Lab Rescue Raffle!

Hello dear fans,

I have a very important request for you!

As many of you know, Tom and Miri adopted me through Lab Rescue and I am forever grateful to them for it. I don't even know where I'd be today without them! And, from the way they pamper me, pet me, and care for me, I can tell they are SO GLAD they found me! Miri tells me almost daily how lucky they are to have me! I can guarantee you she doesnt say that when I'm chasing squirrels though!

Anyway, I digress. I have an important message to impart. I am writing today to ask you to consider participating in the Lab Rescue "Yellow Lab Holiday Raffle" (details below) or to consider making a general donation to Lab Rescue.

I don't know if you are aware of this, but the holiday season is a tough time for us rescue dogs. We are abandoned at record rates and Lab Rescue has a tough time trying to pay for kennel and vet bills. Labs, being America’s most popular dog (that's right, I'm popular!), are also the most abandoned breed of dog. One in every ten dogs comes to Lab Rescue heartworm positive – that’s a $275.00 expense to treat! Before Miri and Tom met me, Lab Rescue spayed me and it was $150! That's a lot of dog treats!!

The bills are huge, but the payoff is stupendous!! They adopt out almost 700 labs a year just like me! (OK maybe some of them aren't quite as adorable as me but I must admit many of them are much better on the leash!)

Now - here's where you come in! You can help by making a general donation – or (much more fun) participate in the Yellow Lab Holiday Raffle (held at the annual LR Holiday party on December 10th. Look at these great prizes!!!

Two round trip airline tickets from AirTran and a one week stay a RCI timeshare resorts ($2000 value)
Four park passes to Disneyworld! ($850 value)
One week off-season stay in Cape Cod (2 miles from the beach!) ($1650 value)
One off-season 2 night weekend stay at an Ocean City condo ($250 value)
One night's lodging at Savage River lodge in Frostburg, MD ($220 value)
One night's lodging at the historic Red Fox Inn in Middleburg, VA. ($275 value)
You can buy the tickets online at www.lab-rescue.org via PayPal (which accepts your VISA/MC) or you can send your check (specifying how many tickets you want and including your address) to Lab Rescue, c/o Sharon Nelson, Sensei Enterprises, Inc. 3975 University Dr., Suite 225, Fairfax, VA. 22030. Tickets are $10 each or 6 for $50. Remember, YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PRESENT TO WIN and your donations are tax deductible. Please make sure all checks are sent by December 4th to ensure receipt. After that, please purchase the tickets online!

Please consider helping a four-legged friend in distress – and of course feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who loves labs or dogs in general. Your holidays will be merrier knowing you helped a homeless dog to find a lifetime of love!

If you donate on the website, please post a comment here so I can say thanks.

Wishing you many tail wags in this holiday season,

Madeline

More Favorite Links

Please note that I added some of my favorite blogs to my links! Jennifer was annoyed with me that I haven't posted her cool quilting (and other creative ventures) blog on my site - especially because she has a link to mine from her page. I felt badly when she said it so I had to update this as soon as possible and while I was at it, I put Carol and Kelly's blogs there too. Afterall, I read all those blogs almost daily so I have to give credit where its due!!

ta for now!
mad

Baby Makes 4

Well, well... Miri and Tom have been BUSY it seems. If you haven't already heard, Miri is pregnant. Yes, its true. I refuse to admit to myself that she will have another baby besides me. Between us, I'm a little jealous. But I'm trying to be supportive. And she did tell me that I'll always be her first baby.

The good thing about it is that I'll probably get more food when it comes because I've been around babies and kids and they tend to drop food pretty easily. My friend Tipper told me that I should sit under the height chair. He said its like candy falling from heaven!

Some people have wondered how I'll be around the baby. Will I think its another squirrel someone asked... how dumb do I look people? I CAN tell the difference between a human baby and a delicious and wonderful squirrel! No. Ive been around babies and they are not that attractive to me really. They are fine but not really anything too amazing for a dog. Unless they have food.

However, I can promise that I will be jealous when Tom and Miri are paying more attention to the baby than to me. I will be pushing my snout in there and making sure they don't forget to pet me as much as they deal with the baby. You can be sure of that!

The Gentle (?) Leader

Hello dear friends. A note from Kelly accompanied the gift and she asked me if we've heard of the Gentle Leader before. I thought this would be a good opportunity to impart my experiences with the dreaded device and warn all you hard pullers out there just what it can do to you.

For those of you readers who have not heard of this device, it is basically a loop that goes around a dog's muzzle or snout as I like to call it (I am very piggish at times). Then the leash is connected to the loop and the dog is lead by her snout down the street. It is supposed to "cure" dogs that pull hard. Here is a photo of a yellow lab with the "gentle" leader on. Before I go on to lambast this tool, I will say that there are some dogs that respond very well to it. But, and you probably already guessed this, that population does not include yours truly!


Tom and Miri tried this thing on me when they first brought me home and in about a week's time that silliness was put to a stop. I hated the thing with a passion. So I scratched my nose with as much effort as I could muster and cut myself with my nails causing my nose to bleed all over the place. And every time they tried it, I did it again and opened the wound for good measure. Additionally, I still pulled while wearing it so it rubbed all the fur off the bridge of my snout.

Here are a few photos of me after the week with the "gentle" leader. In the one with Tom you can really see the fur worn away and in the close up of me, look at the tip of my nose, you can see the bloody cut!
















The moral of this story is that as hard as Miri and Tom tried, there was pretty much no way to "cure" my pulling. They have me slowed down quite a bit these days but when i'm off-leash Im crazy like a fox!

that was quite a trip down memory lane. I think I need to go take a nap.

more later!
Madeline

A gift from kelly!

wow! today I got a package address to ME! From Kelly. I was so happy. I never get mail! So it was a halloween theme gift - a few of those cool glow stick things and also this pumpkin shaped rawhide. Miri wasnt sure if that would upset my tummy so i havent been given the permission to eat it yet. I hope i get it!

nothing else new to report. i had a good romp with a fun dog named kelsey this morning in the dog park. she is such a great ball of energy.

hopefully ill get to go somewhere cool this weekend.

xoxo
mad