New kind of working dog Local mattress business keeps it in the family
Howllo Fellow Basset and working hound lovers…Wow, these hounds really found their “dream job” in life. They work at the family MATTRESS business! A M A Z I N G!!!
Start of article taken from the Seguine Gazette….Seguine is outside of Austin, TX…
It’s Sunday morning at the Upper house and two of the four family members say it is time to go to work.
“They are standing at the back door barking,” Barbara Upper said. “They are ready to go to work. Their alarm clock has went off, and it is time to get up and go to work.”
For nearly a decade, both Sarah, a full-blooded basset hound, and Cam, a dachshund mix, have been part of the Dream On Mattress workforce in Seguin.
“We are about to celebrate our 10 year anniversary,” Barbara who co-owns the store with her husband, John, said. “They have been part of it for most of that time. Cam and Sarah, both, are graduates of the Paws and Prison program. They both have their K-9 good citizen award that they received from training at Thunderpaws Canine Solutions.”
According to Barbara, for most customers, being greeted by the duo is normally a welcomed affair.
“They both have great personalities to greet people,” she said. “They are funny, friendly and outgoing. They love it because they think anyone that has come to buy a mattress has really come to see them.”
Sales leader Adam Montoya said most people either don’t notice the dogs who typically can found working hard counting sheep in the back of the store on their own comfortable mattress.
“A lot of them think they are fake,” he said. “‘Oh, the dogs are real!’ That’s the biggest reaction we get, thinking they are fake when they see them.”
And when it comes to bringing them to the store versus just keeping them at the house, Barbara said they are part of the team.
“Cam and Sarah — they are the working dogs of Dream On Mattress, and we think that selling mattresses is in their genes,” she said. “We are just a really family-oriented thing, and they complete our family. We are here a number of hours a week and really are only off on Sundays. Although, the dogs do work on Sundays. They can’t stand not being here. It’s just kind of a way living our values I guess.”
Animal Rescue Foundation founder Barbara proudly said both dogs are rescues themselves.
“Cam came from a rescue; Sarah was found walking down the highway,” she said. “She had been dumped and came from the city shelter here. They are wonderful pets, and it’s a real good to let people know that you can rescue animals rather than buy.”
Beyond helping patrons of the store find the perfect mattress, Barbara said Cam and Sarah play several other important roles in the community.
“We have people who bring children in that might be frightened of dogs, so they learn to kind of approach them and play with them,” she said. “Cam also has a special job in that he helps all the kittens that are being bottle fed. He is a surrogate mama for those little kittens, so it is not unusual to have people walking in with handfuls of little kittens that need to have their bottoms licked.”
As for bringing dogs into the work environment, Barbara said it’s a growing trend throughout the nation.
“When we first started ARF eight years ago, there was no business in town that you could take a dog into,” she said. “Now, they are welcome at places like Home Depot, Tractor Supply as well as the pet stores. Our city has an ordinance that animals are welcome at some of the outdoor areas of restaurants. In fact, we just did a Puppy Prom outdoors at Tavern on the Creek, and we had about 35 dogs there. It was fabulous. They all had a great time. The people had a great time. It was great.”
Still, at the end of the day, Barbara said it’s all about just keeping it in the family.
“We laugh because we say they give us credibility,” she said. “We say, ‘If you are going to buy a mattress, have a dog tell them it’s great.’ I have had people in the past say, ‘I can’t decide on the size. Can you have your dog get up here with me?’ So, we have had people use them to decide what size mattress to buy. So, it’s good for customers; it’s good for businesses. It’s good for the animals.”
End of a fantastic article…
More loving when you find your dream job later…Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB sleeping on rainbow mattresses…)
