Barking Out Loud

Subaru is Going to The Dogs

2012-02-12T13:16:00.000-05:00

We just saw a new Subaru commercial and just had to blog about it!

You might remember that mom was privileged to ride in style to BarkWorld Expo in Atlanta last summer in a Subaru Forester. Subaru was one of BarkWorld's major sponsors. It was a great trip and she got to ride with Paige the Border Collie and her mom Lauren.

We loved the older series of commercials featuring dog stars, Stolen Parking Space being our previous favorite. But since mom is in the outdoor recreation business, we really love the new commercials. In fact we are heading out to visit one of her state parks next weekend! We were both barking out loud this morning when we saw "Camping" for the first time.

And, since mom has some challenges backing up (she claims mirrors confuse her), Jackknife is appealing as well. In fact mom claims she had a nightmare experience similar to that commercial with a U-Haul trailer many years ago.

They have some cool posters featuring the stars of these new commercials. Mom is going to hang this one up in her office:

Check out the Subaru Dog Tested website. There is a nice plug for Dogbook, a dog park locator, a statement to their commitment to the ASPCA, and an app for your human to plan their walks with you. I "borrowed" mom's new iBone and downloaded it while she was not looking.

Speaking of Paige, she has a video in Pet Hub's contest. Please check it out, vote and comment! Hey Subaru - maybe you should add Paige to your commercials!

Disclosure: Other than the use of the Subaru vehicle for mom's trip to BarkWorld last summer (which we blogged about at the time and had no other obligation), we have received no compensation from Subaru for sharing these commercials and info on their website. We don't even own a Subaru.

Blog the Change for Animal Adoption

2012-01-15T20:08:00.003-05:00

Today (January 15) is Blog the Change for Animals Day. One day each quarter, animal bloggers around the world blog about the causes that are important to them and we start an important conversation on these issues.

I have a number of causes that are important to me but today I want to write about the importance of pet adoptions. There are so many pets in shelters and rescues around the world, so many animals that were abused or just unloved or just don't know what it is to have a family like we do.

While I did not come from a shelter or rescue, I was part of an "unplanned" litter of puppies and might have ended up there. All my kitty sibs (there are four) come from rescues or shelters. Our latest addition, Alexis, we adopted from a rescue organization at PETCO this past June. All of my family members have different personalities and are wonderful in their own way, but Alexis is something really special. She came into our lives and made all of the animals happier. She is so loving and playful she has made the other cats like me and they all are more affectionate and playful even though they are getting older.

So, I want to urge everyone who reads this to think about opening their home to one of the many, many pets waiting in shelters for their furever homes. I guarantee you that your life will be enriched and never the same. Please though remember that an adoption truly is a commitment. Pets demand time and attention and are also a financial responsibility. If you are not ready for that commitment, don't make it. Because as sad as all of the animals in shelters make me, it is even sadder when a pet has a home and then loses it. I know that sometimes there are terrible things that happen and people have to give up their pets, but this should not be because the family took their commitment lightly.

Great Prize

2012-01-07T16:21:00.001-05:00

Today my prize from #jeopawty arrived and mom was so excited. I like mom to be happy but a stuffy or a bone might have made ME happier.

This clutch purse was made by @grrlysquirrel75 and mom says it is perfect. She likes to have a small purse to carry around and slip in her ginormous bag that has the kitchen sink in it (I think).

She's got a blog you should check out.
https://twitter.com/grrlysquirrel75/status/155720770696380416

New Years Resolution

2012-01-01T16:56:00.000-05:00

I have a few special New Year Resolutions.

#1 More time outdoors

#2 More treats

#3 More bones like this one

#4 More time with mom and dad

#5 More toys

Unfortunately, my New Years resolutions are dependent on mom and dad so they better read this and make some resolutions of their own!

Visit to the V-E-T

2011-12-03T12:31:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I had my annual ~~torture~~ visit to the vet. As with most car outings, I am excited to get to go with mom and dad until we get in the car and I start feeling closed in. Mom claims she won't be hearing well for a week thanks to the high pitched whining I allegedly did during the five minute car ride. She exaggerates a lot though.

I didn't even know what was in store for me. I think I even forgot what place it was when we first went in. Well, for about five seconds.

Dad is smart so he walked me straight to the scale and I was exactly 67 pounds, maybe 2 pounds more from last year. But I do squirm on the scale so it is hard to get a completely exact reading.

My vet is Seaford Veterinary Medical Center in Yorktown and we saw Dr. Megan Alexander. If not for the ~~torture~~ treatment, she was a nice lady. All of the vets at this practice are women.

I will not stay still for any exam and they have a bunch of tricks to get me to do what they need - blood work, stool sample, shots and the worst the ear exam. First they know that I somehow behave worse when mom and dad are there so they take me in the back. Mom and dad heard my whining and crying the whole time. Then they were shocked that I was quiet. Turns out the Vet lady was smart and took me outside. As soon as I was outside, I let her listen to my heart and do the other bad stuff because I was distracted by the stuff outside. Watch for their tricks!

Mom and dad thought I had an ear infection because I have been scratching it and yelped whenever they accidentally touched it. They work hard to keep my ears clean and dry. Mom has ear stuff to dry them out after I go swimming but I don't like it. In fact just the mention of "ear stuff" sends me hiding. Mom was happy they were not actually infected but they were inflamed so the Vet sent us home with twice a day ~~torture~~ medicine for 5 days. The Vet had a hard time with the first dose because the floor was too slippery to get a good grip on me but I was good this morning when dad held me down on the bed. You can see in the picture below how greasy my beautiful ears look thanks to this nasty medicine.

The Vet said I was a fun dog and high energy. DUH. She also said I had the most beautiful teeth she had ever seen on a three and a half year old dog. Just keep those Merrick Red Bags coming mom! Her only concern is that the way my back legs are she said I will be more susceptible to hip problems so she suggested mom and dad start me on a glucosomine or fish oil supplement.

The Vet's office did confirm that this had to be the worst flea year they remember. And even though it's December we still have them because we haven't had a real freeze yet.

Well, so much for the annual ~~torture~~ Vet visit. I was a bit subdued for the car trip home and dad gave me a really nice bone from the Big Red Bag.

Eating Responsibly

2011-12-02T14:08:00.001-05:00

We wanted share another great infographic from my friends at Pet365. This one is really important for our health. I know we all love our noms but hopefully our humans are careful to make sure we don't eat so much that we aren't healthy!

Pet obesity graphic produced by Matt Beswick for Pet365 - a UK stockist of dog coats, collars and accessories. Click here to view the full post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T17:43:00.001-05:00

I wanted to do a post to tell all my friends that I hope they have a Happy Turkey Day but it has also been so long since mom let me do a blog post, I decided I better talk about more than Thanksgiving!

The turkeys asked me to give them a break and promote ham for Thanksgiving. I'll take BACON any day over turkey!

Mom and I are thankful for all our friends on Twitter, Facebook and my blog, my dad and four kitty sibs. We are grateful that we have a roof over head, mom has a job, and all our basic needs are met (food and treats for me). So many people don't have all those things.

We are also very grateful for her Kindle! Reading with mom is so much fun since we got her Kindle for Christmas last year. If you guys have Kindles, we have to tell you about a really great site called Pixel of Ink. Sign up for their email and get a daily email with free and low cost Kindle downloads. We love mysteries and thrillers and today there were three of them!

We owe you lots of reviews but we really wanted to tell you about one book in particular. It's called Plucking Wolf Fur: A story of one arm, one dog and an American family by James Michael Shea. Mom met the author at BarkWorld and downloaded the book the same day. We get many books for free from Pixel of Ink so we don't buy many but it is well worth the $2.99!

I know that our humans find us animals very special parts of their lives. This book tells a wonderful story about how a wolf hybrid dog changes James' life. It is autobiographical and a great story. Sequoia sounds like she was a wonderful creature and I would have liked to have met her. She works her way into James' like and that of his family and changes all of them like us animals have a habit of doing. Mom enjoyed talking to James at BarkWorld and she hopes you will download his book to your Kindle or other device.

The story made mom think of her dog Skipper. She had Skipper many years ago - she rescued him 30 years ago after a friend found him running loose in Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey. Mom says that Skipper got her through some really tough times in her life when she was lonely and needed his love. So in many ways Skipper was mom's Sequoia.

Well, stay tuned for more book reviews. I have the review of Chet's latest book coming up (I know, we read that almost two months ago now).

So for now, Happy Thanksgiving. Take a long nap after enjoying your dinner!

Put Your Paw Down!

2011-10-31T14:49:00.000-04:00

You may all recall what happened the last and only time mom tried to dress me up for Howl-oween, but it appears there are even humans who realize the injustice. For all of you pets that still suffer the humiliation, I want to share this video from yesterday's CBS Sunday Morning.

Happy Howl-oween to all - costumed or not!

Bissell really cleans up at BarkWorld

2011-10-10T10:00:00.001-04:00

I won't say that we are bad housekeepers but when you have a dog and four cats living in two rooms, the fur really flies. Literally and figuratively. Frankly I think that nasty tracked litter is worse than the fur.

Right before mom left for BarkWorld our over-used vacuum bit the dust. I can't say I was too upset, since I am no fan of that machine as you may recall from this post.

At BarkWorld, mom was really impressed with the Bissell Perfect Sweep Turbo. The staff at the Bissell booth kept making beautiful art out of kitty litter and mom really hated to ruin the artwork by sweeping it up but wow that sweeper worked well! She was excited to hear that the sweeper is only $39.99. A great bargain too. Bissell said she could share a coupon with all my readers. Just go to their website and use the code perfectsweepCAT before 12/31/11. They are having a free shipping promo now too!

Photo by Tamar Arslanian

So she came home and ordered one AND a new vacuum that specializes in pet hair removal - Rewind Premier Pet Vacuum.

They came this week and while I am not wild about the vacuum (mom and dad love it) I give two paws up for the Turbo Sweep since it makes way less noise than the vacuum monster and I don't even bark. It's great for getting that tracked litter up and easy to use multiple times a day. We keep it charged and ready for any mess!

Dad is the primary house cleaner for us. Dad said he was impressed at how well made they are - sturdy and ready for abuse. He says the sweeper gets up odds and ends like bone pieces, shredded paper (our cats do that), and all that tracked litter and are great for quick pickups and routine clean up. Dad just swept up one of those nasty kitty hairballs too. EEEW.

For deep down cleaning you still need a vacuum and the Rewind is easy to push and has great pet cleaning attachments like the pet turbo eraser tool. The front has a flip down pet hair lifter. When you pull the vacuum back it collects pet hair and debris and then when you push forward it releases the collected debris so the vacuum can suck it up. Click here for a great video on the vacuum. The helix system provides a powerful suction to get even ground in dirt. Dad particularly likes the retractable cord that is longer than usual for extra convenience.

Mom and dad need to save their pennies for one of the Pro Heat carpet cleaners. The spots on the carpet are NOT from me, thank you very much, they are from mom and dad spilling stuff like coffee and food. Mom spilled have a cup of coffee on the bed just today.

Both the vacuum and the turbo sweep are so easy to use and empty. And I swear our living area is much less dusty since we got them too.

Note: Bissell did give mom a coupon good for $5 of the Perfect Sweep Turbo but she actually got an even better discount including free shipping on the website (because she ordered the vacuum too). We received no free product or compensation of any kind in exchange for our review.

Subaru paved the way to BarkWorld for Mom

2011-10-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe that mom has been back from BarkWorld a week now. And I have been enjoying her home for a change and have been remiss in writing my blog.

I'm also trying not to be jealous that mom got to ride with Paige the Border Collie, the You Tube star, all the way to Atlanta and back. I can't make up my mind if I'm jealous because she got to meet Paige or because she spent time with Paige and not me.

The whole trip was possible thanks to one of BarkWorld's biggest sponsors - Subaru. They provided the BarkNRide vehicle - a beautiful Subaru Forester. Both Paige's mom and my mom have cars with really high mileage on them (they drive a long way to go to work every day) so being able to drive a brand new car to Atlanta made them both happy.

Mom is still talking (read rubbing it in my face) about how great Paige was in the car. This photo probably says it all and explains why I did not go. I am never relaxed as much as this in the car. You can see how comfortable the Forester was for Paige. Mom says it was a great ride for humans too.

Mom says she had a great time talking to Lauren, Paige's mom, and the ten hour trip each way really flew by. On the way back they stopped for gas, a potty break and some snacks and mom literally tripped an fell flat on her face. A week later, the bruise on her chin is still quite impressive. Lauren helped mom up. Mom always jokes that one of her talents is that she falls well! She has a more impressive bruise we can't show in a family environment. The funny thing is that the chin didn't hit the ground. Apparently she was wearing her sunglasses around the neck and the chin hit the glasses which also made the bruise on the place we can't show. She scraped her arm which is still ouchy.

Another cool thing about the trip was that BarkWorld fans could follow our trip using an installed PocketFinder GPS unit. When they stopped for lunch at Wendy's, Paige's dad called and asked, "are you guys stopped at a fast food restaurant?" Wow. The Subaru GPS helped keep them from getting lost especially when they got to downtown Atlanta!

By the way, please check out Paige on her You Tube Channel. She is amazing! Follow her on Facebook and Twitter too. And, when you see the PetMeds.Com commercial below, the star of the commercial is Paige (she's at the end so be patient).

BarkWorld Day 1

2011-10-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't heard, mom abandoned me to go to BarkWorld this week. After my recent experience last month in a hotel, we all decided (me included) that I was happier at home. But I made her tell me all about it last night so I could share with my readers.

Not sure what mom thinks, but I believe the most exciting thing was all the cool stuff she got to take home for me! She got some Nylabone treats for me. You know how much of a chewer I am, so I am too aggressive for their regular bones but mom found out they have treats you can eat too and she has some for me! She got me a new tag with a QR code on it from Pet QR Tag so if I ever get lost whoever finds me will be able to find out where I belong. There are other tags with web updates but there is no additional fee to keep the info updated on the web with their tag!

She also got me a new leash from Leash Locket that retracts into a gizmo (locket) that I carry on my collar. We are going to try that out and let you know how it works. She also got a coupon for a Perfect Sweep Turbo sweeper from Bissell to clean up all that tracked cat litter (I never make a mess). I will be doing a blog on that too and will share a $5 off coupon code. By the way, mom tried it and that sweeper works great. Of course in our house, dad does the cleaning but we think even he can handle it.

The conference is at the Loews Atlanta and mom says the conference facilities are great. Here is a picture she took from the balcony yesterday.

She is meeting some really cool humans and dogs and some have some neat pet businesses and she is learning a lot about social media topics.

Mom did her presentation on Facebook advertising. You can see the slides from her presentation by clicking here.

She said her favorite thing from the first day was getting to hear Victoria Stilwell talk. Mom says she was great and all my pals should check out her website and social media sites. We love her show It's Me or the Dog and her positive training methods. (Sorry for the Blackberry picture, her good pictures are trapped in the camera until she gets home).

Mom will share some more stuff later so stay tuned.

Dog development grahic

2011-09-22T14:17:00.001-04:00

Mom and I are really excited to share another great infographic from the folks at Pet 365 Blog. Matt Beswick sent this to us and we wanted to share.

Dog Development graphic created by Matt Beswick for Pet365 - a UK stockist of Dublin Dog collars and brands like Hamish McBeth. Click here to view the full post.

Be sure to check out their website for other cool stuff!

Back from Vacation

2011-09-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

Mom, dad and I went on vacation for nine whole days to one of my favorite places. It is a special cabin at one of our parks that the public doesn't rent because there is no real road and mom says the cabin is too rustic for the public. So staff can rent it. It is right on the river. It is called the Brown Cabin (it's not named after someone named brown, it's just painted brown) and it's at Shenandoah River State Park. I know my pal @ShawneeShep and her mom know about the cabin because they found it when they were hiking in the park.

It is a really good vacation for mom because there is no cell service and no internet. Also no TV (they actually have a TV that we can rent Red Box videos and play them but only three channels). So mom read 9 books while we were there (actually they were on her Kindle). One was that new Chet book (I will blog about that another day).

We did get a lot of rain thanks to that Hurricane Lee coming up from the gulf. The Chief Ranger came and warned us about possible flash flood warnings but the Shenandoah River just got a little bit wider. The porch room that mom likes to spend her time in (she can see the river and the windows open really wide (we will not talk about the screens on the window that were perfect when we got there but somehow not so perfect when we left - can I help it that I have to jump up and bark when people go by hiking or biking?) has a tin roof so the rain was very relaxing. When you want to spend your vacation reading and relaxing the rain is not a bad thing.

It did not rain steady so there was lots of time for me to go swimming in the Shenandoah River. Since there is a current in the river (and none in my pond), it is different swimming. The river tended to steal some of my sticks too and there also seemed to be a stick shortage at the park compared to our yard.

Oh the big news was that we also took Alexis and she got herself a mouse! Mom said - another reason we don't rent that to the public (no pix). She had lots of fun stalking all kinds of bugs too.

If you like a good place for a vacation, I highly recommend Shenandoah River State Park. The park has "for the public" cabins that are only a year old and two great campgrounds.

Okey's Promise - the Next Project

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

If you remember mom went to the Shorty Awards in 2010 because her @VAStateParks twitter account was a finalist. She shared a room with Vicki Boatright, perhaps better known by her artist name BZTAT, and they got to know each other. Since then she saw her at BarkWorld Expo 2010 and Blog Paws just a couple of weeks ago. While she was at Blog Paws she found out about the next Okey's Promise project.

BZTAT discusses Okey's Promise at Blog Paws

Maybe you do not know about the first Okey's Promise project. BZTAT used Kickstarter to raise money for a mural that would be painted on a building in Canton, Ohio where she lives. The way Kickstarter works is that people promise (they call it a pledge) to donate a certain amount of money to a project and IF they raise the goal amount, the people pay their money. BZTAT calls the donors Promise Keepers which both Mom and I like a lot. You can donate as little as $1 or as much as you want. Mom was one of the Promise Keepers for the mural which was officially unveiled last month.

The name of the mural is "Safe Animals and Safe Kids."

Safe Animals and Safe Kids

Original Artwork by BZTAT

Okey is one of BZTAT's cats, one she rescued from a parking lot who had been badly mistreated. Okey has a good life now but she still exhibits behaviors related to her earlier life. Okey was BZTAT's inspiration to raise awareness about the connection between animal abuse and child abuse. Where there is animal abuse there is often children and spousal abuse. Sometimes the animal will be threatened as a way to psychologically abuse the human victims.

Okey, photo by BZTAT

Okey's promise: Make the world a better place for children AND animals.

BZTAT has launched another Kickstarter project. Mom and I have already become new promise keepers. We think BZTAT describes the project and her goals the best in this short video:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;tttttt&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

I think this new artwork sounds like it will be amazing. Please help BZTAT take it from a concept to art that calls attention to this issue by offering hope by telling a story of survival and resilience.

What can you do?

Go to Kickstarter and become a Promise Keeper in any amount.

Tell your friends and family. Tweet it, post it on Facebook and Google+, blog about it. Okey's Promise can be found on Facebook by clicking here.

There are only eleven days left to make a difference by helping BZTAT reach the $6,000 goal.

Yappy Hour Is Friday!

2011-09-13T20:23:00.002-04:00

Yappy Hour Pre #BarkWorld pawty, Friday, Sept. 16, 8-10 p.m. EDT

I'm sure all my pals know that mom is speaking at BarkWorld Expo which is coming soon - it kicks off September 29th! She will be telling folks all about advertising on Facebook. She has done lots of ads on Facebook for her job at Virginia State Parks. While I am disappointed I will not be going, I know that my last hotel/conference experience was just too much for me so I am okay with it until I get older and mom invests in some significant obedience training.

Since BarkWorld will be two weeks away on Friday, there is going to be a great Yappy Hour Twitter pawty!

It is going to be exciting with the Shibbering Cheetos (@ShibberingC) performing, prizes and lots of fun. Click here for more information.

And, if you have not signed up for BarkWorld Expo 2011 it is NOT TOO LATE. Victoria Stilwell will be a keynote speaker from the show "It's Me or the Dog." Hmmm maybe mom can pick up some tips. Just because it's called BARKworld, don't worry the sessions are good for all anipals (and even humans).

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR BARKWORLD EXPO 2011

P.S. Now that dad and I aren't going, mom would love a female roommate (dad insists on the female part) and she might just have a conference ticket available too. Email her at nancyDOTheltmanATdcr.virginia.gov.

Wordless Wednesday (Barely)

2011-08-31T23:55:00.000-04:00

I went to BlogPaws and spent the conference in my room

2011-08-27T21:41:00.000-04:00

There is a first for everything and BlogPaws was a lot of firsts for me: my first hotel, my first elevator and my first experience with a lot of dogs and people I don't know. I was on sensory overload and I didn't do well.

Sheraton Premiere at Tyson Corners -

my barking really echoed under this canopy

We tried the play room and sweet little me was over aggressive. I barked too much when I heard people in the hall.

Here are some dogs enjoying the Play Room without me

The first day mom stayed in the room with me because due to Hurricane Irene she had to do a lot of work telling people some of her Virginia State Parks are closed.

At least I can say the bed was real comfy

So I thought I was maybe calming down so mom had dad bring me down after the sessions to meet some of my pals' staff. I saw mom and kind of went nuts. I did get to meet some people like @tildatoo but it was back to the room pretty quick.

Maybe I need a doggie day care a few days a week.

Dad visited the exhibit area

Dad met @CosmoHavanese

Anyway mom had some good sessions about how to do better video, how to write a proposal and she learned a lot about legal stuff like copyrights, endorsements and contests.

Dad went swimming lots of times in the neat indoor pool and also took most of the pictures.

Hot tub

Pool

Mom's favorite part was at lunch Saturday when her friend @BZTAT talked about Oakey's Promise her Canton Mural to bring awareness to the link between animal cruelty and child and domestic abuse. BZTAT talked about using Kickstarter for fund raising for the project. Mom got to stand up as one of the Promise Keepers who helped in a small way to make the project possible.

BZTAT talks about Oakey's Promise

A very talented young lady named Miah Thornton did a dance to describe the story of Oakey's rescue that led BZTAT to decide to start the project.

Miah Thornton performs at BlogPaws

BZTAT has started a new project at Kickstarter for a traveling artwork on the same theme. We will be writing more about that soon.

We leave tomorrow as soon as we know the roads are okay after Hurricane Irene.

You don't have to leave Blogger to avoid Google+ issues

2011-08-21T18:37:00.000-04:00

Mom and I have been spending the afternoon redesigning my blog a little and working on our blog reading. After reading George the Duck's post about Google+ and their real people policy AND because mom was already having problems because they kept thinking she and I were the same person, she decided she had to solve the problem.

We did one simple thing - we changed the Google profile for her email to her and not me. This did not mess up my blog. It didn't even change my blogger profile. There is also no link back from my blog to mom's Google profile. So all fixed and no future problems.

For my pals that have left for Word Press - please be sure and add an RSS button to your blog so I can subscribe to you. Or, add an email subscription link. Mom has a terrible time keeping up with reading blogs but she always reads her email!

In fact, for my pals still on Blogger, did you know it is really easy to add an email subscription link to your Bloggie? It is easy to set up AND you never have to do anything. You can see how many people have subscribed to you that way. We were sorry we checked today because it hasn't been that successful but then we have been very bad about posting lately. I'm sure many people prefer Google Reader but for peeps like mom and me, it would be nice to add the email subscription.

If you use Blogger, all you have to do is go to the design page, click ADD A GADGET where you want it and the Email subscription gadget is on the top of the list!

Oh and let me know if you like the new look. I'm still working on some color issues.

Oh Oh Mom Got a New Camera

2011-08-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

Mom is kind of a geek. She swears she is not a total full fledged geek because her technology knowledge is somewhat limited. But boy does she love her gadgets.

So she got the just released Sony Cyber-shot Emor-R camera for work and of course had to practice with it at home so she could learn how to do it. It's 16.2 megapixels and like her old Sony does video and still shots. In fact this one does HD video.

This camera has a real cool tool for doing panorama shots - those really wide pictures. She says this is so cool because you make the picture by moving the camera from left to right. The camera does the rest.

In this one you can see me in the far right corner.

Mom says my bloggie is too narrow to do the pictures justice but I think you can see what she means.

It also lets her take 10 pictures in a burst - like one after another which is really helpful when shooting pictures of me.

This is a great series showing me doing a shake-off after coming out of the pond.

One more burst series - this one of me jumping in the pond to chase a stick dad through. I think these still shots are more fun than the movie pictures.

My apologies in advance because you will probably be seeing lots more burst series and geeky thinks on my blog thanks to this new camera.

I'm not like my mom and dad

2011-08-08T20:27:00.001-04:00

Some say that people start to look like their pets. Well, I don't think it's happening with my mom and dad.

We get along great and I think we really understand each other but there are differences:

I like to eat cat poop and they don't

I like to roll in smelly things and they don't

I go the bathroom outdoors and they don't

I walk on four legs and they walk on two

I speak DOG and they speak HUMAN

They wear clothes and I DON'T (don't even think about one of those Howloween costumes mom, although avatar costumes are okay)

I have to wear a leash outdoors and they don't

I could go on for a long time here. Matt Beswick over at Pet 365 Blog put together a cool infographic that shows some of the more important differences. Click on the poster to make it big enough to read (my bloggie isn't wide enough to do it justice).

Dog Anatomy graphic created by Pet365, a UK pet supplies site with a fantastic collection of dog coats, collars and leads. Click here to view the full post.

It doesn't matter if we look alike inside and outside but whether we love each other and we sure do that. Maybe the Pet365 people we do a chart showing me how I am different from my kitty sister and brothers.

Help Lynchburg Virginia Win the PetSafe Bark for Your Park Contest

2011-07-15T23:03:00.001-04:00

Dear Pals I am asking for your help today. One of the cities here in Furginia is a finalist for the PetSafe's Bark For Your Park Contest. Lynchburg is in the center of the state and the people and their dogs have been working hard to get a dog park there since 2008.

They are one of the 15 finalist communities and had to enter a video. Here it is.

The winner will get $100,000 which will help make this dog park a really special place.

Between now and August 3, Lynchburg's video will compete with videos from 14 other localities across the United States. The public can vote for their favorite video, and the entry that receives the most votes will be declared the winner. Contest rules allow supporters to vote once per day, per voting site.

PetSafe's Bark For Your Park Page

PetSafe Facebook page

So, unless you live near one of the other fourteen cities, would you help support the people and dogs of Lynchburg Furginia?

And let's hear it for PetSafe being a great corporation willing to donate some of their profits to build dog parks!

I'm Baaaccccckkkkkkk!

2011-07-09T19:02:00.001-04:00

Can you believe it has almost been two months since I posted? Shame on mom for being too busy to help me but I think the worst is over for her.

I have been very busy. First, there was my third birthday. Mom made this cool video of the fun we had but then we never blogged it. After this video some men came and cleared all the growth around the pond so you'll notice a real change in future videos.

She put together a slide show of the still pics from my birthday too. Mom is really loving Animoto!

My birthday was May 28, and then mom's was the very next day and that pretty much finished off May.

In June I got a new sisfur named Alexis. If you remember my sisfur Majel who went to the bridge last August you will see why mom and dad could not resist her. She's also a white kitty with a calico tail. And FINALLY I have a kitty that will play with me! This little ball of fur came into our home and took over, putting the other kittehs in their place. I love it!

Here she is taking a nap in mom's bag from Doggy Baggage. I can promise you some more posts featuring my new pal Alexis. Dad has been a videoing fool! But she sure is cute so can you blame him? And below is a better picture of her sweet face.

Right after we adopted her, mom, dad and I had to go to one of her parks, Hungry Mother State Park, to celebrate the Virginia State Parks 75th Anniversary and so mom could help train the supervisors who work with the kids in the Youth Conservation Corps. Since Alexis had not gotten acclimated real well yet, we decided we better bring her with us (I hate to think of the other three kitties being tortured by her for the week we were gone). We had a great time at the park. We had a cabin right on the lake and I got to go swimming of course.

Here I am on the front porch of our cabin and a view of the Hungry Mother Lake from the cabin porch.

Now that the big anniversary celebration is behind mom, she is a little busy with the Youth Conservation Corps and planning next year's Virginia State Parks marketing, but she is used to that level of busy.

Mom's work has daily contests until Labor Day (September 5) so you should check them out.

Dad Says I'm a Real Hero

2011-05-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

Yes this is the Anipal Super Hero #pawpawty and we are all dressed up as Super Heroes. I am dressed up as the Greatest American Hero for the pawty.

But this week dad says I was a REAL Hero!

On Thursday I smelled smoke and I knew it was dangerous. So I had to convince dad that there was something wrong. First he thought I was telling him I had to go out but he reminded me I had just been out. But I just got more and more agitated and would just not leave him alone. I was whining and started trembling. I think the trembling was what did it.

So dad got up and when he walked in the other room he smelled something burning. He ran downstairs and there was two feet of smoke up at the ceiling all the way down the stairs. My grandma had left a pan on the stove with three hot dogs in it. All the water had boiled away and the hot dogs were ready to burst into flames. Smoke was pouring out of the pan. Grandma was asleep.

Dad says I may have saved the house from catching on fire and maybe even burning down so I am a real hero! Maybe I was a Dalmatian in another life!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T22:07:00.000-04:00

Easter is really bumming me out because my humans are enjoying their chocolate treats and they can't share them with me. I know dogs don't even taste sweet and chocolate is "doggy death" but I just feel left out. Mom and dad gave me extra treats of mine but it's not the same.

This is me moping around

Mom explained to me why Easter is happy and really has nothing to do with candy, and she also said something about me being self-centered, whatever that means.

So to cheer me up and all my other pals feeling the same way, here is a great Snoopy video. Mom loves those eggs you look inside so she really likes this video too.

I Love Dean Koontz

2011-04-17T14:09:00.002-04:00

Mom and I have a favorite author of all time and that's Dean Koontz. We love his books because of the characters. He is known as a horror writer but his books are so much more than that. He also has lots of really good dog characters.

His non-fiction account of his life with his beloved Golden Retriever (A Big Little Life), Trixie, is a book we highly recommend. I knew from the beginning that Trixie was already OTRB with so many of my other friends but mom and me still cried our hearts out for Dean and Gerda Koontz and all who loved Trixie when she went to the bridge. Definitely a three handkerchief ending!

Dean and Gerda are huge supporters of Canine Companions for Independence, a wonderful organization that trains service animals for people with disabilities. Their dog Trixie was a CCI dog who had to retire from service due to elbow surgery. Their current dog, is a descendant of Trixie.

Dean doesn't do many interviews so I wanted to share this one with my pals. He was on CBS Sunday Morning last week.

If you have never read Dean Koontz before, here are some great ones with dog characters to check out. You can find more info on all of these on his site.

Watchers

The Darkest Evening of the Year

Breathless

One Door Away from Heaven

Fear Nothing

The Taking

Relentless

Mom's absolute favorite is one of Dean's earliest books: Lightning

Check out Dean Koontz on his website, Facebook and Twitter. There is also an App and he has a You Tube page. Trixie has her own page and you can link to that from the main website. When you watch the video you will see that Dean isn't on the cutting edge of technology (really, did you see that 'puter?) but someone who works for him definitely is as he has some cool sites!

Blog the Change - Stop Breed Specific Legislation

2011-04-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today is the big "Blog for Change" day and mom and me thought really hard as to what issue to talk about. We have several issues we believe in strongly.

Pet adoption

Spay and Neuter

Chain Free Dogs

But the recent plight of poor Lennox in Northern Ireland made us decide to write about Breed Specific Legislation again.

We have written on this subject even before we heard about the Lennox story but we did not know about the laws in the United Kingdom then. Mom and I think we need to talk about this issue more or we may have more laws in the United States to ban dogs by breeds.

I understand that some humans are afraid of being attacked by dogs. Some dogs too. I know our good friends at Two Little Cavaliers were victims of an attack. But just like there are good people and bad people there are good dogs and bad dogs.

In this great article about famous Hero Dogs there are a lot of dogs on Breed Specific lists. Yes some of these breeds have attacked and even killed people. Yes the same breeds have saved people.

I also think insurance companies, apartment complexes and neighborhoods need to find a different way to address the issue and deal with bad behavior not discrimination. In Furginia we have dangerous dog statutes that register and list dogs who have bitten humans. Mom knows about this because her sister had a dog that was declared "dangerous." It was rough punishment for a dog that barely broke the skin and we believed that it was even a case of mistaken identity but he had managed to escape the yard with his sisfur. But even as harsh as the result was for my cousin Bear, he was not euthanized.

We have two pitbulls that live in our house with my mom's niece. Here's the picture of me and Honey I posted in my last blog on this subject.

My Spring Avatar

2011-04-06T18:23:00.001-04:00

I have had several comments about my new April/Spring Twitter avatar so I have to tell you that there is a story behind it.

First, for my pals not on Twitter that read my bloggie, here is the picture.

The story was way too long for the Twitter 140 characters and some of you haven't made it over to my replacement legal Facebook Fan Page, so I thought the bloggie was the best place for the story.

My mom used to be afraid of sunflowers. Yep, isn't that funny, I hear you all laughing. She is a bit sensitive about it now and has a hard time explaining why. Something about how tall they get and the fact they grew in her backyard and when the wind blew that got really spooky looking. She says it's also that big section in the center that looks creepy. It's kind of like faces.

The funny thing is she never really told anyone about her fear until about 5 years ago. Her mom was in the hospital in a town away from where we live and she and her two sisters were staying nearby. They went out to dinner at a Cracker Barrel and mom made the big mistake of mentioning her fear. Of course her sisters bought a giant sunflower to tease her with. She says she is over her fear but I see her shudder when she doesn't think anyone is looking. They had a bunch of really big ones by the drive thru of our drugstore last summer.

The other funny thing is my picture in the center of the sunflower. It's my picture where it looks like I'm sneezing. Well, mom gets seasonal sneezy - less from flowers more from from the yucky green pine tree pollen, but this is the month for that stuff!

So that's why the avi is a joke on mom.

Photo by Jim Simonson (rocketjim54) used under Creative Commons License

Sigh, Another Stuffie Bites the Dust

2011-04-03T10:31:00.002-04:00

Duh Duh Duh Duh another one bites the dust ....

I was just chatting with my pal Teeny the other night on Twitter about how we had finally found some indestructible stuffies. I have all kinds of strong toys that last a long time but not really any stuffies. Mom read about HuggleHounds on a blog she reads occasionally and decided we would try some. After all, they were using a patent pending tuff toy process.

I had my HuggleHounds Octopus and Reindeer (it was on sale and I don't think they are just for Christmas) for a whole month and I was having fun and there wasn't the slightest hole.

Here are some of the pictures mom took of me with them.

I'm munching on the reindeer's ear and the octopus has rolled over

This is a good shot of the Octopus (well, the before shot anyway)

The very next night, I am not joking, mom comes home and is starting to relax. She picks up the octopus and there is a HOLE IN HIS HEAD!

You know what this means? I must be a ZOMBIE because apparently I like STUFFIE BRAINS.

BRAINS, BRAINS ....

Well mom does what she normally does to save a stuffie for a while. She removed all the stuffin' and let me have the Octopus back. Sadly the best squeaker went in the drawer. It's my favorite kind of squeaker, the one they wrap up with cotton around in plastic so it is real sounding squeak. It is a very well made toy though because all of the Octopus tentacles are still self contained with their knots and squeakers in tact. So, there is still lots of fun left in the ole' girl.

I probably shouldn't say anything but the reindeer is still fine .... for now.

These toys are really well made and it has been a long time that any stuffie lasted anywhere near this long so I give them two paws up! To give you an idea, here is a glimpse of the stuffie destruction I am responsible for. These are the toys that I am still allowed to play with. Many others have gone to their grave (put out of their misery). Teeny do you see the beaver? That is Justin2.

Anipal Photo Hunt - What the heck is that thing?

2011-04-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I know what this is but really, who needs it? It makes a lot of noise and it removes really cool things off the floor I like to investigate like crumbs. Even my kitty sibs agree with this since they like some of the stray stuff on the floor too.

Save Lennox!

2011-04-01T01:09:00.000-04:00

If you have not heard about Lennox yet, please read this. Lennox is a mixed breed and according to officials in Ireland too close to one of the breeds considered illegal. His punishment? Death. Please join us and fight to help Lennox's family save him.

We have written against breed specific legislation in the United States (click here for one post) and we want to extend that world-wide AND help save Lennox.

Bad enough they took Lennox from a family who loved him

but they also have to keep him in this horrible place.

And ultimately they want to kill him.

If you are a blogger, blog to save Lennox and join the Blog Hop here. Post about it on Facebook and Twitter, help spread the world. As mai pal Frugal Dougal says - we'll be Paws Around the World and making a difference!

Missing some friends

2011-03-31T10:00:00.001-04:00

Mom and I confess that we have not been paying much attention to our blog roll lately. She has been really, really busy and the blog roll is really, really long so those two things have meant we haven't posted much or read much. We stopped doing the Saturday blog hop but hope to be able to come back when things calm down.

This is me looking sad (even with a hoof to chew on)

Today we were poking around looking for some of our favorites (and we are also bad about reading and not commenting cause sometimes we just can't think of anything clever enough to say). But we clicked on some of our favorites tonight and found that for a few of them it had been months since they posted. The last post was not some sad thing about why they were leaving or they were sick or too busy or the muse went away. It was just a nice post and then nothing.

And that makes me sad. What happened to my friends? Should I be worried about them? It happens on Twitter sometimes too and since I have moved to my legal Facebook page there are some folks I don't catch up as much with there anymore because they have to follow my mom (and it does get a little confusing sometimes). It's the only thing I don't like about our community. Sometimes we just don't know folks well enough to be able to find them. But maybe that's because WE are not connecting on a deep enough level but maybe that's what we like a little too.

Mom and me will have to do some deep thinking on this subject.....

Spring you pulled a foolie on me

2011-03-28T14:06:00.001-04:00

First I probably have to educate you on what a FOOLIE is. When dad throws sticks for me to swim and get in the pond, I don't like to bring them back to him. He gave them to me, so they are mine all mine. Well, even in a yard with as many trees as we have sometimes a good throwing stick is hard to find. It's also complicated because when dad is looking for good sticks, I like to run ahead and find them first.

I'm trying to give you enough background so you don't think dad is just plain mean. But I do have to take some of the blame for seriously reducing the stick population and stealing them before he can get them. So to prolong the throwing and swimming fun, dad tricks me. He pretends like he is throwing the stick and I start running and launch into the pond, only to find he just put it behind his back. This picture says it all. You can almost see me down the incline by the water trying to find the #@*! stick.

So in my family we call that a FOOLIE. To use it in a sentence, "Daddy pulled a foolie on Yoda." As I said, it would be mean if it wasn't my own darn fault. I just can't help my stick compulsion. I need a 12 step program. [Mom loves this picture so much she uses it on her phone for when daddy calls her - always gives her a chuckle.]

To finally get to what this post is about, it seems that Spring did a foolie on all of us in Furrginia and maybe some of you in the rest of the country. It has been nice and warm mostly these last couple weeks and the calendar said it was spring last Monday. But yesterday some folks had snow in Furrginia (not us) and the rest of us had it really cold. Apparently the foolie even got the building mom works in because they have no heat today.

So I am announcing officially: SPRING you better stop with the foolie and give us the warm weather back right now, or ELSE!

Spring Is Here

2011-03-21T08:54:00.001-04:00

The weather has been nice lately and I have been swimming several times already but the calendar says that the first day of Spring is really today. I think they might be right because mom is sneezing and there are all kinds of beautiful flowers blooming and colorful trees. It's a real nice change after all the brown!

Mom made a neat video for Spring for her work bloggie and I thought all my friends would like to see what spring is like in good old Furginia.

Oh and mom got the family's tickets for BarkWorld Expo, so we are all set.

Sample Sunday Yoda Style

2011-03-19T20:52:00.000-04:00

Mom got a Kindle for Christmas and she really loves it. She already had an iPad and she read books on that but the Kindle is so much lighter and she can even download Kindle books on the iPad if she wants.

One of her friends at work clued her in to a great website called Pixel of Ink. This website features free or deeply discounted (like $1.99 or $.99) books for the Kindle. Mom and I get their blog delivered everyday and peruse the available books and download some.

Today we found out about a cool thing called Sample Sunday. Apparently it happens every Sunday and authors share samples of their work and we lucky book lovers get to find out about new books and authors. You can follow the hashtag #samplesunday an now Pixel of Ink has started a special Facebook page and an event for Sample Sunday.

So Sunday we are going to plunge into Sample Sunday and find some new books to read. I think that's going to be fun!

You don't have a Kindle? That's okay because there are free Kindle reading apps for most devices.

Petfinder's Adopt the Internet Day

2011-03-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

In honor of Petfinder's Adopt the Internet Day, I am highlighting one of the way too many anipals that need a home.

It didn't take mom and me long to find a dog that reminded us of me. Bella doesn't look as much like me as some of my dopplegangers, but she had long legs and loves to kiss everyone. Well, and then there are those ears of hers. If that doesn't sound like me... Mom says the "learning how to behave" part reminds her of me too. Gee thanks mom.

Today is Petfinder's 15th birthday - 15 years and 17 million adoptions. And what do they want for their birthday? Just for us to spread the word about pet adoption so they can find even more dogs, cats, birds, rabbits .... forever homes. More than 320,000 pets are waiting for homes on Petfinder.com. Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet today and find forever homes for as many as possible!

Anipal Photo Hunt: Mardi Gras

2011-03-14T00:54:00.000-04:00

I am so happy that the Anipal Photo Hunt is back because it compels mom to actually help me with a post. I don't have a Mardi Gras outfit per se but mom did remember that she had one pair of beads.

That's okay though because these are VERY SPECIAL beads. Yep, in case you couldn't see them good in the picture they are orange.

Do you still need another hint?

They are Shibbering Cheetos Lub Beads that mom brought home from Barkworld Expo for me. They are one of my prize possessions so mom took the beads right off and put them back in our special drawer.

Be sure to head over to my pal Cokie's blog to add your Anipal Photo Hunt picture blog link.

Check Out the Barkworld Expo Speakers!

2011-03-08T01:15:00.000-05:00

The Barkworld Expo speakers are listed on their site now. Yep, that's my mom on that list! She's going to talk about advertising on Facebook in her session called "Making Every Bark Count: The Ins and Outs of Facebook Advertising."

Mom advertises for her job, Virginia State Parks, on lots of places but she says Facebook is the most fun because you know you are reaching the people that are interested in your product or service.

I know a lot of my pals are mad at Facebook because they don't like us animals to have profile pages. Mom got me legal by setting me up a page. They actually call me a Public Figure! Makes mom and I smile every time we see it.

But lots of the recent changes Facebook has made is brilliant for advertisers and if you come to BarkWorld Expo mom will tell you why. [Mom was getting worried here, thinking I was going to give away her secret right here on my bloggie like that talking dog on the Bush's Baked Beans commercial].

You have to come to Barkworld because you will get to meet me! I'm packing my bag already - this is the bag mom got last year as part of the Bark and Ride promotion from Doggie Baggage.

Cat Tunnel Happiness

2011-02-27T17:41:00.002-05:00

I rolled up a newspaper this morning and smacked mom's nose for her neglecting my bloggie. She gave me sad puppy dog eyes and promised she would never do it again. So she decided we better post something right away. Fortunately we had one all ready that she had been meaning to help me with for some time.

My kitty sibs don't like most toys so mom and dad stopped wasting their money on stuff for them (other than nip and a laser pointer). But, for Christmas they decided to invest in a cat tunnel from Nip and Bones. And, as these pictures show, they finally found something they like!

Cleo makes herself at home

Sabrina checks it out

Hmmm seems rather comfy

Yep, purrrfect for napping

"I'm not sure I can fit my tubby tabby body in this tunnel" thinks Caesar

Well, barely

They aren't fooling me though. I know they like this thing because I can't chase them when they are inside. Foiled again!

Pets for a Lifetime: Which Pets Live the Longest?

2011-02-16T19:39:00.001-05:00

Today I am thrilled to present my very first guest post which has been contributed by Tina Marconi. Tina writes on the topic of online vet tech schools. She welcomes your comments at her email id: tinamarconi85[@]gmail[.]com. I added the pictures to go with her post.

Remember when you had a dog when you were a child and then he disappeared suddenly and was replaced by another? Remember how your mom told you that your old pet had been sent to a farm to live because he needed more room than you had in your home? And remember when you finally figured out the truth, that your dog had died because that’s just how long dogs live – a maximum of 12 years or so?

It’s hard when a pet, which is a beloved member of the family, dies after a few years of being a significant part of your life. So if you’re looking for a pet that lives as long as you do, or at least for a good number of years, then you probably have to choose a turtle or a tortoise, because they can live for 75 or more years. However, not everyone considers a tortoise a pet, unless you prefer the reptilian kind and don’t really feel the need to cuddle or play with them.

Photo courtesy of Virginia State Parks

If you like backtalk and some color around the house, you could go in for a parrot, a cockatoo or a macaw – many of these birds can live for 60 or more years, and they give you quite an earful too if they can talk. It could become embarrassing if the birds repeat the choice epithets you’ve uttered when you hit your leg against the sofa or cut yourself inadvertently, but on the upside, you always have someone to talk to and a voice greeting you as you walk into an otherwise empty house.

Photo courtesy of Riza Nugraha

Again, you can’t really cuddle your bird, so if you’re looking for a warm-blooded mammal that lives long, then go for a horse. Of course, if you own a horse, you need a farm or a large open area where you can exercise and ride him and where he is happy and content. City life is not for your horsey, so when you live in the hustle and bustle of streets filled with traffic and in apartments that can be covered end to end with a dozen strides, your best bet for a pet that lives long is a dog or a cat.

Cats live a year or so longer than dogs, but with a feline or a canine, you get to enjoy 10 to 15 years of companionship. The downside to owning a dog is that they require considerable grooming, training and looking after, so most people prefer a cat. But then again, dogs are more people-friendly while cats tend to be disdainful of the entire human clan.

My Sisfur Majel lived 18 years!

If you want a pet in a cage and one small enough to hold in your hand, go for a rabbit, gerbil, guinea pig, hamster or a mouse – they live for 2 to 3 years, and make ideal pets for children who tend to outgrow their interests faster than you can find them new ones.
The choice of a pet boils down to the kind of animal you love the most, but then, considerations like age, space and cost do add to the mix and make the decision more complicated. It’s best to weigh all the factors involved, and then do what’s best for yourself and your pet.

Thanks Tina!

Groundhog Day Fraud Exposed!

2011-02-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

Mom just told me about the gigantic fraud perpetrated on us over Groundhog Day and that Punxsutawney Phil character. You know - that whole thing about when he comes out of his burrow on February 2 if he sees his shadow expect 6 more weeks of winter and if he doesn't it means an early spring?

Photo from Reuters

Well, mom read to me this Yahoo News report and it seems the whole thing is fake, with the results decided by some people in advance! So I was hoping that we were getting an early spring because he didn't see his shadow today. And boy I could believe it because we had 70 degree weather today! I ran and played so hard out today that I threw up.

Now I don't know what to think. Well, I did see on Wikipedia that there are some other rodent rascals that predict the weather - do you think they are real?

Next thing you know I'll find out that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are fake too.

Anyway, mom and I wanted to share this film clip from one of our most favorite movies - Groundhog Day! And, for all my pals snowed in my the horrible blizzard, I do hope we get an early spring!

Find Your Better Half Contest

2011-01-30T23:10:00.001-05:00

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.

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!

2011-01-17T15:29:00.001-05:00

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

2011-01-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-01-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-01-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

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!

Happy Winter Solstice

2010-12-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

Mom says today is the shortest day of the year. I think that means that there is less sun which means less time to play outside. We are also having an unusually cold December here in Furrginia. I am a hot blooded doggy even with my short coat but I know dad and particularly mom are complaining about the cold. My swimming pond is frozen over which makes me sad too. Dad was going to take pictures of the special eclipse last night but the 20 degree temperature (not counting the wind chill) changed his mind. He CLAIMED it was too cloudy but mom and I know better.

Mom and I decided it would be fun to participate in the Winter Solstice gift swap that The Portugese Water Dog Blog sponsored. Mom and I sent a gift all the way to England and we got a package from the Portugese Water Dogs themselves ten days or more ago now. Mom would not let me open the package because she said we had to wait for the Winter Solstice. Well, today is the day so we opened the package. Drum roll please!

Mom and I love the presents! There was a whole family of knit doggies. Of course, not as many doggies as there are over the Portugese Water Dog Blog house, but still a mom, dad and baby dog. Here is a better close up picture of just the dogs:

Mom says I can't play with them because she likes them. But I think they are fun to look at too!

I am really excited about the other present. It might be hard to see in the picture but these are dog biscuit cookie cutters. The best part is they come with a recipe and thankfully for me what mom said was an "easy" recipe because otherwise they would never get made (just saying mom).

So short days or not, I am thinking this Winter Solstice thing can't be but so bad. Mom also suggested I share with you an article that tells you everything you would ever want to know about the Winter Solstice. It's by Richard Cohen and was in Sunday's New York Times.

I know Sue and her whole family of dogs are celebrating a double early Christmas and Winter Solstice because Morgan's pathology report came back with great news after a lump was removed from her neck turned out to be benign! And, be sure and check out this blog post from them because it has lots of pictures from Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas. Williamsburg is right down the road from where we live!

Holiday Greetings to all my Friends

2010-12-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

If you happened to be at the last #Pawpawty and listened to me DJ, you may have already seen my holiday greetings, but I know efurybuddy didn't get to, so here is the slide show video mom and me put together using Animoto. We have to say that Animoto is THE coolest thing we have ever played with. Mom even made some videos for work with it.

So for my pals that celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. For those that celebrate Hanukkah, Happy Hanukkah, and if not you have my greetings in the season!

Anipal Photo Hunt #16: My 2nd Job

2010-12-05T11:38:00.000-05:00

When I read the first two posts from this photo hunt theme on 2nd jobs I felt like I was a useless cog in society. My friends were doing something to help other anipals or people and here I am a happy go lucky dog having fun 24/7. Sure I have to take care of my humans - waking them up in the morning, fetching the TV remote, protecting the cats from the vacuum, getting the humans outside to exercise but the rest of the time I'm just playing and sleeping. So I have been moping around, refusing to blog.

Mom tried to make me feel better. She said I was only 2 and still a little too rambunctious to do good works in a public setting. After all most people don't appreciate a big dog that gets in their face and starts slurping hard enough to lick off some skin (although I met a nice lady at the V-E-T the other day who loved my smooches).

She also pointed out how valuable my stick patrol activities are in our yard. We have lots and lots of trees and those sticks are raining down every time the wind blows a least little bit. I also get the sticks out of the pond.

One other job I would really love (but mom and dad won't let me) is cleaning out the litter box. They keep a gate that blocks me out of the bathroom where the litter box is. The other day dad had it up just a little too high and he caught me slithered underneath it. I could get half my body in there and that was enough the reach the box and do some selective scooping. Unfortunately, extracting myself from that position knocked the gate down so I was caught. Sadly dad did not have his camera handy to capture this particular exploit. He was probably laughing too hard to focus anyway. Maybe I can hire myself out for the litter box job. I know humans hate that work!

Finally, mom says she thinks making people who read my blog laugh or even just smile is a good job to have. I hope I do that!

I am hoping my other pals will share their second jobs on this Anipal Photo Hunt. Just click the button below for information on how to join in!

So much to be thankful for

2010-11-25T12:20:00.001-05:00

I am a happy dog and every day is a new adventure so there is so much to be thankful for!

First, I am thankful for all of you! Since I started my Twitter account and blog, I have met so many wonderful anipals and humans that I feel truly blessed every day. Mom has even gotten to meet some of you in person!

I wanted to share with you all the other things I am thankful for!

A good hoof or bone to chew

Swimming in my pond

The time I had with my sisfur Majel before she went to the bridge

Belly rubs!

Snuggling in bed AND my mom and dad for taking good care of me

Sticks!!!

And my waggle that regularly gets filled with treats

Happy Thanksgiving to efurrybuddy!

Anipal Photo Hunt #15: THE VET

2010-11-24T18:11:00.000-05:00

Mom says the correct word is "ironic." It just so happens that is it just about time for me to go see the V-E-T to get my S-H-O-T-S and annual check up. I have to go next week as a matter of week. Mom will make the appointment for Friday.

This year I have a real V-E-T. Last year mom and dad took me to Care-A-Lot pets for their Vet Clinic. The vet and the people there were very nice but after the scare with that bump on my leg (that was just a fluid pad), we needed a vet that is there all the time. So I am now a patient at the Seaford Veterinary Clinic. Oh and the other good thing is no waiting in line!

Here are the pictures from my trip last year at Care-A-Lot.

This is when we are waiting in line. I am clueless since the last V-E-T

visit they put me under and snipped me at the same time.

Don't remember a thing.

Even on the table, I am fine.

Not sure why I deserved such a big hug until I realized this was to

HOLD ME DOWN WHILE THEY GAVE ME THE SHOTS!

I will share pics of my next visit with you when I go next week. In the meantime, how about sharing yours on the Anipal photo blog hop? Just click the widget below to get all the details!

Guess WHO mom saw and the Saturday blog hop

2010-11-21T01:27:00.000-05:00

Mom was at a conference this week (actually she went to two). The second one was at one of my favorite of her state parks, Shenandoah River. The park staff and volunteers were doing research on a special kind of owl called the saw-whet. Shawnee gave her the idea to hunt for one of those high tech thingees to show you all what those owls sound like.

	Bruce Marcot - Northern Saw-whet Owl call .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Mom said she could hear them doing the fake call to lure the owls so they could put bands on them. The bands are supposed to help scientists learn more about what the owls do and where they go.

The night mom was at that park they did not catch one of those saw-whets but a long-eared owl instead. Mom took this video so you can see what this owl looked like.

Mom said if you want to know more about the owl banding project going on you should read about it by clicking here. Pretty interesting and lots of people are helping with the project. Mom was real excited she got to be so close to that owl.

And now join in the hop with us!

Anipal Photo Hunt #14: MOM!

2010-11-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

Mom does not like to have her picture taken. She says she likes to TAKE pictures because that means she can't be IN them! BOL! However, as long as we abide by one rule - waist up - she will let us take pictures under certain conditions.

This is the best picture of Mom and she is in the BZTAT Be the Change t-shirt. She took that picture the day she and dad took all the pictures of where I love for the Anipal World Tour. I also like it because mom works for parks and it was taken in a park (although not one of mom's state parks).

Of course I like this picture because it is me and mom when I was just a pup. Also taken in a park.

Finally I like this picture that dad took just last Friday when mom was teleworking. You can't tell for sure but yes, she is teleworking in her pajamas. I like her fur stole (that's Sabrina).

I hope you will all join in the Photo Hunt and share pictures of your moms! Just click on the button for more information.

That darn capcha and the Saturday Blog Hop

2010-11-13T15:08:00.000-05:00

I am really bored today. Dad and I went and played stick fetching and I went swimming but I am still raring to go and dad and mom keep telling me to calm down. I was at a loss as to what to write about today too. So, mom and I settled down to read our bloggie roll. It is not possible for us to keep up with every post from all our friends, but we do try.

Just plain bored

We like to add a comment when we are inspired, but we read a whole lot more blogs than just the ones we comment on. REALLY.

I had never noticed before since mom does the typing but today I saw she had to do this weird thing when she posted comments - type these strange letters that make no sense. She says they are called a CAPTCHA and they are used to tell comments from humans apart from computers. I didn't even know computers read blogs!

Sometimes they look like this:

Mom says those are actually two real words but they also put that line through it to make it hard for the computer to read. Mom says sometimes it is hard for humans to read too!

This one is from mom's work bloggie. This particular one is easy compared to some that pop up. She says sometimes she has a hard time getting it right but believe it or not the spammers get through anyway!

Most of the blogs we follow are on Blogger and the CAPTCHA is not too hard.

The Word Press bloggies are a little harder and look more like the official CAPTCHA in the first example above. A couple of the blogs we follow do not have one - my blog does not have one. I know we get a little bit of spam but Blogger has actually developed a pretty cool spam blocker that catches the most annoying ones now. We certainly understand why people like to have them and some people even moderate their posts (mom's work blog does that too).

We wanted to share with you some of today's CAPTCHAs!

asinsio
mismsh
singeop
trasis
enour
monrea
munroi
thermion
sizin
anden
imelays Harremoes

Sounds like a foreign language!

Be sure and check out the other bloggies on the Saturday Blog Hop!

Anipal Photo Hunt #13: From Where I Stand...

2010-11-09T19:00:00.001-05:00

This week's anipal photo hunt challenges us to show pictures to share what we see "where we stand."

If you read my bloggie on a regular basis you probably know that I love swimming and fetching sticks in my back yard. Here are some of the great views I see when I am not looking for sticks, chasing sticks, stripping the bark off sticks, eating sticks, barking at mom and dad to throw more sticks, ....

This is a picture of MY pond and the geese.

Here is a view from another direction.

You can see that I barely pay attention to those geese when I have a stick in my sites.

The other pictures are from last March but this one is from January. No swimming on that day!

I hope to see some of YOUR pictures - join onto this blog hop. Find our about the hop and how to join by clicking the button below!

#Lub2Rock Adoption Option Redux and Saturday Blog Hop

2010-11-06T00:54:00.000-04:00

Last night I got to be an Adoption Jockey again for #Lub2Roc k Adoption Option sponsored by the Mattie Dog Foundation. The Shibbering Cheetos were on hand and there was overflowing bacon beer and bacon and quizzes with prizes.

I had all my rescue pets selected and the tweets all ready before the pawty so I could just paste them in Twitter and Facebook so I got through all 15 of them. It was so hard to choose the animals to feature and even harder not to run down and adopt them!

Won't you help get the word out about these very adoptable pets in Virginia? I am going to spend a little time talking about the rescue outfits they come from too.

The first few doggies came from BROOD. Isn't that a cool name for a Rescue? It stands for Basset Rescue of the Old Dominion (that's Furginia for those pals not in the know). Mom found out about this group because she met one of their supporters through her job and nothing having to do with doggies. Nice coincidence!

BROOD is a nonprofit animal welfare organization run solely by volunteers for the welfare of abandoned basset hounds. BROOD’s mission is to locate abandoned basset hounds, provide appropriate interim foster and veterinarian care (including spaying/neutering) for them, and place them in qualified permanent homes. Adoptable bassets cared for by BROOD are from shelters and pounds, or are strays. They have a Facebook page. In November they are waiving adoption fees for all dogs 8 and over!

Georgette is a 5 year old Basset mix and will steal your heart.

Dapper Jax and Lady Jax are a senior Basset pair.

Emerson is a senior Basset with lots of love to give.

I also featured some doggies from Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of the German Shepherd Dog. They provide a safe haven for German Shepherds (and, sometimes, other breeds/mixes) who are left in shelters to await uncertain fate; are owner surrenders (moving, illness, divorce, death, etc.); or are victims of abuse or neglect. They adopt dogs to loving, responsible and secure homes, typically, in Virginia and the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. In the eight plus years that we have been in existence, we have found homes for over 2,600 deserving dogs, 247 in 2009 alone.

Java is an 8 year old female, fun loving GSD.

Alias is a GSD former street dog Gotta read his bio!

Bobby is a GSD who loves to play ball. This fellow had a tough life.

I couldn't forget the kitties. The first group of kitties came from a terrific organization in Hampton, Virginia that has been rescuing kitties for 29 years called the Cat Corner. They are an independent non-profit no-kill shelter which provides lifetime care for its resident cats and offers them for adoption to suitable homes. They love to see their kitties adopted, but their first concern is the cats' welfare. Their goal is to find each of their cats a home that provides love, care, and permanence.

Lucille aka Lucy is a super playful female orange tabby.

Jonesy is a short haired/orange mix kitty who will purr his way into your heart.

Ninja is a black long-haired mix female lap cat.

Misty is a lovely special needs short haired mix. She has a heart condition and needs to take meds but if you watch her video, you will fall in love with her.

Last time I was an AJ I featured a few other doggies from the next rescue, SEEVA GRREAT. Southeastern Virginia Golden Retriever Rescue, Education and Training is based out of the town we live in, Yorktown, Virginia that has been rescuing Goldens for 20 years with more than 1,000 rescues. They are a volunteer-staffed, non-profit organization that rescues abandoned and unwanted Golden Retrievers and places them in approved adoptive homes. They have a Facebook page too.

Pebbles and Bam Bam are an inseperable senior Golden couple.

The last doggies and kitties are from the Heritage Humane Society. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, Heritage Humane Society serves as a compassionate haven for stray or unwanted companion animals, educates the public about humane care and treatment, advocates animal welfare, and promotes adoption to measurably reduce overpopulation and pet homelessness.They have a Facebook group and a Twitter account.

Fred is a shy tri-color Walker Hound.

Hershey is a charcoal short-hair mix male kitty. There are a zillion kitties needing adoption at Heritage Humane Society.

Katiebug is a 1 year old friendly hound - how can you resist that face? I always fall in love with one of my AJ finds and Katiebug is the one! And I happen to know Williamsburg is just one town over.

Felicity is an 8 month old visually impaired black lab mix sweetie.

@MattieDog and @Mariodacat were also AJs. @Brutusthedane's mom got stuck on the way home from a business trip and @LadyCat3 filled in to tweet their adoptable pets.

Anipal Photo Hunt #12: All Souls' Day

2010-11-02T19:28:00.001-04:00

Another great subject for the weekly anipal photo hunt hop, The All Saints Day and All Souls Day traditions are wonderful and mom says humans like to think about their loved ones waiting for them in heaven. But it is also a great time to think about those beloved animals who are waiting at the bridge for us. I am thinking about all my pals in the anipal Twitter community that I have lost in the year and a half since I've been on Twitter.

Of course, foremost in our memories now is our dear sweet Majel who went to the bridge in early September.

While the rest of these animals were before my time, they have a special place in my humans' hearts so I wanted to include them.

There is Majel's beautiful sister who was named Isis (Isis is on the left - too bad you can't see their really nice calico tails):

There was Christie:

There was Skipper:

Mom at one point had three doggies when she had Skipper and Christie but she can't find any pictures of the third one, an Irish Setter named Red. You might notice that the animal naming got a little more creative when dad came onto the scene. When we were looking through the pictures I also noticed that mom's picture taking has gotten better since there were lots of half chopped off dogs in those pictures.

These were all rescue pets - the kind less fortunate than me where they had to go to a shelter before they found their furever homes.

There were other pets we just can't find pictures of - family pets like BoBo, Jingles, Happy.

I will tell you a secret about BoBo. He was mom's dad's dog and went everywhere with him. BoBo was cremated when he died and her dad requested that when he died BoBo's ashes be mixed with his. They are now in the urn together in a special place in Church (the BoBo part is kind of a secret from the church people because some might not understand) just like they are together in heaven.

Our most favorite telling of the Rainbow Bridge story can be accessed by clicking here.

Adoption Option Tweet Out Nov. 5

2010-10-31T23:03:00.000-04:00

It's time for another Adoption Option pawty on Twitter to raise awareness for all of the anipals that need furever homes.

Friday, November 5, 2010

8-10 p.m. EDT

5-7 p.m. PDT

Four adoption jockeys, including yours truly, will tweet adoptable anipals. The goal is to spread the word by as many retweets as possible with far reaching impact across the Twitterverse.

The hash tag for this event will be #Lub2Rock and the world-famous The Shibbering Cheetos will be on hand for some musical encouragement to get the Tweet Out. There will be a menu, quizzes and barktenders. Check out my post after the first Adoption Option pawty.

I was adopted but not from a rescue. So I went from my dog mom's home to my furever home without a stop over. The anipals we will be tweeting about have not been that lucky. Won't you stop by the pawty on Friday and help spread the word about these anipals in need?

Anipal Photo Hunt #11: Trick or Treat!

2010-10-25T20:03:00.001-04:00

Mom and dad fight sometimes. I wouldn't say it's a whole lot, but they do get mad. Fortunately in dog terms they more snarl at each other than actually fight. Sometimes the fighting is actually about me.

For instance, recently mom said the spikey he-man collar dad made me wear starting last year had to go or at least be replaced when I'm at home by something that won't scratch and dig into her when I hugged her. This one wasn't really much of a fight because they had been sparring over the issue since the collar first went on. I think dad just got tired of her whining about it. I now have a very handsome green hemp collar. We save the spikey one for whenever I might be around mad attack dogs that might try to put the bitey on my neck.

You may be wondering what this has to do with Trick or Treat. Well one of their Yoda related snarling fests was over dressing me up. In this fight I sided with dad. See last year mom bought me a Dogicula costume. It never made it on my body. Well, parts of it made it on my body but never the whole thing. Maybe mom should put it on eBay. So dad said mom was never to try to dress me up again. He did allow a t-shirt so mom got a little compromise going there.

So if you wonder why my Halloween costume is manufactured from faceinhole.com (couture for the stars or the costume-challenged), just know dad won that fight. He actually wins very few so I think it was more that mom knew better than trying to put another costume on me this year. Sometimes I worry when she longingly looks at some of my pal Bear's posts but I just remember that dad is on my side!

So, here is my Halloween picture for this year - it was really hard getting my head in the pumpkin. Took mom all of twenty minutes!

I wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Please join in the Anipal Photo Hunt Blog Hop. Just click on the button below!

Another Great Chet Novel and the Saturday Blog Hop

2010-10-23T22:08:00.000-04:00

My geeky mom got herself an i-pad ten days ago and her very first i-book was the new Chet book: To Fetch a Thief, by Spencer Quinn.

Mom got to meet Spencer Quinn when she was at BarkWorld Expo in Atlanta and we had already read his first two Chet books. We were real fans although she did mention the little problem of the cliffhanger ending related to Chet's lump in the second novel. Apparently we were not the only fans that were upset by that! Of course Mr. Quinn said something like why would I kill off the main character of the book? Hope he's a Stephen King fan and remembers what happened in Misery. I'd hate to have to put the bitey on the man at some future occasion.

Like the other novels, Dog On It and Thereby Hangs a Tail) this book was great. Chet tells a wonderful story. In fact, I think Chet reminds me of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries except Chet is more entertaining (he always makes me bark out loud) AND, even more importantly, Chet often ends up solving the case or being so vital to the solution that you know Bernie could not have done it without him. Dr. Watson rarely did any of that.

This book kept mom on the edge of her seat and me twitching. Last night we went to bed with Chet muzzled and in a cage and Bernie in the hands of some bad Mexican police. I won't tell you how it turns out (we finished it today) but Mr. Quinn doesn't have to worry about any of Chet's fans putting the bitey on him after this book.

This story is all about an elephant named Peanut who disappears from the circus with his trainer. Bernie and Chet are sure it was a kidnapping but as usual have a hard time convincing law enforcement to take it seriously. There is lots of action and some great detective work.

I highly recommend this book and while you could read it without having read the other two books without getting confused, I recommend you read those too!

Be sure and read my earlier post I Like Chet and check out Chet's blog. He's also on Facebook and Twitter.

Anipal Photo Hunt #10: How Annoying!

2010-10-22T16:03:00.004-04:00

I am really behind posting this week. For all my friends who were worried that my mom was missing, she did finally come back. Yep, she came back and was dog tired. Hmmm. I wonder where that saying came from. Usually I am not tired because I get to sleep anytime I want. Oh well, humans and their sayings. Where was I. Oh yeah, she was also really busy at the office.

Anyway, better late than never. I only get annoyed at one thing - when my humans do not share their food with me. Mom had a great opportunity to get a shot of that look today while she was eating her lunch - some nice rotisserie chicken. It looked so juicy and nommy but I got nada. She gave me the excuse that she is on a diet so she was too hungry to give up even a morsel to me. But geesh - the whole leftover chicken is right over there ....

Looking at this picture I realize my problem is that I don't look particularly intimidating when I am doing my annoyed look. Maybe I need to show some teeth? Well, no chicken for me with this look. Where's that mirror? I am going to practice!

I wish more of my friends would join in these weekly photo hunt blogs. They are so much fun! Just click on the logo below for all of the details.

Missing Mom and the Saturday Blog Hop

2010-10-16T09:27:00.001-04:00

Does missing mom mean she is missing (like lost) or I just don't have her with me and I'm sad? In my opinion it's the same thing. She got that suitcase thing out Wednesday morning and took it with her when she went to work. I haven't seen her since. I think dad has talked to her on the phone a couple of times but as far as I am concerned, she is missing and I miss her. Rumor has it she is busy working at something called a Women's Wellness Weekend.

I will be particularly missing her today and tomorrow because since she is MIA I will not be able to go to the monthly "pawpawty and have fun with all my friends. So I'm pouting and when she gets home I will ignore her for at least two seconds.

Well, I guess it's time for the Saturday blog hop:

Blog the Change - Feed Shelter Animals

2010-10-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

Mom and I feel real strongly about anipal causes and we have been trying to find a way to help support these causes. Unfortunately mom works a gazillion hours a week so support that involves spending lots of time is hard for us. This doesn't mean we care any less though.

We were lucky to find a cause some time ago that even mom has time to help with - Freekibble.com.

Mom is also so busy that sometime she has trouble remembering to do things so FreeKibble.com is great because they send her an email everyday reminding her to click and help fee shelter animals. Better yet, FreeKibble.com is fun because there is a trivia question to answer to feed both dogs and cats (Bow Wow and Meow trivia). We have learned a lot with some of the questions. Fortunately you feed the shelter anipals even if you get the question wrong!

Mom and I especially admire that this great organization was founded by Mimi Ausland a not so ordinary eleven year old girl from Oregon.

Here is a great video from NBC Nightly News

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economybe

The easiest thing for us all to do to help is simply tell your friends to answer the Free Kibble trivia questions each day. All of us can be part of this great effort with this simple act.

Anipal Photo Hunt #9: Compromising Positions

2010-10-11T13:47:00.000-04:00

If you read my blog regularly you already know that my dad loves to catch me in the pooping position. This has to be THE MOST COMPROMISING position. So here for my embarrassment are three of his "best." Sigh.

While I love supporting the Photo Hunt - I'm not changing my Twitter or Facebook profile pics to any of THESE pictures!

Dogs Rule Day and the Saturday Blog Hop

2010-10-09T01:41:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, oh boy. Mom and dad treat me great every day but TODAY they have to treat me extra special. Don't know about Dogs Rule Day? Check out the website and Facebook page. Be sure and read the 101 ways to celebrate - we are working down the list as I type this!

I am getting in the belly rubbing position right now and there better be someone there to rub it!

If you read the ways to celebrate the day don't miss all the references to adopting dogs and helping out shelters. This is all part of Pedigree's Adoption Drive. To all my dog pals, have a great day! Fur everyone else - you have a good day living in a world where dogs rule (well, for one day anyway).

And now it's off to the hop!

Anipal Photo Hunt #8: I'm With the Band!

2010-10-04T12:06:00.000-04:00

I have the picture already for this Photo Hunt! Here I am playing the guitar. Dad and I jam together all the time and my mom sings. Guess we need to get the cats involved somehow.

Hey fellow bloggers - join in the Anipal Photo Hunt!

Me and the Dog Whisperer

2010-10-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

Mom loves to watch CBS Sunday Morning every Sunday. I will tell you a secret though - she rarely watches it live. If her watching it depended on her getting up in time to see it, she'd be out of luck. That DVR thingee helps her be a lazy mom on Sunday morning.

I am not much for television. I usually don't pay any attention. That is until this morning. They had a piece about Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer and I was just fascinated.

There are lots of shows and movies with dogs that I usually ignore but this one just caught my attention. The funny thing was I did it twice. Mom and dad noticed my behavior when they were watching and then played it back so they could video me doing it.

My real plan was to distract mom and dad so they would not hear what he had to say because Cesar would be pretty disappointed in the way they let me behave. I hate mom and dad to feel bad about their failings.

A New Kind of Jockey and the Saturday Blog Hop

2010-10-02T12:34:00.000-04:00

Most of my pals know how much I enjoy being a Disc Jockey at anipal pawties. I love planning my theme, picking out the music and tweeting the tunes to the pawty guests.

Last night I was a different kind of Jockey for the #Lub2Rock Adoption Option Pawty - an Adoption Jockey or AJ instead of DJ. It was really very similar to being a DJ only instead of picking songs I was finding adoptable anipals to tweet out to the pawty goers.

Tiki

There was a theme just like in my DJing as I had to decide which of so many (way too many) pets that need furever homes. Instead of an hour I had a half hour and instead of a 3 minute average length song the goal was a tweet per minute. Instead of using Blip to find and tweet songs, I used Petfinder.

Mel

For my theme I went with two of my local adoption organizations. The first was the Peninsula SPCA. They have been around for 47 years and in 2007 opened their own clinic so that every adopted animal has been spayed or neutered and has received wellness vaccinations and an examine along with lots of basic care stuff. They even microchip all the pets that are adopted! Our family has a special bond with them because mom (and later dad) have adopted some wonderful dogs and cats from there over many years.

Lucy

I also wanted to tweet a few dogs from a rescue operation based in my home town, Southeastern Virginia Golden Retriever Rescue, Education, and Training (SEVA GRREAT). This rescue recently celebrated it's 20th year of rescuing Golden Retrievers and finding them furever homes.

Ray-Ray

Unfortunately, because Petfinder is less equipped to help out AJs compared to Blip which is designed for DJs, I probably didn't prepare as much as I should have. I selected all of the pets but should have pre-written the Tweets. I was also posting the adoptable pets on Facebook and while Blip does that automatically, I had to do the separate post for each adoptable pet.

Bambi

But boy was it great - in two hours we got the word out about so many animals needing furever homes and, more importantly, we did a great job increasing awareness of the number of great pets in shelters and fosters needing homes and the need to think about adopting. The time just zoomed by. When I wasn't AJing I was busy retweeting the adoptable pets from the other AJs. I didn't even have time for a nom or a drink.

Dr. Pepper

The Adoption Option pawty was a project of the new Mattie Dog Foundation. @Mattiedog, @Brutusthedane, @Mariodacat and I were the AJs. The world famous Da Shibbering Cheetos played the music, @JustAnotherTrnd and @Hookalopes were Barktenders (with the requisite nommy menu) and there were quizzes and prizes.

Max

I learned something during my research of the available adoptable dogs in my area. They are overwhelmingly Pit Bulls. So sad. What did these people think they wanted when they adopted them and then turned them back in? I don't like to mention it but I don't live real far from where Michael Vick and his friends did their evil.

Havoc

I was so happy to help with this project. When I blogged about Nico for the Anipal Photo Hunt #6, I was so thrilled when I heard Nico was adopted the next week. It feels really good to be the change!

And now it's time for the Saturday Blog hop!

Anipal Photo Hunt #7: Hey! That's Not Me!

2010-09-27T14:55:00.000-04:00

This is an easy one for me as I have found LOTS of dogs that look like me. Since I know who my momma dog was and it is just that no account male dog that left her expecting a litter, I figure my poppa dog really got around!

I wasn't on Twitter long before I realized that one of my best pals, Lou from @LouPeb bears a striking resemblance. I'd think it was unusual for dad to get all the way to Arizona but there was also a lovely female dog that looked like me in that shelter in Poland that we had a #Pawpawty for last year.

So, here is a picture of Lou that I pulled of his Twitpic account. See the resemblance? Maybe I am just a little more pumpkin colored that Lou.

Be sure and join the weekly Anipal Photo Hunt. It is so much fun. Simply click the icon below to find out all about it!

Wounded and Saturday Blog Hop

2010-09-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Mom noticed the "wound" on the right (in the picture) when she took a picture of me with a treat on my head for sweet Sugar's ten second treat trick. Today she noticed the smaller one on the left.

How could this possibly happen? How could my handsomeness be marred in such a grievous way? I have a suspicion.

I have many, many kitty friends (some of my best friends are kitties) and they will be tempted to say that if the culprit swatted me I probably deserved it.

But I have nothing but love in my heart and play in mind. Is it my fault he is a grumpy gus (you will notice I selected the only picture we have of him that makes him look grumpy)? All I do is go up to him and try to be friendly and whack!

Well Caesar is not the only potential culprit. Another possibility is crazy Sabrina. Since dad rearranged the room, she has a new hiding place and has turned into a sniper of sorts. Take a look at this sneak attack.

I guess I will just have to be extra careful with these deadly felines around. Anyone have any ideas to help get these blemishes to heal faster?

National Dog Week Contest

2010-09-24T19:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that mom almost made me miss the National Dog Week Dog Tongue Photo Contest. She was so busy she just got around to checking our blog roll and saw the cute tongue pictures on Sugar's blog. Mom and dad almost missed National Dog Week all together!

I have forgiven mom for her lapse since we are in time for the contest from Twinkie one of the new blogs we have found thanks to Saturday's Pet Blog Hop.

Anyway, we are supposed to share one tongue picture. Mom and dad scoured our photos and we think this is the best one.

I almost didn't recognize dad in this picture since his hair was very short here and it sure isn't now. I nearly didn't recognize me either because I was a puppy. This picture was two years ago! We like this one because it is the only picture we have that shows the black spot on my tongue. Mom decided to check into why a GSD/Black Lab would have the black spot on my tongue but apparently it is not that unusual (HUMPH) and either half of my ancestry is known to have it.

So, we all learned something new and I entered the contest! Now when I send you a Yoda Smooch, you will have advanced warning of what is coming at you.

S M O O C H

Anipal Photo Hunt #6: Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week Challenge

2010-09-19T14:03:00.001-04:00

Be The Change For Pets is asking everyone to post a 'less-adoptable' pet on their blog during the week of Sept 19-25. So the weekly anipal photo hunt is dedicated to this project.

I am featuring a sweet girl dog named Nico who is currently at the Peninsula SPCA. Nico is seven years old and black and has been at the shelter since August 2nd. Older animals and black pets are particularly difficult to adopt. Nico is a retriever/labrador mix and already spayed.

The Peninsula SPCA is where mom and dad adopted Majel who recently crossed to the Bridge and her sisfur Isis.

Adoption Information:

Animal ID 11149063

Peninsula SPCA

523 J Clyde Morris Blvd.
Newport News, VA 23601
757.595.1399

Click here for Adoption Policies

Follow Peninsula SPCA on Facebook and Twitter

Donate to Peninsula SPCA

This is a great video about the work of the Peninsula SPCA. They also have a great counseling program to help pet owners work through situations that would normally lead to pet abandonment.

This blog post is part of 2 separate hops. First the Anipal Photo Hunt

and then the Be The Change for Anipals Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Challenge hop:

Pedigree Write A Post, Help A Dog

2010-09-18T12:24:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (September 19) is the deadline for the Pedigree Write A Post Help A Dog Campaign. The brilliant social media people (or maybe it was the Head Dog there) came up with this great idea to promote their brand and their very wonderful work helping create awareness for adopting from a shelter. Even Mashable picked up on the campaign.

While Pedigree hopes people will adopt shelter dogs, this campaign helps provide food for the dogs still there. For every blog that is posted about the campaign and for every new Facebook Fan (or "Like" as Facebook changed it), Pedigree will donate a 20 pound bag of dog food to a shelter.

What I like about the Pedigree campaign is they emphasize RESPONSIBLE adoption - meaning families need to know what it means to adopt a dog and understand the commitment so the dog will find a real furever home!

So if you haven't already written your post or "liked" Pedigree on Facebook, what are you waiting for? Be sure to add it here!

Yoda's Book Recommendations and the Saturday Hop

2010-09-18T11:14:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post about all of the books mom read on vacation. Mom loves to read but is usually so busy she doesn't have time. Since she has a long drive to work, she listens to books instead of reading them. I like when she reads because she shares them with me.

There were two books I liked the most that we read on vacation and they were both by one of my favorite authors Dean Koontz. My friend Teeny likes Dean too because he did a review of The Darkest Evening of the Year. Dean Koontz has dog characters in a lot of his books. Often they are major characters like in the book Teeny reviewed. Some of my other favorites are Watchers, Breathless, Brother Odd (this had a GHOST dog), Fear Nothing, Seize the Night and Ticktock.

Mom and I read Relentless by Dean Koontz. Dad read it too. Relentless was a fast paced book about a writer terrorized by a book critic. Trust me, the critic does not stop at writing to express his dissatisfaction of the lead character's writing. The man and his wife have a six year old who is a genius with a specialty in physics. They have a dog named Lassie. If you think the original Lassie was smart and saved Timmy, wait until you see what this Lassie can do! You will really love the story about how the family rescued Lassie (or was it the other way around)?

Dean Koontz's books are often suspenseful and there is also usually some kind of evil in the book. But what is so wonderful about his work is that his characters that are often put through some really bad stuff never lose hope and live life with humor and love.

The other book I am recommending is also by Dean Koontz. It is called A Big Little Life and is non-fiction. This book is about Dean and Gerda Koontz and their amazing Golden Retriever Trixie. Trixie was trained as an assistance dog by Canine Companions for Independence. After her training she was an assistance dog for six months until a congenital problem with her elbow joint was found and she had to have surgery. After elbow surgery, Trixie had to retire as an assistance dog and she was adopted by Dean and Gerda Koontz. Trixie was the first dog they had ever had in their family and Dean writes with such love as he tells the story about their beloved Trixie. The book also gives you a glimpse of what Dean is like and why he writes with just humor and hope.

Dean wrote a lot of the books with dogs before he adopted Trixie. It is obvious he has some special connection to dogs. But nothing will prepare you for this story. You have to know from the outset that Trixie is OTRB so be prepared for tears but this book is really amazing and well worth the tears. Dean makes it very clear that Trixie changed their lives and made him a better writer. Dean and Gerda have another Golden now named Anna who is related to Trixie. Trixie died at the age of 12 and had lived with Dean and Gerda for nine years. This quote from Trixie's bio on her web page will give you an idea:

Trixie was an angel on earth, shorn of her wings and given fur as a disguise, with mysterious eyes, with the heart of a lion and the temperament of a lamb. She changed us as people, made us better by her example, brought piercing beauty and so much humor into our lives, and left a terrible void when she went to God.

Trixie has authored some books herself. In fact on September 16 her latest children's book, Trixie and Jinx, was released.You can find out all about Trixie by clicking here.

Be sure and check out his Facebook page as well as Trixie's!

And now, for the Saturday blog hop, after my absence of two weeks!

Our Vacation

2010-09-17T20:24:00.001-04:00

Every vacation is special because I get to spend the time with my mom and dad both without that nasty W-O-R-K stuff getting in the way. But, some vacations are more special than others and this one was definitely on the extra special side.

Mom, dad and I went to Shenandoah River State Park in Furrginia. It is between Front Royal and Luray and, as you might guess on the Shenandoah River. Mom says it is on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. Since she works for state parks I will have to take her word for that. I did not see any forks while I was there except the ones mom and dad ate with.

This is the park road. It is winding to copy

the way the river winds around lots of bends.

Here is the river winding

We went to the same park last September and it was great then too but this year the weather was better and the air clear so the mountains and the sky were extra beautiful as opposed to hazy. It got really cold a few nights and I had to get under the covers to help keep mom and dad warm.

Shenandoah River has some beautiful new cabins and a new campground that opened in July but we stayed in this old, rustic cabin called the Brown Cabin. The Brown Cabin is not fit for public consumption so park staff can rent it. It got its name because it's brown. I think that makes lots of sense. The Brown Cabin features a porch with windows that open up and look out at the river.

Great views in the new cabin area

Great views in the new campground

This is the Brown Cabin with the windows of the porch
that look out over the river

This is me looking out the window as mom was taking the pictures

This is the river we see from the cabin. Dad took the chair out
there so he could sit and watch the river.

Do you see the giant stick in the water?

I couldn't budge it.

While we were on vacation, mom read seven books. I am going to do a review of two of the books that I read with her in my next post. Dad read a book, played his guitar, and played some of his Playstation games and we all listened to lots of music. There is no TV at the Brown Cabin (or actually in any of the state park cabins except Chippokes Plantation). There is no cell service or internet. The park gets some cell service but not out at the Brown Cabin. This was not good for keeping up with my pals on Facebook and Twitter but it was real good for my mom who works too hard. The best part of the trip for me was all the swimming and stick chasing I got to do in the river.

These three are my favorite swimming pictures!

Looking for pee-mail

To get to the cabin you have to either come by the low river bridge and go through a locked gate and then drive a mile. Or, you take an "authorized personnel only" gravel road from the main park side and drive a mile and a half. We don't see tons of people near the cabin but there were more people hiking, biking and horseback riding this year than last. The only vehicles that go by are park staff doing security checks. I bark at all of them.

This is dad opening the gate so we can drive through

This is a picture down river when you are on the low
water bridge. The low water bridge is just a very narrow
bridge not much above the water. You don't want
to be on that bridge if there is a flood.

This is a picture up river from the low water bridge

This is a picture of the park when you are driving to the
Brown Cabin. You can barely glimpse the river past the trees.

Since I don't like riding in the car much, if mom and dad have to go somewhere, they leave me at the Brown Cabin. This year they weren't gone much. Mom tells me the town of Front Royal is really nice. They have an old fashioned town square.

The Front Royal Town Square

The Brown Cabin has a tiny kitchen and mom and dad did some cooking there and there is also a charcoal grill and two fire rings - one right by the river. The last night we were there we had a really big fire in the fire ring. It was kind of scary because it was really windy but mom and day watched the fire real good. We also roasted marshmallows.

Can you see the marshmallows cooking on the stick?

The day we came home was cloudy and it rained a little. Since we had nine days of beautiful, sunny weather that was okay by us. It was also okay because the rain washed away all the dirt on the car from driving down the gravel and dirt road to the cabin.

Next year we may go to a different park in September, but I will always remember the special times we had here.

The Cat Burglar

2010-09-15T20:20:00.001-04:00

Many of you know my brofur cat Caesar. He has a blog and Twitter account that are seriously in disuse but he has been around before. Well I have a funny story about Caesar.

I call him the Tubby Tabby because he is a hefty guy. You could probably put Cleo and Sabrina together and not quite make Caesar. He is pretty agile in spite of his girth and often makes amazing leaps from furniture to the back of dad's recliner. He has nearly toppled the chair over before.

Caesar

Anyway, mom ordered the family the complete set of Cat Sitter Videos because Boris Kitty was always raving about them. I am not offended because I love birds and I believe mom got them really for me even though the name has CAT in it. Of course, we have had them since we got back from vacation Sunday and the are still un-viewed.

Mom ordered the videos from CatToys.com and a trial packet of cat treats came with the package. I will try to forgive the packers at CatToys.com because obviously they were misled by the name of the videos into thinking the package was for cats so I guess that's why they sent the cat treats instead of dog treat samples. The trial sample was for Zuke's Natural Purrz Salmon Treats. Actually mom did not pay attention at the time so she had to ask Boris Kitty's Human2 today what kind they were.

Tubby Tabby

Mom sat the treats aside and dad found them yesterday. He gave the cats some and they really liked them. My kitty sibs are very picky about their treats which is why I have a giant basket of treats and chew things and they have virtually nothing. So them going wild over the treats is high praise. Little did dad know how much they - or at least Caesar - liked them. Dad put the leftover bag of trial treats in my treat basket which was on top of some large storage boxes.

Later that day dad heard some paper rustling. Cleo is a shredder so he looked around to see what she had found to shred only it wasn't Cleo. He saw Caesar with the empty Zuke's trial package. Caesar had climbed up, found the treats in my big basket, brought the package down to the floor and had eaten them all. While you can tell by looking at Caesar he likes his noms, he has never done anything like this before. Other bags of cat treats have sat within his reach and were never disturbed. Sabrina has been known to chew through dog food and cat food bags (before mom and dad started putting them in large plastic tubs) but never Caesar. I think he really liked those treats!

Don't mess with my Zuke's

Hmmm. If they are that good, I think I might need to get mom to buy some of the Zuke's dog treats for me!

Note: we did not receive any free product or gratuity of any kind from Zuke's or CatToys.com other than the small trial bag of treats.

Anipal Photo Hunt #5: BLOG PAWS

2010-09-14T19:01:00.004-04:00

We didn't go to Blog Paws because mom just got back from BarkWorld and we had vacation planned, but Cokie said I could share pictures of me blogging so that's what I'm doing to participate in the Anipal Photo Hunt this week.

Okay, so maybe I am micro-blogging in this picture since I was using Twitter.

If you haven't joined in the fun of the Photo Hunt, it's lots of fun and a way to find new friends with blogs. You can read the blogs or click on the Instructions tab to find out how to join in by clicking the Anipal Photo Hunt button below. All my friends always have such great pictures to share that I hope they will play the weekly hunt too.

The Lost is Found

2010-09-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

I know my pals will remember the sad loss of my Chewber that decided not to float in my pond like it was supposed to. Here is the link to the bloggie.

You will remember that mom ordered 2 Chewbers from Baby Patches to replace them. One was a little mini Chewber and the other was slightly different from my lost one but I still loved it.
Well thanks to the D-R-O-U-G-H-T (silly word that means no rain), something odd happened to the pond and some of the water disappeared.

It so happened that the water disappeared near where I lost the Chewber. Low and behold the last swimming I did before our vacation, dad found the Chewber laying at the side of the pond clear as day. He should have taken a picture of it where it laid as photographic evidence but we were so excited to see it we brought it right in. Now I have 3 Chewbers - one of each kind!

I Miss My Friends

2010-09-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

I missed the Pawpawty and the Saturday Blog Hop this week because we are on vacation! Here are some pictures to whet your appetite. We stayed at Shenandoah River State Park last September too. It's a great place to relax and enjoy nature and the great river!

This is the view from the park entrance
This is the view from our screened porch

Here I am on the porch begging animal crackers - a new delicacy I discovered on this trip

I miss you all. We will be home late Sunday September 12 so don't worry if you don't see me on Twitter before then. I have another blog scheduled to help you get through the time without me! Hah!

Anipal Photo Hunt #4: MY BED

2010-09-08T13:53:00.006-04:00

I sleep with mom and dad so their bed is my bed. I spend a lot of time there and since the nice V-E-T lady said my legs were bony and I should be on cushions all the time, they are actually telling me to get ON the bed. I swear there was no pay off involved.

Since my mom carries all my pictures with her digitally on her 'puter, she had no trouble finding some good bed pictures even on vacation in No Cell, Virginia (but it's good to stay in No Cell because then mom gets a really good vacation). She had to drive into Front Royal where they do have a cell tower, to do some work, so I was able to enter in the hop! And imagine my surprise that we have our very own blog for the hop now. Thanks Cokie!

This one is my personal favorite. Mom is faking sleep (she has her glasses on).

I was even yawning in this one

I was all played out here

Sleeping with my toys

Majel Waits at the Rainbow Bridge

2010-08-31T10:38:00.008-04:00

Mom, dad and me are heartbroken today because our beautiful Majel died peacefully in her sleep. She was two weeks shy of her 18th birthday.

Majel and me share a rare tender moment

Mom and dad adopted Majel and her sister Isis in January after they were married the previous Fall. They found the cute white kittens with calico tails at the Peninsula SPCA. They were still kittens but a little older and mom and dad figured they had been born right around the day they were married - September 17, 1992. So we always celebrated Majel and Isis' birthday on mom and dad's anniversary (which is also Dad's birthday).

Isis (left) and Majel as young cats. They are together again.

Isis went to the bridge from kidney failure when she was 11. Today Majel joins her and all the pets mom and dad have loved. They are waiting there for us. Pepi please take care of Majel we will miss her. If you would like to light a candle in Majel's memory, please click here.

This is for Majel

Other posts about Majel:

My Family
My Sisfur Majel
Meet My Family

Anipal Photo Hunt #3: MY FAVORITE TOY

2010-08-29T12:59:00.008-04:00

Lately mom thinks my toy collection is starting to rival that of my friend Buttons. This collection has been significantly enhanced by recent loads of swag from Bark World Expo and her eBay victory at the Lub2Rock event.

But, when push comes to shove, I always find myself turning to my favorite toy - my Waggle. The Waggle is great because mom loads it with treats and I have fun shaking the Waggle until all of the treats come out and I eat them!

From mom's perspective, the Waggle is a great toy because it is still around (trust me, this may be one of my oldest toys and still has no damage) and because it keeps me occupied. I bring it to her to fill up in the morning before she leaves for that work place and when she gets home. Guilt seems to be high around the leaving and coming home from work so I can count on extra treats.

Founding Member

Mutt Puppet Basket from #Lub2Rock Pawty

2010-08-28T18:32:00.014-04:00

After all the BarkWorld Expo swag and the wonderful bag of gifts from Boris Kitty, I can almost say the last thing I needed was more goodies. Well .... almost. But apparently mom had bid on that Mutt Puppet basket at the Linda Blair World Heart #Lub2Rock pawty and she won it. She was surprised because she says we got it for a steal. I have no money reference but this basket sure was loaded.

It came in a ginormous box and was all wrapped up in some really crinkly paper. Mom ended up having to get the scissors to open the thing.

Here I am inspecting the basket to see what surprises are in store.

I got a really big selection of the Mutt Puppets. Mom is holding it. These are cool toys with no stuffing (we all know that's a good toy for me). Don't worry Buttons they do have squeakers! This one I am sniffing is the Original Mutt. If you see the head off in a future picture, no worries because it is detachable. It is attached to the body with velcro! Read further down to find out about another surprise.

There were also two of these cool Mutt Nutts. They are two silly plush non-stuffed heads attached with a durable cotton rope. They have squeakers and treat pouches! There were also several Mini-Mutt toys - also with no stuffing, squeakers, great rope and treat pouch. It's like the mother lode of toy - all my favorite things. They seem to be very well made and sturdy which is essential for the Yoda toy seal of approval.

There was more though. A grooming comb and lots of treats.

The basket had an Ol' Roy Munchy Bone which I was attracted to right away. I even took it out of the wrapper.

After I rescued the Munchy Bone from the wrapper, I proceeded to enjoy it!

This Original Mutt had a really cool surprise - a chew toy bone inside! Mom thought I had chewed a hole in my new toy but then she discovered it was a pouch to hide the bone in. Everyone will be happy to know I rescued the bone and ate it. The Mutt is still in great shape!

Disclaimer: Mom bought the Mutt Puppet basket on ebay as part of the Linda Blair World Heart fundraising event. She paid for it but less than the stated retail value. We were a DJ for the event but received no money or gratuity for supporting the event or the companies that supported the event. We do, however, believe in and support the Linda Blair World Heart Foundation and appreciate all of the folks that help support it and the #Lub2Rock fundraising events.

And now, let's get on with the Saturday Blog Hop! I missed it last week because mom was at Bark World.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

2010-08-28T15:16:00.010-04:00

Since mom was the one who went to BarkWorld Expo, I have to let her do this post. She was lucky to have use of a GMC Terrain for the trip and a few days after she got back and she would like to tell everyone about it. So, here's mom:

Yoda's mom here. I have been driving GM vehicles for nearly twenty years now. I have had a prettty good track record. I started with a Chevrolet Lumina which saved my life in a head on crash. I then had a Beretta, Saturn SC2 and my current Saturn Ion. The Beretta and SC2 made it to 200,000 miles and the 2007 Ion has 120,000. I had not had the pleasure of driving a GMC product and I was excited about the Terrain since it is an SUV and gets 32 miles a gallon highway which is what my Ion gets. Driving 140 miles a day on the interstate, having a little bit if height is a good feeling but good gas mileage is important.

GMC delivered the Terrain to me on Wednesday, the day before the trip. They use a great company for their deliveries - Prestige Auto. Before he delivered the car to me, Hector stopped and washed the car and gassed it up. This is Hector when he delivered the car to me outside my office and right next to the Virginia Governor's mansion.

This summer I had a long term rental for a program I work on. I had a Dodge Journey. The Journey is larger than the Terrain but I found the Terrain just as roomy and with a lot of nice features.

I did not get the 32 mpg highway because GMC provided me with a 6 cylinder model. I averaged about 24 mpg for the trip. My mistake was not reviewing the very handy guide to the vehicle that GMC provides. Owner manuals are sometimes daunting and often provide information on a variety of models. GMC also provided a Quick Start guide (as a geeky person that reminded me of all the tech stuff I usually get - no geek reads the full manual). Sadly, I failed to look at the cheat sheet so I missed a few really cool features for several days. The worst thing I missed was the door lock buttons which are on the radio and climate control console. I did check for the MP3 player connection (cleverly stowed in the center console along with one of three 12 volt jacks). The Terrain has an entertainment package not in this model and I hope it comes with an actual AC outlet (the Journey had one).

Boris Kitty's Human 2 (Kelly) and I brought a lot of stuff to BarkWorld and nearly all of it fit in the back with room to spare. The Terrain features an auto lift and close feature for the rear hatch which was pretty cool when Kelly actually found it on the Quick Start guide. Here is the car all loaded up to go. Kelly brought two boxes of stuff from DogToys.com to give away at the Expo. You can see Yoda's bag from Doggy Baggage that I borrowed for the trip. That was one of the great freebies I got for the trip. Not sure how I could have packed all my stuff coming home without that roomy bag!

Kelly and I were Team Jedi for the trip. Well, with Yoda's name and both Kelly and Boris Kitty's love for sci fi, we couldn't resist. I had magnetic signs made for the car that told everyone who saw us that we were part of the GMC Bark and Ride promotion. Here is the picture Kelly took (we each kept one of the signs as a souvenir).

You can see Edgar Kitty relaxing on the very comfortable leather dashboard. Did I tell you that there were leather seats? They were also the kind that you can heat up but since it was August we sure didn't need that feature. The XM satellite radio was wonderful and we listed to the Bridge and Classic Vinyl for the trip.

I am a cruise control fanatic. It's the only way my lead foot keeps me out of speeding ticket trouble. The Terrain's cruise control was one of the easiest to control. There was also all kinds of information available at my fingertips including miles left until you run out of gas, average and real time fuel economy.

The ride was very comfortable. When we were in Atlanta the Prestige Auto folks spruced up the Terrain for us and gassed it up so we were ready for the trip back.

I was really lucky because I got to keep the Terrain until Friday. I had a trip for work that took me on some curvy back roads at night and the Terrain was easy to handle and has great lights. It was hard to say goodbye to the Terrain and I am seriously thinking of purchasing one. The folks from GMC were wonderful to work with.

Here is the Team Jedi artwork that Kelly designed. Pretty snazzy!
I am one of the Bark World Expo Advisory Committee members and I received a conference pass at no charge. GMC provided me the use of the Terrain for the trip to Atlanta and back plus three additional days. I also received two tanks of gas and a goodie bag of dog toys and supplies. Doggy Baggage provided a free 20 inch duffel bag. I received no other payment or gratuity.

Anipal Photo Hunt #2: Pawtraits

2010-08-23T00:01:00.006-04:00

Since mom is in Georgia and I am in Furrginia this post was going to be hard. But we were sitting and waiting for Cokie to post the Photo Hunt theme and when he did darned if that hotel free internet did not start acting up. You can ask Boris Kitty's mom - she was actually using some bad four letter words.

Well I guess if someone had to beat me it could be my special friends Buttons and Shawnee.

For some silly reason mom keeps pictures of me that do not turn out right. Good thing she kept this one because it would have been a little hard for her to take a picture of my paw (like Buttons' mom did), us being in two different states right now.

Here I am playing with my bungee toy that Shawnee sent me when mom met her on the way back from the Shorty Awards. Obviously I was in great need of a pawdicure here.

See how bony my leg is? I had to go to the V-E-T this week and that's what she said. We had a little scare because the groomer found a growth of some kind on the back of my elbow. The nice V-E-T lady tested it and said it was okay - just gooey fluid from me rubbing my bony legs on hard surfaces.

The groomer story reminded mom of that Chet the Dog book and what a coincidence, she met the man that writes the story for Chet at BarkWorld Expo and he signed a copy of Dog On It for me and her! We have lots to tell about BarkWorld but that will have to come later!

Anipal Photo Hunt - You Looking At Me?

2010-08-15T13:36:00.006-04:00

Mom and I are excited about Cokie's new picture bloggie adventure. Here is the first one - with the theme "You Looking At Me?"

I hate getting my picture taken so most of the time mom and dad catch me unawares. But every once in a while I catch them taking it and can shoot them a glaring look.

You looking at me? You threw the stick away. It's mine now. If you wanted it you should have kept it! Why would I want to bring it back?

And from my puppy days ....

You looking at me? You should be. I am just too cute!

And when in the state of ultimate embarrassment ....

You looking at me dad? Could I please have some privacy? note: My dad has a whole collection of me pooping. What is wrong with him?