Bella's Boxer Shorts

Ahhhhh, so much to be thankful for...

A Trip to DogTown

So, you know how I'm writing a book and interviewing lots of cool people? Well, a few weeks ago I chatted with Mimi Ausland. Mimi's the 12-year old who started www.freekibble.com to help feed hungry shelter animals (click on the button at the top of my blog, answer the trivia question of the day, and ten pieces of kibble get donated to hungry cats and dogs. You don't even have to get the right answer! How cool is that?!?)

Anyway, I love Mimi and if I ever get to meet her in person, I will jump up and cover her with slobbery boxer kisses and nobody can stop me. Hmmmmm, what was the point here? Oh, I know...Mimi told me that she spent her Spring Break at a place called the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. I had never heard of it before, but I learned even more when the National Geographic Society sent me a copy of their new book, DogTown: Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Redemption, and asked if I would do a canine review.

I said "sure," and found out that DogTown is the Best Friends' shelter in Utah that gives rescued dogs a second chance at life. Some of the dogs come from puppy mills and hoarders, and many have been traumatized and abused.

One dog named Georgia even came from the dog fighting operation run by Michael Vick, or as I like to call him, Michael Ick.

Well, I have to tell you that some of the stories are hard to read. My eyes got all watery and I had to hide out in my crate for a while, pretending that I had "seasonal allergies." But overall, it's a real heart warmer and I'm giving it two paws up (which is my highest rating, since I can't really balance myself on three paws and four paws would mean that I've learned how to levitate, in which case the first thing I would do is to levitate myself up onto the kitchen counter).

Tell your humans to get a copy for Christmas. It is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon (and hopefully my own best seller will be up there soon!).

xoxo - Bella

P.S. Mom wants everybody to know that a portion of the proceeds from the book will benefit the Best Friends Animal Society, which is a 4-star charity according to Charity Navigator.

Superchamp!

I've never actually seen HBO's Entourage because my crazy humans said "buy-bye" to Comcast a few months ago (actually, they said "%*$#@ you" but I'm not allowed to repeat that here.)

Anyway, I think it's about a young stud who makes it big in Hollywood and who has a posse that follows him around everywhere. I think being part of a posse would be kind of cool, so I'm gonna start hanging around my cousin Eli. Here is a picture of Eli after being declared champion at the recent Vancouver Kennel Club dog show (that's my godmother Terri with him). 

 

Way to go, Eli! I won't let it go to your head, though. Next time I see you I'll still try to steal your food and your toys.

xoxo - Bella

It Was a Hallowed Boxerween!

Is this a good-looking pumpkin, or what?

 

Tastes great, too!

Hope you all had a happy Halloween!

xoxo - Bella

A Call for Soccer Balls

Adam Bacher is a very talented guy here in Portland who also does cool humanitarian work in Rwanda. In fact, he's leaving for Africa again on November 8th and he's trying to collect 100 soccer balls to take with him to give to the kids of Rwanda. The balls don't have to be new, either....so if you have some that are gathering dust in your garage and want to donate them, send me an e-mail and I will give you the details. (If you're in Portland, Adam can pick them up; otherwise you can deflate them and mail them to him, but hurry---Adam is leaving in just two weeks.)

I wish that I could go along because I am a VERY good soccer player...

xoxo - Bella

Flavorful Friday: Honey Yogurt, Yummy

Finally, the humans have decided to treat me as the goddess that I am:

 

xoxo - Bella

Zadok the Awesome Akita

So the secret's out: I'm writing a book. My literary tome will include interviews with cool dogs and their people, which is why I interviewed Emmi and her mom a few weeks ago (click here).

Labradors, golden retrievers and German Shepherds get all the attention as therapy dogs, which is why I want to introduce Zadok, an 81-pound Akita who won the AKC's 2008 Award of Canine Excellence in the therapy division.

Zadok lives right here in Oregon with his two-legged mom, Julie Burk, where they visit local hospitals and prisons. People always seem surprised to see an Akita giving out hugs and kisses, which goes to prove that any breed can be a therapy dog. (On that note, I interviewed someone today in Missouri who said that he's even met therapy mules. Whaaaaaaaaat?!?)

Also, Zadok and Julie are certified with Animal Assisted Crisis Response (AACR), which means they're considered the "extreme team" of therapy. In 2007, they helped students and teachers deal with the aftermath of the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings.

Did I mention that Zadok is my new hero? He was pretty rambunctious as a youngster and didn't start doing therapy work until he was 4 years old....PHEW! There's hope for me yet.

xoxo - Bella

P.S. Here's another photo of Zadok. Isn't he handsome? I think I have a new crush.

What I Did This Summer

First, an apology...I've been a bad blogging boxer this summer. It's not that I'm lazy (well, maybe a tad), but I've been working on a TOP SECRET project that has kept me busy for the past few months.

Okay, okay...I'm bad at secrets. I'm writing a book! And, I've been interviewing some really cool people and their dogs. Over the next few months I'll introduce some of them and tell you more about my little project.

In my spare time, I've been enjoying Oregon's glorious summer weather with my two-legged companions. Here I am, after a long hike to the top of Humbug Mountain (look at that huge backpack they made we wear! Only kidding):

Here I am cooling off my paws on one of the 100+ days that we had in July:

This is me, watching over Mom's precious pumpkin plant (which I later destroyed):

And here I am, contemplating the September rain and the fact that summer is almost over:

xoxo - Bella

Portland Pool Party

I thought my friend Emmi had it tough with the scorching hot weather in Las Vegas, but I just watched the weather report and it's supposed to get into the triple digits here in Portland. In Portland! Oregon! That kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen here. My apocalyptic mom is convinced that global warming is going to fry us all.

At least the hot weather has been good for the Fred Meyer store down the street. My dad is there right now looking for a bedroom fan because he's afraid I'm going to hyperventilate at night. He was there just a few days ago, too -- and look what he bought me:

I was hoping for one of those pools with the built-in slides, but this pool is kind of nifty. I like the blue colors and the octupuses that are painted along the bottom (or is it octopi? octopodes? I never know about this stuff).

I've been thinking about charging admission to all the other overheated dogs in the neighborhood. Of course, all my blogging friends will be able to get in for free. It'll be the coolest pool party in town!!

xoxo - Bella

Smug as a Pug...and She Deserves It!

Hey Everybody,

I want you to meet my new friend Emmi, who lives with her forever family in Las Vegas (where it was 99 degrees last night, argh!!!).

Doesn't Emmi look very pleased with herself? Well, she deserves to be! This picture was taken right after Emmi passed her certification test to become a therapy dog. As soon as Emmi and her mom, Claire, get their certification card in the mail they'll start visiting a local hospice to spread some "Emmi" love to people who need it the most.

Apparently, Emmi is a natural at therapy work because she's sweet and loving and also very mellow (Emmi's anywhere from 7 to 9 years old). Nobody knows her exact age because she was abandoned in an apartment without any food or water. Fortunately, she was rescued by a great organization called www.rescuepugs.com, which is how she eventually made her way to Claire.

Way to go on getting certified as a therapy dog, Emmi!!!!

xoxo - Bella

Friends Come in all Sizes

The summer's off to a good start...warm days, cool nights and lots of visitors! As you can see from the pictures, my friends come in all shapes and sizes.

From the super-sized Aboo:

To my little pug friend, Yeti:

Now I just need Norman, my childhood sweetheart, to come back for a visit and it'll be the best summer ever!

xoxo - Bella

Tepezcohuite-what?

Today I'm going to do a little product plug, which I only do if I think something's really cool. The makers of K9 KlearUp sent me a sample in the mail of their all-natural balm which helps clear up problems like hotspots, cuts, scratches and bug bites. My Mom's been rubbing it onto the tips of my floppy ears, which tend to get small tears on them and they've been healing really nicely. And, I don't mind when she does it which is no small feat, since I usually hate having anything near my ears. But, this stuff goes on soft and smooth and doesn't have any bad smells. That's because the balm, which is made in Vancouver, Canada, has zero chemicals and only 3 simple ingredients...my favorite being "tepezcohuite" which is a tree in Central America. The ancient Mayans used it to treat skin problems and people are starting to rediscover that the best stuff really does come from nature (hint to humans: save the trees!!). 

To read more about the product and its story, visit http://www.k9klearup.com/

xoxo - Bella

Give a Dog a Bone (GADAB)

Well, Mom and Dad made good on their threat to pull the plug on cable television which means NO MORE T.V.!! Now that the shock has worn off, I have to admit that I don't miss it very much. The morning and evening news, especially, were always filled with doom and gloom.

So, with a little more time on my hands, I decided to look for some "good news" stories instead. That's why last week I did an interview with Corinne Dowling, who is the founder of Give a Dog a Bone (GADAB). GADAB is quality of life program for long-term shelter dogs that are being held at San Francisco's Animal Care & Control (i.e., the city's municipal shelter).

Corinne has been at it for the last 10 years, and since then she and her volunteers have helped over 2,400 dogs have a better life while they are in the shelter. Some of them, unfortunately, are there for up to a year, while their owners sort out all types of legal issues. It's really emotional work, and the recession has made it harder than ever to raise funds, so I'm trying to get the word out to all my dog friends and blogging buddies.

You also have to check out GADAB's "Dog Tails" blog. There are lots of personal stories about the dogs in the program (like this little cutie, Pacino, a Chihuahua who was found wandering the streets with a rubber band around his muzzle. Fortunately, Pacino's story has a happy ending).

So check it out!
xoxo - Bella

The Grass Is Always Greener...

...on my side of the fence!

That said, my hope is that ALL dogs have green grass to enjoy. Starting today, 85 American Eskimo dogs (out of 400) rescued from a huge puppy mill operation in Kennewick, Washington, are available for adoption at the Oregon Humane Society. Click here to read more about this case, and then celebrate the news that the Oregon State Senate passed the Puppy Protection Act (HB 2470) which makes this type of operation illegal here in Oregon (where the grass is always very, very green!).

xoxo - Bella

Oregon: Banish Puppy Mills

A quick shout to my fellow Oregonians: Help push the Oregon puppy mill bill across the finish line by calling and e-mailing your state senator today.

It's easy: just clicking on this link from the Humane Society of the United States.

Muchas Gracias!!

xoxo - Bella