Here are three things that I love:
1. Dog bone collar charms. I have a weakness for beautiful handmade lampwork beads to begin with- my coworkers will attest to this, as I risk my earlobes every Christmas wearing big gingerbread glass earrings to work because I LOVE THEM SO. So if you take a glass bead, then make it something adorable like a dog bone- or a dog face- or the chickens- I am in love. Seriously, check out the chickens! I’ve never seen such cute poultry. *love* She made me love chickens, and that is hard to do.
I haven’t even told you the coolest part. The talented artisan who makes these? Is a vet. No joke! Who knew I had such talented colleagues? Feel free to out yourself in the comments if you wish, you multitalented person, you.
2. Best bully sticks. Brody loves bully sticks. If you can get over the gross out factor, they are awesome treats. Best Bully Sticks- one of my Twitter finds- offers a huge selection of bully sticks (and a bunch of other treats as well) for unbeatable prices. At the risk of sounding like a paid advertisement (it’s not), seriously, the bully sticks are a steal. They also are sourced from free range grass fed cattle, so you can feel good about letting your dog eat em up.
3. Cloud K9 jewelry. Cloud K9 has a really cool mix of vintage style jewelry in many, many breed varieties. I’m eyeing one of the antiqued lockets for pictures of Emmett and Mulan. And seriously, where else on the web would you find hand painted dog Christmas wreath brooches? I need one of each for my lab coat. 
I like supporting small business e-tailers in general, but these three did something particularly special that I want to acknowledge. I put out a tweet a couple weeks ago asking if anyone could donate something for a raffle my daughter’s school was having to fund all the things the state is no longer helping with- like pencils. All three stepped up. They don’t live anywhere near me, and didn’t ask for me to plug them here or for anything in return; they just did it out of a sense of community. So thank you, guys, it is so truly appreciated. And I’m plugging you anyway. And for everyone else, I wouldn’t put them up here if I didn’t love the product as well as the seller- I’ve seen the stuff, and whoever wins the raffle will be a lucky person indeed.
And my kid won’t have to learn to write her name on a grocery bag with an old lead pencil. It takes a village.
On September 24, 2009 at 4:51am, Lisa said...
Oh, man, I love those bone beads! And, since my husband is Chicken Man, I may have to make a christmas present purchase when she re-opens her store.
On September 24, 2009 at 6:15am, megumi said...
I’m going to out YOU as a multi-talented person
On September 24, 2009 at 12:01pm, Chile said...
All very cool stuff! And you’re right the chickens are way cool! I love watching glass bead artists while they work. I’ve thought about trying it but I’d end up with a lot of the same thing probably – blobs with dots of differing colors. I don’t have enough patience. LOL!
On September 24, 2009 at 1:09pm, Tonya said...
I already checked out the bully sticks and the Cloud K9 jewelry after reading your tweets. Now I’m off to look into those ADORABLE dog bone beads! Love to learn about and support etailers who give back.
On September 24, 2009 at 4:14pm, AboutVetMed said...
My mission is now complete. DrV, someone not so fond of birds*, likes chickens. Maybe a little? It’s OK if they are glass. It’s a start.
I agree though… they are hard to work with in a veterinary sense.
Seriously, thanks for the very nice post. (blush)
*http://www.pawcurious.com/2009/09/that-was-a-close-one/
On September 24, 2009 at 4:26pm, Dr. V said...
Honestly, I’m OK with chickens and other flightless birds. I just have very little experience on which to base an opinion. I had cousins with geese growing up and that kind of soured me on poultry, but I know they are different beasts.
On September 24, 2009 at 6:01pm, AboutVetMed said...
I get ya. Lots of people have had less-than-pleasant early experiences with geese and chickens that have forever changed their outlook. Truth be told… I wasn’t always a chicken lover. Chicken (and geese!) keeping was my husband’s idea many years ago. I wasn’t so sure. But they are great pets around the farm. Thanks again.
On September 24, 2009 at 8:49pm, Olga said...
I looooove Best Bully Sticks. Benjen flips out whenever his box comes in. He just got a 25 pack of crack sticks, a couple of lamb hearts, and a Himalayan Dog Treat (which are awesome and last him a long long time). <3