Kim Clune
Caption this Cat Photo… It’s a Good One.
Welcome to Wordless Wednesday #80!
What the heck is going on here? Leave your comment below!
Giveaway: Angry Birds Pet Toys from Hartz
Hartz for the Holidays recently brought the Angry Birds game to our pet household. Oh yeah. My worlds not only collide, but they are now complete. You too could have a goodie bag chock full of giggling and oinking dog or cat toys, and just in time for the holidays. See below for details!
WHAT WE LOVE
While we gave our free samples some tough workouts, these are my – I mean our – favorites:
Caption this Cat!
Welcome to Wordless Wednesday #79!
What’s this cat thinking?
Leave your most brilliant comment below!
(No pressure.)
There’s still time! Enter to win Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers, a memoir by Holli Pfau!
Enter to Win! Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers
Get Pure Gold on Amazon.com (affiliate link)
Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers is a lovely memoir by Holli Pfau. My copy recently arrived, free for review, and has not only been my trusty companion through four airport excursions, it has graced my nightstand both at home and out of state.
Holli’s journey begins during a course of great change, the kind of change that moves slowly, deliberately, and etches deep meaning in the soul. At the milestone age of forty, after adopting a wise, gentle and inspirational Golden Retriever pup named Nikki, Holli leaves a career in marketing and advertising to search for something more meaningful . While she works toward a second degree in recreational therapy, she has faith that her old soul of a dog – who has reached a milestone of her own at the tender age of 1 – will lead the way.
Together, Holli and Nikki (with moral support from Holli’s husband), co-found a nationally recognized program of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) at Huntington Memorial Hospital, in Pasadena, CA. Holli’s tellings of the joy that Nikki brings to specific patients shine pure light into the vignettes presented here.
These early chapters could easily have been expanded into a book of their own (which might have impacted me more), but this leap into therapy was just the first in a long line of dog-led life adjustments.
While early chapters transcend dog and handler via the many lives Holli and Nikki so meaningfully touch, the story truly engages the heart as family relationships becomes more prevalent.
Holli and her husband give each of their rescued dogs a chance to be discovered, to be truly seen for who they are, and to have a meaningful impact. Together they take us across adventurous landscapes where we encounter rattle snakes, wildfires and beautiful, reflective solitude.
As time marches on, older dogs (and sometimes even younger dogs) move beyond this earthly life, bringing tears with each loss. And yet that sorrow is eased each time by the introduction of a new, shining, golden personality. Holli’s fears and insecurities become exciting triumphs, both great and small, all with the help of her glorious Goldens. This book offers ringside seats for every precious moment.
Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers is available on Amazon.com (affiliate link) and 
For more about Holli and her book, visit www.puregoldbook.com.
BOOK GIVEAWAY!
US and Canadian residents: Leave a comment stating why you might like this book. Do so before 11:59 PM (ET) Sunday, December 4, 2011 and you’ll be entered into a random drawing to win a copy of Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers!
I’ll announce the winner on Monday, December 5th, in the comments section of this post.
Best of luck to you all!
I look forward to your comments!
Adopt a Turkey This Thanksgiving! We Did!
A LOVELY EMAIL
Just before my birthday, I received a message that began:
Ellen DeGeneres Wants You to “Adopt” a Turkey This Thanksgiving
Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey project celebrates 25 years of changing the way America thinks about turkeys
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – October 19, 2011 – Who can resist the adorable faces of turkeys gobbling for compassion at Thanksgiving? Not Ellen DeGeneres. That’s why she’s back for the second year in a row to serve as Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project spokesperson, inviting everyone to save, not eat, a turkey this holiday season.
Says DeGeneres: “Did you know that every year between 250 and 300 million turkeys are bred for slaughter in the United States? More than 46 million for Thanksgiving alone. So, this Thanksgiving instead of eating a turkey, please join me in adopting one from Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project and you can give a turkey something to be thankful for.”
For 25 years, the Adopt-A-Turkey Project has put smiles on the faces of both carnivores and vegetarians alike, while providing support for the care of more than 1,000 rescued turkeys and inspiring people everywhere to make more compassionate choices. For a one-time donation of just $30, adopters or a recipient of their choice will receive a special Adopt-A-Turkey certificate complete with color photo of a rescued turkey who resides at one of Farm Sanctuary’s shelters and fun details about their adopted turkey.
Celebrate Get a Pal for Your Pet Day! #petsaddlife
Pets Add Life (PAL), a campaign to promote responsible pet parenting, has officially declared November 19th National Get a Pal For Your Pet Day. We are so on board. We love having multiples.
WE CELEBRATE EVERY DAY
This morning, we had a zoo of a time taking all four animals to the vet – at once. As pet parents, my husband and I found the outing great fun (the exams were strictly checkups), but Emmett, our hound, was stressed. Emmett equates vet visits with the time he had 25 staples.
Having our amiable Newf, Shamus, by his side tells Emmett that the vet is not so bad. The same can be said for our two cats. While they don’t mind the vet, Jed dreads the car. Placing the cat carriers face to face let’s Jackson’s calm demeanor comfort his feline brother.
LIFE WITH MULTIPLES
Of course, having multiples seems obviously beneficial during today’s vet visit. But we see constant benefits in our daily living, too. One alerts the other about fun things to sniff out, and they exercise each other in rousing games of chase. And tell me these guys don’t deeply love each other, especially in their down time.
Safe Paw Melts Ice: No Harm to Kids and Pets
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL, ALREADY.
Snow came early this year for many US residents. We’ve had more than a foot already, in October! We shored up the roof’s heat cable, pulled out the snow shovels and we’re still working on getting the snow blower going, but the easiest task is stocking up on ice melt.
(And 5 lucky giveaway winners can too. See below!)
THINKING SAFETY WITH SAFE PAW
There’s a safe product we’ve been using for several years now, sparing us salty dogs. It’s called Safe Paw and it’s been a safe ice-melt bet since 1996. Have you heard of it? Did you even know it mattered? If not, you aren’t alone. According to Safe Paw:
A national survey of more than 500 consumers living in cold weather states showed that an alarming nearly two-thirds of the respondents (62% total; 66% of men) were not aware that salt and salt-based ice melting products pose a health danger to pets and children who digest or come into contact with these products. The survey also revealed that 60% of the respondents said they use rock salt or salt-based ice melters in their households.
Tell Petland USA – AGAIN – STOP Selling Mill Pets!
Mary Haight, author of the Dancing Dog Blog launched the campaign on Change.org calling on Petland USA to stop selling pets. Today she asks us to drive the point home. According to Mary:
Stocking more than 150 stores across the US with puppies of all breeds is a model responsible for causing pain, suffering and death. Breeding females are locked in cages until they can no longer breed, around 5 years, and are then killed. Even if a change from the top in a franchise-structured company affects only corporate stores, the intent to do no harm is a clarion call that every company should want to take up, especially one that deals directly with living things.
Sadly, Petland is not interested.
After more than 45,000 people joined my campaign on Change.org calling on Petland USA to stop supporting puppy mills, I sent questions to the company’s headquarters, and the answers received do not recognize the pain and suffering factory farming of family pets inflicts.
Sometimes pictures can be more effective than words. Since they have the power to help stop this, remind Petland USA what breeder puppy mill dogs look like. Estimates report there are more than a million of them trapped in hopeless lives.
We need your help NOW with this simple action. It should only take 10 minutes of your time:
Meet Peggy Frezon, Author of Dieting with My Dog
Please give a warm welcome to author Peggy Frezon. She’s here to talk about her brand new memoir, Dieting With My Dog: One Busy Life; Two Full Figures and Unconditional Love (Amazon affiliate link).
Before we begin, let me share a bit about what this book is about…
Amazon Affiliate Link
Dieting with My Dog is the honest and heartfelt story of how one overweight woman and her chubby spaniel struggled to get fit and healthy together. Theirs was a comfortable routine. While Frezon’s children were flying the nest, her loyal rescue pup snuggled close. Sneaking M&Ms from her secret stash, she would slip Kelly extra doggy cookies too. Why not? Food is love. But then, Kelly became the motivating factor that led Frezon to face down the physical and emotional reasons for her overeating, and for over-feeding her dog. She learned that embracing change is healthy, and everything is easier with unconditional love.
Caption this Newfy dog! Wordless Wednesday #78
Have a caption for this handsomely decorated Newfy dog?
What do you think Shamus is thinking? Leave a comment!
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