last thoughts of 2011

outside of my own family, i never thought i'd love anyone as hard as i could love my own dog.  she is certainly one of the greatest loves of my life.  i love her so much, that it made me start this blog.  my love for her really opened my eyes to animals and what wonderful additions they can be to people's lives. 

and really -- who can resist this face?

on a more serious note, every time i hear/see stories about dog fights, abused, or neglected animals, i really tried to find something/do something that can turn my heartache around.  so in 2012, my goals are to: become more involved with dog rescue through volunteering, discover avenues to become part of the greater dog community (meet ups, dog blogs, etc.), and to explore more ways to become closer to my own dog (more trips to the dog beach, different walks, more dog training!).  

after all, she truly is my best friend.

happy new year!!!!

one of my favorite days -- ever

as you get older, you realize that christmas isn't about what you get... but what you do.  this past christmas i had the luxury of going to a dog beach where the weather was about 72 degrees.  folks were wearing t-shirts and shorts.  it was f-ing great.  and the best part about this beach (i found this out after the fact...) you can bring booze to the beach during designated hours..

we were greeted by the cutest christmas bulldog:

then tickled by an army of chihuahuas wearing santa outfits:

and the best part was being with my family:

christmas was certainly one of my favorite days in 2011.  as you can see, B definitely agrees.

the promise

this is coco.  she was an animal-control-case-stray that was running the mean streets for at least half a month.  they just couldn't catch her.  people were calling animal control daily.  it took me 5 days of feeding her, cooing at her, and having friendly contact with her to gain her trust.  then she just followed me home and let me put a collar on her.

animal control ended up taking ownership of her.  i visited her 3x at the pound and they wouldn't let us adopt her.  "she won't let us near her", they said and they immediately tagged her kennel with "aggressive -- may bite".   they ended up putting coco girl down.

i think about her every day.  my problem is that i just don't want to forget her.  so my promise to coco is that i will try my best not to let another stray pit bull down again (or any dog/animal for that matter...).  no matter how hard it may be, no matter how anxious i get, no matter what.  i will always do everything i  possibly can to save that dog.

the inspiration

this is her.  she changed my life forever.  our 2 year anniversary with her will be in exactly 1 week, on christmas day.  we still call her our christmas puppy, even though she is 2 years old, 1 month, and counting...