There is something vastly powerful about going through grief with friends. It validates, it resonates, it comforts. When it comes to losing a pet, too many of us are forced to endure the pain without that camaraderie of a circle of friends. To that end, and because I know so many people continue to hurt and feel alone in their grief over the loss of a beloved pet, The Tiniest Tiger and I are hosting a Pet Loss Candle Ceremony next Wednesday, February 5th, at 6 pm PST. What Will ... Read more »
What to Say to Someone in Mourning
This morning, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Joanne McGonagle over at The Tiniest Tiger for a Google Hangout on the topic of pet loss. I had this whole long post about how easy it is to get wrong and how hard it is to get right, but rather than go through the long sordid tales of all the times I've said the exact wrong thing I thought I would instead sum up what we, along with all the wonderful participants, concluded during the course of the talk. Some of the statements are specific ... Read more »
Awesome App Alert: Pet First Aid
You're on a walk with your dog. He looks tired. You don't know if he's just tired from the walk or if he's showing early signs of hyperthermia. What do you look for? Unless you have a lot of experience with dogs or happen to have an emergency medicine textbook on you, you might not know. But thanks to increasingly cooler and better apps, you can get some immediate reassurance from your smartphone. The latest must-have app for dog and cat owners just came out, and at $0.99 there's no reason ... Read more »
My husband and Her: A neato love story
I have no one to blame but myself, of course, for the events that have transpired since Christmas. I was the one who brought her in, invited her to come into our home and get to know the place. My husband said it was the only thing he wanted this year, so I went with it, albeit with some trepidation. You should have seen his face when he realized what I had done. "Wow!" he said. "Finally!" The children looked on in confusion. Brody ran away. Only Penelope, the newest addition to the fold, ... Read more »
The Cat Needs a Lozenge
It started innocently enough, my son asking Penelope a question about her feet: "Penelope, how many fingers do you have?" And without much thought, I answered for her, in a high pitched Muppet voice: "None, I have 20 toes." And thus began one of the kids' greatest sources of entertainment for the past two weeks. He argued with her for a while, about why cats have four legs instead of two arms and two legs. In this case, Penelope was right. But sometimes she's not, like when she insisted ... Read more »
Professional Loser
I hope everyone had a safe and happy transition into 2014. 2014! How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting on the edge of Lake Union at the turn of the millennium, looking out over the Space Needle and wondering whether it was going to go dark and topple into the water (it didn't.) The thought of 2014 seemed very far away at the time. Old and Boring I would have thought 14 years would bring a vast amount of wisdom and insight into my world, that I would be ... Read more »
On the twelfth day of Christmas AND another giveaway!
My doggie gave to me: 12 Yummers Yumming! Eleven Crunchy Carrots Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you to Annette at Biscuits By Lambchop for bringing up the end of this crazy train :) Treats for all tonight! Speaking of that, for those of you who are still around, I do have another giveaway ... Read more »
On the eleventh day of Petmas
My horsie gave to me: Eleven Crunchy Carrots! Ten Snorers Sleeping Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Kari, that is pretty much the coolest garland ever. I sense a strong food theme to this year's 12 Days. :) I have another giveaway coming up this afternoon! Don't forget to enter the Motorola camera giveaway if you ... Read more »
On the tenth day of Petmas
My tired loves gave to me: 10 Snorers Sleeping! Nine Surfin' Santas Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! I thought this went up earlier today, but apparently. I was running around all day unaware- four appointments for people to say goodbye to their beloved pets, so forgive me being late here but it was a draining day. Like clockwork, the week ... Read more »
On the Ninth Day of Petmas
My SoCal buds gave to me.... 9 Surfin Santas! Eight Toes a-Twinklin' Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! You all know I love me some SoCal Surf Dogs. I wish I had more time to spend with this amazing group- the times I have gone out with them have reminded me each and every time of the absolute best that the dog world represents (their dedication to charity is ... Read more »
Naughty or Nice Giveaway 1: Motorola WiFi Pet Monitor!
Has your pet been naughty or nice this year? You can find out for sure with the Motorola Scout1B Wifi Pet Monitor. I used a camera like this to verify it was indeed Kekoa and not Brody who was counter surfing while we were out. Here's the description: This remote Motorola Scout1 Wi-Fi Video PET Monitor camera allows you to monitor your pets from anywhere. Catch live action, record video and take snapshots while controlling the camera with Remote Pan, Tilt and Digital Zoom. Home ... Read more »
A Dog’s Holiday Wishlist
One of my favorite holiday traditions is going over to Fox5 News and doing a bit with Rancho Coastal Humane Society talking about the dogs' holiday wishes (next to being adopted, of course.) Just me, Santa, and a bunch of adorable dogs all doing our best to avoid any sort of Ron Burgundy stereotypes about San Diego programming. Here's the segment with the 6 adorable pups. :) It's always hard to pick just 6 items, but here is what we presented this year: 1. The ThunderShirt ... Read more »
On the eighth day of Petmas
My stylish love gave to me: Eight Toes A-Twinkling! Seven Noshes Nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you Andrea! I love how your pup's paws are crossed just so. STAY TUNED everyone, I have a surprise- a bunch of Flash Giveaways coming up in the next few days! Check back soon! ... Read more »
On the seventh day of Petmas
My teensy tiny love gave to me: Seven noshes nibbled Six things to lay on Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! I had actually been planning on doing a seven myself as I didn't have anyone grab that number (7 and 11 were never claimed for whatever reason), and I was debating what sort of indignity I could impose upon Brody when, like a little gift from heaven, this adorableness landed in my inbox ... Read more »
On the sixth day of Petmas…
My true love gave to me: 6 Things for Laying! Five faaaavorite things Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Seriously, this cat is a pillow aficionado of the highest order. Won't touch a cat bed, but if it's human-scented, she's on it. Her favorite pillow is my husband's laptop case. ... Read more »
On the fifth day of Petmas (sing it now)
My true love gave to me (with feeling!) FIIIIIVE FAVORITE THIIIIIINGS! Four doggie nerds Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you Lisa and the adorable Miss Sophie! ... Read more »
On the fourth day of Petmas
My true love gave to me.... Four doggie nerds! Three Irish Hounds Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! I'll admit it, I fully LOL'd when I saw this one. Kristen, this is all sorts of amazing. All it needs is a Game of Thrones in there and we would reach full Nerdvana. ... Read more »
On the third day of Petmas
My true love gave to me: 3 Irish Hounds! Two turtles, Dove And a cat messing up my new tree! Thank you Susan! ... Read more »
