Pets and Their People

From a lesson in ‘petiquette’ to photo ops with the world’s ugliest dog, there’s plenty to howl about at Because Your Dog Is Worth It Too Day.

By: Megan Sullivan

Nationally recognized pet expert Charlotte Reed will sign her new book, The Miss Fido Manners Complete Book of Dog Etiquette, at Because Your Dog Is Worth It Too Day.

   Wall Street lawyer Charlotte Reed’s life changed the fateful day she came home sick from work. "I actually came home and found my male dog walker wearing one of my dresses," Ms. Reed un-fondly recalls more than 10 years later. "I decided to change my life and that was based on the fact that I had talked to a lot of people with the same problems: dog walkers stealing money, wearing their clothes, not doing what they were supposed to."
   Inspired by her true love — two American cocker spaniels named Katie and Kidder — Ms. Reed abandoned her corporate career and opened Two Dogs & A Goat, Inc., a full-service pet care provider in Manhattan. The company grew from a one-person operation to one with 25 pet care providers, 250 clients and many referrals from New York City veterinarians.
   Ms. Reed, a graduate of Lafayette College and Fordham Law School, went on to hone her skills in the world of pet care. She attended the Veterinary Technology Associates Program at City University of New York, the New York School of Dog Grooming and the University of South Hampton New College in Great Britain. In 1998, she was one of six people accepted into the biannual Apprenticeship Dog Training Program of the ASPCA’s Companion Animal Service Department.
   Now an international pet expert, whose knowledge has been sought out on television shows like The View and Inside Edition and in publications including New York Magazine and Good Housekeeping, Ms. Reed has packed all of her doggy know-how into one comprehensive book. Released in July, The Miss Fido Manners Complete Book of Dog Etiquette: The Definitive Guide to Manners for Pets and Their People discusses acceptable behavior for every occasion in a dog’s life.
   Ms. Reed will sign her book and answer pet etiquette and behavioral questions at L’Oréal Paris’ fourth annual Because Your Dog Is Worth It Too Day Aug. 18 at its USA facility in Cranbury. All proceeds from the event benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s Central and South Jersey [ast: affiliate??: ]Affiliate. Ms. Reed also will host Are Your Smarter Than an Eighth Grader, a game show for adults and children, during the day-long event for people and their pooches.
   As her business flourished, Ms. Reed answered more and more pet-related questions, like how to run errands with a pet or how to get a dog to stop barking and bothering the neighbor. It was a natural step to put all of her knowledge and advice, training tips and real-life stories down in a book. "It came about from the need of talking to these people, working with dog owners and answering their questions while owning a pet business," says Ms. Reed, who also writes for magazines like Dog Fancy, New York Dog and Hollywood Dog.
   With the trend of people spending more time with their dogs, a lot more behavioral and social situations have arisen. "That’s who this book was really written for — the person who loves (his or her) dog and is going to put them in these types of situations, whether it’s going to a baseball game or maybe incorporating your dog into your wedding," Ms. Reed says. "Or whether it’s just for the standard owner who doesn’t do any of those things but is having someone come visit."
   She also stresses that it’s not always the dog that needs a lesson in good manners. "People were acting poorly over and over again," Ms. Reed says. "They didn’t know how to control their dog or didn’t know how to act in certain situations." When leading dog-training classes for clients, Ms. Reed always wraps up with a pet etiquette lesson. She asks clients to take what they learn and apply it in their everyday lives. For example, if owners want to teach their dog to sit, they need to have their dog practice.
   The book covers all the bases: grooming and dressing, a guide to canine-child interaction, proper pet party planning, pet protocol in retail establishments, eating out with elegance, doggy demeanor at the office, traveling with canine panache, vet esteem, etiquette of relinquishing a pet, death burial rituals and more. "I think ship travel is the only thing I didn’t cover," Ms. Reed says.
   While there are many dog-training books on the market, Ms. Reed says most don’t address modern day lifestyles. She considers her book not as a training book, but a guide that explains the right way for pet owners to conduct themselves with their dogs. "All of those trainer books never incorporate integration with how people live," she says, "but so many things are prevalent to what we do with our dogs now."
   In addition to Ms. Reed, many other individuals and organizations will be coming to Cranbury to support the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s mission: to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by advancing research, education, screening and treatment.
   L’Oréal USA’s Rich Werner says the facility has raised more than $175,000 to fight breast cancer during the past three years. They’ve also helped more than 60 dogs find homes through on-site pet adoption. About 30 different nonprofits and dog rescue groups will be on site this year to raise funds as well. Last year’s event drew more than 5,000 people and nearly 2,000 dogs and they expect to break the record this year since 750 dogs have already pre-registered. "It’s the most fun a dog and its owner can have in one day," Mr. Werner says.
   The fun includes Dog-opoly, a pug/dachshund/bulldog race, the N.J. State Puppy Limbo Championship, swimming pools and a timed hay maze. Ultimate Air Dogs will be coming and setting up a 23,000-gallon swimming pool for a dog diving contest. (Milt Wilcox, who pitched for more than a decade in Major League Baseball, owns the operation.) A dog beauty contest also will be held and judged by contestants from Miss New Jersey State. Elwood, who recently won the title of world’s ugliest dog, will be the first dog down the runway to cut the ribbon and will pose for pictures for donations.
   A dog almost euthanized by a breeder who thought him too ugly to sell, Elwood has been all over newspapers, radio stations and television ever since winning the title at Sonoma Marin County Fair in Petaluma, Calif., in June. Although the 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix doesn’t have the traditional look of an adorable puppy — with his whitish-gray mohawk, hairless body, bulging eyes and dangling tongue — it’s hard not to think he’s kinda cute.
   "I can’t explain it, and it sounds corny when I say it, but he really has a way of bringing out the best in people," says Sewell resident Karen Quigley, Elwood’s owner. "People who meet him always want to do something nice."
   Ms. Quigley’s boyfriend, who works for the New Jersey SPCA, discovered Elwood during a cruelty investigation. "He thought something was truly wrong with him," she says. "In all his years rescuing, he had never seen one like Elwood. He used to be solid white, shook a lot, we thought he had had a stroke."
   A doting mother of eight (dogs, of course), Ms. Quigley takes in animals with special needs. "It’s really important with Elwood, now that he’s recognizable and people want him to appear, that we make sure everything we do with him helps animals," she says. "We’ve raised thousands for rescue groups in South Jersey."
   In November, Ms. Quigley plans to release a children’s book she wrote inspired by Elwood. "The gist of the story is that it’s OK to be different," she says, "and being different can make you special."
   Ms. Quigley initially hesitated to enter Elwood in the ugly dog contest because she didn’t think he was ugly at all, but agreed to participate once she learned the true meaning of the contest: "Every dog is lovable, no matter what they look like."
L’Oréal Paris’ Because Your Dog Is Worth It Too Day will be held at its USA Facility, 35 Broadway Road, off Route 130, Cranbury, Aug. 18, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Donation: $10; (609) 860-7601; www.yourdogisworthittoo.com. Komen Foundation Central and South Jersey Affiliate on the Web: www.komencsnj.org. Charlotte Reed on the Web: www.charlottereed.com and www.missfidomanners.com