My little, skinny sweetheart! Newly adopted last June from Small Paws Rescue.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that I work in Consumer Relations at Iams. October 1 starts my favorite time of year: Iams Home 4 the Holidays!!

This adoption event is the heart and soul of our company. We partner with Mike Arms and the Helen Woodward Animal Center along with over 3,500 shelters and rescues world-wide to get orphaned pets adopted into furever homes. We’ve done this since 1999, and over the years we’ve helped over 5.8 million orphaned pets get adopted. This year’s goal is 1.5 million!

Not everyone can adopt a pet, so this is our second year for the Bags 4 Bowls program. We will be donating up to 5 million meals to animals in need, but the number of meals depends on “audience participation” (this means YOU). This blog post is an example of audience participation. It’s part of a blog hop. For every blog that joins the blog hop, we will donate 100 bowls of food!

Over the next 3 months, we’re going to be doing all kinds of fun projects that will result in food donations. If you can’t adopt, here are some ways that YOU can also participate:

• Become a fan of the Iams Facebook page, and use our Petmail to send a customized adoption announcement or a seasonal greeting to your friends and family. For every card created, we will donate meals to shelters in need.
• Now that your a fan of the Iams Facebook page, look at the photos, videos, and wall posts and “like” the ones that appeal to you.  For every “like” we will donate meals to shelters in need.
• When you shop for Iams food, look for specially-marked bags that mention Iams Home 4 the Holidays. For every bag purchased, we will donate meals to shelters in need.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and generate some food donations!!

The Saucy Pooch, one year after adoption.

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Cast your vote to name this adorable puppy by going to our photo album on Facebook.

What’s this all about? The V.P. of Canine Communications for The Iams Company, Euka, has submitted her letter of resignation effective later this year. We have done a massive search to find her replacement, and this puppy is the one! So now we need to name him, and we asked our Facebook community to help. Did I mention that he’s seriously cute?

Digging? Naw! I'm just having a rest here by this hole that will eventually go under the fence...

Hey! I wasn't the one who left that used tissue sitting on top of the table just waiting for some enterprising young pup to turn it into artificial snow....

Hogging the AC vent

Some very exciting news! Our second annual “Behind the Paw” summit is scheduled for next week! We’ve invited a furbulous group of pet community advocates and anipals to come for a visit to learn more about P&G Pet Care. We’ll be tweeting about it–if you’re on Twitter be sure to watch for #BehindThePaw to get updates. Here’s a preview of what’s happening!

My boss, Jason, with one of the celebrity presenters at the press conference.

Here’s another reason why I love where I work. This past Thursday, my boss Jason Taylor was in New York City where he donated 15 tons of Iams and Eukanuba dog and cat food to the Food Bank for New York City.

The Food Bank is an incredible organization. They’ve been around for 28 years, working to end poverty. Not only do they distribute food to needy families, provide income support and training, they also offer nutritional education to children and adults. Each day, they provide 400,000 free meals for New Yorkers in need.

Why is my boss giving them dog and cat food? To feed the dogs and cats of people who cannot afford to buy dog and cat food.

We’ve partnered with VCA Charities Pet Program to launch a 6-month pet food distribution program for needy New York pets through the Food Bank for New York City. We’re providing food. VCA is providing certificates for wellness checkups at their VCA hospitals in the New York City area.

Lucy Cabrera, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Food Bank For NYC said, “In the midst of a jobless economic recovery, escalating food and fuel costs, today three million New York City residents are having difficulty affording food. That certainly means there is little or nothing left to feed their beloved pets. We truly want to thank the Iams and VCA Charities for recognizing the urgent need to keep families together and for helping our client’s pets stay healthy and hearty.”

I’m so glad we were able to help launch this program!

More photos.

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I’ve been featuring some heart-warming Small Paws Rescue stories this month as I nag my readers, my friends and my family into make a contribution to my fund raiser. But I need to take a step away from Small Paws and mention a very wonderful side event of Iams Home 4 the Holidays, the 3-month long adoption event that we (Iams) do with Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) every year. It’s the essay contest.

Every year, Mike Arms and HWAC collect hundreds of stories that detail the adoptions that happen during Iams Home 4 the Holidays. These stories are read and narrowed down to the top four.

I just finished voting for my favorite story on the HWAC site. And you can too–up until Monday March 21 (YIKES! That’s now!)

Go! RUSH! To the HWAC blog where you can read the rest of the details and then read the stories of  Darby, Mama Mia, Fred, and Rose. These stories may at first bring a tear to your eye, but ultimately your heart will indeed be warmed by the happy ending each of these sweet orphans experiences in finding their furever home.

HURRY! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!! GO READ! GO VOTE!!

Today is a special day! Bloggers across the interwebz are honoring Petfinder.com on the anniversary of its 15th year in pet adoptions!

As you may have read, I’ve devoted the month of March to bringing attention to Small Paws Rescue. (Also, fund raising for Small Paws–but more about that later.) Small Paws is devoted to rescuing orphaned  Bichons, dogs who look like Bichons, and even dogs who have had a passing acquaintanceship with a Bichon. Most of their budget goes to paying vet bills. The dogs they take in stay in foster homes until the right family is found for them. So their “adoption center” is Petfinder!

Small Paws is a courageous group of 800 volunteers and 6,000 supporting global members. Over the past 12 years they’ve helped over 8,000 dogs find forever homes. Small Paws Rescue embraces the philosophy of  “no-kill”–nearly all their donations go to pay vet bills.

I’ve asked the members of Small Paws to send me their own stories and photos of their dogs, so that I can share them here on my blog. Today, I’m telling my own Small Paws story. And it’s costing me $20. More on that later.

I don't feel so good.

Robin Pressnall–who is the very heart and soul of Small Paws–sends out a newsletter on a regular basis to the Small Paws membership. That’s where I first saw Tyler. It was this photo, from his shelter intake record. I could tell that he was  not well–can you see it? Robin told us that Tyler had been found on a street in Phoenix with another puppy. That both puppies were starving and that both puppies had parvo virus. Did we want to get them well? Did we want to save these two puppies?

They were on death row within hours of being turned in to the shelter, because that was the shelter’s policy with parvo dogs. But the shelter knew about Small Paws, and someone telephoned the Small Paws Team Leader for Arizona–who turned out to be Tyler’s Guardian Angel. He got both puppies to a veterinary clinic, and Small Paws paid for their hospitalization.

Tyler’s photo haunted me.

On the way to his new home, a potty break in a family bathroom at the Airport in Atlanta

I wanted a puppy. I was just a few months past losing Bailey (my first Bichon), and still working through my grief, but I had bravely put myself on the Small Paws puppy list. At Small Paws, puppies are reserved first for people who are grieving. About a month after Tyler was rescued, I got an email asking me, did I want to adopt a puppy? I was a little hesitant. Was I ready? Then I found out it was the little parvo pup that had already been living rent-free in my head. It was karma! And the fact that I was getting ready to head out west on a business trip making it easy to stop for a night in Phoenix to pick Tyler up from his foster mom (God bless you, Mikele!) added to the surreal feeling that this was meant to be.

Ready for St. Patrick's Day!

Tyler was a skinny scrap of a pup. He was very underweight and his hair was cut very short to make it easier for the dogtors to deal with his illness. But I didn’t mind how he looked. From the first moment, he was so sweet and loving and I marveled that a creature who had received such a terrible start in life–abandoned, starved, sick–could still have the capacity to love. I get teary-eyed when I think of how he cuddled up to me that very first day, and trusted me to take care of him. I won’t betray that trust.

Tyler has found his furever home with me.

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So why did telling my Small Paws story cost me $20? I have pledged to donate $5 for every story and photo that I publish from the members of Small Paws this month. Adding in today’s post, I owe Small Paws a total $145. And the month is only half over.

So here’s my pitch: You’ll see the First Giving donation widget on the right side of the page, or you can click this little photo icon just to the right of this paragraph. I’m not asking you to donate hundreds of dollars, just a couple of bucks. Small Paws is an incredible organization, and every last cent donated is squeezed to the point of dusty dryness to get the best juicy value. Please, make a donation to help this group help dogs.

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Read more…

You may have noticed that every day this month, I am featuring adoptable Bichons and Bichon Blends who are fostered by Small Paws Rescue.

Small Paws is a community of foster families spread across the country where Small Paws Fluffs are housed until their forever family is found. There is no “brick-and-mortar” facility like your local humane society or SPCA. But you can still view all the Small Paws Fluffs available for adoption. The Small Paws “adoption center” is located online at Petfinder.com.

This month, Petfinder celebrates 15 years of service to pet adoption! Since 1996, Petfinder has helped more than 17 million pets find homes! Now that’s something to celebrate!

On Tuesday March 15, I’m going to help Petfinder ADOPT THE INTERNET–and you can too! Here’s what I’m going to do:

On this blog:

• I’ve already added a badge on the right side of my blog to show my support.

• On Tuesday, I will be posting an article about what pet adoption means to me.

On my Facebook Page:

• On Tuesday I’ll be changing my Facebook profile photo to an adoptable pet from Petfinder for the day.

• I will post a special message of support for Petfinder on my wall.

I’m taking over the Iams Facebook Page: (I have admin rights on the Iams Facebook account.)

• I’ll be changing the Iams Facebook profile to the “Adopt the Internet Day” logo

• And I’ll be encouraging all of the over 165,000 Iams Facebook fans to change their profile photos too!

On Twitter:

• I’m going to tweet about it on Monday and Tuesday and use the hash tag #adopttheinternet

So, is pet adoption important to you? What are you going to do to celebrate and support Petfinder on it’s 15th birthday?

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Read more…

The new wind turbine at our pet food plant in Coevorden, The Netherlands

You probably don’t know that Procter & Gamble (P&G) has a corporate sustainability program. You might also not know that P&G Pet Care (the company I work for) has a pet food plant in Coevorden, The Netherlands, that makes our products for consumers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

As part of our (P&G’s) corporate sustainability program, the ultimate goal is to power our plants with 100% renewable energy. We will accomplish this in increments. By 2020, we want P&G’s plants to be powered by at least 30% renewable energy.

So here’s what I find really exciting: This month, the Iams/Eukanuba plant in Coevorden added a wind turbine to its power grid, and by pressing the red button that started the turbine our plant jumped the 2020 deadline by 8 years! Our Coevorden plant is now getting one third of its power from the very first P&G wind turbine! As my buddy Dan Rajczak (Senior Vice President of Global Pet Care and Snacks) said:

“Pet Care is proud to lead the way on turbine-generated renewable energy for P&G. Meeting our 2020 Sustainability goals for this plant a full eight years ahead of our commitment is a significant achievement.”

Dan is absolutely right! This makes me so proud!

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In the middle of the front row, in the green Iams shirt, is my buddy Leah. She's taking a pledge for $1,000.00!

So much fun today! We (Iams) helped out at the SPCA Cincinnati’s 15^th annual Adopt-A-Pet Fund telethon. We were LIVE on Cincinnati’s Channel 12 WKRC! And the telethon brought $111,830.00 in donations to help the SPCA! (And you can still donate!)

You may remember that back in September we (the employees of Iams/Eukanuba) did a shelter make-over at one of the SPCA Cincinnati’s two locations (here’s a slide show of photos I found while writing this post).

Founded in 1873, originally to abolish the inhumane treatment of horses and mules, the SPCA Cincinnati serves an area of approximately 500 square miles that has a population of over 900,000 people. They are totally funded by private donations—no tax money or government funding! And what an incredible job they do!

• They operate from 2 locations where thousands of orphaned pets are matched up with qualified families every year.

• Their Companion Animal Access Program (CAAP) certifies dogs to be pet therapy dogs allowing them to visit hospitals and nursing homes to cheer up people who might need some canine love and put a smile on their face.

• Their staff and volunteers visit Cincinnati schools and organizations to teach about animal welfare, pet responsibility, and pet safety. They raise awareness of the positive benefits of having a pet in your life, and promote the need for spay/neuter.

• They offer basic dog training classes.

• They have full-time Humane Agents to investigate cases of animal cruelty.

• They offer a 24/7 Emergency Service that transports injured and sick wild or lost companion pets to local veterinary hospitals for treatment.

To help raise money for this very worthy organization, several of my teammates made the trek to the TV studios of Local 12 WKRC-TV. WKRC is very supportive of the SPCA. Not only did the station host the telethon today, they have SPCA Adopt-a-Pet segments on Tuesdays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 7:45 a.m. and Saturdays at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. They also co-sponsor the SPCA’s Mobil Adoption Unit.

Today’s telethon had a beach party theme with lots of local personalities and celebrities dressed for a day at the beach in flowered shirts, shorts, and sandals. There was a beautiful ocean-front background and “sandy” carpet. We heard lots of wonderful stories about successful adoptions along with photos of some beautiful adopted and adoptable pets. And one of my favorite people (and an Iams’ veterinarian) Dr. Amy Dicke, appeared on camera to talk about dental care and digestive care for dogs and cats. Another friend of mine, Deborah Brundage (we call her Debo) appeared on camera to present a donation check on behalf of Iams. Live music (lovin’ those beach tunes!), nice people, and a great cause!

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday morning!

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Munch Mystery Exposed!

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Part of my work is to sometimes respond to comments made on videos posted to the Iams YouTube channel. Yesterday, there was a really fun one!

Munch, the Bulldog featured in several Iams commercials, has a very distinctive (and distinguished!) face: It’s mostly white with a patch of brown on the right side of his head.

Someone with a very keen sense of detail noticed that in Munch’s latest commercial, that patch of brown is not always on the same side of his face. “Is it the same Bulldog throughout the commercial?”

So I had to do some detecting.

I first looked at the commercial. It went by so fast it was hard to tell if the patch switched sides. It was easier when I envisioned Munch as a car and the patch as being on the “passenger’s” side. Sure enough, that patch went from “passenger’s” side to “driver’s” side and back to “passenger’s” side again!

Brown patch on "passenger's" side

Brown patch on "driver's" side

Brown patch on "passenger's" side again!

So then I had to look at his other commercial, and I noticed the same thing:

Brown patch on the right side

Brown patch on wrong side!!!

Were there 2 different dogs in each of these commercials?

NO!

In each commercial, an artistic decision was made to reverse a snippet of film. I’ve watched these commercials over and over again (I’m a big Munch fan!) and NEVER NOTICED THIS!!!! I imagine I’m not the only one.

So now you’re in on “the secret of the transposed brown patch!” Here are the 2 commercials. In the first one, watch for when Munch says “I’m gonna ace this checkup”—that’s Munch in reverse! In the second one, watch for when Munch says “Nice day, huh?” Again, Munch in reverse!

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