In my trade magazines I've seen 4 or 5 cover page articles about how the pet industry is "going green". While this is the vogue thing to do right now, it does hold some meaning. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the pet industry as a whole is getting the idea. I get excited about these articles until I read them and find mostly manufacturers who are creating "green" looking items that really aren't that environmentally friendly or holistic by nature. Critter Cabana has been going green over the past couple years but genuinely trying to not be part of the marketing hype and support companies who seem genuinely driven on multiple parameters including but beyond profit. While these companies are difficult to find, they are there and we are finding them. Next time your in the store, look for some of these great products from great companies like Orijen and Planet Dog.
I finally watched Into the Wild tonight and naturally it really got me thinking (hate it when movies do that). The main character, driven to escape "society" goes on a quest to find happiness. The movie chronicles this quest as goes from abandoning the most sacred human relationship, family, to isolating himself in the depths of the Alaskan wilderness. At the beginning of his journey he is desperately trying to get away from his connection to people, "getting out of this sick society. Society". Later in the movie as he has formed several meaningful relationships he takes a gentler tone but still finds himself concentrated on his Alaskan refuge "You don't need human relationships to be happy, God has placed it all around us." And at the conclusion of his journey he seems to have figured it out in his final thought, "Happiness only real when shared."
It's obvious that he meant to express with that quote that without our relationships life is meaningless. While these relationships are far from perfect and are the source of our problems, they are also the source of our joy and meaning. Another quote from the movie that I think demonstrates the true nature of his quest, and the reason why he was appalled by "society" was his thought, "Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth." Nature, pets included brings us back to reality, in that it/they present to us no lies, not even a capability of falsehood, but raw truth. In society devoid of nature there are many other things that begin to drive our motivation and ultimately shape who we become. I think we begin to see ourselves the way other people see us, which is flawed and without grace. Nature gives us a chance to reflect on who we are in a very real, very connected way, that helps us stay genuine and in turn make our relationships with people more genuine. During his journey the relationships he has reflect that genuineness and despite his defiance of social standards manages to have lasting and meaningful impact on those he comes in contact with in very unlikely friendships.
I talk a lot about nature in my blogs and probably not enough about people. There is a healthy balance and both are critically important parts of who we are. I hope that Critter Cabana can help people both connect with other people and connect with nature. Our society is changing and becoming more and more urban and less and less integrated with nature. While Into the Wild presents very extreme separation of society and nature, I don't think that our future can contain societal places that are separate from nature places. I hope that Critter Cabana and our community can be pioneers in looking for more and more ways to integrate the two starting with giving importance to our relationships with our fish, birds, cats, dogs, snakes, lizards, and rodents.
It's easy to forget that pets are a part of nature. I walked Bass (my son) down to the river yesterday and we sat on the dock just watching geese and other items floating down. He was enthralled and we had to say goodbye to the river for at least 10 minutes before I could part him from it. It made me wonder what he was learning in that time we spent. I wonder how our pets shape our childs development? A book called Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv suggests that nature has a substantive and positive role. Pets are a great way to help supplment the gift of nature in your kids lives while they are stuck indoors. Get them involved, and plan fun things they can do to interact. We will try to do the same.
While meandering through the World of Warcraft the other day I was chatting with a paladin by the name of Dariath, more commonly referred to as Dar. Dar was complaining about one of his cats who meows/heowls constantly because she is in heat and it keeps him up all night. This led to a discussion of the many other things his cats do that drive him crazy. Another fellow, Kegu, who likes cats but can't have them because he is allergic, asked Dar why he had the cats if they drove him crazy. Dar replied simply with, "Oh, I love em to death." He then told how one of his cats is over 18 years old and has been with him as long as he can remember. It reminded me how quickly we think about the horrible things our pets do to us like peeing in our beds or chewing on our stick shifts. But can you really hold these minor offenses against the 18 years of companionship that a cat can bring through our fast paced lives of changing schools, jobs, girlfriends, cars, houses...? Sometimes its just nice to have a pet there. I think the lesson that we learn from Dar and his cat is that sometimes we need to cut our pets a break and give em a lil love just for hanging around.
For the longest time I've been getting emails that chronicle the life of Pua the tamandua. I am extremely impressed by the relationship that Pua and his owner have. Not only do they two go on many adventures and have a fantastic relationship, but its all available for us to read and watch. Pua & Tamanduagirl are living proof that exotic animals, while still relatively new as domestic pets, have potential to be as good as companions as dogs and cats.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
516 E First St.
Newberg, OR 97132
ph. 503-537-2570 fax 503-537-2960
Mon-Sat 10AM-8PM, Sun Noon-6PM matt@crittercabana.com
8261 D SW Wilsonville Rd.
Wilsonville, OR 97070 ph. 503-682-9812 fax 503-537-2960
Mon-Fri 10AM-7PM, Sat 10AM-6PM, Sun Noon-5PM wilsonville@crittercabana.com
