Category Archives: The Pups

Can’t wait for the dog days of summer!

Its been a long and interesting Winter/Spring here at Mimi Green. Professor Chicken fell in love, and I mean IN LOVE, with one of our employees, Hilary. Everyone was super sad in March when Hilary moved to France to take care of her grandpa, Chicken was especially hurt.  Although we admired what she was doing, we have all taken her move really hard.   We've all joked about mailing ourselves to France to see Hilary, but Chicken seems to be taking it seriously. 

mimi green cat professor chicken blue russian

Mimi Green had some exciting news this Spring too. We were honored by being featured by In the Company of Dogs catalogue! They took some awesome photos of our embroidered personalized webbing collars, and the collars have had great reception. It is so exciting to see our work in print, especially with a company as cool as In the Company of Dogs! 

embroidered webbing dog collars Other than that, we have just been super busy filling orders — so busy I have again been neglecting my blog! But hopefully that will change this month because on May 21 I am going to be lucky enough to get to stay home half days with Augustine.  

mimi green dog collar flowers

He is getting gigantic (and really scary!) and I am feeling a bit nostalgic about when he was a baby and I got to hang with him all day. 

IMG_7261

He will be 4 this year — I can't believe it since I started Mimi Green when he couldn't even sit up on his own yet! I figure I don't have much time left till Kindergarten and I have my whole life to work 😉 Good thing I have such an awesome, supportive husband that is willing to work twice as hard to cover for me! 

Anyway, Auggie and I are planning super fun stuff to do with each other (and the doggies) so I will have lots to blog about. 

I better run for now, goodnight from everyone here at MG, especially sleepy Chupa! 

chupa the mimi green pug

Introducing Professor Chicken!

So we got a new worker here at Mimi Green and he's really smart, a professor in fact. russian blue cat Dan and I looked and looked for a kitty, we must have met 20 cats.  This little (well, he's kind of big for a cat, 12 lbs or so) Russian Blue we met on the first day of looking just stole our hearts and no other cat compared.

His name at the shelter was Emmitt, but Auggie was insistent that the cat's name was Professor Chicken.

The Professor loves being at the office, mostly he supervises and helps Hilary on her machine.

russian blue cat And Chicken helps me take product photos, which Lord knows I need! russian blue chicken cat
I never thought that I liked cats, I am a BIG dog person, but this cat has totally changed my mind. His purring is so soothing, it is hard to have a bad day with his sweetness around.  I read that cat's purring helps relieve stress and aids in general healing. I don't know if I would have believed all that before Chicken, but just look at him, how can it be denied!

russian blue kitty, chicken

 

(Yes, I did put pink claw clovers on his nails. FYI, real men wear pink;)

Say Goodbye to Doggie Skin Problems!

I should have mentioned in my Easter post what products helped Chupa's skin so much. Her skin had turned elephant-like in many areas so hair wouldn't grow there. Paula started using Canine Earth Aweseome Apple Paw Balm on her and it softened her skin right up! Nothing else seemed to work — not the prescribed shampoo, not antibiotics.  But after a few weeks of using the Paw Balm, Chup's skin not only softened but the hair started to grow back!

natural dog paw balm

The natural balm also works really good on Piggie's dry nose and its natural antiseptic properties totally healed an infection Chup got in between her toes and between her puggie wrinkles. 

A little shout out to Canine Earth, "Canine Earth products are formulated with 95-100% USDA Certified Organic ingredients and have a pH to complement canine skin and coats. The same way human skin can be negatively affected by soaps with high pH and chemical ingredients, the same problems can affect your pet."

organic dog paw balm and dog shampoo

So far all of the Canine Earth products have totally impressed me. They also make natural, organic dog shampoo and conditioners.

The Mango is my fav, it smells like heaven but isn't too perfumy.

Chup is my fav too. How can you not love that puggie face!

natural dog shampoo and paw balm

(**Disclaimer: I promise to never push products on you I haven't tried and don't adore. We love what we sell and we sell what we love — Mimi Green is truly a labor of love. xoxo **)

Here Comes Puggie Cotton Tail! An Easter Story.

Easter was super fun for the humans around here, but I think that Paula's pug Chupa had the most fun of all! black pug chupa

She loved the ears and all the attention she was getting because of them 😉 Chup ran around with the kids and hunted eggs. See my uncle's dog Maya in the back? She was sure Chupa was an alien.

IMG_1784

The coolest part about watching her have so much fun is that it was all a first for her. Chupa grew up in a puppy mill in AK and lived in a cage for 6 years. She was a baby maker and nothing else. They fed her such bad food that she lost every single one of her teeth, she was never allowed to walk around so she literally could't walk, her fur was falling off her body due to a skin infection, and the bad food also caused her to go blind and develop a thyroid problem.

New Mexico Pug Rescue  drove to AK in October and brought home Chupa and 20 some of other pugs from the puppy mill.  The man who was going to foster Chup was overwhelmed at her needs and returned her to the rescue less than 24 hours after he picked her up. Somehow I convinced my sister, who didn't even like pugs, to let Chup stay with her.

Not to say Paula wasn't overwhelmed too. The first night she called us crying because she didn't know what to do. The dog smelled so badly, it was like a clump of skin and bones — no muscle tone, couldn't walk on her own, and clearly couldn't see. She looked like the Chupacabra, hence her name, Chupa ;)  I have to say that this was the worst case of animal abuse I have ever seen. I already didn't like puppy mills, but this made me hate them.

Within a month Chup was walking, it was so cool, like watching a baby learn to walk. Her fur started to grow back soon after that. Fast forward  6 months and you can hardly what bad shape she was in.  I mean, she will never have teeth again and she is on 3 different meds for the rest of her life, but she has a spark to her now, her life finally has a meaning. My mom says Chupa is in love with Paula, I think she sees Paula as her savior. And Paula finally admits to liking pugs now.

black pug bunny
See how happy she is with her momma now! Paula adopted her last month which made me so happy because I have become super attached to Chup. She comes with Paula to work everyday at Mimi Green, its like she is out little pug mascot 😉

So that's my story of resurrection, pug style, for this fine Easter day. I hope your day was as special as ours was.

xoxo, Amanda

Dog Treat Recipe : Organic Molasses Chip

I love to bake but sadly I am the only one in the house who ever eats sweets. In an effort to trim up for summer, I am going turn this boat around and put my energies to baking my dogs yummy treats (because they totally don't care about their waste lines ;) 

I'm going to try and bake the most healthy treats I can find for them though and will share my recipes on my blog weekly. 

I don't know about you, but I  am one of those dog moms that will not give my dog treats unless the package says "natural" or  "organic" and if I can't pronounce the indigents then they aren't getting them. I love making the dogs treats because then I KNOW for sure each and every ingredient that goes into them is totally natural and organic (if I can get it).

So even though these Molasses Chip Dog Treats have a lot of sugar in them, I think these treats are way more healthy than any you can buy the grocery store as they are preservative free and don't contain chemicals!

So here's to week one: Molasses Chip Doggie Treat Recipe

organic natural dog treat recipie ingredients 

3 c flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 c molasses

1 c canola oil

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure organic vanilla extract

1 12-ounce package carob chips (you can get these at Whole Foods) 

Preheat oven to 350 F

Then grab a small bowl and mix the baking powder and flour together and set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the molasses and oil. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

organic dog treat recipie 

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir in the carob chips. 

Next drop the dough in round shapes onto the cookie sheet. I used a small ice cream scoop and that worked well because the batter is VERY wet and sticky.

IMG_1674 

Then bake 12-14 minutes. The smell is awesome, it got me in the mood to eat cookies too! 

Cool the cookies on a rack…

IMG_1686

Then dig in right on your mom's white carpet!
 
IMG_1705
Good thing my friend Tracy likes me and her pugs so much or she might have cried. Her carpets had just been cleaned and her pug Zack just couldn't wait to chomp his cookie ;)  Now if that isn't a testament to how good these treats turned out, then I don't know what is.

Happy Dog Treat Baking!


Happy Pig-a-versary!

Today marks one year since Piggie, (aka Olive) came to live with us! 

 piggie pug and noah
She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I am so in love with this pug. Check out those beautiful eyes!

 IMG_8478

She got a new collar as her present for making our lives so awesome this year and touching our hearts more than any other dog I have ever had. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate with a doggie cake, I can't wait to see her dig in! 

Poor Piggie had it really rough the first 2 years of her life and at this point you would never know. It took her 9 months to start to warm up to Dan but now she is madly in love with him (and what woman wouldn't be really, he's a cutie ;) 

The first day I had her I wanted to give her back because she wouldn't even let me touch her. That would have been such a huge mistake. I called my friend Tracy to come over and see what a mess of a pug I brought home and she totally convinced me to give it some time because she could tell how sweet Piggie was. Boy was she right! 

So Happy Anniversary Piggie. I can't imagine my life without you!!

 

Hello stranger!

So I’ve been missing in action for awhile now, I know. Although I’ve said it before, my absence was for good reason.

Reason #1:

We hired a new staff. First few folks didn’t work out, but 3rd time was the charm. Jessi started working with us about 6 weeks ago and we just adore her.  (Hope she doesn’t mind that I stole this photo of her off Facebook!)Jessi

 

I could say that I have been so busy training her about all things Mimi Green and that is the reason I haven’t blogged, but that is so far from the truth.  After the first week Jessi was rocking and rolling. Mr. Miller said she is going to be better at making collars than we are soon! We love her. She is not allowed to quit, ever. It was a bit stressful, okay a lot stressful, to hire lots of new people. It took up a lot of my attention and I thank God that is over for now.

 

Reason #2:

I have gone on a redecorating spree. The house looks like someone else’s house — and I have been keeping it clean! I couldn’t figure out how to balance kids / husband/ business / house but now I think I am getting the hang of it.  Only took me 9 years!

IMG_6434

 

 

 

IMG_6432
IMG_6429

Here are some views of our bedroom. I can’t get enough of it. It is my first bedroom that feels like it belongs to a grown up. We also have been working on the yard:

 

IMG_6044

 See, check me out, I did my laundry AND hung it outside!  

 

 

Reason #4

 

I kinda got a 4th dog! IMG_5757

 

 

Meet Coraline Jackson-Miller. I didn’t exactly mean to get a 4th dog, but I did and we love her. She might take a plane ride to MN to live with Dan’s family who are looking for a dog, but we will see. We are getting pretty attached;)

 

Reason #5, and the biggest reason for not blogging…

 

We designed a ton of new stuff! You can see our 2009 Holiday Gear on our site here100x-mastree

 

 

New Fall line here: 

Fallsets
And lots of new colors of flowers!Orangeandlemon There are some other new Mimi Green designs on the way, but those I will keep under wraps. Until next time, and I promise it won’t be months this time!