Finally, Another Locally-Owned Business
For all you people who scoff at the chainification of DTSS, I present the newly-opened Living Ruff.
We went in there a couple of days ago, and the place looks great. With the amount of dogs I see down on The Promenade (happy, Sligo?), I hope this place sticks around. I spoke with the proprietors, Jessica and Ron, and frankly I’m kinda jealous. This is something they wanted to do and they took the risk and did it. My ideal business model would involve beer and tater tots, and I think we know that niche has been taken.
Also nice to see that even a “pet boutique” can get in on election year fodder. While mostly focused on canines, there’s plenty of stuff for my man Otis the Cat, and the foot traffic at 7:30pm four days after opening without any real announcement was impressive. Next step is to see if we can get my toddler hopped up on catnip. Scientific study results should be forthcoming.
The “official” grand opening is set for September 6. For more information, visit www.livingruff.com.
20 comments Digg this20 Comments so far
Now we just need southern management buildings to allow dogs and we’re set!
I just visited Living Ruff this weekend (after anxiously awaiting it’s opening after seeing the sign while driving down Georgia Ave. I was delighted to see their selection of items and that the prices were reasonable- and all walking distance from our place!
Now, my wish is that downtown will become more dog friendly. I’ve taken my dog down there on more than one occasion to dine outside or just for a new environment to be met with scoffs and “what is there a dog here for? This isn’t a place for dogs” from other patrons (mind you, we were walking down the side walk…last I checked sidewalks were equal opportunity).
At any rate, welcome Living Ruff!
So wait… no dogs allowed?! Bummer!
I fear for Living Ruff. They’re in a terrible location for foot traffic, and a boutique shop like this needs that, especially from tourists.
Now if only they sold cat food and cat litter, I could give up going to PetSmart on Cherry Hill Road.
They do sell cat food and cat litter (including our brand), in addition to cat toys and treats. We picked some up fish treats and Otis loves ‘em.
And I much prefer the PetSmart on Nicholson by White Flint. That way I get to go to Rodman’s and pick up litter, wine, and Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA in one trip.
Really? The missus reported back on Living Ruff and must have overlooked it, or maybe since she was there on opening day it wasn’t in yet.
Do you know if they carry Nutro food and World’s Best Cat Litter?
Not sure about all the brands. (Jessica? Ron? Feel free to chime in.) Cat stuff is on the freestanding shelves (not against the wall) in the back right of the store.
I called them. They have the litter, but not Nutro. Hopefully then cat get that, as my cats are finicky (believe it or not).
How about parking? Lugging a few 20 pound bags of litter for a block or two seems daunting.
Yeah, we actually wondered about that, too. We normally buy the 40lb bags of Swheat Scoop from PetSmart. They just have the smaller bags, which is fine, but you’re right – logistics could still be an issue.
Lugging stuff requires strength, endurance, or an old lady cart. Luckily, I am endowed with plenty of all three.
I presume these photos were taken with the iPhone.
Of course. And emailed to myself using the 4 bars of 3G network I get everywhere in my house.
I am LOVING Living Ruff, and bringing all my dog-loving friends to the shop in the hopes they will develop a strong following. Jessica and Ron seem like great folks, eager to meet the needs of the community-what more could we ask for?
Their prices seemed great too-I was expecting a significant mark up, but didn’t really find it.
Is that Nutro food vegan?
re: Kalystolucy
No! Sorry- dogs are 100% allowed in the store. I got some rude remarks/looks when walking my dog around the downtown area. The owners were super welcoming to my freaked-around-other-dogs pound puppy and loved him up and gave him treats!
Super! Funny, our small terrier mix rescue “The Gabster!” also seems to be a little crazed around other dogs…. I shall have to try our first visit in her doggie stroller (I know, I know. But hey, it does help!) so as to not have any drama.
Thanks for the clarification!
Thank you for all of your support! Our first week has been great, and the warm welcome we’ve felt from the community has been overwhelming! Just to answer a few questions on the post –
1) Dogs are 100% welcome all the time. We spaced out the furniture to allow for more than one in here at a time, too. Furry critters in the store are the highlights of our day.
2) Don’t carry Nutro right now, but if it’s something enough people ask us for, we can place a special order for it and bring it in with our regular orders. If you can work with us and let us know a week or two out when you need it, we can work with you to get it. We’re here to help you guys! Same thing with larger bags of food or litter – we can special order, but we only have so much space on the shelves, so we’d like to keep the brand represetened, but we can get it in bigger.
3) Heavy bags o’ food or litter – if you drive down here, we are happy to bring this out to your car. Ron is good at this, and when he’s not, he has a hand truck! We’re also looking into home delivery once things settle down a bit and we get through our grand opening. Just need to get dependable staff onboard. Although, we had a customer in yesterday who refused our help and lugged a 36lb bag of dog food out in his backpack along with his three dogs in tow. Not the norm, we know. We were concerned and fascinated at the same time.
If we missed anything, please shoot us an email at info@livingruff.com or just come by and say hello and let us know what you need!
Thank you again sooo much for your support.
Ron & Jessica
P.S. Please feel free to send pics of your pets to our email so we can post them in the store or online!
Yes, Bonifant More Sinister That Thayer, Nutro is 100 percent vegan. As I read the label, it states: Ingredients: 100 percent ground up vegans.
Downtown not friendly to dogs? My wife and I take our two Great Pyrenees downtown all the time, usually when there’s a concert or something going on. We’ve gotten tables every time in the outdoor seating areas of either Austin Grill or Eggspectations and the dogs come with us while we eat dinner. No trouble at all from anyone (unless you count all the people who want to take the dogs’ picture).
Might have to bring them by Living Ruff this weekend.
We were ecstatic to see Living Ruff opening in SS and have been in twice with our little Jack Russell. Ron & Jessica were very friendly and their selection was great. I’m sure we’ll become regulars.
We’ve found downtown to be very dog-friendly, including the restaurants and other patrons.
I take one or both of my dogs to the downtown nearly every day when the weather is nice and we’ve never had a negative reaction. In fact, one of the ways our farmer’s market is superior to Takoma Park’s is that we don’t have a rule against dogs.
Living Ruff has the coolest selection of dog cookies that we have ever seen, and we’ve been to a lot of fancy dog stores. Two paws up from the pugs!