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September 2010
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November 2010

Influence Positively Questionnaire - Mike Arms

Mike Arms - President of Helen Woodward Animal Center

Michael Arms became President of Helen Woodward Animal Center in 1999 after serving ten years as district manager for the ASPCA in New York and twenty years as Director of Operations for North Shore Animal League.

Since he developed the, “Iams Home 4 the Holidays” adoption drive in San Diego in 1999 the campaign has found homes for more than 3,278,000 orphaned pets worldwide. Mike also established the Center’s, “Animal Center Education Services” program to teach, “the business of saving lives” to shelters worldwide.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? My idea of perfect happiness is being able to wake up in the morning feeling healthy both physically and mentally and turning on the news to find total peace and harmony in the world- that mankind has finally got the message that we need to be humane to each other, as well as the animals that are put on this earth to share the planet with us.

If you could come back as a dog or a cat, which one would it be & why? I would definitely want to come back as a dog. Even though I love both species, I have personally witnessed more catering to our canine friends. I've seen canine lovers take their friends to the beach to romp, cook homemade meals for them, give them a great bed to sleep on, buy toys and treats, and tell all their troubles to. So yup, if I had a chance to come back it would be as (wo)mans' best friend.

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Muttvile Benefit - 4th Annual Pawtrero Halloween Pet Party San Francisco

Senior Dog Adoptions. Cute dogs in costume. Halloween pet party. Mix these ingredients together in San Francisco and you have a fun event and fundraister for Muttville.

Cleo at Pawtreo Hosted by Pawtrero - our favorite San Francisco family owned, independent pet supply store and self-service bath facility, this Halloween event is a benefit for Muttville, a great local charity that helps senior dogs through foster, education and rescue.

Pawtrero will have great trick or treat bags for all animals in costume (while supplies last). Local dog walkers, and daycare will be in attendance and there will be free pet photos from Pet Poses and Michelle Lee.

There will be a raffle held at 3:00pm. Last year there were over 250 dogs in costume and over $2300 was raised for Muttville through the raffle. Tickets for the raffle will be sold this year at both of the Pawtrero store locations as well as on the day of the event, you do not have to be present to win.

Great Prizes for the raffle include an autographed bat from the SF Giants, French Dinner for 4 in your house, a FYDO Dog Bed, restaurant gift certificates, dog grooming, doggie daycare certificates, Pawtrero gift certificates and much more.http://www.pawtrero.com/blog/

When: Sunday, October 31st from 12-3pm.

Where: Pier 40, next to the Java House by the SF Giants Ballpark.

 

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Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS) Fundraiser at the Elle Décor Showhouse in San Francisco!

Pets are wonderful support!!  Dogs and cats provide the best unconditional companionship we could ever hope for! PAWS is a wonderful nonprofit volunteer organization that believes that the healing impact of the human-animal bond is one of the best supports available for medically vulnerable individuals, and mounting evidence indicates that this bond can yield valuable health outcomes.

Pets_PAWS_San_Francisco

Pets dish out love.
  Visit the gorgeous Elle Décor Showhouse in San Francisco, nibble hors d'oeuvres and support the continuation of PAWS services - since they began more than 20 years ago PAWS is completely privately funded.

Sip a glass of wine, tour this elegant home in the historic St. Francis Wood neighborhood, get great design ideas for your own home decor while supporting PAWS.

With more than 800 clients who have more than 1,000 companion animals - when you contribute to PAWS these are some of the services they are able to provide their clients:

  • Pet food
  • Vet care
  • Flea medications
  • Dog walking
  • Transportation
  • Foster care
  • Grooming
  • Education
  • Case management
  • Housing advocacy

Elle_Decor_Showhouse

Enjoy this unique PAWS fundraiser at the Elle Décor Showhouse in St. Francis Wood.

The Showhouse is a spectacularly renovated 4,500-sq-foot home as featured in the 2010 San Francisco Junior League's Annual Home Tour.  Please note this means humans only can attend.

Friday, November 12, 2010 

From 6:30pm - 8:30pm

300 St Francis Blvd., St Francis Wood in San Francisco, CA

Enjoy a "PAWS-only peek" of this beautiful home!

Scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served

Complimentary valet parking

Each $50 ticket can be purchased here

 

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Influence Positively Questionnaire - Roxanne Hawn

Rox and Lilly A professional journalist, Roxanne Hawn doesn’t just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Roxanne blogs about her fearful border collie, Lilly. Called Champion of My Heart, it’s a real-time memoir about life with a brilliant, sensitive dog always at her side. In September 2010, Roxanne and Lilly won the first-ever DogTime Media Best Dog Blog Award. Roxanne also writes Dog Food Dish, a blog for K9Cuisine.com.

Since she started freelancing full time in 1999, many top dog magazines have published her work, including The Bark, Healthypet, Modern Dog, AKC Family Dog, AKC Gazette, and Clean Run (a dog agility magazine). She also writes for many pet industry trade magazines, including some in the veterinary profession. Roxanne’s other work in the lifestyles niche spans The New York Times and Reader’s Digest to Bankrate.com and WebMD. She recently launched her first Be the Change effort, called Never Shock a Puppy, with a coalition of other pet bloggers.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Well, you would not believe the avalanche of sadness and worry and stress I’ve had in the last 15 months or so, with several deaths and several ongoing illnesses in the family. So, my answer is probably different than it would be years ago or years to come. For me, right now, perfect happiness is being free from worry or grief. Other than that, I’m happiest on days that are just warm enough, just sunny enough, just quiet enough, so that I can be fully present in the love and abundance of life with the people and dogs I adore. Our society focuses on action, and I’m a very task-oriented person, but I think true happiness comes more from being than from always doing, doing, doing. When I make wishes, they are usually for a prosperity of peace and ease.

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Pet Safety: Having a Happy Howl'-o-ween

IMG_2293 Halloween is here again. All kinds of pet parades and dog costume contests have been going on in cities across America. Silly pet photos can be seen on Facebook pages and Smartphone wallpapers everywhere.

Our dog Cleo does not like wearing anything except her harness and leash, because that means a walk.

We learned soon after we got Cleo a few things that have saved us from many an accident during Halloween.  Here are some of the best tips that we'll never forget:

  • This time of year also brings discarded candy wrappers and scraps from costumes, both could be choking hazards for pets. 
  • Pumpkins are delicious when cooked and put into your dog's dinner, but the jack-o-lantern with its candle flame if it is low enough for an excited swipe of a tail or paw, can turn dangerous.
  • Many of us live with our front doors facing a busy street or a dark suburban landscape. Avoid the spooked pet - before opening the door for trick-or-treaters, keep Rex safely behind a secure door until your front door is completely closed.
  • Keep the telephone number of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center—(888) 426-4435—as well as that of your local veterinarian, in a prominent location.

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Influence Positively Questionnaire - Jana Rade

Jasmine

I am a graphic designer by profession and I never aspired to learning about dog health issues until I met Jasmine.

Unfortunately, I received a crash course in the subject due to Jasmine’s many health issues and have since become an advocate for other pet owners and their four-legged friends.

Through my blog, Dawg Business, I share my experiences and the hard lessons I have learned with others. I feel that if my blog can help just one dog, Jasmine's suffering hasn't been in vain. My mission is to save the world one dog at a time.

At the end, our dog’s health is up to us!

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Perfect happiness? Wow, is there such a thing? I can only be happy when Jasmine is happy and when she's feeling good. She has a lot of zest for life and I love watching her having a good time. My dream is to take her to a vet one day and come back with clean bill of health. Well, one can always dream... If those around me are happy, then I can be also.

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Canine Beach Tussle Turns Dangerous - BtC4Animals

Today is Blog the Change for Animals. Every four months it is our chance to gather as a community, to share links, ideas and camaraderie.  My post on July 15 was about Rocket Dog Rescue, a grass roots San Francisco rescue, who I admire for how much they accomplish with such a lean organization. This pet rescue gives fearlessly!

IMG_0671_2 Blog about a shelter/foster/cause/friend close to your heart.  Today I'm highlighting a larger organization that has the heart of a small shelter, but the framework and outreach of a much bigger outfit.  They hold a special place in my heart because two years ago this week, they were there for us when Cleo, our Husky/German Shepherd, needed immediate emergency animal dentistry on the Columbus Day holiday weekend.  

Panicked would be an understatement. Who knew how difficult it would be to find a pet hospital open on a holiday weekend, that also had dental equipment for dogs and the staff available to operate. By the time we found the place that could help, we were a mushy mess, worried that Cleo would lose not only her upper canine tooth but part of her jaw.  Around 1:00AM after hours of surgery and recovery, the end of our ordeal had us shaking our heads in amazement, gladly paying our bill and cuddling with Cleo in the back seat all the way home.

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Animal Dentistry 101

Have you been through a pet emergency? Two years ago this week we had one. Before that our pet care had been strictly routine.  Cleo had a root canal early into her life with us, but that was scheduled.

Two years ago we had our first real emergency, and it involved animal dentistry. Cleo 2008

Here's a glimpse into how my brain tried to help me cope. Remember the Seinfeld episode, where Kramer's apartment has the entire Merv Griffin Show set? Jim Fowler (Sunday night Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingom) is there and George brings a recovering squirrel to the set, in a Baby Bjorn?  The recuperating squirrel George is carrying just had an operation, done with teeny tiny instruments that George had to pay for in order to prove to his girlfriend he didn't hate animals.

Clearly I watch too many Seinfeld reruns but this episode and its references to television shows from my childhood, seemed to help me not completely freak out. Random scenes seemed to counterbalance my feelings of panic as I stood in a parking lot using Google's search function on my iPhone. 

I needed to find a 24-Hour Animal Hospital, on Columbus Day holiday weekend, that could see Cleo immediately, had animal dentistry equipment and staff to operate it.

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SPCA of Wake County Teams With Tap-n-Give for Adventures in Storytelling

Rescues Rule When we first saw Cleo in her room at the SF/SPCA, she regally stayed perched on her elevated bed, not moving, just staring at us like Queen Cleopatra.  This is the beginning of our story about how Cleo became part of our pack.  What's yours?

Iphone3 Community-focused Initiative.  The SPCA of Wake County; an organization dedicated to creating a more humane community where every adoptable animal has a home; has partnered with Tap-n-Give.  The initiative is called “Adventures In Storytelling” and celebrates the love and joy that rescued animals bring to people’s lives.

Calling Animal Lovers.  From now until November 7, share your funny and sweet stories of your rescued pets in the Adventures In Storytelling contest on Tap-n-Give. You could win a grand prize package that includes $200 worth of pet wellness products from Casey Petraceuticals.

Love Your Rescued Pet? Share Your Story. This initiative is being run in partnership with Tap-n-Give; an iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad application that makes it easy for users to donate to charities.  Animal lovers can also support the SPCA of Wake County and their good works by downloading Tap-n-Give from the iTunes App Store and making a small donation. You'll get a beautiful wallpaper image from the charity with your donation.

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Influence Positively Interview - Judy Fridono

Judy Fridono & Ricochet
Judy Fridono is a certified dog trainer, CPDT-KA, and the founder of Puppy Prodigies Neo-natal & Early Learning Program www.puppyprodigies.org.  She is also the guardian of Surf Dog Ricochet who went from service dog to SURFice dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4, and is now committed to facilitating Ricochet's journey.  She also has a service dog named Rina who loves to work.  http://www.surfdogricochet.com On Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SurfDogRicochet

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Getting to the point in your life where you stop trying to control it, and just let it "be", and finding it's much BETTER than what you thought you wanted. When you're able to look at disappointment and adversity as opportunity. Being among people and animals that have the purest of hearts, and feeling their incredible positive energy radiate throughout the universe! Helping others, and being witness to the tears of joy that it brings them.

If you could come back as a dog or a cat, which one would it be & why?

A dog because I like to be outside and active. I have some physical limitations, and live vicariously through my dogs right now, so being a healthy young dog so full of energy and life would be amazing.

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Cleo Says What?

How dogs smell, I don't know. Truthfully sometimes Cleo stinks at sniffing out dog treats right in front of her nose. 

My first fear thought is that she is losing her sense of smell as she ages.  My second worry thought is that I need to wash her dog bedding, because clearly the smells within it must be concealing the smells of the treat.

This is a tough one because personally I think a dog would love either smell.  Even if it is her feet, whatever stinks the most wins?  Is that how dogs process the smells?

She may be an aging huntress but Cleo can still track and find her favorite food - chicken liver.  Through "air-tight" packaging, she found these freeze-dried treats.* 

Since we found out Cleo can't eat corn, we've got ourselves a healthier girl. It's a good thing these treats are small and all natural because we are going through them like popcorn!

*Thanks Etta Says! for having your tasty treats at BlogPaws West, and sharing them with us attendees for free.

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