You give cats… a bad name

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Time for some Friday linkage!  Sadly, I cannot herald the beginning of another three-day weekend.  If only…

  1. We begin, as always, with punny pet names:  Bryan Waggams, Jon Bone Jovi, Richard Barx, and Madogga.
  2. On a related note, have you ever wondered what your favorite ’80s band says about you?  (I kind of hope that one of you is a huge fan of Richard Marx or The Smiths.  Mine wasn’t quite as funny – I’m a big REM fan.)
  3. Speaking of music, artist James Walker does some pretty cool stuff about subjects ranging from border collies to punk rock.
  4. Up next, a rockstar dog: Harbor the Coonhound was just awarded the Guiness World Record for having the longest ears.   
  5. Maybe having a cone of shame is cool now… at least that’s what I have to conclude Dexter thought when creating his own, MacGyver-style.
  6. Apparently Bella’s sock addiction is in no way unique. 
  7. Puppies in sweaters. I die.
  8. In slightly creepy/unconventional news… would your lap dog like a substitute lap when you’re not available?  
  9. I think a palette cleanser is needed after that last link… sometimes, you just have to share the pretty.

Finally, this week’s video.  If you went to middle school with this cat, he would totally take your lunch money.  And then stuff you in a locker.



(via Jezebel)

Looking for something to do this weekend?  If you’re in the DC metro area, consider checking out the Third Annual Doggie Day Swim tomorrow afternoon or swinging by a happy hour to support the Homeless Animals Rescue Team (HART) tomorrow night.

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K9 Kamp begins – will you join us?

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Photobucket

I thought about using a quote from Troop Beverly Hills as the title of this post, but somehow “shopping is our greatest thrill” didn’t really seem on point.  Not that the lack of relevance has stopped me from singing it to myself and looking up more quotes.  Ah, the Internet… waster of time and enabler of nostalgia.  What did I ever do without it?  


Anyway, welcome to K9 Kamp! As I mentioned last week, I’m a featured blogger in this great challenge sponsored by Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place. You may be wondering what this is all about, why I’m participating, and what’s in it for you. Allow me to explain…

K9 Kamp is designed to encourage getting fit while spending time with your dog.  I agreed to be a featured blogger for a few reasons: (1) Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place are awesome blogs; (2) I was extremely flattered to be invited to participate; (3) although I started jogging in the spring and do yoga from time to time, I allowed myself to be a bit lazy over the summer (it was so hot out… and stuff); (4) Bella tends to be a lazy pup herself, and is more likely to nap than go for a run; (5) even if I could convince Bella to go for a run, she has a tendency to run in a zigzag pattern rather than a straight line, making things somewhat difficult; (7) the challenges take approximately an hour per week, which seems right up Bella’s alley; (7) K9 Kamp sounded like a great opportunity to get some new fitness ideas for both me and Bella; and (8) it wouldn’t hurt Bella to practice some obedience skills either.

So… that’s all well and good, but what’s in it for you?  In a word… prizes!  There are over $1000 in prizes up for grabs in a series of weekly giveaways, as well as a grand prize (go visit our Kamp counselors for the details – there are lots of ways to enter – and to check out some of the sponsors).  Getting fit, hanging out with your pup, and possibly winning some swag?  Sounds like a win-win to me.  I’ll be updating you from time to time on my progress here – we’ll see if I can convince Bella to get out of her cave and get into my car… er, into some workout gear.

Will you be participating?  Let me know in the comments, and then join in today’s blog hop and tell everyone why you’re heading to K9 Kamp.  You can also follow the #K9Kamp hashtag on Twitter for additional updates.

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BlogPaws Episode 4: I’m off to meet the widgets

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Now, where was I?  Oh, yes… cheesecake.  Good stuff, right?  Anyway, after thoroughly enjoying that cheesecake and chatting with a few others during the break, it was time for afternoon sessions.  During each time slot, there were four breakout sessions to choose from.  Sometimes, it was a tough choice.  At other times, I didn’t have to think twice.  You will probably not be surprised to learn that the title of this next session called to me like a siren to a sailor.

A punny title?  Pop culture references?  How could I say no?

This session was presented by Lauren Spencer from Fetching Communications.  We learned about various widgets (stand-alone applications that you can embed on your blog to create a more dynamic and interactive experience for your readers – check out Something Wagging This Way Comes for list of the links we got from Lauren that day).  It seems like there are widgets for everything – including Facebook (so readers can like your page… hint, hint), Twitter, and YouTube.  You can even create polls and surveys for your site.

Just make sure not to engage in widget overload – too many widgets and your page begins to look like Times Square.  Your reader won’t even know where to start.

Anyway, there was one widget in particular that piqued my interest: embedding a slideshow from Flickr.  Lauren showed us how to do this using Flickr’s own app, as well as third-party applications from Flickr’s App Garden.  I made the one below using pictobrowser:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer


The Chronicles of Cardigan meets Something Wagging

Cool, right?  I have a feeling I’ll be using this tool a lot in the future – I was wondering how to create slideshows on the blog, but was a bit too lazy to figure it out myself.  So thank goodness for punny sessions. The session even came with an unexpected bonus: I finally got to meet Elizabeth, Jon Farleigh and Dewi from The Chronicles of Cardigan!

Now that my brain was playing songs from The Wizard of Oz on a permanent loop, it was time to head to yet another session – the last one of the day, in fact.  For this final session, I chose to attend “StumbleUpon: How to Create, Share and Discover Great Content.”  I’d heard about StumbleUpon but wasn’t really familiar with how it works.

Apparently part of the concept is based on “unexpected relevance,” which I thought was interesting.  According to our presenter (from StumbleUpon, of course), it’s the second biggest social media referrer online in North America.  So you know… kind of a big deal, I suppose.  This was yet another technical session – there are a variety of free tools and widgets (as well as paid ones) available.  If you’re interested, you can check them out here.  Any of you use it?  What do you think?

That closes the book on the sessions from Day 1.  However, the day wasn’t over yet… up next, I’ll tell you all about my evening.  It included popcorn, candy, a movie, puppies, and new friends.  After that, I’ll give you a recap of Day 2, and finally some closing thoughts.  The end is in sight!

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BlogPaws Episode 3: Dynasty, cheesecake & slap bracelets

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I’ve told you about my initial impressions of BlogPaws, and about some of the tough guys I encountered along the way.  I wasn’t quite sure what to tackle next.  When all else fails, I tend to default to chronological order.  So, for argument’s sake, let’s just say that all else failed…

After listening to the Rescue Ink guys, it was time to attend my first actual session.  You know, where I’d go to learn stuff.  I had a hard time deciding what to attend – I ended up choosing one called “Demystifying Search Engine Optimization.”  I didn’t have the foggiest idea what that was, so I figured I could use the demystification.

I’m not going to lie… at the time, I thought I had a basic grasp of SEO.  Looking back at my notes a week later, I’m not so sure.  I scribbled something about keywords, improving my search engine ranking  – and a bunch of technical things that I need to revisit in more detail.  I’m not really qualified to advise any of you on this one!  Luckily, the folks over at BlogPaws recently had a great post about SEO for paw bloggers, so I’ll let them do the heavy lifting.

Paris & John from DogTipper.com

During the break between sessions, I met a few more fun bloggers, including Carrie from All Things Dog Blog; Paris & John from DogTipper.com; and Missy from Dogs for the Paws.

Missy wins the prize for best business card – a slap bracelet!  That thing was awesome – I wore it for the rest of the day, and it’s currently still decorating my camera bag.

Up next, I headed to a session called “Reach. Relevance. Design. Presentation.”  I was excited to hear the presenter, Dino Dogan (the creator of Triberr).  This one was more up my alley (and it was also the session where Tango decided his nose was cold).  I really enjoyed this session.  Some of the choice quotes/concepts I jotted down:

  • On reach: “Attention is the commodity and we only have so much of it.”  Dino described reach as “fishing with dynamite.”
  • On relevance: “There’s no motion without emotion.”  Relevance is like shooting with a laser. Seventy-five percent of writing time should be spent on the headline. In general, short is better than long, and emotional is better than non-emotional.  Think about the person you’re trying to attract and their state of mind. One method is to create a customer avatar – an image of your ideal customer.
  • On design:  The consensus here seems to be that Blogger kind of sucks.  (If I took one lesson away from the weekend – this was it.  It came up in several sessions.)  Many seem to prefer having a self-hosted WordPress site.  Dino also talked about logo design and colors.  Have you ever noticed that many of the major sites – like Facebook and Twitter – use blue?  I’ve definitely been paying more attention to the colors used on various blogs since this session and thinking about what kind of mood they evoke.
  • On presentation: You should aim to become a content presenter instead of focusing on being a content creator.  (Cesar Milan is – unfortunately – a good example here.  I think his methods suck, but I can’t argue that he’s managed to draw people in with his presentation.)  Be a better writer than the next guy – make your reader feel that if he doesn’t click on your headline, he’s going to miss something.  My favorite quote:  to improve your writing, “read like a madman, write like a mental institution escapee.”  Think about visitors who will view your site on their smartphones – do you have mobile browsing enabled?
  • Finally, model yourself on Dynasty… create some cliffhangers!

I could write a lot more about this session – I think it was the kick I needed to start thinking about my own blog in a more analytical way.  I’ll be doing some self-evaluation in the coming months and you may see some changes as a result.  However, first I need to find the time for all of that virtual navel gazing…

Anyway, after that session, it was time for lunch.  I was in for a pleasant surprise – the speakers during lunch were from the rescue group where I adopted Bella!  The group is called Homeless Animals Rescue Team (aka HART), and they operate in the Northern Virginia area.

Also a pleasant surprise? Cheesecake. I love cheesecake.

Anyway, after I inhaled that cheesecake, it was time for my next session.  I chose it based on its delightfully punny name.  I’ll tell you all about it my next installment…

(I told you that recapping BlogPaws would take me a while.  I wasn’t kidding.  When you’re as wordy as I am, these things take time.  Hang in there.)

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Pay it forward: Pets of the Homeless

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Last weekend at BlogPaws, I attended a great session by Felissa from Two Little Cavaliers and Neil from Life with Dogs.  I’ll be posting a bit more about the session in another post – I have a few more BlogPaws recaps in the queue, after all.

However, at that session we discussed the idea of community – what the word meant and how we as a community could help each other raise awareness and share each other’s causes.  From that discussion came the inspiration for today’s Pay if Forward Blog Hop.  Today, pet bloggers are sharing one (or more) of the causes that they are passionate about and adding it to the blog hop.  Then, those participating in the blog hop or reading through the posts can offer to help out with causes they are interested in or even solicit some guest posts for their blogs.  I will definitely be checking out the other causes, and I may approach a few bloggers about doing some guests posts to share their causes with you.  I’ve included the list for the blog hop at the end of this post – so I hope you’ll also take a moment to see what everyone is talking about today.

Today, I’m sharing a cause I’ve written about before.  I’d like to tell you about a group called Pets of the Homeless.  This nonprofit organization provides pet food and veterinary care to the homeless and less fortunate in local communities across the United States and Canada. For my last birthday, I told all of my friends not to buy me gifts.  If they absolutely felt the need to bring something, I asked that they bring a bag of dog food instead.  I then donated this dog food to Pets of the Homeless.  I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift – the chance to make a difference for pets (and their people) in need.

Imagine, if you will, that due to circumstances beyond your control, you find yourself homeless.  What do you do with your pet?  Your pet gets sick.  You can’t afford veterinary care.  Where do you go?  Or, let’s say you are currently homeless and encounter a stray dog who becomes your companion.  The nearest homeless shelter doesn’t allow pets.  Do you go to the shelter and leave your companion to fend for himself? 

These are tough choices.  Choices that I hope none of us ever have to make.  However, many people do have to make these choices on a regular basis.  Pets of the Homeless notes that the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that as many as 3.5 million Americans are homeless.  Between 5 to10 percent of homeless people have dogs or cats – in some areas that number may be as high as 24 percent.

There are many reasons people end up homeless, including foreclosure, poverty, domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and declining public assistance.  The demographics of the homeless population show that anyone can be affected – young, old, and in between.  The homeless population is not just one ethnicity, gender, or age.  Their homes may have been destroyed by a hurricane or a tornado.  They are veterans, victims of domestic violence, the unemployed, families with children… and so many others.

Pets of the Homeless aims to help this population in many ways.  It has established collection sites to accept donated pet food.  This food is distributed through partnerships with homeless shelters, soup
kitchens, and other entities.  The organization also makes two types of grants:
one to veterinarians that go to where the homeless congregate and
provide veterinary care such as vaccines, spay/neuter and other needed
treatments; the other to homeless shelters looking for ways to allow
pets sanctuary with their owners.  

Want to know how you can help? If there is a collection site near you, donate pet food and supplies.  (If there’s no collection site near you, find out how to become one.) Pets of the Homeless also provides a list of other ways that you can donate your time (like volunteering at a distribution site) or money to this worthy cause.  You can also help by spreading the word about Pets of the Homeless to bring awareness to this cause.

If you have tissues handy, I urge you to read some of the success stories and view the touching photos on the Pets of the Homeless website. I hope you’ll check out this great organization as well as some of the others being highlighted in today’s blog hop:

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If you’re confused, just tilt your head

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It’s a three-day weekend!  I could not be happier to have an extra day off.  That being said… it’s time for some Friday linkage!

  1. This week’s punny goodness is inspired by a fantastic book I just finished.   In honor of the entertainment she provided during my brief hurricane-induced power outage, I give you… Catty Griffin.
  2. I would like to request that all sheet music do this from now on… not too much to ask, right?
  3. The face on this Corgi reminded me of Bella.
  4. Remember Edward Peanutbutterhead? Well, it appears that he has some competition.
  5. Eating peanut butter is one thing, but I wouldn’t recommend stealing it from the trash.  You might end up like this guy.
  6. You know I’ve had BlogPaws on the brain lately.  You may enjoy seeing these cute pets who were in attendance.
  7. Speaking of… there have been some pretty fun BlogPaws post over at Something Wagging This Way Comes this week.  Check them out!
  8. If you just can’t get enough BlogPaws (and can’t wait for my posts… they’re coming, I promise), then I have the link for you. Might I suggest you start with this great post from This One Wild Life about the ACES Pet Rescue Workshop?

Finally, just because it’s Friday… have some head tilts, or as we like to call it at my house: “making the puppy face.”



(via Cute Overload)

Happy Friday!

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BlogPaws Episode 2: Say hello to my not-so-little friends

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After the welcome reception on Thursday evening, I was feeling pretty good about returning to BlogPaws on Friday.  I wasn’t disappointed.  The day started out with a pretty great keynote speaker.  Or, more accurately, a duo of speakers:

Meet the men of Rescue Ink.  These are some pretty tough customers from Queens. If you’re looking for peaceful conflict resolution, they may not be your guys.  (Although I have a feeling they’re the type that can solve problems without knocking heads together if the situation allows it.)

In any event, they’re tough customers who care about animal welfare, as the dedication on their website makes clear.  They’re extremely committed to stopping animal abuse – you could really feel the emotion behind their words and their passion for this cause was evident.  That commitment was inspiring.

Rescue Ink is an international animal welfare organization dedicated to defending the defenseless.  (They joked that their lawyers wouldn’t let them go into too much detail about how they actually do that.)  Our two speakers are actually two of the founding members of the group.

Joe Panz (bio)
Big Ant (bio)

Rather than give you an exhaustive recap of their speech, I just wanted to share a few of the quotes I jotted down during the keynote:

  • “A rescue isn’t a rescue until you take it out of a bad situation and find it a better home.”
  • “You don’t send Boy Scouts to get rid of bad guys.  You’re gonna run out of Boy Scouts real quick.”
  • “They say that animals don’t have a voice.  We don’t mind speaking for them.”
  • “It takes 5 puppy mill puppies for one to survive long enough to make it to the pet store.”
  • “Money shouldn’t get between you and your animal.  Your animal is family.”
  • “We defend those that can’t defend themselves.”

You can learn more about the guys from Rescue Ink at their website, including some of their success stories.  I also recommend checking out this post at Kahuna’s K9s – Eryka did a great interview with them after their speech.  This recap at the Pet Health Care Gazette is also fantastic and perfectly describes how I felt listening to these two.  Finally, here’s a video of the interview that Miah from Start the Change did with Joe and Big Ant.

A shot of their logo on the big screen at BlogPaws

Up next: the sessions begin, I learn some stuff, more friends are made, and a puppy movie is screened.  In short… good times.

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The only kind of camping I’m willing to do

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Drum roll, please… it’s announcement time!  PhotobucketYou’re actually finding out about this big announcement before Bella, so consider yourself in the inner circle.

Do you (or your dog) need to get moving?  Has couch time (or in Bella’s case, cave time) increased while play time has decreased?  Then this is the post for you… read on, dear friend!

Kol’s Notes and Peggy’s Pet Place have come up with a brilliant idea.  It’s called Koly & Kelly’s K9 Kamp, and it’ll be happening from September 8 through October 13.  It’s a great opportunity to get fit while spending time with your pup.  I’m going to be one of the featured bloggers – so I’ll be participating in the challenges and sharing my experiences with you.  Stop by here or here to find out how you can participate.  Hope you’ll join us!

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It’s okay to sleep in class if you’re adorable

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One of the (many) fun things about BlogPaws was the mix of human and animal attendees at the sessions.  Sometimes a well-timed bark would make everyone laugh.  Other times, it was just fun to look around and see a cute pup.  I’ve always said that school would be so much better with puppies.  I stand by it.

I love this photo of Tango (who attended BlogPaws with Laurie from Smart Dog).  This photo op occurred during one of our sessions.  Note the well-covered nose… it could get cold in the rooms, so I think Tango had the right idea.

Happy Wednesday!

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