What Is A Snood

Pink Cat Snood

My most popular product would have to be my snoods. While the idea is not an original idea, it was an ah-ha moment suggested by one if my favorite customers. I sold cowls and hats and someone asked me to put them together and make something that would cover the ears and the neck at the same time.

I listed my first snood and sold the first one in an hour and not even to the person who it was intended for. I ended up selling three in the first day of listing them. I never dreamed they would take off quite like they have. From bears to mice I try to offer a large range of themed snoods. Before you think they are just something silly and serve no purpose other than to embarrass you dog, let me explain what makes them more than just a costume.

Snoods are traditionally worn by dogs with long ears to hold them back while eating and drinking. Most of these are sewn with a satin fabric which isn't the warmest fabric ever. While this type of snood has plenty of uses I wanted to make something to focus on helping keep dogs warm.

We all know I love the pit bulls of the world. As hard as it is to think about, some of them come from a very bad life before they find a loving home. Sometimes this includes having horrible things done to their ears. Once they find a person to love and take care of them, they need something to protect what they have left of their ears. This is where a snood is practical. No dog should have to endure going out in freezing temperatures, wind, rain, and snow with nothing to stop the elements from getting in. True they may look a little silly with big bunny ears flopping around, but at least they are protected. Of course they can be used for any breed with any kind of ear problems, but my biggest focus is pit bulls.

Even if your dog doesn't have ear problems, snoods are still great for dogs who spend a lot of supervised time outside. Some dogs love to be outside running or walking with their owner no matter how cold it is. Even though they love being outside, they still need something to keep their ears and head warm. 

With a lot of the large breed dogs they look scary but they are quite the opposite. I've had people dash to the other side of the aisle way when I've had my dogs out in public all because they are big and scary looking. Both of my dogs love people but I won't force them on someone who is truly afraid of dogs. I keep the leash tight and have them as close to me as possible when we are around people who don't know them. But if you see a dog out in public dressed up in a funny looking snood it takes some of the intimidation away. People aren't nearly as quick to judge a dog when they are trying to look like a cute little piggy.

My newest products are coordinating snoods and baby hats. With the growing trend of having your dog in family photo shoots I thought it would be adorable to have your baby and dog in matching hats. I'm thinking it doesn't get much cuter than a fall picture with a baby and a dog dressed up as pumpkins together. I've also had a few people do their babies in pigs with their dog in a wolf snood. How cute is that?

While some people think it is strange to dress a dog up in anything, especially bigger dogs, I find it completely normal and necessary. Even if some of my snoods are used for a good laugh, at least their ears are nice and warm while they are looking a little silly. 

Meet Our Family

Hi!

My name is Courtney and I run a little etsy shop called Courtanai (court-a-nay.) Weird name, right? So confusing even my dad can't always get it right. It's what happens when you put my first name and my middle name (Anai) together. I still have an engraved bracelet my dad gave me as a kid that says "Courtania." Can't blame my dad, it was my mom's idea. She said she wanted something unique and boy did she ever find it! The only other reference I've ever found was Anais Nin and I don't have the heart to tell my mother what she wrote.

Anyways, enough about me. Since this is my first blog post I want to tell you the story of my little family and how we all came together.

Any one who knows me knows my dogs are my family. They are my children. I could also say that about my cat, but that would just anger him. So I would like to take a moment and introduce you to my little family and how we all came together.

Lincoln is the oldest. He is the happy brown pit bull you see in most of my photos. You could say he is the reason I'm here today. He demanded I let him wear a scarf one day and posed beautifully for me to take his picture with it on. Because he was so good at it and so easy to work with we have continued this business for almost 4 years.

Lincoln

Lincoln came to me as a stray. Someone found him wandering around all by himself when he was about 8 weeks old. They brought him in to the animal hospital I work at. It was love at first sight. It wasn't hard, Lincoln loves everyone and I love pit bulls so it was the perfect match. I didn't even ask my husband, I just brought him home. We can laugh about it now but he wasn't pleased when he came home that night to find this pit bull puppy with ears bigger than his head curled up on the couch. We had made an agreement we wouldn't have dogs in the house that we had just moved in to a couple of weeks before. I knew that wouldn't work for me but I figured I could sweet talk him later if I needed to. I didn't have to do any sweet talking for Lincoln, he instantly loved him as much as I did. Hubs put on a good show pretending that he didn't, not talking to me, not playing with the puppy, going to bed mad. When I went to bed that night, there was Lincoln and hubs all snuggled up together. I am so thankful Lincoln was brought in. He's more than a pet, more than a dog, he is the greatest friend you could ask for.
Fitzgerald 

Next up in the family is Fitzgerald. I tried to make cat cowls once but he turned it into a belly band and wouldn't let me get it off of him. He isn't a sociable guy at all. Most people who visit don't even know I have a cat. He might creep around a corner when someone is here and look at them with horror, but he has never once approached anyone in the house except Lincoln and myself. I've had him 3 years almost and still haven't sweet talked my way out of this one. Someone left him at the back door of the hospital in a box with "help me" wrote on it. It took some time for him to warm up to me. I had no intentions of bringing him home, I was even convinced he hated me because he would try to get away from me any time I came close to the cage. But as I got him out more the more attached to me he became. I knew I had to bring him home when I got him out one day and he wanted to make biscuits on my arm and kept looking at me like he couldn't believe he was getting to do it. I had puncture marks for awhile from his over zealous kneading. I still get those marks when he gets to spend time alone with me. Sometimes you can see him in photobombs or when I bribe him with ice cream for a better photo on Instagram. Even if you don't see a lot of him, he's always lurking in the shadows close by.

Kennedy
Last in our family is Kennedy. Sometimes she sits still long enough to get a picture, but it is still pretty rare for that to happen. I try to get her to dress up but she would rather go out and roll in the mud than put on a cute outfit. I thought I needed a girl to dress up but I got a girl who wants to be one of the boys. Kennedy was another drop off. She had two broken and badly infected legs. She couldn't walk when I brought her home but her strength and determination never waned. One of the most heart breaking things you will ever see is a puppy so proud of herself that she can't stop wagging her tail because she learned how to pull herself across the floor. There were so many days of putting her out in the snow in a desperate attempt to get her fever down, months of carrying her everywhere and never once did she act like she wanted to give up. She still has a few issues sometimes, but if you don't know what to look for you would never know there was ever anything wrong with her. Sometimes I wonder if it was unfair of me to make her go through all of that but then she looks at me with complete happiness and I know I did the right thing.

So there you have our little family all summed up. I believe each one of them found me for a reason and I love to share their stories of how it happened. Thanks for listening to me ramble on about my kids!