Thank you for the kind words yesterday. I'm taking today to reflect and regroup, but fortunately I have a wonderful guest post from Dr. Sarah from Friends of Humane Society de Tijuana to share with you today. It is a beautiful reminder to honor all creatures great and small. See you tomorrow. As we traveled down into Tijuana two Sundays ago, I knew I had another long day in front of me. We were coming to see Sr. Juanito, a very humble man near the age of 90 years old who rescues street ... Read more »
Little Earthquakes
When I was little, we lived across the yard from my father's parents. In the morning, I would burst out the backdoor, run across the small but immaculate vegetable garden my grandmother faithfully tended, and jump through my grandparents' front door in search of hugs and cookies. Ignoring my mother's moratorium on 8 am sugar, there was always a plate of Stella D'oro cookies on the table in the foyer. Mary was as close to the personification of Mother Nature that you could ever hope to find. ... Read more »
Picture of the week: Interloper
Rescued from our pool filter basket, where he was making a mighty attempt to swim out. Word on the street is that he is a San Bernadino ring-necked snake. There's not much a 6 inch non venomous snake can do to look menacing, but he stuck his tongue out and tried. Finding ourselves properly chastened, he was returned to the terra firma in the backyard. We sure do have a lot of critters around here. Yesterday we saw an orb spider the size of a golfball (and I'm only very slightly ... Read more »
LAPW: Spotlight on the oldsters
I have a soft spot for senior pets, if you couldn't tell. I love their deliberate steps (assuming it's not a reflection of undertreated arthritis!), their thoughtful glances, their calmness. Being a senior pet is to have mastered the art of good pet-dom: I am your faithful companion and I no longer feel the need to eat your shoes. I'm featuring my favorite rescue today, Retrievers and Friends of Southern California. As the folks from whom I adopted both Emmett and Koa, they have a special ... Read more »
Under the harvest moon
When I was little, there were two things I wanted to be when I grew up, neither of which ironically enough was 'veterinarian.' One was a palaeontologist since I loved dinosaurs so very much. The other was an astronaut. I could stare off into space for hours, transfixed by the infinite nothing stretched out before me. My life is very terrestrial these days, involving neither digging for fossils nor soaring into the clouds, but little things can take me right back to where I was as a kid. When ... Read more »
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels
Well, that's what we tell ourselves anyway. I hope Koa agrees. She has lost one more pound this week, putting her at 77 pounds. She ate some lettuce yesterday, leftover from my lunch salad. It was a piece of arugula with a light balsamic vinaigrette. I was amazed she actually swallowed it- Brody is a champion vegetable spitter outter. I wouldn't say she was exceptionally enthused about it, but beggars can't be choosers. She even got a little treat this weekend- I made some dog biscuits for ... Read more »
Seriously Adoptable: Thursday Roundup
Watching everyone's posts from the Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week challenge has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had to date. The sheer number and diversity of the stories coming from all corners of the pet loving world have been an unexpected delight. The overarching sentiment running through every post? Hope. Hope that a post about a specific pet might touch the right person, or a discussion on a specific condition might cause a person to think twice the next time they are ... Read more »
I had a dog
His name was Nuke. It was short for "Nuclear", on behalf of the UC Davis Department of Radiology who used him on a weekly basis to teach the vet students how to take radiographs. When word got out my sophomore year of school that I was looking for a dog, my friend Dan pulled me aside and told me about this awesome dog he heard about from the head radiology technician, Barb. "Nuke is so great," she said before taking me to meet him. "He's a 10 year old coonhound, and we all just adore ... Read more »
BlogPaws Recap Part 3: Vets and Pet(ties)
One last post to finish recapping BlogPaws for those who were unable to attend. I hope I have impressed upon you the awesomeness of this extravaganza and convinced you that yes, you should so totally 100% go to the next one, which will be in San Diego if I have my way. Note: I have NO idea where it's going to be, that is just wishful thinking so please don't let that become a rumor, ok? If we're starting rumors I say let's go big and say Monaco 2011. Anyway, on the second full day of the ... Read more »
Adopt a Seriously Adoptable Pet: Black Dog Syndrome
When Brody needed a friend, I went to the rescue site where I was so fortunate to find Emmett, hoping to get so lucky yet again. I wanted an older, female Golden retriever to balance out Brody's nutso-ness. The retriever rescue was low on Goldens at that particular time, but they had several older labradors in need of homes. All of them were black. One in particular, a white-muzzled girl with a Rubenesque frame and two quizzical brown eyes just a stitch too close together, seemed to leap out ... Read more »
Adopt a Seriously Adoptable Pet Week starts now!
Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week kicks off today! I'm really excited to see how everyone will help get the word out about these marvelous pets waiting to find a home. I am working on some posts for this week about my own two ahem "less adoptables", senior black lab Koa and "bad luck" black cat Apollo, but in the meantime I wanted to remind everyone of how easy it is to participate if you find yourself stymied for posting options: The Facebook Challenge Page has a downloadable template blog ... Read more »
The Pawcurean Presents: Peach Gobblers
It's been a heavy sort of week. Lots of seriousness and such in these parts. And though I have perhaps just a little more I should be saying, I'll wait until next week because I think everyone could use some frivolity to lead into the weekend, yes? I had a large box of produce I needed to use up this week, including a big handful of some truly delectable looking peaches. I had an epic fail earlier in the week with my Pawcurean Beety Treaties which failed to convince both humans and dogs that ... Read more »
I write, therefore, you eat
It's very interesting to me to see the various ways in which companies are starting to recognize the power of bloggers. We (collective we) have quite a voice, and we aren't afraid to use it. Over and over and over. In fact it's sometimes hard to get us to shut up, but I suppose that is part of our allure. If my experience with the pet blogging community has taught me anything, it's this: the key to a pet blogger's heart is through a pet in need. Eating a Pupperoni on Ustream nearly killed me, ... Read more »
The Koa Chronicles: a pain in the rear
We are well into the second month on the Nulo Challenge and Kekoa is happily settled into her routine. I've also brought Brody into the fold for the month to see how he does on Nulo. He gets a bit more than she does, but he also eats a lot faster than she so it pretty much balances out. Koa's always had a shiny coat, but now it's glossy. Luminous, even. I'm going to feature her in my Adopt a Seriously Adoptable Pet Week post next week so I'm glad to report she will be extra-beautiful for her ... Read more »
Be the Change Challenge: Adopt a Seriously Adoptable Pet Week
Marketing: The art of making someone want what you have. An old table I couldn't give away on Freecycle becomes a one-of-a-kind rare antique on Craigslist. Suddenly the eyesore I was going to have to pay to get rid of becomes a hot ticket item with 10 inquiries. Of course no one is going to want something if you make it clear from the outset that it's un-wantable. Well, I guess if you can't afford real furniture, maybe you'd like my handoffs... Which leads me to next week's Be the ... Read more »
I am the change: BlogPaws West Part 2
I just posted two really kind of depressing posts, didn't I? Well, how about we lighten it up a little with a continuing recap of the BlogPaws event. The mood brightened considerably after the morning keynote. After that experience, I slunk into the next session with notebook at the ready. First was "Building your Brand and Platform Through Blogging" with Michele Miller of WonderBranding and pet lifestyle expert Charlotte Reed. They were great. I took notes about funneling and branding to ... Read more »
Hearts and thoughts they fade
While I was cavorting at BlogPaws this weekend, my husband was getting some work done around the house, a task I truly appreciate as I despise housework with the hot flames of a thousand suns. While I would like to think this was because he just loves me that much, the cynic in me also whispered that perhaps he was just buttering me up for the abandonment that comes with the start of the NFL football season. No matter. I am still happy. One of his self-appointed tasks was to hang some ... Read more »
Rules of Engagement: Sit in the back
I'm back from my second BlogPaws conference, exhausted but happy at the prospect of yet another fantastic success. I think everyone had a wonderful time (Kate's attempt to sneak a bottle of wine into the Saturday event and subsequently getting busted by a beverage services manager who takes his job EXTREMELY seriously notwithstanding.) To do the conference justice in one post would be impossible. To do it in three or four would still be paltry. However, if for no reason other than I promised ... Read more »
