The craziest thing! I could I have forgotten to share this story?

So there I was, just about to start my 2^nd cycle of chemo. As I'd been warned, my scalp would begin to get itchy and sore about a week or so before it would decide to fall out. Sure enough, it did get really, REALLY itchy. Almost unbearable. I hopped into the shower, and to my horror, I couldn't find my favorite Bumble & Bumble Tonic shampoo, the only tea tree oil-based shampoo that has ever soothed my scalp when it?s been sore before (typically from wearing my hair in a too-tight ponytail). None of my other shampoos are intended for that purpose, which left me emptyhanded and desperate. As I stood there, somehow, out of the blue, it occurred to me to try my dogs? shampoo ? Opie & Dixie?s Herbal Shampoo! Why had I not thought of this before? For crying out loud, that?s what it IS ? that?s what it DOES ? it?s specially formulated to target dermatitis, dandruff and itchy, flakey skin! I reached over and grabbed it out of ?The Girls? Bath Bucket? (yes, that?s what it?s called), foamed away, and ahhh... what a relief, and what a soothing, refreshing scent to boot! Well, let me tell you, as I dried my li'l head, I stood there grinning. NO MORE ITCHY SCALP! Who would've guessed?

I am often asked about the benefits of fish oil vs. flax for pets. Both fish oil and flax offer benefits. Both are excellent sources of Omega 3, an essential fatty acid that supports cardiovascular health, the immune system and healthy brain function. Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory (calming the effects of diseases such as arthritis), and it contributes to healthy skin and coat for pets and much healthier skin for us. Both fish oil and flaxseed oil are actually recommended to combat cancer, the number one killer of dogs.

Fish oil is made by separating the oil from the fish, after which the oil is cleansed and ?de-scented.? This makes fish oil significantly more processed than flax. Fish oil often also indicates the presence of ocean water pollutants such as mercury. Rather than use fish oil, I supplement my dogs' and cat?s diets with a variety of fresh, wild fish low in mercury ? unprocessed, and as healthy for them as it is for us! Both the NRDC -- Natural Resources Defend Fund and the Environmental Defense Fund offer valuable information regarding the safety of fish, both in terms of the environment and consumption.

A notable benefit of flaxseed, the seed of the flax plant, is that it is a plant-based source of lignans, one of the major classes of phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are plant compounds; estrogen-like chemicals that, among other things, act as antioxidants extremely rich in both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Neither fish oil (nor flaxseed oil) provide fiber. Fiber in your dog's diet is a terrific way to help your pet lose excess weight and ensure proper functioning of the intestines. Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial to the longevity and quality of your dog and cat?s life. More on pet obesity to follow!

Back on track! Had a successful surgery in December, recovered well enough to return to my day job part-time, and am now taking a little break as I embark on Caca Chemo and all the rest of it. Yippee (not for the upcoming treatments, but for the little break from work).

Nini, my hot-blooded kitty, has been planting herself on top of me more often than usual. When I sleep, she's right up on my pillow, curling up next to me like a cashmere scarf. When I'm on the sofa, I have a blanket of pets squishing up against me. I'm supposed to be relaxing during this time, and let me tell you, I am. Opal, Dixie and I go on long walks at Crissy Field, we play ball in the park and hang out in outdoor cafes, calmly watching the world go by. One of the best times of day is when we're out and about at the beach or in the park. I imagine that if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be exercising, which my docs have told me is key to remaining strong and energetic throughout chemo. If that chemo "exhaustion" side effect came on, I know just how easy it would be for me to sink into the couch and watch Law and Order reruns all afternoon. But that;s not even in the realm of possibilities thanks to my little beasts. I try to get them panting and sweating and getting a good daily workout. Inevitably, I wind up doing the same.

Ahhh. the break from commuting and working. What a joy to spend quality time with my girls. This is The Life! I realize that my life had been largely comprised of glaring into an office computer, shuffling papers from one end of a desk to the other, putting out fires and sitting in my car, on the freeway for hours. How ironic that it;s taken an illness for me to slow down, relax and realize what a treadmill I'd been on. My Opie & Dixie business is my passion, and passion is not work. Working for another entity? Much as I love that job, no matter which way I cut it, it's WORK. My husband's cousins in Spain once told us, "Aqui, trabajamos para vivir en los Estados Unidos, ustedes viven para trabajar." Ain't that the truth, baby.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer last month, and this may throw a little wrench in my blogging capabilities, depending upon what my treatment holds in store for me. My surgery will be the day before Christmas Eve, after which I hope my recovery will be speedy and I'll be back online before I can screech, "Happy New Year!" That said, it looks like Opie & Dixie may have to take a brief back seat... I repeat, "brief." I have ever-so-much faith in my ability to swim through whatever I have to swim through and bounce back sooner rather than later. 

See y'all soon!

Yikes... it's me again... the worst blogger on the planet. But I ask you again: where the hell does one find the time, for cryin' out loud? I've suddenly found myself with such a busy life, with barely time to do the laundry, vacuum or water the plants, let alone blog. But I'm going to be more diligent; I promise! So get this: I was recently on KRON Channel 4... one of the major local TV stations in the Bay Area. I was on talking about my fabulous wellness products for dogs and cats - Opie & Dixie - and their fabulous benefits. Dixie sat patiently on my lap, happy to be with mama, while Opal (Opie), with true Opal 'tude, looked up at me, said, "feh - I'm not even in camera range. Screw this...", after which she ceremoniously jumped off the couch, strolled over to the reporter's feet, and plopped herself there for the rest of the show. Check out my segment below!

The power of television is amazing. When I got home after the show and turned on my computer, YEOWZA! Emails, emails and more emails! And when I turned on my cellphone, YEOWZA number two -- messages, messages and more messages! Many questions about pets with stinkiness problems, dandruff, dermatitis and itchy, itchy skin (Try our Shampoo!), questions about nutrition, questions about this, that and the other things. I will never, ever "prescribe" treatments for pets, but am happy to talk about experience and results. I'm happy to offer other clients' testimonials. And of course, you buy? You no like? You return. Pure 'n simple.  I managed to call everyone back and answer every email, only to suddenly be bombarded find online orders to fulfill. When asked where viewers could find my products, I could KICK myself for not having mentioned any of my stores; San Francisco's The Animal Company in Noe Valley, North Beach Pet Supplies in North Beach, George in both Pacific Heights and Berkeley, Babies in both Hayes Valley and the SPCA in Potrero Hill, or some of my East Bay stores like the wonderful Wags 'n Whiskers in Oakland and Walnut Creek, or Murphy's Paw in Pleasanton. There are so, so many great stores here in San Francisco, and I'd plug them all if I could. I love that the smaller business are carrying my products. Hard as it may be to believe, these smaller boutiques are LESS EXPENSIVE than the Petcos and Petsmarts of the world. Yup -- shocking, but true. Would I love to sell to chains, catalogues and online retailers? Why, of course! Do birds fly? Do fish swim? Do bears... oh, forgive me. Can we show a little class here?

Now I've developed an amazing paw balm for sore, cracked and dry paw problems. The ingredients are soothing and moisturizing, and the product has worked so well on my girls' paws that I've begun using it for my cuticles. It works wonders, let me tell you. It's such a great product that I've just sold out of it and am freaking out because the last thing anyone has the patience for is an "out of stock." Rush-rush-rush. All my products' ingredients are sourced in the U.S., by the way, and all my products are manufactured in the U.S. as well. Yes, it's considerably more expensive than manufacturing in China or elsewhere overseas, but my commitment is to supporting U.S. workers. No only that, but I happen to trust the integrity of the U.S.A.'s regulatory and inspection processes more than countries whose practices I'm not quite familiar with. Are they percect? Nope. Do problems slip through the cracks? Of course. However, always better to trust the devil you know vs. the devil you don't.

Ok, folks. Sayonara for now. I'm watching Mad Men reruns, and for now, they are stealing away my valuable blogging time.  I promise to be better about blogging, although I have to confess, it's a little tough to turn your head away from Don Draper.

Here I am, chatting about Opie and Dixie products on KRON 4, "The Bay Area's News Station."

How I love my Flax Fur Pets nutritional supplement! As I continue to test the waters, it's the talk of the town as is the shampoo, no doubt because it consists of nothing but 100% natural, entirely human-grade ingredients. The owner of one of my accounts, North Beach Pet Supplies in North Beach, San Francisco, who breeds and shows Irish Setters, has switched from a much better-known supplement to mine because she swears that it has made her dogs' coats even more radiant than ever before.

I don't doubt it; it has one of the highest concentrations of flaxseed on the market for dogs, not to mention lecithin (to regulate metabolism and assist in weight loss) and kelp (one of the richest sources of trace minerals in the world, and loaded with 60 minerals and elements, 21 amino acids, plant growth hormones and simple and complex carbohydrates).  In addition to doing wonders for our own health, it promotes heart health and the general well-being of animals. My own cat won't touch it, picky diva that she is, but I have two friends who sprinkle it into their cats' food, and they slurp it right up. I need to get this supplement OUT THERE, because it's great stuff. I also need to get the PR wheel rolling, get it into stores nationwide, get it blogged and chatted up... ahhh, so much to do, so little time! And so hard to do it all alone when you have ye olde full-time day job and only, as previously mentioned, nights and weekends to work on your passion.

But that's what passion is all about. You put your heart and soul into it, love the ride every step of the way, and hope that slow and easy really does win the race!

How can it possibly be months since I've written anything? It's not like I have a life or anything. So here's something that blew me away.

Since Opal and Dixie love to roll in the stinkiest, nastiest stinks they can find on the beach or in the park, I had to bathe them last weekend. I thought I'd try a competitor's shampoo -- it's a big, big seller; probably the biggest seller on the market. I love the smell of it, but I do have to say that the thick consistency is tough to rinse out. Well, only a couple of hours after I bathed Miss Opal (and rinsed reeeeeally well, as you've got to do with her thick fur), I noticed her scratching and munching on herself. When I went over to help her scratch (yes, yes, I do that -- God forbid should she have to scratch herself), to my surprise, she had white, dandruffy flakes all over her back. I grabbed her brush -- it's like a horse's curry brush -- and I brushed away. She was in heaven -- clearly, she was suuuuuper itchy -- but the more I brushed, the more dandruff there was. I didn't want to bathe her again right away because I don't believe that frequent baths are good for their skin and coats, but after a couple of days of worsening itchiness and scratchiness, I had to give her another bath, being sure to really rinse her out.

I knew that my Opie & Dixie Herbal Shampoo was the ticket. It's a specialty shampoo that I developed specifically to combat dandruff, dermatitis and itchy, flaky skin. I scrubbed my little girlie, rinsed her well. and let her roadrun around the apartment. Hours went by, and... no munching on toesies! No scratch-scratch-scratch! No nuttin'! Swear to God! That was several days ago, and she's still itchy and scratchy-free! I kid you not, my shampoo ROCKS! There is just no other frickin' shampoo on the planet like it! There are some great smelling shampoos out there, but not one of them will have your dogs and cats looking and feeling as smooth, silky and shiny as my shampoo makes them look and feel.

What I love about my shampoo is that it's liquidy and foamy, so you only need to use very little because its texture allows it to flow straight down through even the thickest coat to really target the skin, yet it rinses out quickly and thoroughly. A dream-come-true! And, the Tea Tree Oil, Aloe Vera, Rosemary, Lavender and other herbs are not only soothing, naturally antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, but they smell AMAZING. What can I tell you? Pure and simple, t's just great stuff and is ripe and ready to hit the ground running!