Not all dogs eat your homework. Some eat your paycheck!!!

Treats That Are No Treat: Are you unknowigly being Naughty when you think you are being Nice?

As we enter the holiday season, we often find that treats for humans abound. These treats first make their appearance at Halloween and stay with us through the New Year. While we may enjoy treats such as chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, grapes, nuts and a host of other items that are plentiful at this time of year, our pets should not.  Many foods that we think are harmless can be toxic to our dogs and cats.

Here is a list of just a few of the foods that are toxic to both dogs and cats and should be avoided: chocolate, alcohol, garlic, onions, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts as well as other nuts, turkey skin and bread dough. These foods can cause a variety of problems ranging from a bloated belly to diarrhea and in some cases, death. So, let us keep our pets safe this holiday season and throughout the coming New Year by keeping these foods out of their reach.

Snuggles

Snuggles goes through companionship phases that last years. As a kitten, once he was introduced to Midnight, he wanted nothing to do with humans after that. If I wasn't feeding him, he wasn't interested. Midnight had the patience of Job with Snuggles. Snuggles was a kitten so he "tortured" poor, sweet Midnight. He would swat her tail, smack her on the face and even eat her food. Midnight only responded once in all the years they were together. It was so sad when Midnight died. Snuggles looked for her for about 3 days. I felt awful. On the 3rd day or so, Snuggles walked over, looked at me and jumped in my lap. He realized she wasn't coming back. After that, he went through his Crystal phase. He eventually took a break and went through a solitary phase. He would come around to check things out and see what was going on. Then, he would return to his "cave." Presently, he has entered another human phase. He seems to love human companionship. Today, I am the human. :-) He has been following me around all day. Have a safe Halloween and a wonderful weekend.

Hi, Everyone. I decided to begin blogging again. I took a hiatus that lasted several years. Of course, I didn't write much when I did blog. I have spent the last several days redesigning the blog itself. I hope you like the new look.

The interesting fact that I will share today is that pet owners are expected to spend more than $58 million on their pets in 2014. More than $55 million was spent last year. That is a lot of dog bones, kibble and doggie hair cuts!

In honor of our 2-year anniversary, Around Midnight Pet Services is conducting a donation drive for the Loudoun County Animal Shelter during the month of July. The shelter is located on 13 acres of land in Waterford, VA just outside of Leesburg. The shelter has been in existence since 1967 and provides a number of services including:

Providing adoption services for animals in need of homes
Receiving pets that must be given up by their owner
Assisting with the reunification of lost pets and their owners
Providing services to pets who have owners with a documented financial need

The shelter is in need of the following items:

Unopened canned or dry food (for cats and dogs)
Treats
Chew Bones
Peanut butter
Dog collars
Quick release cat collars
Cat Beds
Baby Blankets
Kitty litter
Heavy-duty trash bags
Bleach

Donations can be placed in the designated box at:

Postal Connections (next to Safeway)
43150 Broadlands Center Plaza
Suite 152
Ashburn, VA 20148

Clients of Around Midnight Pet Services may leave their donations with their invoice payments.
For more information regarding the donation drive, please call Crystal of Around Midnight Pet Services at 703-726-9218 or e-mail Crystal at Crystal@AroundMidnight.net

Shortly after Around Midnight Pet Services officially opened for business (in May 2004), the owner, Crystal, was invited to speak to children in the Arlington County foster care system. Crystal worked as a child advocate for many years and welcomed the opportunity. She was one of three on a panel of professionals who were invited to speak about their profession. Many of the youth were fascinated by the idea that they could earn money pet sitting and dog walking. The highlight of the evening for Crystal was when she was briefly reunited with two children with whom she had previously worked. They were doing well.

Last month, Crystal was invited to speak to a group of women at the Bailey's Crossroads Shelter in Falls Church. The goal was for the women to meet and converse with a "real life" entrepreneur. Crystal spoke about why and how she started the business and the pluses and minuses of being your own boss.

This first post is to explain who and what we are. Around Midnight Pet Services is a pet care services company located in Ashburn, Virginia. Primarily, we serve Ashburn, Brambelton, South Riding, Lansdowne, and Leesburg. We offer limited service to Reston and other areas. If you live an area that is not listed. We would be happy to discuss your needs and our availabilty. If we cannot help, we are happy to refer you to someone who can. The purpose of this blog is to keep our clients updated (at their convenience and desire) on the activities of the company and to share pet related information. We hope that our clients will share this blog with their friends and family. We invite all of our readers to ask pet related questions, to share pet related information and to comment on pet topics. We hope that you enjoy the blog and we look forward to reading your posts.

Why is the official blog of Around Midnight Pet Services entitled Snuggles' Corner and who is Snuggles?

As the clients of Around Midnight Pet Services know, Midnight was the dog of the company's owner. What many don't know is that Snuggles is the cat who loved to be "Around Midnight." It was time that something was named after Snuggles. (smile)