The AKC Winter 2010 Dog Show

Nearly Naked will be setting up a booth at the Alberta Kennel Club Winter 2010 Dog Show, which will be held on February 5, 6 & 7 at the Big Four at Stampede Park. There will be hundreds of collars to choose from, including many matching collar & leash sets, to fit dogs big and small. Custom orders are welcome!

Upcoming Events

Nearly Naked will be setting up a table at the Training Troop's 2009 Pre-Hallowe'en Howler October 24 & 25, 2009. This is an agility trial that is held at the Training Troop Trial Site: Wet Creek Stables, which is an indoor facility 20 minutes from downtown Calgary (6.4 km west of Deerfoot Trail at the Balzac turn-off ).

For a map to this location, please visit the Training Troop's website:

http://www.trainingtroop.rocky-dog.com/tt_trials.html#October

We will also be attending the Elbow Valley Arts & Crafts Market on November 14 & 15, 2009. This event is being held at the Elbow Springs Golf Club. Follow the signs off Highway #8 on your way out of Calgary heading toward Bragg Creek. For more information please e-mail for details.

Two More Weiners

The two new weiner dog mannequins have arrived, and boy do they look great! I can't wait to use them at upcoming events.

We will be at the Elbow Springs Golf & Country Club on Saturday & Sunday (November 14 & 15) for their Annual Elbow Valley Arts & Crafts Christmas Market. In the works are some Christmas themed leash & collar sets, and a few other Christmas themed collars.

Have You Seen My Weiner?

I'm still not sure what to name him, but it'll come. He did a good job modeling at the PADS Event, and will hopefully have a long and successful career ahead. There will be two more weiner dogs joining him in the near future, to help model collars on different coat colours. I've chosen to have a black and cream, as well as a cappuccino and cream dog mannequin made up. This will come in handy for events that it is impractical or not permitted to bring live models.

Here I am trying to get as many collars up on the display racks as I can without dropping them all. Apparently I can't count peg holes, and it took forever to get them all in the right spots. Some days there is not enough coffee in the world.

Hopefully next year we will have a booth at the Lilac Festival, the Sun & Salsa Festival, and the Pet Expo in Calgary. There are a few dog shows and events that I'm keen to see if we can get registered for as well. If anyone knows of some great events, please let us know. :)

The Weiner Dog

This Friday I am expecting a package from UPS, containing the newest NNN collar model. Okay, so he's not going to be quite as good looking or cuddly as my current models (Summer, Kitty & Willow), but he will travel well, be accepted anywhere, is non-allergenic, never has to pee, eat or be taken for walks, and he can wear a LOT of collars all at once. He is an extra-long weiner dog mannequin. I can't wait to meet him, and then I get to name him.

I'm still sewing like crazy to get a few more collars put together before Sunday's event. My latest count puts the total around 330 completed collars. I think I might be able to get another dozen or so done, depending if the dogs will settle and let me sew.

The Collar Room

These are 2" webbing martingales in progress. I'm hoping to have these completed in the next day or so. The PADS event is getting closer and I need some more goodies to sell. After I finish with the 2" & 1 1/2" ones, I'll start on some 1" collars.

Here are the 'models' taking a break, LOL! More like they are wondering when we are going for our walk.

Here are some spools of jacquard trims. I do carry a few grosgrain and satin trims, but the jacquards are so much nicer. Buying in spools is cheaper than by the yard, and also the way most of my suppliers sell it.

This is my way of trying to keep things in their place. Although, I'm running out of place to keep things...

I try to colour-match as closely as I can to both the trim and the satin, and as a result I have over a hundred spools of 100% polyester thread that I can see. Gosh, I didn't realize there were so many...

It's back to work now.

PADS

Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) has invited me to participate as a vendor at this fundraising event. It is being held to help collect funds to raise and train assistance dogs that will be donated to individuals whose lives an assistance dog would greatly benefit.

I am collecting pledges on their website (http://www.pads.ca/index.php) for anyone who might be interested in donating a few dollars to a great cause. If you donate $10 or more, you are eligible to receive a charitable donation tax receipt! If you want to sponsor Nearly Naked Neckwear, you just need to do a search for Christine McKain under 'sponsor a participant' and follow the easy directions.

10% of all of Nearly Naked's sales on that day will also be donated to help their cause, so tell your friends & family to come out and join us on August 30th and the South Glenmore/Variety Park in Calgary, from 9:00am - 3:00pm. There will be contests and demonstrations, and a BBQ after the walk.

This is Holly (wearing one of our collars):

Holly was raised by Miranda who works at my vet clinic. As a puppy-raiser Miranda donates her time to start the puppy in basic obedience training, and to expose the puppy to as many new environments and situations in preparation for becoming an assistance dog. This means she gets to take the puppy to work, and everywhere else she goes, including the grocery store. How fun! She recently had to give Holly back to the PADS to further her training in Burnaby, BC. Just over a week ago, she was given another puppy to begin the process over again. I got to meet little 'Orbital' at the vet clinic today, and boy he looks like he's going to be a handful! Willow enjoyed playing with him for a few minutes while we waited for her appointment.

I have been sewing like mad over the past few weeks, trying to get a bunch of collars ready for display & sale. I'm estimating that I'll have nearly 250 collars ready to go by the end of the month. On the off chance that you don't see what you are looking for, we will be taking custom orders and also have gift certificates available. Hope to see you there!

Introducing Nearly Naked Neckwear Inc.

My name is Christine, and I am a collar-a-holic.

I am addicted to dog collars.

Nearly Naked Neckwear Inc. is the product of my obsession. It all began just over three years ago with my first dog Summer (Golden Retriever). I enjoyed buying her new ‘clothes’ to wear, and I think she enjoyed having new collars, or maybe it was the extra attention that she received wearing them... Then along came Kitty (Catahoula Leopard) with her leopard patterned coat. It was difficult to find just the right collar for her, and so began the sewing. Now Willow (Flat-Coated Retriever) has joined the pack. She is an absolute dream to model my collars, for her liver coat looks good in almost everything I have.

This blog is to share the newest collars in my collection & for you to share your Nearly Naked dogs in their new neckwear.

To create your custom dog collar go to: http://www.nearlynakedneckwear.com/

Please Note: the website is still under development, but we are taking orders via e-mail at: info@nearlynakedneckwear.com

To make a custom collar we need the following info:

• Dog's neck size (in inches)
• Style (buckle, webbing martingale, or chain martingale)
• Webbing width (3/4", 1", 1 1/2", or 2")
• Size (S/M/L/XL)
• Trim/Ribbon selection
• Satin Wrapped or not (the satin adds a pop of colour, and is smooth against the dogs neck)

Photo's coming soon!