My Fire Hydrant

This past weekend there was a famous horse race on TV.

Not to be outdone, my friends at Helen Woodward Animal Center staged their own version of a race–this one involved puppies looking for their furever homes. Once again, I am in open-mouth admiration for Mike Arms and the clever, positive ways he finds to encourage pet adoption!

For some wonderful warm fuzzy moments, check out the video they’ve posted on their blog, Pause For Tails.  It’s adorable!!

DISCLOSURE: Dyson sent me their vacuum to try–free of charge. And I get to keep it. This review represents my honest and personal experience and opinion. This review in no way represents the opinions or views of my employer, P&G Pet Care.

Dyson's DC39-Animal

OK, either it’s a work of art or it reminds you of one of those monsters out of a science fiction movie. Personally, I think it leans more towards art than alien, and I LOVE IT!

I’ve always wanted a Dyson vacuum, because word of mouth has always been good. In fact, a friend of mine who has a multiple dog home told me a couple months ago that once she got her Dyson it was like having brand new carpeting. Yep. She was right.

The little beauty that the nice Dyson folks sent for me to try is their new DC 39 Animal. It’s a canister vacuum designed to be easier to navigate around furniture and obstacles. And it has that incredible Radial Root Cyclone™ technology that sucks up more dust than anybody else.

So I gave it a little test.

Tyler would rather play, but this is a dirty rug in need of a cleaning.

First, I used my old upright vacuum. Tyler took off because of the noise.

Next, I used the DC 39 to vacuum the same rug. Tyler was intrigued because it hardly made any noise.

This is what the Dyson pulled out of the rug (I put the quarters in there to give you an idea of the amount of dust this vacuum pulled out of the rug).

After using the Dyson, it was like having a brand new rug–I could hardly believe how much dust my old vacuum had left behind!! And pulling out that dust made a visual difference in the rug.

This test was so successful, I was inspired to vacuum the entire house! And this was good because it helped me to get an even better understanding of this lovely Animal:

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

• It’s plastic, so it might be easy to break.
• The instructions were pictures-only, not detailed enough.
• The hose is a little ungainly and sometimes hard to manage.
• When finished, trying to hook the hose wand to the slot on the body of the canister was impossible.
• The price.

WHAT I LIKED

• The trigger on the handle for decreasing suction–FABULOUS for my bedroom floor which is covered in light-weight rugs.
• It’s so QUIET!
• It has a really long power cord–I did the entire house and only had to replug once.
• The floor attachment has a power brush that is easily controlled through the handle of the hose wand.
• Great suction.
• Really easy to dump the dirt and dust from the bin.
• NO BAGS!!

BOTTOM LINE

This is an excellent vacuum for someone with lots of dog hair or even cat dander to pick up. It’s efficient, easy to use, and easy to clean. I LOVE this vacuum! But at $499.99 it’s a little outside of my price range.

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March is over and it was very busy. Tyler and I want to sincerely thank everybody who participated and contributed to our 4th Annual Online Bichon Bash for Small Paws Rescue. Online and offline, we raised a total of……(drum roll please)….

$790.00!!

Thanks for your help!

While I wrap up the final numbers for how much money was raised for the March Online Bichon Bash, I had to share this little bit of fame with you: Tyler appears in this week’s Bloomsberg BusinessWeek Magazine.

I don’t really mind that they give P&G all the credit for coming up with My Fire Hydrant (my blog) and Tyler–that’s just reporters editing the facts to suit their needs, and I had my 15 minutes a few years ago with The Wall Street Journal. But I wish they would have added in the URL.

Of course, Tyler is the cutest thing that the business world could ever hope to seen, and he’s in a typical Tyler pose!

Is he cute or what??!

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Some of you may remember that my sweet boy, Tyler, was found wandering the streets of Phoenix. Kaydee Lynne’s story, from RoseMarie, is very similar to Tyler’s.

I would like to relate my latest little rescue girls Small Paws Rescue story!! Small Paws does so many wonderful things to save all these great little dogs and I welcomed one of them into my life, last October 25th.

The day she arrived, she really needed grooming!

There was a tiny little lost, 3 month old puppy wandering the streets of busy Las Vegas, Nevada all alone, with no one to care for her and love her. No one knows how she got lost, but then someone found her and took her to a not so nice shelter, where she felt like she was put in “jail”. She had an injured eye and some nasty stuff in her ears, that made them all itchy and NO one came looking for her. The shelter couldn’t put her up for adoption because she had an eye problem and nasty ears, so they contacted some wonderful people, called SMALL PAWS. Someone came and met “Tanya”, as she was called and agreed that she was a sweet little girl and needed their help. Then poor little Tanya had to go into the hospital to have her eye fixed and her ears all cleaned out, but something else happened while she was there–she fell asleep and woke up with pains in her tummy and threads holding it together and they told her she had been spayed!!!

Tanya, soon-to-be Kaydee Lynne

Poor little Tanya didn’t think any human would ever love her and she spent more time in that hospital getting all better. Then someone from that Small Paws place came and took her to a real home and changed her name to “Simone.” She was starting to like humans better and was finally living with some nice humans and even some other nice doggies, but she kept hearing them say, that she wasn’t going to stay there and she was worried about having to leave and live by herself again.

Then all of a sudden, one day, another Small Paws lady took and put her in a plastic cage with a blankie and her favorite toy and told Simone that she was going to a far away place to find her forever home!! It was a scary experience, because at only 6 months of age, little Simone was flying across the country from Nevada to Massachusetts all by herself. And, her second plane had a BIG problem. The humans were all scared, cuz the plane was broken and it couldn’t land, so it circled for a long time and then finally they got it down and they put Simone and everybody else on a 3rd plane. Simone was scared and had been locked in that little plastic cage for almost 12 hours, when suddenly this nice lady and man went to her, took her out of that cage, hugged her and said: Welcome to your new forever home!!!

LilyRosebud, Abby Rose, Kristy KremePuff, Miss Mollyanne & Kaydee Lynne

That was October 25, 2012 and Simone came home to meet her 4 Bichon sisters. At first she was a little afraid, but then she found out they all liked her a lot and she really was in her forever home.

Good Golly Ms. Mollie! whozzat?

Her New Mom said she needed a new name and now her name is Kaydee Lynne. She has lots and lots of toys all her own, and bones to chew on and she gets to sleep with all of her sisters and her Mom and Dad on a great big BED.

Share? hmmmmm....not so much.

Kaydee Lynne feels like a Princess living a life she never thought she would live and being loved and spoiled and her new Mom sings her a song that says: I once was lost, but now am found!!! Her eye is all better and she runs, plays, jumps and is a very happy little girl thanks to some very special people called Small Paws.

Kaydee Lynne

Are you looking for a Fluffy new family member?

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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From Jill, who styles herself “A Jersey Girl.”

We rescued our Bichon, Chaz, 1 1/2 years ago. He was found running around Philadelphia fully matted and somewhat bloody. A Philadelphia shelter picked him up and only keep strays 48 hours before they release them to the public. A small dog rescue group from NJ took 4 dogs from there that week. We were fortunate to be the first ones to see him at a Pet Smart. I sat on the floor with him, he jumped on my lap, turned over, and looked up at me with his dark eyes and black button nose. That was all it took. I didn’t know before that, that we were “Bichon people”. So sweet, soft and cuddly. My husband is in love with him as well.

 
Are you looking for a Fluffy new family member?

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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Last March, I posted a story about Max and Frankie–Frankie was a puppy mill dog. Small Paws always places puppy mill dogs in homes where there’s already a socialized dog in residence to help the puppy mill dog adjust to life as a pet. Here’s an update, from pet parents Carol Ann and Jim on these two Fluffs and their family.

Glad to share good news!!!! As I read about child adoptions from other countries, I see the exact same timeframe and issues regarding trust. We have had Frankie three years, and what a change. Of course, very slow changes! He now allows Jim to pick him up, he will crawl onto Jim’s lap, and he even gives Jim kisses.

Still does not like several strangers approaching him at the same time. He will walk up to one person at a time and allow them to put their hand out for him to sniff. It has to be his way – he still will not allow anyone (except me) to put their hand on his head. He must be approached from under his chin. He is the happiest little boy that I have ever seen – nothing takes away his happiness. Whatever we do, he enjoys it!!! I pray that all puppy mill fluffs are as happy in their new home as he is in his.

Now to Max. Max is my little old man!! He would much rather have the attention of people instead of fluffs!! He plays with Frankie when it suits him, and he does not like for Frankie to get close to me or Jim. He is so jealous! He is definitely the alpha boy, but Frankie could care less – anything suits Frankie.

We are now in Florida in our RV, and we take our two boys to ride in a carriage behind our bikes (made for children, but wonderful for Frankie and Max). They wear harnesses and are safely secured, but have all the fresh air around them. We took the top off so that they could see all the deer and squirrels!!! They both still travel very well, and enjoy sitting outside in their own chairs. Everyone tells us that they are so well behaved!!! We continue to tell everyone about Small Paws, and we give away their cards, hoping that another fluff will be able to find a furever home.

While we are in the campground, Frankie looks for other fluffs to play with, but Max could care less – he sniffs their nose and then takes off!!! He likes to do his business, then sit on Jim’s lap! Frankie could play all day with other fluffs!

We love our boys and receive so much pleasure from them – hope that many more fluffs will be able to find the best homes ever!!

 
Are you looking for a Fluffy new family member?

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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Lea Ann discovered Chucky through a chanced conversation at a gas station.

Chucky

Our little Chucky came into our lives almost 3 years ago. Here is Chucky’s story – We had been out running errands and stopped by the gas station before heading home. While my husband was inside there was a home healthcare nurse that had a puppy – my husband is a talker and loves dogs – he struck up a conversation with her and she told him about a client of hers that had passed away recently and the husband had not wanted to keep her dog & had given him to her. But… she has several cats and a Shar-pei. Her dog did not like Chucky. She would nip at him and was getting more and more aggressive towards him. This was the story that we were told. My husband told her to come out to our car and talk to me. We had lost one of our precious fur babies that past January – Kaci, a Siberian Husky mix – to renal failure. Anyway, she came out to the car and told me the same story.

Chucky, with a smile on his face!

My husband said why don’t we get him for mom, for her birthday. I told her that we’d take him and she brought him over the following morning. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. He is such a sweetheart! She then told me that they had him on a joint supplement due to he had bad knees on his hind legs. He got along really well with our Sami – toy/miniature parti-poodle. He was in pretty bad shape though – he was infested with fleas and I found out that he had not had a rabie shot for over 2 years. I got him in to our vet and got him updated with all shots, exam and such. He also had several warts. But other than that he was healthy! He has been a wonderful addition to our family and even though he’s a senior (at 10 years old), he keeps up with our 5 year old Sami. He has a very loving forever home!

Are you looking for a Fluffy new family member?

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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Eileen, in Graham North Carolina, has a lovely story of how one little Small Paws Fluff changed her from a Big Dog Mama to a Small Dog Mom!

Well, well…It’s a difficult mental journey to find the plot after adopting ‘Trace’ from Sulfur, Louisiana and the awesome experience with Last Chance Transport Company to get him to NC (via Virginia)!

You see, I’m a Labrador person, or slave. A black and a brown lab dominate our lives and schedules — they are Genius and Bean, with REAL interesting naming stories…but then came Trace, who feigned the helpless, shy recently neutered 5 year old 18 months ago.

Here's our boy, watching Animal Planet ...as he does every day with us... This was at our daughters home with our two grandsons' toys about.

So after day one with us, he began to teach the two full size male labs who was ‘boss’! He walked (and continues several times a day) to our alpha black lab, Genius and began to give him a facial, a dental exam and cleaning, and an otic cleaning! Genius LOVES it, and Trace moves into a TRANCE in doing so. Hilarious. Friends and family can NOT believe this behavior. It’s like he’s a nursing female cleaning his ‘pups’! Too strange, but darling nonetheless.

He is first to go for a ‘ride’ in the ‘truck’ or ‘car’… has a vocabulary recognition just a bit more extensive than my nephew, haha… Eats the dry dogfood that my big boys eat. Plays tug or war with them AND WINS everytime. Bosses the other dogs at the dog park endlessly and has to be restrained…really! Can’t put him in with the little dogs, because he feels he doesn’t ‘fit’…. and carries on until he’s with his big boys across the path in their playground. Ew, boy.

Excuse the language, but it’s literal… when I take the big guys to the barnyard to attend to the mini donkeys twice daily, the little guy remains in the house in cold weather but gets ‘pissed off’ against the base of my main bath toilet! Never has accidents unless I leave him alone. He has become a first class traveler and goes everyplace on day trips with my husband and I, and on errands, and to dr. appointments, walks, etc. A wonderful traveler, really!!

Trace Small Paws

The first week we had Trace, we let all the boys out into the backyard for their morning constitutional, and doesn’t Trace grab a morning dove right out of the air!!! Winged it, shook it’s head and flew off. He just wanted to show off his prowess apparently.

I am searching for another Coton now .. in the similar age group with no issues, and perhaps a female this time to keep him more humble He’s the cutest thing on legs! Thanks to Small Paws Rescue for enriching our lives with this entertaining fluffball with attitude!

 
Are you looking for a Fluffy new family member?

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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