Pet Memorial Peternity Blog

National Adopt A Dog Month - Share Your Story and Win!

Have you been thinking about, and thinking about adopting a dog and putting it off, and putting it off? Well now's the time!

October is National Adopt A Dog Month and we want as many people as possible to actually . . . adopt a dog! So, we are hosting an “Adopt-a-Dog” Book Giveaway. Adopt a dog during the month of October and share your story with us here on our blog.

We're running the contest through November 5th - just to give you an extra week to find the perfect dog for you. Then we'll do a random drawing for one of you to win a fabulous medley of books from the Hachette Book Group. These books are all centered around our love for our faithful pets and the book titles include:

Katie Up and Down the Hall, by Glenn Plaskin
Oogy, by Larry Levin
GoD and DoG, by Wendy Francisco
Dog Tags, by David Rosenfelt
How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend, by The Monks of New Skete 

These will all be yours, just for sharing your adoption story. Well, and for giving a deserving dog a loving home.

There are just a few contest requirements - you must live in either the US or Canada, you need to have a mailing address other than a PO box, and you must adopt a dog! We want to see pictures, so if you share your story here on our blog, email us your pictures by clicking here, and we will share your pictures on our blog if you are the winner.

Spoil yourself with the love and affection of a new dog and save a life in the process. They need you! And you need them too.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

Protect Your Pets Through Disaster Preparedness

The ASPCA has provided a great checklist for Disaster Preparedness for your pets.

Just following the first step, for starters, could make a big difference for your pets.

Step 1   Get a Rescue Alert Sticker
This easy-to-use sticker will let people know that pets are inside your home. Make sure it is visible to rescue workers, and that it includes 1) the types and number of pets in your household; 2) the name of your veterinarian; and 3) your veterinarian's phone number. If you must evacuate with your pets, and if time allows, write "EVACUATED" across the stickers.

To get a free emergency pet alert sticker for your home, please fill out our online order form; please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Your local pet supply store may also sell similar stickers.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

We're In Love! We've Been Rescued by a Malte-Poo

I'm continually frustrated by the stray animals that I find who don't have collars, tags, chips, etc. The loose dogs and cats in our neighborhood always seem to find me and I try as hard as I can to be congenial and polite when I return them to their owners and kindly remind them that their pets should be wearing something that will help them to be returned home.

But now I'm completely contradicting myself! A friend of the family found the cutest stray dog last week a couple of towns over. He had no collar, no tags and no chip. And now I feel like the luckiest family on the block!

It's official, we're all in love. Mutley, I mean Fluffy, no sorry Gunner, I mean Romeo! We've gone through a few names here, is the absolute sweetest, smart and funny little dog. He's a Maltese Poodle mix, about 1.5 years old according to the vet an absolute joy to be around. Such a happy little guy.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

The Tragic Industry of Nurse Mare Foals

I want to bring awareness to "another" tragic practice that is occurring in the horse racing world. The abuse of nurse mare foals.

Nurse mare foals are unfortunate foals born to mares that are bred solely for milk production. Nurse mare farmers use mares of varying breeds but often times the larger breeds, such as drafts, to breed nurse mare foals.

After foaling, the breeders lease the mares out to a farm, usually a farm involved with the horse racing industry. The mares are taken from their biological offspring anywhere between 1 day and 1 week of age. These new mothers then become mothers for more "expensive" foals. Their biological foals are left to die, are killed or are slaughtered due to the level care they require and the costs associated to raise the orphan foals..

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week

We're right in the middle of National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, November 1–7. Use this week to celebrate everyone who cares for shelter animals and who also work to make a difference in the number of pets who are adopted from shelters.

In 1996 the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) launched this week of appreciation to create a time for us to honor the 4,000 animal shelters across the United States who rescue and shelter an estimated 6 to 8 million homeless animals annually.

63 percent of American households include pets, but only 10% of dogs and 18% of cats are adopted from animal shelters.

There is no better time than now to get acquainted with one of your local shelters. Visit a shelter and talk to them about how you can support homeless animals in your community. You can volunteer your time, become a spay/neuter advocate, or open your heart to give a shelter pet a forever home.

For more ideas on how to celebrate and help, visit The Humane Society or AnimalSheltering.org.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

Help Raise $10,000 for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary!

Do you like movies? Perfect!

Find movies and help homeless animals - for free!

Jinni.com will not only help you find the perfect movie to watch, but by signing up, you will help Best Friends receive donations to help homeless animals across the country. Jinni will donate $10,000 to Best Friends when 100,000 members sign up for free.

Click here to sign up for free!

Jinni is an exciting website that offers a whole new way to choose what to watch next. With its cutting-edge semantic technology, Jinni’s Taste Engine will intuitively help you find all the movies and shows you have been longing to watch.

CNET votes Jinni the #1 best movie recommendation website, ranked higher than both Rotten Tomatoes and Netflix.

Each sign-up adds to the donation, so please forward this to your friends, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter – and help save animals!

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

More Unlikely Animal Friends

Here's another great story of unlikely animal friends - a male horse and a very young foal who were complete strangers, but not for long! This male horse, as soon as he heard the new arriving foal's whinny, immediately decided to be his new protector in a very maternal way, very rare! Here's the owner's story.

I have to tell you the beginning was so incredible. Beamer heard the foal whinny as the trailer was coming down the street, so he ran to that end of the pasture. 

We took Ace (our new foal) out of the trailer and Ace immediately whinnied (he's VERY vocal).

Beamer turned his head and saw Ace and starting running at him 90 miles an hour! I thought "Oh my God! This is a mistake. I should have had Beamer on a halter." But the girl that brought the foal insisted they'd be o.k. I think she regretted that move.

Ace took off running and Beamer was storming after him - not 'mean' aggressive, but AGGRESSIVE. He was SO excited. The foal - well, he seemed scared to me, but my didn't think he was, I don't know. All I know is they tore around the pasture full speed and I was really worried someone was going to get hurt. Finally, Beamer sort of laid his ears back and arched his neck (I thought....oh NOOOOO!!!) and then he started to "herd" Ace in.

He had him on the inside of a perfect lunging circle and they were going around and around and Beamer kept making the circle get smaller and smaller, until Ace finally stopped. It was brilliant. Then, Beamer sniffed him and started to nuzzle him - just like that. It was the MOST AMAZING thing I have ever seen...EVER!!!!!! They are now connected at the hip. I can't stress enough how just MIND BOGGLING this has been for me. It is the greatest gift I have ever been given to see these two tonight.

Isn't that cool? And they're still tighter than ever, best friends. Beamer is like a mother to Ace. Here are some more pictures of them.

 

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

Unlikely Animal Friends

Can't we all just get along? I love seeing these animals, who we would never expect to be relating to each other at all, to not only bond, but to comfort and care for each other. May we learn to become comfortable with and comforting to, those who are so unlike ourselves. We need more of that in our crazy, crazy world right now.

FAWN & BOBCAT
The Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara, CA this year caused these two to take shelter together.

The fawn is about 3 days old and the bobcat about 3 weeks.

They immediately bonded and snuggled together under a desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch Office for several hours.

I'm not sure which one is cuter!

ORANGUTAN & BLUETICK COONHOUND
Suryia the orangutan and Roscoe the Bluetick Coonhound met in a South Carolina sanctuary for endangered animals two years ago. Roscoe was an underfed stray who Suryia quickly took under his wing.

"As soon as he saw Roscoe, Suryia ran over to him and they started playing," Antle said "It was unusual because dogs are usually scared of primates; but they took to each other straight away."

Read more . . .

 

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

Dogs and Kids...how to find a dog that will be good with kids

I get a lot of inquiries about how to find a dog who will be good with children.

This was my concern too when we rescued our late Bobo, but I want my children to experience growing up with rescued pets. I want to instill the values of kindness and responsibility in my children and for them to also experience the unconditional love that a pets brings into a family.

Dogs who are good with kids come in all shapes, breeds and sizes. This is a really valuable article on how to find a dog that will be good with your children.

Dogs and Kids... - http://shar.es/J6sH.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen

Sillly & Inexpensive Gift - Adopt-a-Sock and Help a Shelter!

Click on picture for larger view.

Silly, inexpensive, one-of-a-kind and helping our local pets in need! What more could you want?

One of the brilliantly gifted artists of Peternity.com has come up with a great new idea ADOPT-A-SOCK!

These are one of a kind sock animals made by hand. Rescue one today or order a custom one based on basic pet information or pictures you send in. They come fully house trained with papers describing their background, activites, employment and dining requests. 

Sock adoptions start as low as $20. They are not for children under the age of four or pets themselves, but they make wonderful gifts of FUN to any pet lover! PLEASE order one today. Custom orders are welcome too!

Best of all 10% of proceeds go directly to the Irvine Animal Care Center or a no kill shelter of your choice.

In love & respect for all creatures,

Colleen