Dragon House (of Yuen) meets The Dog House

Last week I was invited to meet Jane from etsy shop The Dog House and take home some of her freshly grown garden kale for Arabella and Wesley. She lives 15 minutes away in a very beautiful part of the Scottish countryside.

Arabella was so excited about the garden and the kale that she started to groom away -

she didn't miss a hair!

and neither did Wesley. He told me that he would be on his best behaviour

and that he would be so, so happy to have a scamper around on fresh green grass!

Bless them - they were going to come along too!

I said to them that Jane also has two rescue animals -

and let them see a photo of the very handsome Max and

the very pretty Molly.

As soon as Arabella saw the thin long pointy nose of Max

and Wesley saw the long never-ending legs of Molly they both immediately told me that they would rather wait at home instead. After all - all that grooming was rather tiring and it was now nap time! yawwwnnnn!!

Jane is a member of Etsy for Animals and McEtsy. Both teams that I am also in.

It was such a pleasure to meet a fellow team member along with her two gentle greyhounds Max and Molly and I enjoyed a delicious cup of earl grey and a wonderful time chatting.

Jane screen prints these Tshirts and this one has a great message - Opt to Adopt.

Jane runs her etsy shop alongside her dog walking business Let The Dogs Out. If you live in the East Lothian / Edinburgh area and are looking for a dog walker then I can highly recommend Jane. She is a devoted dog lover and has a special way with dogs.

She sells these fabulous little bags in her shop - Tricks for Treats - and I can see Max looking longingly at the bag (and it's contents!!). These bags would be great for many occasions and the treats could range from dog biscuits to chocolates to ballet tickets .... the possibilities are endless!

Jane gladly takes custom orders for any subject. She has images of her work on her blog Max and Molly Designs from previous satisfied clients.

Here is Max and Molly suitably attired with their doggy Bandanas for a walk. Max's bandana says Couch Potato and sports a sleeping greyhound print.

Well I can attest to the couch potato part because for nearly all of my visit Max curled up next to me on the settee and he dozed happily away. Twice he nearly fell off the edge as he stretched out and I had to sit closer to him and act as a 'couch extension' to provide more surface room!

He was the best settee companion I could dream of and I was terribly flattered that he was so friendly with me. He has the softest ever silky smooth coat and warm, expressive eyes!

Jane also has larger bags and this one - Lost and Found - has a screen print of her beautiful cat Angie.

Here is Angie enjoying the snow. Angie is no longer here and she is greatly missed.

I also met Jane's husband Martin, who is an accomplished photographer and he also has an etsy shop - Red Row Studio.

He took this simply divine photograph of Angie sniffing the spout of a watering can. Just look at that white paw raised slightly and the gentle curve in the tail.

Martin is also a whizz at the programming and he developed a user application called Craft Weasel which helps etsy sellers to better understand and refine their product tags. There is a CraftWeasel Blog that will keep you up to speed with seasonal product tags for your etsy shop and etsy has a comprehensive article in the Storque (etsy's blog) about Craft Weasel that explains everything clearly.

Max meets Moss, Jane's folk's Border Collie puppy. Doesn't Moss look like a bundle of fluff!

Jane donates 5% from sales in her etsy shop to her favourite charity Gracehounds who work with rescuiing and rehoming greyhounds and lurchers. Many are surplus from the greyhound racing industry.

You can help greyhounds by supporting this charity or another greyhound charity - there are many worldwide and most importantly - don't bet at the greyhound races. Ask anyone you know who does bet to think about the consequences and grief caused by this money driven industry. Perhaps they would like to sponsor a rescue greyhound instead? That way their bet would always be a winning one and a happy heart never loses.

Handmade for Hounds is an etsy team that has a shop which supports hounds from 100% of it's proceeds and Jane is one of the volunteers who run the shop and donate items to be sold there.

This is a great place to buy sighthound products either for yourself or your pack.

Above is Molly relaxing with Moss.

and here is Moss (again!! - you can never have too many puppy photos!) resting with his toy from etsy shop Kims Critter Designs.

I want to say a huge thank you to Jane for her warm Scottish hospitality and her very generous gift of fresh kale!

I will never forget how friendly and snuggly Max was! He now has me as a friend for life!!

Arabella and Wesley were both still rather sleepy when I got home but on smelling the kale immediately woke up!

They enjoyed it very much and we would all like to say a very big thanks to Jane, Martin, Max and Molly!