Another Year, Another Frosty Paws in the Park

It wasn't quite as cold as last year, but it was still pretty freaking cold at this year's Paws in the Park. I haven't heard what the total was, but Team Ween raised $150 for Central Florida's homeless pets! And what makes me even more proud is that all three made it around the lake on their own!! Then they crashed for the rest of that day.

Cold weather means cute sweaters!

Can you stand the cuteness?

You can see the rest of my photos on flickr - click any photo to get to my feed. Thank you to all who participated, and especially to Jennifer, Marlene, Aunt Mary, and my parents for sponsoring us! Of course the kitties thank you too. Like Casanova, who curled up in my lap and then whined when I had to eventually get up. He is going to make someone a very happy cat parent.

Don't move, just pet.

And now we're off to celebrate. Today is the boys' birthday!! Riley is 11 and Dash is celebrating his honorary 9th birthday with his favorite big brother. We have Frosty Paws for the dogs and cheesecake for the humans. It's going to be delicious!

Time to Fundraise

It's that time again! Actually, for shelters and rescues, it's always that time. But specifically for the SPCA of Central Florida, this time is the biggie - it's Paws in the Park, and Team Ween is out to make a difference!



Riley, Dash and Winnie are ready to walk with hundreds of other dogs to raise a lot of money for the homeless dogs and even the cats of Orlando. This will give an extra chance at life to cats like Whisper, Sophie and Littles. Here's where I let the kitties bat their eyelashes and ask you for money.

Please think of the kitties.


Look at this face. How can you resist this face?


Oh forget it.

If you're in Orlando, consider signing up for Paws in the Park. If you want to let us do the work for you, sponsor me and my herd of weens.

Happy New Year!

So, where have I been, you wonder. Well, I showed you a sneak peak of our newest. And that's exactly where I've been. Oh, and Facebook too (grumble grumble).

Oh the torture I must endure...

This is Winnie, our scared little dachshund girl from the same rescue as Dash, but with a very different story. Winnie is from a championship pedigree, but an "accidental breeding," which led to her being locked in a cage for the first year and a half of her life. So she's completely unsocialized. And unlike Dash, who'd been rehabilitated with the rescue for more than a year, Winnie was only there for about a month, so we're starting from the beginning.

She runs and hides and tinkles when she's nervous. She's tense and hesitant. But she's slowly coming around. Her spunky little personality is shining through. She romps with the dogs when no humans are in the room. She gives lots of sweet kisses. She likes to cuddle. And she LIKES bike rides!!

Don't you dare sing the wicked witch song!

Slow and steady wins the race, right? As for the SPCA kitties, I don't get there as often right now, but when I do, it's a whole new crew. Last Monday, they were going out as fast as they were coming in! I'll have an update on them and their room renovations soon, as well as the 2011 Paws in the Park. Till then!

And who might you be?

There are been some changes on the homefront!
Stay tuned for more of this little lady.

Gotcha!

One year ago today, my life changed forever. No, I'm not being overly dramatic. This little guy is magic and pure love. And he is the best cuddler I have ever known.

Happy Gotcha Day, you dashing boy.

And then he peed.

One Sick Doggie

I forgot my camera (and everything else) today, so no real updates. Judah and Sugar are gone, hopefully adopted (I hate not really knowing). One-eyed Tony's back from isolation. We hung out. Lots of kittens, some playful, some petrified. I mean, shaking in their boots scared. It was adorable and sad. We loved on them, and they were receptive. They'll be fine.

In other news, I've been cleaning up dog puke all week. Riley was very sick and very cold the other night. While we all stayed warm with the heated blanket, I had to get a shot of Dash cuddling him. Usually Riley likes his space, but I think he appreciated the brotherly love. Or else he was just too sick to care.

Gentlemen, start your engines! And may the best weener win!

Last weekend, the boys and I went to the Doglympics where dock dogs and frisbee dogs competed in real, national competitions. And just for fun, they held ankle biter races, and what's more fun than a weener dog race?!

I knew Dash would be a disaster, but Riley raced last year, so I thought he'd be an old pro. Boy was I wrong. Here's a video of their "senior division" race. The first minute or so is us walking around the fence, so you can skip ahead.

Even this guy thought they were a couple of doofuses!

You can see more photos and videos on my flickr stream. Kitties will be back next week!

(Frosty) Paws in the Park

Does this look like sunny Orlando, Florida to you?

Me neither.

Paws in the Park was pawsitively freezing! And, unfortunately, because of this I wasn't able to get any good pictures at all. I carried both boys at one time or another, but we did make it around the lake. Twice! We ended up parking on the far side from the start, so by the time we left, we'd made two full laps. That's more than a mile and a half for these stubby little guys! They did so well. And boy did they sleep hard that night. As of today, they've raised $260 for the SPCA, and I know of one more sponsor who has not yet donated. Though it was cold, the event was an overwhelming success. The total raised by Saturday morning was already $20,000 over their goal of $140,000. YIPPEE!!

I'm sad to say Riley and I did not win the kissing contest. This little girl did.

If you have to lose, might as well make it to someone ADORABLE.

Dash's New Face

Quick update on Dash, he's doing great, better than I even hoped. He doesn't seem to miss his teeth at all - not that they served much purpose anyway. I think he's a happier, more comfortable boy. And still so, so handsome!

gosh mom, you're so embarrassing

A Quick PSA on Pets' Dental Health and Puppy Mills

I don't mean to have so many of my own guys in here, but I'm very upset this morning. Dash went in to get his bottom tusk pulled because it's loose and infected. But it turns out that he has to get all three removed. My poor baby is going to be toothless because someone wanted to mate him, but not take care of him. They stuffed him in a cage for 5 years while they profited off his puppies. They let him get infested with fleas and ticks, let his teeth rot out, let him go mad running in circles and never knowing the loving touch of a human. I am so angry that I wish I could do the same to them. DO NOT support puppy mills. And brush your pets' teeth regularly. They can't do it for themselves. And give your babies extra kisses today. They deserve it.

A Proper Introduction

My camera died the second I turned it on today. I'm so bummed, and it's totally my bad for not charging it regularly (note to self). Most everyone has cycled through though, and we're on new batches of kittens and cats. But Sally's still there, and that really makes me sad. She's sweet and playful, small and cuddly. I hope it's not her lack of an eyeball that's getting her overlooked. Hershey's still there too, and he's become less social now that there are more cats in the free-roam room. I'm not too worried, because the SPCA will keep them until they get adopted, but it's no fun for them there. They need to go home.

Since I have no good cat pics, I'll take today to introduce Dash properly, because my last post does him absolutely no justice. Now, I love all my animals, and I have no favorites, but Dash is my special boy. I wrote his story on Flickr a few months ago, so I won't repost it here. Most of that has passed. Dash still has his issues, but he's improved so, SO much, even since then, that reading it, I barely remember writing it. He's still in progress, but he's a success story, and he's changed my life. Or maybe he's complemented my life changes. He's given me new joy that someone who hasn't been through it all doesn't understand. He's more than just another dog. He's my cuddle bug, my baby boy, and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Wee!


Oh hai!


My shadow, and my other shadow


Wet rat at the doxie pool party


Cheese!


Hi mom.


Goodnight!

a wee scandal

I didn't make it to the shelter this weekend, so I wasn't going to post anything. But the goings-on at the weener meetup (why we missed the shelter) were too juicy not to share. I'm just glad Dash is a dog and won't know that I'm sharing his humiliation all over the interwebs.

Dash has a girlfriend. And she REALLY likes him...

I cannot get over his face!

hi i'm riley!

wanna play?