Cleo's Day Blog | Dog Advice, Cute Pics, and Life Lessons from a Rescue Dog in San Francisco

Influence Positively Questionnaire - Vicki Cook

Vicki Cook lives in Pittsburgh PA with her daughter (Natalie), her rabbit, and her three cats (KC, Zelda, and Breckin). She has had Bunny for about 7 years, and they estimate that she’s about 9 years old. All three of her cats adopted her.  They were strays that showed up at her house over the past two years. She has done fundraising for various nonprofit organizations over the past 17 years, and her life goal is to make real difference by helping the organizations she cares about.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

My idea of perfect happiness is spending time with my daughter. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. She’s a really neat person, and I’ve enjoyed watching her grow into a young woman.

If you could come back as a dog or a cat, which one would it be & why?

I would definitely come back as a cat who is owned by someone like me. I’d like to spend my days eating, sleeping and lying in the sun!

What is your pets more treasured possession?

Bunny’s most treasured possession is a rug in my bedroom. She spends most of her time there, and she’ll chase the cats off if they try to lay on it. KC loves to lay on my desk so I can’t see the computer screen. Zelda loves her Kong ducky, which she “catches” in the middle of the night when I’m trying to sleep. Breckin’s favorite place is my bed. He thinks that it really belongs to him, but he’s willing to share with me.

Your proudest achievement so far?

Besides being a mom, my proudest achievement is belonging to the “anipal” community on twitter. In the past 18 months I’ve watch it grow and develop into a real positive force. It’s amazing the amount of money that has been raised through this group through pawpawties, the Santa Paws Drive, mini-pawties, and nipclub.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Two of my real life heroes are Caroline Golon (@romeothecat) and Lynn Haigh (@frugaldougal). Caroline started monthly Furpower challenges on her blog, and Lynn created the pawpawty concept. I had the pleasure of meeting them both at BlogPaws 2010 in April. They are both creative, fun people and they are great examples of how to “Be the Change”.

Many Faces of Cleo

My female got a little snap happy with the camera this weekend. Because she clearly adores me, I give her a long leash before I stop working it for the camera.

Since it is too hard for me to hide the fact that I love the weekends because it usually means my whole pack is together for a long time - here are my expressions of joy.

 

Now this last is just embarrassing don't you think? It's not at all flattering for me and if I was a little younger, I might have self esteem issues. Fortunately what comes with age (yes I'm a senior dog) is that I'm pretty comfortable with my chicken breath looks...

Friday Friend - Bagel Dog

Isn't she sweet? This adorable pup was the nicest and most patient while waiting for her female outside the bagel shop. We applaud anyone who stays focused yet without the drool when being hit by toasty, yummy smells. A tip of the paw to you!

What is this yellow ball in the sky?

See the glare on my photo?  That is from a hot yellow ball in the sky and it is warming up the ground, which is why I'm on the cool grass...got to protect my kitten feet.

Wordless Wednesday - The Standoff

Influence Positively Questionnaire - Amy Burkett

Amy Burkert and her husband Rod created GoPetFriendly.com to help people enjoy extraordinary travel experiences with their pets. They believe it should be simple and hassle-free to include your furry loved ones in all of your leisure activities.

The idea for GoPetFriendly.com originated in 2008 after they found “Buster” – an intimidating, yet shy and fun-loving black German Shepherd – behind a construction dumpster. Unable to locate his owners, they decided to adopt Buster into their family, which included their 3 ½ year-old Shar-Pei “Ty”. After working with several trainers, the formerly reluctant Ty accepted Buster as family and now the two are brothers – playing, cuddling, and competing with each other.

With both dogs settled in, the Burkerts decided to plan a trip for the entire family. However, what they thought would be fun and easy ended up being a daunting and time-consuming task. Finding acceptable accommodations with pet policies that met their needs was a hassle. Locating restaurants that allowed Ty and Buster to join them and activities the whole “pack” could enjoy together was another challenge. Out of this challenging experience the Burkerts created GoPetFriendly.com.

Recently Amy teamed up with Kim Clune of ThisOneWildLife.com to create BtC4Animals.com - a website that features a weekly cause and provides their readers the opportunity to Be the Change for Animals. Inspired by BlogPaws' Be the Change Movement, Amy and Kim wanted to create a site where all animals lovers can focus their attention, contribute just a few minutes a week, and take action to make the world a better place for animals.


What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Happiness to me is being able to live your passion. Sometimes life throws you a curve, and in our case it was Buster. When he arrived our lives took a turn, and it couldn't have turned out better. We've been able to redesign our lives around what we love the most - traveling with our dogs. What makes it even better is that we're able to help other people have more fun with their pets! It's pretty amazing, really.

Monday Already?

What? Monday is here already? Where did the weekend go? This is pretty much how I spent my weekend, barking at neighbors & their dogs & chasing bugs helping in the backyard.  I hope yours was just as productive.

Introducing my female

My female will be headed off to Blog Paws West next month. When she left me in April for Blog Paws 2010, for three long days, it was difficult. I won't lie, the pack didn't feel the same at all.  PL tried to make me not notice her absence but she's the female. She has her place and her role to fill, just like I do.  We both take our jobs very seriously. You've seen photos of me watching the house.  I don't mess around.

This time around we I thought it might help me, if I pretended that I was going with my female.  Now if I was to go there and meet the nice pet people, it would be important that I introduce myself properly. Right? Not just lean against them, wag a little and maybe give out a few kisses here and there.

Friday Friend(s) - Duboce Park Buddies

When we experienced Duboce Park for the first time here in San Francisco, I took a wide cautious look before venturing onto the grasses for sniffing and exploring - maybe playing. 

I'm a big girl and sometimes people are worried about what my personality might be before they get to know me. And that's okay. However, one thing they will always see is that I loves me some wee pups like these guys which means next time we are in the area, reindeer games here I come!

Who's That Grrl?

Look at this face! You'd never know I hated bath time with this expression. I'm positively a donkey when it comes to dragging my behind. However the 5-10 minutes passes quickly.  The towel dry is my favorite stage and for a few minutes my itchy skin is soothed.