Puppy Love

Kelly is the owner of Gone Doggie http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoneDoggie and is an avid dog lover and owner. Gunner is one of the dogs she has rescued and plays a very important role as he is a certified therapy dog. Kelly and Gunner volunteer at one of Kelly's local schools as a reading buddy. Children who have difficulty reading will bring a book and sit and read to Gunner. Kelly and Gunner work with grades K-2. Gunner is bigger than most of the kids that come to see him each week but, they are not afraid of him. Enjoy reading about Kelly and her wonderful shop.



by Gone Doggie

My name is Kelly. I am an avid dog lover and owner. As a little girl I would help my mom at her craft shows and I would always find little things to make to sell at the shows. As I got older I kept dabbling with different things. It was when I got my dogs that I took my love for creating and dogs and married the two and created GONE DOGGIE. I got my first dog and just fell in love. I adopted a second dog and it was after her adoption that I became involved in animal rescue. I began volunteering at the local animal shelter then began doing foster work. I then adopted one of my foster pups which made the third dog for my husband and I. I recently adopted my fourth dog.

I began creating my dog collars after trying to find fun but durable collars for my dogs. I needed something that would stand up to the rough housing of three large dogs. I played around with different materials and did lots of research on different hardware manufacturers. I finally came up with a collar a like and one that could be fun and durable but, still be made a reasonable cost. I donated many collars to my local advocate group then friends began asking me to make collars for their dogs. Next thing I knew I was signing up for craft shows and setting up my online shop www.gonedoggie.etsy.com.

In between my sewing I have my own pet sitting business. I do volunteer work with two of my dogs that have become certified therapy dogs. I also do work for our local animal advocate group, so needless to say I keep myself pretty busy.

I have a room in my home dedicated as my craft room. However I still spill out onto the dining room table and have even begun taking over another bedroom in our home. I keep telling my husband I just need an addition built onto the house for all my craft stuff. I have two different kinds of sewing machines and recently added an embroidery machine to my collection. I am always trying to come up with new things that are pet friendly and owner friendly. My next project is dogs beds.

The one piece of advice that I can give is to LOVE WHAT YOU DO and DO WHAT YOU LOVE! I know it's not easy but if you can figure out that balance you will be a much happier and satisfied person. I have been blessed to be able to do what I love fulltime but, it also took me a long time to know what it was that I really wanted to do.

You can read more about me and my dogs and see a list of craft festivals that I will be doing at http://www.gonedoggie.com/. Check out my online shop http://www.gonedoggie.etsy.com/ to see collars and other handcrafted items available for sale.