Soggy Doggy...(giveaway!)

Where we live, wet can sometimes feel like an understatement. Our climate gets rain...lots of it! So when I was asked to review this product, I jumped at the chance!

The Soggy Doggy!

The concept of this company was started by a mom of four that also had a dog...and on rainy days, a wet one at that! She had no time to wipe the dogs paws before running thru the house....and so a new concept was born! Read her story behind the creation below.

I am very impressed with this product! After a weekend of major rainfall to wash away all the snow we had, the mat was definitely put to the test. We have a border collie/ Shepard cross, so to put the mat to the test on Jake's fur...i  must say was the perfect test!

~Jake~

We often let him out in our back yard, and our basement...is the furthest thing from kid and dog friendly, white carpet...so he comes thru trekking wet dirt and water often. I was really impressed by the mat! It quickly absorbed the water from his feet and he trekked thru without the usual amount of mess! This mat is now a new staple at our back door!

And for my lucky readers, The Soggy Doggy is offering a promotion of 15% off all products just by using the promo code WHILE15 at checkout! Great deal! This code is valid for three months from today~

But for one lucky reader, you will take home a FREE Soggy Doggy Super Shammy! A microfiber Chenille Dog Towel...trust me, these things are amazing...not only are they SO SOFT...but they really do work!

So to my readers with Dogs... enter for your chance to win!
Today's Giveaway will close tonight at midnight. Winner announced tomorrow!

To Enter:
1)  Like While They Are Sleeping on Facebook (if you already have you're automatically entered)
2)  Follow @theyaresleeping on Twitter for extra vote. (I'm new to this!)

Good Luck!!

Here is the Story of how The Soggy Doggy came to be:

I’m the mother of four young children and one unruly rescue dog, Buddy. Like most dog owners, I was engaged in an endless war between mucky paws and clean floors. No matter how many doormats and towels I left by the backdoor, there was endless mess on my floors! Buddy tracked in everything—water, mud, grass clippings, leaves….

Inspiration for the Soggy Doggy Doormat® came at a kids’ swim meet. As I watched a young diver dry off with a super-absorbent shammy, lightbulbs went off! If that small piece of material could dry an entire child, why wasn’t there something similar for 4 wet, mucky dog paws?

With the skeptical assistance of the guys at my local hardware store and a very patient tailor, I made the first Soggy Doggy prototype out of an orange microfiber towel, some spongy foam and a no-skid back. But I found out the hard way that dogs (or at least my dog) are terrified of the color orange. Buddy took one look at the doormat and jumped right over it. Wouldn’t go near it. So I threw it in the basement and gave up.

But the next rain event came (and with it, more Buddy-mess). I forged ahead. Many rounds of experimentation later, I found the perfect material blend in the microfiber chenille shag. Its "noodley" fibers not only make it exceptionally absorbent, but they also snag a tremendous amount of debris (note to moms: great for snowy boots and dirty cleats, especially those used on crushed-rubber turf fields). Honestly, we were astounded by the shag’s absorbency and dirt-catching ability. But best of all? Buddy, fell so in love with his super-soft doormat that he insisted on using it as a bed!

That is the true story of the Soggy Doggy Doormat®; one messy dog, four untrainable-children and a frustrated-mom with a simple idea. When Brittany asked me to write a guest post for her blog, I jumped at the chance. “While They Are Sleeping” is the theme song of my life! Running my own business is a dream come true. But like many mothers, I do almost all of it “while they are sleeping.” In fact, all of the people who make Soggy Doggy happen, the graphic designer, web designer, warehouse owner, and even the manufacturer are moms! We communicate more frequently at 11pm than 11am, and patiently work around each other’s sick children, field trips, snow-day lockdowns, laundry and lunch-making schedules.

We continue to look for simple, practical solutions for soggy dogs and their various messes. When they are Buddy-approved, we bring them to you! And you can always be sure that they were thought of and refined “while they were sleeping.”

Cheers,

Joanna

Joanna with her Dog :)

Thanks Joanna for the invention of an amazing product and all the best with Soggy Doggy!

The Dish Cloth...

To end the day, last night the kids found simple pleasure in stripping down to their birthday suits and chasing one another around the house. What is it with kids and nudity. A simple, freeing feeling that is only totally acceptable as a small child. As Ryan and I are sitting eating our dinner, Ryan asks Kai, "what if dad got naked and ran around the house," Kai said, "ya, you get naked too dad!" We had a laugh over the consideration of being recognized as "the nudists next door" and decided, the best place for streaking the house and deck was in the little bodies of our 3 and almost 2 year old.

A few minutes after clothes were off, and diaper was off for Si, Si decided to unleash her inner dog...and poop on the floor. Yes, the naked running came to a halt, so did dinner, and Si was rushed to the toilet.

When I was finished with Si in the bathroom, and went to clean the floor, I noticed the area was "rubbed."  In fear of the dog having licked it, I asked Kai and Ryan what happened and if Jake (the dog) got to it first...ew! But thank goodness that was not the case. Ryan saw Kai take the dish rag and say "I'm cleaning the mess." Not knowing what was going on and for that matter what on earth he was talking about, Ryan continued to eat his meal. It was this moment as a flash-back the moment I asked why the poop on the floor was now smeared. Kai was trying to help. What an amazing little boy and big brother. Kai cleaning up poop with our dish rag...not so great, but the thought and intentions were there. The dish cloth, now in the garbage can.

And so, another adventure in our household to close out the weekend. Bring on the week and all of its new adventures.

Happy Monday!

p.s- if you have a quick minute click on the like my blog and help me raise my ratings! Thank you :)

The Smell of a Win...

Instead of celebrating an amazing Canuck comeback last night, Ryan and I were celebrating the after-game with a Bissel carpet cleaner, paper towel and disinfectant.
She was at it again...instead of painting her crib brown, Si was sitting behind her bedroom door painting the door, the wall, the carpet and of course, herself.
This is my new best friend.

Worked like magic. Not only did it remove the new shade of brown our carpet was, it took away the smell as well (thank God!). This was a new step for her...no more pop in the crib. Ryan made a good observation, she seems to "paint" where her so called escape route is closed. ie, in the crib she would paint the guard rails; now with no crib, she can climb out so she goes for the door.
I guess shes a bit like a dog in this way...you know, dogs won't mess their sleeping quarters...they will do all extremes to keep that area clean. I recall a time when our dog was a little puppy; with puppy came sleep training (kind of like a baby again!), and breaking him into a kennel...one time he was sick, and to avoid crapping his kennel, he literally stuck his butt to the door and pooped out; awesome i know, but smart, right!? So this is how I am relating our daughter...to our dog. Hilarious!
Needless to say, what we are doing at the current moment to stop this poopy mess from occurring is not working.
She is a smart 20 month old. She tries to play the innocent one when in fact, she knows EXACTLY what she is doing. She cries bloody murder when her brother is around so he gets in trouble; she pushes boundaries again and again, and then pretends to not know what time out means (although this is where she puts her baby and her bunny when they aren't listening); this little girl has us whipped...and this cycle has got to stop!
Maybe I will be looking back at that episode of "Quints by Surprise" where they duct tape the diaper to their little girl that does the same; at least the duct tape was pink...stylish! ;-)
Anyways, back to the drawing board for Ryan and I...we color in PEN...to devise a plan of some sort!!

Now, a rant on our three year old. Whomever labeled the "terrible twos" as such, clearly did not have children; they must have been an observer.
There are a few years here that seem to come with new attitudes and bad moods.
Starting around 1.5 where they still don't get what time out is, but continuously push the boundaries; then into the talked about two's. I found this age to be where Kai was learning and growing, yet needed discipline to learn right from wrong; and now, we are into the threes. This is a fun age...the age where your three year old can talk, and therefore talk back. They know what is right and wrong (in many cases), and yet continuously do the latter to get your attention...and then when disciplined, talk back at you, call you names or yell. The days just get better! At least they are communicating, right!? I find, Kai is at his "best" ;-) when there are others around. This is when, I figure, he is trying to demand attention and therefore does EVERYTHING he knows he is not supposed to do to get that attention.
The other day, we had a new sitter come to watch the kids; when I got home the house was a bomb...and I mean B-O-M-B. All toy bins were dumped, snacks were on the floor...an utter mess. She tells me that Kai just wanted to dump everything out. Two main problems here; the first being that Kai was obviously looking for attention and knowing he could get away with pushing this boundary she was not stopping it; and second, that SHE WAS NOT STOPPING IT! I was shocked, to say the least, at her answer. She was allowing a three year old to rule the house. Really!?
Anyways, back to the discipline board to find a new course of action.

What do four's look like? Or do I even want to know!

Lastly, I know I mentioned a giveaway on Thursday, it was supposed to be announced Friday; tune in Monday as it will be announced then :-)

Happy Weekend...hope your stays out of the brown.

(VOTE for me...please)