Our Story
I created our store as Something Special Pet Supplies in 2016, along with my husband Dave, Ajax and Capri (American retired racing greyhounds) and Sweetie Pie (a sugar cookie wrapped in a cat suit). Prior to launching the store, I served on the board of directors with Blue Ridge Greyhound Adoption for 3 years where I organized many local monthly meet and greet events, served as an adoption mentor, reviewed adoption applications, wrote blog articles and did the bookkeeping.
After that, I held a board seat with Scooby North America, an international dog rescue organization for 2 years, again doing bookkeeping, reviewing adoption applications, managing the website and social media and even volunteered one week at the parent shelter in Medina Del Campo, Spain. This background in rescue and adoption has given me a deep understanding of the needs and challenges of dog rescue/adoption organizations from the financial constraints of non-profits to the challenges of rehabilitating traumatized dogs.
We are located in lovely northern Virginia. We are both lifelong animal lovers and want to help promote the best care for them. We believe animals are family members in every sense, beloved and cherished. Our Ajax went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2018, a victim of osteosarcoma and taking a large chunk our our hearts with him. In early 2019, we adopted Loki, a stunning black retired racer who keeps us laughing. Our Beloved Capri went to the Rainbow Bridge in January 2019 after a long life of love and happiness (she was almost 15). Loki needed another friend so in July 2019 we adopted Freyja, another retired racer aged 5 years (going on 6 months). In 2021, Freyja also presented with osteosarcoma but hers was fortunately treatable so she's still with us as a very sunshiney tripod. She's more than two years cancer-free now and every day with her is a gift.
Our mission is to sell only high quality safety products for dogs and especially to serve the needs of adoption/rescue organizations. I carefully select the products we carry and am always searching for better quality items. I also place extremely high value on customer feedback to help me curate the shop and won't hesitate to drop items that don't live up to their marketing.
Customer Service
If you have any questions about your order or our products in general contact us at sharon@hound-safe.com. We respond to all inquiries within 24 hours at minimum, but usually more quickly. We love to assist with questions about how products fit or if they are right for your breed. Friendly and personal customer service is what sets us apart from the big box stores. We also love to work with dog rescue and adoption organizations by offering special discounts for items they need frequently or items they deliver with dog placements.
(Using email instead of a telephone number allows us to provide longer customer service "hours". Because our shop is online, we don't have established business hours, but instead perform customer service and order fulfillment as soon as needed. The result is usually much faster service!)
