Walking dogs in Christmas Parade

[BeeJL]

I did a booth at the local pet oriented street fair in September. It was a total bust because I am terrible at selling myself to the public. Now I'm thinking about a spot in the Christmas parade. I don't know what to do other than carry the banner (that I had made for the street fair), invite selected clients to walk with me and hand out all the treat bags that are left over from the street fair. What can I do to make us stand out? I'd rather not have costumes on the dogs because I want people to see how nicely groomed they are.

[HoneyandChewiespal]

Just tossing out some ideas here:
1. Set them up in 'harness' with just deer antler head pieces and have them pull a sleigh (wagon) with a foam tree on it. You get to dress up an elf or Santa.
2. Have a bunch of elves walking with you and toss out treats to the crowd - candy and small dog biscuits wrapped with your logo and info on a twist tie or wrapper. (Don't go the expense of full treat bags.) You can do a "WIlly Wonka" thing with one or two golden tickets that entitle people to a free upgrade or add-on service with their groom.
3. There are some cd's with singing dogs singing Christmas carols ( not the barking dog thing that's just annoying). Play that as you walk to set you apart.
4. Really off the wall -- get a bunch of your friends children or a school or church group of children to help walk your dogs with you. Have each of the children with doggie face paint and let them sing Christmas carols as they walk

Please let us know what you end up doing and how it goes. Post pics if you get a chance

[wild4westies]

I worked at a shop that participated in a Christmas parade every year. We'd make a tiny float on a small open pull behind trailer (like the landscapers use) but left room for children to sit on the trailer with their dogs. The employees and clients were invited to walk alongside or behind with their recently groomed dogs. We had clients that looked forward to this every year. One year our "float" had Snoopy on his dog house on top. Another year their was a live Nativity on the trailer (all children cast) and the rest of us walking were shepherds by cutting small rectangles of muslin with twine to tie it on our heads and wore bathrobes. The boss had wooden nickels printed up for a free nail trim and we would hand those out to the grown ups and small wrapped candy to the kids. Increased business and was lots of fun!