'Tis the Open Season

Have you ever witnessed the first day of hunting season in a small Montana town? Me neither, until this weekend. While visiting some friends who have recently relocated to Libby, Montana, I had the great opportunity to witness an entire town of 2500 people wearing orange like it was green on St. Patty's day. Which I don't blame them for, instead of a pinch you get a bullet if you aren't.

I know that by many pet loving folk hunting seems like a pretty foul activity. What I have seen, however, is that, aside from those hunting to save some money on groceries, hunters generally are hunting because they enjoy the experience, which in essence is relating to animals and nature.

Everyone interacts with nature differently and it can be difficult at times to see these other perspectives. I see this a lot at our stores where people will comment on how they don't understand why someone would want a snake for a pet. Snake owners have snakes for lots of different reasons from appreciation of a species to self expression. A horse owner rarely keeps a horse around to keep them company, but more likely enjoys the benefits the relationship provides in terms of riding. A farmer will have a totally different perspective. It doesn't have to be exclusive either, someone can be hunting deer with a coonhound companion who is his best friend.

The common thread I think is a respect for the animal and a deep sometimes undescribable or unkown desire to interact with creation. Even hunters I think can hunt while maintaining respect, as a farmer can slaughter, and a horse owner ride. I think as we become more and more urban there will be more and more unique opportunities for Critter Cabana to help match people to these deep desires in new and innovative ways that work with our modern lifestyles.

Keep an open mind,

Matt

Livin la Vida Perfecto

Theoritically this is a blog about the animal integrated life, but it's also written by a guy who likes to talk about himself sometimes so here we are. I've even thrown in a bonus 2 am picture of me smiling uncontrollably in my bathrobe while writing. Two events have spurred this post.

The first event was during a high school presentation I was giving. After explaining some of the hard things I've had to do as a business owner, he asked me if I'd ever wanted to just give up and do something else, my answer of course was no, I would never even think of it. Tonight I realized why I was able to answer that so quickly, thanks to a quote provided in a class session by one of my professors. It comes from our Quaker friend Parker J. Palmer: "The deepest vocational question is not 'What ought I do with my life?' It is more elemental and demanding 'Who am I? What is my nature?".

The reason for my quick response is because the life I have while creating and growing a pet store is at the most perfect match for who I am, what drives me, whats important to me, what gives me energy, and what fulfills me. I was born and raised for it and here I am somehow doing it. Without doubt I am in the right place for right now and its a good feeling, even more exciting than where I, and my family are at is where we can go and what we can do.

For those stumbling across my blog, and yes I can see you on my web statistics page, please note that I am a newb blogger and I expect that this will evolve into something much more interesting, so check back regularly, and forgive this moment of unashamed, desperate self expression.

Wild Animals in the Garden

As Scott mentioned in his blog, we dream daily about the many ways we can have animals be integrated as a part of our lives. I often ask customers what pets they have at home and am repeatedly baffled by the response I hear too often that they don't have any because they live in an apartment.

In my eyes that is the biggest reason you SHOULD have pets. Urban life can be cold and very disconnected from anything natural. I always felt this way in my college dorm rooms. That's when I got my iguanas Flash & Ivy. They had free run of the room with a basking area under my bunk bed. I'd smuggle veggies in from the cafeteria every night. I remember mine and Brittani's first year of marriage we lived in a tiny 500 sq ft single room apartment. The first thing we did to decorate was build a giant 4'x2'x6' Iguana vivarium for Flash & Ivy. At the years end we had 2 iguanas, 2 chinchillas, 1 hamster, 2 degus, a bunny, and a cat. After upgrading to a 700 square foot apartment a year later we added another cat, another bunny, a dog, and a wallaroo. Now, I understand we are a little bit extreme... and that would be expected of a fanatical pet store owner, and shortly after that we had to get a place of our own with plenty of room for all the critters to romp. But the point is, our culture has become so separated from animals that people don't even think about the possibilities. Fortunately, as children Scott and I had a lot of freedom. Our biologist father encouraged the jungles we created in our shared bedroom. One of the first experiences that opened us up to new possibilities was hamster Scott bought in high school. He didn't have a cage so he made a home for it on top of his dresser, and it stayed up there! Later, my dad custom retrofitted a big shelf in my sister's armoire for her rat. When she wanted to play with it she just walked past the armoire and it jumped right on her, it was VERY cool. Most people today just don't think like that.

A day in my dorm room.

Lisa Naughton-Treves (professor at University of Wisconsin at Madison) endorses this idea in her study of Amazonian agroecosystems. She suggests that American views of creating distinct geographical separations of "peopled places" and "wildlife places" have hindered our ability to achieve conservation that is successful for both people and animals. Native Amazonians have long used an informal sustainability policy in which they overplant their crops allowing wildlife to feed in their agricultural areas. The result is an efficient system of livestock farming that benefits both the species populations and the people (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8306.00301). Why can't we be more like these Amazonians who rather than eliminating nature when it doesn't fit, isn't clean, isn't easy, or requires resources, they understand it's value in their lives and they integrate it, saving it ultimately from destruction. Our backyards have a lot in common with the Amazonian backyards, its just a different climate with different animals. Fortunately, advances in knowledge allow us to experience wildlife from all over the world, from the Russian Dwarf Hamster to the Madagascar Day Gecko.

I know that we have changed Newberg's culture to a certain extent to be much more accepting of new ideas when it comes to people and animals. But the bar can be pushed a lot further, and we intend to push it. And while this mutually symbiotic ideal is currently far from perfect, its possible, I believe its the way we are made to live, and that's why I believe so strongly in what Critter Cabana is all about.

The things I forget about Critter Cabana...

Not to toot our own horn, but we truly have a great store. Every once in a while Brittani, Scott and I, do an I-5 tour up into Washington looking at all the different pet stores out there. I remember when we first opened Critter Cabana these trips could be overwhelming to the point where we would come home 50% super excited to execute some new ideas and 50% depressed at how much work we had ahead of us. In this most recent trip, my experience was quite different.

I have an appreciation for any independent pet store, we are held to MUCH higher standards than our big box competitors and for good reason, the ways in which both their customers and animals are treated is B grade at best. However, it is still necessary to maintain our prices at a level that delivers good value.

Anyway, an independent pet store owner has to make sacrfices to stay in business, and for someone attached their business its painful to make sacrfices. Every surviving pet store out there has some sort of model for staying in business, somewhere along the line they've figured out the sacrifices that need to be made in order to make a living. I found two general categories, some pet stores have animals, but sacrifice image, location, and sometimes more in order to support the staff necessary to keep minimal standards for these animals. Unfornately, when a store has poor image, poor location, etc they find themselves hurting for the resources to take care of the business. On the other hand there are the stores that sacrifice the maintenance of animals and don't sacrfice on image or location. These stores are always much more stylish, trendy, and in hot locations. But they never have animals, its usually a "too cool for Sunday school" urbanite reading behind the counter while you try to figure out which of the 20 different varieties of holistic, organic, and uber premium dog foods is best for you.

My tour of the area revealed both of these store models, and I have yet to find a model that combines the two quite as well as we do. I think both myself, our employees, and our customers its easy to get complacent about what we've accomplished. The truth is that you can't find a pet store anywhere thats like ours... the best of both worlds. Friendly, truly knowledgeable and helpful staff, great prices, a fun environment, healthy pet foods, quality products, the highest quality standards for our animals, in a beautiful historic downtown local building...

We are truly fantastic, and I stand behind it encouraging anyone reading this to do their own pet store tours. You don't only have friend in Critter Cabana, you have the best value pet store out there. We care about getting you what you want, we care about serving our community, and we nurture this business like a newborn child... (although we do have a newborn in the family too). You won't find us flawless, but you will find a store with character, substance, beauty and value... what more could a Newbergian ask for? (Other than a drive-in... wait... we have that too!)
We love you Newberg and we want nothing more than for you to love us back... and for all those who do love us... you rock, thanks.

Matt's Blog is Back

My blog is back with a new format that will allow me to keep it up much more easily. Look forward to lots of new posts. I will also repost some of my old blogs soon.