Friday, November 26, 2010

Veronica Schiller & Thomas

Who is in the photo at right?

My name is Veronica Schiller: I am about to launch a line of puppy treats, we are in the final stages of the packaging, so it is very exciting. I used to be a jewelry designer, but randomly now I am a pet lover and dog treat chef!

My puppy’s name is Thomas, he is a gorgeous male King Charles Cavalier, he’s almost 2 years old. January 12 is his birthday, only a day before mine!

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

Thomas and I do pretty much everything together, he’s a very spoiled pup, so I do not miss a chance to take him with me wherever I go.

We usually stop by the farmer’s market on Tuesday’s in downtown Houston and we grab a cup of coffee and something to munch on.

What's brewing?

I like caramel anything!!! Cappuccino would be my first choice, but I also like chilled coffee and affogato, which means "drowned" in Italian. It is a coffee-based beverage it is usually a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a shot of hot espresso and a shot of Godiva white chocolate liquor! Yum!

Any goodies to go with the coffee?

Biscotti! My favorite kind of dessert, specially Almond flavored ones!

Any treat for Thomas on this occasion?

Hmmmm yea! I always give him a little piece of whatever puppy proof cracker or cake I am having.

I avoid chocolate of course, but he pretty much eats everything and anything I eat… as I told you before he’s very spoiled!

But when he is not eating what I am having, I have with me some GRUFFINS, which are the treats I am making… there are 100% natural fruity dog treats made with human grade ingredients only! So far we have only 1 flavor, banana -- it was our most popular one when we were in the testing stage.

How were you and Thomas united?

It was actually a sad story. I used to own Thomas' half brother: 2 years ago, one weekend we were at a farm in College Station, TX, and while he was running around with the other dogs his little legs got trapped in an old cattle guard. At the same time someone was driving in a huge truck on the road, and could not see him and Fredrick was run over. That same night my husband made our breeders drive all the way to the farm and deliver Thomas for me. Since then he never leaves my side!

How did Thomas get his name? Any aliases?

Actually my husband and I were not sure what we wanted to call this new puppy, and all of a sudden we both thought of Thomas… don’t know why we thought of Thomas, but it kind of sounded right… we like to call him Tom Tom, and Mr. T, or Tomacho….

Cat, squirrel, postman...?

Pigeons or any kind of birds! Impossible to take him to the beach -- he goes nuts for seagulls!

Tennis ball, squeaky-toy, stick...?

Empty water bottle, his favorite toy ever!

Where is Thomas's favorite place for an outing?

The nicest couch in the house of course, right over the very expensive decorative pillows….

Who are Thomas's best pet-pals?

Clifford, his half brother, they are BFFs. It’s s cute when they are together… they don’t stop playing!

If Thomas could change one thing about you, what would it be?

Hmmmmm, I don’t know… Maybe he would prefer if we could sleep for 12 hours instead of six….

He can sleep all day if it left up to him…

What is Thomas's proudest moment?

He actually takes his toys to his toy box when he is done playing with them.

Most embarrassing?

He peed on my bed after I gave him a bath for last year’s Christmas party; we had like 20 people over and he just went in front of everyone!

Learn more about Veronica and Thomas at the Tiny Little Dog website, Tiny Little Dog Blog, and their Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue