A Year Already?

I can't believe its been a year since we picked up the little girl princess! Of course, originally it was meant to be temporary... a foster. Then she stole our hearts and she decided to stay... and we're glad she did....... Sophie is truly a special little lady!

A very shy girl checking out her new siblings, Tut & Lola...

She quickly became a true Boston girl!

She's since learned to do tricks for treats!

Look at those curious big eyes!

Her flaw uniqueness ... that cute overbite!

She's looking forward to romping in the white stuff again this winter...

We love you Sophie... and are so happy you chose us!

REVIEW: Pampered Paw Gifts

Pampered Paw Gifts
Special Lapdog Creations Gift
Where to Find: Pampered Paw Gifts
UPDATED TO INCLUDE DIRECT LINK TO THE SPECIAL LAPDOG CREATIONS GIFT HERE (READERS: PLEASE NOTE UNDER THE PRICE WHERE IT SAYS TO EMAIL FOR YOUR SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE!)

I saved this special review to coincide with Dogs on Thursday!

When Tera, owner of Pampered Paw Gifts, approached me to review her products, I was very excited! Offering unique gifts for both dogs and cats (as well as pet parents!), Pampered Paw Gifts is a unique shopping experience.

Gift baskets are offered in all shapes and sizes for any occassion (birthday, holiday, pet loss, thank you, new puppy/kitten, etc) and are completely customizable! Pampered Paw Gifts also offers both dog & cat cakes, treats, toys and luxury gifts. A high point in my book is that all of the treats offered are high quality, made form natural and human grade ingredients - and nutrional information is available on the website.

Tera surprised me by creating a one two-of-a-kind special Lapdog Creations Gift. The gift contains a 2009 Rachael Hale (my favorite pet photographer) mini dog calendar, vanilla wafer treats, large peanut butter bones dipped in carob, yogurt & sprinkles and a fun Zanies stuffed squeaky bone ... all packed up pretty in a super cute large clear vinyl-zippered bone shaped purse, accented with a single paw print sticker and beautiful ribbon -- completely ready to gift to the deserving doggy on your shopping list!

Tera is offering this exact gift basket to any of my readers for just $22! If you are interested in purchasing one, please contact her via the website UPDATED TO INCLUDE DIRECT LINK TO THE SPECIAL LAPDOG CREATIONS GIFT HERE (READERS: PLEASE NOTE UNDER THE PRICE WHERE IT SAYS TO EMAIL FOR YOUR SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE!) and mention that you would like to purchase the Pampered Paw Gifts Special Lapdog Creations Gift. A portion of Pampered Paw Gifts sales are given back to rescues & shelters around the country and I was given the opportunity to pick which organization would receive that portion from the sale of the special LCG. I chose Janet and Precious Pets Animal Rescue. Janet is a one woman show and the angel responsible for rescuing my dear sweet Sophie off of the rural streets of MO. Therfore, for every LCG purchased, a portion of the proceeds will go to straight to helping Janet rescue, care for and adopt out more of these delightful strays.

All 4 of my dogs highly enjoyed the goodies tucked in side of the gift basket - especially the peanut butter treats dipped in carob & yogurt! I will enjoy the adorable Rachael Hale calendar (Tera didn't even know how much I adore her work when she put this basket together) and am finding that the super cute bone shaped zippered bag makes a great small project knitting bag (talk about a multitasking gift!)! The only change I might've made to this special LCG would have been to change the color theme from green to purple (Matt actually pointed that out... men don't pay attention to many details, but he did notice that and I thought it was sweet). Regardless of color, the gifts are high quality and I will certainly be using Pampered Paw Gifts for my own future gift giving needs! They even have a Buyer Rewards program!



So, whether you need to get a birthday gift for your furbaby, send a new kitten basket to your Aunt, shop for your 4 legged holiday gifts in one spot or want to send a special thank you treat, Pampered Paw Gifts is the place for you! The gifts are also great for businesses - grooming clients, VIP customers, etc.

CONTEST! Pampered Paw Gifts was gracious enough to provide two of the special LCG baskets and that means I have one to giveway! All you need to do is leave a comment here telling me what furbaby would be the lucky recipient if you win and mention a product that peaked your interest over on the Pampered Paw Gifts website. Please don't forget to include a means of contacting you if you win! Deadline to enter is Thursday, August 7th at midnight. Winner will be selected by random number generator. Thank you to Tera for providing the giveaway.

The winner of the Crochet Lace book from a previous review was drawn via random number generator... Congratulations Alana! I will be in touch to get your mailing address.

Thought for the day

A Poem to My Foster Dog

I am the bridge
Between what was and what can be.
I am the pathway to a new life.
I am made of mush,
Because my heart melted when I saw you,
Matted and sore, limping, depressed,
Lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine.

I will feed you with my own hand
I will love you with my whole heart
I will make you whole.
I am made of steel.
Because when the time comes,
When you are well, and sleek,
When your eyes shine,
And your tail wags with joy
Then comes the hard part.
I will let you go -- not without a tear,
But without a regret.
For you are safe forever -- A new dog needs me now.

~ Diane Morgan

As you know, we were unable to let Sophie go ... but we will certainly continue to help as many rescue dogs as possible, even if it means we won't be able to foster very often this year. I will continue to remain very active in rescue, in helping to get donations and such, etc. I am also still on my quest to help raise $1,000 for the ASPCA... please see the link/button at the very top of my blog and please, help if you can (remember, its a tax deductible donation).

Sophie the Fuzzball

For today's Dogs on Thursday, I thought I'd share with you some of Sophie's baby photos. Jan, the awesome lady who rescued her off the streets in Missouri, sent them to me.

Wasn't she just the cutest little fuzzball?

A couple from when Jan first brought her in at approx. 4 months old.

This is Jan's favorite pic...

Sophie (by the way, she was formerly known as "Scuffie") and her sister Sadie, who was adopted out in Missouri (yes, this liter obviously had a couple of different Dads...)...

A couple from the end of May, almost 6 months old.

Our shy baby girl in September, just about 1 month before her journey North...

Christmas in Connecticut Day, December 25, 2007... Sophie was the lucky child who got to come along (side note, we tend to only take 1 child, sometimes 2, at a time to family gatherings to avoid getting asked not to come back next year... )

Thank you so much to Jan for rescuing our baby girl! Jan runs the rescue Precious Pets, be sure to check them out. This was Sophie's original Petfinder page before she came over to Pet Matchmaker and essentially, to our home, first as a foster.

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. I think I'll stop complaining about the wretched white crapola snow, as today it is biterly cold! Temps are in the single digits, along with brutal winds and a low of 4 below zero tonight... actually too cold to snow!! I'd rather have some pretty snow showers (not the ones that bring a foot of snow) over the brutal temps. For those of you outside of New England, I grew up understanding this concept... it actually being too cold to snow. Well, when I googled it just now to provide an answer before someone asked, I learned this.

Defeat the Winter Doldrums

Ok, so yes, it did look like a Winter Wonderland that I was driving thru to get to work this morning, with all of the pretty snow on the tree branches... but still, a let up on the white stuff would be appreciated. We're running out of places to push it too. And in case you were wondering, yes, it was snowing again this morning...

So, much to my delight I noticed the new dishcloth swap is getting ready to start up... appropriately titled Defeat the Winter Doldrums! Click on over... sign ups begin January 11th!

As previously mentioned, my little Southern Belle is adjusting quite nicely to the wretched white crapola snow... although this morning she seemed much more content to curl up and sleep on Zeus' enormous size bed, than to want to get up and go out.

We Did It..

10 Weeks of fostering...
10 Weeks of love...
10 Weeks of joy...
10 Weeks of wondering where this is all leading too... because my heart was certainly given in!

The cutest little red haired girl from the South has officially joined our family! Sometimes, they find us... and that is exactly what this wonderful little girl did. We might be eating more ramen noodles and pb&j, but she is so worth it... Merry Christmas!

Happy 1st Birthday...

... dear sweet baby girl Sophie!

I am very late in posting these pics, but since it is Dogs on Thursday, finally... here are Sophie's 1st birthday pics!!!!

There was, of course, a cake from Woof It Down...

She was afraid of the evil plastic box the cake came in and actually hid from the cake for a bit...

She was much happier when we ditched the evil box...

After cake, there was a birthday toy to play with...

Sophie also got her first taste of snow around her birthday time and her first reaction looked like this...

That's they "um... what the hell is this white crap? I am not going out there!" However, since we've been dumped on by the damn white stuff on what seems to be a daily basis gotten more snow in the month of December than we did all last winter... well, Sophie has not only adapted quite nicely, she actually loves it now!!! She runs and romps like nobodys business! Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get any pictures since, so instead I'll share these of the other children ...

Here's Lola... "SNOW... Mommy, SNOW... let me out... Mommy, SNOW... Snow mommy... must go out...MOMMY... did you see the snow??!!"

Teutul... "Someone say snow??? Snow?? MUST. ZIP. IN. IT."

Zeus... "Is it my turn yet??? OK, so when ya

gonna throw me some snow balls???"

As I type, there's more of that wretched white stuff falling. Matt's broken the snow blower twice in the past week... and he needs to come home tonight to fix it again before being able to clean up this batch of crap. Our mailbox got taken out by the idiot plow driver knocked off again... a White Christmas is always nice, but this is getting ridiculous!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

With all the stress & hecticness going on, I forgot stupidly neglected to make yesterday's Dogs on Thursday post all about the sweet little birthday girl! Yes, that's right Sophie is still with us and the cutie just turned 1 year old! We are celebrating with her cake tonight.... and of course, I went out to pick her up a special birthday toy at Woof It Down today. She's just as spoiled as our own kids, for which she might as well be #4 at this point and really seems to be heading that way.... despite the fact that the humans in the house may be feasting on Ramen noodles and pb&j for the next five years.

A recap of the past 8 weeks in our home...

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl... I know you've had a tough first year in life and we're happy to have you as our extended houseguest!