We all love receiving gifts, and we all love knowing that thought and care went into them. However, we don’t often think that our pets might feel the same way, even though dogs are notoriously overjoyed when given something special. With that in mind, we’re going to spend this article exploring the passion and creativity one of our neighbors brings to hand-made toys for pets. Louise Le Bourdais-Armand and her online store Puptails offer unique gifts for the beloved pooches among us. 

 

Louise is perhaps best known as the human mother to two beloved pups, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, but her own story is just as interesting as theirs. Her life’s journey starts a ways away from Ibis, as it turns out: “I’m originally from Magdalen Islands in the middle of GSL, it belongs to the province of Quebec so I’m French-Canadian. I met my husband, who already had a business here, so I moved here in 2005. I could live here but I couldn’t work because I wasn't an American, so I decided just for fun I would embroider things for my little dogs.”

 

Having had a busy career working with a big financial company in her native Canada, Louise was looking for a new professional project and found it in Puptails. She turned her handicraft skills to making custom and bespoke toys for animals–and other special occasions as well: “As the time passed, people were like “Oh, that’s so cute” and my husband said “Well, why don’t we make a space for you in my office and it can be your studio. So we bought two big embroidery machines and I started doing dog toys that I embroidered for let’s say a get-well gift or a wedding so the little dog can be part of the wedding as the dog of honor. People use them in promposals or proposals–” Will you marry my daddy/mommy?”.  Or to announce a pregnancy or birth–” My parents got me a human!”

 

Throughout it all, Louise has found that her gifts can produce real joy in every context: “There are so many wonderful stories–people are genuinely happy to receive their toys.” She also credits her devotion to her customers and to making sure they have a great experience with her and her creations: “You need to be creative, and have a good understanding of customer services to fulfill orders in a prompt and efficient way.   As in today's business, you need technical knowledge as well as a strong understanding of creative and embroidery software to run specialized equipment.”

 

Made with love and attention to detail, the unique gifts from Puptails are something special indeed. You can check them out for yourself at www.puptails.etsy.com or www.puptails.net. Who knows? You might just find the perfect present for someone special in your life–be they two or four-legged.