Find Your Better Half Contest

I read about this neat contest from Norwood Unleashed (part of Mango Minster) on my friends Shawnee and Frankie's blogs and decided to enter it. The rule is to find a dog that looks like you but of the opposite sex.

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I knew this contest would be a cinch. I find doggies that look like me everywhere I look. Some of my Twitter pals look like me, there is a dog on Toki Poki that looks like me. We even saw a dog that looked like me at a shelter in Poland. At Christmas time I saw my doppelganger at the SPCA shelter near our house but she had already been adopted. I always say "Papa was a rolling stone!"

Sure enough, I found an opposite sex look alike on the first page I looked at on Petfinder.

Okay, so here is me:

And here is Taylor. Poor thing, she sure looks like she needs a furever home!

Taylor is an 8 months old female German Shepherd mix. She is shy (which is not like me) but loves peanut butter in her Kong. Well, is their a dog alive that doesn't? She is in Franklin, Virginia which is not far from where we live.

Support Teeny's Friends!

Last night I was so excited to find out that my good pal Teeny is up for Pepsi Refresh Grant funding. Teeny's Friends is in the $5,000 category. I guess that's what happens when my mom neglects our blog roll!

I have been a friend of Teeny on Twitter for some time and mom and I are really impressed with the work they do getting toy donations for shelter animals.

This is such a great story of people making a difference. Teeny's Friends started their work in the Austin area. They hold toy drives at businesses for donated toys and they also offer a buy one/donate one program on line.

The $5,000 will enable them to get a professional website, computer equipment with business software and professional signage to do a better job to get the word out.

Mom and I think the beauty of Teeny's Friends is that is does three things. First there is lots of research out there that socialized dogs are more likely to be adopted. The toys help the dogs maintain that socialization through play longer until they can find forever homes. But it also means that it makes people think about the poor dogs in the shelters without the love of a family so maybe they will go adopt one. This is a great community project. They also give the toys they get to animal sanctuaries that have dogs with disabilities or deformities or those that will never be able to be adopted but should still have toys to play with. What would we be without our toys?

You can vote every day for every email address you have. There are two weeks left and they need some serious voting to get in the top 10 (I think they are 43rd). CLICK HERE. I think our community is big enough to help Teeny's Friends make a difference.You can also text to vote: Txt 104976 to Pepsi [73774].

Mom and I also want to thank Pepsi for the incredible work they have done by funding wonderful projects in the more than a year they have been doing the Pepsi Refresh Grants! There are many animal charities listed each month so after we get the money for Teeny, we should check monthly for other worthwhile animal charity grant opportunities.

Blog the Change - Help Get Dogs Off Chains

Today I write to support a cause. January 15 is one of the quarterly dates that I have agreed to write a post in support of an animal cause - to blog the change as part of "Be the Change for Animals."

My friends and readers know that I support animal adoptions. I have participated in a number of events spreading the word on the importance of adoption. But the cause I write about today is even more important. As much as I want all animals to have a forever home, I want even more that all animals have a GOOD forever home.

So the cause I support today is one that a number of organizations like Chain Free Nation, Dogs Deserve Better and the Coalition to Unchain Dogs work to support - getting dogs off chains. The Humane Society of America estimates that 200,000 dogs in the United States spend most of their lives chained and alone. This is so cruel on a number of levels. First, we dogs are pack animals so being chained alone is very hard on us. 

Second, while this is not all the case, chained dogs are most likely not treated well. They are not given enough food or water. In the winter their water freezes and they get cold.

It doesn't take long before any grass that grew in the chained area becomes dirt. It becomes mud when it rains or when snow melts. This is no life for a dog. Dogs in this environment become depressed and stressed and often develop aggressive behaviors.

Sometimes the people have no other way to take care of their dogs but leaving them chained often leads to a broader neglect. Watch this video to see what I mean.

 

So what can we do? First we can work to get anti-tethering laws passed in our communities. These laws prohibit or restrict the amount of time a dog can be tethered. Help educate people who chain their dogs. If they have no other way to care for their dog, offer to spend time with their dog. Or, you can volunteer for one of the organizations or start your own to help raise money to build fences so people can get their dogs off the chain.

The sites I mentioned above are all good resources for information on how to make a difference in this cause. And now a video to show what happens when you make a difference. Watch how Messiah changes from the beginning to the end!

 

Whether you want to support this cause or another, just realize that You can Be the Change!

Check out these other posts about great causes that support animals!

I'm on Fursbook

Many of my friends probably know that I recently created a Facebook Page. I still have my Facebook profile but technically it is illegal for a non-human to have a Facebook profile. I am not sure why Facebook discriminates against anipals but they do. I confess my new page has not had the enthusiasm I had hoped and that's because they work differently and the interactions with friends is just different.

My pal @kittehboi got kicked off Facebook some time ago just because he suggested that Facebook create something special for our pals. Dogbook and Catbook just isn't the same. So, @kittehboi decided to do it himself. Using Ning, he started Fursbook.

Visit fursbook

Mom had a Ning account for her work but hasn't done much with it. However, she knows it is powerful because she is a member of GovLoop which is a social media network for folks who work for the Government and it is built with Ning. Ning charges a small fee to have an account and then you pay more to get more features. @Kittehboi set up a Chip In account and as of today he raised enough money to get the really cool features for Fursbook.

So I would like to invite my pals to check it out and join. You still have to lie about your age. Those government people are just trying to protect children, but othewise this is an anipal friendly and completely free site. But, it will only be fun if we all sign up!

While I like kitties, don't get me wrong, there are decidedly few doggies on Fursbook right now so please, doggie pals in particular, PLEASE sign up. No offense kitty pals!

Thank you @kittehboi for starting this great social network just for us anipals!

CHECK OUT FURSBOOK BY CLICKING HERE.

I Have Good Bacteria!

When you hear "Bacteria" you probably think, "oh my Dog I have to go wash my paws!" Everywhere you look people have added those anti-bacterial waterless soap dispensers. Mom has three on her floor at work alone.

One of the places you really need the good bacteria is in your digestion tract. I know you have probably seen the commercials for Activa Yogurt that Jamie Lee Curtis does. Mom found out recently that those are just a FEW of the probiotics that help humans digest better.

Heartland Pet Care gave me some of their Pro Active Balance supplement and asked me to add it to my food for a month and tell you what I thought about it. It comes in a little packet and dad sprinkles it on my food every day (or every day I get more food because I am a picky eater). I was already a healthy dog with hardly any tummy troubles so I didn't think we would be able to tell much difference. But dad, who is in charge of my daily walks, reports he COULD tell a difference.

Okay, here comes poopy talk so if you don't want to read anymore, I will understand. Well, in the last month I have not had a single bout of diarrhea. I never had much, but I did have some. You do remember that I eat my stuffies right? Dad says at first my poop was fairly dry and kind of yellow but eventually that wore off.

Probiotics are particularly helpful if your dog has been sick (particularly if he/she has been on antibiotics), you have changed food, you are traveling around with your pet, or your pet has a sensitive stomach. We read one article that says that probiotics help control excessive flatulence. I haven't really been able to tell if it has helped in that area because I don't have a real bad problem there. Mom says that antibiotics mess with humans too since they kill the good bacteria when they are killing the bad. So for sure, that's a good time to use the pre and probiotics. Now, more than ever, the world is full of bad stuff and probiotics really help provide a good bacteria balance in our digestive systems.


For my friends that don't like pills, Pro Active Balance is good because it is just sprinkled on your wet or dry food.

Mom and I did some research on probiotics in general - we just didn't take these folks word for it (or Jaimie Lee Curtis for that matter). We found a lot of information but it was hard to make sure that the information was independent. We found this article which made us feel it was safe to try the supplement. But, I recommend you check with your V-E-T before adding any supplements to your diet. Good news, pals - your folks can CALL the V-E-T to ask so you don't have to make an extra visit!


Here is some information from the Pro Active Balance folks that explain what the benefit of their product is to different pets including dogs and cats. I recommend you read it and the specific links. It is very interesting.

The Pro Active Balance people gave me the supplements to try but my opinions here are my own and if the stuff had been nasty and made me sick I certainly would tell you!

My Snow Frolic

Since I live in the eastern part of Furginia, we had a lot of snow dumped on us for Christmas. It was a lot for us, but not as much as my furriends farther north which is fine by us. Even though mom and dad seem to be wimps when it comes to the cold, I did get to have some fun playing in the snow.

Hmm. I don't think I can go swimming in this.

And finally it seems I am lifting my leg on a regular basis. No more sissy peeing! I knew my friends would want to know the update on that news!

Mom helped me put together a cool slide show with me playing in the snow. Enjoy!