Why is Impressions so dog friendly?
Simple answer – WE LOVE DOGS! Actually we love all animals!
Impressions has always been pet friendly, a natural extension of this love. As with most animal lovers, we tend to befriend other animal lovers so our staff generally shares this love! Tom Burns, who worked with us in the 90’s, mentioned that he had seen a dog dish outside a store in Maine and how much he appreciated it! We agreed it was a great idea and the next day our dog dish was on our doorstep. Kimmy (Tribley) and Sara, aka Nanny (Buschynski), the core of our staff back then really got into welcoming our canine and human guests! After that, we started giving treats to our 4-legged friends who stopped by and our dog friendly store was firmly established! Before long we had lots of “regulars” who dragged their people to our door for treats and we thought “We should 
take their picture and post it on the wall” and the Doggie Wall of Fame was born in 2001! Our first dog on the wall was a wonderful rescued Golden Retriever named Corey who came in faithfully with his Dad, Greg. His picture is still on the wall today in his memory. As the wall fills up, we move the pictures to an album separated by year. There is quite a history in those albums!!!
Dave and Mare have been owned by 9 dogs in their lives together and currently have 2 springer spaniels named Cookie and Pupa! Maddy currently shares her home with 2 dogs, Herc and Smalls, both rescues (named after the movie The Sandlot). Jennifer is owned by Finnegan (a Yorkie loaded with personality), Carrie is owned by Sophia (a loving Italian greyhound) and the list goes on!
10 years ago, this love culminated in our Pet Appreciation Celebration and Dog Day! It is our way of supporting, “Be Kind to Animals Week”, organized by the National Humane Society and the American Veterinary Association’s “National Pet Week”. This year the dates are May 3rd through 10th. Although Impressions is primarily a shop with a focus on equines, the vast majority of horse owners have a dog (or 2, or 6, or 10…!). We decided to celebrate spring with a week full of fun with Fido and give the opportunity to many local animal organizations to get their message out to the public! Over the years, it has grown from a simple day inside and outside the store, with the Saratoga County Animal Shelter to a much larger event shared with our downtown friends! We focus a lot of our events on our official Dog Day, Saturday May 3rd from 11 to 4.
Our event features:
- A pet food and pet toy drive with a 15% discount for any donation. Donations will go to the Friends of the Shelter.
- A kid’s coloring contest judged by area veterinarians
- A count the biscuits in the jar contest
- The Battle of the Biscuits – a treat tasting for our furry friends
- The Saratoga County Animal Shelter will be here with a mobile adoption clinic, parked right in front of the store
- Friends of the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, whose mission is to help shelter pets with special needs will be here supporting the Shelter
- Saratoga DVRC will be here educating the public about their Safe Pet Partnership program, one we believe so strongly in that we donate 10% of our sales that day to their cause.
- Gaffney’s Restaurant will be serving their normal yummy human menu plus a few canine creations like Chihuahua Stew and the Chuck Wagon in the garden (weather permitting).
- Dawgdom will host Heather Bohm Tallman’s Doggie Photo Booth (reservations needed) plus collar fittings from Dog Gone Stylish, a visit with North Country Wild Care resident rescued owls and more!
Check out our Facebook page for frequent updates!
Hope to see you and your faithful two and four legged companions downtown soon!!
