"Spring" into Excitement with a Sneak Peek at FouFou Dog's Upcoming Spring Collection

FouFou Dog is becoming well-known in the pet industry for their innovative designs and products.  In the Fall/Winter season, FouFou Dog coats, sweaters, and booties are always a HUGE hit. 

Since dogs like to dress lighter in the warmer months of Spring/Summer, (or should I say that humans like to dress their dogs lighter) FouFou Dog tries to concentrate on more accessories and toys for breeds of all types, as opposed to apparel.

This doesn't happen very often, but I'm here to give you the inside scoop of what FouFou Dog has been working on behind the scenes for their upcoming Spring 2011 collection.  The FouFou Dog catalogue has not even been revealed to any of our retail stores yet but since I have some inside information on new & exciting products being launched, I thought I'd take some time to share with our fellow FouFou Dog fans.

Just to give you a sneak peek at what's to come, I've chosen a few items from our upcoming collection that may spark your interest:

Woodland Critter Toys - These bite size plush toys are ideal for small and medium sized breeds with a squeaker inside.  If you look closely, these toys are replica's of the types of animals that you often find your dog chasing after.  With FouFou Dog's Woodland Critter Toys, your dog can finally have the satisfaction of catching one.  This is just one style of small plush toys that we are coming out with...

From Top Left to Bottom Right:  Rabbit, Squirrel, Owl, Raccoon, Skunk, Fox, Chipmunk, Mouse



"What's Your Breed" Keychains - Do you ever find yourself missing your pooch and wishing you could carry him with you everywhere you go?  Well now you can!  With these new FouFou Dog "What's Your Breed" keychains, inspired by the overwhelming popularity of the FouFou Dog luggage tags, these keychains parallel the characters from our luggage tag collection.  Made from strong, durable acrylic material, below are just two keychains from the upcoming collection....

NEW D-Ring Charms - One of our best selling items have always been the d-ring charms from our line of accessories.  These are charms that can be clipped onto any D-Ring collar, purse, or keychain; made for dogs, cats, and humans.  We consistently come out with new styles every season, this year, we're featuring more BLING.  Below are a few new charms to give you a taste of what's to come....

A Successful Business Starts With a Strong Team

FouFou Dog Office

A strong business starts from the ground up.  In the literal sense, the foundation of the business consists of concrete slab and steel pillars or "bricks and mortar".  Of course, the strong support of a business in the physical sense is what will uphold and keep the business itself standing.  However, it's what goes on inside the building that will make the business flourish, grow, and succeed.

In my opinion, the internal bearings of a business are just as important, if not, more important than the physical.  Internal, abstract, and emotional involvement from the team as a whole is what the strength of a growing company resides on; from employee to employer and co-worker to colleague. 

At FouFou Dog, our goal is to maintain a laid-back company culture with an open-door policy.  We encourage members of the team to voice their opinions and to be open, upfront, and honest with us.


Staff Digging Through Junk Food

FouFou Dog attempts to maintain a fully stocked kitchen of snacks (to keep sugar levels up), healthy munchies (at the request of Ann our Marketing Director), and breakfast foods so that everyone can start their day off on full bellies. 

With 10 employees at the office now, we do try to have lunch together daily (even though we've outgrown our kitchen table) to gossip about the latest news, company projects, and our personal lives.  It's always a hoot when 9 girls get together plus 1 boy... poor Matt (Customer Relations Manager) is currently the sole male in the office amongst a sea of girls, but I think he enjoys hearing our girl-talk at times. 

But all jokes aside, the relationships and dynamics of this company mimic one big, happy family; with little dogs running around.  When one of us is feeling under the weather or happens to be out of the office for any personal reason, the whole team is aware that someone is missing and the office just doesn't feel the same without that one individual.  The support from one another is a good feeling to have, to know that you can count on your colleagues and turn to them when you're feeling down. 

Feeling the love at the office is important to FouFou Dog.  Our hope is that each and every person will wake up in the morning excited to start their day and look forward to stepping foot into a fun working environment.  It is a known fact that happy employees are more productive.  Go Team Go!!



A Few FouFou Dog Staff Members

How Cheryl Turns "No" Into "Yes"

Cheryl Ng, CEO & Founder of FouFou Dog, has a one-of-a-kind personality and charisma that is ‘often imitated but never duplicated’. Throughout my childhood and into my adulthood, the one thing that has remained consistent about Cheryl is her nickname “the ball-breaker”. This means she is known to give people a hard time; whether this pertains to convincing you to eat PHO (her favourite Vietnamese dish) when you’ve been craving sushi all day, going shopping with her, skipping a day at the gym, or getting you to watch a chick flick.

Cheryl has carried over this title from her personal life to her business one. At work, she’s the top sales person and natural business woman at heart. She is passionate about her products, her ideas and what she believes in and is not afraid to let people know it.  If you hear her on the phone with any person at any time of day, you know she’s always closing a deal.

I have witnessed firsthand the power of Cheryl’s charisma on several occasions when clients and potential clients repeatedly tell her “I’m not interested”. The more they say no, the more they add fuel to the fire.

I remember a few years ago, Cheryl, Evelyn, and I were sitting in a meeting together with a large corporate buyer who was pretty much showing us the door. Evelyn and I took our cue to leave and were packing our belongings while Cheryl sat glued to her chair with absolutely no intention of going anywhere.  Her persistence and motivation to turn "no" into "yes" was relentless.  In watching and listening to her interact with all types of people, I've learned that she's not afraid to ask questions and doesn't get intimidated easily, whereas most people, myself included, hold back in fear of saying something foolish.  By being herself and telling things as they are, her natural "realness" is eventually what wins people over.  That meeting turned into a sale as we left with sweat on our backs and smiles on our faces.

Turning “No” into “Yes” is like a challenge to Cheryl that she takes on with personal drive and ambition. Keep in mind that it isn’t just a game for Cheryl, she doesn’t sell or preach anything that she doesn’t wholeheartedly believe in.  Cheryl takes great pride in her successes, her products, and her goals.  When she feels there is a want or need out there to fill, she will do so one step at a time, starting with you.

The next time you catch yourself falling under a Cheryl spell as she engages you in conversation, whether you're talking shop or just shooting the sh!t, sit back and embrace the passion she emits as she discusses with you what she thinks is the next best thing since sliced bread.  And when she's finished talking, I dare you to say "no".

FouFou Dog's Reasons To Owning A Dog

There are a million and one reasons why everyone should own a dog.  I have taken an office poll to find out what the FouFou Dog team thinks is the # 1 Reason to own a dog.

Jenn Says:  "For Protection & Safety" - It is a known fact that burglers are less likely to rob you or your house if they know you have a dog.

Tennyson Says: "For Health" - Dogs are known to lower blood pressure.  They will make you laugh at the end of a long day. 

Lillian Says:  "For Exercise" - A dog will keep you healthy and active. You are encouraged to get off the couch more often and spend time outdoors for the well being of yourself and your dog.

Matt Says:  "For Self Fullfillment" - As living creatures, we need to love, show affection, and receive it as well; there is something amazing and special about caring for a pet that fulfills that need.  Caring for another living creature helps me define what my role should be as a human being.

Evelyn Says:  "For Comfort" - A dog is a human without all the greed, selfishness and hate.  They will never hold a grudge and will always provide comfort with something as simple as a kiss.

Ann Says: "For Companionship" - It is always nice to snuggle with your furry friend while laying on the couch.

Debbie Says: "For Happiness" - Because a dog will always bring you more smiles than frowns.

Jenny Says:  "For Affection" - Because you will never fully understand the unconditional love of a dog until you own one.

Cheryl Says:  "For Loyalty" - A dog will always love you no matter what; without judgement or prejudice.  They will never talk back to you and will always be happy to see you.

No matter what the reason is, at the end of the day, FouFou Dog agrees that owning a dog will enrich your lives with joy, loyalty, companionship, comfort, health and love.

"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." ~Author Unknown

How To Put On A FouFou Dog Hairbow

I've had many compliments on the FouFou Dog Hairbows that I use to keep the bangs out of Amie's face and eyes. Many people admire the cute bow in her hair, she is never mistaken to be a boy, and the hairbows adorn any look for every occassion.

Amie with a Pink FouFou Dog Hairbow

I've tried many different types of hair accessories; from rubber bands to clips to claw barrettes. Although the rubber bands did the best job in keeping the hair back, I found the rubber bands to be painful for my dog and difficult to remove. The clips and barrettes did not stay very well in my dogs hair because she has such fine, soft hair that they would eventually slip out or be left hanging to the side.

When FouFou Dog introduced the Alligator Clip Hairbow, I gave them a try and have not used anything else ever since.

These hairbows are light weight and SO easy to put on. They also stay very well in her hair and do a great job at keeping her hair out of her eyes. In addition, they are SO pretty!!

Amie with a Pink FouFou Dog Hairbow

The FouFou Dog Hairbows come in a wide variety of colors and prints. From Satin fabric to velvet, checkered print to polka dot, these hairbows are ideal for every season and any occassion.

FouFou Dog Crystal Hairbow

Below is a video clip of how easy it is to put on a FouFou Dog Hairbow.

It literally takes 5 seconds. Take a look :)

Boy dogs can wear hairbows too!!!



Kobe



Booties Becoming Necessary

Toronto was hit with 5-10 cm of snow last night and although this doesn't sound like very much, it can be mountainous to my little 7 lb Maltese, Amie.

I took her to work this morning and walked her across the parking lot so that she can do her business.

On the way back to the office, about 2 feet into the walk, she started squealing and whimpering. I didn't know what was wrong until I picked her up and carried her back in my arms as she continued to whimper.

I came to realize that she was whimpering because some snow had been packed into the crevices of her paws and it must have been painfully cold.

Shortly after, I fitted her for a new pair of FouFou Dog Booties to wear the next time it snows (which will likely be this weekend)

Below is a video of Amie trying on her booties for the first time.

Not only will booties protect her paws from the icy, cold snow.  They will also protect her paws from the mounds of salt that is sprinkled over sidewalks and driveways during the winter season. 

Booties will also prevent my white haired dog from getting dirty on those wet, rainy occassions.

Finally, booties will come in handy in protecting those precious paws from hot ashphalt in the summer so that we can go for even longer walks :)

Kobe (shown below), Evelyn's Morkie, is another fan of the FouFou Dog Booties.  He gets excited when he puts them on because that means he gets to jump around in the snow for an extended period of time...oh boy!!

Kobe wearing FouFou Aspen Booties & FouFou Sweater Coat

FouFou Dog Brings Their Pets To Work

It is part of FouFou Dog's company culture to maintain a working from home office environment amongst family and friends, even though you are not really at home.  The decor in this workplace welcomes a warm ambience with chocolate brown laminate flooring, a communal kitchen area where the team meets daily for lunch with demask themed mirrors and other "at-home" fixtures.

An added priviledge to working at FouFou Dog's head office is the ability to bring your pets to work with you.  A recent SimplyHired.com poll showed that 49 percent of all participants who owned dogs said they would change jobs if they were allowed to bring them to work, while 32 percent were willing to take a five percent cut in pay.

Studies have also shown that pet ownership can reduce stress.  Whether you're having a bad day, everything seems to be going wrong, or you've just gotten into a fight with a loved one; just one look at your furry friend's face as they stare back at you with insurmountable admiration or seeing them wave their tail excitedly in your presence is enough to relieve any type of stress, even if it's just for that moment in time.

Not only do the pets in the office alleviate stress when having a bad day, they also allow for comic relief when taking breaks from work.  Below is an image of our pets: Ernie, Amie, and Kobe wearing FouFou Dog hair bows.  A few of us thought it would be funny to put blue hair bows in the boy dogs in order to get a rise out of their owners when they saw their male pets with bows in their hair.

From L to R: Ernie, Amie, Kobe

Matt, our Customer Relations Manager, bonds on a daily basis with Ernie.  You can often find them hanging out together, especially when Matt is sitting comfortably at his desk during the day.

The Boys: Matt & Ernie

Not only do the human and dogs interact, the dogs find companionship in one another during the long workday as well.  Below is an image of Ernie and Amie sleeping together in a FouFou Dog Doughnut Bed in Lillian's office.

Ernie & Amie

Is it wrong of us to put our dogs to work as well? hehehe



Bailey & Ernie



A FouFou Dog Day

FouFou Dog has tapped into many outlets in this wonderful world of social media to give outsiders the inside scoop when it comes to what goes on behind the scenes through our Twitter tweets, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, personal blogs, LinkedIn links and FourSquare updates. 

Matthew, a member of the team has recently purchased a cool video cam that takes live footage and can upload directly to YouTube!!

He was testing out his new camera and caught some of us just getting ready to start the day...

Click on the video below to catch a glimpse of a few FouFou faces along with our furry friends...

.... Stay tuned for more video's to come ...