Are you inked? I have friends and family who are inked. Most don't come close to looking like these burly fellas from Rescue Ink. Depending on their age group, it seems they have random icons in multiple spots, like butterflies on their feet, maybe an Asian symbol on a shoulder or I've even seen a little red devil on an bicep. 

Now Pet Ink is not Rescue Ink.  What Pet Ink sells is more like what I've seen musician Nicki Minaj display on television. Nicki is known for wearing blonde wigs that she inks, sometimes with stripes, rainbows or even camouflage patterns.

If you thought about inking your pet rather than yourself, Pet-Ink is a company that sells semi-permanent tattoo kits to use on your pet.  A portion of every purchase to support homeless pets.  With Cleo and her fur coat, there is no way we could review this product but Paw Nation does a good job.

Babe and Rowdy are two sweet pit bulls who have been together for six years and are almost inseparable.  Their elderly owner just passed away.  Now they are in foster care. 

They interact well together and with other dogs.  They were raised in the Lower Haight and have played in Duboce Park for years.  They are both very sweet and gentle, used to a lot of attention and need a calm environment. 

Their owner walked them slow and steady three times a day.  Sometimes he would walk them separately.  Babe is about 7 years old and likes to sleep in and cuddle. She is the black and slightly chubby Pit Bull. Rowdy also chubby is over 7 years old and his joints are getting a little achey, while Babe has more energy and likes to chase balls.  Both are navigating up and down stairs all day long, ideally a first floor location or fewer stairs would be best.  The best scenario is to see them adopted together.  They are spayed and neutered.

They are a little overweight and like people food.  They don't beg, but when if you're in the kitchen they will come too.  Their owner was very diligent with discipline and care.  He was firm and fair.  His standard line was "cool it" followed by the dogs name and they listened.  The dogs know basic commands and seem very loving.

Contact Kilby Stenkamp who is currently fostering them at:

Hill & Co
3899 24th St
SF, CA 94114

Direct 415.321.4398
Cell 415.370.7582

email: [email protected]

Over 2 billion dollars of tax-payer money is spent per year to collect, house, care for, and ultimately kill over 4 million cats and dogs each year.

Over-population and under-education. Statistics like the one above can be debated but we owe it to ourselves to challenge the myths behind spaying and neutering animals. Killing hundreds of animals every hour (yes, hour) is not something we should allow without trying and trying some more, to find a way to stop. Today we have spay and neuter programs like Houston’s SNAP and we have clever campaigns like Help Joey, taking simple yet forward strides toward ending the overpopulation in animal shelters.

Wouldn't it be great not to need these holiday pet adoption drives?

DR. NANCY KAY wanted to become a veterinarian for just about as long as she can remember. Her veterinary degree is from Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, and she completed her residency training in small animal internal medicine at the University of California—Davis Veterinary School.

Dr. Kay is a board certified specialist in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and published in several professional journals and textbooks. She lectures professionally to regional and national audiences, and one of her favorite lecture topics is communication between veterinarians and their clients. Since the release of her book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life, Dr. Kay has lectured extensively and written numerous magazine articles on the topic of medical advocacy.

Dr. Kay is a staff internist at VCA Animal Care Center, a 24-hour emergency/specialty care center in Rohnert Park, California. As a way of providing emotional support for people with sick four-legged family members, Dr. Kay founded and helps facilitate the VCA Animal Care Center Client Support Group. She also facilitates client communication rounds for VCA Animal Care Center employees.

Dr. Kay’s personal life revolves around her husband (also a veterinarian), her three children (none of whom aspire to be veterinarians) and their menagerie of four-legged family members. When she’s not writing, she spends her spare moments in the garden or riding along the beach atop her favorite horse. Dr. Kay and her family reside in Sebastopol, California.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? My mother always told me, “You’re only as happy as your least happy child.” As the mother of three grown children, I’ve come to believe this is true for me- although it’s a concept a good psychotherapist would likely want to talk me out of! So, when all three of my kids are happy and healthy, I’m a pretty darned happy camper!

According to a 1998 Gallup Organization survey, pet owners regard their animals not only as part of the family, but also as better companions than some human members of their family.

This survey might be more than ten years old, but it's truth rings even more loudly today. We approach the care of our beloved pets with the same intensity and commitment as we do human family members.

I started to write this post about my dog Cleo and how as a senior dog now she courageously tackles three flights of stairs everyday.

Rather than focus strictly on applauding my dog, like a proud parent at a track meet or science fair, I decided step back and instead share the advice and tips that I've learned for households with aging pets. 

Bragging about how clever Cleo is, is fun don't get me wrong, but I'd rather share real ways we have worked with Cleo in the hope that it helps others. At the end of this post I will share several links to senior dog blogs and other resources for senior dog health.

Since 2003, Michael Ayalon, President and Founder of Petwebdesigner.com, has been building websites and blogs for pet related businesses in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Petwebdesigner specializes in website design, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and social media. Petwebdesigner has been featured on ABC News, Dog Fancy, Pet Product News, and ASPCA Animal Hero for their work in building AnimalRoulette.com, the first ever online live video adoption site. Learn more by visiting their website at www.Petwebdesigner.com.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Perfect happiness is a world in which all pets have a home. It's been one of my biggest frustrations working in the pet industry, as we currently have between 9,000 - 11,000 animals euthanized each day in shelters here in the United States. To me, that is just completely unacceptable. Until that day comes when we have a solution to this problem, I'll keep coming up with new ideas to help correct it.

Our dog Cleo, a large German Shepherd-Husky, loves squeaky toys. She loves them so much, you might say she loves them to death.

It has been a struggle finding dog toys that give this "predator" a satisfying squeak of fear (or maybe delight?), before they poop out.

We have worked to keep her current line in good shape, just in case we are stuck with them long past their end date. Check out our eco-post where we tried recycling and repairing a few toys.

Today we received a reprieve when the lovely folks at Premier Pet Products let Cleo taste test their new dog toy - a Pogo Plush Beaver.

This turned into a very exciting playtime.  Cleo didn't know what to do when she discovered this beaver toy has a free-floating squeaker! Considering her dental challenges, we are always amazed that she can tear many other dog toys apart.

“When there is violence to animals, there is likely violence to children and others who may be defenseless.”

I’m the youngest in a large family that included several dogs. As with most families, there were times in my childhood where I was teased by older siblings. In a rare instance it got out of hand, but I was fortunate enough to have a parent or other adult step in - never did my environment allow for any mistreatment of animals, our dogs or any others.

My parents may not have allowed this behavior to take hold in our family, but I certainly remember other neighborhood kids who would have wanted to “kick the dog” if they were picked on and in turn felt helpless. This environment is never acceptable.

Artwork by BZTAT

The issue of pet abuse and abandonment is deeply connected to the issue of child abuse and domestic violence. Both issues need to be addressed together, not one in isolation of each other. Truth be told, child welfare programs grew out of the efforts of animal rescue organizations who were seeing children in deplorable conditions when they were rescuing endangered pets.

To honor the quarterly Blog the Change challenge, and make a fresh commitment to act on behalf of animals, I decided to spread the word on a public art project designed to create awareness about the connections between animal maltreatment, child abuse & domestic violence - Okey's Promise.

Okey's Promise is the creation of Artist Vicki Boatright (AKA BZTAT), a talented woman I met at the pet blogging conference Blog Paws last year.  She also is one of my subjects in the Influence Positively Interviews series. 

Mary Haight, Blogger/Editor of DancingDogBlog has served as an executive on the board of Lake Shore Animal Shelter, Chicago’s oldest no kill shelter, for 13 years, and has been a member of the Chicago Animal Shelter Alliance (CASA) since inception. You can follow/contact her on Twitter @dancingdogblog.

Mary has recently joined the #BarkOutLoud (formerly #DogTalk)team, a Monday night 9 pm EST Twitter event presenting open chats on topics of interest, and  interviews with authors, trainers, artists, performers, animal welfare agents, vets and other interesting people doing things for animals. Join in for the unique opportunity to ask questions and be heard!

What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
I have had moments of great joy, perfect in their imprinted memory and usually having to do with the beauty of nature:  a gorgeous sky, a beautiful lake, being lucky enough to see nature’s curtain pulled aside revealing young deer playing leapfrog, a snapping turtle laying eggs, baby bunnies hidden under hay, chipmunks scolding the human trespasser. Being in the moment to see dogs in all their “otherness” as the magnificent creatures they are is another bit of joy that I can carry with me and share.  But there’s another world of happiness to be found in the quotidian, like having tea and the Sunday paper in bed, with plenty of pillows, the dog, and the promise of day without obligation shaped only by me.  It’s everywhere, this idea of the sublime – choose it and there it is.

What's this all about anyway?

Not one to back down from a challenge, I heard the call from fellow pet bloggers Edie of Will My Dog Hate Me? and Amy of Go Pet Friendly to step from behind the computer screen and share a little of myself today. 

Essentially this post and challenge is to get us to stop and consider our navels for a moment.  Why are we blogging? What do we want from this?  I find the challenge here to be more the stopping part than the thoughtful introspection. 

You might consider me a doer.  Ask me for help, give me a task or outline a problem and I'm perfect for grabbing and running towards the finish line.

But enough about me, let's look at Grouchy Puppy together.  Since I love to make lists myself, it was easiest to take the questions that Edie sent out and share my answers in this form below. 

If after reading this post, you have any questions at all, please ask.  I'm really an open book, sort of like Cleo's pleasing mug up there...

1. When did you begin your blog? I first started Cleo’s Day in January 2009 and then this blog, Dog Days in March 2010.

For a city that some lists say is not very pet-friendly, San Francisco has for decades used the beauty of the City of St. Francis, and its draw for visitors and locals alike during the holidays to shine a spotlight on dogs and cats available for adoption. 

When I was young, it was a family tradition to spend a day shopping for Christmas gifts in Union Square then wait in line to see the adorable dogs and cats displayed in the windows of the quintessential San Francisco store, Gump's. The backdrops are always elaborate and who doesn't love to see a miniature cityscape filled with puppies and kittens?!

Today Macy's has taken over this role as host and temporary landlord for hundreds of pets ready to find a new home for the new year.  2010 marks Macy's 24th year as hostess.  This winter it's been extra cold and wet in downtown San Francisco.  Hats off to the SPCA volunteers who stood on the cold sidewalk for hours yet maintained welcoming smiles (it was nice to see these pleasant faces mixed with the hordes of hurried shoppers and wandering tourists), and were ready with adoption information.

Macy's works with the SF/SPCA to find homes during the holidays for more than 200 pets by the New Year. This year the SF/SPCA and Macy's Holiday Pet Adoption Windows were instrumental in finding homes for 14 dogs and 281 cats. The 2010 holiday campaign also brought in $71,784 in donations.