An epic fail that's funny in hindsight

It was mid-morning in Granada. Leo and I walked across the town hall square when he stopped, looked around to find his perfect spot, found it right in the center of the square, under the watchful eyes of the town hall security guy, and proceeded to do a poo.

I reached into my pocket and .. horror .. found no bag 😳

Someone passed by and handed me a bag, so I didn't get arrested but I clearly remember thinking ..

I wish I didn't have to always think about those bags ..

That was over 11 years ago, and at the time, you couldn't easily buy doggie poop bags in Granada. In fact, my mum would send or bring them over from Germany.

Inspired by subscription services like wine clubs or those for razors or tights for busy city workers, I suddenly had the idea to start a subscription service for doggie poop bags 🤣🤣

Turns out, there was one called Poop Bag Club in the US so ..

Off I went sourcing bio-degradable bags. After all, I didn't want to sell plastic.

I also wanted to support local doggie rescue places so the idea was for them to recommend Quita la Caquita (in English meaning something like “Pick up the Poop” 😝) to the people who adopt their dogs, and for me to donate a portion of the proceeds to them.

To this day, my German friends tell me I should run this in Germany .. and I think it might just work there.

But it didn't work in Spain.

People were super enthusiastic when I shared the idea, over 50 rescue places signed up to be on the list to receive the donations.

But when I launched it, only one person signed up, and she canceled the next day ..

Only one of the rescue places ever even put the link onto their website.

I didn't realize at the time that Spanish people wouldn't trust anyone to "have monthly access to their bank account" ..

So I turned it into a regular online shop.

Over the years, I did sell a good portion of the €2000 worth of poop bags I'd bought (the minimum order 🤪) but my heart wasn't in that. To me, it felt stupid to sell already expensive potato starch bags online, plus shipping, without fulfilling the original purpose - to take the task of arranging for a seamless bag supply off people’s plates.

So, yes, there really is no other word for what came off this business idea .. it was a failure.

But it did teach me a bunch of valuable business lessons 😝

• Enthusiasm from people is not enough as validation for an idea

• Even the best idea won’t sell to the wrong audience at the wrong time

• Nothing is a failure if you learn from it

Now that you had a good laugh, let’s move on to this week’s

Pawsome Humans Interview: Therese Skelly

Therese and I met years ago when we recorded a podcast episode titled “For people who love dogs and swearing” 😝

She is an intuitive business mentor by day and a devoted "dog mom" not just by night but 24/7.

She used to talk about her dog Murphy, who wasn’t easy to handle and who really struggled when his doggie mate died. Then one day, Therese shared how Murphy was like a different dog - calm, responsive, a great companion she can take anywhere.

So I invited her to share what she did to change Murphy’s life around.

Grab a cuppa and listen to our 13-minute conversation: https://share.descript.com/view/9AvNd8dvddv

This is Murphy:

He’s on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murphyskellydog/

This is the dog trainer Therese mentions: https://www.balancingpaws.com/

PS: If you know a Pawsome Human you think I should interview, please make an introduction

Getting Crafty - Simple Rope Toys

I don’t know about your dog(s) but mine aren’t gentle with their toys.

Especially in the beginning with Leo, I bought all kinds of toys and none lasted longer than a few minutes before he’d bitten a hole in it, which was usually the beginning of the end .. even of toys advertised for big dogs or strong biters ..

What never fails to entertain AND stands the test of teeth and time, are rope toys.

Here are a couple of tutorials worth trying if you can relate:

https://craftbits.com/project/recycled-t-shirt-dogs-tugga-toy/

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-create-a-simple-rope-dog-toy/

Get YOUR Soul Touched by Dogs mug

It’s one of the things I’ve been wanting to offer .. mugs with a picture of YOUR dog, for your morning coffee or as a gift, using the proceeds to sponsor dogs in need and help the people who help dogs.

If you’d like one, hit reply and let me know.

Send me a good-quality photo of your dog and I’ll create the design and send you a link where you can purchase it.

They get made to order so it takes 10-12 days to arrive. €15 + shipping.

(Shipping depends on where you are of course but will be somewhere around €5-12. I’ll check for you before I go and create the design, so there won’t be any surprises)

The first Soul Touched by Dogs t-shirt arrived

The moment I had the idea for the mugs, I knew I also wanted t-shirts 😝 and the first one arrived this week. I’m happy with the fit and quality.

Well, you’re the judge of what they look like but I love mine 🐾🐾😊😊

If you want, you can get yours here https://mavericks.tpopsite.com/product/t-shirt-woman-soul-touched-by-dogs-dark-blue (they come in a few different colours)

Just like with the mugs, the proceeds are going to dogs in need.

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I’d love to share YOUR favourite tips, toys, tools, tutorials, recipes .. whatever you’ve come to know and love that would help and benefit other Souls Touched by Dogs 🐾

Got something worth sharing? Hit reply and tell me about it.

Until next week,

Anke