January 24, Change a Pet's Life Day

Today is Change A Pet’s Life Day. It started in 2009 when Hill’s Pet Nutrition offered to pay the adoption fees for 3,000 pets in shelters around the United States. The event caught on, and shelters began getting in on the action by organizing pet adoption events and lowering adoption fees around January 24th.

You don't have to spend a lot of money or volunteer time to make a change. Peeps can:
Foster for a local shelter. Fostering can be an amazing experience! Fostering saves  lives. Shelters can  use a foster when they become to crowded. Sometimes fostering is purrfect for an animal that gets stressed with other animals and it is essential for socializing babies! And most organizations are flexible on time commitments. 

Atour house, we are all rescues and we KNOW that our lives were changed for the better! Today is a reminder that supporting animal welfare can happen any day, from giving your own pet extra pampering to making a significant impact on a homeless animal's future

  

January 22, Answer Your Cats' (and Dogs') Questions Day!

Now this has been Answer your Cats' Questions Day as long as I, Marvelous Marv, can remember, but our hairy slobbery sister has a question that she wanted answered and I told her that she could ask it today!

 Mom,  why don't people like me jumping up when I am greeting them? 

Nutmeg! Jumping is NOT good!

Not only do you invade people's space, but your paws are dirty, your nails are long (and scratch).

You are not a heavy dog, but 25 pounds of dog, pushed by those 2 paws, well, sweetie, you knocked me down, think of what you could do to some other poor little old lady! Not only is it uncomfortable, but for me, now that I can't balance very well, its scary. 

Why DO you jump?

Mom, because I am a dog, I NEED to get closer to your face for nose-to-nose contact, this is how puppies greet their mommies, plus you know seeing people always makes me happy and excited to see them! AND, I get a kick out of how people react!  

Well, I think you like getting excited and you want attention! AND that gets reinforced when the people you jump on react, and the poor people you jump on inadvertently reward it with petting, eye contact, or vocalizations, even negative ones! 

Well Sweetie, it's a BAD habit and one we will have to stop. Your pal Val (who takes you for walks when I can't) and me are working on 4 on the floor I found out how it works at the American Kennel Club! But if any of our blogging friends have a solution, we would LOVE to hear it! 

OK Mom! If it involves Cookies, I'm all in!

Now this is the kind of Jumping that's OK!