Surgery Day Tomorrow

Everyone, please send us good wishes and thoughts and love out to the universe. Tomorrow, our baby Honey will be having her major knee surgeries, they will operate on both of them at the same time. We are very nervous- we know our Honey is a trooper, but it's very scary, and she will be in a lot of pain for a while. No playing, running, jumping, stairs, or dog door for a couple of months. I know she will do awesome, because she is as brave and tough as they come.

We will keep you posted, and her big brother Tiggs will be holding her paw the whole way, he's always keeping a good eye on her.

Special thanks to No More Homeless Pets in Utah for helping us with this surgery, along with Mountain View Animal Hospital in Sandy for donating their fees and anesthesia- they have been Honey's guardian angel from day one when they rescued her.

Grief and Loss of a Pet

During this last year, and especially the last few weeks, I've had several friends lose their beloved animals. This is such a difficult loss because those of us that have dogs (and cats too!) think of them like our furkids. It's never easy, and the loss seems to break our hearts into a million tiny pieces. People that don't have animals don't always seem to understand the void that this loss leaves, and how deep the grief can shake us. My Winnie is now nearing 14 years old, we don't know how long we have left with her, and she continues to have some very difficult days. I know that the day we have to say goodbye will be a very sad day for us.

I have come across a few words in my circles lately that seem to provide a little comfort. If you have lost a pet recently, or know someone who has, I hope that these words help you a little bit too.

I love this quote (author unknown):

Whenever one of my dogs die, they take a part of my heart. When ever a dog comes into my life, they give me a part of their heart. If i am lucky to live long enough I will have the heart of a dog and be as good as they are!

I love these two poems (author unknown):

We have a secret you and I,
That no one else shall know.
For who but I can see you lie,
Each night, in fireflow.
And who but I can reach my hand,
Before we go to bed,
And feel the living warmth of you,
And tough your silken head.
And only I walk woodland paths,
And see you ahead of me,
Your form racing in the wind,
So young again, and free.
And only I can see you swim,
In every brook I pass,
And when I call, no one but I
Can see the bending grass...


The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

New Mobile

I love this simple, cool modern mobile from CB2. It's an injection of cool, mid century style that will only cost you $20, but have a big impact in your space. If you have noticed my Flickr bar in the upper right corner, you may have already seen this pic, if not, enjoy, I think that there are a lot of inexpensive ways that you can brighten up your space.

Any reader favorites for punchy, inexpensive decor?

Pinups for Pups Event

This is going to be sooo cool and really fun! Pinups for Pups is a great group that does all kinds of unique fundraisers to help animals in need. Details to come, but please save the date for October 27th at Club Bliss in Salt Lake City. Please, put this on your Facebook or other social media outlets to help promote attendance! I will be there representing the Salt Lake County Pit Crew and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will hopefully even have a few adoptable ambassadogs there for foster and adoption!


Halloween themed event--Oct 27th

6 :00 Doors open.
6:30 Fashion Show with Models from the “Voodoo Darling’s” local talent and adoptable dogs .
6:45 Interlude & Music setup -“Best Friend’s “animal sanctuary and Local Rescue Groups speak.
7:00 Singer/Songwriter: Nicole “kole”
7:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Melody with Tyler Forsberg
8:00 Singer /Songwriter : Ashlee Dickson
8:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Alicia Mcgovern



Music will finish by 9:30-10 p.m. thereafter, participants can mingle and pose for photographers until 11 p.m at culmination.

“The Depot” will be promoted as the major sponsor of this event with: “Pinup’s for Pups”

The participants are volunteer’s and the proceeds will be donated to local animal rescue’s in partnership with Best Friends Animal Society. The aim is to create an environment to educate and unify the community in support of local animal groups . We promote awareness; people want to be involved, many just don’t know how.

A table will be set up to dispense materials to attendees on fostering programs, adoption and how each person can make a difference. There will not be a fee to attend the event in hopes of encouraging more to come out. This is a method we have found successful in other markets to get people in the door. At the event we have girls walking around encouraging donations throughout the evening.

Sondra Shannon (Pinups for Pups ) has arranged ‘star clad’ fashion events in Los Angeles , Nicole Christensen (Summer Jam West) event promotion and planning , Deena Marie (women of a thousand faces) in media, and Jennifer Tarasevich (voodoo box, and the voodoo darlings) production. All these reputable ladies have joined in support of this great cause with confidence of it’s success and passion for the cause.

Thank you for your support, this will be fun!

Today on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross

I love NPR's Terry Gross and her show Fresh Air. Terry always asks candid and pointed questions and seems to be able to draw information out of people in ways that no one else can.

Today Terry is tackling the subject of dogfighting. I'm curious to see which angles she will be looking at with this story, but surely with all the recent controversy surrounding S(v)ick's return to the NFL, and huge recent fight busts in the midwest, this is a timely topic. Dogfighting seems to cross all socioeconimic lines, with some recent busts targeting teachers, police, and other "white collar" individuals.

Terry will feature John Goodwin of the HSUS, and a former dog fighter on the show. If you are in Utah, the program will air at 1pm today on KCPW.

Tune in and tell me your thoughts after the show! I hope that this show is an informative and engaging show that will enlighten many people as to the horrific abuse these dogs endure at the hands of these greed driven sociopaths.

HERA Climb for Life '09

 

 

 

 

Here's just a few of the pics I shot at the HERA Climb for Life event this weekend in Salt Lake City.

This year I was one of the climbing pros that got to guide participants climbing to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer. I have tried to do this event every year since 2005, when I met Sean Patrick the founder of HERA in Las Vegas at Red Rocks. Sean passed away this year, and she was sorely missed at this years event, but the spirit of HERA seemed even stronger as everyone was inspired to 'do it for Sean' this year. Nearly $100,000 was raised by participants from all over the country.

My group was very cool and everyone was so positive it was infectious. We had the father-son duo of Sean and John, Diana, Shelly, and Alison. Some of these climbers were very new to climbing, or had never bouldered outside. Everyone was determined, and every climber enjoyed tons of personal success.

I was proud that the company I work for, Black Diamond, as well as one of my climbing sponsors Five Ten, were involved in making this important, inspiring event happen.

I hope to see many of my faithful readers at next years event!

Super Adoption Success

These are some pics from the Fall Super Adoption, and our first annual Salt Lake County Pit Crew Tent. This is an exciting collaboration between Salt Lake County shelter and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog Campaign. During the three day event we adopted out about 45 animals, about 10 of which were pit bulls! In total, I believe close to 400 animals were adopted out between all of the shelters and rescues that attended the event.

Special thanks to No More Homeless Pets in Utah for organizing and hosting this wonderful event twice a year, it's a tremendous effort and none of this would be possible without them. Thank you NMHP!!

Fall Super Adoption Event- Your Help Needed

An open call from NMHP:

Dear Animal Lover
The Fall Pet Super Adoption is this weekend! We are still in need of volunteers to help us care for the 800 homeless animals that will be saved at this event.

It takes a lot of teamwork to successfully put on an event of this size. Hundreds of cats and dogs will be adopted into loving homes this weekend - and you can be part of making that happen!

We need help with setting up and tearing down, walking the dogs, caring for the cats, gate security, keeping things tidy and helping with other various tasks.

Here are the shifts we still need help with:

Thursday Sept 10th: 8am or 9am-1pm and 1-6pm to help set up. We really need good volunteers to help us get this event set up.

Friday Sept 11th: 8am to 1pm to help finish setting up; noon-4pm and 4-8pm to clean and care for the animals, etc.

Saturday Sept 12th: 7am-noon for early morning dog walking; noon-4pm and 4-8pm to clean and care for the animals, etc.

Sunday Sept 13th: 7am-noon for early morning dog walking; noon-4pm and 3:30-7:30pm for cleaning up and tearing down the event. We always appreciate a fresh batch of volunteers for our tear down crew!!

Even if you can only commit a few hours and not a whole shift, no problem! We'd still greatly appreciate the help! To sign-up, please contact Maranda Hawkes (801-364-0370 x27, maranda@utahpets.org) or Danielle Slaughter (801-364-0370 x20, danielle@utahpets.org) as soon as possible.

On behalf of all the dogs and cats who will be saved at Super Adoption, we thank you in advance!

Visit Our Website
Sincerely,


Holly Sizemore
No More Homeless Pets in Utah

Reflecting on Katrina- the Canine Cost

It's been 4 years since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast. So many people are still struggling to rebuild their lives and homes. New Orleans will never be the same, nor the many other surrounding affected communities.

Reflecting on all of this, I'm reminded naturally of what became of peoples beloved pets. Sadly, so many dogs lost their lives and homes during the storm. Despite heroic efforts, many people were never reunited with their pets, and this thought breaks my heart.

Not Left Behind is the story of the rescue told by Best Friends and photographed by Troy Snow.

Many animals went to rescues and sancturaries all over the country. Best Friends took a large number of these dogs, and at present, there are 28 adoptable dogs listed on the Adoptables page at the Sanctuary. There are actually many more than that, because they are not all posted at the present, and many arrived recently from another rescue that closed it's doors.

I can't help but think how broken hearted I would be if I had lost everything during that fateful storm, and then was left to wonder what became of my furry family members. I don't think I would ever sleep soundly knowing that they could be alive out there and not in my arms. What if I lacked the resources to try to find them? My heart would always have an empty void.

Please consider helping out these animals by sponsoring or adopting them. Because I work so frequently with pitty bulls, here are some of my favorite Katrina dogs residing at the Sanctuary.

Four long years later, and these beautiful dogs are left wondering where their families are and who might give them another chance.

photos by yours truly

Chairs Make Me Giddy

 

 

I admit, I have a furniture addiction. Here are my latest: Bertoia (shameless) knockoffs, found at a sadly now bank owned modern furntiture store in Bend- no sales tax, and extremely cheap, too good to pass up. And, new happy orange Ikea chairs..these are one of the coolest chairs at Ikea I think.

Yes, I'm a Chairfag (a great chair blog name): because you are gay for chairs...yes, that's the tagline of that said blog, but oh so true.

Salt Lake County Animal Shelter Unveils New Bully Program

Meet some of the new adoptables in the progressive new Bully Program over at SLCO. This program offers the opportunity for volunteers to pair with an adoptable pittie or pittie mix to obtain the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Additionally, it provides FREE spay and neuters to pitties and pittie mixes in the County, as well as low cost Canine Good Citizen training for all pitties and mixes in the County. The goal of this program is to address the disproportionate numbers of pitties in the shelters which would also reduce the disproportionately high euthanasia rates for pitties.

Best Friends will be supporting and collaborating on the program with it's Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will be a volunteer extrordinaire and photog, and am hoping this program is a huge success. As always, these programs rely on YOU, faithful readers to volunteer, donate, foster, whatever you can do!

 

 

 

 

Meet from the top: Ziggy, Zip, Lewis, Lilly- ALL ADOPTABLE

Photos by Yours Truly

AscenDance

My good friends Skippy and Isa came to town to put on a helluva good show at the Outdooor Retailer street party last Tuesday.

AscenDance can be described as dance-climb fusion, and as a former dancer, gymnast, and current climber, I think it's pretty badass.

Isa and Skippy live in the Bay area, and they are incredible athletes and all around great people. Isa's choreography was beautiful and displayed so much strength and grace in each piece. They made it look effortless, and trust me- it's not. They taught me one move, and I was sore for a week!

Check out their website, AscenDance Project.

 

 

 

Tiggs- One Year Later

Today marks the 1 year anniversary that Tiggs was diagnosed with the dreadful, awful disease IMHA/AIHA (Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia) that nearly took him from us.

He is in remission and off of medications to treat this disease as of today, and after fighting so hard, we thought he deserved a little party. We made him a big hamburger and he LOVED it! We also got him a special bandanna from the Morris Animal Foundation's Meisha's Hope Fund, which donates money to research that helps find better treatments and hopefully a cure for this terrible disease. Perfectly timed, his bandana arrived today.

We are so grateful that Tiggs is doing so well, he continues to be a joy and a friend to all, and inspires me daily with his happiness, kindness and love.

We are so proud of him. Way to go Tiggy!

 

 

 

 

Please Help a Climber in Need

Any amount will help! We all have to stick together, that is what makes the climbing world so special.

This is Tacos, a climber from Japan, who was seriously injured in a car wreck here in the States. Tacos needs help getting back home with two caregivers. To read more about her, please visit over at my good friend Rachel's blog.

Martha Stewart

 

 

 

 

Every now and then I get a wild crafty hair up my butt. I have been searching out new dog collars for my crew, and I always seem to have champagne taste on a beer budget- with everything!

I asked my artsy friend Catherine at work if she knew anyone that made cool custom blingy dog collars, and she said, 'why don't you just make one?' Huh...could I?

I went to the Leather Craft store...scoff if you will. There were really nice, albeit interesting people that work there, and are into Leathercraft. Braveheart was playing on a screen in the back, and a group of teenagers were working on projects like a giant leather shield.

With an open mind, Craig, the very large (he told me you have to be fat to go behind the counter), very nice guy working there, gave me an hour and a half lesson on how to make a collar, which is apparently a 'good beginners project.'

We chose my supplies, decided on purple with pink crystals and domed rivets, and off I went. Adam made fun of me and didn't believe I'd do it. Anyone here who knows me shouldn't be surprised that I'll try anything at least once. Why not?

Hope you like how my first project turned out. Honey is blinged, and I will design another for Tiggs and Winn next.

Capitol Hill

 

 

 

 

 

Every now and then it's fun to take time to smell the flowers. After walking some of my client's dogs, Adam and I headed out to the Capitol Hill area to photograph the sunset. It was simple and beautiful, and the dogs had a ton of fun rolling around in the four foot deep wheat grass. It was a great way to unwind after a long day.

Ogden Update

Hi friends,

Thank you Erin and Shannon for you comments, as always, I love my friends!

We attended the 'work session' last night, and though unable to participate, myself and Nikki Sharp of Best Friends were able to introduce ourselves after the meeting. I felt that the council did ask some good questions, and may be open to other ideas. Hopefully Nikki will be able to meet with them to propose some alternatives.

Here is what they proposed (they were clear not to say 'ban'):

Ogden City (Utah) Council regarding their proposed BSL that would add pit bulls and pit bull 'type/mixes' dogs to their dangerous dog ordinance. They are proposing legislation that would require:

*special registration of pit bulls and their owners
*special microchip and tags identifying the dog as a pit bull
*6 foot privacy fence WITH 2 FEET of underground fencing, or kenneling your dog in your yard
*for renters, written landlord consent that you have permission to make alterations to fence/property and own a pitbull
*immediate notification if your dog is loose
*special insurance or surety bond in the amount of $50,000
*Animal control can inspect at any time for compliance

They can be emailed or contacted through:

www.ogdencity.com/government/city_council.aspx

I feel this Ordinance is flawed in many ways. The problems Ogden is having relates to irresponsible ownership, people who wouldn't follow these requirements anyways. They cited their gang problem as issue number one for pit bulls...So why not address that?! They will punish the majority for the issues with the minority, and this will do nothing the help the hundreds of dogs in the shelter find good homes. It will only increase their euthanasia, and harm the dogs, and the responsible people who love them.

I am looking forward to seeing where this process goes. I do hope that we can make some headway in presenting Ogden with better alternatives.

City Of Ogden Proposes Breed Specific Legislation

There will be a meeting tonight at 5:30 pm in Ogden to review their City Council's proposed BS legislation....

Ogden City Municipal Building
2549 Washington Blvd Ste 340
Ogden UT 84401

For the uninitiated, Breed Specific Legislation simply means a ban on a particular breed (pit bulls in this case), or any pit bull 'type' dogs. What does this mean? The burden usually falls on the owner to prove that their dog is NOT the affected breed, lest their dog is impounded and euthanized, as is the case in Denver. Please read Desiree's story about her beloved Coco:

I can remember how I felt the day I came home on 6/23/2008.... When I came home & saw the card in my screen door with the writing on the back "call us about your dog." I felt so empty because I knew the destiny for my son. Denver Animal Control had taken Coco from the back yard while we were gone. The hardest thing for myself while Coco was on death row was going to visit him. He didn't understand what was going on. He thought we were there to take him home. It broke my heart every time. He was in their 3' by 5 ' cell for nearly 2 months. They said they took him outside every day, but by the way his nails looked, I doubt it. Every time I would leave I could hear him cry & scream all the way to the door. He was so confused. Several workers there at the dog pound told me how he was such a good dog, so I would reply to that, "How do you kill a innocent family dog," and they would always have the same response, "It's just our job." One animal control employee even nicknamed Coco, "Cocolicious."

The last day Coco was alive they had finally moved him to a double cell which is just a metal slab in between 2 of the 3' by 5' cells so he could run back and fourth through the 2 cells. I believe he knew what was going to happen to him within the short hours to come. He was very nervous. His eyes & nose were bright pink & I could not get him to calm down. Maybe he felt how sad and scared I was because I knew it was coming down to his final hours. I lay on the floor with him for about an hour then I said my final goodbye!!! That was the longest walk out the dog pound. I felt that I had let my son, my innocent son that has never hurt anything or anybody in his life, down. He never knew anything about violence; he was a spoiled brat that our entire family loved. The next day when we picked up his remains was even harder than the last walk. They had him in a black trash bag. About 20-25 of our family members were there and we all held hands and said a prayer. Now he is at home with us in his urn on our front desk. He will remain in our hearts & thoughts forever.



I will be in attendance with written materials to give to the Council. I'm told that while the public is invited to attend, they are not however, able to participate. Don't ya just love democracy?!

Casino Night

 

 

 

 

We volunteered at the 2nd Annual Canine Casino Night to benefit No More Homeless Pets, it was a blast. Everyone wears a wig, and people bring dogs of all shapes, sizes and pedigrees. There is a huge silent auction. I donated a few items, and won a few. I won the auction on these beautiful small hand made bud vases, as well as 2 arial dance classes at a studio called Revolve! I didn't even know we had that here, but I have a feeling I'll be addicted- it's all fabric and trapeze, Cirque du Soleil style! I also bought a beautiful handmade necklace with an old fashioned picture of a pitty bull on it. The artist's name is Paige Burris, and she is a pitty advocate too. Her necklaces show through the old photos that pit bulls were once revered family pets, not ostracized outcasts. Fun was had by all, and I hope that we raised a lot of money.