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!

We always love our friend Kim’s weekend photo documentary posts on Yellow Brick Home, and thought we’d try one of our own this week. And what good timing: this weekend’s motto was: Stop Hiding from Summer and Enjoy. We picked back up on walking to some of our favorite restaurants, shops, and coffee spots in our neighborhood. The boys bravely took on the heat and came along — they seemed to enjoy playing ‘city dog,’ lounging under tables at cafes, enjoying falling crumbs and compliments from strangers.

Swimming was on the menu as well, and we headed out to the Blanco River to read books, listen to crickets, hunt for turtles, and float around in the cool green water. Also on the menu? Spending an evening at one of our favorite bars and meeting somebody’s new pet: a tiny, 6-week-old miniature pot bellied pig named Bacon. Only in Austin.

How was your weekend?

So, mama came home yesterday afternoon from the store that smells like food, and she said “Doodlebug, I got you some sweet potatoes!”

And of course I knew that when mama said that, she meant she was gonna put them in the cabinet and cut some of them into chunks and put them in the big bowl with some water and put it on top of the fire-maker in the kitchen. Then after the kitchen was nice and humid and smelling of sweet potato yumminess, they would be ready and mama would put a little slice into a bowl of ice for each of us and let us have a nice snack. And the rest she would save for Doodlebug’s breakfasts and dinners.

But I guess Doodlebug doesn’t know that’s the way it works.

Here’s what went down.

Mama set the bag of sweet potatoes on the floor in the kitchen and took to her forever-task of moving things around on the counters and putting her hands in the water. Doodlebug walked over to say “Hi mama!”

Then he sniffed the air, and thought to himself: “Whoa. Sweet potatoes. My favorite.”

And then when mama didn’t pay him any attention, he thought to himself: “Don’t mind if I do!”

And he did!

Silly Dude. The craziest part was that instead of yelling, hollering, and screaming, mama was just laughing and going snap snap with her camera, like it was funny, instead of a Very Serious Crime. Mama, what gives?

So Doodlebug ran over to his favorite snacking spot and had himself a big ol’ party with his booty.

Then mama finally told him that stealing sweet potatoes was not polite, and he looked at her like: “Who, me?“

And then she made him clean it all up while I sat nearby and snickered under my breath. The poor, silly Doodlebug just hasn’t learned a thing about sneakiness from me yet!

With no big plans over the weekend and about 30 garden cucumbers to unload, we decided to take a little weekend trip to Galveston to visit the boys’ grandparents. The boys adore going up to Galveston. The Turkeyman lives there, after all, and the boys get spoiled with praise and pets from their grandma even when they’re being naughty and getting up on the sofa without permission. There is lots of room to run around, a deck in the back, and a porch that wraps almost the whole way around the house — perfect for viewing the golfers sweating in the sun on one side, the dogs in a neighbor’s yard on another side, and the shorebirds hunting fish on a third side.

The epic naps with the Turkeyman are another highlight. Chick has been snuggling with his Turkeyman for years on the sofa, but only this week was Doodlebug feeling confident enough with new friends to join in the cozy fun.

But it wasn’t just the Turkeyman, of course. After a particularly long and vigorous morning swim and run, Chick and Doodlebug played “where’s waldo” under the blanket with mama. You may be able to imagine (and have a peek at) one dog under there . . . but two?

This was our first trip down to Galveston since the boys’ Aunt Disneydog moved on to the next life, and the house felt a little funny without that tiny matriarch’s presence. But Doodlebug took his important role as the family dog whose name starts with a “D” very seriously, and posed for a photo shoot a la Disney on the porch, just like she did a few years back:

The highlight of the trip, of course, was kayaking. Both dogs showed off their boating and swimming skills in Sydnor Bayou, fearlessly taking on the wind, chasing birds, and towing the kayaks from the water.

Thanks for a great visit, A & H. And thanks for taking all those extra cucumbers off our hands!

You know how some people are into extreme sports? Like extreme waterpolo or extreme hot air ballooning? And some college kids are into extreme drinking, and some toddlers are into extreme hissy-fitting?

Well the Dude and I, we are majorly into our own extreme sport: XTreme Napping. Here’s what it looks like.

Pretty intense, right?

In case anybuddy else is interested in trying this XTREME sport, here is a breakdown of how it works. Its anatomy, if you will. And one helpful hint: this sport is best performed with a willing brother. Do not go it alone!

Pop quiz: which of the Chickderdoodles is a “pit bull” dog?

photo by Juliana Willems

Here is the ringer:  They share zero common breeds as identified by their Wisdom Panel Insights DNA tests.

So . . . are they both pit bulls because they fit the general physical characteristics that many people think of when they think “pit bull” dog? Are neither of them pit bulls because neither is a pure bred American Pit Bull Terrier (whatever that is) or American Staffordshire Terrier? Are they both pit bulls because they have some DNA of at least one breed identified by the broadest definitions of “pit bull” dogs?

And even more confusing: is Chick less of a pit bull after his DNA test, which revealed no SBT or AST? And is Doodlebug more of one? And can two mixed-breed dogs that share zero common breeds both be “pit bull” dogs?

It’s easy for us — homeowners who live in a state with no breed-discriminatory legislation at the moment — to shrug our shoulders and say “who really cares, anyway?”  But in our home state of Maryland, and many other communities around the nation, the fate of huge numbers of family dogs hangs on these questions. Chilling, isn’t it?

First of all, a HUGE thank you to everybody who participated in our guess-the-breeds contest for our sweet Doodlebug. Regardless of his official genetic makeup, he is one special dog.

Many of you guessed that Doodlebug was part sugar and spice, part ladybug, or 100% sweetness. You are all right. Unfortunately, those breeds don’t show up in the Wisdom Panel test we used. Here is what DID show up!

A huge portion of the 100+ guesses we received included American Staffordshire Terrier — what most folks consider to be a true pit bull breed. You’ve figured that 1/4 of his heritage out — he is indeed 1/4 AmStaff!

Image borrowed from bestnew-pet.com

A smaller but still impressive portion of you guessed that our Dude is also part Staffordshire Bull Terrier. These cute little things are close relatives of the Am Staff, but they are a bit smaller, squatter, and more British. We think this grandparent is who taught Doodlebug his elegant English accent!

photo borrowed from myterrierdog.info

So that’s his pit bull dog half. Moving along . . .

Lots of entries included pointer (for his slim, athletic physique?), Boxer (for his intense eyes?), and Vizsla (for his beautiful red furs?). None of these came up.

Even more of you guessed that Dude is part labrador retriever. Part of us wishes that he were part lab and had inherited more of a desire to play fetch or swim, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have any lab ancestors that we’re aware of, and he definitely doesn’t swim or fetch like one!

His test did reveal a grandparent that is a distant relative of a Lab, so kudos to you who guessed a retriever breed anyway. One of Doodlebug’s grandparents was a Curly Coated Retriever. The Curly is the oldest surviving breed of retrieving dog, dating back to the 1700s, we think. It’s such an old retrieving breed, in fact, that Doodlebug’s retriever instincts must have gotten lost somewhere along the breeding process of the past 300+ years! Don’t feel bad if you didn’t get this one. Nobody else did, either. We had never even heard of this one before Dude’s test results came back!

image borrowed from puppydogweb.com

And finally, a surprising number of you guessed that Doodlebug is part Boston Terrier. Is it his energetic, perky ears? His slightly buggy eyes and inappropriate stare? Or his passion for sleeping with his tongue sticking out? We feel where you’re coming from, we really do. Turns out that Doodlebug’s last grandparent DID give him all of these charming characteristics, but that grandparent was not a Boston, but instead, a French Bulldog! Kudos to those who guessed American or English bulldog. You just got the nationality wrong!

photo borrowed from taildom.com

So there we have it, Doodlebug’s complete geneaology. Interesting? Surprising? Logical?

Now, on to the contest! Eight of our clever participants guessed TWO breeds correctly — seven guessed Staffordshire Bull Terrier AND American Staffordshire Terrier, and one guessed Am Staff and French Bulldog.  Since nobody guessed more than two correctly, we had ourselves an eight-way tie. We assigned a number to each of the eight closest guessers and randomly generated a winner using Random.org.

Without further delay, the winner of the 8×8″ custom pet portrait from our pal Kim’s amazing pet shop is Erin H-S, from Austin, TX! Congrats Erin! How are you going to pick one pet to feature out of your collection of four beautiful dogs?

Thanks again to everybody for participating, and don’t forget that it’s not too late to score a generous 15% discount on your own masterpiece by entering code CHICKERDOODLE at checkout in the Pet Shop. The code is only good for the first 20 people who use it — and it has already been well-used — so your time is limited!!