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Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for so lots of things we are genuinely a blessed family.
I, in particular am thankful for having terrific family and friends, good health, and a incredibly girlfriend. The list could go on and on, but considering that this is a blog about puppies and dogs I’ll stick with being thankful for my 2 terrific dogs: Linus and Stetson.
As I sit here writing about Thanksgiving Linus is lying down by my feet and Stetson in the living room keeping my girlfriend warm while they both enjoy television. My dogs genuinely are terrific and I’ll never forget the days I picked them both up.
Linus (the rescue), Stetson (the occupation changed guide), Dublin (now a working guide dog!)Here are 4 quick facts about my two boys:
Linus
We picked Linus up from the Carson animal shelter on January 7th, 2005.
He was only about 2 months old when we rescued him.
He was sick, covered in fleas and mites, anemic, had worms, and a stomach virus.
We nursed him back to health and now he’s in terrific condition as an 8 year old pup.
Stetson
We picked up Stetson from guide Dogs of America on February 9th, 2007.
We raised Stetson to be a guide pet dog for the blind.
June, 2008 Stetson was occupation changed and became my forever puppy.
Stetson makes a great couch potato and loves to eat just like all Labs!
Be Thankful, but keep Others In Mind Too
I am very thankful and feel genuinely lucky to have all that I do. I’ve also been keeping others in my thoughts and prayers as well.
I recently attended the BarkWorld Expo in Atlanta, Georgia and met lots of terrific people. I contacted lots of of my new friends and recently heard from Nancy at LIPetPlace.com. Unfortunately, others have not been as lucky as myself with Hurricane Sandy reeking havoc along the east coast. Nancy informed me first hand some of the effects and after effects of this natural disaster.
Here’s a copy of the email she sent me:
Thanks for reaching out – it has been outrageous here to say the least. Some areas completely devastated, family pets displaced, homes wiped out, big time shortage on gas or gas stations couldn’t pump because they had no power for over a week, and people are still without power nearly two weeks later. I said outrageous right? It’s quite astonishing the destruction and it goes from town to town, indicating one town is fine the next is not – and I know not everyone across the country is seeing all that we are seeing. I was very fortunate, no damage to home or office – although the day after Barkworld I had to put everything in my office on higher ground and just hope it didn’t flood, it didn’t so incredibly lucky. Cell service was really spotty the first week and Internet was here and there. So lots of people lost so much, I personally know people who’s houses were flooded (my aunt’s house was), who lost everything, including their cars. just a really sad situation. and then not to have gas for cars, waiting in lines up anywhere from 1 hour or 5 hours, they finally enlisted an odd/even plate number to get gas – and that has helped tremendously – why the powers that be didn’t do this last week is beyond me.
I went today to one of the county run pet emergency shelters (different than the regular pet shelters) who are caring for over 250 owned displaced dogs, cats and exotic family pets and it will be a long term thing. While we are getting a lot of pet food donations and everyone here is really stepping up – lots of family pets displaced will need to eventually go into long term foster until their owners can rebuild their homes or find a new home. So needless to say I have been consumed with the pet needs and wrote two articles on it here and here. I am finally getting to Barkworld stuff, my own networking events, etc this weekend.
This Thanksgiving I’d like to ask everyone to be thankful for all the terrific things they have and also to keep others who aren’t as fortunate in their thoughts and prayers.
Again delighted Thanksgiving! and I hope you, your family, and your pups have a terrific day.
Top picks For Our Puppies
BEST PUPPY toy We Like: Calmeroos Puppy toy w/ heartbeat and heat Packs – best for new puppies. helps ease anxiety in their new home.
BEST pet dog CHEW We Like: Bones & Chews Bully Sticks – all of our puppies love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors.
BEST pet dog treats We Like: crazy pet dog Train-Me treats – We use these as our high-value treats for our guide pet dog puppies.
BEST FRESH pet dog FOOD We Like: The Farmer’s pet dog – A couple months ago we snull