Did I ever tell you about the time my mama and dad had to do this?

Well, I should start with the most important info. I blame these two:

That’s my pal Pancho Villa and my former doggie door — the two REAL reasons I got in trouble.

You see, it all started like this. Pancho was staying with us for spring break while his parents were out of town, and we were snuggling like angels on our dog bed:

So when we ran outside to do our usual games of chase and bury-the-dog-in-the-sand, mama didn’t think anything of it when we were gone for kind of a long time:

But here’s the part mama had not calculated. The water-meter-reader-man had come earlier that day to read the meter — in our back yard. And when he left, he didn’t shut the gate! So the whole time she thought we were outside doing this:

I was actually following my bad influence Pancho on a joyrun around the neighborhood!

Now, you must understand something else. Pancho is an expert escape artist. If ever given the opportunity to bolt out a door — even if it’s only open a few squillimeters, he is gone. I, on the other hand, would never escape on my own. In fact, mama sometimes proudly brags about the few times she has accidentally left me unsupervised with a gate or a door open, and how she always discovers me sitting right inside the door or gate, worrying about when she’s coming to take care of the closing of it.

So obviously, this devilish Mr. Villa is to blame, and not me. Just look at how untrustworthy he looks:

Well anyhow, mama was inside working on her computer, not even knowing that anything had happened. Then a very panty me and Pancho came busting in the doggie door, and at the same time mama heard a knock at the door. Hmm.

She went to answer, and wouldn’t you know? There was the town animal control officer, out of breath and carrying his long stick with a noose at the end, telling a crazy story about chasing us dogs all over the neighborhood and back into our back yard! Mama tried very hard not to snicker while the red-faced man scolded and lectured, but it sure seemed hard — with us boys laying back on the dog bed acting like angels like this:

But then mama stopped giggling when the red-face man gave her a ticket and an order to appear in local court for a “public nuisance – dog running at large” charge! When she realized that she was going to have to take days off work to go to court, and that her lawyer-hunny, my dad, would have to put together all kinds of legal arguments for how our at-largeness was not our fault but rather the meter-reader-man’s fault, well — she was pissed. So pissed that she loaded us up in the truck and threatened to take us straight to the pound:

Just kidding, she didn’t really threaten to do that, though she was quite mad.

In the end, dad made a deal with the town prosecutor and got my record struck clean, and they just had to pay some little court fees and give me a big finger-waggling scolding. It was the first and last time I ever escaped from the yard for an adventure.

But it sure was an adventure!

Wishing everybody a Labor Day weekend full of adventures and burying each other in the sand!!

We’ve been all kinds of worried around here since we heard the terrible news on Sunday afternoon — our former foster dog, Dora the Explorer, is missing.

She was out for a walk with her mama at their local park when Dora saw a cat that Mary didn’t, and just like that — Dora pulled the leash out of Mary’s hand, and was off. It was before noon on Sunday, and there have been no Dora-sightings since.

Pretty scary.

The biggest glimmer of hope is in the fact that Mary has done everything right. Dora had been microchipped and registered, and wearing a tag with her name, address, and phone number. Mary posted all of Dora’s info to facebook right away. She shared the info with us and with Love-A-Bull, and we re-posted it. She went to the two closest city shelters to report her missing dog. She put Dora’s crate with her favorite blanket out near the site of her disappearance, hoping she would come back (as many dogs do). She made flyers with Dora’s photo and a description of where she was last seen and what she was last wearing, and has been posting it around the area where she went missing.

If preparation is any indicator of success, Dora will be home safe and sound very soon.

In the meantime, we’re crossing all of our fingers, toes, and paws, and praying for the speedy and safe return of Dora. If you are — or know anybody — in the Copperas Cove, TX area (this includes Fort Hood, Lampasas, and Killeen), please share this info via facebook, twitter, community listerves, or however you can:

Dora took off during her walk at South Park in Copperas Cove, TX, on Sunday, 8/26 around 11am. She is an adult blue pit bull, wearing a pink cupcake collar with her name tag and address on one side, and her rabies tag on the other. Her nails are also hot pink, and she was be dragging a red/silver/reflective leash. Please call Mary with any info on Dora’s whereabouts: 919-480-3304. Dora is very friendly and needs to come home.

Or please share our facebook post with the flyer embedded, here.

Together we can bring Dora home!

My mama has been feeling a little under-the-blanket the last couple of days. She’s been extra sleepy and not very playful and only taking us for one walk a day.

I would worry, except I don’t have to, because I know exactly what to do — get under the blanket with her. It works every time!

Wishing everyone a snuggly weekend!

Aunt Disney and our dear tripod friend Sierra are going to be almost as excited as I am heartbroken — my long-distance romance and female version of myself, Anna, has just packed up her bags and moved up to doggie heaven.

After 14 years of being the sweetest, softest, most beautiful, charming lady I have ever loved, Anna decided it was time to step off the stage. She lived a great life up to the very last day.

Anna wasn’t just all the wonderful things I mentioned above — she was also a classy broad with a great story. You see, her dad — a fireman — found her tied to his truck 13 years ago with some dumb note about her being a present to the department. Can you imagine it? Beautiful little adolescent Anna, abandoned at the fire station, dirty and scared as can be?

Well luckily Anna’s daddyman — our good friend Dan — didn’t think twice about what to do. He snapped Anna right up and made her his co-pilot and his best friend. And boy did they have some adventures together. She used to even get to ride around in the fire truck with him, pretending to be a dalmatian . . . until the time that she accidentally locked the humans out of the truck while they were off saving lives and putting out flames. It kinda sounds like something my aunt Disney would have done to me, huh? Oops!

Mama first met Anna and her family when she was taking photos of pit bull families for the Stubby Dog Project. As soon as mama told me about Anna’s special story, I started jumping around and doing my little Chicken-dance and saying “mama, I have GOT to meet this female Chick!” and also, “mama, you have GOT to take her photo at the fire station!”

Well I am full of good ideas, aren’t I? So Anna and I began our years-long romance, and mama met Anna, her canine siblings Roscoe and Gigi, and her humans at Dan’s fire station. Just look what a beautiful scene I dreamt up for their portraits!

It’s not just Anna’s rescue story and how madly we were in love that make her so special. She had a way of making others fall in love, too. Her mama Kelly says that seeing the bond that Anna and her daddy shared was one of the big things that made her fall in love with him years and years ago.

Anna also helped her mama and dad fall in love with pit bull dogs, and eventually convinced them to adopt her sister Gigi, too.

There were other things that made Anna so much my soulmate — like the time dad and I were both out of town during a hurricane and mama went over to Anna’s house so she didn’t have to be all by her lonesome, and Anna snuggled with her all night long to make her feel safe just like I would have done. What a gal.

Yes, we all loved Anna. Everybody did. That’s why it was so hard to say goodbye to her last week, when she packed her bags for doggie heaven. She cited “complications” and “old age.” But it didn’t make us any less sad.

We’ll miss you, Anna. And we know that everybody will hold their dogs a little closer tonight in honor of all the love you shared in your grand 14 years.

**Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for a special treat, exclusively for our readers**

Who else is guilty of decorating their homes with their own dogs? We’re not just talking about the flesh-and-blood dogs themselves, though they love decorating the house with themselves:

We’re talking about paintings, photographs, and other likenesses of the dogs. In our home, we have a smattering of dog art around the house, but our most precious little (growing) collection is our mini pet portraits from Yellow Brick Home’s Pet Shop.

We started our collection with a beautiful 6×6 inch portrait of Sir Chick to decorate our living room wall:

. . . and then couldn’t resist ordering a matching 6×6 of Doodlebug for our mantle:

And while we were at it, we started collecting 4x4s of each of our former fosters. We gave Kim “artist’s choice” in which foster to paint first, and she chose her favorite, Gonzo Bunny-Ears, for our collage wall:

Next up — and most recent — was Stevie Wonder. With all the turmoil in the dear girl’s life lately, we just can’t get her out of our heads, so we asked Kim for a portrait of her sweet little self doing her signature breakdancing move. Could she be any cuter? Just look at that “love me” face!

She arrived a few days ago, and we instantly knew that she’d look perfect atop our favorite antique chest:

Next up? Lollie Wonderdog. And we’re already scheming where to put her darling little self!

**Hop over to the Pet Shop to take advantage of an exclusive 15% off coupon for your very own pet painting! Our special code — CHICKERDOODLE — is good for anything at the Pet Shop. This includes custom art in 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 sizes, ready-to-go originals, and gift certificates! There are only FIVE codes, so hurry along and claim one ASAP!**

The other day it was nap time, and while I was doing this:

my Doodlebug was doing all this:

And then I changed it up and did this for a while:

And Doodlebug carried on like this:

And then just as I was getting seriously comfortable like this:

He started up with all of this:

I think I’m gonna have mama crate train him so I can finally get some beauty sleep. It’s hard living with a baby Bug!

Give a little bit of your love to Catalina Stirling.

photo courtesy Catalina Stirling

Co-Founder and Director of Jasmine’s House Rescue in Maryland, Catalina’s name entered countless American living rooms through Jim Gorant’s bestselling book about the Michael Vick dog fighting case, Lost Dogs. Catalina’s patient, loving work with Sweet Jasmine — the most shut down of the Vick dogs released to rescue — was neither the beginning nor the end of her involvement in dog rescue, but rather a pivot point.

Catalina spent six months on the enormous-yet-tiny task of coaxing Jasmine out of a hole in her back yard, and many more months celebrating baby steps together — always moving forward. It was a precious, rare, patient, selfless love. After Jasmine died unexpectedly in 2009, Catalina filled part of the hole in her heart by opening Jasmine’s House Rescue with partner Kate Callahan. They envisioned a safe and gentle place for dogs who were dealt a bad hand in life to recuperate and learn to trust once more. And they built it.

photo by Mary Kate McKenna

photo by Mary Kate McKenna

What strikes me most about the good folks at Jasmine’s House is their unwillingness to turn their backs on the hard cases — the dogs who will cost too much to heal and be too difficult to adopt out. Where most rescues make careful calculations about who they can and should take, Catalina operates — to a great extent — on courage and gut.

When I walked into the Montgomery County Humane Society last August and met Little Zee, a 9-year-old pit bull with a mysterious neurological condition, I sat with her for a long time, making promises I was not sure I could keep. My eyes welled up with tears at her likely fate, and in a last-ditch effort to be true to my word, I called Catalina. She said yes.

Little Zee was pulled by Jasmine’s, and what followed was amazing. A massive fundraiser that raised more than $4,000 toward Zee’s care, a surge of popular support for our little elderbull, a record-quick adoption, and a lasting, treasured friendship with Catalina.

Since we moved away, Jasmine’s has continued taking heroic actions to save the dogs who need it most (including our other former foster, Stevie Wonder, when she was given up by her adopters), and extended their reach beyond direct rescue and into community education. Project Mickey — a humane education program that brings Jasmine’s House dogs into inner city Baltimore schools to teach lessons about kindness to animals and each other — stands out as a particularly needed and beautiful effort.

photo courtesy Juliana Willems

I met up with Catalina — and rescue coordinator Heather Cole — for coffee while home in DC last week. It was lovely to catch up. Catalina and Heather told me all about their latest endeavors, their new dogs, and — unfortunately — their financial plight.  True to their mission to help the dogs who draw the short straw in life, Jasmine’s House has recently taken in two very sick dogs — Sunny and Isis. Sunny has late-stage heartworm that will be sensitive and expensive to treat, and Isis has severe pneumonia — which requires intensive steam treatments, regular vet visits, and costly medication. Neither dog’s case is the dramatic kind that inspires heroic acts or donations — they are just sick dogs whose road to recovery will be long and slow, and whose vet bills are high and unexpected. For both of these lucky dogs — like for many others —  Jasmine’s was the last chance.

Sunny. Photo courtesy Jasmine’s House.

They could have said no — they have 20 dogs in rescue, many of which have medical and behavioral issues of their own, and funding in rescue is always scarce. But they said yes.

Stories like Catalina’s remind us of the power of vision, heart, and courage to move mountains. And how beautiful it would be if vision, heart, and courage were enough to soothe all the world’s pains. But money is the magical, scarce ingredient that keeps rescue dreams afloat. The financial support of those of us who believe in this work is what keeps it going.

So if you are able, on this fine summer day, please give a little bit. The dogs thank you.

Well as you may know, it’s summer here in Texas. That means we have most of our funs inside in the air conditioning or early in the morning or late in the nighttime or in the lake swimming-style. And sometimes we go in the truck and help mama and dad run their errands. Sometimes their errands are what they call “real” errands, like picking up the dry cleanings and going to the hardware store to look at small shiny things. And sometimes their errands are what they call “fake” errands, like this one.

Mama and dad have a favorite place that makes pagan ice creams (that’s the kind with no eggs and no milk in it). And what do you know, this week they made mama’s favorite flavor, lemon! So all of us people and dogs loaded up into the truck for a little fake errand.

The Dude and I, we were both excited to go to the fake errand place and get some lemon ice creams.

But then we got there and dad went inside to get the ice creams, and when he got back out, he only had two. So we waited patiently, thinking surely he only had two because unlike us dogs, he only has two paws. We figured he would set the first two down and go back inside to get two more. Extra peanut butter on mine please! I requested.

But no. No third and fourth ice creams materialized for me and the Dude! So poor us had to just sit there while mama and dad ate their pagan ice creams and barely let us even have a nibble of their waffle cones. Mama even taunted us with her waffle cone. Just look how delicious it smelled and how mad I was when she did not offer me a big lick:

She let little Doodlebug have a sniff too, and he even almost got a tiny lick on there before she tol him no thank you. But he wasn’t mad like I was. I guess he’s too dumb nice to get mad.

Well when she saw how mad I was, she let us each have a tiny nibble of waffle cone. And let me tell you, it tasted like sugary wonderfulness. It would have been better dipped in fish oil or peanut butters, but it was still pretty good and nice of her to let us have a taste, so we forgave mama for being so mean and not buying us cones of our own. But we sure didn’t take our eyes off that cone.

We also got to pose for portraits and meet some nice strangers. One funny man came out of the pagan ice creams place and saw mama taking our photo, and asked “Are those dogs famous?” And mama said “Actually, yes they are.” Mama said he was trying to be funny, but the joke was on him. We had ourselves a little family snicker about how he doesn’t know the first thing about us Chickerdoodles.

On our way home we took great big naps in our double-dog hammock and daydreamed about ways to convince mama and dad to get us our very own dog cones next time. Sweet dreams and happy weekend, everyone!