Queen Dog Lady: Welcome to the Pet Set, I’m your host Queen Dog Lady, the pet fashion diva.  Today we are talking with Tracey Morales, who is owner of Planet Poochie in Kirkland, Washington.  Tracey is both a boutique owner and fashion designer.  She has her own label, Planet Poochie, which includes clothing, collars and leashes.  Tracey has an amazing eye for fashion and her boutique carries high fashion items such as Louis Vuitton, Versace, Coach and other high end labels.  Tracey is a trendsetter, she searches all over the world to find the latest runway fashions for pets. 

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Queen Dog Lady: Thanks, we are back from break with Tracey Morales, who is owner of Planet Poochie in Kirkland, Washington.  She’s also a designer of pet clothing as well and today we are going to cover Valentine’s Day for your pet.  Hi Tracey, how are you today?

Tracey Morales: Hi, Tove I’m so honored to be your first guest.  Thank you so much for having me.

Queen Dog Lady: Thank you for being on here Tracey, because you, I have to tell everybody, Tracey has the absolute most amazing store I have ever seen.  The wall of the shameless dog speaks for itself.  Tracey has this wall that is dedicated to the diva dogs out there in this world, so if you have a diva dog oh my goodness, you have to go.

Tracey Morales: Oh thank you, I appreciate that. [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Well thank you Tracey and Tracey your store has one of the most unique selections of high fashion and unique pet items I have ever seen.  Where do you find these amazing products?

Tracey Morales: Oh my God Tove, I not only travel a great amount of time looking and hunting for these things and attending amazing shows and runway fashion shows for dogs, but I spend a countless amount of time on the Internet hunting and searching for these things.  I buy things from, I have things custom made in Japan and buy things from Beverly Hills and Florida and New York and Korea, I mean just all over, Australia.  There is just such an amazing world out there filled with fashion from every angle that you know, you, I just can’t stop just you know our place alone.  But Seattle itself is in desperate of great doggie fashions, so I just said, hey let’s you know let’s bring it here.  And so that’s what I do, let’s hunt it down.

Queen Dog Lady:  And you do.  I mean your store has stuff I’ve never seen before, ever.  The bling collars in which our latest copy of Seattle Dog Magazine was shot in Planet Poochie because Tracey has the “bling wall”.  The collar on the cover is just the symbol of bling bling with a dog.  It’s just absolutely gorgeous.

Tracey Morales: It is, it’s called “The Swank” and its five rows of Austrian crystal.  And it comes in just gorgeous colors.  WE have it in a beautiful metallic gold pave and silver for Valentine’s Day.  I’m so excited that  we’re actually talking about Valentine’s Day for doggies because what better time to get a Valentine you know for your best friend.  I have this amazing Austrian crystal pave pendant collar.  A pendant collar is something that’s very hot on the runways right now with doggies.  It’s different that just the standard crystal collars that goes all the way around.  A pendant collar is actually what it sounds like.  It’s a pendant that slides onto the leather collar that houses whatever type of bling.  I have this incredible double heart solid pave Austrian crystal pink collar.  It is a pendant that goes on this beautiful soft, pink metallic leather collar and it is just to die for.  I mean it’s so incredible that everyone that comes into the store just says, I want that for my doggie.  Does it come in my doggie’s size? 

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: Amazingly enough, we can get it.  We can get it for the one pound three ounce doggie to the 250 pound doggie, which is really, really fun with pendant collars is
because you can slide on just about anything, you can create your own special look.  Which is really fun.

Queen Dog Lady: That is fun.  What else is out there for Valentine’s Day that people have just have to get this year?

Tracey Morales: Well you know, we don’t forget about the boys either.

Queen Dog Lady: That’s right.

Tracey Morales: In the collar line we’ve got the diamond like smokey swarovski crystal with a really fun tough boy camo backing on brown leather.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: And then we’ve got a fabulous black leather collar with believe it or not diamond spikes.  So even the boys get their bling and it is really fun.  I mean they look tough but its bling and it’s fun.  I mean this is what we’re seeing on the streets of Beverly Hills right now.  In Florida, which is of course the South Beach fashion capitol, we have got this sexy, lipstick red, quilted sweetheart vest harness.  I mean this is just incredible on the doggies.  It is so bright and sexy and elegant.  It has a black fur trim with a velvet detail and crystal flowers.  I mean does it get any better than that?

Queen Dog Lady: No.

Tracey Morales: It comes with a matching hat. 

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: It’s this big brimmed Lady Di, you know, draping red hat to match that has fur all the way around it.  Their little adorable ears stick out the top and it just shades them from the gorgeous sun and marking herself as you know the town diva.  It’s just so cute, you’d just die.

Queen Dog Lady:  I love it. 

Tracey Morales: [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: And what about these heart collars?  She sent me this email with these heart collars that are just incredible.

Tracey Morales: Yes, those are the ones that are walking the streets of Beverly Hills right now.  They are just, they’re incredible.  I mean the pendant collars are one of my favorites right now, everybody wants it.  We do have lots of different styles.  I mean the wall of the shameless dog was literally created I think for you know your magazine to be in there.  We were so excited to hear that you were impressed with us, that we just built this incredible draping wall of bling.  When we opened our store just seven short months ago, you know we didn’t have as much bling and people walked in saying, “where’s the bling?”  We want the bling.  We want to see something that you can’t find anywhere else. 
And so we dove into it and I just started beating down the [xx] of every angle of this world and came up with this.  One of the things that I love for Valentine’s Day I have pulled from New York, which is just a stunning, soft pink leather coat.  It has a custom embroidered tattoo design heart with beautiful soft wings that wrap around it that says love right through the middle of it.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales:  It’s topped off with this gorgeous black fur detailing and undercoat.  It is just to die for.  It comes in a black leather also with the other opposite of the heart and the wings, so you can put it on the boys too.  And I mean on both doggies, it’s just the ultimate in our store.  It is really, really fun. 

Queen Dog Lady:  That sounds awesome.  And I know you have your own custom line of dresses which my dog has, oh my gosh.  Cutest little thing,  I got her one for Christmas and I’m going to get her one for Valentine’s Day but Tracey makes these incredible, and designs them herself,  these dresses that are just they’re little ball gowns.

Tracey Morales: You know I love to work, one of my secrets is I love to work with local businesses.  I’m such a team player.  I love searching the world over but if I can find something incredible right in my own back yard, I’m on it.  I mean it’s all about local business and supporting each other and I incorporate some local seamstress.  I found that no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for.  I had things in my mind; I’m a designer by trade.  So I started designing some incredible little doggie coats, and big doggie coats, custom sizing for our Bulldogs and our Frenchies and our doggies that need that custom fit.  Coats that have designer limited edition fabrics like Alexander Henry and some of these other you know, Michael Coffman, things like that.  That are just incredible, gold with florals and beautiful tattooed divas and funky furs that are just to die for.  And some of these coats are just they’re just too fun.  I mean people come in and just go “Oh my God, I’ve never seen anything like it.”  All the time I get to work with these fabulous local seamstresses.  And their so good to work with me, because not only do they make their own things but they alter things to my designs so that we can have our own label and design things custom for the local doggies.  The dresses we had during the holidays were just incredible.  I hand selected these taffeta and gold lame fabrics and they made these dresses with three layers of fluff and just incredible.  They were just really, really fun.  For Valentine’s Day we’ve got a huge line of beautiful soft pink, and hot pinks, even doggie corsets.  We’ve got Victoria’s Secret for doggies right here in our own store.  I mean it is just so much fun, and the dogs love it.

Queen Dog Lady: Well and I’ve noticed too, you even have simple stuff like the bow ties for the dogs which a dog even like mine, I have one dog that I dress up and then my two boy dogs refuse, but they have that nice, I got at your shop that bow tie that looks like a little tuxedo for the boy dogs.

Tracey Morales: Absolutely.  It’s even for the people who say I would never dress up my dog; we’ve got simple things like cute little T-Shirts, custom made little bandanas.  I mean we’ve got Harley bandanas, we’ve got bling bandanas, we’ve got cute little hats.  You know the simplest thing, the bow ties are great.  We have a local bridal shop right
below us that is very famous and many people come up here saying, “I’ve got a wedding that my doggie needs to be in and we need like something simple.” We don’t want to put him in a tuxedo and so we’ve got these incredible little bow tie collars that can go on the doggies and they look just so sharp, so sharp. 

Queen Dog Lady:  Yes, well even your collar line.  That whole that you have of the different collars even is dressy.  You know you put on the right bling collar and your dog you know as Tracey knows, I’ve got the most gorgeous swarovski crystal, lime green collar for my diva dog that just everybody notices. 

Tracey Morales: You absolutely do.  You have one of my absolute favorites.  We had that custom made for us in New York by a fabulous company that I work closely with and
I get to pick out every stone and the color of the leathers and how it’s going to be detailed.  And they have incredible hardware that’s like Chanel quality.  I mean it’s just beautiful, beautiful stuff and your doggie is undoubtedly a diva in it. [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Oh, everybody comments on my collar.  You know it’s actually affordable, it’s $105.00 but I tell you what, you ever want one necessary item for your dog, they wear their collar every day.

Tracey Morales: That’s right.

Queen Dog Lady: So it’s like them having that dress up item every single day.

Tracey Morales: In this world of divas, the little doggie divas now, you know people I have collar armoires that hang on your wall that people

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: dress their doggies, even if they don’t dress them in clothes or if they don’t dress them in clothes everyday they are changing their collars.  I mean it is a fashion world, with us and with our dogs.  Our dogs are becoming a part of our daily walk, our daily drive, everywhere we go we are able to take them with us now, and we do.  It’s different.  You know we’re looking at a lot of young couples that are not having children they’re taking their doggies with them everywhere.  And a lot of us want to accessorize our pets as we would ourself and the dogs are loving it.  The dogs know that we’re happy with them and that in turn makes them happy.  And people change their collars like we change our shoes. 

Queen Dog Lady: Absolutely.

Tracey Morales: I mean hey, I’m wearing green today and my dog is going to wear green to and so the days of the one single collar, it’s gone.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.  Because the selection I had seen in your store there’s even this beautiful line that had they were made of old belts, human belts.  And their beautiful.

Tracey Morales:  I love her.  Her name is, she’s a local Seattle artist.  One thing about living in Seattle you know we have art capitol here.  It is just an amazing art community.  And I searched out a lot of artists, people that can add something to the doggie world.  And I found this incredible artist that is out of Seattle and she takes vintage belts, people belts and creates amazing, one of a kind doggie collars out of them.  So each one is a one of a kind work of art.  Just absolutely incredible.  Some of them she even cuts a wristband to match.  So that way your doggie and you are matching.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: and that is just, it’s just the tops.  I mean it is really, really fun.  And you’re wearing, supporting a local artist, you’re wearing a one of a kind collar and it’s just you know so much fun and they doggies just know how pleased you are with them.

Queen Dog Lady: Well we’re going to take a quick break now, and then we’ll be back with Tracey to finish up our talk here on Valentine’s Day for your dog.

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Queen Dog Lady: OK, we’re back here with Tracey Morales who is owner of Planet Poochie which is in Kirkland, Washington.  She is also a designer of her own line, which is Planet Poochie.  Welcome back Tracey.

Tracey Morales:  Thank you Tove.  You know Tove, we keep talking about all the bling and all the fun for doggies.  You know I don’t want people to think that in the new fashion world for pets it’s not all about bling.

Queen Dog Lady: Right.

Tracey Morales: We love that part of it and that’s how I believe it started but you know it has ventured into incredible clothing for out pets.  Not just clothing for fun

Queen Dog Lady: Oh, yes.

Tracey Morales: But clothing for need.  You know coats for your dogs, I mean whether they’re a Mastiff, that’s 250 pounds or they’re a two and half pound Yorkie you know they need to be warm.  They need to be kept clean and healthy, and we forget that they don’t live in the wild anymore, they live in our homes.  And they acclimate themselves to those environments and need that warmth and contentment of having something on them as well as we do when we take a walk.  The other thing is that we have an incredible line of really fun clothing for dogs.  You know for the Labrador that plays in the doggie park to the hip, punk type dog that so many people our cutting their little doggie’s hair on top and a little spiked Mohawk and dying their hair and stuff.  I mean looking at this incredible thermal rock hoodie sweatshirt for doggie right now.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: It is so cute.  It has a gorgeous hand painted heart with wings it says, “love unconditional”.  I mean if that doesn’t say it nothing does about our doggies.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: It is so cute.  It’s even tie dyed.  It is so cute, it’s for the totally rocker hip doggie.  Other things include like, four legged jumpsuits.  I mean I have so many doggies that wear four legged jumpsuits, it’s funny.  You know they’re just, they love having that full coverage.  Not just their little tops or their little arms, but you know I’ve got these jumpsuits that are so cute on the little rocker dogs.  They have jeans and little white wife beater tank shirts with skull bling on them and little studs.  They are so cute on the doggies, they love them.  They put them on, we actually I think right after I opened the store one of the first customers said to me, “I’d like to try some things on, where’s your dressing room, where’s your mirrors?” 

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: I was in shock.  I thought really?  I just couldn’t believe it.  But we had to remodel the store so that we had dressing areas and doggie level mirrors.  Believe it or not, it is true.  The doggies whether they’re a big doggie or a little doggie…

Queen Dog Lady: [interrupts] they like to compare.

Tracey Morales: they are there checking themselves out.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes

Tracey Morales: It’s just really cute and you know they love it.  They know they’ve got something new on.  You know I have more and more people tell me, you know you would think, this Bulldog comes in and you would think, who dresses their Bulldog?  But I mean people come in and they’ve got this tough little Bulldog and they go, “My dog loves wearing clothes.  Every morning before we go out he knows he gets a new collar
on and he gets his t-shirt or his jacket and he’s ready to go, and without it, he doesn’t even know how to go to the door”.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.  Remember I was there when those two Bulldogs came in, the boy and the girl. 

Tracey Morales: Absolutely.

Queen Dog Lady: And you were getting them clothes for Christmas…

Tracey Morales: Absolutely.

Queen Dog Lady: So yes, they were getting matching outfits.

Tracey Morales: Yes, yes, people do it and they really do and the dogs love it.  It is definitely the way of the future here.  I mean it is just a growing industry and I’m just so glad that people are starting to realize that their best friend deserves to look great too.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh absolutely.  Now what is the big buzz in LA, New York and Florida?  Which of the trend setting places for pet high fashion, I mean what is, who is pretty much the number one for trend setting right now?

Tracey Morales:  Oh gosh, you know we all want to believe that it’s New York.  The people themselves are so ahead of the game.  They have such a diverse culture there, that you see so much diverse fashion but I really have to say that I believe that Beverly Hills in LA this February 23rd, they’re having the Luxury Pet Pavilion which is an incredible runway fashion show for the top of the line, just like the pet fashion week in New York.

Queen Dog Lady: Right.

Tracey Morales: It’s being held at the Bonaventure Hotel for all of the retailers like myself, so that we can go and select the hottest fashions out there.  I mean they honor some incredible silver screen doggies by putting their footprints in cement just like they do for the superstars.  I mean it really is fun.  So I have to say that…

Queen Dog Lady: [interrupts] Beverly Hills.

Tracey Morales: that Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and all of those places where so many of the doggies are superstars themselves from such diverse areas, that I think its Los Angeles.  Some of the things they have to offer are incredible.  Not just the mass quantity of what’s in New York or what’s in Europe in different areas.  I search Europe all the time.  I just found in London and incredible four legged jumpsuit by Burberry.  There’s nothing like it here.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes, you emailed me that photo.

Tracey Morales: Burberry’s [xx] here.  It’s just so cute.  I just put it on a Chinese Crested the other day and he went out in it and it was just to die for it.  It was so cute.

Queen Dog Lady: It is to die for.  The colors, oh my gosh.

Tracey Morales: It’s a little plaid Burberry, it just says, I’m very special.

Queen Dog Lady:  Oh yes.

Tracey Morales: When you walk down the street, I mean everyone would stop you.  But you know one thing I have to say that it just came around and it’s just so incredible is there’s a wonderful company that I adore in Los Angeles, she’s a Los Angeles bred designer there.  The name of her company is Chi*Wow*Wow and of course she started with a fun little Chihuahua herself, his name is Elvis and he is so cute and he’s a rescue doggie.  And she started this little line of custom designed things for him because she couldn’t find anything at the beginning.  And so she’s grown into this huge company that makes custom designed little coats and jackets for doggies that are small, hence the name Chi*Wow*Wow. 

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: She just, I just collected some wonderful things off the Las Vegas runway from her.  One of them being something that I feel is going to be the hottest thing in my store.  Absolutely, if somebody walked in today and said, “What’s the hottest thing in your store?”  I’d have to say this.  I have with the new news that we’ve heard from Hollywood, that Cher, is the diva fashion queen out there of Rock and Roll.

Queen Dog Lady: Right.  Oh absolutely.

Tracey Morales: I have from Chi*Wow*Wow, I have a one of a kind vintage rocker jacket.  This rocker jacket is made with a real vintage t-shirt from Cher’s Believe tour in 1994.  It has the most funky pink fur trim on it and it’s made, believe it or not out of old vintage Levi’s.  I mean it is just so incredible you can’t even believe it.  And the fact that it’s got Cher all over it, it’s adorable.  It’s adorable.  It’s a must have.  And it’s definitely, I think with Cher’s comeback, which I think is just an amazing grace in itself; I think that this is going to be a really hot ticket in my store.  And being that it’s a one of a kind one piece, I think people are going to be auctioning for this thing.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.  I’ve seen and it is, it’s absolutely gorgeous.  It’s just unbelievable.  The other item was that pink leather coat.  The one with the custom embroidered tattoo design.  Art…

Tracey Morales: Oh yes. 

Queen Dog Lady: ohhh…

Tracey Morales: That is really incredible.  As I said in the beginning of the show it is just being that it is this soft subtle leather that just smoothes right over the dog, fits them so snug with the black fur trim and the details, it’s incredible.   I mean all of these things that we talk on the radio show today we’ll be housing on our website, so that you can see this stuff and people can log on.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes and people do, they need to see it.  It’s just, you can’t even, it’s so beautiful.  I mean some of the stuff, the details these designers, these little details that they do.  It’s just so amazing to see.

Tracey Morales: Absolutely.  Absolutely.  I have a little, I have a new line in that I got from the other end of the world and it has a little cowboy shirt…

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: That has little cut off sleeves, and it’s sprayed on the sleeves.  I mean it looks like something right out of the cowboy days.  And it has the little pearl snap buttons on the front of it with the little collar.  This thing is incredible.  It looks just like something that you get at a high end western store and it’s just adorable.  The quality and the details of every little thing that they make on these it’s just over the top.  It’s something that when you see the design that you like and you put it on your doggie, you’re in love with your doggie all over again.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: OH absolutely.  In fact I discovered and this is definitely what I’ll be, one of the things I’m getting my dogs for Valentine’s Day when it comes to treats, Tracey found this amazing couple.  Inu treats is the treat line

Tracey Morales: Yes.

Queen Dog Lady: and they are the cutest treats I have ever seen.  They are in the shape of…

Tracey Morales: Aren’t they adorable?

Queen Dog Lady: Oh my gosh!  And they’re so good.  Every person I have
told about them, I mean run out and get them and almost every place they look for them
they’re sold out. 

Tracey Morales: Yes.  You know they’re human grade made products.  This couple, young couple, I found at a little farmer’s market over in Seattle on a sunny, beautiful day during the summer.  They are incredible.  I mean they were a small time little couple just making these treats.  They make this little Asian themed treat.  They’re called doggie Paw Stickers.  Instead of Pot Stickers, they look like a little paw. 

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: You know a Paw Sticker, God they’re adorable.  And they actually, they take the quality of what they do, they make these themselves where they take turkey breasts and cook it and grind it and then use all natural ingredients like no soy, no corn, no wheat.  They use ground rice flour and oat flour and Marjoram and this turkey breast and Oregano and Basil and Olive Oil and they cook up these treats that you literally, it’s really great, I mean you could just pop it in your mouth for a snack. 

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.

Tracey Morales: The dogs love it.  What’s the number one thing they love?  Well it’s people food.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: Well you know if we can minus out all the bad things in that are in our people food and allow our doggies to have a treat that’s just for them, they love it.  They love it.  And Inu treats is fantastic.  They make a Salmon treat, they make a Turkey treat. 

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: I gave them this idea to even make a blueberry treat.  I told them we need…

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: Something fruity.  Dogs love blueberries.  People that come in that say, I want blueberry treats, my dog loves blueberries, he eats them right off the bush. 

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: And so, they’ve created custom, this blueberry treat and the dogs love them.  I mean you smell this, and you taste it and it’s just incredible.  And they’re always just fresh because as fast as I get them in, they’re gone.

Queen Dog Lady: She’s out of them right now and I know a lot of stores, they just come in and they’re gone.  Especially like the, they have the little egg rolls.  They have, what are the one with the seaweed?

Tracey Morales: Oh yes, the Nori bones.  The Nori bones have, they’re made with actual Salmon filet right here from Seattle.  They’re all natural ingredients again like the pot sticker and then they take a little seaweed and wrap it.  So it really you know encourages the doggie, I mean the doggies just smells these and just go crazy.  Salmon really has become a big a thing in the doggie industry as far as health.  You know…

Queen Dog Lady: Absolutely.

Tracey Morales: The Salmon oil really helps with the digestion and with the coat.  And just like for us I mean Salmon is great for us too with all the Omega threes so that treat is not only healthy but incredibly yummy and the dogs love it.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Oh it’s just fabulous.  I mean my dogs just, I brought home samples last week and they practically bit my hand off when I gave them to them.

Tracey Morales: Yes.  They love them.

Queen Dog Lady: So I just, well, what’s cute is they have the pink packaging so it’s the perfect Valentine’s Day present, is that cute pink package of Inu treats and if people want more information about them, they have their own website which is www.inutreats.com and you can actually see the pictures of these.  These items are just way cute.  I’m actually having them cater my dogs’ wedding in June.  My dogs are getting married, their married already but we’re going to actually have the beautiful ceremony.   Which Tracy is actually custom making a beautiful wedding dress for my diva dog Casey. 

Tracey Morales: That’s right.  We can’t have dogs living in sin.

Queen Dog Lady: I know I have two naughty dogs living in sin, so that’s why we’re going to make them a legitimate couple.  And Ms. Casey and Mr. Tank dog are going to get married.  We’re going to have a beautiful wedding for them and Inu treats will be actually catering and doing all my little dog food for the event, in which, what we’re going to do is we’re doing it for charity.  We’re going to have people, instead of buying us gifts, we’re going to have them buy products so we can give them to some of these wonderful rescues and shelters that care for dogs.

Tracey Morales: Fabulous.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes, well dog weddings are also you know fabulous, like you said people are going to weddings with their dogs and people are having weddings for their dogs…
Tracey Morales:  Oh yes.

Queen Dog Lady: And Valentine’s Day parties and Birthday parties.

Tracey Morales: One thing about parties.  You know I mean parties have become a really big trend in the fashion industry.  You know going to a party, whether it’s a human party or doggie party I mean it is the posh thing to do.  If you are invited to someone’s home for dinner, for a party, for a Birthday party, for a holiday or even just going to someone’s house to pick them up for Valentine’s Day, it is the posh and necessary thing to do to bring their doggie something.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.

Tracey Morales: Bring them a cute little toy or a bag of treats.  I mean you’ve got a bottle of wine in one hand and a little doggie special bag in the other. That is the way it is nowadays.  If you show up at someone’s house and don’t have something for their doggie, it’s just not posh, it’s just not acceptable.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs] Well and a lot of people, like you said, there’s a lot people they are not having children.  They’re just…

Tracey Morales:  Absolutely.

Queen Dog Lady: They have their dogs.  I met a couple that own a very posh restaurant in Seattle and I’m going to their dog’s Birthday party on Sunday. 

Tracey Morales:  Absolutely.

Queen Dog Lady: They said, “We don’t have kids, we have a dog.  We love, love, love our dog.  We dress our dog.  Our dog is our baby.” 

Tracey Morales: Exactly.

Queen Dog Lady: So yes, a lot of couples these days are skipping the kids, you know because as you know I’ve had enough kids for everybody so. ..

Tracey Morales: [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: I think everybody is like… so we just have five kids so we can all quit now, she’s populated. 

Tracey Morales:  That’s right.

Queen Dog Lady: So we have dogs.  So these dog’s parties, Valentine’s day I know a lot of people are having special Valentine’s Day parties or making sure their dog is taken care of on Valentines Day and that’s why buying them that special treat, that special outfit you know because people then of course want to take their dog out.  People say oh, look at that cute Valentine’s Day outfit.

Tracey Morales: Yes.  I just had a customer in here last night.  She said I’m going to a doggie Birthday party in Portland, Oregon and I’ve gotta have a new dress for Missy and so we spent a half an hour you know trying on dresses for Missy and she just couldn’t make up her mind, so she took three.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: But you know it’s things like that, I mean you just don’t buy it for your own but you usually come over with your doggie to visit the other doggie and your friends and of course your doggie has to be dressed for the occasion too.  And so it’s a lot of fun.

Queen Dog Lady: Absolutely.

Tracey Morales: It’s a lot of fun.  I think people are just really enjoying theirselves with the whole new trend of it all. You know I come from a long line of pet industry.  I mean I was in the pet industry over 25 years ago when we sold doggies, lots of them.  There was no doggie bling, there was no doggie clothes, I mean the most you had was…

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: A little red sweater or an argyle and that was considered…

Queen Dog Lady: And now even Nordstrom sells them. 

Tracey Morales: Oh yes.

Queen Dog Lady: Doesn’t Nordstrom even have their own clothes?

Tracey Morales: Absolutely.  Nordstrom carries Toxic Couture, and Juicy Couture.  They, there’s just so many.  Everybody, everybody is on the bandwagon.  It amazes me that I can walk into just about any store these days and see people on the doggie bandwagon.  I mean they are just, everyone is just trying to take advantage of it.  And I love some of the stuff that is out there.  Inexpensive places like you know Target and Wal-Mart…

Queen Dog Lady: Target, yes.

Tracey Morales: Have fun doggie stuff.  But at the same time there’s boutiques like the upper scale doggie boutiques like mine and some of my other friends around.  I mean there’s an incredible mall close to us that has a wonderful store that I love their lines and I work really closely with a lot of local doggie stores so that I know what they’ve got and we’re not crisscrossing we’re actually enhancing each other.   I send people, a lot of my customers to other doggie stores all around and let them know that hey I just saw this incredible pink dress over at this other place, you’ve got to see it and it will fit her perfectly and you know send them around and we all kind of work together which is really, really fun but.. 

Queen Dog Lady:  Oh yes.  Well I got to ask you Tracey, what will you be buying your own pet, Misty the Dog Stella this Valentine’s Day?

Tracey Morales: Oh, Misty the Dog Stella.  What won’t I be buying her?  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: We’ve have one of those designer dogs.  We had Pugs for many years and we loved them but somehow I always ended up with this giant Pug and this time around I said you know this time around I said you know I think I want to be Paris Hilton for a while, I want a little pocket dog and so I ended up with something called a designer dog.  It’s called a Chug.  She is actually half Chihuahua and half Pug.  So we still have the fun Pug silliness with the curly fun tail but we’ve got a little bit smaller one. On the smaller side.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: And she is undoubtedly a diva.  She has it all, of course.  But you know, I’m really having a hard time not pulling this gorgeous Cher one of a kind vintage rocker jacket right off the wall.

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: And onto my diva.  Because I’m tell you, the first person that walks into this door and wants that coat, and it fits their doggie, I’m going to be crying.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: [laughs]

Tracey Morales: I really think that she may end up with that Cher coat.  But if not, I think, I think she’s ready for the double Austrian crystal pendant collar.  I think you know her five rows of swanky dog gold might just not be enough.

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.  No, she needs more.  She definitely needs more bling.  Bling is good.

Tracey Morales: Absolutely and she knows it too.  She knows she’s wearing her bling.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.  Well as I said, everybody comments, when I got Ms. Casey out, and everybody knows Casey’s with me all the time, I mean she’s sitting on my feet right now.  That collar gets so much, everybody’s where in the world did you get that collar?  That is just the coolest collar ever.  The color…

Tracey Morales: With the Swarovski crystals, the closest thing to diamonds.  It’s unlike any other stones and bling that I have in the store.  I mean I have incredible bling, lots of it.  But the Swarovski crystal is above and beyond anything else.  If you hold it up next to anything, it shines like a diamond and it’s durable.  I mean she can go swimming in that puppy.  [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.  Well Tracey in closing I would love to thank you for being a part of this first show and giving us all those great tips on items.  Do you have any last minute items that you just got to mention, that people just got to have today?

Tracey Morales: Oh you know one last thing; I have to say that you know, I can’t stress it enough that keeping your dog warm and comfortable during the colder, winter months is so vitally important.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh yes.

Tracey Morales: We’ll be doing our first spring clearance sale.  This Thursday, starting Valentines Day, we have all of our gorgeous little Valentine’s dresses on sale, 50% off,   which is amazing. 

Queen Dog Lady: Steal. 

Tracey Morales: Never done that before and all of our coats.  So this way, hopefully it’ll encourage the people that have not considered having a coat maybe it’s time to maybe give it a try and then also the people who you know just have to have one more incredible coat.  They will be…

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: On sale also for 50% off during the Spring Clearance this weekend. And that’s probably…

Queen Dog Lady: Well and what’s nice is unlike people, coats you can put them away for a year so what’s nice is if you buy your dogs a nice coat, first of all well in Seattle we use them year round.

Tracey Morales: Of course.

Queen Dog Lady: It’s just a fact of life.  So if you have a New York dog or Chicago dog, some place where it tends to rain still it is nice to have that perfect coat for your dog.  Because they do shiver, they do get cold, so having a coat is actually something really nice to have year round for your dog. 

Tracey Morales:  I do.  I try to remind them one you know the one catcher I always have is you take your dog out what three, four, five times a day for a walk and if it’s raining out…
Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: you come back with a wet, stinky dog. 

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: So if you had a little you know vinyl raincoat on them.  You come back with a wet raincoat.  You take it off

Queen Dog Lady: Yes.

Tracey Morales: And you hang it up in the shower area and you’ve got a dry happy dog.  You don’t have to wash him off.  I mean it’s a no brainer. [laughs]

Queen Dog Lady: Exactly.  Well to learn about Tracey, her boutique and her product line, please visit her website at www.planetpoochie and poochie that’s p-o-o-c-h-i-e dot com.  And all of the products we have discussed today will be available on her website as well.  So thank you so much Tracey for being part of our first show.

Tracey Morales: Tove, I am so honored, thank you so much.  I wish us all great success in the New Year and you have a great day, you and your poochies.

Queen Dog Lady: Oh thank you, you too and thank you for listening to the Pet Set.  This is your doggie fashion dog host, Queen Dog Lady that wishes you and your pet a wonderful Valentine’s Day and please give your pet a kiss kiss from the Queen Dog Lady.