Well she doesn’t really spell her name that way, but she really is my Aunt. You see, some of my extended family is from Louisiana, and sometimes I can’t quite keep straight who is who. Is it Aunt Kareaux or is it Aunt Karo? In any case.

Aunt K is my very favorite aunt. You can imagine how excited I was to find out that she was coming to pay her sister me a visit in our new land! Here are my favorite things about Aunt K:

1. She always pets me when I give her my sweetest Please Pet Me look.

2. She always smells good. A little bit like vanilla, and sometimes like salmon around her fingernails (if she has been cooking).

3. Sometimes she and I wear matching outfits, like at Christmas a few years ago.

4. She and I match splendidly, with her shining gold hairs perfectly complementing the shining gold stars on my Paco collar.

5. We both try to go running from time to time but get a little bit lazy when it’s too hot outside (it’s usually too hot outside for running in my opinion).

But the thing that’s a little different about this visit this time is that I have to share her with my new brother, who apparently also has five favorite things about Aunt K even though he just met her yesterday.

I’m just gonna have to work extra hard at being snugglier and sweeter than him so that I’m still her favorite!

Yesterday we did a little quiz about our weekend escape to dog camp, and many of you weighed in. We asked — which of the five statements below did not really happen?

Some of you thought that Chick could not possibly have had a fun-hangover, others were certain that the Dude did NOT tow his daddy up a mountain. Well, here’s the real scoop:

(a) Doodlebug conquered his fear of water and learned to swim;

TRUE. The Dude was pretty skeptical of the lake at first, but when he went for a stroll with his daddy to watch the kayakers, he bravely started to investigate from a safe distance. That safe distance got shorter and shorter until he was in up to his toes . . . then to his knees . . . then to his chest . . . and then he was swimming! He went kayaking too, and even jumped off the boat for a swim, paddling alonside the kayak all the way to shore. What a brave boy.

(b) Chick had so much fun on Friday that he had to stay in most of Saturday to nurse his fun-hangover;

TRUE. As you may recall, Chick and mama went out to camp early, so Chick had a whole day of fun before Dude and dad even got there. And Chick partied way too hard. On Friday he ran a Lure course (chasing a fake bunny that darts back and forth in a big loop on a giant field) and was the fastest dog of his session, he kayaked and swam and swam, he did some agility, learning to run the tunnels and chutes, ate a bunch of raw chicken bones and other treats offered by various trainers, and learned several new tricks. When Saturday morning at 4am came around, Chick re-deposited some of those snacks in a messy pile, and we knew he was in for a fun hangover. He spent most of Saturday cuddled up in his crate in our room while we worked with the Doodlebug. Poor Chick!

(c) For his kayak ride, Chick chose the standing “siren” pose at the front of the vessel;

TRUE. He wasn’t too sure about the kayak at first, but once on, he took to it like a fish to water. He didn’t just do the “siren” pose — he tried all the other ones, too. He started out curled up in mom’s lap, then sitting facing mom and laying facing mom, then finally sitting facing the front of the kayak and standing on the mast in a proud siren position.

(d) Doodlebug took his daddy on a pack hike with some other dogs and towed him up the mountain in a harness;

TRUE. While mama was helping Chick nurse his hangover in the shade, she sent the Dude and dad out on the same hike that she and Chick had done with the huskies on Thursday. There were eleven dogs hiking with their people, and the hike took them up onto a woodsy plateau overlooking the camp and surrounding natural area. The descent wasn’t extraordinarily tall –after all, this is Central Texas — but it was a steep, serious climb. Dad was doing his best to keep Doodlebug in a loose leash walking position, but it was obvious he wanted to go, go, go. So after a switch of equipment (to a pulling harness configuration and a waist belt), Dude was hike-joring (pulling dad up the mountain). He had great determination and did a fantastic job, even with all of the other dogs passing and being passed. Doodlebug was on a mission! At the end of the day, we had a very pooped Dude.

We’ve already ordered our own joring equipment so we can teach him to tow us while running up hills and also on our sailboat!

(e) Chick was nearly kidnapped by several other campers who fell in love with his dashing good looks and ample charms.

TRUE. This one is obvious, right? Everybody loves Chick, and we got zillions of compliments on his beautiful furs “His patches are so vibrant it looks like they are sewn on!” and his facial handsomeness “I love his squinty eyes” and his perfect physique “I would never guess he is nine!” and his charming demeanor “What a sweet baby!” plus the expected threats “I’m going to steal him when you aren’t watching.” Luckily we escaped all of his fans and stalkers at the end of the weekend, and Chick wound up safely home with us.

That’s right, we tricked you all — They’re all true!

Later this week we’ll tell you about the very special agility award that the Doodlebug won at camp. You won’t want to miss it!

Our weekend adventure was a blast, and the boys absolutely loved their summer camp experience, and they were totally pooped last night when we got home.

We’ll give a complete review tomorrow, but in the meantime, a little game: which of the following statements is NOT true?

(a) Doodlebug conquered his fear of water and learned to swim;

(b) Chick had so much fun on Friday that he had to stay in most of Saturday to nurse his fun-hangover;

(c) For his kayak ride, Chick chose the standing “siren” pose at the front of the vessel;

(d) Doodlebug took his daddy on a pack hike with some other dogs and towed him up the mountain in a harness;

(e) Chick was nearly kidnapped by several other campers who fell in love with his dashing good looks and ample charms.

Did I kayak or did I chicken out?

Was Dude man enough to go for a paddle?

Oh boy oh boy everybody, I’m having so much fun I’m almost too busy to even write to you today, but I’ll just make it a quickie!

Yesterday morning my mama and I embarked on a Great Big Weekend Adventure to Chicken Camp! Oh, I guess I mean Dog Camp . . .

Anyhow, I got to go on a great big car ride with my friends the huskies:

And I got to tease them a little about how many furs they have in this hot Texas weather (many too many if you ask me):

And then we got to go for a big long hike up and up and up and then down and down! After we were done with that, I helped my mama and my girlfriend her co-worker J set up the agility equipment. I mostly helped by climbing up onto the A-frame (it was all my own idea!!) to keep a better look-out for boogie-men and to test it out and make sure it was plenty sturdy for the agilidogs. And I’m happy to report: it was.

I was pretty tired after that, so mama let me hang out in the pavilion with some of the other dogs while she did some kind of kitchen-related work. I’m not sure what she was doing in there, but I had an epic nap in the shade with the cool lake breezes, and when she got back she had some raw chicken bones for me to chomp on. MMMMMM…

And then even though I was still pretty pooped out from all my hard work, mama and I played fetch and then went swimming together in the lake. We swam clear across from one side to the other, side by side just like the buddies that we are!

I know what you’re thinking: it can’t get any better than this, right? Well here’s the thing: it can! My dad and my Doodlebug get here tomorrow, and we get to keep partying all weekend long! We’re going to do hiking, swimming, kayaking, chasing real fake bunnies, agilidog work, and genius-dog obedience. Wahoo! And happy weekend, everyone!

“Hey Chick, did you hear that?”

“I hear something, Dude, but what is it? And where is it?”

“Well Chick, it’s a new sound . . . it kinda sounds like a worm-free heart beating, and saying . . . “

“Go run and play, little Dude! You’re free at last!”

Friends! We have an exciting announcement! Tomorrow is officially the end of the Dude’s 10 weeks of heartworm treatment. The boy is ready to party!

We’re not sure what we’ll do to celebrate, but the Dude has asked to be sent to Space Camp in Florida. While the jury is out on that one, we’ll play some good rowdy games in the back yard, go for a nice long walk, and do a lot of hanging out and complementing him on being so very, very cool.

Congrats, Dudarino!

Sometimes all the ingredients for a good nap — a hot day, a soft pillow, a bunch of sleepy dogs — converge on the rug right by the front door, and we just can’t help ourselves . . .

Looking for your own co-napper? Check out Love-A-Bull’s adoptable darlings here!

The other day, we got our signed and counter-signed copy of the Dude’s official adoption contract back from the rescue. Although his adoption date is officially February 24, seeing that contract — all signed by everyone — really made it feel real in our heads. So we got to thinking — how did we get from here:

to here?

We’re not quite sure, but it makes us tear up a little to think about how close he was to the edge.

In a moment of facebook procrastination, I was reading back through the 500+ comments on Doodlebug’s (then “Red”) shelter photo in the Partners of Arlington Animal Services FB page announcing his scheduled euthanasia the following day. I was overwhelmed by how many people had pitched in a little bit of effort to help our boy find home — a few handfuls of monetary pledges to his rescue, several offers to transport him, and some long-distance requests to adopt.

He had only been there two weeks, but it seemed that he earned “favorite” status in his time at the Arlington, TX shelter — by the time our rescue Love-A-Bull agreed to take him, he had already been granted two or three “reprieves” from his schedule euthanasia. Most dogs are not so lucky. But the December 30 date was the last shot. And it turns out our rescue pulled him just in time. What a lucky dude.

But it was more than luck. Partners of Arlington Animal Services is an all-volunteer group dedicated to sharing, re-sharing, and re-re-sharing the photos, stats, and stories of animals on the endangered list at the Arlington, TX shelter. These folks — and a large community around them — work tirelessly to get the word out about dogs and cats in need, and some of these dogs end up winning the lottery — like the Dude.

Via Facebook, the Dude’s photo and rescue plea was shared 400+ times, including one life-saving share — with Love-A-Bull co-founder Lydia. Lydia gets dozens of dogs-in-need shared with her every day, but lucky Dude caught her eye — turns out he looks a whole lot like her love-of-her-life dog, Mocha:

One thing led to another, and the Dude was claimed by Love-A-Bull, overnight fostered by a volunteer, transported by another troupe of generous souls, stopped by our vet’s office to get checked out and fixed, and finally landed in our home three days later — on January 2.

Looking back, I think it’s the sheer volume of activity on Dude’s profile photo from the shelter — more than 500 comments and 400 shares — that is the most astounding to me. I have often been overwhelmed and, frankly, kind of irritated by the amount of energy poured into promoting the sad stories, urgent pleas for help, subtle blame game, and pathetic photos of terrified caged animals that are circulated via facebook as desperate efforts to inspire adoptions. I’ve often thought: sad photos of sad animals don’t work. They don’t inspire adoption or rescue. They only appeal to a small number of people, and those people are already doing everything they can. And in a lot of ways, I still do think that.

So it’s interesting to find ourselves on the opposite side of that equation — if not for the huge and dedicated underground railroad of advocates, shelter workers, volunteers, and facebook activists, Doodlebug would not be sleeping with his butt in my lap and his head on Chick’s hip. He would be dead.

Yes, I still believe that bigger-picture advocacy of adoption and pit bull type dogs in particular, and a strong focus on the positive / happy sides of adoptable animals are the better way forward. But in the meantime, we’re feeling pretty darn thankful for the tireless network that put this ‘Bug in our bed.

Ready to meet your own true love? Check out the adoptable sweethearts from Love-A-Bull!

I got a new thundershirt, and I’ve got it on under this here blanket in this photo:

If you look real close, you can even see it:

That’s right, it’s not an actual thundershirt, it’s my brother the Doodlebug!

I turn into a little trembling fraidy-dog when the sky goes rumble-rumble and crackly-split, but my Dude is solid as a rock. He doesn’t care about the thunders at all! I used to jump right into the bed with mama and dad when the sky got angry with me, but now I have a new solution.

I convince the Dude to dig up the blanket that normally covers the Dora, and then we start wiggling our way underneath so we can be protected by its soft, blue wonderfulness. Normally we don’t really get the whole way there — our heads get under, but our butts and matching tails and little hind bunny-legs stay sticking out. Sometimes mama walks in at that point, and after she’s done laughing, she will sometimes take pity and cover us up.

And I gotta say — ever since the Dude came along, I’m not so dready about the thunders anymore!

Has anybody else tried using their brother as a thundershirt?

We’re excited to share our first real publication — the cover story for the up-and-coming regional pet mag, The Virginia-Maryland Dog! The publication is in its first year, but is already distributed to thousands of dog-loving households in the greater Maryland / Virginia region, and it’s gaining momentum as it goes.

I was wicked-flattered when I was asked to write a story about dog rescue in the DC area and our own personal involvement, and got chills when I learned that the article was to be a cover piece. Holy cow!

Handsome formerly-adoptable Baxter of MCHS and Jasmine’s House got to be the cover boy, but our very own first foster — Lollie Wonderdog —  also got her moment in the sun:

Naturally I focused the piece on the stories of three fantastic pit bull type dogs, even though it was meant to be about rescue in general, not pit bull dogs in particular. What can I say — I just can’t help myself. Luckily, the magazine editors didn’t seem to mind, and our story ran.

For those who don’t live in the DC area and can’t immediately go scoop up their own print copy, here’s the intro to the piece:

When Catalina Stirling of Jasmine’s House Rescue heard about Baxter, she knew he was coming with her. Baxter had arrived at the Montgomery County Humane Society last June with a body covered in bruises and bald patches. He was emaciated, his eyes were bloodshot, his ears were swollen and red, and there were scars all over his body. He had gingivitis, irritated skin, and a serious case of Demodex mange. He was too weak and frightened to even stand up on his own. In short, he was hardly the average person’s idea of a ready-to-go adoptable pet. But that was exactly why Jasmine’s House wanted Baxter.

Every day, rescue workers across the country comb shelters for dogs like Baxter. To the trained eye, they are easy to identify. Gentle and uncertain, they are staff favorites who are often branded with the tell-tale physical and behavioral signs of a difficult life left behind. The average adopter passes by these dogs in favor of the springy, effervescent dogs in neighboring kennels, but rescue workers are in on a little secret– the dogs hiding in the shadows at the back of the kennel, too uncertain to make eye contact, can be exceptional family pets.

For the whole story, visit the Virginia-Maryland Dog magazine website and click on “digital edition” on the righthand side. We’re on page 12!