Every Dog Has Her Day #GetOnTheShelf

Last week, Precious and I headed over to the local NBC station to interview for the segment you see above.   Of course before we left, we had to take a few photos to mark to occasion.  Afterwards, Precious was rewarded with a trip to the park to chase squirrels and roll around in a dead worm.

This could be a part of the series: Other things I've been on.. 

Thanks for my voting to help my books get on the shelf.  Please vote daily through Sept. 2.


Want to share on your site or podcast.  You can send people to  http://TheAdventuresofPreciousTheDog.com  It will forward to the voting page.

Adventures in Oklahoma Weather

Weather in Oklahoma takes some getting used to.  It's April.  Last Wednesday, Precious had to wear her sweater to the Wednesday afternoon Food Truck festival at the all new Guthrie Green park in Downtown Tulsa.  

 

Then on Sunday, we had to seek out a shade tree in the same park. 

Throw in the thunder storms and I think Precious is hoping to be shipped back to California.  

Nala is trying to win cash for homeless pets. Please help! #contests #sweepstakes

Petfinder is ringing in 2013 by celebrating the luckiest adopted pets around. 

Vote Now http://shar.es/YNE4Y

Well, If you recall, Nala was one of the #Straysinthehood  

She went from sleeping outside, afraid of everything and everyone to one of the most pampered

pets around. 

Nala and Precious get along really well.  Their temperaments are very similar.

Which was why we decided early on to keep her. 

I just love watching her come out of her shell. 

Although she had a rough time at first fitting in. 

 She had no problem embracing the good life.  

Please log in and vote for Nala http://shar.es/YNEX5

If she  wins, a  $5,000 donation will go to Pitbull rescue of Oklahoma. http://www.pbroklahoma.com/

Vote for Nala http://shar.es/YNE4Y

Strays in the Hood: Look who showed up today.

Well, this is something I didn't expect to see or experience when I finished feeding Nala and Rocky this morning.  

Part of our morning routine is after the big dogs eat and poop in the morning, they come back in the warm garage to sleep until the day warms up a bit.  

This morning, Rocky was unusually barking and hitting the door this morning.  (normally he's totally crashed)

I also hear a neighbor dog barking, so I go to let Rocky and Nala out so they can investigate.  

When I opened the door, they ran right for the neighbor dog to find out what was going on. Then, Nala sprinted to the other side of the fence and started barking.  Rocky followed soon after.

I looked out to see what or who they were barking at...  Is that?...... Deuce?!  

OMG!  I call for him, but he doesn't come to the fence.   I come back inside to put on some shoes to get a closer look, and sure enough.... It's Deuce!!!

He was very nervous at first, but once I came out to the front of the house, he came right up to me and was very glad to see me.  

I fed him and let him in the house to warm up.  (Remember, Rocky is not a fan of his so I couldn't let him just go play) 

I went through my phone and email archives to locate his adopted dad's info.   I sent a text, and an email.  Letting him know that Deuce (aka Marley. They renamed him) was here. That was 9am.  

It is now 1:37PM.

I don't know about you, but if one of my dogs was missing, I would be going crazy to find them.   When Precious got lost a few years ago, I had fliers all over college campus where she got out. 

My mom has said, something must be wrong with his new home if he's getting out & we should try to find him a new home.  Trying to get my brother in TX to pick him up.  He lost his dog a few years ago  and hasn't replaced him.  

What do do?

What do you think?    

Update:  1/27/2013 Still no word from the adopted people.  To tell the truth, if they contacted us now, they would not get Deuce back.    We now need to find Deuce a new home.

Take a look at the best of Deuce.  

Strays in the hood

Hey Pals,

My Humom has been caring for and feeding a few neighborhood strays.  The story is a bit comical and a sad state of animal welfare at the same time.

A few months ago, my grand humom's newspaper was missing.  (not a good thing for the newspaper guy)  When she called to gripe, the newspaper guy assured her that he had delivered her beloved news paper, and suggested that the two pit bulls sleeping outside her patio might have taken it.

Pit bulls?!  We don't have any pit bulls.  (or so we thought)

The guy who cuts the grass came by a few weeks later and said.  Did you know you have two pit bulls hanging out at your house?

By this time we had figured it all out.  A while back, a neighbor's dog got out of the yard and was missing for a while.  It turns out, he connected with a pack of stray dogs and now that he is back home (and tied up in the backyard YUK), the strays just come to him.  

Via a series of broken fences, low traffic side streets, and a wooded trail and park near by.  These dogs know the neighborhood better than the humans who live here.

After seeing a neighbor throwing rocks at one of the strays, humom decided to call him Rocky and start feeding him.   It turns out, Rocky is much like the character in the movie.  Hard on the outside, but a big softy on the inside.

Rocky July 2012

Rocky was very leery of humans (rightly so)  but would eat a treat from humom's hand, and wouldn't even bark when he saw me through the fence.   As you can see, Rocky was pretty thin.

We tried to contact the pet rescue services in the area to see if someone could come to get Rocky as we knew he would be a good adoption candidate.

No one could really help until he could be corralled.

Eventually, Rocky brought his girlfriend to meet us.   We call her Nala because she looks like the female lion from the Lion King.

We tried to corral them to allow someone to come pick them up.  Rocky jumped the fence before we could complete the phone call.  He didn't want to be corralled.   Nala is a sweetheart.  She closes her eyes when you pet her.  She loves attention.

Rocky and Nala September 2012

Two weeks ago, the stray dynamic changed completely.... Nala was in heat.  Other stray dogs were hanging out around here, and one was not nice.  He would growl at us and jump our fence if we tried to get Nala in our yard.   Our yard was now a canine house of ill repute.  Yikes!

We had no choice but to call the city's animal control and open a case.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) we've not heard back from the city.    Where we live there are a lot of strays.  People just don't understand that they should spay and neuter their dogs and there are just too many dogs tied up in backyards with little to no attention and care.  So I'm sure the city doesn't see stray dogs in this area as a priority. 

Now that her cycle is over, we're afraid Nala will soon be pregnant.  We're hoping to get her to the spay clinic before it happens, but while we can get her close she's still very suspicious to get too close for too long.

  aaaand  now we have another regular.

Limpy  (grand humom hates that name). Started coming around just before Nala went into heat, but Rocky is obviously the alpha dog and Limpy (named because he had a limp when all of the heat bruhaha was going on.  We now call him Deuce) 

Deuce 2012

Limpy Deuce looks to be an American Mastiff. Pitt Bull He has a collar on and has been watching the other dogs come to our house and now he comes in to eat and play.  (He likes the ball)  I have posted Limpy  Deuce to the Tulsa Humane Society's lost and found page and on humom's Facebook profile since he was found in the neighborhood.  Hopefully his owner has been looking for him.   He's starting to outgrow that collar though.  So he's been in the streets for some time.

Nala September 2012

Well, they've all been fed twice today and have had human time and attention.  Limpy  Deuce, Nala, and Rocky all need good homes with people who will treat them well.  Rocky may need to be kept in a garage or a yard with a high fence for a while until he gets used to being someone's dog.  But he will get used to it.  Nala and Deuce are ready for loving homes now.  They have all come a long way in trusting humans.    They just need a little love. 

If you or if you  know someone who can help.  Please email me Imajackrussell@gmail .com

Update: Click on Newer Posts to see the rest of their journey.  They are strays no more.

Social Media Pets

Cheryl Lawson & Precious the Dog - photo by Captured Charms Photography

During the 2012 Social Media Tulsa Conference,  I talked about the journey Precious and I have been on using social media and particularly how her Twitter followers helped in the creation of the children's book series. 
Social Media Pets: Who Let the Dogs Out

View more presentations from Cheryl Lawson

Don't forget to vote (daily) to get The Adventures of Precious the Dog on the shelf at Walmart.  

The Adventures of Precious the Dog... With Santa #jibjab

Wishing all of my pals a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!

Where is The Precious? @PetHub Will know

If you take a close look at this photo, you'll see evidence of one of the scariest times in the life of  Precious the dog.

Those who have followed @Imajackrussell on Twitter for a while, you will remember April 26, 2010.

The day Precious was lost.   

I'm not sure why she wasn't wearing a tag (My false sense of security perhaps).

Precious is micro-chipped, and I was able to report her missing online, but this particular adventure took place at night when animal shelters are closed and most vets are at home.

The problem (in this case) was while my dog was equipped with a microchip, most people don't have access to high tech micro chip readers. 

I had to resort to the low tech printing signs and flooding the campus where she was last seen.

I was very fortunate that one of the students saw Precious on a very peculiar adventure on campus, took her home, fed her, saw my signs the next morning and called me.

This experience is why I am so excited about Pet Hub's QRcode based dynamic ID Tags.  As more and more people are equipped with smart phones, their exposure to QRcodes and what to do when they see one will increase.   After I registered Precious' new tag, I scanned it with my phone. Within seconds, I received this email message.

** Precious's tag was just viewed by a mobile device ** 

This email is to notify you that the PetHub.com profile for Precious was just viewed by scanning their tag or typing in the web address found on the tag. If Precious is missing, this is your opportunity to update the profile to show important details to help get Precious back to you quickly and safely.  

Edit Precious's profile at:
http://www.pethub.com/id/Number/Edit

If the person viewing Precious's profile has GPS enabled and allowed their location to be shared, you will see a map showing their location as provided to us via their mobile device* below.

I didn't include the image of the map, because it was too spot on & Precious is just.. well too precious to risk. :)  


We met the great folks from Pet Hub at BarkWorld 2011, and they were kind enough to  send a smaller size for Precious to test out.  


As you can see it's pink and matches her collar.  I am comforted that if one of Precious' adventures should take her out of my sight again, Pet Hub will be there for someone to scan and let me know they have found The Precious.