ABKA (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will hold “Pet Services Basic Training,” a new educational program designed to teach entrepreneurs how to enter the pet-care business, March 9-12 at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, Ky. It will provide an overview of the pet care marketplace, services to offer, how to develop and retain staff, and how to market services. For more information, contact Nicole Singleton at (719) 667-1600, Ext. 15, or visit www.abka.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Affordable Agility Inc. (Bloomfield, N.Y.), which makes dog agility equipment, launched a drop-ship program for online pet retailers at www.afforableagility.com/dropship.htm. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Animal Planet (Silver Spring, Md.) recently started production on “Groomer Has It,” a weekly competition series in which 15 amateur and professional groomers will try to turn shaggy dogs into the most stylish pooches in order to be crowned America’s top groomer. [March 2008 PET AGE]

H.H. Backer Associates Inc. (Chicago) gave $50,000 to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington) in support of its legislative and educational programs. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Bark ’N Bubbles Dog Wash (Ashburn, Va.), a self-service dog wash, is expanding through franchising. For more information, visit www.barknbubblesdogwash.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Best Friends Animal Society (Kanab, Utah) is partnering with Flash Drive Publishing Inc. (Tucson, Ariz.) to promote Top Tag Pet IDs. A portion of every tag sale will benefit special-needs animals. [March 2008 PET AGE]

BowTie Inc. (Irvine, Calif.), which publishes pet-related media, partnered with Doctors Foster and Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.) to make more than 25,000 pet supplies available at DogChannel.com, CatChannel.com and BirdChannel.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Camp Bow Wow (Boulder, Colo.) in December signed its 200th franchise. It will open in Beaufort/Hilton Head, S.C., late this year. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Casco Group Inc. (Cerritos, Calif.) is teaming with Pacific Store Designs Inc. (Garden Grove, Calif.) to advise pet retailers about store fixtures and design. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Casco Group Inc. (Cerritos, Calif.) is partnering with Peltech s.r.l. (Lecco, Italy) to market Ocean GEOtronic year-round temperature regulating devices for aquariums. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Zilla brand reptile products by Central Aquatics (Franklin, Wis.) sponsored the Critters Pet race car in competitions in Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon and Utah, and will sponsor Team Bearclaw for the 2008 cyclo-cross bicycle racing season. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Central Bark Doggy Day Care (Oakland Park, Fla.) partnered with Pathways to Hope (Casco, Maine), a nonprofit organization that helps start prison dog programs, to provide service dogs for injured U.S. veterans. It will raise funding through sales of Dog Bless America T-shirts and bandanas. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Christine and Nick Watts recently acquired Charming Pet Products (Westlake Village, Calif.) from Lara Riedel. They intend to develop several new products for the company. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Classy Custom Inc. (Los Angeles) donated 5 percent of every purchase made through its Web site in December to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Professionals from Doctors Foster and Smith (Rhinelander, Wis.) now provide advice on a variety of pet-related subjects during weekly segments of NBC’s “In the Loop With iVillage,” an interactive talk show available simultaneously on air, online and in front of a live studio audience. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Fetch! Pet Care (Berkeley, Calif.) partnered with the AAA travel organization to offer club members exclusive discounts and streamlined access to pet-sitting and dog-walking services. Under separate agreements, Fetch! offers a 10 percent discount to members of the California State Automobile Association and the AAA Sojourns 2008 Member Benefit Program. [March 2008 PET AGE]

First Choice Pet Products (Miami) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Happy Tails, which makes pet beds, bought DentaClean, more than tripling its annual revenues and gaining access to mass market, private-label and national pet specialty accounts. The DentaClean business, which includes packaging machinery, was relocated from Hackensack, N.J., to Happy Tails’ headquarters in El Paso, Texas. [March 2008 PET AGE]  

INDIANA—Animal Sales. Legislation introduced in Indiana would set minimum age requirements for the sale of dogs, birds and rabbits. Under Senate Bill 190, a person would not be allowed to import or export for sale any dog under 8 weeks old, unless the dog is transported with its dam. Furthermore, a person would not be allowed to sell a bird under 3 weeks old or a rabbit under the age of 2 months.

Breeders, distributors and retailers who sell a bird or rabbit under these ages would be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. The bird and rabbit requirements do not apply to commercial breeders whose facilities are adequately equipped for the care of young birds and rabbits.

Additionally, any person who dyes, stains or alters the natural coloring of a bird or rabbit would be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to $25,000 for each day of the violation and payment of costs incurred for prosecution. [March 2008 PET AGE]

With a “Back to the Future” theme, Intergroom 2008 will take place April 11-13 at the Garden State Exposition Center in Somerset, N.J. For the first time, groomers will be allowed to compete in up to four classes in the Rising Star and International Groomer of the Year competitions. In addition, groomers can compete in the Extreme Makeover Competition on April 13, as well as the new Creative Challenge Competition, offering $3,500 in cash prizes from sponsor Wag’n Tails Mobile Pet Grooming Conversions Inc. (Granger, Ind.).

As part of the comprehensive educational program, Jodi Murphy will present “Secrets of the Contest Ring” on April 10. Special sessions on April 11 include “Shears & Scissoring: Theory & Technique” by Jodi Murphy, “Massage Therapy” by Donna Carey and “The Long & Short on Terriers.” Master Classes will be held April 12-13.

For more information on the three-day trade show and grooming competition, visit www.intergroom.com or call (781) 326-3376. [March 2008 PET AGE]       

International Absorbents Inc. (Ferndale, Wash.) reported sales of $9 million for the 2008 third quarter, up 5 percent from $8.6 million in the year-earlier period. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Totally My Pet and American Kennel Club Jr. products by Jakks Pets, the pet division of Jakks Pacific Inc. (Malibu, Calif.), now are available at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide and at Toysrus.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Kates-Boylston Publications (Wall, N.J.) launched “Pet Loss Insider,” a monthly newsletter deigned to help pet funeral directors, cemetery and crematory operators and veterinarians better serve bereaved families. For more information, visit www.katesboylston.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]  

Kemin Industries Inc. (Des Moines, Iowa) is partnering with Tyson Foods Inc. (Springdale, Ark.) to make and market pet food palatants. Both companies will participate in product development. However, Tyson will make them from raw materials from its chicken, beef and pork plants, and Kemin will market them under the Palasurance and Topnotes brands to major pet food companies. [March 2008 PET AGE] 

Motivation Design L.L.C. (Salisbury, Mass.) showcased Kurgo pet travel safety products as part of the Bark-BuckleUp campaign at the San Diego International Auto Show, held in December. [March 2008 PET AGE] 

My Dog Votes (New York) and Political Party Pets (New York) are partnering on joint marketing to promote their product lines during the 2008 election season. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Lindsey Berry of Wag N Splash (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) won Best in Show and Best All-Around Groomer in Division A at the 22nd “Fun in the Sun” Seminar, Competition and Trade Show, held Oct. 26-28 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. by the National Dog Groomers Association of America (Clark, Pa.). Both classes were sponsored by Double K Industries (Chatsworth, Calif.).

Penny Underhill of Wizard of Paws (East Peoria, Ill.) won the new Liz Paul Best Scissored Poodle Award. 

In Division B, Sonia Hollnagel of Deltona, Fla., won Best Groomed Dog, sponsored by Geib Buttercut Shears (Orlando, Fla.). Tuesday Cook of Bev’s Mobile (Savannah, Ga.) won Best All-Around Groomer, sponsored by Blue Ribbon Pet Services (Jacksonville, N.C.).

Frank Lawson of Wilton Manor, Fla., won the Oster Career Start Grooming Contest.

NDGAA will hold the Carolina GroomFest May 30-June 1 in Columbia, S.C. For more information, call (724) 962-2711 or visit www.nationaldoggroomers.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Tara Lamper of Alton, N.H., won the grand door prize—$1,500 worth of gift certificates to seven grooming conventions across the country—at the New England Pet Grooming Professionals (Haydenville, Mass.) 27th Fall Festival, held Nov. 2-4 in Warwick, R.I. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Pawsible Marketing, an arm of May Marketing Inc. (Carmel, Ind.), launched in December to offer marketing services to all types of pet businesses. For more information, visit www.marketingmypetbusiness.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Butler (Dallas), a pet waste cleanup and removal service, recently opened its 90th franchise. The company now operates in 26 states. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Perfect Litter Alert by Pet Ecology Brands Inc. (Dallas) won the Best of the Best Award in the Excellence in Cat Litter category from SPCA International (Washington). [March 2008 PET AGE]

Pet Parent’s Network (Monterey, Calif.) launched HealthGuard vitamins, a two-step nutritional supplement system for dogs, on its Web site. The vitamins are made of human-grade ingredients in labs that meet the same requirements as facilities where human-grade supplements are made. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Petco Animal Supplies Stores Inc. (San Diego) and The Petco Foundation (San Gabriel, Calif.) raised more than $2.5 million from customers, vendors and associates during the 2007 Tree of Hope fund-raiser for animal welfare groups. [March 2008 PET AGE]

PetGroomer.com (Gardnerville, Nev.) plans to launch Groomer Pedia, a print and online reference compendium for the grooming industry, in late May. Groomers listed in the Petgroomer.com Yellow Pages will be able to list their businesses at no charge in four sections of the Groomer Pedia, including people, companies, products and services. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Jeff Lauzon opened a Petland store in Viera, Fla., and Tim Mohrfeld opened a Petland store in West Des Moines, Iowa. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Petmanufacturers.com (New York), a business-to-business wholesale Web site that launched in January, is offering a 10 percent discount on all orders through April 1. The site offers more than 6,000 products from more than 100 manufacturers. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Iams, a brand of Procter & Gamble Pet Care (Cincinnati), formed the Iams Pet Wellness Council to educate veterinarians, veterinary technicians and pet owners about the importance of keeping pets on comprehensive wellness programs. The council was introduced during the grand opening of The Iams Animal Wellness Plaza, a new attraction at The Cincinnati Zoo. [March 2008 PET AGE]

Iams and Eukanuba, two brands by Procter & Gamble Pet Care (Cincinnati), recently became the first pet foods to earn the Good Housekeeping Seal from Good Housekeeping magazine. The seal assures readers that advertised products are backed by a two-year limited warranty against defects.  [March 2008 PET AGE]

South Carolina—Turtle Restrictions. A bill proposed in January would make it illegal for a person to buy, sell, offer for sale or offer to buy eight species of turtles: yellowbelly turtle (Trachemys scripta), Florida cooter (Pseudemys Floridian), river cooter (Pseudemys concinna), chicken turtle (Deirchelys reticularia), Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera), Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox) and common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentine).

House Bill 4392 also would limit the number of these species that a person may possess without obtaining a permit from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The bill was in the House Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee, and had not been set for a hearing at press time. [March 2008 PET AGE]

TENNESSEE—Dog and Cat Dealer Fees. Legislation introduced in January would alter fees for dog and cat dealer licenses. Senate Bill 2707 would set different licensing fees according to the number of sales transactions and the type of sale. For example, a license to sell dogs or cats to research facilities would be $250 a year, while a license to buy or sell dogs or cats for resale or directly to consumers would be as high as $1,000 a year for transactions of more than 500 animals per year. It would require annual renewal of licenses. [March 2008 PET AGE]

VMG Partners (San Francisco), a private equity firm that buys and builds branded consumer products companies in the lower middle market, acquired Waggin’ Train L.L.C., a rapidly growing marketer of premium all-meat pet treats. Waggin’ Train has operations in Anderson, S.C., and Corona, Calif. [March 2008 PET AGE] 

Wag'n Tails Mobile Pet Grooming Conversions Inc. (Granger, Ind.) launched an online groomer locator that lists owners of its mobile pet grooming vehicles. For information, visit www.wagntails.com. [March 2008 PET AGE]