Blogging Fur Peace

Hi buddies! 

We're happy to be able to join the Blog 4 Peace hop today. Our world is such a beautiful place and we wish everyone, everywhere could enjoy it in peace and serenity.

We'll leave you with some wise words from Carlos Santana: 

"The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace."

 Think peace, live peace and there will be peace!

Thanks for stopping by pals!

Wordless Wednesday!

My friend Leila knows to always take time to smell the flowers!

Thanks fur stopping by buddies!

Day One at BarkWorld Baby!

Hi Buddies!
   Mom's made it to BarkWorld! Since it's far from our home, she had to take a plane. So I'm chilling with my crew at the Barker Lounge while she's having fun learning and networking!

    After picking up #NipClub Barktender and DJ extraordinaire, @GeorgeTheDuck, it was off to the skies fur the flight to Atlanta!

Look who greeted mom and George at the hotel! #NipClub DJ @GizmoGeoDog!

Once settled into the hotel, it was time fur "Blogger Speed Dating with Brands" session. George watched mom's stuff as she networked!

Next was the Welcome Reception, featuring Norman, the scooter riding dog! There was lots of great music, noms and a pet photographer too!

The view from mom's room at the Westin!

Well, it's been a long day, mom's off to bed so she'll be ready fur the sessions tomorrow! 

Thanks fur stopping by buddies!

Thankful Weekend!

Wow buddies! Last week, Dogs 'n Pawz, the sponsors of the weekly Tuesday's Tails Blog Hop presented us with the Versatile Blogger Award! We are so very honored to receive this!

       As a recipient of the Award, we're asked to share seven things about ourselves, so here goes everything (just about) that you could know about us!

• Mom often thinks she should have nicknamed me "Velcro" 'cause I usually stick close by her. Even when I'm taking a nap, I like to keep a paw (or my face) on her!
• We both love going for car rides, to the doggy daycare, the dog park or any place that's fun. But I know right away if we're headed towards the *VET*. Mom doesn't know how I do it, even when she takes a different route.
• We're hoping to have a few backyard chickens by next Spring if mom gets her way (& she usually does, BOL)!
• I LOVE my after dinner treat. I've been known to try to skip dinner, just to get to the treat. Now mom knows to check my dish.
• I love to give "kisses and nips". Ever since I was a puppy, that's how I like to greet my human pals. It's just a quick lick on your nose followed by a little nibble!
• When I'm running in my dreams, only my back legs move. Mom says that I'm "River Dancing" in my sleep!
• I'm finally getting used to my kitty fur sibs, Wren & Sparrow…. Although Sparrow still freaks me out sometimes with her Ninja ways!

 Now, we need to nominate 15 other bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award. With so many terrific blogs out there, this is the hard part! So we'd like to nominate all of our readers for this Award! We do love reading all the blog posts and really appreciate that you stop by to read ours too!

Thanks buddies!

And thank you to Two Little Cavaliers, Nip & Bones, and Life With Dogs for hosting the Pet Bloggers Blog Hop

A Windy Wordless Wednesday!

(Can we please go in now?)

Thanks fur stopping by buddies!

A Very Thankful Thursday

          It's Thankful Thursday buddies, and we have so much to be thankful for! A couple of weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy stopped by to visit the Northeast.

        Well, we hope we never see the likes of her again! What heartache and misery she left us! Thankfully we just lost some fencing and were without power for 9 days, but we made the most of it. Some people lost everything! Their homes were destroyed, lives were lost. Our hearts and pawprayers are with them.

(Picture by HumaneSociety.Org) 

       Thankfully, times are changing and many of the shelters welcomed pets too, but there were many left behind. We are so thankful for the rescuers that are continuing to work to put families and their pets back together. This reminds mom that we need to be prepared, just in case we need to head to shelter too! 

Thanks fur stopping by buddies, stay safe!

Wordless Wednesday!

(Thanks fur stopping by buddies!)
 

Sorry We've Been Missing In Action!

    Sorry that we've been missing buddies! Mom had a blast at BarkWorld and is going to be posting about her adventures soon. It really was so much fun, with lots of information, pawties and meeting friends, both old and new.

(Flat Prudence and Panky shared the room with the fabulous @Niqqi!)

       She made it home just before the airport closed here in New Jersey and luckily in time to pick me up from the Barker Lounge. Some awful guest named "Sandy" blew in and really messed up the northeast. We're very blessed and grateful that everyone here is safe. No structural damage besides half our fence blowing over. Still no power at home, but we've been told that it would be back by Friday (oh boy!). Her office is located in the Financial District of NYC, so she hasn't been able to get to work 'til yesterday. *Shaking head*, no heat there either...

       But after seeing and hearing about the devastation around the tri-state area, we're determined not to complain about the power. We're very happy that we have a roof over our heads and everyone is safe (if just a bit chilly, BOL!).

      More to follow pals, we have a lot to catch up with! Thanks fur stopping by!

    

So Blessed!

This weekend, many churches celebrate the Feast of St. Francis with a Blessing of the Animals. Mom's friend is in the choir of the Church of the Ascension, in New York City and this is the second year that the church is celebrating! Even 'though it was raining, we were off in the car to the Big Apple!

Last year, it was a beautiful day, and the service was held in front of the Church. Due to the rain, we were all invited in. I was a little nervous, the floors are tiled in marble and that's pretty slippery to this pup!

(sorry for the blur, I was keeping mom busy keeping me calm!)

   Seminarian Alex Martin wrote the Liturgy for today's service (he stepped over to say hello to me, it was very hard not to jump up, he was so nice!). The choir sang for us and Mother Shelley McDade welcomed all the pets and their people to the Church. She reminded everyone that God created people to care for the animals then thanked all the people there for doing just that. Then she and Father James Reho blessed each of us, saying a special prayer for any specific needs or concerns.

      Wow, what a day it was fur me! As much as I love to get out and visit, I couldn't wait to get back into the car fur the ride home!

Thanks fur stopping by buddies! And thank you to the hosts of the Saturday Pet Blog Hop Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Baby Patches at Nip & Bones !

Rootin' Tootin' Tuesday!

   Mom's getting pretty psyched about her upcoming trip to BarkWorld! She's been making her lists (she's a bit of a kook about lists):

• Registration, check!
• Flight arranged, check!
• Hotel plans, check!

    She's downloaded the BW Mobile App fur both her ipad and iphone so she'll be able to keep up with the sessions and speakers! 

   One of the sessions on her list that she's looking forward to is the Pet Food Network All Stars Kim Clune and Amy Burkert. They will be doing cooking demos, making healthy treats fur dogs and kitties, inspired by the Honest Kitchen. Mom makes a lot of my treats, so she's pretty psyched about this! Other sessions include Digital Scrapbooking, Pet CPR & Emergency Preparedness. There's so much to learn , and we won't even mention the Swag!

   And for all of her technical questions, the BarkWorld Genious Squad will be there! Yes, she has a list of questions too! *shaking head*

But one of the things that she's most excited about is......
 

She's thrilled that the kitties will be represented, barooo! 

  The very best part of BarkWorld is meeting so many of our on-line buddies, both old and new.

Here I am, hanging with the Shibbering Cheetos and the Hookalopes after the sessions at my first BarkWorld Expo in 2010! Their fans get a little crazy, but who can blame them, BOL!

Thanks fur stopping by buddies!

Getting Ready Fur BarkWorld 2012!

Hi pals, Mom's getting pretty psyched about BarkWorld this year! The first Social Media Conference she ever attended was the BarkWorld Expo in 2010. She still can't believe that she managed to go, since she's basically pretty shy and back then, wasn't so thrilled with flying… Boy she's come a long way! I was well represented by my doppleganger, "Pru On A Stick", since I don't fly, BOL!

(Yep, here I am hanging with the Shibberin' Cheetos and the Hookalopes!) She was so glad that she went. She was able to meet so many of our Twitter pals fur the first time. Attending the sessions taught her a lot too! Last year's BarkWorld was even better! There was so much more for her to learn and she was able to make some great connections with possible sponsors. She had such a good time with her online pals too, both the humans and the pets!

Well this year, BarkWorld is going to be a blast! The line up of speakers is amazing. Among the keynote speakers: Brent Herd, the Southeast Director of Twitter, Inc. (Twitter baby!), Matt Meeker, co-founder of Meetup.com, Andy Nibley, the writer/director of the HBO Documentary "Madonna of the Mills", and Ed Sayres , the CEO of the ASPCA. The sessions are pretty impressive too! So many great choices! Social Petworking, Dog Yoga, Digital Scrapbooking, the list goes on! Then the fun stuff! A "Howl-oween" Pawty!, sponsored by the Atlanta Dog Spa & Petco. Themed Block Pawties and Prize Giveaways! One of the latest exhibitors to be added to the list is The Barktender's Guide"! Now many of you know that I often barktend at Twitter Pawpawties and at #NipClub so we're very excited to see this!

The BarkWorld Expo opens on Thursday October 25 and runs through Saturday October 27 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia. Mom hopes that she'll see you in Atlanta at BarkWorld!

It's Black Cat Appreciation Day!

If you read my blog, you know that I share my home with a few kitties. Since today is Black Cat Appreciation Day, I'd like to tell you about my (mostly) black cat pals, Wren and Sparrow. I know, very silly names for cats *looking at mom*.

This is my pal Denise holding them when they were still very young, looks likes she's about to juggle them, BOL! Mom needs to take more pictures of them, because their fur is so dark, she doesn't think the photos do them justice. They both came to our home "accidentally". Wren arrived the day after Christmas 2011, just before a huge blizzard was about to hit the northeast. That's how he got his name! December 26th is "Wren Day" in Ireland. A few days later, his sister showed up. Mom heard her mewing among the snow piles from the storm. She knocked on a few doors, but nobody knew where she could have come from. Mom called her Stimpy at first (from one of mom's favorite cartoons, "Ren and Stimpy"), but we decided that she's really too pretty fur that name! Sparrow seemed more like her personality ('tho I think she's a Ninja at heart!). Mom promises to get some better pictures of these two very soon! Thanks fur stopping by!

Rootin' Tootin' Tuesday!

We're back buddies!

Mom had such a good time at BlogPaws, catchin up with her pals, the furry, flat and human ones!

@Niqqi and pals

Coco of Curlz and Swirlz

@Brutus

She learned so much from the breakout sessions and keynote speakers too. There was so much great information! And we can't forget about all the great swag! Now she just has to start putting it all to my good use. We've been missing in action due to her being busy with her Irish group, but that convention is over so now she can concentrate on me, baroooo! Thanks fur stopping by buddies! Time to "chill" in my yard!

Anderson Cooper!

Well, as some people would say, the cat's out of the bag!
A couple of weeks ago, mom was sent on a mission from BarkWorld Expo. She and Neely (@theGivingPaw) were given tickets to see the Anderson Cooper Show about Extreme Pets.
The guests included Anais Hayden, with her vegan dyed dogs (looking fabulous!),

(Photo from www.andersoncooper.com)
John Fulton from "Must Love Cats" and Henry "Lizardlover" via satellite with his carefully posed lizards.

(Photo from www.andersoncooper.com)
There was a quick presentation of jewelry made from cat hair, made by Flora Davis, which was very interesting. Mom's seen some of this sort of thing on Etsy. I hope she's not getting any ideas *shaking head*!
There were lots of video clips. She was thrilled to see Jasmine and highlights from Steadman's wedding at BarkWorld Expo last year!
Beyonce, the world's smallest puppy made an appearance also. This tiny pup is so lucky. Her mom was due to be euthanized, but was rescued by the Grace Foundation. When the puppies were born, tiny Beyonce almost didn't make it. Thanks to the humans, she's thriving and will be a terrific spokesdog for rescuing dogs all over!

(Photo from www.andersoncooper.com)
I think I need to be a guest on the next "Extreme Pets" on Anderson's show. I'd fit right in!

(Photo from www.andersoncooper.com, Prudence was photoshopped onto the set)
Thanks fur visiting buddies, and thanks to BarkWorld Expo! Barooooo!

A Treasure!

One of our new blogging friends, 47 from www.roccoshouse.com has recently discovered her talent and love of drawing. She had asked if anyone would like to have their pet sketched. So Mom commented on her blog and we were so happy she chose me as one of her subjects!
Well, when we saw the finished sketch, we were amazed! Mom was taught (many years ago) that an important part of drawing was to be able to see what is really there, not what your mind perceives to be there. 47 captured me in my "glory" as mom likes to say. From the diamond on my nose to the bones on my collar!

But what was even nicer were the wonderful words 47 used in describing her process in creating my portrait. We were so touched by her thoughtfulness!
She'll be sketching a few more pets, so if you have a minute, please check out www.roccoshouse.com to see what she and her dogs Rocco and Leia have been up to!
Thanks fur stopping by buddies, baroooo!