All about VIP Dog Beds...
V.I.P. Dog Beds for  VERY IMPORTANT PETS
Background
As reported by Vivienne Haldane for the September 2008 issue of NZ Lifestyle
Block magazine,
It was a gift of two bags of knopped wool and a concern for animal comfort
that sparked Barbie Cassidy's business, V.I.P Beds for Very Important
Pets. This ex-veterinary nurse and Labrador breeder of Waipukurau, Hawkes
Bay, noticed that large dogs often suffered from arthritis and sore joints and
were either living in pain or on expensive drugs. She thought they'd
benefit from comfortable, warm bedding. Barbie had seen various versions of pet
beds that offered draught protection but were filled with cheap, synthetic
material. The idea of using the gifted wool and easing the dogs plight
galvanised her to design and produce an improved version for her canine
friends. She saw the possibility of using the woollen knops she had been
given. She sat up in bed at three in the morning and made some sketches.
She persuaded a saddler to make up the first beds in two sizes - one for a Jack
Russell and one for a Labrador and they sold immediately. That was in 1991
and there has hardly been a day since that an order hasn't been made for a wool
filled dog bed.
20 years in business! This wool bedding has been sent country wide since 1991, with very few days
without orders.
Knopped wool - the secret ingredient to a comfortable and therapeutic dog
bed
Barbie had read about a local man Phil Collins, who had devised a method of
using knopped wool for insulation in houses. Being a wool lover she phoned
to congratulate him on his efforts and he delivered two bags of woollen knops to
her door. Knops are little balls of cross-bred wool fibre created when
tiny tufts of wool are whirled in a machine with centrifugal force and blown
into partially formed ball shapes. The transformation of fleece into these
tiny balls further enhances the insulating properties of wool - its warmth and
the ability to repel water by attracting and holding grease and oil. There is
only one knopping machine in the North Island that was originally made by
Stewart Tucker of Clive.
Mattress filled with these wool balls massage your dogs joints
and help relieve and combat arthritis
click to enlarge
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06 858 9766
