Tickles tricks

Tickle - our African grey parrot is getting a lot of attention these days. During the Summer months we get quite a few overseas visitors in the Shop. They always seem to be interested in a talking parrot and will say 'Hello' when Tickle says 'Hello' to them. I just wonder if Tickle will pick up their accents and start saying 'Hello' in a sexy French voice or 'Hello' in an Irish accent, or a German one or even a Japanese sounding voice.
I think we must have had quite a few customers and been quite busy lately. He has started saying 'Can I help you?' whenever anyone comes through the shop door. This can be very amusing if there are no staff about. Customers cannot understand where this ghostly voice is coming from. If that isn't bad enough he can do a good imitation of a mobile phone too. Which makes many a customer search in their pocket or bag thinking their phone is ringing. He also copies our shop phone making us rush to answer it. When we pick it up Tickle then proceeds to say 'Hello' in his telephone answering voice. All very confusing for busy staff members. - But fun too!

General Monday morning moan

I have just heard that our local Council is going to charge us for putting things on the pavement outside our shop. This applies to all the shops in the town. £250 per store per year does not seem too much for some big chain store, but in the town where I trade an awful lot of shops are empty so trade is not that good. Only last year the Council was trying to encourage the Cafe Culture. 'Make the town more interesting and welcoming it said'. I guess we will all have to pay this new 'Tax' - where else can I display my larger items like rabbit hutches. In a way I don't object to the new 'tax' that much. Its just the strange thinking behind it. We are a small town with not too many shops. This new 'Tax' will have to be administered. That means probably a Secretary to send out the forms for written permission for a licence. A Licencing Officer to come out and check you are complying with the Licencing instructions and a person to collect the licence money every year. So lets see. That is at least 3 people, maybe 4? the Council need to pay to collect £250 from town Traders. Work out how much it costs to employ 3 to 4 people, how may shops there are and how much is going to be collected and it seems to me to be peanuts. Is is worth the hassle?
And all this extra when we already pay the Council to have our rubbish removed and are not allowed to even take it to the tip ourselves (they charge us there too) on top of large business rates.
Who would be in Business?

Colour Co-ordinated Canines

How come we never stock the correct product? You can guarantee that when we stock a certain type of dog lead that comes in all of the colours under the sun we never have the colour that the customer wants. We may have it in the correct length, the correct width, with the correct handle and the correct clip, but it will not be the correct colour. Time and again we hear 'It's the wrong colour it won't go with my car/ my dogs eyes/my dogs bed/etc.' The best one yet was the gent who came into the shop for a dog bed. It was about the time that the Labour Government had just come back into power. Anyway - the Gent wanted a dog bed. He knew what type he wanted and what size. We showed him the type of dog bed that he had requested and it was the right size and was the right type. But, it was the wrong colour. The Gent said that it was 'CONSERVATIVE BLUE'. We said it was the only colour that we had at the present time, but the Gent stuck his nose in the air saying that he would not have CONSERVATIVE BLUE anywhere in his house. With that he stalked off without so much as a thank you and we have never seen him again. I do hope that he eventually found a bed in something other than blue otherwise his poor dog will still be sleeping on the cold floor.
I always feel sorry for the dogs that come in to be fitted for a warm dog coat. Often this on cold days when you know that the dog had been dragged out for a fitting and would much rather be at home in front of a warm fire. First of all we will measure the dog and then the owner will decide what type of coat the dog would like. The dog will then have a number of coats fitted one after the other to see if they fit correctly or are warm enough. Then a decision will be made as to which type of coat will be the best. - The dog meanwhile is quite enjoying the attention and the feel of the warm coats that are being placed on his back. But again all too often the owner will say 'do you have the coat that I like in pink/mauve/orange?' (or whatever colour that we do not have in stock) The reply will usually be no, but we have it in green/red/blue/grey/etc. Although we can get you a pink/mauve/orange one to order. Yes the customer will say I'll have a pink one and will collect it next week, or even 'Never mind I'll wait till you get some new designs in'. Meanwhile poor old Fido is standing there without a coat and facing a prospect of a winter shivering. He has felt the coats on his back and thought - 'mummm nice and warm, walking in the cold weather won't be so bad after all. A new coat's going to make life a lot more comfortable.' I am sure that he would not care if his new coat is lilac/pink/grey - or whatever. Just as long as he had a warm cosy coat on his back. Fashion accessory he is not, ready for comfort - he is.

Diets, Dogs and Dames

Yesterday a regular customer came into the shop accompanied by her lovely Norfolk terrier. We (staff, owner and dog) all had a bit of a chat and then dog and owner went on their way. After she had gone I remarked to one of our staff members that the little dog had put on a bit of weight. We thought this was because the dog was getting a little older and and maybe not quite as active as she had been. Also she had had a recent hair cut which made her look a little 'plumper'. 'Perhaps she needed a week or two on a diet?' - I said.
Little did I know that there were two other female customers in the shop while I was saying this. They had overheard our entire conversation regarding weights and diets, and put two and two together. The Ladies had not heard us referring to the dog, and thought we were talking about them! We hastily explained that we were talking about the previous customers dog, but I am sure they did not believe us. Next time I will keep my mouth firmly shut and my thought to myself.

Births, deaths and marriages - well almost!

The holiday seasons come and go and because we look after small animals and birds when their owners go on their holidays we get to see our regular boarders once again.

Many come to us year after year often having been purchased from us in the first place. It is always nice to see our old friends back again and sometimes I think that they like to see us again too. We usually know their little likes and dislikes and most of their little foibles. All are known by name so if a member of staff says 'Sugar' or 'Bubble and Squeak' are coming in next week we know exactly who they are.
One of my all time favourites must be 'Derek' the Rex rabbit. He came to us for his holidays for many, many years only stopping when he eventually went to that great rabbit warren in the sky. 'Derek' was a lovely cuddly rabbit, he had gingery coloured fur that was quite short but felt like Velvet when you stroked him. His long ginger ears were just made to be tickled and his narrow face made him look like some creature in Alice in Wonderland.
Derek always seemed to enjoy his little holidays breaks with us, but one year he had a vacation of a lifetime. At about the same time as Derek was due to arrive for yet another holiday there was a female rabbit arriving for her holidays too. Now the owner of the female rabbit had asked me sometime earlier if we had a male rabbit that her female could be mated with. The Lady had wanted her rabbit to have a litter of kittens (baby rabbits). Normally I do not encourage random breeding, but this Lady was a sensible person who wanted her children to learn about reproduction and how to care for young rabbits. She also had found homes for all the young rabbits before they were even born, so I thought that I could help. I had a quick word with Dereks owner before she left for her holidays asking her if Derek would like to 'offer his services'. The answer was 'yes'.
Wow, - Did Derek have a good holiday that year? I am sure that when I looked in on Derek and is girlfriend a little while later they both looked very happy. In fact I could have sworn I saw Derek wink.
Some weeks later and back at home the female rabbit gave birth to a lovely litter of gingery long eared rabbits. Her owner reported that Mother and babies were doing well and a eight weeks after that all had been found caring homes.
I can't help thinking that now many years later there are still some of Dereks great-great grandchildren maybe coming into the shop for their holidays. I always take a long look at any that are remotely gingery with a velvet coat and long lanky ears that are just waiting to be tickled.

Questions and Internet

I think that everyone that comes into the shop must have a tale to tell about their pet. We often get the complete life story of a favourite cat, dog, bird or even fish. This can all be very interesting but a little difficult to say the least if their is a queue of customers behind the story teller waiting to pay for their purchases.
We really are a nation of animal lovers. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas about animal welfare, husbandry and just about everything else that concerns animals. This is where the Internet can be a great help, but also a great hindrance. All too often a customer will ask us for information. i.e. about looking after a new pet or what type of food to use. We will in all good faith try and help, and if we have the written documentation we will often give the enquiring customer a relevant leaflet. Then sometime later the customer will return and say that he has looked up his question on the Internet and it says ........... This may vary a great deal from what we have said, or it may just vary a bit, or it may be just the same information that we have given but is worded differently. Generally we get it about right as my staff have all been trained in animal management and welfare. But on the Internet there are hundreds of opinions and 'dos and don'ts'. Lots of sites saying different things. One site will tell you that certain types of fish or reptiles do not need heat when we know that they do. The reason that the site says 'no heat' is probably because it come from some tropical country that is hot all year round. Or different animals and birds are called by different names in different countries. I think in some larger countries animals or birds have different names depending as to which state they are in. All very confusing. I guess there are no hard and fast rules so no one can solve the problem. I just hope that common sense wins in the end.

Parrots and Parasols

Over the last few days the weather has been quite warm. Lots of sunshine and a few fluffy clouds. The temperature is about right for our animals and birds. They all seem to be 'comfortable'. I guess it is the 'Goldilocks syndrome' - not too hot and not too cold.
So we thought we would give our two parrots a change of scene and put them outside the shop for a couple of hours to soak up the suns rays.
Sitting in their large cages at either side of the front door made them look like a 'guard of honour' for anyone entering the shop. They just loved the attention they got from passers by.
Everyone stopped to talk to them and even passing motorists wound down their windows to shout 'hello' or whistle. It really seems to lighten a great many peoples day, especially when Tickle was shouting 'hello' or 'give us a kiss', or wolf whistling.
They will be outside again in the next few days - weather permitting as both parrots seemed to have enjoyed themselves immensely. I have even managed to get hold of a parasol that attaches to Tickles cage just in case the sun gets too strong.