Tail-Wagging Adoption Tour and Susan Sims, Part 1

If you're like me, you'd take in every sweet, adorable, pleading homeless pet and give them the love and care they deserve...if you could. The next best thing, however, is promoting pet adoption all across the country.

What is it? Get Your Licks on Route 66 is a mobile national pet adoption tour rolling along the length of the America's Favorite Highway, Route 66.

When? The event kicks off in Chicago on September 10th and arrives in California early October.

Where? The 36-foot Mobile Adoption Unit will travel through eight states, with stops in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Meet Susan Sims, publisher of FIDO Friendly magazine, and founder of Get Your Licks on Route 66.

Q: How did this adoption tour begin?

Susan: Early in 2009 I had the idea to travel cross-country to help promote pet adoption.
FIDO Friendly magazine is such a great venue for all things dog, but I wanted to get out on the road and start a grass-root awareness campaign about pet adoption. We partnered with North Shore Animal League America, (NSALA) the world's largest no kill animal shelter.

Q: So, do you bring pets for adoption along with you?

Susan: The bus drivers take pets from the local shelters along the way and bring them to a designated venue where people can come on board the climate-controlled pet adoption bus and look at pets for adoption.

The 2 bus drivers from NSALA are the true heroes, as they transport pets to the different adoption sites each day and at day's end, take pets that had not been adopted back to the shelters. At this time, they sanitize the bus and get it ready for the next day's adoption. This process is repeated at each shelter.

Q: How can we find out if/when you'll be coming to our town?

Susan: We will be posting the entire schedule on our blog and online.

Q: Why have you made this event one of your personal missions--what does it mean to you?

Susan: Just before the Get Your Licks on Route 66 pet adoption tour last year, we lost both of our two Labs within a few months of each other and as fate would have it, we adopted Junior from our local shelter just before the last sweet spirit passed over Rainbow Bridge. There are a lot of great dogs sitting in shelters right now, just waiting for the chance to become someone's best friend. By making this month long pet adoption tour something fun and hopefully news worthy, I feel that more and more dogs will be adopted as a result of what we do. Junior is a pure bred black Lab, found at a shelter, so he made a perfect choice for spokes-dog. You just never know who you will find that needs a new forever home at your local shelter. These are not throw-away dogs, just sweet spirits looking for a home.

Junior came with us last year, in fact, you could say he grew up on the road. He had never been on a car trip, never in a plane and we just got lucky that he loved the entire experience. We made sure that we stopped at places like Camp Bow Wow when we had extra time so he could run and play with a few 'new friends' before we jumped back in the car for the next city stop. I think if pet parents remember to exercise their furry best friends, making a long road trip like this one can be a great experience for all concerned.

Thank you Susan!

Be sure to stop by again Friday to
Learn more about Junior
Read some of the heartwarming adoption stories
Find out how you can help!

If you want, you can leave your good wishes for Susan and Junior and their travels here. And, if you have any questions for Susan, feel free to ask here too.

Ricochet the SURFice dog visits the blog

Seeing this happy dog up on a surf board is a beautiful sight. But there's much more to the story.

Ricochet is a golden retriever with a heart of gold. She's not only a pawsome surfing dog, but also a "SURFice" dog who believes in pawing it forward. That's right, her mission is to help others by raising awareness and funds for human/animal causes.



Judy Fridono, Ricochet's mom and a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT) shared with me some of Ricochet's accomplishments.

Q- Thank you Judy for joining us. I live in New York, so I don't know any surfing dogs. How did Ricochet learn to surf?

A- Part of my nonprofit organization, Puppy Prodigies, focuses on building balance and coordination in puppies. So when Ricochet was learning her service dog tasks, she was also working on balance and coordination. I put a boogie board in a kiddie pool and invited her on it. She took to it, so we slowly progressed to a regular swimming pool, calm water of the bay, and finally to the ocean. Now she participates in some surfing competitions, but her primary objective is helping people and animals.

Q- What are some of the projects Ricochet has been involved in?

A- Her first fundraiser was for a quadriplegic surfer named Patrick Ivison. One day at the beach she jumped on his board and it was clear to me she wanted to surf tandem with him. She raised over $10,000 for his physical therapy and her sponsor, the Rose Foundation, awarded a grant for an additional 3 years of therapy.

Since then she's raised money for arthritis (human and canine), cancer, toy drives, pet food drives, and so much more.

Q- What project is Ricochet supporting now?

A- Ricochet supports several organizations on an ongoing basis. One project she just began working with is Finnley, a 2 yr old little girl who suffered a brain injury. Ricochet is helping raise money for a resistance pool that would greatly help with Finnley's therapy.

Q- What can we do to help?

A- Of course donations to any of these causes are always greatly appreciated, but also spreading the word is such a great help! You can check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you Judy for sharing Ricochet's inspirational story. There are many worthy causes to join in and support Ricochet in helping others.
As Ricochet "says": Paw-abunga!

Monday Pet Roundup

Hi and welcome to Monday Pet Roundup!

* I'll occasionally review a pet product I think you'll find helpful, and csn stores contacted me recently with another great offer to review one of their products. At their website you can find everything from a bedroom vanity to a braided rug to a barbecue grill...but seriously, you're going to love their wide range of pet products. Stay tuned in the following weeks for my review!

* You may have heard of Ricochet the surfing dog. Now meet Outback Addie! This rescue dog was once afraid of everything, but now look at her go! Hang twenty, dude!

* Take the USA Today poll. Should dogs be allowed in restaurants?

* Neil Genlinger suggests that we may be wasting too much time watching cute pets on TV, movies and the Internet. In his New York Times article he notes that one You Tube video, "Surprised Kitty" received more than 28,500,000 views. The clip is only 17 seconds long, but this amounts to 15 years of time spent (he says "wasted") watching this. I don't know about you, but I think that 17 seconds of my life was worth it!

*Chocolate...grapes...onions. Zootoo reminds us to keep these foods away from our pets.

* My vet warned me that my dog Kelly shared many of the same risks as I due to being overweight. At Dancing Dog Blog, Mary Haight shares some authoritative insight on dogs and human diseases.

Monday Pet Roundup

Hi and Welcome to Monday Pet Roundup!

*Today is the kickoff day for Be the Change for Pets second cause, helping provide food and supplies to animal shelters around the world. Check out all the ways you can become involved in the Dog Days of Summer Pet Food Drive.

* How about freezing kibble, apples, and dog treats into a Popsicle, sticking on a stake in the ground and giving your dog a cool treat? Yes, Pet Connection tells us, there really is such an invention: Kool Dogz.

* More cool summer treats for pets from Pet Blog: Cooling Dog Bandana, Cooling Dog Bed, and Chilly Bone!

* Cat owners should be aware of the Feline's Pride cat food recall. Dancing Dog Blog has expanded and updated information.

* You wouldn't knowingly buy a pet from a puppy mill. But with Internet advertising, how do you know what you're getting into? Number One: a reputable breeder will not sell you a puppy without meeting you first. Edie, from Will My Dog Hate Me, shares this and other tips on how to recognize puppy mill purveyors on the Internet.

* Most of us are aware of the puppy mill situation, but what horses? Pet News and Views highlights an article by Laura Allen of Animal Law Coalition describing circumstances of dehydration, cruelty and death in wild horse round ups.

And now, your smile for the day. "No, I haven't seen your lipstick. Why?" Check out the photo from Cute Overload.

On the serious side, have you found a way to support or highlight an important pet cause? And on the light side, does your dog or cat (or bird, horse, parrot) like the water? I'd love to hear about a cat who swims in the pool!

Monday Pet Roundup

Hi and welcome to Monday Pet Roundup!

*Last weekend was the big event, Blogpaws, for pet bloggers and pet lovers. Held in Columbus, OH. Check out more information and Blogpaws updates, great wrap-ups including this heartfelt video on About Vet Med, and more on Pawcurious.

*Last Thursday and Friday was another great event, with Frankie the Walk 'n Roll Dog and Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog getting together to help kids.

*Several readers brought to my attention this kitty with an unusual ability to stand like a human, for a long time. It's all over the web, including video of The Standing Cat here on Petopia.

*Love this! From dogsters for the love of dog blog, 7 Fashionable products for scooping poop!

* My dalmatian ate my wedding shoes before the ceremony. Have you got a problem chewer? Dog Spelled Forward offers 5 ways to stop your dog from chewing.

*Speaking of chewing, this lovable lab has a serious problem. Pethealth, Inc. shares the story of Shredder, the dog who ate, among other things, 100 tealight candles, metal base and all.

*Cute video on Petblog where you can watch the action of photographer trying to get that perfect shot. You've probably been there too! Now I don't feel so bad, after what I go through trying to photograph Kelly!

*Cute photo of the day, a case of tub floof. My dog Kelly gets this!

Did you attend Blogpaws? If so, what did you like best?
And do you have a problem chewer at home? What is the worst thing he ate?