Typist: Bethany
About ten months ago, I put up a homemade poop bag dispenser in our Seattle neighborhood. It took a while for people to actually share plastic bags for cleaning up their dogs poop at my do-it-yourself community poop bag share station but I can now report that it has been a huge success. The only failure was the sign. I printed Sugar the Golden Retrievers awesome Scoop That Poop infographic on waterproof paper, covered it in clear contact paper and sealed it in a plastic sleeve, it still didn't last long in Cascadia's windy, wet autumn. Even though neighbors have been using the outdoor poop bag holder that I made from a plastic water bottle, I have been wanting to replace the long since removed sign it started with. So when I was contacted by BuildASign.com to try out their website and giveaway a $25 gift certificate* to one lucky Cascadian Nomads reader, I knew exactly what I wanted to do:

Since this outdoor poop bag dispenser had stood the test of time and endured the elements in addition to being accepted and used by dog walking neighbors, I decided it was time to add more community poop bag share stations to the neighborhood. I had chatted with a neighbor many months ago about the unscooped dog poop problem she was having in the green space behind her house. This neighbors vinyl fence is exactly the right place to test out the other way of hanging my outdoor poop bag dispenser is designed for- around a pole! The last time I had walked past this neighbors fence, she had taped a sign up asking people to obey the law and scoop that poop. Yet it had since fallen down so I added a "5 Reasons Dog Owners Must Scoop That Poop" sign. I told the neighbor that this sign would not last long and recommended she check out BuildASign.com for something more durable.

I am indeed very pleased that our first dog poop bag exchange has been a success. Hopefully our two new ones will be just as productive. Maybe someday everyone will know how important it is to scoop that poop, they'll never forget bags and the neighborhood will be clean!

What would your BuildASign.com Scoop That Poop sign say?
Tell us in the comments and you'll be eligible to win!*

What about you? What are your summer plans with your pets? What kind of gear do you need? Cascadian Nomads has teamed up with 18 other pet blogs to help! Below you can enter to win a grand prize $400 gift card from PetSmart so you can be ready for whatever pet friendly fun summer throws your way. If your not sure what gear you need, check out what I packed to survive our recent three week camping and hiking road trip.

The process of getting certified organic usually takes four months but Katie applied in July of 2013 and was only officially certified last week. According to Katie, the government shut down and a staffing shortage prolonged her certification process. Getting the organic stamp of approval on pet food is a two fold process. Katie worked with the pet food department of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, who works with AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards and regulations, to make sure that Ginger's Treats are healthy for dogs and labeled accurately. All of Ginger's Treats had to be independently tested three times to determine each flavors average nutritional values. This way, Katie could properly label the guaranteed analysis on the bag. Statements of "natural" on pet food bags mean nothing yet statements of "organic" can only be legally used if proven in tests. However, Katie told me "Organic doesn't mean it's good for dogs it just means that the product that's in there is healthier. You could have organic chocolate in your dog treat recipe but obviously that shouldn't be part of a dogs diet." So in not only are Ginger's Treats organic, but they include organic ingredients, approved by AAFCO, that studies show are safe and healthy for dogs.

However "the pet food department [of the Washington State Department of Agriculture] doesn't care where you cook, doesn't look into kitchens, " Katie explains, "but the organics department [also through the Washington State Department of Agriculture] is the one that comes out to your studio, that says, 'yes she's doing the right thing.' They watch me actually cook. They look at all my receipts to make sure everything is what I say it is... They can actually drop in whenever they want." The certification fee is $500 and they also take 3% of the profits from Ginger's Treats every year. But, Katie says it is worth it: "that quality meant everything." Through testing for USDA organic approval, which cost an additional $100 per flavor, Katie proved that very treat is