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!
Fire Safety: O2 Fur Life Oxygen Masks for Pets
October is Fire Safety Awareness Month. According to DisasterCenter.com, 80% of fatal fires occur in buildings where people sleep – whether in homes, hotels or dormitories – when people are likely to be less alert. Since an deadly poisonous gas and black smoke takes just seconds to accumulate and an entire home can be consumed by flames within 3 minutes, fast escape is of the utmost importance.
Fire Safety for You and Your Pets
I think about this a lot since our house relies on the neighbor’s distant pond rather than a hydrant for extinguishing needs. In fact, we’re reconfiguring our home for just that reason, converting the bedroom loft (with just one exit and no door to keep rising gasses out) into an office while adding a first floor bedroom with an external door into a fenced yard. This will ensure that humans and animals have the fastest egress possible if woken suddenly in the night.
After the Escape
Regardless of planning, exposure to dangerous levels of carbon minoxide and other gases can take a toll. People often require oxygen after a fire, and pets are no different. Wag’N Enterprises, a Virginia-based pet safety company, is doing something about that.
02 Fur Life: Pet Oxygen Masks
Wag’N Enterprises provides first responders a channel to order life-saving pet oxygen kits through their program, O2 Fur Life®. O2 Fur Life was created by Ines de Pablo, Wag’N's executive director of Pet Emergency Management Division, in 2008 when she realized that aftercare of pets rescued from emergencies, such as fires, was something that most first responders weren’t equipped to handle.
Throughout October, the company and kit-manufacturer McCulloch Medical are offering free shipping in observance of National Fire Safety Awareness Month.
“The goal of O2 Fur Life is to get all first responders in North America to carry pet oxygen mask kits to help distressed pets after an emergency,” Ines de Pablo, said. “McCulloch Medical generously offered to cover all shipping costs for first responder, direct and sponsor O2 Fur Life orders placed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31. This is a great way to save pets and money.”
Now, de Pablo’s work has placed 2,460 life-saving pet oxygen kits in more than 1,050 first responder departments in the United States and Canada.
Pet oxygen kits work similarly to those used on humans. The kits contain three different sizes of masks that can accommodate different size animals –everything from a ferret to a foal. Below is a demonstration on how these masks are used.
De Pablo said Wag’N doesn’t turn a profit from providing the kits to first responders because they are sold at cost. However, consumers may also purchase the kits at a slight markup with the profits going right back into the program so that Wag’N can donate masks to other first responders.
Pet oxygen kits start at $70 for all first responders and sponsor orders and $90 for private consumers. More information is available on Wag’N's website.
Since the fall of 2009, Wag’N has been working diligently with McCulloch Medical to raise pet safety awareness and pet oxygen mask awareness during the National Fire Safety awareness season. De Pablo says, ”Too many animals get injured and die every year due to preventable fire related emergencies. Incident mitigation combined with pet oxygen mask kits can help save countless pet lives”
What’s your fire safety plan?
Caption This Cat! Wordless Wednesday #71
Something tells me you’ll rock this week’s cat caption…
“Less Adoptable” Pets?
WHAT MAKES A PET “LESS ADOPTABLE?”
“Less adoptable” pets, according to Petfinder.com‘s Betsy Saul and Jane Harrell, are those animals often overlooked when it comes to pet adoption. Reasons range from the color of an animal’s fur to unfair breed stereotypes and even easy-to-manage health issues. That’s why, all this week (September 17-25), Petfinder is promoting “less adoptable” pets, shedding light on those who are often overlooked so that they, too, can find loving homes.
The message is clear. Each orphaned animal is chock-full of unconditional love, regardless of the body they’re wrapped in. To this, I can personally attest since falling in love with Bill.
Could you see yourself loving an animal like him?
BIG BILL’S NEAR MISS
An animal lover with hope in the form of a bright, red leash walked through the dimly lit kill shelter. Bill’s brown eyes stared blankly through the chain-link pen. Surrendered anonymously, Bill was labeled a stray, stuck in a cage, and scheduled to die. But Bill wasn’t going to die this week. Bill’s kennel opened, that red leash hooked into his collar, and he was led into the light of day once more.
That animal lover was a volunteer in my husband Tim’s dog adoption program.
(Tim is my husband now but, back then, we had just met.)
1 Pet Adds Joy, 4 Add Hilarity #petsaddlife
MULTIPLE PETS, MULTIPLE REWARDS
Many animals have graced my life since I was a child, and rarely one at a time. Together we’ve formed an intricate web of love that’s beautiful, resilient and strong like that of spider’s lace. Like multiple children, their bonds are never unilateral. Precious relationships form between each fuzzy family member and that’s what makes multiples so special.
These inter-furry relationships were never more pronounced than when our two adopted kittens (now 26 pounds of collective cat) believed that our rescue Newf and hound were male mothers, throwing themselves down for tongue baths each morning, snuggling into the arc of warm dog bellies for afternoon naps, and chasing dog tails for fun – especially the one with foot-long, trailing fur. These four have become deeply connected as family, friends, and equals – which you can see for yourself.
Tornado Pets: Facebook’s Lost and Found
I don’t know why I clicked. I live nowhere near Joplin, MO. I hadn’t heard the tornado news. But a Facebook page reuniting surviving pets and owners has me combing through posts.
Several horror stories are written on the wall, of course. One dog was ripped from a couple’s arms. Others simply vanished leaving owners to fear the worst. And yet hope springs forth from community members scrambling to help.
Kim Clune Talks Lost Dogs on Hidden Wisdom Radio
I’m typically a behind-the-scenes kind of girl, happily lurking behind the laptop keyboard, camera, or camcorder. The thing is, I have massive stage fright. No, really…
Today, I’ll suck it up though as Bethanne Elion of Hidden Wisdom Radio interviews me about our long search for our two escaped dogs in deep snow and frigid temperatures this winter, the personal injury and emotional strain involved in their rescue, and the resources we used to bring them back. The segment following mine covers the aid of animal communicators in finding lost pets. Check it out!
Hidden Wisdom Radio
Animal Insights Show
Friday March 25th, 2011
3PM EST (noon Pacific)
If you miss it live, a recording will be available at that same link after the show, or you can download via iTunes.
You should really tune in just to see if I succeed. I’ve only ever made 3 announcements during my 4 year career as a flight attendant – hiding in the restroom feeling sick after each one. Dreading every shaking moment on stage playing Djembe in a band once, I got in the car after the show and sobbed to let all that tension go, then I quit. I cried during the saddest part of the short fiction piece I presented to an English Honors awards ceremony, not because it saddened me but because I couldn’t leave the podium fast enough. This could be a train wreck. You wouldn’t want to miss that, now, would you?
eBay Classifieds: Stop Live Animal Sales!
THE PROBLEM
- eBay offers an enormous online marketplace for puppy mills and backyard breeders by allowing pet sales in their classifieds.
- eBay claims there are safeguards in place, but do they personally regulate sellers’s establishments, breeding philosophies or home visits?
- A federal law loophole requires no USDA regulation for online animal sales, so how does eBay stop breeders like THIS? [Watch this compelling video.]
National Pet Dental Health Month
February is National Pet Dental Health Month.
In celebration, the GREENIES® Brand invites us to help fund vital veterinary dental services to needy pets via the American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) Helping Pets Fund. It requires no financial contribution from you. All they ask is that, during February, we help spread the word about important pet oral care information pet owners should recognize.
Spread the word and GREENIES’® donations will help to provide life-saving oral surgeries for dogs and cats in need.
- For every blog post written about VOHC, The GREENIES® Brand will donate $25 to the AAHA Helping Pet’s Fund
- For every use of #VOHC on Twitter (either through an original post or a re-tweet), The GREENIES® Brand will donate $1 to the AAHA Helping Pet’s Fund.
Goofy Newfy Communications
We tried to teach the Newf to better communicate with us while we’re out of the country. He’s working on it, but our house sitter does most of the talking for him…
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