My Dog Loves Life! #FuelTheCure

Today I'm joining Oz the Terrier and Sugar the Golden Retriever who are hosting the "Loving Life Contest and Fundraiser" along with Zuke's treats to support the Dog and Cat Cancer Fund!

You know that (unfortunately) dog cancer is an issue that Pooch Smooches is passionate about, so I was happy I remembered to participate, because for each blog post in the hop Zuke's will donate $5 to DCCF!

You can join in too - but time is running out as the contest/hop ends May 22. All you need to do is create a post showing your pet loving life and include #FuelTheCure in the title. (Complete rules and info for the contest are here on Oz's site.)

We're also happy to participate because Rita LOVES Zuke's tasty treats and I love that they donate a portion of their sales to DCCF, which helps pet parents afford cancer treatments for their sick furry family members.

So, in the spirit of the hop, here are some pics of Rita loving life and doing some of her favorite things!

Rita loves to go on walks...

Pet Cancer Awareness & A #Giveaway!

November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month. I know there's also a PCA month in May... but who am I to tell whoever organizes these things to coordinate their months?? Besides, the more awareness, the better, right?

So, today, to hopefully help make people more aware about pet cancer, there's no mischief on the blog... instead, we've got some pet cancer detection tips and a little giveaway!

Several years ago, the hubs and I did a canine cancer walk to raise money for Morris Animal Foundation. At that event they said that ~25% of all dogs will get cancer. 

Our familial unit back in 2011 at the MAF Canine Cancer Walk

#GiveCancerThePaw: Our Beautiful Angels

Today is our last Give Cancer the Paw blog hop. My co-host Peggy of the Writer's Dog and I invite you to join in and pay tribute to a special pet you've known and loved who has/had cancer. You can write a tribute post, share an old post about a beloved pet, or even just share a photo. Today I'm posting about our beautiful angels.

If you've been around the blog for a while, you know we lost both our beautiful girls, Bailey and Abby to cancer. Bailey had hemangiosarcoma, and Abby had osteosarcoma.

Join Us Wed. for the Last #GiveCancerThePaw Hop!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last Give Cancer the Paw blog hop. My co-host Peggy (of The Writer's Dog) and I have done what we've set out to do: raise awareness about canine cancer, share news of studies and treatments, and raise the "power of the paw" in fighting this evil disease.

#FuelTheCure Blog Hop, Contest and Fundraiser

When we heard our buddy Oz the Terrier was hosting a #FuelTheCure fundraiser to help raise money to fight pet cancer, we had to join in!

Oz is hosting along with Zuke’s (Rita loves Zuke's treats!) to help raise money for the Dog and Cat Cancer Fund. The fund: works with vets to help families in need get cancer treatment for their pets, offers research grants to scientists, and promotes prevention by raising awareness and encouraging early testing for canine and feline cancer.

Give Cancer the Paw: Putting the Fun in Funding for K9 Cancer Research

Welcome to the 2nd installment of the Give Cancer the Paw hop, from Pooch Smooches and Peggy's Pet Place!

Mirth Watch Thursday: We Are the Furred

My mother-in-law told us about this video that she saw on TV in Canada. (Maybe in between footage of Toronto's mayor Rob Ford's latest exploits?) It's sort of a "We Are the World"-style video (hence the post title), as you'll see:

Follow-up Friday: More Cancer Stuff and Some Not-Cancer Stuff

It's Follow-Up Friday - the blog hop where we follow up on former posts, answer questions, share funny comments and wrap up the week! 

Dogs of Blogville Calendar
Remember waaay back in August when I asked you to vote to get Rita in the Dogs of Blogville Calendar? Well, they arrived, and they're gorgeous! Big thanks to Jodi of Heart Like a Dog and Julie of Daily Dog Blog for putting these together!

Wordless Wednesday: Outtakes, So-Cal Fall & A New Hop!

I'm going to be a tiny bit wordy today (quelle surprise, right?), because I want to tell you more about the new blog hop that Peggy from Peggy's Pet Place and I are starting! More on that at the end, after I share a passel o' pics. 

So, last week I shared this selfie of Rita and me in my new SlimDoggy gear that I won.

Mirth Watch Thursday: Trick or Treat? Definitely Treat!

In yesterday's post, I told you about how we met this gorgeous gentleman, Parker Pup:

Really Wordy Wednesday: Black Tie with Betty White

I apologize in advance for how wordy this will be, but I wanted to share my pics from the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) Gala of Hope and tell you all about it. 

I also apologize in advance for how crappy our pics are. (!) My sis and I are new to having iPhones. (Do all iPhones take crappy pics indoors if the lighting isn't great, or is it just us? It's just us, isn't it...) If I'd known, I would've brought my "real" camera! Darn it.

Anyway... here goes the full report! 

My "date" and I checked into our lovely hotel room and got dolled up.

Follow Up Friday: More Questions than Answers

I'm joining the Follow Up Friday hop a little late...

Follow-Up Friday: We Get To Go!!!

If you read yesterday's post, you know I was soooooo bummed about not getting to go to the Morris Animal Foundation Gala of Hope... but we ARE going!! I just found out a few minutes ago that it's 100% for sure happening!!

It's all thanks to entering my beautiful angel in a photo contest!

Feeling Blue on Mirth Watch Thursday

You guys! You are not going to believe my tale of woe...

You know I love Morris Animal Foundation and Betty White right? (If not, I mentioned it here, plus mentioned my donation pledge to MAF in my book trailer that I posted yesterday.) So, imagine how excited I was when I got a phone message inviting me and the hubs to the MAF's "Gala of Hope," featuring Betty White - we're talking free tickets!

Since we donate to MAF, we get their mailers so had seen that the event was happening on Oct. 19. I had said to the hubs how much I wished we could go, but (a) it's in L.A., about 2 hours from our house (that's with NO traffic), (b) the tickets for the 2 of us would have been $600, (c) it's not the hubs' favorite thing in the world to get dressed up and go somewhere fancy. So the mailer went in the recycle bin.

But they called yesterday and said they wanted us to come for free!! We were chosen because of Abby's entry in the Orvis cover dog photo contest. If you've been following the blog for a long time, you'll remember that I entered this photo of her in the contest way back in Feb. of 2011.

Wordless Wednesday: Pups and a Pledge

Pups:
First I want to show you some special pups today:
{Wait... we interrupt this post to first apologize if you subscribe via email and get this twice. Somehow this posted with a back-dated timestamp. (?) Had to hunt all over to find it and repost it as today. Sorry for the dupe. Now... here are some pups:} 

My mom's angel beagle, Sugar