Easter Rabbit Adoptathon

Thanks for hopping over and joining the Easter Rabbit Adoptathon, hosted by All Things Dog Blog.

If you've done your research and are ready for a special long-eared pet, or are considering one for the future, save a rabbit and rescue one from a shelter. (Or wait until after Easter when many more impulse-purchased Easter bunnies have been abandoned in shelters.) Grab a carrot and check out these bunnies, available for adoption. (via Petfinder)

Here are some in my area of upstate NY:













Bashful, adult female English spot mix.














Bob, young male Dwarf/Rex mix















Bern, young male Mini Lop

And a few across more sweet bunnies:











Gladiss, adult female Lionhead











Amber, young female French Lop












Joe, the flying bunny?














Maria, Betsy and Tricia, young female Dwarf mix

Happy Puggerfest

Pugs, pugs and more pugs!

Stephanie Thompson, contributing editor for Guideposts and Angels on Earth magazines, recently attended Puggerfest with her 7-year-old daughter Micah, and their pug Princess. Was it fun? Did anything go wrong? Find out here!

Q- What is Puggerfest? Where is it held?

Puggerfest is a big pug party, if you ask my daughter Micah. According to the organizers, it’s a fund-raising event for Homeward Bound Pug Rescue. It's held in Oklahoma City, about 30 minutes from our home.

Q- What activities are held at Puggerfest?

Micah’s intuition was right and it was a big party. When we walked through the gate it was overwhelming! Pug dogs EVERYWHERE—more than a hundred (and more than 400 pugs attended in all!) and they were all off leash! (in a safely enclosed area). Micah, Princess and I hesitated at the entrance as we watched the parade of pugs sniffing and romping about.

I nervously asked, “Are all these dogs nice? Is it okay that they’re wandering around like this?”

The man laughed. “Of course! All pugs are friendly!”

They had contests: Longest tongue, pug races, tallest pug, best costume, best trick, best kisser, curliest tail and coronation of king and queen. They were also cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, had a photographer, a dog interpreter, and naturally, several pugs up for adoption.

Q- Did Princess participate?

God made Princess pretty, not talented. But she is a really good kisser. She and Micah are practicing for next year.

Q- What were the qualifications for the King and Queen contest? Did Princess enter, or was she content to remain a Princess?

The dogs who received the most votes were crowned King and Queen. And the way one voted was to buy a ticket. So literally, the title of king and queen pug dogs went to the highest bidder. But it’s all for a worthy cause, pug rescue efforts. Next year, I’ll be ready and maybe Princess will sit on that throne.

Q- What was the funniest thing that happened at Puggerfest?

Pugs have several traits in common: they snore, they love to sleep and they are all obsessed with eating! When some human sat down at a picnic table with a hamburger, hot dog, or bag of chips, pugs came from all across the yard, crowding in anxiously awaiting a crumb to drop.

Q- What, if anything, went wrong?

Micah loved playing with the dogs up for adoption, and really wanted to bring home another dog. After begging me for a couple hours and presenting Princess and me with several potential four-legged family members, I wavered. “Find out how much it costs to adopt a dog,” I told her.

There were no signs, so Micah went to the nearest worker, who was in the food area. She came back and said, “They’re three-fifty.”

I understood the need for charging a fee for adopting a dog, but that was more than I was prepared to pay. I had to break it to Micah that we just couldn’t pay $350 for a dog at that moment. She was so sad.

That night, I got on the website to try and figure out why they charged so much to adopt a dog. Finally I realized. Micah had asked at the food table, “How much are the dogs?” The price she got was $3.50 for a hot dog, not 350 dollars for a rescue dog!

Q- So, is another Pug in your future?

Homeward Bound Pug Rescue is always in need of foster homes and we do have a big back yard. My husband and I are considering applying for a foster match to try and see how life is with two pugs. It’s uncharted territory since Micah is an only child and Princess and only dog.

Q- Tell me about Princess.

Nothing compares to life with a pug. Because of their comical faces, you can’t help but feel happy. And that curly tail! We sometimes uncurl her tail and she immediately turns and tries to catch the tip of it. Princess likes to go outside and wait with Micah for the school bus in the mornings and starts wheezing and whining about five minutes before we leave the house. That’s how we know the bus is coming!

Princess snores so loudly that I had to move her crate because I could hear it through the wall and she awakened me a couple times in the night!

Q- What are some of the reasons that you love pugs?

The cocking of the head when they try to understand what we’re saying. That smashed in face and those big round eyes. The outstretched curled tongue and the way they race on a body that is too stout for their petite legs. There is never a bad day with a pug. My brother-in-law says Princess is the ugliest dog he’s ever seen every time he comes over, but to us she’s a pretty princess!

Wednesday Pet Roundup

Hi and welcome to Wednesday Pet Roundup (formerly Monday Pet Roundup!) Here's Kelly relaxing on one of our fall walks.

* Are these animal and pet photos adorable or ugly? Decide for yourself in this Huffington Post article. (me: Pygmy hippo--adorable. Naked mole rat--ugly)

* October is National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. When visiting a shelter, you will surely have many questions about a perspective dog. When it comes to adopting, however, remember that a good shelter may ask YOU many more questions than you ask them. CBSnews.com offers this tip and more.

* When adopting a dog, you will likely look for a pup with a sunny disposition. Can you predict a puppy's optimism or pessimism? If so, according to an article on msnbc.com, researchers say it may help determine potential for separation anxiety. This may be helpful information when selecting a dog to adopt.

* Pet beds made from recycled water bottles, cat litter trays made from old hangers...The Baltimore Sun tells us that these are some great new products Wal-Mart is offering as a result of the store's sustainability initiative.

* Here's a Halloween contest for you and your pet. Just send Petango Pet Stores a photo of your pet in a great Halloween Costume and you might win a brand new iphone4, loaded with Petango's "Find a Pet" iphone app. Good luck!

What about you? Which animals did you find adorable or ugly? Is your pup a pessimist or an optimist? And paws up and be counted, all you shelter dogs and pound puppies--give us a woof and let us know you're here! (Happy adopt a shelter dog month!)

Tail-Wagging Adoption Tour and Susan Sims, Part 2

Wednesday I introduced you to
Susan Sims, publisher of FIDO Friendly magazine and founder of Get Your Licks on Route 66 mobile pet adoption tour. Today we continue our interview, find out what Junior is up to, and learn more about some of the heartwarming adoptions last year.

Q: The pet adoption tour kicks off in Chicago on September 11th. What are the special events along the way?

Susan: Each partner shelter provides volunteers to help during the day and we try and take photos of all the pets being adopted. We place a lot of ads in the local media and its always great fun when camera crews come out during that special day to help encourage more people to consider adopting their next pet. It is truly heart warming to be a part of this experience when people find their new forever friends.

Q: Do you remember some of the pets who were adopted?

Susan: Watching people looking at the pets up for adoption never failed to touch our hearts. One day in particular stands out in my mind when a disabled woman adopted a small bundle of fur who only had one eye. She thought they were a good match!

Last year, we had a cover contest where we chose one lucky pup from the tour to grace our cover. The pet that made it was a white puppy pit bull. He was adopted by a family in Flagstaff, Arizona (pictured with his new family and here on the cover) and they named him Spike. We saw the whole love story unfold that day and it was a perfect match.

Q: Are there cats too?

Susan: Cats are onboard as well!

Q: You're on the road for a month. What are the pluses and minuses of traveling so long?

Susan: We love traveling with our dog, Junior. The plus side is being able to experience different sights and sounds with him. He is always up for adventure. Another plus is that we always order room service when Junior is along for the ride. The minus side is: we always order room service when Junior is along for the ride. Lol

Q: So Junior is an important part of the tour.

Susan: Last year, Junior’s picture was quite large on the side of the bus. The caption was, ‘Hi, my name is Junior and I was adopted.’ We stay at the LaQuinta Inns and Suites as they are our hotel sponsors and one night when my husband was walking Junior at the hotel, a guest came up and said, "Is that Junior?" It took my husband awhile to realize that this person had seen Junior’s face on the side of the bus, and that was why he was recognized.

Q: Darn, I don't live in the Route 66 vicinity. Can we follow along online?

Susan: Thanks so much for asking! We will be blogging daily on our FIDO Friendly blog as well as highlighting stops on Animal Radio. There is also a direct link with photos at www.getyourlicks.org. We will be running a feature story the first of the year which will detail the entire tour.

Q: How many pets do you think will be adopted as a result of this year's tour?

Susan: Last year we helped adopt 150 pets. It would be great to double that amount this year!

Q: That would be great! How can we help?

Susan: You are helping us so much right now by spreading the word about this life saving event. We also have a great auction up on Charity Buzz. Starting September 2nd, people can take a look online and bid for great auction items. All proceeds will benefit the ‘Get Your Licks on Route 66’ tour. Once on Charity Buzz, look for North Shore Animal League America and FIDO Friendly and the event name: Get Your Licks on Route 66.

Thank you Susan, and best of luck on the tour! Hugs to Junior!

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.

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.

We Love Treats!

Treats in the mail! Yippee!
Kelly and I want to give a big BOL Thank You to St. Louis Senior Dog Project for sending us these goodies! We recently won a contest, and couldn't be more delighted when our prize arrived. I got an awesome navy t-shirt and Kelly got some extra-delicious natural treats from Treats Unleashed . Wow, did she love them.


Let me tell you, these treats looked and smelled fresh from the bakery amazing. Here's Kelly sniffing them right through the envelope. (Kelly's on the windowsill where she sleeps most of the day. What does she think she is, a cat?)













I love the good work this place does. In case you're not familiar, the St. Louis Senior Dog Project is a non-profit organization to rescue dogs (of all ages, but especially 5 years old and up) and to promote the adoption of older dogs.
Here are a few of the senior dogs for adoption and check out their Dog of the Week blog.

Pet Adoption Tips from Great Dane Mom

Meet the cutest little puppy, Shadow.























Okay, not so little.
Shadow is 6 months old and currently weights in at 80 pounds. Her mom, Ellen, describes Shadow as being "counter height." Well you can just imagine what that entails. Shadow, a Great Dane, can pretty much grab a snack from the kitchen counter, select a book to shred off the living room shelf, or help herself to some towels off the rack in the bathroom.

Ellen adopted Shadow several weeks ago from a local animal shelter. A family had turned in the beautiful ebony dog because they had no time for her after having a (human) baby. Since Ellen's veterinarian knew that Ellen owned a Great Dane previously, she contacted Ellen to see if she'd be interested in adopting this big baby. The vet knew that the dog would need an owner experienced with the breed for the best chance of a successful adoption.

"They just want to be close to you. They think they're lap dogs," says Ellen. She offers these tips to anyone thinking of adopting a Great Dane. "Be prepared for large housebreaking accidents, large dog food bills, chewing of woodwork, and lawn destruction. Crating is highly recommended, but large crates can be expensive. Most of all, be prepared for a short life span."

Ellen's previous Great Dane, Violet, lived until 6 years old. Life expectancy is about 8 yrs.

For Shadow, the transition from shelter to forever home has been fairly easy. She gets along well with her new siblings, a pug and a German Shepherd. She loves to leap...even over the Shepherd. And her favorite pastime is stealing food off counters. She loves all food, "even the apple she stole off the counter this morning."

For Ellen, the main difficulty has been in housebreaking an older dog with already established routines. "The only command she seemed to know was SIT." In addition, Shadow had some dietary issues that were resolved after experimenting with different dog foods. Putting two and two together (get it? ugh!) I can imagine that the dietary issues and the housebreaking issues led to some big clean ups!

Shadow is expected to grow 4 more inches in height, and to weigh about 120 pounds.

Why do pet adoption organizations ask so many questions?

Scrolling down the rows of adorable photos on Petfinder’s website, I came across a reddish-brown spaniel, about 9 months old, with silky ears and soulful brown eyes. I had to have that dog!

Before I could adopt Kelly, however, I had to pass an interview conducted by Kelly’s Rescue Mom. I anxiously sat on the couch as she scrutinized my home and examined my daily routine. Here are some questions you, too, may be asked when you’re ready to adopt that one special dog:
1. Could you provide veterinarian records?
While it doesn’t matter if your current dog had fleas or your previous dog once hurt its paw, adoption organizations want to see that you sought proper treatment for your pets. They’ll also want to ensure vaccinations were kept up to date. This information will show that you provided good care for your pet, and will care for the new dog as well.
2. Do you own your home?
Some adoption organizations require you to own your own home. Others will ask to see a copy of your lease and the pet policy, if you are a renter. They may ask to talk to, or receive a written consent from, your landlord. Making sure the dog is allowed at its new home helps ensure it won’t have to be returned (or worse, abandoned) later.
3. Do you have a fenced-in yard?
You’ll need a safe area for your new dog to run and play. You may even be required to have fenced in yard before you can adopt a dog. A representative will come to your home to verify this. In addition, they may visit to see if your home is safe, and big enough for the breed dog you are considering.
4. Do you work full time?
Adopting a dog is more difficult for those who work outside the home full time. Many organizations will not adopt to families where no one is home during the day. Others will only adopt older dogs, not puppies, in that situation. Families with staggered or flexible schedules, where one adult is home most of the time, or where an older, responsible child is home in the afternoons, will have an easier time adopting a dog.

5. What are the ages of your children?
Every adoption organization will ask about the members of your household and ages of the children. The SPCA will not adopt puppies less than 6 months old to homes with children under 4 years old. Some dogs are not a good match for young children.

While they may seem firm, these questions help place a dog in the right home, with the best care possible. And, with typical adoption fees ranging from $100-$350, you’ll want to be sure the dog is the right match for you and your lifestyle, too.

And the happy ending for us--we adopted Kelly, and she's a joyful and loving member of our family. Good luck finding your fur-ever friend!
(This first appeared on Guideposts.com, July 2009)