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 »
Be The Change
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Animals Have No Nationality
Today's guest post comes from my friend and colleague Dr. Sarah, whom I have known from blogging long before I knew her from her efforts with animal rescue. Today Sarah is talking a little more about a unique and amazing rescue I have featured in the past here on pawcurious, the Friends of Humane Society de Tijuana. With less resources and more challenges than most rescues stateside, this group of volunteers have accomplished SO much. And there is so much more to do. I hope you are as inspired ... Read more »
A Brody for Bradyn
I think you all know I love service dogs. I think they are the heroes of the animal world, those inherent givers who by virtue of their temperaments have demonstrated they possess not only the ability, but the willingness to spend their lives in selfless service of another. This is Bradyn. Isn't he adorable? Bradyn has severe uncontrolled epilepsy. His parents are trying to get him a service dog so that they might be able to sleep through the night without fearing if they drift off too ... Read more »
The easiest, biggest FREE donation you could ever make!
Special News Alert from the Pawcurious News Desk: I don't know if you all saw this on Facebook- it kind of slid quietly in there on the Be the Change for Pets page- but the Hartz company is donating a pallet of treats to the first 65 shelters to respond. That is SIXTY FIVE pallets of food. Something like 45,000 pounds. Shipping is free. Responding is free. All you need to do is get your local shelter in contact with them. There are still plenty of spots left! Here is the text from the ... Read more »
Napoleon’s Hot Wheels
I admit things have been a little, well, extraordinarily depressing around here the past few days. It's the nature of life with animals. But with lows come highs, so let's end the week on a good note, ok? This is Napoleon. Cute, isn't he? He was discovered cowering under a porch of a house in Tijuana, Mexico. The homeowners contacted their friend, a veterinarian, who got him out and realized he did not have the use of his back legs. Tijuana does not have an animal shelter. In most ... Read more »
Be the Change: Dog Days of Summer Shelter Shower
I keep changing the name of this Be the Change food drive. Sometimes it's the Be the Change Food Drive, Shelter Supplies Drive, Give them Something I Don't Care What Drive. Today it is "Shelter Shower" because I've been to something like 4 baby showers this month, and no doggie or kitty showers. So regardless of the name, here's the deal: Between TODAY, July 19th, and July 31st, I'm asking everyone- yes, YOU!- to donate something to a local shelter or rescue. It can be a bag of food, an ... Read more »
Be the Change is BACK! And easier than ever!
People who have been reading my blog for a while know that I am a big proponent of helping animals in whatever way you can. It's easy to be intimidated by big productions and think, "There's no way I'm going to organize a $200,000 fundraiser. All I have is $5/an old towel/5 minutes to spare." This spring, I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing people at BlogPaws- people who felt, as I did, that there is no bottom or top limit on what determines importance. Anything, and everything, ... Read more »
Book Review and Giveaway: Scent of the Missing
If you've been a regular reader of the blog, you know I'm a big fan of the dog memoir. Part treacle, part drama, part romance, the format is always the same, ending of course with the tearful goodbye to a faithful pup. Susannah Charleson's new book Scent of the Missing breaks that mold in all the right ways. Of course, the requisite components are there: an adorable dog, the initial bumps in the road adjusting to a new puppy, and the gradual coming together of owner and pet. Here's the ... Read more »
Another company steps up: how i Love Dogs is the change
As part of today's Be the Change festivities, i Love Dogs and pawcurious decided to do a blog post exchange. While you read about this fabulous group's many activities in support of the community, keep in mind they are also making a generous $250 contribution to Pets Without Parents in celebration of today! A big thank you to my very first Official Charity Sponsor! by Linda Chavez, i Love Dogs, Inc. On this special day, in honor of Being the Change, www.iLoveDogs.com and www.Pawcurious.com ... Read more »
Be The Change Extravaganza Starts NOW!
Thank you all for everything. I got a call at 4 in the morning that my grandmother died in the early hours, peacefully and pain free. I know she is somewhere good and she would rather me be out doing something good than sitting in a corner crying. I know this because she told me that herself in no uncertain terms. This one's for you, gram, even if you are a cat person. There is one and only one real message I want everyone to understand from today: You matter in this world. You have a ... Read more »
