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Turn up your volume and listen to my tunes..wooooof!

I am dog. I believe in unconditional love. I do not settle for infatuation or puppy love. I believe in true love to the end. I am a life-long lover who will lie at your feet, on the bed, by your chair, at your side. I am dog. I insist on your love. I will stay on a grave of a lover until my end. I believe in commitment. When we have chosen each other, I will be there for you with plenty. Out of my heart flows life and love. You fill my life with abundance and I am fulfilled. Unconditional love is the highest gift. I am committed to love.

Taken from Dog Psalms by Herbert Brokering





Make your own Countdown Clocks

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!







Kirby's mom here-KITTENS HAVE INVADED KIRBY'S BLOG!! No, not really but they have invaded Harbor Humane Society, where I'm a volunteer. Yesterday I volunteered with my niece Emily at the shelter. Our job: to socialize little baby kittens, in other words just love on them! The shelter staff said it was important for these little guys to learn that being handled by people is okay. Emily is a huge cat lover and I have been wanting to learn more about Harbor and all the aspects of the shelter so we volunteered to help with cats yesterday. We had a wonderful time and completely enjoyed cuddling with these little cuties, including the ones that weren't too happy to be held "hiss...hiss!"




However, Emily and I realized that these were the lucky ones. Harbor Humane Society is a kill shelter. Please know that they take euthanizing animals very seriously and go above and beyond seeking alternate ways to help an animal before deciding to euthanize and no animal that comes in has a timeline. But let's face it, it is a reality in today's world and you can't deny that this happens everyday. In the special room that is set up for these guys (2mos and younger) there were 11-12 litters of kittens. Two had moms with them and the rest were just the kittens ranging from 2-6 per litter! Emily and I spent three hours there and loved on at least 18 little ones. We didn't bother the litters with the moms because we were unsure of how the mom would react. One litter that was with the mom looked like they were born just days ago, probably at the shelter.


Harbor gets in litters every day, especially now! Spring is huge for shelters and litters. Harbor relies on foster homes, rescues and the space they have available to take in these litters everyday. They search out every possible place to house a momma cat and her kittens so that they don't have to euthanzie. The saddest thing in the world is to put down a healthy animal, due to lack of space....but it does happen.




In 2009, Harbor took in 981 kittens under 6 months of age. Of these, 405 were euthanized. This could have been due to sickness, but it could also be due to the fact that Harbor had no foster homes or space for the kittens to go to and therefore had no way to properly care for them. It's a sad fact, but it's reality. Harbor is the only animal shelter in our county, therefore every single litter comes there!! Do you have a shelter near you? Right now is prime kitten/puppy litter time!! You would be amazed at what you can do to help a shelter right now. Everything from newspapers, blankets, kitten/puppy formula, food and toys is what they need! I know at Harbor, they rely entirely on private donations. Shelters also need fosters. I have never fostered a litter of kittens, I have no idea of what is involved so I can't tell you much about that. But can you go in to a shelter and love on some little ones, and show them how loving people can truly be? A few hours a week or a month mean a lot to shelters that are truly struggling right now. At most shelters, the staff doesn't have time to snuggle and love the animals, they depend on volunteers to do this. Now, I can tell you that this is TRULY rewarding for both you and the animal!! I have been asked how can I volunteer at a kill shelter? I answer it's BECAUSE it's a kill shelter that I volunteer. Volunteers can help an animal become more adoptable just by spending time with it.

One more thing you can do is to support low cost spay and neuter programs in your communityand strongly encourage any family and friends you have to have their animals spayed and neutered!!
Loving Kirby and kittens,


Kirby's mom




PS: these pics are not pictures of the kittens at Harbor, they are ones I found online.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Blog Hop Saturday-check out this pic!!

Kirby here-



If doggy gymnastics is a sport, mom may be entering me into it along with rally. Check out my flexibility:
Haa, haa! Isn't that hillarious! When my rear end hit the tree, my legs went automatically up! Isn't that amazing! Mom and I have been on vacation this week visiting parks with Aunt Lori and the kids. Mom and I will post some of our adventures later this weekend, so while you are waiting to read about them enjoy these awesome dogger bloggers below:





Monday, May 23, 2011

Kirby and Diah Meet!



Kirby's mom here-

Well yesterday evening my sister and I decided to pack walk with Kirby and Diah (see a few posts below if you want to find out more about Diah) and I'm proud to report Kirby did very well! He did get all growly face on her at first but once we started walking he calmed down pretty quickly, he wasn't even huffy puffy! We walked for about 45 minutes and both dogs were pretty exhausted. When we returned to our spot Kirby felt comfortable enough to roll in the grass on his back with Diah watching him!! This is big for Kirby, he knew she was there, yet felt okay to be silly! Diah also did well, did growl a little bit at Kirbs when he did, but she did great too! They did not have any physical contact with each other yet, just walking on opposite sides with my sister and I in between them. We ended the adventure on a good note and we will plan on pack walking again. My sister and I really want them to get along because we spend time together at each other's houses, so we are taking this really slow. Also, when we were walking a some runners came by with a dog and we pulled off to the side. I put Kirby in a sit and we did the watch command with CHICKEN for treats and he never reacted at all to the dog!!! YES!!! I am really hoping with more good experiences Kirby will be able to keep himself under control when around other dogs.

I didn't bring my camera with me because I wasn't sure how the meeting would go, as they continue to meet I will try and get some pictures.


Enjoying Kirby,

Kirby's mom

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Another Harbor Adoption Day!







Kirby here-


Well mom did another adoption event today (actually 2!). The first one she was at got over earlier than expected so she took the dog she had and went to the other one. Take a look at who she had:Her name is Maggie May, she is 3 1/2 year old cocker spaniel! (and she is riding in my mom's back seat!). Mom said Maggie May was surrendered by her owners a few days ago because they were moving and couldn't take her with them. Mom said she rode in the car really good, you didn't even realize a dog was back there. Maggie May is a total lover and loves everyone and everything, not bad for a dog who just got surrendered by her family huh? Mom thinks she will get adopted soon, possibly by one of the volunteers who just lovers cockers!!! Here is a picture of Maggie May and her wagging tail (yes she is a long tailed cocker spaniel!) That tail never stopped waggin all day!:Here are some pics of the other dogs my mom hung around with today. In the picture below is DeLorean. He is a deaf pittie puppy, but guess what? He knows sign language! The staff and volunteers have worked with him and he knows quite a few signs already, very impressive! In the pic below is Clyde. He is a pittie puppy about 6 months old or so. Do you see his ears, his previous owners cut his ears off with scissors!! Mom says this is a common practice for people who use pitties for fighting. Clyde got rescued just in time! Mom said, even though he was tortured by people, he loves them like crazy and doesn't have a mean bone in him!! If you have a lap, he'd gladly sit in it!In the picture below is Jax. He is a 10 year old beagle!! Mom says he is as sweet as his ole' face is!Below is Boomer! He is a 10 month old Boxer hound mix. Mom has had him at adoption events before and just loves this guy! In the picture below is Beetle. He is a beagle/pug/bull dog mix. Another smiley guy!
Below is foxy Roxy! She is a french bulldog, check out those ears, mom said she was very comical with them, but was very laid back and easy going. Just a really nice girl!
And then there was Kelly, a beautiful hound dog! Mom said she was also a nice girl, with the sweetest hound face!
Mom had a really good time at the events, and there were some applications filled out on dogs and some people took apps home. Here's hoping that these wonderful dogs find wonderful homes soon!


Woof!

Kirby

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Just what do you think she is mixed with???

Kirby here-






Remember this pic from a previous post:


Well I'd like to reveal the big suprise! Her name is Diah (pronounced Deeahh) and she is my Aunt K's new dog! You may remember my Aunt K's dog Scooter died in March. Well Diah came home yesterday! My mom met her today and said she is a real sweetheart and is really good with little B who is almost 3 years old! I will get to meet her soon, mom says she needs to settle in first and get used to her home, oh yeah, I remember those days!


Aunt K took her to the vet today and the vet questioned if she really was a hound dog? She was listed as a treeing walker hound dog. But the vet said she doesn't have hound ears. Yep, my mom would agree with that, but she has colorings of a beagle. So we are going to share some more pics of her and we would love it if you would tell us what you think she is mixed with. Mom has her own suspicions but we want to see what you all think.


Diah is about 35-40 pounds, is about 3 years old and her fur is very soft. Here are the pics:

So let us know what you think!



Woof!


Kirby


PS: Thank you for all the nice comments on our dance post!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Our dance sneak peeks!

Kirby here!

Well mom was really working on our dance routine yesterday and we truly thank Hsin-Yi and Honey for their great post on choreography, it sure helped mom out alot! Check out our dance board:

We had to change the song too, the beach boys just got me too excited!!! So we slowed it down a bit and we will see how it goes....what song are we using...its....A SUPRISE! Okay, now for the sneak peeks. These are a few of the "moves" we are putting into our routine. In the video below, is the first one we start with. Mom has done the whole routine to music without me and it seems to flow really well, but we may change a few things once she adds me to it.





Below is the same routine but from a different angle:




Now, in the below video mom and I have practiced this before and I can do it perfectly, but I thought you would love to see me being a stinker:




Mom and I are having fun working on our dance routine, we have put some of our rally moves into it and our learning some new ones and I'm getting lots of treats. If you are entering Honey's dance contest, how are your routines going? Let us know if you are having as much fun as we are!


Woof!


Kirby

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Jump!






Kirby here-



Well we have found out that I have springs in my legs.




READY........
SET......




GO!!!!!.......





WHEW!!!!!

We thought it was a fun way to celebrate "SPRING!"




Woof!


Kirby

Friday, May 6, 2011

Hello my friends! We are back! Well Sort of...

Kirby here!
We are back, the computer is up and running except for one problem, we can't post to our blog! We can write the entry and save it, but can't post it! So we are wondering if any of you can help us. Mom's computer guy updated us to IE 9 and ever since we get "javascript void (0) errors" Has anyone gotten these before and if you did how did you fix it? So mom has asked my aunt Lori to post this entry in the meantime.

Mom and I will be spending some time this week and weekend checking up on all your blogs. We have missed following you guys and are so glad to be back!So a quick recap! Over Easter weekend my aunt Lori and the kids came and stayed the whole weekend! We went to a new park, Grand River Park! It is next to the Grand River and mom has been wanting to go here for a long time, but because it's kind of desolate, it wasn't a good idea to go just by ourselves. Well, the Grand River had flooded due to all the rain and I got quite muddy, kind of hard to tell by the pic below, but let's just say, I got a bath when I got home! See where the puddle is, there is a trail under it....somewhere!
I also got to play "Adventure dog" and climb a tree. I was certain I would have seen a squirrel but there were none to be found!


I got to spend lots of time with my Aunt Lori and the kids. I got to show off my tricks with her too:

I also got to spend a lazy morning in her arms:

Mom and Emily worked at an adoption event for Harbor too! Here is a pic of them, what a team!

Look at who they got to hang out with too! Below is beautiful Olivia, this is who mom and Emily hung out with. She is a beautiful pittie with a wonderful temperment. Mom says Olivia is just a lover and just wants to be petted and loved. Mom found out Saturday that Olivia got adopted! She went into a home with 3 kids between the ages of 12 and 5, the family previously had a pit and wanted another one and just fell in love with her. Yeah for Olivia!:
Mom did another event Saturday and she got to hang out with Boomer. He is a 10 month old hound boxer mix. Mom says he has lots of energy but is super smart and is going to make a great dog for the right family:

Mom also spent time with these other dogs. Do you remember our previous post about
Abbie. Mom really thought this family was going to adopt her, mom found out later that they didn't. Mom was really bummed because Abbie has been there for quite awhile. Here is a picture of beautiful Abbie:
Mom also had a pittie mix named Bishop there, mom said that life for Bishop is a party and he is the center of it! You can tell by his picture, just look at that smile:

Then there was also Carlos, a 6 month old pittie mix. Mom said he was just completely adorable and a total toy hoarder. If one of the other dogs had a toy he wanted he stood there and barked at them, mom said he provided lots of laughs for them at the event. A family filled out an application for him at the event so we are hoping he is getting adopted this week!:

They also had a little 4month old pit lab mix puppy there named Buddy. Mom said he was such a cuddler and had the best puppy breath ever!

We haven't had rally for the past few weeks because our instructor is at a conference but mom and I have been practicing on our walks. Mom has made me wear something called a "halti." Well, let's just say I'm not too fond of it, but I'm getting tons of treats so it's bearable! Well, I'm probably missing some details but I think I gave you all the highlights! Can't wait to see what you all have been up too!

Oh! Here is a pic of someone special coming into my life soon. Are you wondering who she is? Well, it's kind of suprise! I will let you know more soon!:

Woof!
Kirby

Kirby's mom here-
I wanted to update you on the use of the halti. Right now my reaction is WOW! Kirby has done really good with it and it has helped immensely around other dogs. One night we were at a park and walked right past a dog, that I didn't even know was there, but Kirby did and all Kirby did was look at him! We went to Lori's house last Saturday and met her and her dog Dillion at a park. Kirby has met Dillion before and it didn't go well at all. But that day Kirby was able to walk right past him and be totally in control of himself! He still wasn't fond of Dillion if he came up to him,but he didn't growl or bark, he just backed up...YES! Then when I went to my other sister's house we went out for a walk. In here neighborhood there are several dogs that are kept in yards by electric fences and one of them is extremely dog reactive. Well the first time we walked by her Kirby reacted himself but the halti helped to keep him under some control. When we returned to walk past her again, Kirby ignored her and watched me....YES! Then the other morning we met another girl and her dog out walking. This dog's name is Lady and is a nice dog, but has no doggy manners and Kirby isn't fond of her. Well Kirby stood by me and her owner only let her come so far near Kirby. Kirby just stood and stretched and walked away...YES!!!! No growling or nothing! So far the Halti is proving to be a very valuable tool for us! I am hoping that if we get enough good experiences under our belt, that the bad ones won't throw us off to much!
Enjoying Kirby,Kirby's mom