Pet Auto Safety

Sorry everyone for not doing a full post yesterday for Pet Travel Destination Tuesday. We have been redesigning our retail website, www.PetAutoSafety.com. Most of the major redesigning is done now, so take a look and tell us what you think. Does it look better? Is it easier to navigate? Are there things you don’t like? Are there things you would change or improve? Any feedback with constructive criticism would be most welcome!

The second thing I wanted to ramble about was the comments on the March contest giveaway posted on March 8th. One of the ways to enter the contest is to leave a comment under the post and click the Rafflecopter entry saying that you left a comment. Because spammers left over 500 comments the other day (yes over 500!!!), we accidentally deleted all comments made on that day. This means that legitimate comments were accidentally deleted along with the spam comments. However, if you indicated in the Rafflecopter that you left a comment, your entry was still saved in the Rafflecopter and it still counts! So please, if you don’t see your comment know that your contest entry is still there. If you left a comment asking a question, I’m so sorry that we didn’t see it. You can leave a comment again or email us directly at naturebydawn@aol.com. We sincerely apologize for this and thank you so much for stopping by!

One more thing to share… We had some great weather last week. It got into the 70s and even the 80s on March 14th and 15th so I took Maya to the dog park. She had a lot of fun!

Maya is making a lot of new friends at the dog park.

Maya is having a lot of fun chasing and being chased at the dog park.

Funny after this really nice weather, it got cold again. It even snowed yesterday. The weather is as crazy as my Maya!

Well, that’s all I have for now. See you later in the week for Pet Safety Saturday.

No pet auto safety theme today. I just want to share some cute photos of my pups. Maya & Pierson don’t just help me in promoting safety in the car, the also provide me with boundless entertainment.

Maya and Pierson love to play together… although it does look like Pierson is having more fun in this photo than Maya.

Here is one of them playing outside. (Our grass is terribly brown this winter.)

When they are not playing, they are sleeping in the strangest positions.

Pierson too.

Maya loves to swim. (This was taken at the end of summer.)

She also loves baths (wierd).

Pierson likes to dress up. (not really, but he’ll do anything for a cookie.)

This is what Pierson does while I fill up his food bowl. First thing in the morning is potty break, then breakfast.

Synchronized spinning – see more on my American Dog Blog which can be found in the blog hop below.

Those are my pups. See how cute and entertaining they are? No wonder I make them buckle up when they are in the car.

For more adorable pet photos, visit the Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

We like to try to use our own photos instead of the manufacturer photos for our pet auto safety products. However, the photos for these pet travel products don’t always work out for various reasons. Here is a wonderful collection for the Wordless Wednesday blog hop:

This photo didn’t work out because Pierson was hidden behind Maya.

This photo isn’t so bad. We just didn’t use it because you can’t see the Bergan logo on Pierson’s dog car harness.

This is a friend’s dog, Roxy. This photo didn’t work out because you can’t really see that Roxy is strapped into the Kurgo pet car seat. And the orange car seat lining is crooked.

This photo is okay, but its not excellent. It makes for a cute photo, but not a product photo. The lighting just isn’t right – too much dark and too bright highlights.

I just don’t like how I look in this photo. Also, Pierson is looking away and you can’t really tell that he is wearing his dog seat belt. Maya looks good, though.

This is Sephi on the heated seat cover. The lighting in this photo is definitely not good. Sephi is the only thing that makes this photo look good.

You can’t really tell from this photo but Sephi & Maya are passed out in the back seat on one of our long road trips from Kansas to Texas.

For more pet photos from other great pet bloggers, check out the Wordless Wednesday blog hop at Blog Paws.

Designed to fit on a small couch, this plush cover can also be used in the back of your SUV. It can also be used in the back seat of your car, however, it does not have straps to secure it to the seat. If used in the back seat of the car, it would work more like a blanket.

To enter to win this month’s contest is simple. Enter the Rafflecopter options below. Like us, follow us, comment, or all of the above! The more you do, the greater your chances of winning.

There will only be one winner as we just have one of these left. The contest ends November 30th and the winner will be chosen at random on December 1st. Please note that you must be a resident of the continental US to win. We will not be able to ship this item outside the continental US.

Good luck on this Pet Auto Safety giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pet Auto Safety had a fantastic time this Sunday at the Dogtoberfest in Lawrence, Kansas. The event was huge and there were lots of activities. I tried to get as many photos as I could of the different events, but I was stuck at my own booth most of the time. So I asked Jim Sovanski with Sovanski Photography, who also had a booth at the event, to share some of his photos. As you can tell, his photos came out much better than mine.

This is a photo I took to show how crowded it was at Dogtoberfest despite the chilly weather. The Greyhound Rescue was right next to us.

This is the photo I took of the huge Irish Wolfhound. You can see how amateur the photo is by my shadow. That’s the Wolfhound’s friend the Corgi in the back and part of my Maya in the bottom right corner.

Compare my photo to this much better photo by Jim Sovanski. The Irish Wolfhound’s name is Quinn.

Here is a woman and her Dachshund sitting down and enjoying an event at the Dogtoberfest. They could be watching the stage where there were costume contests and other pet contests, they could be watching the dogs in the agility course, or they could be watching the disc dogs in action.

Here is an adorable dog dressed up for Dogtoberfest.

We had a tax man come by to make sure we had our sales tax permit. This dog is checking him out to make sure he dotted his i’s and crossed his t’s.

A beautiful Border Collie in front of Jim Sovanski’s booth.

If you like Jim Sovanski Photography, he does digitial paintings as well. Look how beautiful this dog digital painting is.

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, join the blog hop below!

It is now the law in New Jersey to keep your pet restrained in your vehicle. They have passed this law for a number of reasons but the primary reason is for the safety of people. As important as it is to protect our pets, New Jersey was able to enact the law in order to protect people. How does restraining your dog in the car protect people?

1. Dogs can be a distraction in the car just as much, if not more, than a cell phone.

2. Too many drivers allow their little dogs to sit in their lap which is even more of a distraction.

3. An unrestrained dog in the car can cause a person serious injury in the event of a car accident because the dog becomes a dangerous projectile.

4. In the event of a car accident, an unrestrained dog in the car might be able to get out of the car and run into the road causing another accident.

5. A dog who hangs their head out the window could jump out or accidentally fall out of the car and cause an accident to other drivers on the road.

New Jersey didn’t just enact these laws to protect people, they felt compelled to enact these laws because too many people were not using common sense when traveling with their dog in the car. Too many people allowed their dog to sit in their lap when they drive, allowed their dog to hang out the window, or got into a car accident because their dog was a distraction.

If you think the new laws in New Jersey are too harsh, use common sense when you drive with your pet. If your dog won’t wear a dog car harness, at least consider a pet car barrier. Other pet travel safety products include the BreezeGuard window screens, car seats for dogs, pet car barriers, and pet travel crates. For a variety of pet travel safety products to choose from, click HERE to visit our pet car safety website.

Our source for the info on the New Jersey law is PetSide.com.

Kurgo makes great pet travel products such as the Wander Pet Car Hammock, the Tru-Fit Smart Dog Car Harness, the Backseat Barrier, and the Backseat Bridge. They are well-made, very useful and safe, and best of all they have a lifetime guarantee. Since we like Kurgo so much, we have decided to expand from our pet auto safety base and have added the Kurgo Wander Back Pack for Dogs.

So what does a back pack for pets have to do with dog car safety?

Pet – This one speaks for itself.

Auto – Your dog has to ride in the car before he can get to his favorite hiking spot to use his new back pack.

Safety – This one is a stretch but the Kurgo Wander Back Pack for Dogs has four reflective strips (two on the top and one on either side) for just in case your dog is hiking in the woods at night.

So mostly the Wander Pack has to do with pet travel. Plus, we just wanted to order them so that our own dogs could use them! In fact, that is our dog Maya in the photo above wearing hers.

Like other Kurgo products, the Wander Back Pack for Dogs has a lifetime guarantee. So if you plan on going on a hiking trip with your dog to Colorado, Missouri, or other great hiking spots, consider a Kurgo Tru-Fit Smart Dog Car Harness and the Kurgo Wander Back Pack for Dogs.

Be sure to check us out next week for another new pet auto safety product. We are adding a bunch of new pet travel products in May.

We generally post an article on Saturdays and Tuesdays or Wednesdays. However, due to a family emergency we missed Saturday’s post. We will likely miss the Tuesday and Wednesday post as well.

Pet Auto Safety is a family owned business. So when my mother had a medical emergency which put her in ICU, we rushed off to St. Louis to be there for her. I am home now but will likely be heading back soon. Please forgive the lack of posts this week. We may not be posting much on our FaceBook or Twitter pages either, but feel free to check out our friend at All Things Dog Blog who is currently hosing a pet auto safety giveaway of our products. She is also on Twitter @AllThingsDog.

As a website owner, I am constantly bombarded with SEO marketers trying to get me to hire them. It is really annoying. But Visible.net took a different approach. They didn’t try to sell me services I didn’t need. They actually reviewed my website and pointed out a few issues. They even told me things I could do myself to fix them. But of course, they were hoping I’d hire them for something. Knowing my websites weaknesses, I gave in and hired them for things which I knew I could not do myself. One service I needed was a professional Pet Auto Safety.com video.

Here is the video they did and I must say I am extremely pleased. When I hired them I thought it would just be a slideshow with music and a bit of commentary. But the person who did my video took an extra step and filmed cars on the roadway. He even added a few other images which fit the theme. Every penny I paid Visible.net was worth it.

Watch and tell us what you think of our Pet Auto Safety.com commercial video.

We here at PetAutoSafety.com would like to wish you a happy and safe Easter. Remember, if you take your dogs with you when you visit family this Easter be sure your dog wears a dog seat belt or other pet travel safety device!