Filed under: Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, pet adoption, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, Tuesday Larken
We have been so busy at home these days, we almost missed Tuesday Larken’s post this week! When we caught up with her we found that pets are bringing people together in her life as only us well seasoned animals know how to do.
Now, the stuff that is keeping busy is going to be interesting to you too but we are not quite ready for the big reveal. It came on kinda sudden, so we are being extra-specially careful about it. I’ll give you a hint; have any of you ever failed (dog) fostering 101 with your dog? We have. But what about foster 102?
Okay, that’s all the hints for today! We promise not to make you wait too long, but in the meantime please enjoy Tuesday’s post here with us, as she has generously shared yet again.
Sixth Sense (originally posted “One woman’s journal. Every woman’s journey.” 8/16/2011(
I had no idea Adam was such an animal lover. Before we partnered on this marketing and design venture (Polar Design, derived from a combination of our last names), our relationship was that of client and vendor. He is tough on his vendors and I was one of them. We have worked well together for years but we don’t actually know much about each other outside of work ethics and shared client references. He never mentioned his dogs before today.
“Oh yea, I have 3 Labradors.” he says enthusiastically over sushi after I mention my plans to volunteer at the local animal shelter. “They all came from the shelter. There is a special kind of gratitude and devotion you get from the rescues. They know a good family is hard to find, the competition is pretty stiff.” His voice softens as he details their names, ages and back stories. It occurs to me this is the most personal conversation we have ever had. I never would have pegged him for a pet owner at all, let alone such a devoted one.
Adam brings the dogs to his office regularly. Before the check arrives, we decide I should stop in once or twice a week with Bella, my border collie mix. He is working on socializing his youngest pup and it will be good for her to meet a new friend. Bella could use the company too. Since we lost our golden Duke she seems okay, but I don’t want her to get too used to being an only dog. You know, just in case….
I figure Bella sensed Duke’s time was coming and was better prepared than all of us to lose him. I think that makes her lucky. How easy it must be to be so practical like animals are. If I were more practical, I’d understand that I am in danger of overdoing things. This business with Adam is barely off the ground and I have signed on to help my friend Joy write motivational speeches, volunteer at the animal shelter and mentor Adam’s wayward pooch on top of the Polar launch. These additional tasks are purely emotional and if I am not careful, they’ll cost me the business that is supposed to pay the bills. My severance pay will not last forever.
A moment later I understand that some people can sense things just as well as animals. Maybe living with 3 dogs rubs off on you. I have never mentioned my time management challenges to Adam, but he seems to sense he can help with whatever has made my mind wander away from the conversation and knows just what to say. “You know, I have plenty of space. Why don’t you bring Bella and your laptop in for the day twice a week? If the dogs hit it off, you’ll have a quiet place to work and we can plan anything we have to discuss around the times we’ll see each other anyway.”
I politely resist at first. He pays a decent rent and manages his freelance clients there. I’ve never really thought about why he doesn’t do the “work from home” thing before. Could it be that I am not alone in my realization is not all it is cracked up to be? He finally convinces me we’ll try if for a few months and if we like sharing space I can kick in for the rent and officially claim some of the space. Then I can work on whatever I please, whenever I please, in my corner. I already know his hours are erratic. I can easily manage time there alone and when I want company I can have that too. He has a parade of characters and art clients moving through on a regular basis. I bet that will do wonders for my creativity.
As we pay for lunch with our shiny new corporate American Express card and part ways, I find myself looking forward to stopping at the luggage store and getting a nice new laptop case to celebrate. I finally begin to feel a little less like an employee and more like a business owner. A business owner with a partner that has a sixth sense, a big heart and extra office space. That combination just might translate into what I’ll need to accomplish everything I want to do.
Note from Shady: Are any of you working at home or in a dog friendly office?Hey Tuesday…we live nearby so let us know when you are over there with the doggies so I can come by and play too!
Filed under: Guest Posts, pet loss | Tags: animal rescue, good samaritan, homeless animals, pet loss, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, Tuesday Larken
Guest post by Tuesday Larken, originally posted 8/9/2011 at
“One woman’s journal. Every woman’s journey.”
Good Samaritan
Why am I still holding her? This is not the dog I want. I want my Duke back. It has been only about a month since my golden retriever passed away and nothing I’ve tried can fill his absence. So why am I holding a shy little black Labrador/terrier mix with two broken legs?
I’ll tell you why…it’s because there is far too much absence to fill. No dog can replace Duke but a new one in my arms, just for a moment, begins to even out the sudden imbalance I am feeling. My job as I knew it is gone. My kids are grown. My husband has a new job that has him out of the house over 12 hours a day. Me and Bella (my Border collie mix) are feeling more than a little left behind.
I have never actually been in an animal shelter. Duke came from a rescue group and they brought him to me. Bella was a stray we took in. When Melissa (you might know her as MelissaBelle) asked me to run this errand for her and drop off some donations, I made it a point to peek in some of the cages. I thought I might meet a dog to take care of me like Duke did. Instead, I met this little midget dog who may need more care than I have left in me to give.
Melissa’s blog posts on pet loss (among other things) have helped me deal with the loss of Duke. I met her on the Fabulously40.com site and we soon realized we lived just a few miles apart. Despite her counsel and that of many other women in the site, I am not over it yet. Just like this little Labrador mix isn’t recovered from her injuries yet. She isn’t up for adoption. There is no hard sell for me to take her home. I was simply asked to go see her because she is shy and they are trying to help her get used to strangers. She has months to go before she’d be ready to go to a new home.
The skittish little dog (I didn’t ask her name -I suspect they are still choosing one for her) was found on the side of the road with 2 broken legs. A Good Samaritan paid for her surgery. They have no idea if she’ll walk again. She probably won’t trust again too readily either. Bella would absolutely hate her, what with her whining and shaking and clinginess and all. Or maybe she wouldn’t; having been on the street herself maybe Bella would be able to ease her fears and let her know there is such a thing as a happy ending. Crap. I cannot believe I fell for this. Is this why Melissa sent me here?
Okay, enough. No no no. I cannot take in another dog now. I cannot take in a second dog in a few months either. That’s just ridiculous. This dog can’t bring Duke back. Or my kids. Or my job. Or my marriage as it once was. So then, as little no-name curls deeper into the hook of my arm, why am I still holding her?
The little black dog in this post is fiction, but she was inspired by Abby who is very real and needs a home. Abby is healed, walking and ready to start a new life with the right family. Click on this image to learn more about her and how you can help. via petswithdisabilities.com
As Shady and I mentioned last week, Tuesday is helping us pick up the slack around here and get our TGTB efforts back on track. Her blog is not just about pets, but family and life after 40. Learn more about her here: it all started when her dog died…
Filed under: animal rescue, Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, cats, companion animals, dogs, homeless animals, HSUS, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad
Our last post was a cry for help. A plea to end the 8 second cycle. It started like this:
“HSUS estimates that a cat or dog is put down in a shelter in the U.S. every 8 seconds. Do you think it is mere coincidence that marketing experts like SilverPop and Wikipedia alike report that the average continuous attention span for literate humans is also 8 seconds? (read entire post here)”
In the middle was a bunch of stuff about how we don’t want over 10,000 animals a day to die. And it ended sorta like this:
“…forget the animals for a moment and think like a business owner whose business is failing. You have a surplus and you need to move inventory or else your business is going to die.
What is the best (tried or untried) idea or advice you have to find more buyers?”
450 an hour. 10,000 a day.
Want to know what we came up with? We’ll tell you but not all at once, because that was idea #1.
Keep is Short, Socially. Social media is a boon to animal rescue. It makes sharing and spreading news fast and updates easy. Be sure to speak to your crowd there even when you do not have news though. They come to their PC for entertainment too, and it doesn’t take much. That is an ideal way to attract more people to your network.
Give them something to remind them about you and your cause very often and in small, entertaining doses. Questions of the day, cute status updates, caption this photo exercises, or trivia can work if not overdone. Talk more often, but not always at full length. Talk to them like it is person to person, not always just organization to large group.
End with a question whenever you can to give them a reason to interact and check back. “Has your dog ever done anything like this.” or “Who is braving the weather for a dog walk today?” Every post does not need a photo or a link. Let them know you enjoy their company and conversation, and schedule it regularly. Stockpile the cool, pithy filler stuff so you don’t lapse.
When it comes to blogging, shorter is always better. Break things into a series of several posts, always ending with a teaser of what is to come. Tighten sentences and paragraphs and drop unnecessary adjectives to make text look less time-consuming to a reader. We have been trying this here, even if it does not look it to you sometimes this is one where we really are trying…
Idea #2 gets down to the business of the MORE buyers thing, but still focuses on social media.
Make finding more followers/fans/friends to read your cool new pithy marketing stuff more of a priority. In the online world, followers in the 4 and 5 digit range is a lot smaller than it sounds. People come and go and their attention wanders.
Remember to ASK people often to share your page, retweet your tweet, share your post etc. Even your staunchest advocates may not think of this or remember it often enough. Somewhere in THEIR friend list is your next buyer…umm I mean adopter. Ask and you shall receive.
Ask them collectively every day, several times a day even, to do at least one thing. It may feel like overkill but most of us only check in once in a while so we only see it now and then. Flatter them, thank them and then ask them very specifically to help you recruit and tell them how (Please hit the “suggest to friends” button, please retweet, please forward this email to at least 5 people and so on)
If you are lucky enough to a person dedicated to your online presence, get a second person JUST to build the audience. These are 2 separate missions. Have them find similar Facebook Twitter accounts pages (or whatever you are doing online). Compose and send personal messages inviting people following them to follow you too. Learn the ins and outs of Facebook online events, Follow Fridays, PawPawties and hashtags and all the silliness that is out there to participate in.
This can be tough; you have to do this slowly so FB and Twitter won’t think you are a spam bot! Make the message personal enough so the reader knows you are not spamming either…”Hey I love the photo you posted on XYZ. Maybe you’d like to post to over with us too?”
Contests (with even the smallest prizes or other incentives like “we will name your pet dog of the day”), trivia questions, teasers and so on go a long way with a lot of people and will increase your visibility. Direct a few around building numbers: person who refers the most people to our site wins, person with the most followers to retweet our tweet gets naming rights on the newest batch of shelter kitties. People will do more than you think for very little incentive.
To sum up these two ideas I think it goes like this: for actual content, less will get you more. In terms of frequency more is what you need to get! That’s all for the social media ideas. So as not to violate these principles, we will save the rest of the ideas for another post next week. The rest of them are a little more “step away from the computer and get out there” types.
So please check back with us then. And if you know anyone shaking things up in the animal rescue world, ask them their secret and share it with us. If you don’t, help us find someone like that by hitting one of the share keys to share this post.
WOW- this less and more thing is delicate balance isn’t it? How do you think we did?
Note from Shady: This is a guest post by my people Mom. Mom already has a few ideas to share on this topic. Marketing is her “day job.” She would never pose questions like these without being willing to answer them herself and she will do just that as well as sharing the ideas you have sent. No suggestion is too run of the mill or too outlandish for this excercise…please send us your opinions.
Filed under: animal rescue, Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, homeless animals, LoJack, Nikki, puppy, shady, shadytales, spiderman, TGTB, this good that bad
Hi everyone, Spiderman here. You may know me from this blog as Shady’s occasional visitor in “Adventures in Puppy Sitting” or from This Good That Bad’s Facebook page as the “office dog”. I am a 5 month old black lab mix puppy adopted from a shelter in NJ by one of Shady’s Mom’s colleagues. I get to come to her office EVERY DAY with my Dad. I didn’t realize it at first, but that was a pretty lucky break for me.
Don't mind me, I'll just soak up some sun here by the door till its walk time.
I have learned a lot around this office so far. For starters, I can use this computer well enough to step in and take over this blog. Someone has to do it. Shady was a little sick yesterday, because her Mom has been sick and home this week and as a result of a miscommunication with the person who usually feeds her, Shady got two lunches yesterday. This sounded like a good thing to me at first but it really wasn’t. Turns out it was very unpleasant for all involved. Let’s just say Shady spent most of the day in the yard—by choice– as a result and leave it at that. Since they are both temporarily out of commission, I figured I’d paw right in and give you some insight direct from a rescued-office-dog. Let’s start with the good stuff, the stuff I have learned that they do not teach in any “puppy school”.
- Naming your rescue dog or puppy: People have mixed opinions about changing or keeping a rescue dog’s name when they adopt. My family kept mine and I am here to say—it does not matter. People tend to make up silly nicknames for you anyway. Shady’s Mom calls me LoJack or Nikki at least a few times a week. When it really matters they get it right and no matter what that name is or was I know the difference when it is said with love and affection.
- The Big Boss’ office: It is okay to sleep on the fancy rug in there, but do not chew or pee on it. It used to never even be okay to go in there but I’m earning my stripes for good behavior! I don’t think he will ever want me to chew or pee on it though.
- “Howl-O-Ween”: This annual ritual is fast approaching and as I understand it, I am required to pose for photos in a silly costume for sheer entertainment value. This Good That Bad is trying to make it worth my while though, and yours. Check out their pet photo contest on Facebook and you could win a cash donation for your favorite rescue. You don’t even need a costume, just a fall theme will do. Hurry up too because it ends 10/31.
- Routine is key: I have learned who wants me around them and when, and I keep certain toys in certain rooms only so I don’t get bored with he same old stuff. I get the really good toys like rawhides when they are doing something called a “meeting”. Squeaky toys, running randomly from room to room (all 40 lbs of me) and tug games are best for late afternoon only when everyone is ready for a break and no one is on the phone or Barkberry.
- “Coffee” is very important. When the office people run out, they can get cranky and start pointing fingers over who had the last cup. Someone is then dispatched to get some right away. Now, they keep doggie treats at the coffee bar too but I don’t get to help myself like they do and they are somewhat less panicked when those run low.
In addition to all I have learned on my own here, I have overheard some really interesting stuff too. For instance, did you know…
- I was adopted here in NJ from a litter of other superhero named puppies that were transported here from somewhere they called “the south”? Some people get upset about that too, but it seems they bus us up here because it is more populated and we have a better “chance”. A chance at what, I wonder?
- My Dad and Mom originally wanted to adopt an older dog? That how they got the boss to agree to let me come in every day. They just kinda found me along the way. Every room here had to be draped in plastic till I was office broken…something about a “security deposit?” The older dogs really need you, though. The “chances” among that group are even less than mine and they still have so much love to give. They can’t help it that us puppies are so adorable—but don’t let us fool you, it won’t last! We’ll still turn into a regular dog someday (though still adorable, no doubt).
- Puppies are not the best choice for everyone? If I was not allowed in this office there is no way I my Dad and Mom would have chosen me because they work a lot. I’d be alone a lot of hours and training me would be a lot harder. So don’t overlook adult and senior dogs at the shelter. No matter what age we are when you bring us home, we will be dogs far longer than we will be puppies.
- 5 of 10 dogs in shelters and 7 of 10 cats in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them? I was in a shelter, so I guess I am one of the lucky 5. Are those the “chances” they were talking about? Those don’t seem like very good odds to me…I am glad I was last in my litter to be adopted because I know for sure all of my family made it home! (Source ASPCA http://dld.bz/3UbJ)
- Black dogs can catch an awful syndrome that makes it even harder for them to get adopted? Just look at this poor guy here!
If your boss won’t let you have a puppy in your office, please don’t let it stop you from adopting if you really want a dog in your life. Plenty of dogs don’t have a job to go to and they do just great at home. Maybe you have a dog at home already who would like a friend while you are at the office all day? Those adult and senior dogs we were talking about are great for that. Their habits are formed and it is easy to find a match with your life and your pet. Just give it a chance and take your time.
Now that I know all these things, I am worried. I worry about the other 5 of those dogs out of that 10. Hey, that coulda been me or any one of my brothers or sisters. It isn’t fair and it isn’t our fault. If you can’t bring one of us home, that’s okay. Find another way to support your local shelter by donating, volunteering or spreading the word. I would think you people already know it, but maybe you need to hear it straight from the office dog’s mouth one last time: Those odds just are not good enough.
Shady’s Mom, Melissa, is the director of marketing for a firm in NJ by day, and a blogger an entrepreneur by night. She still has good days and bad days since losing two of her dogs last year. She knows they would be proud of her efforts to help animal rescue through her “This good. That bad.” products. If she cannot adopt them all she wants to at least increase their chances any way she can. Please come back and visit us soon and if you are in animal rescue, contact us to learn more about how we can help you fundraise.
Filed under: animal rescue, dogs, Guest Posts, pet loss | Tags: dog food, dog recipes, dogs, labrador, LoJack, pet adoption, pet grief, pet loss, recipes, shadytales, steak, TGTB, this good that bad
The following is a reprint of Shady’s guest post on a friend’s cooking blog. She addresses two topics very near and dear to a dogs’ heart–food and love. Update 5/2011: Our sympathy to Linda, the cooking blog author and Mom to Duke, her beloved labrador and star “taste tester” who recently succumbed to the same cancer that took our LoJack. Please feel free to leave your remarks and support for Linda here and we will pass them on to her. Rest in Peace Duke. Please tell LoJack we miss him when you see him.
For those of you who do not know me from my own blog. Dog Eared Tales please allow me to introduce myself; I am a Shady, an 8-year-old blog dog. More specifically I am a black lab who recently lost two pack members to old age. My people-Mom and I have been blogging ever since. It started out as a way to cope with the loss of our family members but we have met so many wonderful people along the way that even though we are doing better we decided to keep it up.
Linda is one of those people and one of my favorite things about her is that she loves food just like me. Another thing I really like about her is that she lists her own dogs Bubba and Duke as part of her “support staff”. I am guessing this means they get to do a lot of taste testing and I think a lot of people could learn from that example.
When Linda invited me to guest post here I was flattered. Although my blog is about pet loss and animal rescue, food is one of my favorite topics! Mom used to be pretty stingy with the people food. She used to claim it is wasted on me, that I would eat a lint ball with the same zeal I would attack a steak. I’ll concede it may look that way from the outside, but I assure you my palate is refined as any human. Mom knows that now too, but it was not an easy lesson and that is part of what I want to tell you about.
You see, last year my golden retriever brother LoJack developed tumors in his mouth. They were small and undetectable at first but he stopped eating because he could not work his tongue correctly. The whole pack knew with all our doggy senses what was happening but we had no way to tell anyone (this was before I had a laptop). Mom could see he was trying to eat and was still hungry, so she started helping him. She began to make burgers and cakes and out of his prescription dog food to make it easier for him. She cut them into chunks and literally tossed them in his mouth to the back, where he was still tumor free and could swallow on his own. This worked for a while, but his condition worsened and he started to lose interest in eating.
Mom was really stressed out about it because LoJack had a liver problem and he needed this special dog food. It had changed his life and saved him from grave illness four years earlier. He also needed about 6 pills a day for his liver and he would not put anything in his mouth. Mom tried everything she could think of to get a proper balanced meal into him but it took hours at a time and still he lost weight.
Then one day the vet laid it out for my Mom in simple terms. She sort of knew but needed it hear it out loud. He told us LoJack’s liver dysfunction was nothing compared to what he was battling now. Since he remained a happy boy in every way except at mealtimes and at this point his pain was minimal all Mom had to do was keep him from starving. The vet made it clear to us; it did not matter what he ate anymore—just that he ate something and maybe had a painkiller now and then. “Let him eat steak.” he said and this became our new strategy.
A diet of the finest people food was prepared and hand fed to him daily. I am not sure how much he could taste anymore but the idea was the smell is what held his interest. My older dog sister Nikki and I were given tastes here and there but for the most part we kept our distance and let Mom and LoJack dine alone. Steak, seasoned and grilled, and spicy venison sausage were his favorites.
The pills he needed now were hidden inside grape tomatoes and bits of garlic bread. He even got vanilla ice cream and yogurt pops on the hottest summer nights. For a while, he seemed to enjoy eating again-or maybe it was just all the one on one Mommy time? Whatever it was, he regained his spark during this time and the whole family was glad to have him back to his old ways for at least a short time. All the food smelled delicious but Nikki and I knew the trade off and so we happily kept to our regular diets. Let him eat steak…
You probably know how the story ends; LoJack was gone before summer was over. The food was not enough to battle the illness and it made his eventual turn for the worse feel very sudden to us. Soon Mom had hours of time on her hands that she did not know what to do with. She could not remember what she used to do in the mornings before she started spending 45 minutes feeding LoJack, or at night before she spent hours precooking his meals.
That is kind of how the blog was born, and how Mom started to meet people like Linda. Everyone who came upon Mom’s blog posts about rescuing, loving and losing your dog took the time to leave comments and they were very kind to us. We could not have gotten through it without them.
Though it took her some time to get back to it after that, Mom does really enjoy cooking. I am an only dog now, and I am afforded a lot more slack than I ever was before when it comes to food. I usually get a few bites of any meal that is leftover (if there is nothing in it that is dangerous for me) and so I have a vested interest in getting Mom to try new stuff. This week she is going to try Linda’s recipe for “Potato and Egg Bake” and she promises to share. It isn’t exactly “eat steak” treatment, but I also get some homemade treats just for dogs made for just for me.
I would like to share the recipe for one of my favorites with you here—maybe you can whip up a batch for your own pets, or a friend’s, or maybe even drop by your local shelter with some treats and share the love. Spend some time walking the dogs there and getting to know them. I bet you’ll like it so much that you’ll be back again and again and I promise you will be welcomed with open paws even if you arrive empty handed.
Dogs appreciate food without question, but we appreciate the love that is behind it much more and it does not matter one bit how you choose to show it.
CTOTD blog author Linda is just one of the many friends my Mom met online a little over a year ago as she mourned for our LoJack and started her This Good. That Bad. fundraising company for animal causes. Linda is a dog lover herself and her own dog Duke was recently found to have tumors in his mouth too. She has kindly dedicated a post to the pooches in honor of October’s “Adopt A Shelter Dog” month. You can find all kinds of recipes and cooking reference materials at her site every day.
Kibble again? Let him eat steak!
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Filed under: animal rescue, events, Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, contests, dog eared tales, dogs, golden retriever, LoJack, pet adoption, pet food giveaway, pet grief, pets, safe driving, shady, shadytales, texting, texting while driving, TGTB, this good that bad
Thanks to everyone who expressed concern about my recent absence from the blog. I am well and feeling fine, it was actually Mom that was little under the weather. She had a bad cold, a little family drama and some less than stellar things going on at work so I figured I’d give her place to vent and something else to focus on for a while. As you may have read on her guest posts here, she managed to read an entire book in one sitting and also had some rescue frustration to deal with . I think she is doing better on most fronts now so I am taking my blog back. She is still straddled with the cold though, so I’ll keep it short.
I have only been away a week but here is what else we have been working on in that short time:
1. The TGTB Pet Food Giveaway has ended and we sent off $100 worth of food to the winner. Congratulations to Forever Home Beagle Rescue!
2. As we approach the one year anniversary of LoJack’s trip to the Rainbow Bridge, Mom has been very introspective. She reached out to some readers from her sickbed and asked for updates on their pets or in some cases, their other recent losses and challenges. We’ll have updates on the next few blogs and will be asking again if anyone else is working through this kind of grief.
3. The supplier is almost ready with our new car magnet and sticker designs. Stock is due this week and they will be on the site very soon. The magnets will feature pet adoption campaigns and also the “Drive Now Text Later” campaign.
TGTB's safe driving car magnet. This and our pet adoption designs will be available as magnets on the site.
5. There has been some progress on the storefront but the bottom line is—it is still a bit of a hassle to order custom sizes in the T shirts like 3XL or XS. There is a standard limit to the drop down options in the store software that we lack the html skills to beat without lousing up the whole site. I have heard a lot more four letter words than usual around the house lately—maybe it is the cold medicine talking. We have a workaround though so please; if you want to order a size you do not see contact us before you give up. Odds are we have the size available. As always, proceeds go to our fundraising (animal rescue) clients or the contests and giveaways on their behalf.
Thanks again to everyone for their comments and emails. We really appreciate your input and feedback. The world-wide web can be a lonely place without this kind of interaction. We do our best to reciprocate. Are you following us on Twitter or visiting us on Facebook yet? Let us know so we can follow/fan back.
Shady’s Mom, Melissa, is the director of marketing for a firm in NJ by day, and a blogger an entrepreneur by night. She still has good days and bad days since losing two of her dogs last year, Nikki and LoJack. She knows they would be proud of her efforts to help animal rescue through her “This good. That bad.” products and she is always working on new designs , slogans and ways to help the cause. Please come back and visit us soon and if you are in animal rescue, contact us to learn more about how we can help you fundraise.
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Filed under: animal rescue, Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, breeders, companion animals, designer dogs, dog breeder, homeless animals, pet adoption, pet shop, pet stores, puppy mill. puppy farming, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad
Guest post by Melissa, Shady’s Mom.
Every day people hunt down and brag about bargains they find at outlet stores, wholesale clubs and online. They show off “vintage” collectibles from eBay or auction houses and fight over off-price designer duds at sample sales. They seem to know the packaging and venue do not affect the value or prestige of the possession. So why do they insist their pets be puppies and from designer breeders or pets stores? Why is the selection process so different when it comes to the animals in their lives? Is it because a pet is a living thing? So then, do they also require spouses or boy/girlfriends to never have loved anyone else, or lived anywhere else? Must they also be perfect in appearance and health? I am sure his “exes” had good reasons for getting rid of him but they can look past a lot of things for the love of a person. Do they expect to love their pet less? If so, why bother having one?
Best friends of any size or color are a bargain at any price
A pet is a lifetime commitment no matter where the relationship starts. Maybe if the write ups for rescue dogs sounded more like eBay listings or auction catalogs, more people would see things my way—the way most of the regular readers here do too. Do we need to make adoption sound more exclusive and glamorous to generate a better response? Does something like this:
“Hershey” 2001: Formerly the possession of a distinguished collector for over 9 years, this rare masterpiece is being auctioned for the benefit of the estate. Bronze with a fine patina and stamped with authentic foundry mark “1 of 1”. Appraised as priceless, this item will fit in any collection. Once in a lifetime opportunity to secure this prominent piece with no reserve. Sealed bids only, limited run closes in 5 days to highest qualified bidder.
Work better than this:
URGENT: Hershey-Senior dog unbelievably dumped by family. Chocolate lab with gray muzzle, house trained, neutered and micro chipped. Loves other dogs and kids, can get along with cats. Perfect companion for someone looking for a loyal and low-key friend. Approved foster or adopter needed to take in Hershey ASAP, as the shelter is full and his days are numbered.
Or, do you think some would they prefer a more personal approach? Like this:
Are you looking for someone to take you as you are and love you forever without question? Mature, handsome adult male looking for same and a chance to age gracefully together. I will love your kids and pets as my own and accept all your friends and family gratefully. Your age or appearance is not an issue to me, but a pure heart that wants companionship and commitment is a must. I enjoy quiet evenings to snuggle in front of the TV or a fireplace, but can be ready for a long walk or an outing on a moment’s notice too. I live to please and love the right someone. Is this the kind of love you want in your life? Please apply in person and apply fast. Don’t miss out on a chance to know a perfect gentleman, Hershey. Offer is only good for 5 days.
I have seen some creative rescue listings along these lines and told a lot of adoption success stories, but the stigma remains. “There must be something wrong with the dogs in the shelter”. “They deserve a home but they are not right for mine because I want a (fill in the blank)”. I’ll admit, shelter and rescue dogs do have a special need. It is one shared by all dogs and cats…they need a safe home that will do right by them. It is a lot harder than it sounds to provide that kind of home. Don’t ask whether or not the pets in the shelter are worthy of your home. Consider instead if the home you have to offer is good enough for them. Are you prepared for all that you will receive in return? Once you open your heart to a shelter you will see that the effort, care and love you give will be given back ten fold. You will be grateful for the opportunity to prove you are worthy of this kind of loyalty– each and every day.
Author Shady is the proud blogdog for “This Good That Bad“, a company dedicated to helping shelters, animal rescues and other non-profits raise funds with their products. She and her Mom have just unveiled their newest products and a new site to serve this community even better. They also sponsor contests and lend marketing support and advice to groups to help raise funds awareness for their causes on every level.
Filed under: Guest Posts, pet loss | Tags: animal rescue, dogs, golden retriever, homeless animals, Ken Foster, labrador, LoJack, pet adoption, pit bulls, rescue, shady, shadytales, TGTB, the dogs who found me
“Rescuing something takes time, and there’s a risk of revealing something about yourself-your vulnerability-that isn’t fashionable at all. That’s what people don’t understand. You do it because it’s difficult. You do it because you aren’t sure of things. You do it without knowing how any of it will turn out, or how much it will cost you, or if the story will be happy or tragic in the end.” -Ken Foster, author of ” The Dogs Who Found Me”
Guest Post by Melissa, Shady’s Mom
I brought myself to the far corner of Barnes & Noble last night for the first time in almost a year—the pet section. The very spot where I loaded up on $150 worth of books about canine cancer and pet diets for my golden retriever, LoJack, last year. I had no idea I’d get so upset to return to that spot now; he has been gone for 10 months and we lost his dog sister Nikki in January. I teared up almost immediately upon arrival. I could not stay long, but I stayed long enough to get a copy of “The Dogs Who Found Me”, by Ken Foster. I read it in one sitting last night.
I had never heard of the author or book and I did not go there to find it. It found me. I was lured in by a particular story I happened to open up to about a small collie abandoned at a dog park in New York City. I have “found” a few dogs in my time, but nothing like the stories of pets “left behind” that fill this book. Mr. Foster feels that he has not found them at all, that he is merely seeing what the rest of us (or most of us, at least) ignore. They are always visible in his presence, they find him.
I find myself somewhat in the middle of seeing and ignoring these days. I want to help, to make a difference. For a long time I think I did help, a lot. I was hands on, fostering and volunteering and fundraising. I saw it all then; the abandonment, the cruelty and ignorance. I know it is all still out there. Since I lost two of my own dogs in short succession though, I find myself turning away from it. It hurts too much to get close again. I am happy to fundraise and support many animal causes and groups from a distance—safely here online with TGTB or from this blog written by my last surviving dog, Shady. I have made a difference for some since then—here and there. The pet loss blog category in particular has been very rewarding. Talking with the readers and being trusted with their tributes and memories is comforting for me and I suspect for them too. I am privileged to have “met” them and their pets. Other times though, I am disappointed in the results of my efforts …I feel like I have stories and wisdom and experience that are of value to the groups, the public and the animals. Still, some groups pass on my offers of assistance. Still, we are too late for many of the dogs and cats. Still, some of my closest friends patronize pet stores and give up on their animals. Still, Shady is an only dog. What am I doing wrong? What’s missing? What am I afraid of?
I thought LoJack was hard to ignore, but a lot of people passed him by before he found me.
Reading Mr. Foster’s quote above made me realize what might be wrong. My ending has been filled in. I know how it ends for LoJack and Nikki. LoJack was rescued and given four more years of life with a loving family. He became my best friend and constant companion. Then his time, our time together, ended. The rescue may have been defined as a success but now it feels like a tragedy too. On some level I did not know that before, so I pressed on. Now I know what awaits and even if I never open my home to another dog, I know I’ll have to go through this grief at least one more time. It’s not just difficult to rescue dogs; it is difficult to live with them and impossible to live without them once you have let them in your life. It is so easy to give your heart to them and to become dependent on all they offer in return—the unconditional love, the loyalty , the laughs and even the noise and the mess and the cost. It quickly becomes unthinkable for a person who has truly loved a dog to give all that up for any reason.
After I finished the book yesterday, I started following Mr. Foster on Twitter and Facebook (yes, I’m still hiding behind social media and the computer for now, thank you very much!). I read that he is very active in pit bull rescue (more active than I ever was or could hope to be) and lost his beloved pit Sula last month. I am not sure how many of his own pets he has lost along the way. I don’t know if things will change for him…will he be spurred on or need to take a break from rescue? I left him a message on his blog and on Facebook. I wrote and told him basically what I said in the opening paragraph of this tale, but I added a “Thank you”. I wanted to thank him not only for the huge difference he has already made for dogs along the way, but for taking the time to write it all down. Even if he never rescues another dog in his life, his words and stories will always make a difference for anyone who reads them.
Shady and I are not out of stories for the blog—yet. We will be though, if we do not open our eyes and start seeing these dogs left behind again. Not just through a Facebook post or an errant Tweet either. We have to stop taking the easy way out. Oh, we’ll still be selling the T-shirts and trying to help on the business side as we have committed to do for rescues so far through TGTB…but we need to find our way back to what we are really missing (see the above-mentioned “unconditional love, the loyalty, the laughs and even the noise and the mess and the cost.”). I can’t say how I will do that for us right now, but I can say I will be writing all down.
P.S. If you are wondering if this means another permanent blog for me so I don’t have to share with Shady, you may be right. Someone once told me that if you need inspiration to write, you should read and you will find some . If you want to be a writer, just write something. I did both of those things in the last 24 hours–and ended up with my own dog eared tale. This post may not be the introduction to the nation’s next bestseller but it is my first on my own and all about me. If that’s not progress toward reconciling this grief, I don’t know what is. Thanks again, KF.
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Filed under: dogs, events, Guest Posts, pet loss | Tags: animal rescue, mother's day, pet adoption, pet grief, pet loss, shady, shadytales, TGTB
Dog and cat Moms have it pretty tough. Odds are they are going to outlive their furkids. Mom and I had to say good-bye to both brother LoJack and sister Nikki within the last 8 months. These losses led Mom to start blogging and ultimately to start a company to help rescues fundraise. In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I would let her guest post today. Given what happened last night, she chose the following post about her son from her personal blog at another site to republish here. Although this is primarily a rescue blog, we often circle back to pet loss just as this post does; it is part of being a responsible pet owner. And it sucks. Please go find your furry children and spoil them a little extra today. That’s what my Mom wants for Mother’s Day, but you can tell them it’s from Shady, Nikki and LoJack.
Dog Moms have it pretty tough sometimes. Kisses make it easier for them.
Original Title: The Long Summer (subtitle: Why my cell phone bill is worth every penny)
Originally published 8/11/2009
My family has had a long summer. My 18-year-old son announced quite loudly and IN THE MIDDLE of college orientation that he wouldn’t be going after all. Then he chose another school and is reaaalllyy making us sweat out the details…it was left to him to transfer the loans and paperwork and he running very close on deadlines. Then he disappeared for a day. Then he had two car accidents in two weeks (no one hurt). Then my dog LoJack died and everything else didn’t seem like such a big damn deal after all.
“I am getting used to it but I don’t want to” my son texted me in the middle of the workday today. ”I don’t want to have 2 dogs, I want 3. When is LoJack coming home?” This stopped me in my tracks and I stepped away from my desk, to the small front porch we have in our office to reply.
LoJack came home on Thursday. He passed away the week before, and I picked up his remains as soon as I was able to. Going to get him had been pretty upsetting and prior to that my son had expressed concern about having a conspicuous “urn” out on display in the house. I didn’t know what the container would look like so I couldn’t argue about it and didn’t want to get into it with him. So when I returned home, I tucked the tasteful oak box on a shelf with the collar and leash and figured he would not notice it before I had a chance to tell him about it. I’d tell the next time I saw him or once I was able to look at it without crying, whichever comes first. I should have known how long both those things would take.
My son works shifts as an EMT and sleeps in a lot as result. He has a busy social life too; he is not home much anymore at all. I have seen him only once or twice since then, and each time with a purpose (met at the mall to change his cell service, helped him with some paperwork for college). I saw him briefly for breakfast this morning (he was walking in, I was walking out) and thought of mentioning LoJack but didn’t. Now I wish I had.
My son never saw me cry until the day I lost my LoJack, and he has seen it (or heard through his door) every day since. He probably did not think he could find much comfort from me, and I doubt his young friends would understand what he might be going through after losing our dog or want to admit it even if they do. I re-read a blog I wrote last week about “closure” and realized that in my own grief I’d deprived my son of that very thing.
On the porch I tapped a few short messages about where my son could find LoJack now and apologizing for being remiss in telling him. He sent me some replies about missing LoJack and forgiving me. He tapped that he had felt guilty about getting used to our reduced dog population. He even felt guilty about complaining four years ago when we adopted LoJack that he had not been consulted, and that he used to complain that he shed too much. So he let it all out and I think I addressed it well enough. He went to look at the box later and texted me to say he thought it suited LoJack—the same thing I thought when I saw it.
Then he asked me to send him the picture of LoJack from my Blackberry, the one he knew full well I said good morning and good night to and cried over each day for the last two weeks straight….just not now though, send it later when he would be alone to receive it. In this age of digital photos, we don’t have one on paper and his new cell phone has no pictures on it. So I’ll send him that later tonight along with my usual “Good night” text to him. Soon I’ll print one out to sit near the box that has my LoJack. Then I’ll sit back, brace myself, and try to make it to Labor Day.
My Mom, Melissa, is the director of marketing for a firm in NJ by day, and a blogger an entrepreneur by night. She still has good days and bad days since losing Nikki and LoJack. She knows they would be proud of her efforts to help animal rescue through her “This good. That bad.” products and she is hard at work on some new designs and slogans for the cause. Please come back and visit us soon and if you are in animal rescue, contact us to learn more about how we can help you fundraise.
