from the USDA's 38 approved non-organic ingredients list.
• Made with Organic Ingredients: At least 70% organic ingredients, the other 30% must come from the USDA approved non-organic list.

Use of the USDA Organic seal is voluntary, but a good indicator of the presence of organic ingredients in packaged foods. When in doubt, always check the product label. Look for the name of the organization certifying the organic content of the product. We encourage you to visit the certifying organization on the web to verify its reputation!

Sources:

• US Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program and their consumer brochure.
• Greener Choices at Consumer Reports
• How to Go Organic
• Environmental Working Group
• Oregon Tilth

Second Chances and Compassionate Homes for Michael Vick's Dogs

Here is an uplifing follow-up to the dreadful Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, prosecution and conviction. We wondered what would become of his dogs and frankly, we feared for the worst. Happily, it seems that many of his pitt bulls were able to be rehabilitated. Some live permanently at sanctuaries like Best Friends Animal Society, where they are known as the Vicktory Dogs. Some of Vick's dogs have even been adopted by compassionate individuals.

Here are some recent news articles about the rehabilitation of Michael Vick's former fighting dogs:

• Give Reprieve, NFL Star's Dogs Find Kindness
• Vick's Dogs Getting Second Chance

March Specials: Plush Squeaker Bone Dog Toys!

For March 2008, we have special prices on all sizes of plush, squeaky dog bone toys from West Paw Design. These bones are.

Our 80 lb. black Labrador Retriever, Nixon, official #1 play and taste tester of all Urban Leash & Treat products, has a Large 10" Plush Bone in the Spice color. She wanders all around the warehouse with it in her mouth, begging us to play fetch or tug with her. In our experience, the Plush Bone toy is very durable. The squeaker is in the middle section of the bone, where dogs tend to pick up the toy. This makes for some seriously happy chomping squeaky fun!

Nixon is a dissector of plush toys. After some period of time with a toy, she will tear the lining and pull out all the stuffing - she thinks this is REALLY fun. Sometime we humor her and refill the toy a few times, even sewing it shut again if it's a toy that she especially adores. I mention dissection because with West Paw's Plush Bone, she's far more interested in parading it around than dissecting it.

We offer the plush Bone toys in three sizes and four colors:

Sizes:

Tiny 5" $3.99	Mini 7" $6.79
Large 10" $8.39

Colors:

Jade	Oat Bone	Spice	Chocolate

Business Beat Mention @ SE Examiner

Banner day for Urban Leash & Treat press ... today we are also mentioned in the SE Examiner's Business Beat as a new local business.

The SE Examiner is the neighborhood paper for SE Portland, Oregon, where our business is located.

Our Mention in PDX Green!

We're very excited this morning at Urban Leash & Treat because Shelby Wood at The Oregonian featured our business in PDXGreen, her blog about green living in Portland, OR.

Here's a link to Shelby's blog post about us.

Thanks for the props, Shelby!