The New Frontier For The Volunteer (via www.lifeanddog.com)
From The Magazine | Ryan Rice Illustration ©LIFE+DOG by Amanda Olson Vol·un·teer: a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking. Also known as altruist, bleeding heart, good Samaritan, humanitarian, philanthropist. Whether we realize it or not, many of us…
Continue reading "New Frontier For Volunteers & Animal Advocates" »
Sunshine & Summer Means More Fun Outdoor Puppy Photo Ops
L+D Photo: Step Into The Shade (via www.lifeanddog.com)
From The Magazine | L+D Photo Photography samples on this page are from LIFE+DOG contributing photographer Claudine Kosier of Simply Dog Photography. Find Claudine in Las Vegas and Columbus, Ohio and online at simplydogphoto.com. This month’s photography tip can be used by anyone with any camera…
Continue reading "Start Now! Learn Outdoor Puppy Photo Tricks" »
This is a bittersweet story with an ending that I'm going to spoil for you, in order to hopefully motivate you. The little dog in this photo isn't with us anymore, except in spirit. And I feel his spirit is strong. Strong enough to positively influence you now. I never met George Carlin but thanks to Sara Tenenbein, this little dog's story will be shared. Sara's husband, Steve Hofstetter did the right thing when no one was looking except for his wife and dog Bea Arthur.
Sara is proud of what her husband did and what he wrote, and forwarded his writing to me here at GrouchyPuppy. She hoped that my readers would be inspired to take action and help. She said,
Two days ago, my husband and I found an abandoned dog in a gas station parking lot. My husband, who was not a dog person before I met him, caught the dog, fed it, and cared for it.
He wrote a piece for his Facebook about it because, in his words, "I wanted to create something beautiful for him."
The Day Everything Changed is powerful and moving, it's a story that speaks to our GrouchyPuppy motto loudly and emotionally. I cried while reading but can tell you this was one of those times when it was more important to finish reading and not let sadness win. I hope you agree. Please read The Day Everything Changed, by Steve Hofstetter ..
Continue reading "Comedian Steve Hofstetter Gives Fearlessly for a Dog Called George Carlin" »
The faces a dog makes, or their displays of expression can intimidate some people, while cause others to smile and melt with warmth. Maybe fond memories are triggered, or they simply just read into the expression differently. It all depends on who is on the receiving end of the expression, don't you think?
Now this face makes me smile every time. Cleo looks grouchy when I think she just had something stuck in her gums or she had cotton mouth. But if you didn't know her, and saw her do in this person, with 85 pound of girth backing it up, you might think this was a scowl.
My dog Cleo has always been clumsy. She is a big girl who never hid her excitement. Her joy could be demonstrated by leaning hard into your legs or racing toward a toy to squeak it. It wasn't that many years ago when her joy at your arrival home would be expressed by her suddenly tearing off down the hall to our bedroom, then knocking our mattress half off its frame, before racing back down the hall to land against the couch, that proceeded to be slammed against the window as it received her 85 lbs like a catcher's mitt.
Her doggy joy at my homecoming is a highlight of my day. Sure back then I was afraid she'd break our couch or worse, go hurtling over it and out the window. But it is just so cute that she couldn't hide how happy she was that I had walked in the front door.
Continue reading "How my dog got even cuter after losing her vision" »
Thank you for voting GrouchyPuppy as the Best Dog Blog! Your support means everything! Winning a Beast of the Bay Award is HUGE because it means you like what we're sharing across our social media channels and this blog. Our motto is simple, GIVE FEARLESSLY INFLUENCE POSITIVELY.
Big congrats to the runner ups, and to the winners in all of the categories. The San Francisco Bay Area is a special place filled with people who care about animals and their wellbeing. Your commitment to making the world a better place for dogs and those of us who love them is why GrouchyPuppy keeps growing.
Thank you,
Sharon and Cleo (the muse for all things GrouchyPuppy)
Via San Francisco CBS Local.com
Shelters sometimes ask volunteers to foster animals.
“We ask people to foster animals that aren’t quite ready for adoption, these are usually puppies or kittens that are underage and they need some nursing care and socialization,” explained Jennifer Scarlett, DVM, co-president of the San Francisco SPCA. “They can also be recovering from injuries or illnesses.”
A judge recently ruled that pet “foster parents" can deduct expenses such as food and medicine on their taxes.
For more information:
Read the landmark US Tax Court documents Van Dusen vs. Commissioner (PDF)
Visit always informative Pet News and Views for details
Newswise — Several four-legged volunteers with the People-Animal Connection (PAC) program at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and their human counterparts will star in an upcoming episode of the PBS television show, “Shelter Me: Let’s Go Home,” premiering in April.
The docu-series celebrates shelter pets with positive and uplifting stories about people's lives being improved when they adopt a shelter pet. The show followed a handful of human/dog teams with UCLA’s animal-assisted therapy PAC program as they volunteered at the hospital. All of the dogs featured were adopted from shelters and now help people by bringing comfort to patients and their families, as well as joy to the doctors and nurses.
