I (heart) Dogs Blogfest - Week 1!

Welcome to Week 1 of the I <3 Dogs blogfest (AKA an awesome excuse to post pictures and info about totally adorable dogs *and the hot guys who love them, as demonstrated by the yummy Matthew Gray Gubler of Criminal Minds*). The blogfest is hosted by the awesome Small Town Rescue, and its' not too late to join in.

Unfortunately, my giveaway didn't quite pan out as I'd hoped, but that's okay. I'm still going to donate $25 to a shelter and pick a winner, and I'll try to have giveaways throughout the blogfest to encourage participation. I will do anything for puppies, as I have two of my own, and about 10 between my parents, my sister, and myself, most of them adopted (or born under my parents' bed, in Jasper, Max, and Skye's case).

In case you want to join the fun, here are the weekly themes:

Week 1 (2/20-2/26) – Favorite animal organization/rescue

Week 2 (2/27-3/4) – Favorite pet story (Tell us about your favorite pet! Doesn’t have to be a dog).

Week 3 (3/5-3/11) – Favorite animal-related book, movie, song, etc.

Week 4 (3/12-3/18) – What I know about dog rescues organizations?

Week 5 (3/19-3/25) – The gorgeous, the active, and the unique. Tell us your favorite dog breed.

Week 6 (3/26-4/1) – Favorite Dog/Pet Stores in your area.

Week 7 (4/2-4/8) – Favorite dog parks and dog-friendly attractions in your area.

Week 8 (4/9-4/15) – If I had a dream… What would you do for rescue dogs if you could?

For this week's theme, I have two choices, one local to my area and one not. 

First, I want to recognize SAAP, the Stray Animal Adoption Program. Located in Newport, Kentucky, SAAP works tirelessly to adopt out the animals under their care. They don't have a shelter, so all of the animals up for adoption are fostered in homes. The group is solely volunteer-run, and they've adopted out hundreds of animals since the program's founding in 1998.

I have a lot of respect for SAAP and the people who run it. Unfortunately, I haven't participated in a volunteer capacity yet, but I've met a lot of the people who run the adoptions at PetSmart, and they're some of the nicest, sweetest people who adore the animals they're trying to adopt out. Whenever I go out there on adoption weekends, I'm always astounded by how much care and attention they give to the animals. They're also incredibly knowledgeable about them and are more than willing to answer any questions and handle any concerns. I really, really love this group.

My second group is the Best Friends Animal Society located in Kanab, Utah. I've adored this organization since I first watched the show Dogtown on NatGeo. They take in all kinds of animals--dogs, cats, horses, lizards, parrots, wild animals (which they rehabilitate and re-release). What I love most about BFAS isn't that it's a no-kill refuge. It's that they hire people who take time to work with animals I've seen put to sleep on other animal shows (Animal Cops, especially). They'll work with aggressive animals, get to the root of the problem, and either help the animal become adoptable, or they keep it for the rest of its life. I've never seen a dog put down due to aggression--only terminal illness. If only every organization could do that...

Well, those are my picks. As our Wk 1 continues don’t forget to comment here or on any of our blog participants' posts to enter our drawing for the book PRINCIPLE DESTINY by David A. Cleinman or a chance to win a $15 Starbucks gift card! Thank you for your support and your time!

I (heart) Dogs blogfest ***UPDATE***

Hey guys, rescue group Pawsibilities is hosting a blog tour highlighting rescue dogs and the owners who love them. I'm planning on participating (and this does run concurrent with the A Touch AWESOME blogfest for about a month, so you guys will have lots to read!), and I hope you guys will too.

If anyone doesn't know, shelter dogs are incredibly close to my heart, and I'm a HUGE fan of adopting vs. buying from a pet store for a variety of reasons. So I'm certainly looking forward to this.

For more information, click here.

***UPDATE*** I'm going to enter every person who leaves a comment on this post AND participates in the blogfest into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card or a $25 donation to the shelter of your choice. I'll check with Landra and have the drawing on Feb 20th, the day the blogfest starts.***

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!

As promised.

 This is Jack nomming on my fingers. He's soooooo funny. When you rub his belly, both his legs kick. My sister's taking him to be the companion dog to her dogs Sicily and Shadow (the daddy).

    

 This is Oliver. He's one of the sweetest puppies EVER (obviously). He's also a troublemaker. The puppies have spent the last two weeks learning "no."

 

 This is my Honey Bear. She's a kisser and loves to have her belly rubbed. She's possibly the runt.

This looks like Oliver, but this is actually his twin brother (and my soon-to-be baby) Jasper. The only way to tell the difference between them is to look at their tails. Jasper's tail has a solid white tip. He's also a huge cuddle bug. 

 This is Max. He's super laid back and chill. And adorable. My parents are keeping him because he's so purdy. He's really sweet. Honestly, they're all sweet. Very friendly and cute and rolly-polly.

 This is Mollie. I LOVE Mollie. It was hard to pick between her and Jasper, but I really wanted a boy because Riley doesn't do great with girl dogs... Mollie's a little spitfire and used my glasses, fingers, hands, and lips as her chew toys. But she's so funny and cute that I was totally ok with it.

And here's momma dog, Bella. All the boys (and possibly Honey Bear) have her long hair. She's a fab mom. Maybe a little too fab...

Finally remembered what I wanted to talk about...

Over the weekend, I received a*nother* form rejection from an agent I would have nuked Paris to work with (and dammit, I love me some Paris even though I've never been). I was sad for a while (two days). And then I started talking about my book with friends.

And I felt a LOT better about it. Because I realized how much I love it.

Here's the thing. I know rejections hurt. They suck. But this is a business. And rejections are business decisions. Much like not getting that awesome job you applied for. A candidate is better suited to their needs, but that doesn't mean you won't get a job somewhere else. A job where the staff is really excited you're there. A supportive place. A place you actually don't hate going every day.

Personal story: In Cincinnati, there are two main publishing houses. F+W publishing (which prints "Guide to Literary Agents") and the other one I can't remember the name of. Anyway, they're both non-fiction pubs, but I thought it'd be awesome to work there, get my foot in the door. Learn about the other side. I'm a grammar nazi. I know how to work with writers. I am a writer, so I understand the inner workings of the craft.

I didn't get hired at either one. And yes, I've applied again. And...yeah...nope.

Yes, I was devastated. What good is an English degree when you don't want to teach or write for newspapers? I wondered (oh yeah, totally just did that). So I had my little pity party. I applied at other places, but F+W just seemed like THE ONE.

After working a few temp jobs, I finally landed at my hotel. And yes, sometimes I dread the act of going to work. I wonder if the guests will be awesome or a-holes. But I can honestly tell you that this is the only job I've ever had where I feel at home. Where my mood improves when I come in. Where people are genuinely glad I'm here.

And I want that feeling with the agent or pubber who picks up my book. I want them to be genuinely happy and excited that they chose my book. And me.

Maybe it won't be Duality. That's a fact I have to face. SF isn't hot right now. It could potentially be Spark. Or TTA. But whichever one it is, I want the person who chooses it to love it as much as I do. Love it more, even. Cuz even though the agent who passed was a potential One, she just wasn't The One. And I'm okay with that.

BEST. WEEKEND. EVAR!

Oh man. OK, let me start with saying that no, I didn't get a request or anything like that. I got something better.

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seven total. Seven beautiful little bundles of squeaky joy. This is Tebow.---->

At 2:43 yesterday morning Bella went into labor. Under my parents' bed. I had a freaked out Daisy in my bed not long after that, and as I staggered downstairs to get the children away from me, I heard Mom in the kitchen. "WE HAVE BABIES!" she said. I was too groggy to be excited, and then when I got back into my bed, I thought about all the things that could be wrong, because they're premature. Eventually I went back to sleep and got up around 930 or so. Immediately made a bee-line for my parents' room. And then I heard them. PUPPY NOISES! I. Love. Puppy noises. I bent down to look under the bed, and there was Bella with 3 little babies nursing away. There was a fourth that we thought was stillborn. After all, this is Bellie's first litter, and babies don't always make it. We got Bella some food and water and left her to her business.

A little while later we went to check on her, and to retrieve the little stillborn one. I was the only one who could reach him, and he was SO COLD when I touched him that it felt like he was frozen. But when I got him out, he moved his little leg! I squalled, Mom grabbed her bathrobe, and I sat with him for hours to warm him up. After a quick call to the emergency vet, Mom picked up puppy formula and a bottle. While she was gone, #4 spent the next 30 minutes sucking on my fingers (I had to try to keep him stimulated...or something). He was strong. Just not able to move around like his brothers and sister.

Mom returned. And thus, Operation Save #4 began.

After about 3 hours, #4 warmed up. He lay snuggled over my heart, wrapped in a small dishtowel, Mom's robe, and the electric throw. I couldn't stop myself from fawning all over him. It'd been so long since we'd had itty-bitties that I just fell in love with him immediately, but I was worried. What if he didn't make it? What if something was wrong with his systems and he wasn't fully developed or something?

Yeah...the marvelous thing about wee ones is that they're resilient. And this little guy is resilient as hell. He took his bottle and drank a little bit, then curled up to sleep on me. He ate about every 1.5-2 hours like clockwork. And he was LOUD. Oh my goodness, he's a loud little guy! I didn't worry about his lung development after that ;) Then he'd make cute little soft baby noises and curl up and go to sleep. We repeated this all day, until Mom got the doggie bed. I put him in there while we ate dinner, and then Precious got him out in the floor so she could 'take care of him.' Calmly, I put him back in his bed and covered him over (since he gets cold easily) and moved the bed to the chair by mine at the dining room table where Precious tried to get him again. So did Sophie. And Daisy. And Lila. Riley left him alone long enough to eat, but when I got him back on the couch with me, she gave him a bath. He was not happy.

But he tried to stand up. He moved around a lot. He's functional. He peed on me. Life is good.

Oh and his five brothers and one sister are doing great, too. So's Momma dog.